A/N: This chapter is very short, but it's short for a reason.

Love,

Blue

Raising the Barre 2: The Tipping Pointe

CHAPTER THREE: The Liar, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The beautiful woman jogged over to the two with perfect stance, blonde hair wafting behind her, muscles flexing in her leggings, and that rack. Jesus on a popsicle stick, that rack put Angela Basset to shame. As she approached the stock-still Spencer, she jumped giddily and threw her arms around his neck. Still in shock, Spencer stared straight ahead, eyes wide and blank as he reached up awkwardly and patted her back with one hand. She pulled away and nearly sang, "It's been so long! Four years! I haven't seen you since that wrap party, man. How've you been?"

A small puff of breath exited Spencer's lips as he stared into her large green eyes. He let out a small, unintelligible murmur.

Lila scrunched up her brow, "Huh?"

"I-I've been good," Spencer cleared his throat and fumbled for Derek's arm, grabbing it and pushing him in front of his body like a human shield, "This is Derek, my… uh... Derek, meet Lila."

Derek was kind of mixed emotionally, near laughing inside and near crying at the same time. Spencer told him at their first lunch that she had followed him around like a lost puppy after he did her a favor and he had to damn near pry her off of him. But, jeez. If you're going to be stalked, this gorgeous fucking Barbie doll made of pure sexiness is definitely the option Derek would pick. Television didn't do this woman justice. She was perfect. From her blonde locks down to her small dancer's feet, she was pristine. Derek doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell if he has to compete with her. But, he doesn't have to, right? Because Spencer and him are in a happy romantic relationship. Not. Derek kept his sighs in, hoping that she's gotten over the whole thing and everything will just be awkward. That's the best bet, right? Yeah. Oh, this was going to be weird - this entire week was going to be weird. Lila reached out a hand, "Lila Archer."

Derek shook her hand gently, nodding, "Derek Morgan. Hey, I think I saw you in this movie last year with my ex. September Rain, right?"

She grinned, "Yes, indeed. How'd you like it?"

Derek held back his contempt as he nodded, "You definitely earned that… Golden Globe and… Oscar nominee."

"Why thank you, Derek," Lila started to laugh, patting his shoulder warmly, "Complimenting me already? I think we'll be good friends."

Dear God, no. This is the last time he falls for someone with exes of different genders. Ethan was already competition enough. Derek has no clue how to outshine both him and Miss. Perfect. They're not even in the same ballpark. Spencer went on two separate sides of the spectrum here, I mean, damn. Derek clenched his jaw and stared over at her with a forced smile, "Totally."

Spencer quietly drifted over to the stereo, pulling the envelope out and waving it in the air, "If anyone cares. We do have a theme that we have to figure out, so…"

Lila laughed aloud, "Still a workaholic, then, huh?"

"Well… I… I wouldn't say I was a… yeah! Cool! Uh," Spencer gawked for a moment, blushing and pushing his hair behind his ears highlighting his crippling awkwardness as he nearly dropped the envelope. The dancer's hands were trembling lightly as he peeled open the envelope and pulled the card out with long, slender fingers. He stared down at it and said weakly, "You've gotta be shitting me. Rumba."

Lila jumped up and down, clapping, "Yay! I love the Rumba!"

Spencer quickly started to walk out of the room, handing Derek the card on the way and announcing, "I suddenly have to pee," before rushing out of the room.

Lila shrugged over at him as he left the room and explained, "He pees when he's nervous. Kind of like a Pomeranian does."

Derek replied easily, "I know. It's pretty cute."

Lila laughed, "Right?"

By the time Spencer had returned to the room, Derek and Lila were laughing it up. At least that's what it looked like. Lila was carefree and Derek was trying not to be self-conscious about this entire situation. Dammit all, she was actually really funny, sharp, witty, and had the sassiest attitude. They were so like-minded it was crazy. Apparently Spencer attracts similar kinds of people. Except in the looks department, because he really went the other way on that one. Where Derek is muscled, she's soft. Where Derek is large, she's slight. It's just… ugh. How? How even?

