Author: slashburd
Prompt: Feet
"What if we fly and dive off the edge of the end of the world as we know it?
What if we fly? Have faith enough to think fate might just know where we're going.
What if the arms of the wind carry us to the place we never could find?
Yes we might fall, but what if we fly?"
I never wanted to go line dancing. I'm not one of nature's dancers and you already knew that. Our disastrous first dance after our wedding was enough to convince everyone there that I was destined for a life of propping up the bar and telling bad jokes. I can only imagine what it would've been like if one of us had had to wear a dress. Can you imagine my size eleven's caught up in a train of ivory taffeta? Although saying all that Shawn, I can well imagine that you would've dared to turn up in a dress just to shock them all.
The country songs played out all night long and I stood there looking like the only guy at a kd Lang concert, awkward and out of place. I'd gone the whole hog at your request, plaid shirt, ten gallon and a pair of faded jeans so tight half the place could have picked my ass out of a lineup. I did however draw the line at the toothpick you tried to give me to chew on. You'd scraped my hair back into a ponytail and tied it low down with a band so it hung down my back just so, just how you liked it.
You were a natural at dancing. The star that stole the show like you always were. Round the room you stepped it out, no shortage of partners waiting to take your hand in the squares or stand alongside you in the lines. The boots you wore were scuffed and scruffy but I never stopped watching them while you were dancing. It was as if they moved and you just followed them. I had to laugh at how you looked a damn sight less brokeback that I did though. That white button down tucked into your jeans had been deliberately left open just a button too low and the bolo tie hung loosely, the cowhead slide twinkling in the artificial lights of the barn.
By the time you'd had your fill of dancing I was stood at the end of the bar nursing a glass of whisky, my hat tilted down over my eyes and a thumb hooked into my belt loops. I figured if I looked cowboy I might as well play cowboy. I never saw you coming until those boots came into sight. With one finger I pushed my hat above level with my eyes and then tipped it at you, unable to stop myself laughing at the overegged curtsy I got in return.
The MC called the last dance of the night and I offered you my arm which you accepted as graciously as any barn dance débutante. I led you out onto the floor, damning to hell any looks we may have got from the crowd. You slipped your arms up onto my shoulders and I locked mine around your waist, careful not to crease your shirt. You'd ask me later why I held you so carefully and the truth is that I didn't want to spoil the vision of perfection that you were to me. Like all the angels had converged into one and stood there in my arms that night, I knew then as I always had that you were all I could ever want.
I'd already been busy myself earlier in the night, asking the MC to get the band to play a particular song to end the night. It was the song I spoiled to on our special day. I'd always said I'd make it up to you and there it was, the only way I knew how to do it. When you heard the words of the song you knew what it was and I saw the tears well up in your eyes. That song meant so much to both of us, all about taking a chance, taking that shot at the kind of happiness that doesn't come along very often. All our risks had been made worth it in the end, just to be together was all we ever wanted.
My dancing remained poor despite the practice I'd convinced some of the guys to give me at work but at least this time I stayed upright for the entire song and didn't stamp on your toes once. I was lucky that the massive hat you made me wear stopped me getting close enough to you to steal the kiss I wanted. You read me like an open book and smiled your widest smile and with that I'd as good as kissed you anyway. See Shawn, I guess I already knew what the deal was with us. I knew it would be forever and that's all I wanted; to spend forever and day loving you from the top of your head to the toes on your feet.
Lyrics borrowed from Chely Wright – What If We Fly
Next prompt: Blanket