What Comes After - A Sean & Kaycee Story

Chapter 2: Realization

Quick disclaimer:
Lots of love for my Beta Ilke!
💙
——————S&K——————

I awoke early despite my lack of decent sleep the previous weeks. I had had difficulty going to sleep last night because I was constantly thinking about our last performance, trying to figure out why it wasn't enough to beat our competitors. I kept trying to find a reason that wouldn't put the entire blame on my choreography.... But I couldn't find any. The costumes were simple, yet fitting for our theme, the background design was well thought out and Kaycee was... well, she was perfect. Like always.

So that could only mean one thing.

I failed.

I let down myself, I let down my parents, I let down Will and Janelle, my dance parents. And most importantly, I let down Kaycee. My partner, my best friend, my motivation. The one that manages to make me smile constantly without even trying. The person that put on a brave face in front of the camera while I was already tearing up. The girl that slid down the wall of our little dressing room the moment we stepped into it. The one that buried her face into her arms, her legs bend and pressed to her chest, bawling her eyes out for 20 minutes straight.

My fault. All my fault. I hated making her cry. It was the worst feeling in the world.

That was what was constantly going through my mind the entire day. I tried keeping myself occupied to distract myself from my depressing thoughts. I cooked a big breakfast for my family and when that was done, I was already planning what to make them for lunch. I ended up making a humongous amount of food that was enough for ten grown men. But my thoughts wouldn't leave me alone even for a second.

I wasn't really interacting with my family. No talking, no smiling.

Of course Mama noticed. She could work out my moods pretty quickly. After seeing the amounts of food I had prepared, she decided to speak up.

"Honey, are you okay? Are you still thinking about World of Dance? You're not blaming yourself for the elimination, are you?", she asked me.

I didn't answer. I didn't know the answer for the first question. Was I okay? I don't know.
As for the other two questions I remained silent. She would know either way and I didn't want to risk my voice becoming too emotional while answering.

"Sean?" she asked after waiting a solid minute for me to reply.

"Yes, Mama?"

"You haven't answered my questions yet."

I looked back down at the counter I was just cleaning up. "Yes", I said quietly.

Mama already knew which of her questions I had answered.

"Oh Sean, why do you blame yourself? You worked so hard on that choreography and it turned out amazingly beautiful. Everyone had tears in their eyes, not only me and Laura. So what if it wasn't enough to make it to the next round? Is that really the most important thing to you? Winning? Even without winning the competition you won something amazing in the past month!"

I look at her with a confused frown. "What do you mean?"

"I think that winning a true friendship and partnership with a girl that appreciates you for who you are and is kindhearted and hardworking herself, is a priceless thing. It's worth a lot more than the million dollars that the winner gets. You built a friendship for life and you both grew so much in such a short amount of time. Don't you think that everything was worth that?"

I looked at her after she finished speaking, realization replacing my confusion.

"Of course, Mama. Kaycee is one of a kind. Her presence always makes me happy. She reminded me why it was so fun to create and why I started dancing in the first place. She means so much to me already and going through that stress was worth it for her. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Now go tell her that. I'm pretty sure she needs to hear that because like i know her, she is probably blaming the elimination on herself. Wouldn't you agree?"

I sigh. "Yeah, probably. She is pretty hard on herself."

"Then go. I'll finish cleaning up for you."

I rip off my apron and gave my mum a big hug and a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, Mama. You're the best. I really needed that."

"I know. Go talk to her."

While running up the stairs to my room, I shouted over my shoulder, "I will! I'm going to FaceTime her right now!" As I close my door I hear her chuckling, in the kitchen.

"Teenagers."

——————S&K——————
Authors Note:
Sooooo .... that was Part 2! I really hope you liked it!
I actually had fun diving into their minds and ponder what they could have been thinking after WOD.
I kinda like where this is going.
Leave a comment if you want to!
-Isa