Turns out, four years ago, she had quit the show when offered an acting role. After that, she started honing her skill, much like Julianne Hough did. She expanded and got herself some serious recognition, not to mention a Globe two years ago. Girl was doing alright, grinning as she prodded for information on Spencer and how he was doing. There was something in her eyes when she said his name. Doc. As if she was sexualizing his brain, considering his multiple degrees arousing. It was very subtle, but Derek knew. She still had a thing for him. Fuck. To make matters worse, it was all over those tabloids that Jordan read a few months ago when she broke up with John Mayer over God knows what, so she was single now too. Where better to end up on a random Wednesday than with her old flame. Kind of. Not really. But still.

Spencer shut the door behind him, "I ran into Val, he said 'hi'."

Derek can't really blame her for taking a liking to him, he was quite cute. Spencer's smart, kind, hard-working, dependable. A thousand girls would kill to be with him. Good thing Derek's not the jealous type… right? Spencer stomped into the room, grabbing Derek by the arm and pulling him. He called out to Lila, "We're going on a quick break. I have to show Derek something."

Lila flashed one of her (literal) award-winning smiles, "Sure. When should I expect you back?"

Spencer yanked on Derek's wrist, "Oh, I don't know. About an hour or so."

Lila furrowed her brow, "An hour?"

Spencer added, "You know, Derek Hough is downstairs and he doesn't even know you're here. You should fix that."

Lila paused, "Uh… okay."

Spencer got them out of the room, pulling him up the steps without a word other than, "Crap. Crap. Crap!" Derek watched worriedly as Spencer dragged him up a second flight of steps, down Tristan's hallway and into the women's bathroom. He slammed the cold metal door and pushed Derek against it. His eyes were wild, hair looking as if his fingers were in it just moments ago, "We're in serious trouble and it's all my fault."

Derek chuckled, "Okay, I think you may be overreacting. It's just Lila. She had a crush on you once upon a time, so what?"

"No, no, no. Derek, don't you see?!" he ran his hand down his face and pushed his hair back, "It's not Lila, it's what she symbolizes!"

Derek paused, taking in Spencer's erratic words in and replying, "Do you need an Advil?"

Spencer pushed away from Derek with his palms, "No… not yet. I just… I lied about something. Well, technically I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you some stuff and now it's coming back to bite me. Hard."

Derek folded his arms and glanced at his partner from across the linoleum. He didn't know whether or not to be upset or scared. Spencer had lied to him, withheld information, all that jazz. But, he was freaking out. Badly. He sighed, pressing his fingertips to his hairless head. Okay, first, he's going to help Spencer fix this mess, then he can deal with him later. Derek looked up at Spencer as he stood with his back to him, leaning on the ceramic sink, knuckles pale white against the pink, shiny object, "I forgive you. For now. Tell me what you did, and maybe we can get ourselves out of this."

Spencer sighed self-deprecatingly, "I really—fuck, man… dammit!"

"God…" Derek shook his head, "You really fucking stepped in it, didn't you?"

Spencer's shoulders sagged, "Understatement. I… I got a call. From one of the producers right after we made it through the first week. He was upset. Very upset. And I told him to shove it. So, they put the quickstep in for week two and-"

Derek raised his hand, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Spell this out for me, now. I don't speak Irratic Genius-ese."

Spencer turned and glared sharply at Derek, "Remember when I told you that the producers only put us together to get views?"

Derek nodded, "Yeah."

"They didn't think we'd actually be good. When we did our first dance, they were furious. They didn't care about us, they just cared about what we could get them-a good intro. But, all of a sudden, here you are and here I am and we're together… and it's magic, like some sort of match made in Heaven. When we dance, it's beautiful, and they can't just kick us off. Not when we're so good. Not with all of the votes they're getting. Someone would smell a rat. So, I got a call from a producer telling me to make sure you ruined the next dance," Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose, "Man, they wanted us out. Badly. We were just supposed to be an attention-getter! A freak show before the main event! To ensure that we'd leave, they shoved the hardest dance in the entire competition at us the second week and told me to fuck you over, train you badly, choreograph something terrible, do whatever it took to ensure that we would be out of the competition the second week. By then, you had already spent the night with me. Your girlfriend had just broken up with you, you were a mess. I couldn't do that to you. Plus… I kind of had a crush on you. I refused and trained you as well as I could. I wasn't going to let you down. Not one bit. But, then the calls became more frequent. They were watching us. Watching me."

