I'VE FINISHED MY DEGREE! So I'm going to be trying to update at least once a week from now on; feel free to come into my tumblr (gohavefunschwim) ask and bug me if I start slipping.
Thank you to the usual angels - Harriet, Marina, Gem and Amelia - for their never-ending encouragement, as well as everyone who commented on the last chapter. It really means a lot, so please keep it coming :)
So.
She waits a solid three days before she calls on Rachel, because she is not desperate, and she would basically rather chew glass than give Rachel any inkling of how much she wants her.
Rachel, unfortunately, seems to have some sort of idea, from the way she's prancing around Cassie's dance hall in scandalously revealing outfits and shooting suggestive smirks at her every three seconds. It's possibly the least subtle display of seduction Cassie's ever seen from Rachel – and that includes her Oops performance – and if it wasn't for the fact that her entire class is more convinced than ever of their sworn enmity after All That Jazz, she'd start to worry.
As it is, she's just ridiculously frustrated, and so she catches Rachel as she's leaving their Friday morning class.
"Schwimmer, a word," she says, without even bothering to look up from her choreography notes by the piano. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see the barely concealed smirk on Rachel's face as she walks over to her.
"Ms July?" Rachel asks with such a feigned innocence that it takes all of Cassie's self-restraint not to throw her against the piano then and there.
"What are you doing Saturday night?" she asks in a low voice, moving closer towards her.
"Um," Rachel gulps. "Maybe a party?"
"There's a wonderful little salsa club just round the corner from my apartment," Cassie says into Rachel's ear, "And I seem to remember you're still having some trouble learning to… loosen up a little." Cassie's hands drift across Rachel's waist, and Rachel instinctively leans into her.
"Are you offering to teach me?" Rachel asks in a voice about an octave deeper than usual.
"Be at mine for around 9," Cassie tells her, ghosting her lips across Rachel's ear lobe before she pulls away, leaving Rachel visibly breathless as she saunters out of the classroom.
She doesn't really plan on telling Lucian, but it comes out when she has to give him a reason she can't go out that Saturday.
(Because obviously a vague I've got other plans isn't going to work for someone who hasn't had more than one genuine friend in the last eight years.)
"You're doing what?" Lucian asks in disbelief down the phone.
"I'm taking Rachel to Caliente's on 3rd," Cassie sighs, pouring herself a large glass of wine, because this is a conversation she really does not want to deal with.
"You're taking your student dancing," Lucian says back to her flatly.
"Christ Lucian, a dance teacher dancing with her student, who would ever have thought?" Cassie snaps, and drinks deeply as she rolls her eyes.
"Cassie, there's a difference between a casual affair with your student, and taking the underage girl you've been obsessed with for months out on a date."
Something inside Cassie flares. And seriously, if she wanted a lecture on her life choices, she'd go visit her grandmother in Kansas.
She can't think of a time when Broadway teachers haven't slept with their young ingénues, and it's really not a fucking big deal. She knows what she's doing – and who – and she's completely in control of this situation.
"Yeah, you know what the only thing I'm obsessed with is how good Rachel looks naked in my bed, okay? So fuck you."
She hangs up, narrowly resisting the urge to throw her phone across the flat. Instead she sighs angrily, biting her lip as the guilt already starts to hit her, and takes another deep gulp of wine to fend it off.
Her conversation with Lucian nags away at her all weekend, but then Rachel turns up at her flat – bang on 9pm, of course – in a tiny black dress that swirls as she turns, and Cassie forgets any objections she has to fucking Rachel senseless.
"So is this what you normally do when you're not teaching?" Rachel asks her, as they wander through Soho.
"Are you surprised I have a life outside of NYADA, Schwimmer?" Cassie says drolly.
"I- well, maybe sometimes you get bored of dancing," Rachel says hesitantly.
"Oh, I never get bored of dancing," Cassie tells her, shooting Rachel a smirk. Rachel blushes and looks away, biting her lip as she smiles.
"Did you train as a dancer?" she asks, and for a moment Cassie feels like she's had the wind knocked out of her. But Rachel says it so casually, as if she's not referencing to 20 years of blood, sweat and tears for a career that went up in smoke, that Cassie finds herself actually telling the truth.
"Yes… ballet, tap and jazz since I was four, and ballroom since I was eight. I was going to join the ballet, actually," Cassie muses.
"What happened?"
"I discovered I loved to sing," Cassie says with a smile. And suddenly this conversation is getting way too nostalgic way too fast, and they haven't even had a drink yet.
"Now Schwim," she says, throwing an arm round Rachel's shoulders. "There's going to be a lot of beautiful women in this club, so you've got to promise me you won't run away from intimidation."
Rachel shoots her a glare.
"And they'll probably get quite friendly. So, you know," Cassie continues with a wink.
