Hello everyone, first of all I want to thank you for still reading my story despite the long hiatus.

Secondly I want to inform you that I'm quicker with updates on AO3 where my name is Muze, the title of the story is still the same.

I hope everyone is still enjoying how I'm interpreting Dirty Dancing with splitting up the dance story from the love story and the way I'm throwing all the annoying rich boys towards Elain instead of Feyre?

'Feyre, welcome.'
Mor was wearing a long dark legging and a sleeved shirt. Damn it.

'Hey Mor, had a nice night?'
'Unfortunately not', she pouted as she rubbed her belly in annoyance. 'It's frustrating, you know? I feel this egg growing in me… Every day it's becoming more of a human being. I'm confronted by that reality and Graysen's rape every morning when I wake up to puke my guts out and every time a smell causes me discomfort… Oh I just wish I didn't have to wait this long. I don't want to terminate a pregnancy but I cannot live with a child. I'm not capable of it. Not mentally, not financially, not in any way! And I simply won't condemn it to a life of feeling unwanted, having a baggage from the second it is born and every other miserable thing that comes along with being given away at birth. Ugh, I'm sorry. Perhaps it's a bit too heavy a topic this early on in the day.'

She sighed and put on her dancing shoes. 'How's Elain holding up with that asshole?'
'Turns out he's even more of an asshole when he's drunk', I replied as I sat down next to her to put on my shoes.
'What'd he do?'
'Accuse her of flirting with someone else.'
'Damn. And is she? Not that I'd blame her for setting her sight on someone nicer.'

I nodded. 'I can't really speak about it much. But I think Lucien is quite kind to her. It's nothing special. They just get along, nothing inappropriate yet Graysen is fuming.'
'He's an entitled brat. I don't know how he could've hidden that side of him from her this long.'
'He hid it from all of us. I was very surprised as well. But it seems more of his personality is seeping through each day, she's very much out of his spell. I would've expected her to be a wreck, but she's keeping up so well. I wonder if it's because she's falling out of love with him at an incredible speed. She knows he's currently texting other girls, she knows he's lying to her, he was even mean to her when he was drunk. I mean, hard to cry over losing someone like that.'

'Losing someone like what?' A male voice asked in curiosity.
We both turned around. Rhysand strolled in, carrying a bag over one shoulder and looking incredibly casual and relaxed in the studio.

'Someone like Graysen.' His face become clouded in disgust.
'I'd cry over losing him. Tears of joy, to be exact.'
I rolled with my eyes from amusement, but Mor rolled hers in annoyance.

'Jeans, Rhys? Really?'
'Chill cous', I'll be able to do everything I need in these. I even put on a t-shirt and the annoying heeled dress shoes you made me buy.'
And indeed, on his feet he seemed to be wearing male ballroom shoes.
'Well you better, it was time you put them to use again.' She turned toward me. 'I forced Rhys and Azriel to perform with me from time to time before I got Tamlin as my permanent dancing partner. They happened to have the same shoe size so they passed that one pair of shoes to one another', she stage whispered with a smile.

Rhys shook off his leather jacket and rolled his head. God, he looked so hot in that t-shirt. The shirts he wore worked wonders for his broad shoulders, but the t-shirt showed of his abbs in a delightful manner. How was a nightclub owner this ripped?

'Right, so we gotta stretch or?'

Mor nodded.
'Yeah, just follow along with us.'

I threw Rhys a tentative smile as he took place beside me. Mor put on the music and went to sit in front of us.

She went through the usual stretching routine. Nothing too difficult, I was quite flexible from the regular training. I'd felt nervous in the beginning, but it was only because of my excitement and the trust these people were putting into me. I'd never really been aware of how my body looked while going through the moves. But now I most certainly did.

I'd only ever worried about doing the moves in a correct fashion but I'd never wondered how I looked doing them. Now I suddenly felt self-aware in every way.
I wondered how suggestive some moves were while I pushed my pelvis up. And I felt too nervous to look aside while bending over to grasp my feet. Was he watching me? Or was he just going through the moves?

