*Two weeks later*
Rehearsals had started last week in NY. Your flight back out was long but the more you sat on the plane, you realized how excited you were to get back into the swing of things.
Now, into week two, choreography had really started to pick up. Long hours in the studio were just beginning. Today, you were driving around when your phone rang.
"Hey, where you at?" Val's voice fills the Jeep with his obvious New Yorker's accent.
"Driving. Why?"
"Can you come in a little early today? I have a surprise for you."
A smile quirks up the expression on your face before you answer, "Uhh, sure. How early?"
He laughs a little into the phone and you can almost see him running a hand through the front part of his hair. "Now?"
You groan before you even realize it's happening. "Today was supposed to be a half-off dayyyy." You whine, only a little playfully.
"Yeah, yeah. I know but this is good!"
"Fine, okay. I'm turning around and heading your way."
"Beautiful!" Val calls into the phone. "Be safe."
"Always. See ya in a bit."
Upon hanging up the phone, you can't help but roll your eyes while smiling. He's so unbelievably him sometimes that it's ridiculous.
••••
You arrive at the studio twenty minutes later and walk into the main one that rehearsals have been being held lately. The floors are a light wood with mirrors taking up an entire wall. That part you weren't always down for but oh well.
"Tell me why I'm here." You muse with a smirk when seeing Val laying on the floor.
He stands and extends his hand out to you first. "You gotta."
"Jesus." You laugh and take his hand as he leads you to sit on the stool. You sit and he remains standing just before reaching into his pocket for his phone.
A moment later, the music engulfs the room. At first you don't get it until his entire face seems to light up with a smile. "I'm feeling a Viennese waltz." He says slyly.
"For real?!" You nearly jump off of the stool in excitement. This particular waltz was one you had loved to do when you had really been a professional dancer. That was before things fell apart though.
"Yes. About 10 times, yes."
"I wanna start like...right now."
"That was the plan." He replied with a smirk on his face.
"Let's go!"
He looked at you for a moment and realized just how glad he was for you to be here. During Swan Lake, he had been the only person, other than Rafael, that you really talked to for the months that you were here for the ballet.
You and Val sat in the center of the floor and went through the same stretches together without even speaking. It was relatively simple but meant a lot that he had wanted to do this dance for the tour. You think about this while finishing out the floor stretches before moving to barre.
After an hour spent on warm-ups, you were both ready to begin.
"So, I pre-planned a little choreo. You down to see how it goes off the bat?"
"100 percent."
"Cool, cool." He taps his watch and the music starts. He walks over to the corner of the room and makes his way over to you quickly after, arms outstretched in clean lines. You take his hand and he leads back to center.
You are able to follow his movements by what you think he choreographed based on the genre. It's going well until his footwork gets a little intense for your quick thinking and you stumble. He catches you against his chest and chuckles lightly before turning the music off.
Val's heart is racing as you hear it thud in your ear. You're both trying to catch your breath when he speaks. "You good, kid?"
"Yeah, yeah. That footwork towards the end there caught me." You look up at him and laugh once you realize that he's nodding halfway through your sentence.
"Hey!" You step out of his embrace to hit him playfully. "I just got back. Go a little easy."
"I would never." He smirks. Then he goes into showing you the rest of the movements for the next few counts. You pick them up easily and the number is run a few times by the end of 2 hours, with some extensive breaks in between.
You pick up your phone and see a text from Rafael. You can't help the smile that breaks your expression. Missing him had been the only other thing on your mind these last weeks besides rehearsal.
Rafael: Hey, baby. Missing you today. Hope rehearsals are kicking your ass 😂
Y/N: I miss you too. And they are, but it's fantastic.
••••
Val is laying on the floor beside you now with his phone in hand as well. You turn to look over at him and ask, "Ooh, someone new?"
He had always been a flirt. The man was romantic too. You'd seen it first hand the few times after the ballet that you two had hung out at the Dancing with the Stars studios.
Valentin scoffed a little and returned your gaze evenly. "Surprisingly, nah."
"Old then?" You muse lightly.
"Ha! I wish. No, I'm seriously just chillin' for now."
"I can dig that." You put your phone down and roll to your side, now completely facing him.
"Yeah? How are you and Rafael doing?"
"We're alright, we're alright. It's not easy being away but we're makin' it work."
"That's good to hear then. You also seem better than last time we saw each other."
"Yeah." You reply, thinking the rest of this conversation out in your head. You don't even realize that you drew the word out a little while trying to multitask.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing, I'm just trippin' out. But yeah. I think I'm better than the last time we spoke, a little healthier."
You knew you weren't really telling the truth but he hopefully wouldn't be able to tell.
"Well, I missed you more than you know. You were it for me, *koxana."
Smiling softly, you nod and take his hand in yours like the two of you would do after a performance when he led you offstage.
"I've missed you too! I haven't had anyone to dance with in forever."
"We were pretty good, yeah." He laughs, thinking back to all the rehearsals and shows spent perfecting the ballet together: nights spent laughing in a dark studio after you drank way too much coffee, the frustration the two of you sometimes took out on the other in exhaustion, and of course, his mistake. The kiss.
Valentin was an incredible man, and almost an even better partner. He was becoming your best friend once more and it was most definitely something that you needed. After all, you really had missed him.
After rehearsal that afternoon and into the night, you left the studio to drive home. You were beyond tired, sore, and missing Rafael. Going back to an empty apartment every night was taking its toll.
You arrive at your building and walk inside shortly after. Stripping off sweaty clothes, you make your way to the shower. This leads to making it to your bed just in time to fall onto the mattress heavily. You hadn't bothered to redress and it was of no use to close the bedroom door. With this, you quickly fall into a deep sleep not prompted by any medication. This was the first of its kind of night in a while.
Y/N had left the studio to Val that night. He stay laying down on the floor with closed eyes. It seemed to get colder when she left, he thought. Valentin, more than anything, was simply content with having her around again. He wasn't going to mess it up this time. Not having her around at all turned out to be much more difficult than having her back as his friend. He would be okay with this. He had to be for her.
*Koxaha (ko-hana): Ukrainian for "love"
Follow up: This may not be exactly accurate in terms of translation. The actual phonetic pronunciation wasn't available so I just typed it how it sounds from my own ears.
A/N- Thank you for your patience in this story!! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.
Love, El