"Are you really sure about this, Serena?"
May was sitting in a position on the dance floor, stretching her bod forward. Both Dawn and May were eyeing her strangely, and Serena could tell her two friends were genuinely wondering.
"I've made my choice with no regrets," Serena said. "I had already got him to agree, he's coming after his practice tonight."
She was honestly proud of herself. This way she would be able to actually compete and she could prove to Ash that he could dance and play basketball. It sounded like a nice solution. Eventually, if he actually tried, she could possibly forgive him, and they could maybe continue being partners. Maybe once he saw he could do both, he would be more interested.
When she thought about it in front of May, she realized she didn't want to explain herself really. She could imagine her and Drew looking at her as if she was crazy because Ash constantly proved her wrong. He never followed the expectations she had for him and knowing him, he probably would say something without thinking again.
Serena wasn't one to give up and that wasn't going to change when it came to this. She couldn't explain why. There was something about Ash that drew her to him, even if he seemed didn't seem like the right type to fall for. Depending on the first impression. Deep down, she felt she knew what he wanted and she knew he didn't mean to hurt her.
"Really? Tonight? So soon," Dawn said with excitement. "Do you have choreography ready?"
"I've been working on a basic waltz," Serena told them. "It shouldn't be too complicated for him to learn. He's good at the waltz and we won't be competing with you and Drew."
"I honestly thought you would choose the tango. Based on what you told me about Ash." May hummed, tapping her finger against her chin. "You two seemed to connect best when doing that one."
Serena swallowed. May wasn't wrong, but— "No! I... think the waltz is better," she urged quickly, an attempt to cover her nerves. She cleared her throat, knowing exactly where the tango led them. Her goal was to not do anything like that until after the competition. "He's had weeks of practice with the waltz and we only did the tango once."
"Right, but you mentioned you thought he would excel at the—" May paused, sudden realization coming to her features began and she began to giggle. "Oh, wow, Serena." She glanced towards Daw and both girls laughed together, as if they were in on some secret inside joke.
"What?" Serena frowned, eyeing at her friends suspiciously. "What's so funny?"
Dawn raised her eyebrows playfully. "I can definitely tell why you don't want to do the tango."
May smiled, shaking her head like it was obvious. "I have quite the assumption too."
"God, no." Serena rolled her eyes, huffing out a breath. "It has nothing to do with that."
"Wait, what's that?" Dawn gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "So you and Ash really did—"
"We've already talked about this," Serena retorted quickly, her cheeks turning red. "No!"
"I'm not here to judge if you did. I've been waiting for this one." Dawn sighed with a shrug of her shoulders and Serena almost scoffed. "I wouldn't tell. We're not supposed to do anything in the dance studio, but everyone knows about May and Drew."
"What?" May gasped, soon turning away from Dawn. "No, we don't! Drew and I would never break the rules like that." Her eyes trembled with guilt and both girls knew their brown haired friend was lying. It was obvious she did stuff with Drew when they were practicing. She accidentally admitted it one time. Sort of.
Admittedly, Serena was happy Dawn shifted the subject to May instead of her.
"Uh-huh." Dawn didn't believe a second worth of what was said. "You've always been a terrible liar. Now Serena, we totally wouldn't say anything if that's what happened between you and Ash. It would make a lot more sense as to why you feel so attached to him."
Serena's cheeks heated up. Her friends knew her far too well. She sighed, covering her face in her hands for a moment. "We didn't have sex."
The problem with talking about this kind of thing meant Serena had to actually think about this kind of thing as well, which was never easy. To say she wanted to with Ash was an understatement. She could remember the night by the gazebo, his hands trailing down her body while he kissed her.
He walked her back, pinning her against the wall as he kissed her even deeper. Her mind reeled that night, and many nights after just wondering how something even more intimate would go down with him. He was aggressive, yes, with the right amount of gentleness.
"I already told both of you." Serena said with a downturned wave of her lips giving a show of her indifference in her next sentence. "We just kissed... a bit."
"And nothing else happened?" Dawn asked, leaning towards her.
