The problem with realizing his feelings for Serena meant Ash had to be around her and paying attention to her while trying his best not to just scoop her up and kiss her.
He paced outside of the studio door. He should've felt better about going in to see her, especially after his first lesson with Drew. Still, he hated having to go back, but he knew he was going to need all the dumb help he could get. Instead, his stomach kept flip-flopping and his cheeks felt hot.
"Dammit," Ash cursed to himself. This was dumb. He should be able to go in there no problem and yet—
He ran in his hand through his hair, trying his best not to imagine how good she probably looked in there. He could imagine the leotard hugging her body, tightly woven around her skin. The small skirt — which flowed around her legs — would sweep across her as she twirled from side to side. Her cheeks were probably pink and glowing in the light of the dance studio and if he kissed her, they'd be even pinker.
"Dammit," Ash said again and a second later, the door opened.
"Ash?" Serena's blue eyes blinked up at him, her honey blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun. "What... are you doing?"
"What do you mean 'what am I doing?' I'm coming to practice." Ash said too quickly, brushing past her. The last thing he needed was for her to see his cheeks looking flushed.
"No." Serena sighed, looking at him. "I meant why were you just standing outside the door instead of actually coming in?"
He tensed up, walking into the room. "I couldn't... find something in my bag."
Ash could practically feel the skepticism radiating off of her while she spoke. "Did you remember your shoes?"
"Of course I remembered my shoes," he muttered, plopping down onto the ground to put them on.
"Okay, then?" Serena said, her confusion present. Even with such bewilderment on her face, Ash couldn't help but admire how beautiful her features were. Her blue eyes always seemed to shine with excitement and her lips the perfect shade of pink, fitting to her pearly white smile.
Fuck, she was gorgeous. He always noticed before, but now it pulled at his heart like congestion he couldn't cough out. A disgusting analogy, similar to his disgusting feelings for her.
She probably felt the same — or did — back before he was an absolute jerk. She probably still felt the same, but he couldn't ask her out. Not until he earned her forgiveness. Not until he knew he fulfilled his promise to her.
"Lets get a move on, teach," Ash muttered, standing back up. He tapped his feet against the ground, adjusting the way the shoes hugged his feet. He stood in the middle of the room, and got into position, standing tight and poised for the dance to begin.
"Ash."
Serena began to giggle. He heard her feet patter against the ground, coming up from behind him. She ducked her head under his arm and stared up at him. She hummed, narrowing her eyes as she looked over at his chest, and he fought against his body's desire to hold her there.
"What's wrong?" He asked, frowning. "Are we gonna dance or not?"
She curled her fingers around his wrist and moved his arm around her waist. "I just thought your posture looked exceptionally good today." She giggled, her smile hitting Ash in the face like a giant ray of sunshine. Then she pouted at him playfully. "Have you been practicing without me?"
"No, not at all," Ash retorted quickly, not wanting her to discover his secret. He would never live it down if anyone knew he was getting extra lessons from Drew.
"Well, I guess you really are getting better." Serena's hand takes his, her palm was warm against Ash's. For a moment, he was worried if his hands were too sweaty. He never cared about things like that before.
Damn these feelings.
"'Course I'm getting better," he voiced honestly, "You're teaching me."
"Oh—" Serena stammered and it seemed the compliment took her completely off guard, her cheeks growing pinker. "I mean, it should be clear that you're getting better."
God, she still wasn't used to him doing that.
Ash knew they weren't supposed to kiss anymore. He made her that promise, but hell, did she look kissable right now—as always.
"Lets get started, shall we?" Serena gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Should we try with music today?"
Never one to back down from a challenge, Ash nodded. "Why not?"
The music, however, changed things as it usually did. The dance was far faster. Ash tried moving in time with the music, though a few times he did stumble to keep up. His hand on the middle of her back was desperate to move lower, and his fingers squeezed hers just a little tighter every time they moved into various lifts and poses.
Serena's body was flush against his when the song slowed to a stop. Her breath tickled his nose when he held her in place. His brown eyes flicked to her lips and his fingers danced down her back while her blue eyes followed his, glancing at his parted mouth.
"I..." She whispered, her voice husky with her chest heaving ever so slightly by the way she attempted to catch her breath.
Serena immediately pulled away as if remembering her resolve from the other night. She told him up front and from the look on her face, Ash was certain she meant it. The other night, she never pulled away from him. But now—
"You did nicely, Ash," she said with a smile, but didn't step back towards him.
