Here's the next installment! Thanks so much for reading and thanks to those of you who left reviews and shared your thoughts! Just one more chapter after this one...will Tom and his mysterious "dancing queen" be reunited? Well what do you think? ;oP Hehehehe, enjoy! Oh, and a special shout-out to syblime who I know is a lover of William/Gwen. I think you'll be happy by this little extra somethin' somethin' I threw in :oP

Part II

Eight months later…

"Tom, change your clothes," Thomas announced as he proceeded to walk right into his flat. "We're going out."

Tom frowned and stared after Thomas as he made himself cozy in Tom's kitchen, going straight to his refrigerator and checking to see what booze he had on hand. "Ugh, could you be any more of a stereotype?" Thomas groaned as he pulled out a bottle of Jamesons and a can of Guinness.

Tom opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped short by two other people entering the flat.

"Hey Tom! You ready?" William asked.

"Does he look ready?" Thomas muttered, his eyes still trying to decide which of Tom's choices for booze to drink.

"Ready for…what's going on?" Tom demanded, glaring at Thomas and rolling his eyes as Jimmy, without permeable, helped himself to a Guinness.

"Give me that," Thomas took the can of stout from Jimmy's hand and took a swig, before making a face and practically pushing it back to Jimmy. "You heard what I said!" Thomas coughed, turning his attentions back to Tom. "Change your clothes and get ready! We're going out."

"Out where?" Tom demanded, not moving and trying desperately to hold onto his patience.

"Out…out!" Thomas muttered in exasperation. "Just…out!"

Tom rolled his eyes, memories of a similar evening practically eight months ago quickly returning. Well…not that those memories ever went away, not completely. Certainly not the memories about Sybil…

No, in all honesty, not a single day had gone by since that night when she had literally danced into his life that he didn't think of her…

"You need to get out," Thomas announced, breaking through his thoughts.

Tom frowned. "I do 'get out'," he argued, folding his arms across his chest. "We were at the pub two nights ago."

"Exactly, the PUB," Thomas emphasized. "And maybe the cinema every so often, but other than that…that's it! You spend the rest of your nights cooped up here, and don't think I don't know why."

Thomas was pointing an "accusatory" finger at him, and Tom had a right mind to reach out and slap it away. "You know I'm not a 'clubber', you've always known that about me—"

Jimmy's laugh cut him short. "You seemed to be 'otherwise' when you and Gwen's mate hit that dance floor," he snickered.

"Exactly," Thomas added. "You moped then because of your break-up with Edna, now you're moping because you haven't seen Sybil since that one night."

Tom didn't like Sybil being compared to Edna; the two were completely different! Though in all fairness, he didn't really know Sybil; good grief, he didn't even known her last name! Yet he honestly felt a deeper connection with her in those first four and a half seconds when their eyes locked, than in the four and a half months he and Edna had been dating. And what Thomas was calling "moping" was completely different too. With Edna, he had been more upset that he had allowed their poisonous relationship to last for as long as it did. With Sybil…

He missed her. He missed her and kept hoping that every day for the last eight months would be the day he would learn through William or Thomas or even Gwen that she was back in London. Or, he would be out and about and just see her somewhere (he would recognize that beautiful mass of frizzy dark hair anywhere). And even though he knew based on what Thomas had told him that she had gone back up to Yorkshire, he still kept coming to the club where they had danced every weekend for the next ten weeks in a row, just in case…just in case he saw her and smiled at him from across the room before walking confidently up to him and without a word, simply taking him by the arm and pulling him out onto the dance floor.

But no such luck.

By week ten, Gwen (who had just started dating William), reassured him that Sybil always got in touch with her before she came back to London, and promised to let him know whenever she was back in town. Tom felt it was Gwen's way of "putting him out of his misery", because he always looked so disappointed (like a wounded puppy) when another weekend passed and there was still no sign of her.

God, he had it bad. This was crazy, wasn't it? People just didn't do things like this…did they? "Love at first sight" was just something put in fairytales…wasn't it?

"Tom!"

He was once again brought of his thoughts by Thomas' somewhat exasperating tone.

"Why are you still standing there? COME ON! Change your clothes and let's go!"

Tom groaned and shook his head. "If I'm going to be dragged out of my own flat against my will, I'll go as I am, thanks very much."

Thomas opened his mouth to protest otherwise, but William spoke first. "Just leave it," he urged, to which Thomas rolled his eyes before muttering something under his breath, and moving past them back out of the flat.