'You stiff old man', Mor laughed. Only then did I look at Rhys, whose hands could only reach just below his knees.
'May I remind you I have a daytime job which involves a lot of sitting and standing? I am still doing you a favour. I could leave any time. It's only because I don't want to leave poor Feyre alone with you that I'm staying, really', he grinned.

Mor rolled her eyes and took off her shirt, revealing a sports bra. Okay, I wouldn't be the only one skipping about scantily clad today. I let out a breathe of relief.

'I know you're familiar with the styles and the most common moves, so I'll show you the dance a couple of times with Feyre. And then I'll do it with you. Maybe in thirty minutes we can start building towards improving Feyre's dancing.'

A blush crept to my cheeks as I walked towards the middle of the room.

'Rhys, do be a darling and press play for us when I say so.'
'Sure, Morrie.'

Mor took place behind me and placed her hands on my hips.
'Play', she said. I tensed as the music started. I let my hands trail across Mor's body. In half an hour I would be doing this with Rhysand. My heart leaped.
No, don't think of him. Or should I? I was supposed to think of the dance as some passionate scene between lovers.
I put my strength in my movements while defiantly holding up my head as Mor swung me away and then let me turn around before pulling me back to her chest. I didn't want to make eye contact right now, though Mor had repeatedly told me I needed to look at the crowd. I didn't want Rhysand to distract me.

Two three-four. Two three-four. Two three-four and don't forget to breathe. Twist. The foot work went great today. I could hear Tamlin and Mor's combined advise in my head.

Mor pushed. Pull, Feyre, pull. At each twist we looked into each other's eyes again. Now came the part with the heartbeat rhythm.

My hands came up to the sides of my head.

"De todo un poco," Michael Lloyd sang again. I bet I wouldn't be able to stand this song by the time of the performance.

Now came the time for the lift. We danced backwards, I rotated and walked away. I took a breath stood still three seconds before running towards Mor with spread arms. She put her hands just above my hips and let them drag upwards slowly, just like Tamlin would when he would put me down after the dreaded lift.

We finished the rest of the routine. It went great. I put enough energy in my movements. I was controlled. I didn't rush through the movements- well, for the most part. I could even put some eye contact and comfortable touches in my dance with Mor, something I struggled with when I danced with Tamlin.

'And, what do you think?' Mor asked him.
'I don't think I'll have a hard time at all. You said she needed training? She seems to be doing pretty good.'

'Of course, I've been training for weeks. I don't think Mor would still have me if I didn't make any progress.'

Rhysand grinned.

'Maybe I would. You're nice to have around Feyre. But yes, you've made so much progress, I'm incredibly grateful for your presence', Mor smiled as she put her hands on my hips.

'Rhysand, pay attention. We'll go through it in slow motion now, without the music. Do you think you'll get it?'

'Sure, why don't you try it with me after this? It seems like I've seen and done big chunks of this routine before. It's just another song and a couple of new parts of a couple of seconds.'

Mor nodded.

'Here we go, Feyre', she said. I took that as my cue and let my hands slide down. Mor's hands went to cover mine, and tantalizingly slowly she turned me around. Now that I had the time, I took the time to assess my moves and execute everything perfectly. Sometimes I caught myself holding my arm a bit too much inwards or not holding my back up straight. But overall it was fine.

After we were done I was allowed to sit down and drink some water as Rysand took place behind Mor.

'Ready Rhyssie?'
'Sure thing Morryworry', he grinned.
Mor smiled up at him as she let her hands slide down.

'Didn't you miss doing this?' she said as she turned around and they started doing the standard footwork.
'Hmm, I don't know. I certainly could think of better things to do in the morning after closing up my club at six, like sleeping.'

'Boring', she sighed as she twisted. Their banter stopped, probably because Rhys wasn't familiar with this part. His moves weren't as precise or energized. He was probably tired. But even without the tiredness he was obviously an experienced dancer but not a trained one. There was no perfectionism in his moves. I recognized myself in the way he did the moves. It was like me at the end of the first week. When I moved my arm, my movement stopped at my hand. I didn't stop to think about holding my fingers and palm in a certain way. When I pointed my foot, I hadn't thought of point it outwards. It was only when Mor pointed it out to me that I realised how many muscles I hadn't used by doing the motions in the "lazy way" I'd done them before.