Derek pounded the side of his fist against the door, "Man, they were harassing you! Why didn't you tell me!?"

Spencer hissed back, "Because I had it under control! I didn't need your help, okay?!"

Derek chuckled loosely, "Like fuck, you didn't. I would have walked right up to the producers and-"

"Gotten us kicked off for misconduct, that's what you would have done," Spencer answered loudly, "You don't know what it was not to tell you. It was clawing at me, ripping me up inside. And it only got worse! You probably don't remember, but during week two, when you stumbled…"

Derek asked, "Yeah?"

Spencer got really quiet and looked down for a moment, "…you didn't lose count. I tripped you."

Derek took the words like a slap to the face, keeling back and yelling, "You did what?!"

Spencer said to the floor with shame, "I stepped on the edge of your pant leg and pulled you out of rhythm. I thought it would give the producers what they wanted, but you pulled yourself back and you did such a good job finishing the dance. It was spectacular how easily you put yourself back together. Thanks to how well I trained you and that spirit in you, we made it by with three sevens. Just enough to slide us through to the next round."

"So, that's why you didn't chew me out over the trip after we left the ballroom? That's why you didn't mention it?" Derek asked.

Spencer sighed, "Yes. Because it was my fault. After you pieced the dance together, I already knew that loosing count wouldn't be enough to send us home, so I held your hand and tried to get people to hate us, so they wouldn't vote us up. I'm sorry."

Derek turned away and faced the door, thumping his forehead against it, "You have to be fucking kidding me."

"But, listen! After that, I stopped listening to them. I sent the calls to voicemail. I acted as if nothing was wrong," Spencer added, shaking his head slowly, "And then, they gave us the Tango. They thought we didn't have it in us, and I decided that if they were so against our pairing, then we're going to make them pay for it. We were going to do the gayest, most sexual dance we could possibly manage. We were going to tear the roof down panel by panel, give it everything we got. And all the while, I was falling harder and harder for you. You had such spirit, such drive. I believed in you. I believed that we could win and take this all the way to the finals without a hitch."

Derek glanced back at Spencer, "So… all that stuff you said about changing the way people think with our Tango…"

Spencer finished, "100% true. Derek. I meant every word."

Derek breathed, "Shit."

"And then, we kissed," Spencer closed his eyes, "…I've never felt more alive in my entire life. No one's ever kissed me like that. Ever. I felt so… loved. And when we danced, you Tangoed the living shit out of me. I wanted you so bad. Yet, while I knew our dating would be the world's biggest middle finger to the producers, I wasn't emotionally ready for something like that. I was already being pressured every day to push you out of my life, and my trust issues were blocking me at every turn… I just couldn't. Everything was happening so fast.

"Then, came the Waltz, which was clearly a side-slash. The producers told me that my first screw up was a warning, and with the insane Tango we did… they called it a 'strike'. And three strikes? That wasn't something I wanted to see. So, I tried so hard to fuck you over. I choreographed the shittiest thing I could, but then you held me that Friday night. We spilled our souls to each other. I told you things I wouldn't tell a living breathing soul on Earth and in that one night, I trusted you more than I've ever trusted anyone in my entire life. And, I couldn't do it to you anymore. I couldn't. This dance. It was for your father. He deserved better-you deserved better. Strike two."

Derek sighed, "Holy cow."

