A/N: I do not own the characters, the songs, part of the lyrics or any lines that have appeared in any movies.
This is a two chapter story, read and enjoy!
Shane turned out the bathroom light and walked into her bedroom. She ran her hand down the bottom half of the blue dress hanging up, and smiled. She got into bed; put on hand cream as she did every night, sighed and turned out the bedside lamp. As Shane's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could faintly see the outline of the dress. She pulled the covers up around her and replayed the evening until she fell asleep as her thoughts invaded her dreams.
"Names."
"Shane McInerney and Oliver O'Toole." Oliver said a little nervously.
The lady at the check-in table looked up at them, pulled her glasses down to the end of her nose and looked over them. She looked at Shane and then at Oliver. She smiled, pushed her glasses up and popped her gum.
"Cute couple." She looked down at the paper and searched. "McInerney and O'Toole… McInerney and O'Toole… McInerney and O- Oh here you are. McInerney and O'Toole, numbers 23 and 24, here are your contestants numbers just peel off the back and attach to your backs. Ladies dressing room is the first door on the right; men's is the second on the left. The practice room is around the corner on the right, the ballroom is right here, the stage manager will come get you from the practice room, two dances before and bring you through the stage door. The after dancing waiting room is down the hall from the stage door." She fumbled through some other papers on her table. "I see your dance instructor has already dropped off your music and has checked in, so it looks as though you are ready to dance. Good Luck!"
Shane and Oliver thanked her, took their numbers and walked down the hallway.
"Oliver." Shane said as she stopped walking.
He turned to face her. "Yes, Shane?"
For the last couple of months they were keeping their relationship status private, but it still weakened Shane's knees when he said her name.
"Here's the ladies dressing room." She pointed to the door with the sign on it. He looked confused. She stepped closer to him. "I need me dress." She held out her hand near his, he was holding two black garment bags.
"Oh yes, I suppose you would need that."
She touched his other shoulder and let her hand slip down his arm to his, and held it.
"Relax please, Oliver." She smiled sweetly at him and took her bag. "I'll meet you in the practice room." She let go of his hand and headed for the door.
"My tie, Shane?"
"Oh yes. I have it in here." She unzipped her garment bag and pulled out his tie off the hanger of her dress.
"Royal blue?" He questioned.
Shane nodded and smiled again. "Go get dressed." She disappeared into the dressing room.
Oliver looked at the tie and felt as if he had remembered the color, when suddenly he heard a familiar voice.
"Ovilear! What a wonderful colored tie, my guess is that the lovely Shane has picked the best color for you both to share."
"Ramon, Sha- Miss McInerney is very astute with knowing how to coordinate."
"Then you must get dressed. Go."
"I- I-"
Stuttering was something Ramon knew Oliver never did. He put his arm around Oliver's shoulders and led him down the hall.
"Remember what I said to you at Montaldo's? 'Dance is like love'?"
"No- No you've said it again, it should be love is like dancing."
Ramon turned, put both hands on Oliver's shoulders and smiled. "Is it though? Think Ovilear, while they may mean the same thing on the surface, dance and dancing are very different, no?"
Oliver looked confused.
"You see, dancing is the art of the movements, when to lead, when to follow, anticipate your partners next move. Dance is the expression of those movements, a certain style, a freedom to be who the two of you want to be with the music and of course, passionately done with the one we are dancing with." Ramon looked at Oliver and patted him on the shoulders. "I'll be waiting in the practice room for you both."
As Ramon vanished out of sight, Oliver felt a little overwhelmed with the new piece of knowledge that had been bestowed upon him. He had wondered just how long he had been in love with Shane. He took a deep breath and went to get changed.
As Oliver was waiting for Shane he reviewed the steps with instructor. Ramon stopped and smiled. Oliver turned to look at what he and what seemed like the rest of the room was looking at.
"Ahhh, the beautiful Shane. What an exquisite color that is on you, your eyes sparkle as if the sun were glistening on the ocean."
"Well thank you Ramon." She felt a small blush wash over her face as she saw Oliver not taking his eyes off of her.
"A perfect match." Ramon winked at Oliver. "Meaning your dress and Ovilear's tie."
"Thank you." She spun around. "It wasn't easy to find the same color. I thought I was going to have to get the tie dyed, but all of a sudden, there it was."
"Like fate. Come. Practice." Ramon clapped his hands. After a few times practicing and Ramon making last minute adjustments to an end of a move or a stance, he knew they were ready. "I believe you two will do very nicely. The new song and slight uptick in tempo will have the audience captivated."
