This is a little different! It's a one shot based on an idea I had about the feature length ep. I have attempted present tense, which felt very strange - it is insanely difficult to write in! If you're reading, a constructive comment on how I did would be very much appreciated! Hope you enjoy this and the episode.
Sitting at the table, Lily drums her fingers. It's a lovely occasion, if a little over the top. She inspects the cutlery, which is edged with gold. Excessive and rather lavish in her opinion.
Iain on the other hand enjoys making it quite obvious that he thinks differently. He chats, socialising with the guests. Admittedly, he was pretending to be a doctor, which probably explains away why he's attracting so much attention, Lily thinks. That, and the terrible dancing.
She watches, not quite meeting his eyes when he looks over. It would be inevitable she'd find herself roped in if she did, and that, she doesn't want. In many ways, she envies his outgoing character. He slowly but surely manages to charm each and every family member, which Lily finds wryly amusing. He's extremely likeable, and she knows this. He has buckets of personality, and she's the opposite. It feels embarrassingly backwards. All the same, nobody had noticed she isn't joining in.
'Let me just go find my girlfriend,' Iain tells a woman, raising his eyebrows at Lily from across the room. The words she thinks she sees him mime rocks her slightly. They'd agreed with each other during the car journey that it was all an act, of course it was - irrespective of how much they equally wanted it to be true. She holds her breath as he approached. 'Dancing?' He asks, outstretching a hand. She shakes her head politely and has another sip of wine.
His expression turns, and he crouches down so that nobody hears his words.
'I do not care what you think about your public image. I have sacrificed mine in its entirety tonight just for the benefit of your family. If I can dance, so can you, right? I mean it Lily. Get up or I'll walk out of here. Good luck getting home.' He hisses, before standing back up and speaking in a louder voice. 'Come on then, darling!'
His lips twitch at the corners, entertained. Soon, after an awkward pause, it's glaringly obvious that she has no choice but to accept (however reluctantly).
Lily doesn't like dancing, she never has. At a young age, being forced to attend a dancing school was off-putting. Ever since, she shudders at the mere thought of it.
She lets him lead her to the dance-floor, wondering why she blindly agreed to something she hates. Lily mumbles something at him that rhymes with 'chat', which causes him to turn around and chuckle. It slipped out, and she doesn't care. He deserves it.
'Need me to show you?' He offers, a certain twinkle in his eye. Lily wonders if it's intentionally flirtatious, or if he just can't help himself. She presumes the latter.
'I can dance,' She reminds him, putting him in his place. She can't, but he doesn't need to hear her say so.
'Okay.' He nods, eyebrows raised slightly. 'If you're sure.'
He knows she isn't sure. He has her sussed out, down to the last little minutiae of her personality. It grates on her. She had never meant to open up, yet he somehow knows things even she doesn't. It feels invasive, like he has learned secrets that he shouldn't be allowed to know. They aren't even a couple, it was just one night. And a year before that, but that year didn't count.
'You've glazed over. Come on, the third dance is nearly over.' Iain gestures to the where the couples are swaying about. It's all rather intimate. She feels a weird sensation climbing in her chest - nervousness? Hope?
'Sorry, I am a little tired.' Lily tells him.
He just nods. 'Well, wakey wakey. It's because you've had wine. You need more hardcore stuff. We'll go find the cocktails and spirits after this.'
She rolls her eyes, communicating that she has no wish to be doing any such thing, and certainly not at a wedding.
His face falls slightly, and she watches this happen. 'You are boring, you.'
'I'm not boring.' She argues, his words suddenly sparking defensiveness in her.
'Prove it then.' He retorts. 'You can dance with me now, and then you can prove you know how to have a good time and that my date is not disappointing.'
She tilts her head slightly, takes in what he's said, even though it isn't difficult to comprehend. He's definitely flirting with her. She knows that even if she didn't go drinking afterwards, nothing would change between them. It would take more than a few shots to shift the boulder of pent up emotion.
'Fine.' She forces the response.
His eyes widen, clearly taken aback by her submission.
'Good.' His eyes glint as he speaks, recognising that he's on to something. A pause. 'Now's the time.'
Lily takes a sizeable breath in, and he notices. She blinks, averting her own eyes as his hover from her lips back to her eyes.
It's so tentative, so wavering. It's an almost - they are an almost.