He scrunched his nose. "Nicely?"
"You did well. Really well, actually." Serena clasped her hands together. "The best you've ever done when we tried with music."
He tilted his head. "Seriously?"
"I meant every word." Her cheeks puffed out and she walked over to her phone dock. "We should still do it again because your footwork is messy. The judges do pay attention to that, you know?"
He noticed how hard she was trying to act normal with him and treat him like a student. The way they acted at the beginning of all this mess compared. The truth was, they were so much more now, even if nothing was quite that official.
"Alright," Ash said, "We'll do it three more times then."
"Am I the teacher or are you?" Serena pushed play as she made her way back over to him, frustration clear on her face. Though admittedly, Ash couldn't tell just what kind of frustration it was exactly.
"You are." He grinned. "You tell me how many times we'll do this."
How many times did she want to practice the same dance where he held her close and their noses almost touched, so close to kissing one another? It was torture for him.
Serena had smirked, as if she came to the realization at the exact same time he had.
"How about five?"
Ash clenched his fist by his side. "Fine by me."
And so they danced the next five times. Then time passed quicker than expected and it was time for Ash's extra lessons with Drew once again.
"You don't think she noticed?" Drew asked, leaning against the piano.
"How could she not? 'Course she noticed." Ash tapped his toes against the ground to adjust his shoes. "She even complimented me on my posture."
"No, I'm talking about the fact you're getting extra lessons."
Ash sighed heavily. "No. She didn't notice. She did ask if I was practicing without her and seemed kinda... off about it?"
"So I take it you lied then?" Drew assumed, reaching up his arms towards the ceiling. He leaned over to stretch.
Ash leaned down to touch his toes, stretching out his legs. He found stretching did actually help before he started these lessons. Otherwise, he would have to stretch on the floor of his dorm room while Gary was out.
"I told her she was a good teacher."
Somehow Ash was turning into a real dancer and he didn't absolutely despise it.
Drew tilted his head. "Won't she be upset when she realizes you aren't her only teacher?"
Immediately rolling his eyes, Ash stormed to the middle of the room, getting into the position Drew helped him to perfect. "You're not my teacher, twinkle toes. You're just helping me. Now help me fix my footwork."
"Remind me why I said I was willing to do this again?" Drew muttered, stepping forward. He took Ash's hand and let him wrap his arm around his waist. "You know, I do think Serena can do better than you— fucking hell." He grunted, glaring at Ash when he gripped his hand tightly. Drew stomped on Ash's foot and the raven haired boy hissed, stepping back, and let go of the starting pose.
"What the hell, Drew?"
Drew realized it was one of the rare times the guy said his name for once.
"You were trying to break my hand. It was payback." He shrugged, rubbing his fingers. "And besides, I was going to say it was honorable how hard you are working at this."
Ash ran his hand through his hair. "If I'm going to make a fool of myself, I might as well do it all the way. I can't tell her how I feel until after this competition and I won't ruin it."
"Well, you're going to do something," Drew ignored the invisible daggers Ash was shooting his way with his piercing brown eyes. "Anyway, footwork," he said, standing once again in the middle.
Ash met him halfway, wrapping his arm around Drew's back.
"A good way to do this is to go through it slowly. Take it step by step, so you really know what your feet are meant to be doing each time. I know this is probably a novel concept for you, since you're used to just running and charging in with some shots, hoping for the best," Drew explained carefully.
"Basketball isn't just about that!" Ash tells him in annoyance. "There are precise and specific plays you gotta do!"
"Right." Drew sighed, tiredly. "So think about choreography like that then."
"Like a basketball play?" Ash scoffed, as if it was the stupidest suggestion he ever heard in his whole life.
"Yes," Drew continued. "Just as you have... specific places to take the ball, you have the same in dance with your feet. If you can perfect doing your poses slowly, eventually you'll be able to speed it up quicker and quicker, until you're doing it at the proper tempo."
"That's how Serena is teaching me."
"Right, she is, and has been. But to perfect your footwork as a lead, you need to go even slower."
Ash groaned, letting his head fall back. "Fine. Lets go as slow as snails then."
"Exactly." Drew began to count slowly and stared at the ground. "There are no other dancers here, so we don't have to worry about running into anyone. For now, watch our feet as we go through the poses."
The two moved around the room as slow as Ash ever had. The sensation was bizarre; he wanted to move faster since he knew the routine decently well at this point, and yet he also understood what Drew meant. It was easy to watch the habits of his feet when they moved this slow.