Tom locked up and followed his friends, trying to mentally and emotionally prepare himself for their destination.

Yes, he had visited that club for ten weeks straight, but it wasn't as if he had put his entire life "on hold" while he waited and hoped to see Sybil again. No, he had gotten himself back on his feet after his break-up with Edna (and moving out and away from his lying, cheating flatmate), and soon found a place of his own. It was tiny, but it was clean and it wasn't far from the garage where he worked. He had also started writing freelance, for a political magazine he had always admired. Things were good, at least from a work perspective. But despite the encouragement from his friends about "getting out into the dating scene" again, he politely refused. How could even fathom the thought, when every time the image of Sybil popped into his brain, his heart kept repeating over and over, "this woman is my destiny".

"Gwen meeting us there?" Tom asked William. William nodded, a bashful smile spreading across his face. They seemed happy, the pair of them, and Tom was glad.

"She said she had a surprise," William told Tom, to which Tom felt his body tense at the words.

Calm down, it might not mean anything…

…But it could mean everything!

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the club, Tom having picked up the pace after William's revelation. They were soon inside and Tom was scanning the crowd, both for William's girlfriend as well as that beautiful head of dark frizzy hair.

"HEY!" Gwen announced, quickly moving to where her boyfriend and his best mates were standing. She smiled and greeted William with a kiss which instantly caused William's ears to burn red. She then turned her attentions to the rest of the group and smiled, especially at Tom. "Great to see you out!"

Tom smiled back, but he couldn't help but look over Gwen's shoulder, continuing to scan the crowd, trying to see if just maybe…just maybe…

"You said you had a surprise?" William asked his girlfriend, and Tom couldn't help but wonder if maybe his friend was aware of what he was doing and as Gwen had done all those months ago, was trying to put him out of his misery.

"Oh yeah!" Gwen grinned and then pointed over her shoulder. Tom followed her finger, his eyes wide and—

"Oh wow!" William gasped, smiling and waving his hand as a petite blonde grinned and quickly came over to hug and embrace him. "Anna, it's so good to see you! It's been ages!"

"You too!" the blonde (Anna) laughed, before waving her hand at some bloke and introducing the man as her husband.

It was difficult for Tom not to look disappointed by this turn of events. You shouldn't have gotten your hopes up, if she had been here, Gwen would have said something. Idiot! Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to slip out and get out of there.

"Tom?" William turned his head and had noticed him backing away. "Tom, where are you going?"

Tom just lifted a hand. "Sorry…just…make my excuses to Thomas and Jimmy," he mumbled.

"Excuses for what?" Thomas asked, appearing by his side and holding some kind of blue concoction.

Tom sighed. "I'm going."

"Wait—what?" Thomas looked at William then back at Tom. "You just got here!"

"Yeah, and now I'm leaving!" he said with a bit more force. "Look, I'll call you tomorrow, ok?" He sighed and started to turn away again, when a hand reached out from nowhere and grabbed his shoulder. He groaned and turned, prepared to shove Thomas away, but stopped short when his eyes met the deep blue eyes that had been haunting his dreams for the past eight months.

It's her…

Sybil.

She…she was here?

His eyes first went to William and Gwen, who were grinning rather knowingly; they did know she would be here. He quickly turned his attention back to Sybil, and once again his mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he took in the beautiful sight of her. Her wild hair seemed a bit more tamed than last time, and it hung in glossy waves down and around her shoulders which were creamy and bare. Her dress was frilly and black, and he soon realized even before she turned away from him that it was backless. She smiled then, and Tom swore his heart stopped beating (or maybe it increased?)

"Don't go yet," she murmured, her voice somewhere between a purr and a plea.

"I—" He had started to turn his head, but just like before she reached out and grabbed his arm, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

"Don't you dare look back," she giggled, before slowly starting to back her way towards the dance floor. "Just keep your eyes on me…"

As if he would dare to. No, after all this time of waiting and hoping she would return, he wasn't going to let her out of his sight!

She smiled and gave his arm a squeeze, before releasing him and moving further into the throng on the dance floor. Tom stood frozen and watched as she turned her back (allowing him a glimpse of even more creamy skin), before doing a little spin, her hands gripping the edges of her dress and giving it a flirtatious flip, before laughing and yes, even winking at him!

"Don't just stand there!" Thomas hissed into his ear. "Your 'discothèque Juliet teenage dream' has finally arrived!"