"Cassie, where are you taking me?" Rachel asks warningly, but she's about as threatening as a lost puppy. They round a corner, and the salsa beat floats down the street towards them.
"Dancing!" says Cassie with a grin. She presses a hand against her back and leads her into the club, smouldering at the bouncer before Rachel even has a chance to hesitate.
(She was about 98% sure there wouldn't be a problem, but she's still relieved at avoiding what would be possibly the most awkward moment of the last five years, at least.)
"Oh my god," Rachel laughs as they appear in the club, hands coming up to her mouth. Cassie smirks in satisfaction, because – yeah, it is pretty impressive. It's like a little slice of Rio crossed with hedonistic New York, all wooden floors and huge pots of (fake) flowers and chandeliers. The air is sweet with the smell of cocktails and the beat of the music thumps in Cassie's breastbone, and the rush of what she knows is going to be a fucking fantastic night hits her.
"Come on!" Cassie shouts at her over the music, and leads her away by her hand to the bar. It's pretty packed, but she smiles her way sweetly through the crowd, and orders a couple of tequila shots. Rachel's pressed up against her, hands resting on her waist, and when she turns round she's still staring round in amazement.
She hands Rachel her shot, clinking the glasses with a wicked grin before she easily downs hers. Rachel follows hesitantly, making a face of absolute disgust, but she doesn't splutter, and Cassie gains about 3% more respect for her. Clearly college life in New York has loosened her up slightly in the last five months. Cassie grins, chucking the glasses back on the bar before she drags Rachel onto the dance floor.
Rachel's laughing as Cassie twirls her around then pulls them flush together, staring up at Cassie with wide eyes like she can't quite believe this is happening. Something satisfied settles in Cassie's chest, like she's finally achieved a long sought-after goal , and she snakes her hands over Rachel's hips to pull her even closer.
"Now the first thing you need to know, Schwimmer," Cassie says lowly in her ear. "Is that it's all about sex." She feels Rachel sigh deeply against her, and smirks. When she pulls back slightly to look into Rachel's eyes, they're huge and wide, light from the chandeliers dancing off them. She slips a leg shamelessly in between Rachel's, sliding her hands down to Rachel's ass, and watches as Rachel's eyes flutter closed for a moment, before opening again with such a dangerous look in them it sends a shiver through Cassie's body.
"What do you think Ms July," she asks her, swaying her hips with the music. "Do I have what it takes?"
"Well Schwimmer, I still think you need to learn to… loosen up a little."
She whirls Rachel out and back into hold, and Rachel laughs joyfully and tips her head back as they begin to dance faster. The floor's so busy they can't move more than a few metres around, but Cassie's nothing if not a magician with her body, and she slides teasingly up against Rachel before spinning her out, again and again.
She's only had that shot of tequila but Cassie can feel something buzzing through her veins, as Rachel shimmies towards her, crooking a finger. Cassie smoulders back, pulling Rachel into her until they're spinning round, feet moving furiously in an intricate cross-step. And maybe she has learnt something in the past five months, because Rachel doesn't falter, not once, and holds Cassie's gaze firmly as they turn.
Cassie spins her out suddenly and dips her down, laughing as Rachel's hair falls back behind her in ripples. When she pulls her back up she catches a glance of Rachel's glowing face before she throws her arms around Cassie and kisses her hotly. Cassie smiles into her mouth, squeezing her ass as she nips affectionately at her bottom lip. She feels, rather than hears, Rachel's moan and god she just needs more.
But Rachel has other ideas, pulling back and miming at her she wants a drink. Rachel rifles in her purse as they reach the bar again, and Cassie catches a glimpse of a fake ID before she slams her hand on Rachel's, and rolls her eyes.
"Are you fucking kidding me," she tells her, and Rachel looks affronted – even though she probably can't hear Cassie over the speakers a metre away from them, but Cassie knows her stop that shit now, Schwimmer expression is pretty easy to read.
She lets Rachel order her drink before she orders her own Bellini, and another four tequila shots, and pays for them both. She bites her lip slightly as the bartender pours them out, because Rachel is underage, and she's her student, and if anyone saw them…
She glances round to make a sort of cursory check, but all she sees is Schwimmer being chatted up by an averagely handsome man, and responding annoyingly enthusiastically. Something grips Cassie's heart painfully, and her eyes narrow. She's about to whack the guy round the head and tell him exactly where to fucking go, but – what? Rachel's not even hers.
(And she doesn't need to be banned from another club.)
She slides an arm round Rachel's waist, who promptly turns round in surprise and grins up at her. Cassie's saccharinely sweet smile does nothing to hide the jealousy in her eyes, but she hands Rachel a tequila shot before she has a chance to say anything. Rachel gamely downs it before Cassie begins to pull her away; she sees Rachel glance over her shoulder as if to apologise to her would-be suitor, but Cassie already has her sandwiched against the bar, handing her another shot.
