When you taught me how to dance
By velja
Pairing: None directly, but if you squint really hard it's Chyan implied
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Chad and Ryan belong to Disney, to Kenny Ortega and of course to Corbin and Lucas. They're not mine. The title of this story and both versions of the song belong to Mr. Nigel Westlake and the motion picture "Miss Potter". I borrowed it for a while.
Setting: Set ten years after Graduation, so… AU
Summary: Ten years in the future Chad tells his son how famous Musical- and Movie star Ryan Evans once taught him how to dance.
Author's note: I started this fic as part of a multi-chaptered story but then turned it into a one-shot. A sequel may follow one day but I didn't want to start a story and then abandon it, so I made it a one-shot instead.
Other lights may light my way, I may even find romance
But I won't forget that night when you taught me how to dance
"When you taught me how to dance" – Nigel Westlake
Albuquerque, May 2018
It was Saturday afternoon and Chad Danforth stood inside his kitchen and cut vegetables for tonight's dinner. Today it would be pasta vegetarian style for his small family (they were only two, himself and his 6-year-old son Jamie), because, you know, children needed vegetables from time to time. Chad knew that and he tried to always keep an eye on Jamie's nutrition, he wanted the boy to grow up healthy after all.
But being a single parent wasn't always easy and over the course of the last two years Chad had more than once thought that perhaps staying with Olivia would have been better for their son. He would have gotten more healthy meals than Chad would ever be able to provide and he'd have had a mother on top.
But then, no. The constant change between his parents fighting and their silent treatment of each other would have been in no way better for the child.
Chad and Olivia had really tried to make it work but… well, maybe they'd both been too young to be parents or… perhaps if they'd known each other a little longer before Olivia had gotten pregnant…
'Or,' Chad had often thought, 'if you'd just been honest with yourself… if you'd had the guts to admit preferring guys a little earlier… then none of this would ever have happened. Jamie would never have happened!'
Now that thought was just wrong, Chad knew. Jamie was his everything, he loved his son with all his heart and he wouldn't change what had happened or give him up for anything in the world.
Not even for…
"Now what is that damn racket?" Chad suddenly wondered when loud music from the living room disturbed his thoughts.
Not that the distraction wasn't welcome with that particular direction his thoughts had wandered off into.
"I'd better be looking what Jamie is doing in there," Chad said determined and put the knife aside. He walked over to the door, peered cautiously inside and then walked into the living room.
Jamie was lying on his belly in front of the TV, the tiny feet swinging through the air to the rhythm, dark curls bouncing around his grinning face.
"Hey grasshopper, turn it down a little, would you?" Chad tried to be heard over the noise.
"But Dad," Jamie complained, eyes never leaving the screen, "that's 'Rock Holidays'!"
"Rock what?"
"'Rock Holidays'. It's the best movie ever!" Jamie turned his head and glared at his father as if it was a crime to not know the movie. Which it probably was, at least for every 6-year-old who wanted to be cool and a member of the in-crowd in Kindergarten.
"Really, the best movie ever? Says who?" Chad wanted to know.
He'd never heard of it before but then…this was clearly a music-movie, if the young couple currently dancing over the screen (in the rain, how cheesy was that?) was any indication. And he wasn't exactly an expert on Teen-Musicals nowadays, was he? Not that he'd ever been interested in Musicals in the first place… well, except that one time in High School… or rather the two times. Or, well… three, if you'd count the talent show at the Lava Springs Country Club.
Okay, so maybe he had been kind of interested in Musicals in former days, but… it had all been Troy's fault… and Ryan's. Not his doing whatsoever!
A shocked intake of breath from his son pulled Chad back into the present and he tried not to smile when Jamie answered:
"Everyone says that! Truly, Dad, they're all talking about it in Kindergarten and even Mrs. Watson from my preschool music class said that we should watch it!"
"Really," Chad wondered, suddenly interested. He stepped further into the room and threw a closer look at the TV. The couple was still dancing through the rain, lost in their romantic duet. He slid to the ground beside Jamie and asked:
"And did Mrs. Watson tell you why we should be watching it?"