"Turn your foot out more," Drew instructed. "You can't lead if you don't actually lead."
Ash was getting tired of his voice telling him what he needed to do. He shook his head. "I'm trying over here!"
"Go into the pose," Drew instructed, ignoring Ash's outburst.
Ash gripped Drew's hand tightly and lowered his hand on his back dipping him down.
"See, you need to be smoother—"
The sound of the door opening made Drew stop speaking.
"Drew, I know you said you were going to practice alone, but I think I left my—" May stood in the entrance, the door slowly clicking shut behind her and she gasped, covering her mouth. "Is that— Ash?"
"Ah, May, sweetheart," Drew said flatly with a hint of sarcasm on his tongue. Still dipped in the pose with Ash, he turned his head towards her. "Nice of you to join us."
"What are..." May tried to put her words together, but failed miserably. "What is... What?"
Ash pushed Drew away from him, dancer almost losing his balance.
"It's not what you're thinking for fucks sake." Ash scoffed, tapping his foot against the ground.
Ignoring Ash, May dashed to meet Drew in the middle of the room. "Is this what you were lying about?" She asked, gesturing wildly towards the athlete.
Drew stared blankly at the girl for a moment. "You knew?"
"Knew what? That you were lying? Obviously I knew, Drew!" May began to laugh and she pointed her fingers back and forth. "Your eyes darted everywhere but on me and you stammered multiple times. You were coughing an unnecessary amount of times as well. I wasn't sure what you were up to, but I figured you'd tell me when you were read. So you're helping Ash?"
Drew only nodded. "He asked me for extra lessons, so he could be better for Serena."
"Oh?" May gasped, smiling so wide. "That's wonderful. Serena is going to be so happy! You're a good person, Ash."
The boy was flabbergasted. "'Course I'm a good person! What did you think?"
"Well..." May trailed off, biting her lip. "Anyways... I'm glad you've been working so hard. I'm sure Serena has noticed an improvement."
"Just don't tell her about this, alright?" Ash tells her, taking a breather. "I know how girls can get. They love to talk. I can only hope for you to not have a big mouth to rip off, right?"
"And if you speak to my girlfriend like that again, I'll rip off yours," Drew cuts in, green eyes holding a glare like thorns on a rose.
"It wasn't serious!" Ash's irritated was damn near at its peak. "Jesus, sarcasm isn't your strong point."
"Boys, please!" May rolled her eyes. "I think we can agree that Serena will be very happy and we can wait to tell her anything, okay? I will keep your little secret. Even though it will tear me up inside."
"I hope you know Serena is going to find out," Drew stated, running a hand through his green hair. "May is the worst at keeping secrets. She gets too excited."
Ash clicked his tongue. "Isn't that great."
"Since she's here," Drew began, "May, will you partner with Ash for this go around? Since she doesn't know the choreography very well, you will have to actually lead her."
Ash waved his hand out. "Doesn't sound like a problem to me."
"Okay!" May smiled, leaning down to slip off her boots. "I'm excited to see your improvements, Ash."
Ash wrapped his arm around May. She was a bit shorter than Serena and up close, he could see her striking features. Sharp, brown eyes, full of concentration. Shoulder length, brown hair that flowed nicely. Ash could get part of the understanding on why Drew fell for her.
The sound of Drew beginning the count set Ash in motion and he lead May across the floor through the choreography. Admittedly, he was a bit stiff compared to normal, since he wasn't used to dancing with her. He pulled her into poses and held her close like he was supposed to, swinging her around as he dipped her down for the final moment.
"Wow," May breathed and smiled genuinely. "It does feel much better, Ash. A little stiff, but cleaner."
Drew nodded in agreement. "It felt smoother to me as well. Good improvements."
Ash grinned. "And I intend to keep moving to the top."
The couple took in his words, looking at each other before smiling at him.
"I think we're good for tonight." Drew rubbed his hands together. "I'm hungry."
"Me too. Care to join us, Ash?" May asked, sounding hopeful.
"I wouldn't be caught dead," he muttered and grabbed his bag. Tossing his dance shoes away, he put his regular shoes back on. "Besides, if Serena sees me with you, she'll wonder what I'm doing."
May could understand that. "Right."
"Til' next week," Ash said, nodding his head to both of them before leaving through the door.
Drew ran his hand through his hair, convinced that was the most thanks he received thus far.