"What was that?" Rachel asks her, and Cassie knows she's just played way too many of her cards.
"What?" Cassie says innocently, and hands her another shot. Rachel narrows her eyes as she takes a sip of her drink, then downs the tequila, and shakes her head.
"Come on!" she says brightly. "Let's dance!"
Cassie grabs both their drinks and follows Rachel back out to the dance floor, where she's currently twirling solo. Then suddenly someone barges into her side, and she's nearly toppled over, her drinks sloshing everywhere.
"What the fuck?!" she yells, whipping round to see a very apologetic looking woman holding up her hands.
"Shit, I'm so sorry!" she says earnestly.
And maybe Cassie's still rattled by that guy, because she snaps, "Yeah, you fucking should be."
"Here, let me buy you another," the woman offers, and Cassie softens slightly, and shrugs in concession. It doesn't hurt that the woman's gorgeous, all dark curls and huge brown eyes.
(She glances around for Rachel, but she's nowhere to be seen, so she sighs and decides she at least needs a drink before she salsas through the club looking for her.)
"A Bellini, and…?" The woman turns to Cassie questioningly.
"Oh don't bother, she's probably had enough for tonight," Cassie says dryly, waving a dismissive hand.
"Are you here with a friend?" the woman asks, handing Cassie her cocktail. She sort of freezes, because, shit, how would she describe Schwimmer?
"Or your date?" the woman probes with a smile, and Cassie nearly chokes.
"No, dear god, she's just… we dance together."
"Oh sweetie, so does everyone here," replies the woman with a smile, and Cassie inwardly curses Schwimmer for running off, because she's sure this shit would drive her wild with jealously right now.
"Hmm, well," Cassie hums, smirking back, then she leans forward and says, "I should probably go find her before she dances off with someone else. Thanks for the drink."
"Let me give you my number," the woman says, handing her a card from her purse. "If you ever fancy someone else to dance with."
Cassie licks her lips, and smirks again, before sauntering off towards the dance floor sipping her drink.
She finds Rachel within about five minutes, dancing in the middle of a group of the most outrageously camp men she's seen outside of NYADA in a while. She momentarily pauses, smiling as she watches Rachel clearly having the time of her life, and currently the star of the crowd as she shimmies and shakes her butt around, roaring with laughter.
"Cassie!" she screams, when she catches Cassie's eye, and elbows her way out of the group to run over and throw her arms round her.
"Having fun, Schwim?" Cassie says as she basically catches her.
"We're supposed to be dancing!" Rachel tells her enthusiastically, taking her hand. Cassie rests her finished drink on a table and allows herself to be dragged into the crowd, where Rachel wraps her arms around her neck and pulls her closer, smiling up at her seductively.
Drunk Schwimmer is clearly horny Schwimmer, and Cassie's not in the least bit surprised.
She leans forward and nips lightly at Rachel's ear, before saying huskily into it, "Come on, Rachel. Show me what you've learnt. Seduce me."
And it's basically the best and worst thing she could possibly have said, because christ Rachel does.
(She should've known not to give Rachel a chance to act with how she eats that shit up.)
She moves away from Cassie, undulating her hips and running her hands through her hair so it falls through the air in waves. The smile she shoots at Cassie sends heat straight to her crotch, but when she tries to take Rachel back in her arms she turns round and grinds shamelessly against Cassie. Her arms come up to wrap around Cassie's neck, and Cassie decides to play dirty, letting her hands stray tantalisingly from Rachel's hips towards her crotch.
Rachel whips round, gasping and smiling at the same time, and Cassie smirks. Rachel snakes her hands up Cassie's abdomen until she's palming at her breasts, and Cassie lets her head fall back as she pulls Rachel's hips closer to hers. Then one of Rachel's strong hands reaches up to the nape of Cassie's neck and pulls her down until they're kissing hotly, gyrating against each other, and Cassie loses sense of everything except the feel of Rachel's mouth on hers and her knee moving up against her crotch and her small hands basically massaging her ass.
(It's not salsa, not even close, but she could give literally no fucks at this point.)
It feels like they've been dancing for hours, and part of Cassie wants to keep going til dawn; but she can feel Rachel getting wetter by the second against her knee and her own nipples are straining through her dress and her whole body is humming in anticipation.
"Let's go," Cassie husks in her ear, and Rachel doesn't need telling twice. Cassie thanks god she only lives a few blocks away, because Rachel's basically lost all self-control and she really doesn't want to get arrested for having sex in a cab.
They don't even make it to Cassie's bedroom (they barely make it into her loft), and she doesn't know whether it's the alcohol or watching Rachel get hit on or grinding against her for an entire evening but it's never been this hot. Rachel's never been this hot, nipping and clawing and whining, her head tipping back against the door as she wraps her legs around Cassie.