"Oh, well… she said we should watch it for this one guy who's from here and now he's famous but Chris Baker said that the car race they're doing is like totally cool and that everybody had to see that."
"What guy?" Chad wanted to know.
"Chris Baker? He's…"
"No," Chad interrupted, "the other one. Famous? And from here? Do you mean…"
"Ryan Evans," Jamie stated and then threw a quick glance at the TV, "look, it's that one."
Chad's eyes fell back onto the screen and… wow, truly.
There was Ryan Evans, talking to the now no-longer-dancing couple and looking exactly like the last time Chad had seen him, nearly ten years ago, two weeks after graduation at Ryan's fare-well party.
Okay, not exactly the same… the Ryan on screen wasn't wearing a hat and his hair was slightly longer… it suited him, Chad thought absentmindedly. But other than that… he looked not a single day older, with the same blue eyes and he was wearing the same brave smile on his face, a smile that couldn't hide the sadness he was trying to mask.
Chad tried to listen to the dialogue now taking place between the girl and Ryan.
'I'm not mad at you, I just… I wished that you'd have told me sooner,' he said and threw a quick glance at the floor. When he looked up again there were tears glistening in his eyes and he had to clear his throat before he could finish:
'I… I hope you're happy… that he's making you as happy as I… as you deserve.'
'Thanks,' the girl smiled sadly and placed a small hand upon Ryan's arm. 'Really, Simon… thank you.'
And then she turned towards the other guy who'd been waiting a few steps away, the one she'd been dancing with earlier. Ryan…Simon?… watched the couple walk away and then he too turned around and dragged his feet in the opposite direction. The rain ran down his face, plastering his hair flat on his head, and washed away the tears that now ran freely down his flushed cheeks.
"Oh, dude," Chad sighed, feeling every bit of Ryan's misery.
"Hhm?" Jamie muttered and looked up into his Dad's face only to see it full of sadness. "Dad? What is it?"
"Oh, nothing. He… he just looked so… dejected."
"So… what?"
"Miserable," Chad tried to explain. "He just got dumped, didn't he?"
"Yeah, but… he's just…" Jamie broke off and shrugged. "Rick is the one doing the car race later. Simon's just the dance teacher."
For one second Chad stared in disbelief at his son and then he broke into a grin and snorted: "He's a dance teacher? Seriously?"
"Yes, why?"
"Oh, Evans," Chad mumbled more to himself, "still trying to get others to dance?"
"Dad?" Jamie asked a bit louder and pulled at Chad's arm to get his attention back. His father was still smiling over something and he didn't know what.
"Why is it so funny, Dad?"
Chad grinned down into his son's questioning face and answered:
"Because he always tried to get people to dance. Even in High School."
"You knew Ryan Evans in High School?" Jamie gasped. "Really?"
"Really," Chad nodded, "and he taught me how to dance."
"Wow… tell me!" Jamie begged and looked at his Dad with his special puppy-dog-eyes that Chad had never been able to resist.
"Okay," Chad said, "it all began with a baseball game. It was the summer before graduation and I was working as a kitchen aid at Lava Springs."
"The Country Club?" Jamie inquired.
"Yep. The Evans' owned it, you know? Or… at least I guess they did. So Ryan was a member there and he…"
"What was he like, Dad?"
"Well, he was… he was Ryan!" Chad smiled fondly, "I didn't know him that well at first and… well, he'd always been starring in all the School Musicals. So I thought that was all he was about, you know? But then, one day we played this awesome game of baseball… and he rocked, he really did. That's when I started to think that maybe he was more than just an over-moussed show-dog… and I was right. We became friends over baseball but later, back in school, I got to know him much better."
"And where did he teach you how to dance," Jamie wanted to know. "On the baseball field?"
"No," Chad replied, "in school. In the auditorium after rehearsals for our Senior Year Spring Musical."