He'd said he recognized much of the dance, but he didn't seem to struggle with any part, despite not having danced for quite some time and only having seen Mor and me perform it twice. I couldn't guess which parts were new for him from the way he and Mor went through the motions.

If I couldn't tell he didn't do the dance before, perhaps I was giving him less credit than I should. He could probably remember the passes with ease. I felt jealousy swelling inside of me. Even just walking through the dance moves had been hard for me in the beginning. I kept on forgetting what followed after certain moves. Back then I had illogically jumped from one move to another which didn't follow it, and couldn't follow it, because they didn't flow into each other. Now I knew the moves followed each other in a smooth and specific order made to appear natural.

'With music?'

'Maybe one more time, taking it from this movement?' Rhysand asked as he held his arms and legs in a certain way. Mor nodded and went through the motions again.
'Ah yes, so like this?' Mor let go of him as he took a certain pose with his arms. She adjusted his left one a little bit. 'Like that.' His chest wasn't as ridiculously muscled like Tamlin's, and I quite preferred Rhysand. Tamlin was an expert dancer, but looked like a bodybuilder, Rhysand was what I had envisioned dancers to look like: lean, muscled, nothing overdone.

'Okay, we can do it with music.'
I walked towards the installation. 'Ready?'
Mor and Rhysand took their positions.
I pressed play.

It was astounding. He only messed up thrice throughout the entire song. Thrice! And that was only because his pacing had been wrong, not because he'd forgotten a move or done a move incorrectly. How was it possible? And this time, his fingers and feet had been powerful, and his back straight.

It had only been laziness? Oh my god. He did know what he was doing. Screw me with a chainsaw. I knew what to do as well but if he was this good at his second try… My relief had been that I would have a day off of feeling inadequate with Tamlin shining like the experienced star he was.

Now I would have to dance with someone who was both great at it, and I felt attracted to. If guardian angels existed, mine was on a holiday for sure. Rest in peace, oh gentle heart of mine.

'Feyre? You're good to go?'
I nodded, walking towards the middle of the room like I had swallowed a dozen bricks. My gaze was unfocused and my heart beating like crazy. I turned away from Rhysand and then-
two warm hands on my hips. A warm face pressed to my cheek.

Shivers chased down my skin. I put my hands in place gently. My fingers were shaking.

The music started and it was as if I got a kick to the butt. My hands flew upward before slowly and tentatively coming down.

Fingers stroking his shirt. His abs were rock hard underneath the fabric. His palms came to rest on mine.

I gasped and turned away and instinctively found his eyes- as I was trained to do by now. His gaze was hypnotizing. Suddenly dancing to the heartbeat wasn't difficult anymore. Time seemed to slow down as I was pulled towards him again. I kept seeking out his gaze- and stumbled.

'I'm sor-' He pushed again, not letting me ruin the dance by talking.

Tamlin had taught me this already. Just keep dancing, no matter what goes wrong. The people looking won't know something went wrong. I shouldn't give up the entire dance because of one wrong move.

Why did I feel the need to stop moving and explain my mistake instead of dancing.

Focus Feyre.

I looked down towards my feet as I went through the hardest part of the footwork.

I turned around again, to where the crowd would be.

"De todo un poco."

I shook my head, danced backward and ran towards him. Time slowed down as he held out his arms and pulled me closer. Standing there, in his arms in the bright light of day, I took notice of the purple hue in his blue eyes. I'd never noticed before.

And just like that, the music changed and the moment was gone. I turned away and continued the dance, until the music stopped.

'Well. I gotta say I'm impressed', Mor decided.

I let out a breath of relief.

'You really got the beat this time, Feyre, if it wasn't for that mishap and three moves you didn't execute that well. Rhys, do be careful to not grasp Feyre like you want to eat her. We're at a dance performance, not a night club.'

