Inspired by Austin's admission in Grand Openings & Great Expectations that he and Dez took ballroom dance classes together.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Cool Kids Don't Dance
There is a reason Alan Stillman named his restaurant 'T.G.I Fridays' in 1965. There is a reason Abba's 'Dancing Queen' goes out on a Friday night. There is a reason they call it 'casual Friday'. And that reason is this; Fridays are awesome. Simple. Therefore it is a truth universally acknowledged that everyone loves Fridays, everyone that is except Austin Moon.
The sun is high in the sky, the birds are singing in the trees and the final bell of the day has just rang releasing Austin and his classmates from the prison some like to refer to 'school'. Up until six weeks ago Austin had loved Fridays, adored them in every sense of the word. Six weeks ago Fridays had meant chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs, hours upon hours of video games, and most importantly blanket fort building. Now Fridays only mean one thing; ballroom dancing.
For whatever reason (probably a stupid one) Mimi Moon had thought it would be a great idea to enrol her ten year old son in a ballroom dance class. Austin had begged her not to sign him up, he'd gotten down on his knees and promised to keep his room clean and wash the dishes, but his mom had made up her mind.
Every Friday for three hours Austin and several other students would practice dance after dance, technique after technique. Though he was reluctant to learn Austin had a natural talent, and if it weren't for the sudden lack of dinosaur chicken nuggets in his life he might have actually enjoyed himself.
"Austin, wait up!"
Austin is halfway out the door when he hears his name across the classroom. His brain is telling him to keep going, that it's probably just one of the other boys wanting to tease him yet again over his Friday afternoon extracurricular activities; ever since Danny Jones had caught him practicing his waltz in the gym two weeks ago the taunting had been relentless.
Fortunately for Austin, it's not Danny or any of the other jerks in his class, its Dez Wade, his best friend. Austin has known Dez since kindergarten, he's his partner in crime and the only person in the whole grade who doesn't mock him for his 'girly' interests.
"Oh, hey Dez," Austin smiles, and for the first Friday in a while it feels genuine. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to know if you were walking home today," Dez says, returning Austin's smile. He'd never admit it out loud, through fear of being ridiculed by his classmates even more so, but Austin likes Dez's smile; it's lop sided and the dimples it forms in his cheeks are so large they could house the homeless.
Austin sighs, running an exasperated hand through his long blonde locks. "Dez, we've been over this, I can't today. It's Friday, remember? I have that thing." He doesn't like to say the words aloud anymore, just in case Danny or any of his friends are lurking around the corner waiting to wail on him for it.
Dez blinks, his expression clueless. His copper coloured hair falls is falling into his eyes and Austin has the strangest urge to brush it out of the way for him, if he could reach that is; Dez is what Austin likes to refer to as a baby giraffe, his all long limbs which he has no idea what to do with, falling flat on his face is something the redhead is an expert in.
Austin groans in exasperation pulling Dez roughly by the arm and dragging him back into the relative safety of their classroom; only Ms Morgan remains and she's too wrapped up in her laptop to spare them more than a fleeting glance.
"Ballroom dance class, Dez," Austin rushes out because even though he knows he's free from harm in Ms Morgan's presence he still doesn't want to chance it. "My mom is picking me up to take me to the studio right now." If he really doesn't hurry this up then his mom is probably going to yell at him for being late.
Dez stares down at him with wide, curious eyes. "Why are you doing it if you hate it?"
The great thing about being friends with someone for so long is that you don't even need to tell them how you're feeling for them to know. "Because my mom wants me to do it… besides, I'm not bad at it," Austin turns his gaze away from the tiny oceans that are Dez's eyes and instead focuses on the suspicious looking stain on his shoe.
"Just because you're good at it doesn't mean you like it," Dez points out. "I'm good at math but that doesn't mean I'm gonna do my homework for it." Dez sneaks a peek in Ms Morgan's direction, scared she might have heard; she doesn't even look their way. "And, you know… I just… never mind, you're gonna be late. We should go."
Fearful of his mom's rage Austin allows himself to be ushered from the room and out into the hallway. However, just because he's speed walking doesn't mean he can't interrogate his best friend at the same time; Dez is never hesitant, regardless of the time, place or the situation, he will always speak his mind and yet, he didn't.
"What were you going to say?" Austin quizzes, hitching his knapsack higher up his back. "Back in Ms Morgan's room."
Dez merely shrugs mumbling out a 'nothing' and something about Austin's mom. His reply doesn't sit well with Austin and despite the increasing amount of trouble he's bound to be in for being late, Austin comes to a halt in the middle of the hallway, his sneakers squeaking horrendously on the polished tile floor.
"C'mon dude, talk to me," Austin says, hoping his eyes can convey his sincerity to his friend. The fact that Dez isn't being upfront with him makes him uncomfortable, it's something he's never really had to deal with before, only once when Dez's dog, Max, had died. "What's wrong?"
Dez runs a hand down his face, he looks surprisingly older when he does that, even if his outfit – a daffodil yellow sweater (no doubt knitted by his grandmother) and bottle green dungarees – scream otherwise. "You're gonna think its lame."