"I told May. He kissed me against the piano while touching me, but we didn't ever do things after that." Serena's lips slowly died at her own words. "I couldn't let myself go further with him."
"I take it, it was the best kiss you've had?" Dawn said, laying around on the ground with excitement. She was turned on her stomach, kicking her legs back and forth.
"Dawn, we're supposed to be stretching," May scolded.
"But I wanna hear about this if it's true," Dawn said right away, looking at Serena again. "Is that why you don't want to do the tango? You're scared he'll touch you and your whole body will just melt?
"Like I said, no," Serena replied, shaking her head to remove the embarrassment. "We didn't."
Dawn's pout was clear. "You never really gave us the details."
"You're right on one thing." Serena took a moment, her mind whirling with so much. Given her own unease, she didn't want to make things worse. "I'm nervous that if we do the tango... weird feelings will come up again. I don't want to do anything like that until after the competition."
"That's not a bad idea. You're not even sure if you forgive him yet," May stopped, letting Serena ponder on that. The last thing she wanted to do was go back on her words when it came to forgiving him. "Focus on the competition for now. I think it's best if you wait."
Serena nodded, slowly. "That is true."
She had yet to tell them about happened between them recently. Watching a movie together, going to an arcade, a carnival, and the flower shop—goodness—it was a lot, but it was what happened at each place that's more important. She'd never hear the end of it if she told him. The tension between them, she couldn't deny, nor could she think straight.
It was frightening.
May continued. "If you feel more comfortable doing the waltz, perhaps you should stick with that."
"I've thought about it. I want to play to Ash's strengths." Serena hesitated in her next words, she knew how true they were—but it didn't mean she wanted them to be. "I know there's a chance we won't win, but... I do want him to feel good about it afterwards. He's insanely competitive and I worry about his reaction when we ultimately lose. As much as I'm nervous about the tango for that reason, I think he'll feel more comfortable doing the waltz."
May nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Dawn rolled her eyes. "You both can be terribly boring sometimes."
All of the girls laughed, and Serena only hoped this plan of hers didn't go south right in her face.
Ash took a deep breath, pushing his wet hair back. He stood outside the door to the studio he had come to know very well over the past few months. Serena was most likely inside, waiting for him, and he had no clue how she was going to act. He knew they've hung out for the past two days. Would she says something about the way he treated her before that? Would she act mad at him?
He didn't know why he cared so much. Probably because he didn't want to go into these lessons thinking they'd be awkward as hell.
Pushing his hand on the door, he swung it open, watching as she moved about the room. She held her arms up, as though she were dancing with a ghost, the strands of her honey blonde hair gently swinging by her cheeks.
"Oh, Ash." She smiled, twirling on one of her toes. "You're much earlier than I thought?"
"Practice got out early, so I headed down. I wasn't going to go back to my dorm, having to come back down right after."
It was so strange being back here. Of course, there was a small part of him that imagined it, wondered what it would be like if he accepted it in the first place. Would he feel more welcomed in this place? Or maybe, even if he rejected it in a nicer way, they could've stayed together and he would've come to watch her.
The fantastical distraction which lived in his head was part of the reason he was here now. But staring at Serena, he wondered if she would ever truly go away. She smiled and the whole room lit up. Ash missed it and now it was here in front of him, but she still felt almost entirely out of his reach.
"Well, I've started choreographing things for us."
Ash took off his shoes and dropped down his bag, moving them beside each other.
"First things first," she said, her eyes trailing up and down his body. His cheek flushed and he knew she wasn't looking at him in that way, but he was distinctly aware he wanted her to be.
"What's wrong?"
She hummed, tilting her face back and forth. "I'm thinking we need to get you some proper shoes."
"What's wrong with my feet?"
Serena rolled her eyes. "Ash, do you really think you can do a dance competition in your bare feet?"
He glanced down and bit his lip, his brow trembling. Of course he couldn't dance like this.
"I want to get you used to the shoes and the sooner we do that, the better. There should be extras in the storage closet. Hopefully they have your size." She spoke as if she was thinking aloud, not really to him. Still, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist and dragged him out of the dance studio.