'Funny', Rhys said. 'Wonder how that would come.'
'Probably not because of being in a night club every day', I sighed.
'Most definitely not', Rhysand agreed.

Mor rolled her eyes and went to stand in front of me. 'Let's go back to this part', she said as she put her arms in second position. 'You need to make sure they stay nice and rounded. Like Tam said, you're holding a very big balloon. If you squish it, it jumps from between your hands and if you hold it too loosely it'll fall. Do remember your arm work. I see you're putting a lot of energy in your arms now, which is great Now you just need to make sure they're level and rounded instead of angled. Okay?'

'Okay.'

'Secondly, and you know this one, don't talk or stop your routine. You stumbled, it happens.' I nodded again.

'Now, Rhysand, come here.'

Rhysand sauntered over to where we were. 'The second jump wasn't perfect. Could you two redo it?'

'Second? You mean the moment I pick her up while turning around counts as a lift?' Rhys asked in confusion.

'There's supposed to be a lift during the second you two just stood there with your arms sliding down her body. The second is after you're spinning around while her feet are off the ground. When she crouches and then jumps against you.'

Rhysand nodded. I took his hands and went into a crouch before jumping up, utnring my hand and arms outwards.

'Yes. That's it. Hold her for a second. Look into each other's eyes. Feyre hold your legs closed. Alright, now the jumps. Left jump, right jump, your hand Feyre. Yes. Turn your head away from him. Jump up again. Go to stand on Rhysands left. Yes, now bow. Smile! Perfect. We barely have anything left to correct. Maybe we can even give the lift a try tomorrow.'

'Maybe. I'm a bit nervous though.'

'It will be fine. You've already jumped during this dance and managed to hold your posture for the most part. You've also held your posture for the five seconds during the twists in the middle of the routine. It's only a small step up now.'

'But those were much closer to the ground.'

'Ah, so it's a full above head lift then?' Rhysand asked. Mor nodded.

'Can you still do it?'

'I don't know. I've managed to have regular work-outs the last couple of weeks, so I guess I could.'

Mor nodded. 'Want to give it a go with me? You're used to lifting me after all.'

Rhysand nodded and wiped his hands down his jeans.

'Bring it.'

Mor ran away and Rhysand bent down slightly, arms stretched out. 'I'll work on making it look pretty once I'm sure I can still do it', he assured her. He didn't seem bothered by my presence at all. He was just focussed on completing the task at hand. Didn't he feel nervous when I stood beside him? Didn't he forget what he was doing when he looked me in the eye? Perhaps I was indeed a silly girl for thinking a rich handsome nightclub owner could fall for me.

Elain did have her head stuck in the clouds most of the time. She refused to see the bad and the ugly. Maybe it was easy for her to imagine that no matter how unlikely the match, two people could still fall for each other. But Elain was prettier and more likeable.

Mor smiled and nodded towards Rhysand before running and then- it was like magic. I didn't know how she did it. Suddenly her two feet came together, she seemed to bend her knees a little bit… And then she was flying. Stretching towards the sky as she threw her arms away from her body. The muscles of Rhysand's arms flexed as he adjusted to her weight before coming up to stand straight. The balance was perfect. They almost seemed like a sculpture, hewn out of marble and destined to maintain that perfect balance for eternity.

My fingers itched with the need to paint.

'Feyre, what do you think?'

I blinked. Mor was standing in front of Rhysand again.

'I think I don't even understand how that happened. Can you do it again? Perhaps a bit slower?'

'I can't do it slower. I need momentum for my jump. But I can talk during it.'

She walked backwards again.

