CHAPTER 1
Roy tried again, this time reaching out further with his feet, sharply pulling himself up with a twitch of his back afterwards. Sweat glistened on his forehead, the small droplets almost invisible in the darkness, the only pair of lights in the back of the room, the dim lights fading in and out as his shadow danced with his body from the floor.
Why couldn't he get this move right?!
He glared at the mirror angrily, dark eyes boring into his movement through the glass, trying to find where he was going wrong.
He swung his shoulders back again, bending down to graze his fingers on the floor before flicking himself back up, vision swaying with his body as he flowed with the rhythm blasting on the speakers.
He leaped into the air, flying for a seconds before gravity took him again, his hair flinging into his eyes.
He couldn't take his eyes off of the mirror, trying desperately to fix his posture, but unable to find that exact place, that exact timing, that moment when everything would be absolutely perfect.
As Roy grimaced at the mirror murderously, he caught a flash of beautiful, untainted gold.
Freezing, he stared at the pool of swirling gold, the fire in those depths capturing his undivided attention.
His brained tried to register what exactly he was seeing in the darkness, and failed, eyes only able to register the blazing gold in the mirror.
Confused, his brain worked its gears.
There was nothing in this room that could show a gold like that.
The room was empty, filled with shadows and sweat and music, but with no sign of life other than the black haired man dancing through the dark.
Slowly, his eyes adjusted to take in the big picture. It was a boy.
It was a boy like he had never seen, brilliant gold irises cutting through the twilight and piercing through his soul.
The boy stared back at him, and for a long moment, the room was filled with white noise, silent other than the music lazily drifting from his speakers in the corner.
A voice cut through the moment, rough as knives but childish and innocent as a young teen. Which he was.
"You're doing it wrong." Roy gaped, body frozen, brain going in circles as he became lost in the boy, the boy with the golden hair and beautiful voice.
The boy sighed angrily, delicate features scrunching up in distaste.
"You need to move your head faster, and you need to put more force and speed into your spin. And make sure to land gently and smoothly with that flick."
Before Roy could even process what the boy had said, he was already moving, his body following the instructions on autopilot, muscles and body trained over the years ready for the movement that almost came naturally.
The next thing he knew, the world was flying around him, the gold eyes the only thing that stood out in the world of black and grey, burning through his body, expertise in the worn body that could only be of a dancer.
And then he was up, right on the beat, and he was panting, panting, body still flowing perfectly, so, incredibly perfectly that his failure before felt like a faraway dream.
The boy ran a critical eye over him, memorizing his movements and adding more tips along the course of the entire choreography, and Roy felt his body moving of its own accord, easily shifting to the correct posture.
"You need more strength to your roll you idiot! Do you even know how to dance?!"
The sharp words connected, but they had no sting to them, Roy's body only able to follow the commands, letting his body go with the music, one with the world of skin on the floor and the feeling of the air was he whipped through it, legs pumping, arms flicking and sliding easily through the hard dance moves with the help of his new coach.
It was all too soon when the music came to an end.
He stood there, panting, the feeling that had come to him slowly leaving as he stood there, glancing, surprised, at the boy in the mirror.
The boy scanned him, up, down, up, down.
He longed for that world again. That world where it was only him and the music. Him and the music and the boy.
The world where he danced, beat ringing in his ears, eyes slipping through the passing scenes around him, sweat sliding down his face as his sensitive skin tingled with delight.
He wanted it again. He needed to feel it again.
The next song came on, the intro starting on his speakers.
He stared expectantly at the boy, unable to bring himself to start without him.
With one dance, this boy had opened up Roy's heart. With one dance, this boy had made Roy feel like he had never felt before.
Just….. Who was this boy?
"What are you doing just standing there?! Dance you weirdo, dance!"
And so he did, again and again and again. Lost in the flow of the music and the words of the boy.
It only seemed like a few minutes before sunlight was slowly pouring into the music room, some early birds chirping tiredly outside of the window in the chilly February air.
Reluctantly, Roy stopped, frowning unhappily as he made his way to his speakers, pausing the music, leaving him feeling empty without it.
He looked back at the boy as he rubbed at his face with his towel, grimacing as he gripped his school bag, trying to drag out the time as much as possible.
But, soon, he found himself packed and having to leave.
He glanced at the boy one last time as he headed out of the door of the practice room, the heavy handle creaking as he pulled.
As he walked away, down the hall, all that he could think of was melting, fiery gold.
It wasn't until he got home that Roy realized that there had never been anybody in the practice room. There had been nobody in there with him.
The boy… had only existed inside of the mirror.