She pulled him down the hall and he was happy she was leading him, only so she wouldn't see how ridiculous his face probably looked.
Serena opened the storage closet and pulled a few boxes. "Let's try a pair of these?"
Ash lifted the lid and wrinkled his nose, pulling one of the black shoes out. "Why do these have heels?"
"What? Can't imagine wearing a shoe with the tiniest of heels?" Serena began to laugh and she folded her arms across her chest while Ash slammed the lid shut.
"'Course I can. It's just a shoe," he said, and started walking back towards the studio as he did so. He dropped the boxes on the floor and pushed the shoe onto his foot. He moved his toes around, wiggling his foot up and down. "They look questionable on me. These aren't my style."
"Actually, I think they're the classiest shoes I've seen you in. Now stand up," She said, leaning down. He did as he was told, standing in front of her. She stayed knelt down, her fingers pressing against the front of the shoe. "These should be good. You need a little extra room because you'll be moving in them so much. They will stretch and adjust to your foot. We can think about buying you actual shoes if—" she stopped herself like something came into mind. "—Never... mind. These will do just fine."
Ash looked at her, not failing to catch her fast switch up. He almost missed it, but he didn't say anything to her about it. "If you say so."
"You're going to need different clothes too," Serena noted. "Maybe we could get you fitted for a suit."
"I have a suit," he replied, folding his arms over his chest. He scoffed, mildly offended at her implication. "I know you think I'm some barbarian sports man, but I do own a suit. The team has important things to go to for basketball at times."
"Not at all," she said softly, staring up at him. "I didn't think that. I just wasn't sure. You did say the shoes weren't your style. But the suit does have to be a specific kind."
A look of perplexity crossed his face, but he blinked it away. "Then I'll get it." He still couldn't believe she roped him into such a way to apologize with this.
She was quiet and Ash glanced down at her before turning away. She sat before him, on her knees looking up at him, her cheeks flushed. Fucking hell.
"I've been preparing a waltz that should be nice for you," she began, getting up from the floor, and started walking to her phone. "It will be faster than the one we did before, but I think you'll enjoy it. Just remember to be light on your feet. I do think the shoes will help though."
Ash noticed she tended to ramble when she got nervous. He narrowed his eyes. "A waltz?" He repeated in a murmur because for some reason, he anticipated her picking the tango, or maybe he just wanted her to.
Either way, he would be close to her, but doing the tango meant he would be close to her. He swallowed, his eyes glancing down to her legs as she trotted over to the piano. She leaned over the piano, her body curving towards the phone speaker. His eyes fixated on the tight leotard wrapped around her, fitting her perfectly. She always looked too damn good in her dance outfits.
"It's the thing you have the most experience with, so I figured that would be best." She turned to him, as if she were about to ask if it was okay, but she ceased herself from doing so. She pushed a button, starting the song as the slow classical piece echoed through the dance studio. "The song they're using is faster than the one I was teaching you, but I know you can handle it."
"'Course I can handle it," he said and moved to the middle of the floor, holding his arms up.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Serena pursed her lips, clearly trying not to laugh at him.
"I'm ready? This is the 'ready' position."
She bursted out into laugher and clicked pause on the song, taking a breather. "I was just... showing you the song. I still have to show you the choreography."
"Huh? Then what are you waiting for?" He snapped in the middle of his embarrassment, but Serena kept laughing. "C'mon, it wasn't that funny!"
As much as he hated being laughed at, the whole mood made his heart feel a bit lighter. Serena was far too kind to treat him differently. Even if she was still mad at him, she would never act mean or cruel. It was why she was such a good person. He deserved all the worst treatment after the way he treated her and yet here she stood, laughing with him, as if nothing changed between them.
"It was just too funny watching you stand there all ready and..." She continued to let out some more breathless giggles, not helping herself.
"I get it," he grumbled, shaking his head. "The joke's over now!"