"You did a Musical?" Jamie couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Yes, I did. And I wasn't bad, but…"
"But what?"
Chad looked at his son and grinned. Jamie had snuggled up to his side with his head resting on Chad's upper arm, waiting for more. So he tugged his feet under his body for a more comfortable position on the floor, gathered Jamie up his arms and began to tell:
"I was good at the dances Ryan had thought out for the Musical, but that weren't really dances for couples, just some moves I had to do with lots of others. And one day when the prom was starting to loom on the horizon, I realized that I didn't know how to waltz. And 'Last Waltz' was our prom theme, so I thought that I should probably learn it quickly if I wanted to impress my girl.
So, that day after rehearsals I cornered Ryan and asked him if he would show me how to waltz. First he looked at me in that funny unsure way of his but when he saw that I was serious he picked out some music, took my hand and pulled me to the middle of the stage."
In one swift motion Chad stood up and pulled Jamie to his feet as well.
"Just like this," he grinned.
"Dad!" Jamie complained but followed him to the middle of the room nevertheless.
"Come on, it's fun!" Chad insisted. He grabbed the remote in passing and put the TV on mute. Lifting the boy up easily he placed Jamie's feet on top of his own so that he would have to follow Chad's steps.
"Ryan didn't do this," Chad explained, "but he made me watch his feet while he showed me the steps first. And then he pulled me into position and began to sing along to the music. It went like this:
Let me teach you how to dance,
Let me lead you to the floor,
Simply place your hand in mine,
And then think of nothing more.
Chad remembered the song as if it had been yesterday that he'd listened to Ryan sing it in his soft and awesome voice. And although he knew that he didn't sound nearly half as good Chad's voice grew more confident with every note and every step he swirled around the living room, Jamie on his toes. He'd closed his eyes and everything from that day came suddenly back to him. The sound of his' and Ryan's feet on the wooden stage of East High's auditorium, the smell of what was simply Ryan close to his face, the feel of Ryan's hand in his' and on his back, the heat and… electricity radiating through his entire body… everything rushed through his mind when he sang the words and danced with Jamie.
Let the music cast its spell,
Give the atmosphere a chance,
Simply follow where I lead,
Let me teach you how to dance.
Chad stopped his feet and opened his eyes when the last note had fallen from his lips. He smiled down into his son's enthusiastic face and lifted him back to the ground.
"After a few rounds Ryan and I changed positions and then it was my turn to take the lead. And I did it… he'd taught me well."
Chad finished his tale with a reminiscent smile on his face and waited for his son to comment on it.
"Cool," was all Jamie said before his eyes suddenly glided back to the forgotten TV in the corner. A small boy was now packing his suitcase on the screen.
"Oh no!" Jamie cried all of a sudden. "Now I missed the car race!"
Chad smiled apologetically and in walking ruffled Jamie's curls affectionately.
"No sweat, grasshopper," he said good-natured, "we can go buy the DVD on Monday."
"Really?" Jamie gasped.
"Really," Chad nodded and turned towards the kitchen door. "After all, everybody should have the best movie ever in his home collection."
Jamie let out a happy squeak and Chad walked back into the kitchen to resume preparing dinner, a smile on his face and the song still stuck in his ear. Picking up the knife and the carrots he started humming before he fell into slightly altered words.
When you taught me how to dance,
Years ago with misty eyes,
Every step and silent glance
Every move a sweet surprise.
Someone must have taught you well,
To beguile and to entrance,
For that night you cast your spell
And you taught me how to dance
Like reflections in a lake
I recall what went before
As I give a lone to take
And will be alone no more
Other lights may light my way
I may even find romance
But I won't forget that night
When you taught me how to dance
Cold winds blow but up on those
Hills you find me
And I know you're walking right
Behind me
When you taught me how to dance
Years ago with misty eyes
Every step and silent glance
Every move a sweet surprise
Someone must have taught you well
To beguile and to entrance
For that night you cast your spell
And you taught me to dance.
When you taught me how to dance.