Christian and his siblings prepare for an upcoming dance.
Sarah, Jesse, and Ashley are eyeing their brothers. "So, who do you want as a dance partner for this year's sibling dance?" Sarah asked.
Jesse hummed. "I am not sure. I love them all, but Roger and Jacob have two left feet, John is as stiff as a board, and I am not sure about Christian. Does he even know how to dance? Could he learn in time?"
Ashley grinned. "I'll take Christian." Her sisters noticed the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"Ashley." Sarah warned.
"What? I think he would be okay if he followed my lead." She pictures herself twirling him around as he yells for help.
Sarah playfully slapped her arm. "Be serious." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "We go through this every year. Why is that?"
At that moment their father called out to them. "My darling daughters! The gowns have arrived!" they all grunted.
"That's why." Sarah was reminded.
Jesse sighed with her arms crossed. "Why does he torture us with these events? Is it a vampire thing, or does he just get a kick out of dressing us up and making us go to these shenanigans?"
"Girls!" their father is waving at them. "Your mother and Troy are waiting! And let me know which of your brothers are escorting you, so we can pick out attire as well!" they notice Jacob, Roger, and John stiffen while Christian tilted his head in confusion.
Sarah chuckled. "At least we know the feeling is mutual. Except maybe Christian."
Ashley rubbed her hands with a smirk. "The poor runt has no clue what awaits him." Jesse and Sarah looked at her sternly. "Don't look at me like that. I promise to behave."
Sometime later, the girls are trying on gowns while Christian, John, and Roger are trying on suits. Jacob is sitting down grinning. "Stop smiling or I will slap it off your ugly mug of a face." Roger threatened.
Jacob just sat back and relaxed. "Are you upset cause I was spared this time and not you?" he got in his face wearing a beige suit and growled.
Christian is struggling to get his tie right, but failing. "Stupid thing." he jumped but relaxed when John grabbed it.
"Hold still." He instructed as he tied it perfectly. "All done. And it matches your navy-blue suit."
Christian blushed shyly. "Thanks. And your black suit looks nice." He said as the new suit looks like the ones his eldest brother normally wears.
John frowned. "These events are very stifling."
Christian blinked in surprise. "Wait, you don't like these kinds of events?"
He stared at him. "It isn't the event itself that I resent. It's the dancing, singing, playing instruments, and on rare occasions, acting. Those I hate doing."
Christian gaped. "How could you hate those? Shouldn't that be the fun parts of an event?" he bristled in fright with the glare he gave him.
"Fun? Why would you even use that term? Vampires are required to learn these skills in order to charm and entertain others. There is no such thing as fun. Especially when growing up with those dreadful lessons."
"John." Christian started but John put his hand out to silence him.
"I may not know what the humans have taught you, but please don't push any further or you'll anger me." He turned around. "Excuse me." he retreated to change back into his normal attire.
Christian hears Jacob and Roger say, "Ooh" from behind. "Man, I've never seen anyone upset John like this. You are in trouble." Roger sounded more entertained than concerned.
Christian turned around. "What did I say? I don't understand."
Jacob looked at him. "There's a lot you don't understand. Like this dance for instance. It's not some hoe-down the humans throw and dance however you like. This is an event where you must be prim and proper, and dance with poise and grace. It is such a pain. I don't know if it's the werewolf part of us, but none of us like it, and half of us suck at it. Even John has his limits. But you know how dad can get. You were lucky you didn't grow up with all those boring lessons."
Christian frowned and placed his hand over his chest. "That's the thing though, I." he was interrupted with knocking at the door before Sarah peeked in.
"We are done picking our outfits, and we are going to be taking a couple of dance classes before the event. Starting next week." Christian opened his mouth when she said, "None of you try ditching, alright." She shut the door and Christian made a face.
The day of the dancing class has arrived and Christian is the only one present. "Did they ditch me?" he dialed Sarah's number and she answered.
"Sorry we're running late. There's a car accident and traffic is moving slow."
"Not slow enough." He heard Roger say. "But we will get there. Just begin without us." She hung up making Christian grunt.
He poked his head in and sees people warming up in a dance studio with mirrors and wooded floors. "Hi. Can I help you?" a woman dressed in a black outfit asked.
"I am here to prepare for an upcoming dance, but my siblings are running late."