Admittedly, he didn't want things to change for them, and listening to her pretty laugh only made him want to let himself be able to hear it more. It was a lot better than arguing with her. Her smile always made his heart feel lighter. It made his day feel worth it, as if everything that had happened so far all day was leading to this moment where he got to see her smile.
It was so much better than seeing her almost cry, having her yell at him. He was such an idiot.
"Okay, okay. I'll teach you the choreography." She wiped her eye, a smile on her face. "Do you want me to walk you through it, or sort of show you what you'll be doing on your own? I might have to do a little bit of both."
"Whatever you like. I'm doing this for you and I don't know..." he trailed off, almost looking ashamed to mutter the next words, "I don't know what I'm doing."
Serena's pink lips shined when she walked over to him. Ash couldn't take his eyes off her while she did, her toes daintily gliding across the floor. Wrapping her hand around his larger one, she laced their fingers together, holding her hands out.
"You actually do," she said genuinely. "I told you. We're doing a waltz. There will be slightly more advanced steps, but it's all stuff I taught you." She curled her lips into a teasing, soft pout. "Don't tell me you forgot it all already?"
"'Course not! What do you take me for?" He immediately pushed his hand against her back, pulling her close.
She gasped, falling towards his chest. Her cheeks reddened and she let her hand rest against his shirt for a moment, before straightening her arm out to push away fast. "No need to be so... rough," she said, her voice tight. "Remember, this is the waltz, not the tango. You're trying to flow, like water."
He moved his hand slowly up her lower back. "Why are we doing this again?"
"Because you said you would to win my forgiveness."
Ash clicked his tongue. "I'm talking about this dance. Why are we doing the waltz? You said it yourself that the tango worked better."
"It's a... hard song this year. Lets just stick to this," she said, the words falling out of her mouth in a hurry as she didn't let him comment on what she said. "I planned out some poses for us, but generally speaking, it'll look more impressive if you do the waltz well. You're already good at it. You just have to be lighter on your feet."
Ash look at her, a frown etched on his face. "I see."
"The shoes will help. I promise," she giggled, trying to ignore the present look on his face. "We'll move like normal. The first pose comes up at the end of this sequence." She led him across the floor and paused. "You'll be leading, obviously, but... you get the idea."
She seemed nervous, which was odd. It wasn't like they had never done things like this before and if anyone was going to be feeling that was, it really should be him.
"Hey, Serena." Ash stopped next to her, then eyed her studious gaze that looked around the room. "What's wrong? Did I do something again?"
"No, no. It just feels more... high pressure, you know?" Serena opened her mouth, then bit her lower lip. "This is a competition. I want us to do well. I want you to do well."
Ash clicked his tongue, turning his gaze to the wall. "With you teaching me, we're gonna do just fine, alright? Nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, okay. You're right." Her cheeks had turned red and her eyes slowly moved away from him in deep thought, gnawing on her bottom lip. "I'll show you the routine."
Serena walked him through the sequence of steps, showing him where the dips and bends were. She showed him the poses, and though nothing went smoothly at all the first few times, it did feel like progress. Ash's heels clicked across the dance floor, his hand trembling against her back. Even in the week, he was away, he forgot how draining dance could be physically. It worked muscles he wasn't used to using and had him hold his body in weird positions.
"We don't have to do much more today." She sighed, fixing strands of her hair. "I mostly wanted to show you the choreography and music. Again, just remember to stay light on your feet. Try walking with less... weight?" She suggested, looking at him. "I mean in your daily life."
"Yes, ma'am. I got it." He grabbed his shoes, putting his face into each one, and grabbed his bag. He stood by the door. "I'll see you at our next lesson?"
Serena twisted around when he arrived at the door, following in step. She had her hands behind her back shyly. "How about tonight for our movie night?"
Ash froze, looking at her unsurely. She caught a glimpse of his brows slightly shooting upwards in a stunned arch once he processed in his mind, but he complied nonetheless with one side of his lip lifted.
"Whatever you want, Serena."
She said her goodbye to him with heaviest beat of her heart in her chest and the prettiest blush he had ever seen.