His left hand lies there, waiting. She swallows as subtly as she can manage to, before placing her right hand on top. His eyes bore into hers when their fingers touch, almost fixated. She stares back, discomfort fading fast.
He brings his right hand to rest on the small of her back, gently, cautiously. Delicately resting her other hand on his shoulder, they begin. It's clumsy and uncoordinated, and they giggle with nervousness.
'Not bad for a first try.' He whispers.
She pokes him, disgruntled by his acknowledgement. 'It is not my first try.'
'Alright.' He laughs, still annoyingly not believing her.
'I am good at this.' She comments, after a while of silence.
'Oh, yet another thing for Lily Chao to be cocksure about.'
'I am just saying!' She protests, though she smiles at his words. 'Anyway, you are quiet.'
'Not really, you're not meant to talk when you dance, are you?' He replies, evasively.
'You're not meant to do a lot of things, pretending to be a doctor being one of them.' She remarks, which brings a smile to his face. 'What is it? Is it the song?' He doesn't answer then. 'I know, it's a bit coupley.'
'We are a couple.' He shrugs, leaving his words hanging in the air, almost to test her. She remains quiet, stony, aware of his approach. 'For all intents and purposes.'
'I adore Ed Sheeran.' She says, changing the subject and relaxing a little in his arms.
'You do? It's a bit overplayed. Everyone has this one at their wedding nowadays.'
'That's because the music video is beautiful.' She tells him, eyes shining now.
'Again, it's a bit cheesy.'
'Now who's the boring one?' She teases.
'I'm not saying I don't like him, I'm just saying it gets played to death.' He explains, repositioning her hand from his chest back to his shoulder.
Her cheeks flush pink, and he gives a small shake of the head, almost reading her thoughts.
'Not because...' He sighs. 'It's just a little-'
'You don't have to explain.' She nods.
'I...'
'I said you don't have to explain!' Her voice raises a little, causing the couples nearby to turn and look.
'Now look what you've done...' He murmurs, embarrassed.
She gives a short sigh and steps away, feeling oddly ashamed. He had invited her to dance, then physically rejected her when she got too close. Her movements were not purposeful, they had been involuntary. Why would he do that? Unfair didn't cover it.
Regret and shame burns through her as she brushes countless people aside, throwing scatterings of apologies and 'excuse mes' as she goes.
The cool night air blasts her as soon as she steps outside. Trails of cigarette smoke dance through the air, but she tries not to inhale instead of going back in to the venue.
'I didn't mean that.' His voice is close, closer than she'd like it to be.
'It's okay.' She says quietly, looking down. They both know it isn't.
He sighs raggedly, the sound of defeat. The smell of booze pours off his clothing, and now they're outside, it hits Lily straight away. She shivers slightly - it's September and the nights are suddenly a lot nippier.
He notices and wriggles out of his jacket, passing it to her.
She doesn't take it, so his arm hangs in the air until she eventually feels forced to.
After sliding it on, she turns to him. Eyes wet with tears, it's an accusing look, whether she means for it to be or not.
'Why?' She asks, shrugging her shoulders. An ambiguous, yet summarising question to ask.
He knows better than to ask, 'why what?', so he looks her in the eye. 'I don't know. Alright? I really don't. I chickened out, felt embarrassed, all at the last minute. I was fine all evening with the whole pretence thing, but then it hit me like a truck. This isn't fair, Lily.' He breathes out, breath ascending to the sky. Lily's eyes follow it upwards, noticing it's unusually starry.
'It's not fair to pretend to your family, they're good people. And do you know what else?' He asks, not expecting an answer. She shakes her head, tired now.
'It's not fair to us.'
An honest declaration from him, and one which she agrees with. She finds herself surprised.
'We danced in there for one minute. One little minute. It was awkward because of how we left things the last time. It should have been lovely, and it wasn't.' He meets her eyes again, painfully truthful in his words. 'I know I upset you, but... I've had an idea.'
She looks up.
'How about I book us a room? Nobody will notice we're missing. We can do it all over again, recreate it. There's no people to judge, except me, so you've no excuses.' Listening to him, she smiles a little, which makes him smile too.
'You can put your hands back there. And... wherever else too.' He says.
Lily just nods slightly, meeting his eyes. He's anxious, and quite rightly so. It was a bold thing to say, and she knows it deserves an equally bold answer.
'There's nothing I'd like more.'