"I still don't know about the song. It seems a bit…"
Ramon interrupted. "Ovilear, you're thinking again. Let the lyrics sweep you and the lovely Shane to a different place." Ramon Looked at Shane and back to Oliver. "This is a song your hearts sing to the world and your bodies through dance." He took both of their hands and put them together. "This song and the way you two dance will have the room melting in your hands." He looked at the two of them as they looked to each other and smiled. "Again! From the Top!"
A few more practices and they heard their names called from the door.
"Good luck."
Shane looked back at Ramon. "Aren't you coming to watch?"
"Of course, but from the ballroom."
The man that called their names lead them down a different hallway. "You two are on after numbers 47 and 48, they'll call your names, you have one minute to get into position." Before they could say thank you he was gone.
Shane and Oliver looked out to watch the current couple dance, the other couple they were to dance behind was practicing a few steps.
Oliver looked at Shane watching the couple dance. "Shane, I'm- I'm sorry I didn't say this earlier but I think-"
The music suddenly stopped and applause drowned out Oliver's words.
"That was fast." Shane said suddenly feeling her stomach flip flop.
The next couple was called, headed out on the dance floor, the music started and they began.
"There are quite a bit of people out there. More than I expected." Oliver noted as he realized he was getting even more nervous than he already was.
"Oh look, there's Ramon next to Rita and Norman."
Oliver quickly turned around. "Perhaps we jumped in too soon, this competition, the new song, the extra people, it's all too soon."
Shane turned and looked at him as another couple was brought in through the door. She closed the space between them, and whispered so only the two of them could hear. "Remember that night when we finally decided to give dancing a real shot?" She searched his eyes for some acknowledgment. "We said that if at any time, either one of us wanted to stop we would, no questions, no disappointments?" She took both of his hands in hers and remembered the rest of that beautiful night. A small blush painted her cheeks and a small smile came to Oliver's lips as if he too, remembered the rest of that night, their first and only kiss.
"No." Oliver said as he gained a bit of confidence. "No backing out this time, we won the student showcase, we can do this competition." Oliver smiled as he brushed some of her hair out of her face. "What do the main characters in one of your favorite movies say about doing things together?"
Shane thought for a second then whispered. "'You jump, I jump'"
"Right." Oliver smiled. "We jump to do the best of our ability here, in this dance."
Shane smiled and tried to close the gap between them even more. Just as their lips were about to touch, clapping rang out from the ballroom and they quickly separated and applauded their fellow contestants.
The couple came off the dance floor. "Good luck you two." They said and went out the stage door. Shane and Oliver's names were called by the judges.
"Ms. McInerney." Oliver held out his hand to her.
"Mr. O'Toole." She smiled and put her hand in his. They entered onto the dance floor. Rita and Norman waved from their seats. Shane and Oliver smiled and got into position.
She could feel he was still a bit nervous and she was sure he could feel she was too.
"I've got you." He whispered.
"I've got you too." She whispered back, knowing they wouldn't let the other falter.
Their song, 'After All' by Cher and Peter Cetera started; they counted three beats and moved simultaneously.
The words Ramon said, Oliver's realization of his feelings for Shane, and the lyrics finally washed over Oliver. The song finally had meaning for Oliver and he knew why Ramon chose it for them. While trying to concentrate on dancing but letting the lyrics take him, Oliver thoughts drifted to how beautiful the song so closely fit them, how their journey led them here. Led him here. To her. With her.
"Remember when you switched the music when we thought we'd do the showcase the first time around?"
Shane, while trying to concentrate on the dance, looked at him with disbelief. "Oliver! Focus!"
He smiled. "Do you?"
She was getting frustrated and doing her best to concentrate for the both of them. "Of course."
"You wore a dress similar to this, same color."
"And…" She wondered where this was going and why it had to be now.
"What made you pick a similar color?"
Shane thought as she felt Oliver take more control of the dance. She knew she needed to concentrate; they worked too hard to have it fall apart on the dance floor. "Not now, Oliver."
"No time like the present, Ms. McInerney."
Her heart fluttered, not knowing if it was the pressure of the dance or if it was because of what he wanted to talk about.
"It brings out our eyes."
"I think you chose it because of that night in the D.L.O., You looked beautiful that day."
She smiled.
"In fact I think you looked as beautiful then as you do right now.
She looked at him intently. In that moment she realized the competition, the judges and the audience had faded away from him. She smiled brightly and let the same happen to her.
"Thank you. You're right. I think of that evening often, but blue is a good color for us too."
He smiled. "That was a good choice in song."
"And this one?"
"It is another good choice, not as good as our song, but another musical anecdote to add to the story of us."
Shane smiled widely at the thought of Oliver keeping track of their story.
"This time it ends right." Oliver said as he spun and lowered Shane into their final dip. He closed his eyes and leaned in to close the space between their lips.