Spencer continued, "And, it felt so good, throwing myself into another dance with you, showing the world what we were capable of. Yeah, you pissed me off a little bit before the show, but after we did that Waltz… I had to have you. We hooked up. Right there on the studio floor and it felt fucking incredible. There, I realized that meeting you made me stronger. It made me a man. It gave me something to fight for. So, I fought for us. But, the fight was hard. It was so…" Spencer's voice caught in his throat and Derek could just hear his sorrow, "At every turn, I could feel those producers breathing down my neck like loan sharks and I knew that if we did well next week, they would do something to throw us apart. Something awful. Then, I spoke with my mom and I listened as a doctor wrestled her away from the phone. I was so stressed, I was so angry that I said things to you that I wish I could take back. Horrible things. Things that I didn't mean," Spencer wiped across his face, letting out a soft sniff, "I said that I couldn't love you… I'm so," Spencer covered his mouth with his hand as he whispered out wetly as a tear slipped through his fingers, "I'm so sorry..."

Derek raced over to his partner and pulled him close, holding him against his chest. Spencer's shaking fingers clung to Derek's shirt as Derek held the back of his head firmly in his hand, rocking them steadily, trying to physically hold Spencer together, "Are you kidding? I'm sorry, man. I didn't know. I had no idea you were under all of this pressure. Come here."

Spencer sniffed, "It's all my fault. That last dance I choreographed. It was too much. It was way too much. And now we're out. We lost. And this is what they're doing to us. They're giving us Lila."

Derek asked, "What's wrong with Lila?"

"What do you think, Derek?" he said into his shirt, "Another lie."

Derek paused, "…another lie? Jesus, Mr. Honesty. Is brown your natural hair color, or am I in for another surprise?"

Spencer chuckled wetly, "No. I'm a brunette."

Derek added, "Good. I was gonna say… dying your pits is a bit too much."

Spencer looked into Derek's eyes and said abruptly, "Listen. I'm trying to explain here."

Derek held up his palms, "Carry on. I won't stop you."

Spencer continued, "I'm sorry. I just didn't expect to ever see her again, I mean, why would I? She left the show ages ago, and it's not like it would be any big deal and—"

Derek cut Spencer off calmly, "I understand. Now, fast forward, skip the excuses, and press play."

Spencer started nervously, hands wringing again, "When we were talking about her earlier before our first dance, I said that I let her go because she liked what I did for her more than she liked me. I said that I wished I reaped some of the benefits... and that's where I lied. I did. I totally did. For like two weeks straight."

Derek's eyes widened, "W-what? You hooked up with Lila? Why didn't you tell me then?"

Spencer worried, "I regretted it when I was with her, and I knew it wasn't right. I just didn't want you to think I was an asshole for taking advantage. You and I had just met at the time, and I was so sure you'd never meet her, and now this is just one big mess, because now she's back. She's downstairs and… shit. I think she's still into me. Derek, what do I do?"

Derek shrugged, "Brush her off. It ain't hard. She's a big girl, she can take it."

"She can take—dude!" Spencer grabbed Derek by the collar and dragged him in, "Have you met Lila?! She's insane! She'd jump into a pool with a serial killer stalking her, for no reason other than she feels like swimming. If I brush her off, she's going to take it as a personal challenge."

Derek laughed out at Spencer's misfortune, "Wow, bitch is cray. Sucks for you," Derek paused his laughter and stared Spencer down, "I mean… it does, right? You don't still want to get with her?"

Spencer replied confusedly, "Of course not. Why would you even ask that?"

Derek answered, "Well, technically you're single. We're not a thing, remember?"

Spencer waved his hand, "That's only because with everything going on right now, it's too complicated."

Derek grinned, "So, you still want us to be a thing?"

Spencer glared at him, "Doesn't matter, now does it? Until you're no longer my student, what we feel is irrelevant. That doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. I like you, you like me, we want to fuck each other, and we're kind of in love—and by love, I mean, heavy heavy like, because that's a really big word and I can't just throw it around."

"Uh oh, Pretty Boy," Derek winked, "You heavy like me."

Spencer blushed and looked down with a small smile, "Yeah. I do. And I'm not going to mess our chances up when a sexy blonde dancer walks by."

Derek asked, "Sexy?"