'So, you connect eyes with your partner. Right? You take a deep breath and you run. Bend your knees when you're running, only a little bit. It'll give you more power, but bending down too much will take too much time and momentum. Then, you push yourself off of the ground with one foot. Both are in the air. You land on both feet- nnnn ugh… And then you jump. The second both of your feet are on the ground after the small jump is when you have most of your momentum. You saw how I stretched my entire body? Then Rhysand picks me up and uses my momentum to put me above his head. Then the movement stops. Now it's just balance. My arms are spread because it stabilises me. It's easier to remain in this position that way. My whole body is tense and I'm very aware of my centre. It's my point of gravity. The slightest move and it shifts. Your partner won't be able to readjust and will probably need to seek new balance as well. Maybe they'll be able to hold you, but it'll look wobbly for a couple of seconds. So if you move, it's better to break off the lift. See?' she said as she moved one foot a bit and Rhysand's arms seemed to snap instantly. Rhys bent and Mor fell to her feet quickly. 'So don't move. Rhysand, once you have her above you, don't keep her up too lang. Just until she's steady for a second and then put her down again, alright? She won't be able to hold still the first couple of times.'

'Relax', Mor said as she walked towards me. 'You're allowed to cripple Rhys today. If he pulls a muscle because you move it'll be fine. It's Tamlin we don't want injured because we need him as a performer.'

'Sweet. You do realise I have a job as well, right?'

'Oh suck it up, baby', Mor sighed.

I walked backwards. Just run and jump and then not move at all and let him do the work. That could work.

Was I heavy? Heavier then Mor? I hoped not. Would he mind the weight?

'You'll be able to lift me, right?' I asked.

'Feyre darling, I'd be able to lift you, carry you, even throw you a good distance. Just look at you. If I don't hold on to you, the wind will pick you up and carry you away. You're fine.'

Alright then, if he said so.

I took more than a breath. I took a couple of breaths until I managed to quiet down my panicked heart enough. I ran. Fast enough so I had enough momento… And ran straight into Rhysand.

We stumbled backwards.

'Feyre, be mindful of the distance. Perhaps just running up to him a couple of times and fake the jump a bit? You've done that before. Don't forget there's a limited distance between the two of you.'

And so I ran up to him a couple of times. Until I managed to do the run and small jump. Then it was time.

Again.

For the thing.

My fingers were tingling. My heart was racing. And on the other side of the room, Rhysand was smirking. He held out his arms in an inviting manner.

I took a breath. Go.

I ran. I bent my knees. I pushed myself off of the floor. I landed. I jumped. My hands steadied myself on his shoulders and- he staggered backwards, stumbling… And he landed on his ass with me on top of him.

'Oohmpf… My ass', he groaned. His eyes slid over me. He tapped on my lip, I'd been biting it.

'Easy there', he laughed.

I couldn't breathe. From embarrassment or wonder- I didn't know.

Mor pulled me away the next second.

'Don't pounce him. Don't touch him. He is the only one doing the touching. If you hold on to his shoulders, he can't put you above him. And you break your momentum when you do that.'

'But how will I keep myself from falling? I just thought I-'

'Yes, I understand the need to hold on to something but you can't. It's frightening, I know.'

'You'll just have to trust me', Rhysand said as he stood up.

'Alright, Feyre? You'll hurt me if you don't trust me, okay?' Rhysand walked backwards and nodded towards me. I nodded. Mor's hands slid off of me.

Rhysand kept his eye contact and gave a slight nod as he spread his arms.

Trust.

He told me he could carry me.

I nodded- and ran. With power. And then- I flew. And for a lovely couple of seconds I felt his hands grasp my waist as I seemed to be lifted even higher- but right before I could spread my arms I fell down again.

It was absolutely exhilarating. My heart was pounding like it had gone berserk. Was this what a heart attack felt like?

In the end I never did manage to float above him. But I got pretty high. And I got used to being lifted. Which was a great start, Mor said.

Rhysand invited us to come to Illyria tonight. Mor promised she'd go, and I told them I had to ask my sisters.

I didn't know what had happened, but both Elain and Nesta were absent for the entire evening. I felt hesitant to go. Mor knew everyone there. I did too, but I was only an acquaintances. Would I impose? Would they want me there if it meant they had to deal with me the entire time? If I went with my sisters I could talk with them as well. Now it would be just me.

But in the end, my room became too dark, and the bungalow too lonely. So I called Mor, who was apparently just done with the evening performance and promised to take me with her. I met up with her at the mansion. Tamlin had already disappeared into a car with a not too sober looking Lucien.