Austin frowns at his words. "Nothing you ever say is lame, Dez," He places a comforting hand on the taller boy's elbow and pulls him forward into a hug, his tiny arms wrapping around Dez's slender waist. "Now, talk," He commands as he pulls away because for what Austin lacks in height he makes up for in leadership skills, and of the two of them he's definitely the leader.
"I just… I feel like I never see you anymore," An embarrassed heat crawls its way to Dez's cheeks, tinting even the tips of his ears. "Like, yeah, we hang out at lunch and stuff but it feels like… well, it feels like you're always trying to impress Danny and his friends at the moment, and you sorta ditched me this week to play soccer with them, and I don't know… are you ashamed of being friends with me?"
Austin's entire demeanour drops. He feels like he's just been punched in the gut, only instead of a fist it's words that are hurting him. He doesn't know what to say. Sure, he'd been trying to act cooler in front of the guys after the whole dance debacle but that's only because his rep had been so badly tarnished by his 'gay' behaviour. He can't help that in order for Danny and his friends to stop picking on him he has to act a little differently, but he hasn't been ignoring Dez, has he?
"What? No! Why would you even think that?" Austin asks, Dez's words feel like knives piercing his skin. "Dude, you're my best friend, since kindergarten until the day we die, remember?"
"Then why don't you want to hang out with me anymore?" A small crease has formed between Dez's eyebrows, and his fidgeting with a loose piece of cotton from his shirt.
"It's not that I don't want to hang out with you, Dez. I just… I just can't right now. You heard those guys last week, they think I'm a girl! I don't want to be a girl but my mom won't let me quit dance class, so I've gotta act like them so I can be cool again, you know?"
"But did you have to play soccer all week? You didn't even ask me to join in, you just left me in the under the tree by myself," Dez accuses, even going so far as to literally point his index finger at him.
"Because you don't like soccer!" Austin throws back, a funny kind of feeling building in his stomach. "You can't kick the ball properly and then you complain when no one passes it to you."
"You still could have asked!" Dez snaps, his crystalline eyes watering and his lip giving a threatening wobble. "You left me on my own all week so you could run around with Danny and pretend you were just like him. And maybe you are just like Danny because the Austin Moon I know never would have left me on my own."
A frog sized lump has formed in Austin's throat as he watches salty tears trickle down Dez's freckled cheeks. The thing is he had felt bad about abandoning Dez, especially since the redhead doesn't exactly have many friends other than him, but there are only so many times a person can be called a 'ballet bitch' and not do anything about it.
Perhaps if Austin didn't have to dedicate his Friday's to dance class then things with Dez wouldn't be as bad as they clearly are. Fridays used to be about chicken nuggets and playing video games in his blanket fort with Dez, now they're dedicated to hurling himself around a dance studio whilst his coach comments on his 'lack of form', it's hasn't exactly been a fair trade.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I ditched you for Danny and the guys but Dez, I don't want to be a 'girl' anymore. I don't want to spend another minute watching the other boys pirouette around me in the playground whilst they call me a 'gay boy'. I wish I knew how to fix this," As far as speeches go Austin's monologue is pretty small and yet he feels as though he's just ran a marathon.
Dez blinks at him, his stare hard. "Obviously I wouldn't know what it's like to be called a 'gay boy', would I? Silly me."
If he were Danny Jones or anyone of Danny's friends for that matter Austin might have cussed in realisation; Dez knows what it's like to be called 'gay' and to be ripped apart for his likes and dislikes. He knows what it's like to stand at the bus stop in the morning and to have people give him a wide berth just in case 'the gay is catching'. Dez knows exactly what it's like and yet Dez continues to be himself wholeheartedly and without care.
Austin pinches his eyes together in frustration. "I didn't mean it like that, Dez. I'm just… I'm not like you. I'm not strong and I can't pretend that their comments don't hurt. Like, I didn't choose to do dance, my mom forced me to. If Danny and his friends think I'm like them then they'll leave me alone and hopefully forget about the whole dance thing, and then once this is all over you and I can go back to Friday night video games and blanket forts, that's all I really want."
Dez's gaze softens. "Really? Our sleepovers are what's important to you?"
Austin shrugs, a bashful smile on his lips. "Well, yeah, you're my best friend, Dez. Like, I hate the things that Danny and the guys call me, so I kind of have to be their friend to get them to stop, but that kind of takes up all my time. If I could I'd just hang out with you every second of the day, even on Saturdays when my mom takes me to see Grandma."
If possible, Dez's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. "Really? You'd ditch your grandma just to hang out with me?"
"I'd give up eating pancakes with LeBron if it meant I could hang out with you," Austin says earnestly. Part of him feels this moment calls for another hug but he's pretty sure he's used up his hug quota for the day and he's still sort of scared Danny is going to jump out of a locker and catch him cuddling another boy.
Oblivious to Austin's inner debate, Dez beams, his face lighting up like a miniature sun, before throwing his arms out and tackling the shorter boy into a bruising embrace. "Thanks Austin, and if you want to hang out with Danny that's fine, I get it."