Tom would later laugh at Thomas' title for Sybil, but right now he could only propel himself forward, not stopping until he was at Sybil's side once more. The music was thumping at full blast, and Tom could tell even before he had reached her that she was in her own world, moving and spinning to whatever rhythm her body chose to follow. For a moment, he just admired her…admired her freedom and spirit, seeing so much beauty in that. He even grinned when he realized that despite the frilly black backless dress, she also wore a pair of trainers (red shoes—naturally).

She looked over her shoulder at him and returned his grin, and danced a bit closer, her hands falling onto his forearms and squeezing the muscle, before moving up until she reached his shoulders. She could easily dance circles around him, and quite frankly, he'd be perfectly fine with that. "You're holding back," found himself murmuring again, and it was true, she was.

But she just laughed and her hands moved from his shoulders to the lapels of his shirt, and with two hearty fistfuls, she pulled him even closer, their heads nearly knocking into each other, before she repeated as she had done that first night they met, "shut up and dance with me."

Tom grinned and without another word, moved his arms around her, his hands flat against her back, both of them gasping at the contact of his palms on her bare skin. He pulled her closer, and this time they both moaned at the electric feel of their chests touching. They were still clothed, yet Tom had to be honest and admit this was quite possibly the most sensual experience of his life. Together, their bodies moved to the music, Sybil leading and Tom happily following. Again, they weren't bumping and grinding, but there was something erotic about the way they danced. They were always touching in some form, whether it was her hand against his chest, or his upon her hip. At one point she even dipped herself (putting her trust in him that he would catch her before she fell backwards—and he did), and his hand moved down the length of her thigh to catch the back of her knee and hold her there even when he brought her back upright.

They were both gasping and Tom wondered if that was because of the heat of the room and the hundreds of bodies around them, or the fire that was clearly generating and burning between them?

Her fingers were at the back of his neck, and Tom felt them curl and skim the hairs there. His eyes fell to her lips, which were so close, and found his own mouth parting, yearning to bend his head and taste them…

"You grew your hair out…"

His eyes snapped back up to hers. She was blushing, and looked rather bashful.

He blushed too, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "I um…yeah, I did," he swallowed. It wasn't long, just…longer than it had been when she had last seen him. He wasn't crazy about it, he just thought he would try something new. But if Sybil disliked it, she didn't say so. She just smiled at him, and he felt his heart squeeze in his chest.

"Your hair looks different too," he found himself saying, before mentally kicking himself. However, if she had taken offense, she didn't show it. Instead, she just laughed and blushed once again.

"Yeah, it has a mind of its own," she sighed, looking a little sheepish. "My sister told me to try this new shampoo and gel…it seems to work…to a point," she explained with a laugh.

Tom couldn't help but grin…nor could he help lifting a hand to run through the dark tresses. Sybil's laughter faded then, but she didn't protest or jerk away. She stood perfectly still for perhaps the first time that whole evening, and Tom swallowed as his fingers touched the silken waves. So beautiful...everything about her was so damn beautiful…

"How long are you in London?" he found himself asking. There was a plea to his voice, a need to know.

She blushed and looked down, and before she said anything, Tom could feel his heart sink.

"Just for the weekend," she softly murmured. "I go back on Sunday."

Sunday. It was Friday night now.

"And tomorrow?" he asked, not wanting to miss any opportunity to be with her.

She bit her lip. "I…I'm visiting my aunt this weekend," she tried to explain. "Tomorrow's her birthday…"

Despite his efforts, Tom knew he had failed to hide his disappointment. What did you think, you idiot? That she had come down here after eight months just to see you? The cynical voice of doubt began to berate him. Yet…when he looked back at her, his eyes holding hers, despite that voice's best efforts to bring him down, his spirit remained uplifted and hopeful. Just as he had known that night eight months ago that she was bound to return, that they were bound to get together, so too did he now know that despite this revelation, truly, he and Sybil were bound to be together.

This woman is my destiny…

"If you don't mind me asking…" he cleared his throat and summoned his courage. "…When is your aunt expecting you back?"

Sybil looked at him…and her face turned beautifully pink while the corners of her mouth lifted, before she answered, "Knowing my aunt, she's already in bed. And I told her not to wait up for me…"

Tom swallowed and couldn't help but smile back at her. "Well…um…would you…I mean…I don't suppose—"

"Yes," Sybil answered, her smile dazzling and her fingers finding his hand and linking with his own.

Don't you dare look back, he firmly told himself.

To be continued...