She smiled. "Oh yes. The Dubois party. I remember our conversation on the phone. You can be my partner until they arrive. Come." She stretched her hand out and Christian shyly approached her.
Half an hour later, Christian's siblings had just arrived. "We missed half the lesson. I hope Christian is doing okay." Jesse said as they are exiting the vehicle and are heading inside.
"I can't wait to see him; I bet he looks like a chicken running around with no head." Ashley said enthusiastically.
"That's the only reason why I came." Jacob said smugly.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "C'mon guys, I'm sure it's not that bad. I hope."
They opened the door and entered. They all paused in shock with what they see. Music is playing as everyone watches Christian and the instructor do the tango. Christian has a sparkly aura surround him as he does the dance moves perfectly.
Ashley rubbed her eyes. "Are we seeing this right? I've never seen him move around so gracefully before." Everyone is watching feeling flabbergasted. Even John's stoic expression turned to one of awe.
The song finished and they posed with their faces only inches apart, and everyone applauded them. The dance instructor finds herself being charmed by Christian.
"Why do you need these classes again?" she asked.
Before he could answer, he heard his name being called and pulled away to see his siblings. "Excuse me for a moment." He walked away leaving her breathless.
"Guys, you made it." He smiled but frowned when they didn't speak. "What's wrong?"
"What the hell was that?" Jacob asked. "Where the hell did you learn to dance like that? It was incredible."
Ashley is circling him. "Who are you? You can't possibly be our brother. Did Christian send a doppelganger?"
He growled. "Stop doing that, it really is me. I've been trying to tell you guys, but you wouldn't listen. I went to cotillion when I was thirteen. We learned proper etiquette as well as the waltz, foxtrot, the tango, and the mamba. Of course, I also watched musicals growing up, and would copy their dance moves."
"Awe." Ashley sounded disappointed. "You can't be good at dancing. You were supposed to scream for mercy."
Christian scowled. "You only wanted me to be your partner so you could pick on me." she waved her hands and shook her head.
"Of course not. That would've just been an added bonus to us spending some quality time together." She sounded unconvincing.
"You guys are horrible. Just because I suck at many things, doesn't mean I suck at everything. I'm out of here." He said before walking away.
"Christian. C'mon." Sarah called out to him but he shut the door and left making them feel guilty.
Later, his siblings knocked on the door to an apartment. Jason answered it. "Hey." He greeted.
"Hey Jason." Sarah greeted back. "Is Christian here? We went to his place but he wasn't there."
"Let me check." He turned behind and asked, "Are you here?" He turned back to them. "He said he isn't here."
Jacob groaned. "For the love of, Christian! Get your butt out here, so we can apologize to you! Don't make us go in there!" there's nothing but silence.
"Let me talk to him." John said. "The rest of you wait out here." Jason nodded before letting him enter before blocking it.
John found Christian curled up on the couch. He sat next to him. "I was being childish." Christian glanced at him. "I took my frustrations out on you, and didn't even listen. The others made the same mistake by assuming that you didn't know what to do. We are still learning new things about you everyday, and I hope you can forgive us."
"It hurts my feelings when you guys do that." he looked at him. "You guys always expect the worst when it comes to me, and to put it bluntly, it sucks." John's lips twitched upwards and he chuckled. "Don't laugh. I am being serious."
John sat back down. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself, but I just want you to know that we don't treat you like that on purpose. Given you were raised by humans, and our lack of interaction with them, we can't help ourselves. We will be more open minded in the future, so please come out so we can prepare for the dance. You can even try teaching us."
Christian sighed before getting up and walked to the door with John right behind him.
The other's were happy to see him and apologized. Jacob exhaled. "Are you relieved because Christian forgave us, or because you won't have to dance after all?" Jesse asked.
"Uh, both?" he said sheepishly.
A couple of weeks later, Christian and his siblings are dressed up and waltzing in a spacious room among others.
Roger is dancing very slowly with Sarah, and so are John and Jesse. Ashley is sulking as she and Christian dance perfectly.
"If you stop pouting like that I will let you twirl me around for the fun of it." He offered and her eyes lit up.
"Really?" he nodded and she hugged him tightly before twisting him enthusiastically. "I meant later. Ashley."
He complained as the others glance at them in amusement as their father, mother, Jacob, and Jason watch on the sidelines with their phones recording everything.