DISCLAIMER:I own nothing! I don't own Hairspray, the characters, anything!
A/N: First chapter and first fic! Pretty boring, but it will get better! Read and review please XD
Pretty Things
"Be
a star and fall down somewhere next to me
And make it past your
color TV"
Corny Collins sighed as the studio buzzer went off, signalling the end of another long day of filming. He stood still for a while, silently smiling at the council kids as they scattered off in every direction, getting ready to head home for the night. He glanced around the studio and began to walk to his dressing room, but he was stopped in his tracks as his eyes caught the delicate silhouette of Amber Von Tussle heading out of the doorway. He ran a hand through his hair then shook his head, trying to shove the thoughts to the back of his mind. She was the daughter of Velma, the stations manager, and the lead dancer on the Corny Collins show. Almost all of the other kids were better dancers than her but what Velma says, goes. Amber's incompetence as a dancer, and unpopularity amongst the other girls usually led to her messing up steps or falling over, and it was always up to Corny to help her back up, although he never got so much as a 'thank you'.
He didn't mind though, he knew it was hard for her, constantly having to live up to her mothers expectations, and he felt somewhat sorry for her, although he'd never admit it. He'd always had a soft spot for her, for a start, she was stunningly beautiful, by far the best looking girl on the show. She always made an effort to look nice, and she was definitely flirtatious. Whenever possible, she'd brush past him, put a hand on his shoulder, bend over seductively in front of him. Corny couldn't work out whether it was because she genuinely wanted to, or because her mother had taught her to use her looks to get what she wanted. Whatever the reason, her efforts to constantly be the center of attention amongst the rest of the council worked most of the time, and she was certainly the center of his attention.
He walked up to his dressing room, entered, and quietly shut the door behind him. He took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie, and leant back against the door. He closed his eyes, taking in the silence of the studio, a rare occurrence. His mind wandered back to Amber, and how she'd taken a tumble in the last dance of today's show. She fell straight into his arms, and looked up at him with her icy blue eyes, helplessly. Her blonde hair looked immaculate as always, in a sophisticated up-do with a few golden tendrils seductively falling around her snow white skin, her peach dress clinging to all the right places…
There was a loud knock on the door, and Corny jumped, and swore, startled, as his thoughts were interrupted. He cleared his throat and opened the door, and was surprised to see Amber stood there. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything she barged past him and into his dressing room. Corny shut the door, and Amber turned on her heels to face him, hands on her hips.
"Corny, you're going to have to give me a ride home, my mother got picked up by some guy and told me to make my own way home, but it's raining and –"
"What, your mother has just left you and gone on a date?" Corny interrupted.
"Well, yeah, and I'm not walking home because it's raining -"
"Yeah, you said. Look, Amber, can you not get a lift off Link or one of the girls?" Corny sighed, saying the words through gritted teeth. In actual fact, all he could think about doing recently was spending time alone with her, away from the show, but one, she had just turned 17, making her notably younger than him, and two, he didn't really like going out of his way to spend time with the council kids outside of the studio, especially since the incident between him and Brenda. It wasn't so much that it bothered him, but he knew people were talking already, and he didn't fancy losing his job.
"They already left… you know what? Forget it." Amber growled as she began to stomp out of the room.
Corny closed his eyes, "Amber, wait. Sit down. I'm not going to let you walk, just give me 10 minutes."
Amber turned around, and walked to the chair in the corner of the room. She perched herself on the edge, watching Corny as he pottered around his dressing room. She narrowed her eyes as she studied his face, something she never normally got the chance to do. She ran her eyes over his, a much deeper blue than hers, his perfectly formed lips, his chiselled jaw line, sexily accentuated with the slightest hint of stubble, his eyebrows furrowing as he struggled to undo the knot on his tie. He looked a lot different than what he did on the show, when he wasn't acting for the camera, playing the perfect host with the million dollar smile. He looked more … real, she thought, andincredibly handsome. She smirked to herself and stood up.
"Need any help with that?" she asked, softly. Corny began to protest but she moved closer to him and put her hands over his, her delicately manicured fingers working over the knot, undoing it almost effortlessly. Corny shivered as her skin brushed his, closing his eyes as he felt the heat of her hands on his neck. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, until Corny opened his eyes, his hands now down at his sides, still covered by Ambers.
"Thanks," he said, so quiet that it was almost a whisper. She smiled at him, and walked back to the chair where she was previously sat. Corny got the rest of his things together, his head still spinning. He cleared his throat, and motioned to Amber that he was ready to go. They walked to his car, making general chit chat, both obviously trying to think of anything to talk about to divert their attention from each other and the relatively intimate moment they shared no more than 10 minutes ago. They both got into Corny's car, and began the drive to Amber's house. It didn't take as long as they'd secretly hoped, and they exchanged their goodbyes. Amber walked up to her front door, turning to wave at Corny. He smiled back, and sat and waited to make sure she got in okay, like all good gentlemen do. Amber knocked at the door, no answer, although that was to be expected, she had no idea what time her mother would be back. She turned to Corny and shrugged, then reached into her purse for her key. She rooted around for a good while, but it was nowhere to be found. Corny opened his door and stepped onto the pavement, puzzled.
"Everything okay, Amber?" he shouted.
"No, I've lost my key! I must have left it at the studio" she groaned, slamming her purse shut angrily.
Corny sighed, it was getting dark, and he couldn't just leave her sitting on the doorstep all night. He knew what Velma was like, Amber was always the last of her thoughts, as long as she was out having a good time, no-one or nothing else mattered.
He opened the passenger door to his car, checking to see if the key had fallen out of her purse during the drive. It hadn't, and he swore to himself as he made his way up the path.
His mind went into overdrive, thinking of people he could call, somewhere he could take her. Of course, there was only one place he wanted her to end up, but it was completely unprofessional, and irresponsible of him. He wasn't even sure how she'd react, he wasn't laying all his hopes on the one incident that had happened earlier.
As he reached the front step, he looked into her sky blue eyes. The wind blew across her bare arms, causing her to shiver, and instinctively, he put both of his arms around her. He regretted it instantly as he expected her to freak out, but she relaxed into his chest, warming herself with his body heat. Immediately, his heart overruled his head, and he eventually made his decision about what he was going to do with Amber Von Tussle.
"Amber... it looks like you're going to have to come back to my place"
He grimaced as he awaited her reaction, but she grinned into his torso, and began to walk back down the path towards Corny's car. He followed her, a whir of excitement in the pit of his stomach.