Spencer released Derek's collar and folded his arms, "You have to admit. She's shaped very nicely. And she smells pretty. And I have been previously acquainted with her nether regions-in which does things I still consider make believe."

Derek sighed, glancing down at Spencer, "So… you're into her?"

Spencer shook his head, "Hell no. Did you miss the 'insane' thing? It doesn't matter how hot she is, I wouldn't survive her. I can't keep up."

Derek raised an eyebrow, prodding, "And?"

Spencer completed, "And I have a thing for you, so… yeah. Off the table."

Derek asked his partner, "Are you sure?"

Spencer nodded, "Completely."

Derek sighed out, "Good, because I was going to get all Taylor Swift if you said you were going after her."

Spencer snorted out his laughter at Derek's statement, "Are you okay with the fact that me and Lila…"

"Dude, yeah. I can't be mad at you for that, man, I would tap that in an instant if I had the chance," Derek replied, leaning forward, "Speaking of… what 'make believe' things went down? I want to know because of reasons."

Spencer gasped, "I can't tell you that!"

Derek nudged him twice, "Spencer, we're bros, right?"

Spencer nodded, "Yeah."

Derek added, "And the Bro Code clearly states that any past rendezvous is fair game when it comes to details. We can't judge her, we can't judge you. You don't have to spill. But, if you do. Bro Code allows it."

Spencer folded his arms, "Why do you care so much?"

Derek let out a sly smile, "It's hot. That's why I care."

"Weirdo," Spencer blushed and answered, "I went down on her in her dressing room. Thrice. And one time… I touched her boob."

Derek jumped and laughed, smacking Spencer's shoulder, "What? Fucking get it, kiddo!"

Spencer added, "There was a bra involved, but it totally counts because I saw nipple. Kind of. The outline of it."

Derek wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulder, "Oh... she never wanted you to hit, then."

Spencer sighed, responding as he hugged Derek's waist, "Yeah, she did, but I declined."

Derek's face fell, "I never thought I would say this to you of all people… but boy, you stupid."

Spencer rested his head on Derek's shoulder, "I felt bad enough with my tongue up her... you know. Even though it was so good… I just couldn't. The guilt was too much."

"You passed stupid, man. You are dumb," Derek shook his head, "You were right there. You had every opportunity. The panties were yours, wrapped in a bow. And your dumb ass said what?"

Spencer sighed, "I said 'no'."

Derek smacked his forehead, "You… said… 'no'. And now, through some strange miracle, she's back and she still wants you to get it. Man, you must have given her the best head of her life and you didn't give her the D when you had the chance. I oughta slap you on principle. You gotta handle your shit in the bedroom, or she's going to either run off or expect it later. That's the way life works. Trust me, I would know."

Spencer asked, "What exactly… is 'the D'?"

Derek blinked, "Oh, honey. How did you even get her interested in the first place?"

Spencer paused, "Wait, wait. She's still interested? That wasn't a figment of my imagination?"

Derek replied, "Interested? Man, she showed up in leggings and lipstick. To a rehearsal. And the way she looks when she talks about you… I know that look. It's on my face every day. It's the Spencer's Got You Whipped face."

Spencer started to smile, "I have you whipped?"

"Like a naughty stead, baby." Derek leaned into Spencer and kissed his forehead, "But, you have her whipped as well, so you should probably let her down gently."

Spencer's smile widened under the kiss, "I won't have to. I'm going down to the Producer's office and giving them a piece of my mind. Right now."

Derek asked, "Seriously?"

Spencer nodded, "Yep."

Derek placed his hand on Spencer's shoulder, "That's a really bad idea."

Spencer grinned up at him, "I'm aware."

Derek cuffed his chin lovingly, "Need a buddy?"

"I've been working on my trust, and even though I'm nowhere near where you need me to be, I know more than anything that I don't need a buddy," Spencer replied, curling into Derek's chest for a moment, "I need you."

A/N: Le gasp! Short chapter? Oh noes! What's going to happen next?! I guess you'll have to find out next Sunday.

Love,

Blue