He wishes he were a better person, that he had the strength to go to Ms Morgan and tell her exactly what's been going on but as it happens, Austin isn't a better person so instead he buries his head further into Dez's neck and holds on that little bit tighter.
Then inspiration strikes.
Dez isn't afraid to be himself. Dez gets made fun of on a regular basis and still holds his head high and continues to be him. Dez wants to spend more time with him again. Austin wants to hang out with his best friend without the judgemental eyes of his classmates staring back at him. And Austin knows the perfect place for that.
"So this is where you go every Friday after school?" Dez says, his big, blue eyes scanning the open space around them. There is a mirror spanning the entire back wall and the barre is fixed to the wall adjacent.
He's been dancing non-stop for three hours and Austin is more than glad to take a seat next to Dez on the floor. The other students are talking amongst themselves, boasting about the different moves they have each been able to perfect during the session; Austin himself had been more interested in entertaining Dez with his increasingly goofy dance steps.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, right?" Austin says, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.
Dez hums in agreement. The voices of the other students fade out and soon just the two of them remain. "I can see why you like it so much."
Austin's head snaps forward and he stares at Dez in utter bewilderment. "Like it? Dez, I hate it here. I can't wait until Coach Simmons decides he's had enough of me and kicks me out."
Dez snorts. "Dude, I'm not blind. I can see it in your eyes when you're dancing how much you love it, you don't have to lie to me. I promise I won't make fun of you."
Austin frowns. Admittedly he does kind of like dancing, he's good at it and he sort of enjoys the way his heart races in his chest after he performs a particularly complicated step but other than that he can't wait to leave. Yet, today was different. Today he'd enjoyed himself, hadn't stopped smiling since the moment he'd walked in the room and he doesn't know why. What was different? What changed?
And then it hits him. It literally hits him, square in the face.
"Dez!" Austin yelps, cradling his nose in defence to prevent his friend from causing any actual damage. "What did you do that for?"
"You zoned out and I wanted to ask you something," The redhead replies as he climbs to his feet. Austin finds himself scowling at the sudden lack of warmth on his right side.
"Ask away," He says, gesturing airily with his hands. "As long as it doesn't involved me getting up any time soon."
Dez smiles sheepishly and Austin groans in response.
"Why?" He whines, flopping over onto his side, his head resting somewhat comfortably on the smooth vinyl floor. "What do you need that requires me to move? My mom isn't going to be here for another twenty minutes at least, that's enough time for me to nap."
"I was hoping you would show me that last dance you did," Dez says quietly as though he's almost embarrassed to ask. He performs a small, and completely inaccurate, presentation. His long limbs flailing in several different directions before he trips over his own feet tumbling to the ground in a heap of giggles.
"Ah yes, the Coppertop Flop," Austin smirks, his brown eyes glittering with mirth. "Unfortunately I'm not sure that particular step is on the syllabus."
"Shut up," Dez says through his own laughter, stretching out his hand to swat hopelessly at the blond. "Will you show me or not?"
Austin lets out an overly dramatic sigh before rising to his feet, his worn out muscles crying out in protest but he ignores them in favour of appeasing his friend. If it will make Dez smile then Austin will do it without question. "Take my hand."
Once the words drop from his mouth there's no way of taking them back, and Austin is convinced his heart stops beating in his chest as he stares in horror at his own out stretched hand. In his head he can hear Danny's taunts, yet his cruel words seem to vanish from existence as Dez holds his hand without even the slightest hint of hesitation.
His voice shakes as he speaks, explaining the basic steps to Dez. As he is the more experienced one of the two, he takes the lead and pulls the taller boy closer; they're chest to chest and Austin has no way of knowing who's heart is beating harder, his or Dez's, either way he can feel both.
"Okay, so just take one step," Austin mumbles. He's not too concerned with the moves themselves, his brain has more important things to focus on, like the fact that his palms are disgustingly sweaty right now and he's probably going to drown in the blue pools that are Dez's eyes.
They're so close Dez's breath is tickling his face and he's certain he's going to pass out at any moment due to over exposure to his best friend's beauty. He's not sure when his mind began thinking it was a good idea to wax poetic over another boy but something in his bones tells him it's okay, that it's Dez and that Dez makes everything okay.
He doesn't know how long they dance for but he does know that it doesn't take long for their steps to move from awkward and stilted to as easy as breathing. They move together in a way that even the most talented of dancers would be envious of. Ordinarily Austin needs to focus on his moves, needs to count each step and remind himself to stand tall and proud, yet with Dez his methods go out the window because instead of counting he's having a discussion about Zaliens and chicken nuggets.
They get so lost in their dance that neither boy hears the studio door open, it's only when the clapping begins do the two fall apart, flying away from each other as though burned. Mrs Moon is beaming at them from the doorway, Coach Simmons at her side nodding his approval, and before Austin even has chance to explain Mrs Moon has launched into praise and Coach Simmons is asking Dez if he'd like to join them next week too.
And suddenly Fridays don't seem so bad after all.