Several hours – and way too many orgasms to count – later, Rachel still nestles into Cassie's side as she snores gently in her sleep. A familiar sense of discomfort creeps into Cassie's chest, but she can't quite help herself from running her fingers lightly through Rachel's hair, and smiling slowly in satisfaction.
They sleep in until about midday – hung over Schwimmer is also dead-to-the-world Schwimmer, she discovers – but Rachel doesn't make any attempt to stay, this time, and Cassie doesn't stop her, because between her unexpected jealousy and Rachel clinging to her like a limpet all night long, Cassie's starting to feel a little claustrophobic.
Rachel hesitates slightly at the door before she leaves, as if waiting for Cassie to make the next move. She's not fucking kissing her goodbye or anything, if that's what she's expecting.
"I'll see you Monday, Schwim," Cassie tells her, and Rachel nods, says a slightly awkward 'bye', and turns to leave. Cassie feels a twinge of guilt, and impulsively slaps Rachel on the ass, who promptly squeals and turns round to try and glare, which is completely ruined by the grin on her face. Cassie licks her lips, smiling as she shuts the door.
She spends a couple of hours working out and choreographing, but honestly, she's exhausted.
(And it's awesome.)
She's curled up on her couch eating leftover takeout when she hears her a knock at her door, and her heart skips a beat for a moment as she wonders if Rachel's come back.
(Honestly, she's less worried about the NYADA faculty finding out than she is about Schwimmer taking to following her around like a lost puppy.)
She opens her door, though, to see Lucian leaning against the frame, looking tired and a little apologetic.
"What?" she asks, crossing her arms.
Lucian hands her a small cake box, and gives her a resigned smile.
"It's your life. I'm sorry. I'm here for when you fuck it up."
"Fuck you," Cassie says, but she's smiling too, and she playfully snatches the box from him.
"It's vegan," he tells her as she opens the box, sniffing at the caramel-coloured cake experimentally. "I know you won't eat anything full-fat."
Cassie glares at him, but it's softened by the small reminder of Rachel, and she moves away from the door to let him inside.
"Come on, I've got the West Wing lined up on Netflix."
Lucian says nothing more about Rachel until he leaves hours later, both of them a bottle of wine down.
"Please be careful, Cas," he says, unusually sincere.
"Look, I'm not gonna get caught in my studio with her, or break her little heart if that's what you're worried about. She knows it's just sex," Cassie assures him.
"Maybe she does. Maybe you've convinced her. I'm just worried about the day you stop convincing yourself."
Something clenches in Cassie's heart and her ears start buzzing, and she just doesn't know what to say. Lucian gives her a long, hard look, and then turns and leaves her to her own thoughts.
She doesn't move from that spot for a good ten minutes. Then suddenly she shakes herself, and turns up her music for an evening workout until it drowns out the words circling her mind.
The next few weeks putter along in a similar fashion.
Rachel seems to delight in making her as frustrated as possible during class, and there's literally nothing Cassie can do to stop her; especially since unleashing her sexuality is making her a halfway decent dancer.
Cassie desperately wants to play her at her own game, but she knows the moment she starts to slip from her snarky iciness – especially when criticism of Rachel's around average dancing is 100% justifiable – her other students are going to, at the very least, lose some respect for her.
(She's never had a lesson in her life when she hasn't commanded the total respect of a classroom, through fear, talent, or both, and she's not about to start now.)
So she perseveres, and yeah, maybe she's a little harder on Rachel than is strictly necessary, but if Rachel thinks she's about to sleep her way to a free ride through midterms she can get straight back on the plane to Ohio.
"Schwimmer, I honestly think you should take a trip to the doctor's, because only some kind of severe inner ear infection could make you that horrifically unbalanced."
Rachel falls out of her pirouette, nearly colliding with the dancer next to her who shoots her an angry glare. Cassie watches as she purses her lips, straightens her back then tries again.
"Schwimmer that's just embarrassing, OK. Embarassing."
"What-" snaps Rachel, and Cassie raises her eyebrows. A few dancers turn round, and Rachel looks at them nervously before continuing more quietly, "What can I do better?"
"You could start by focussing properly on your spotting," says Cassie, moving forward to lift up her chin. "Find a spot on the wall. Don't let it go until the very last split-second, and find it again as soon as you turn." Rachel's staring up at her with wide eyes, still breathing heavily, and Cassie drops her hand suddenly and moves away.
"Again, Schwim," she orders, gesturing at her to turn. It's actually ok, and she concedes, "That'll do. It's all I've got the patience for today, at least." She can see Rachel's fuming, but it's not like this isn't run of the mill stuff.
Still, Rachel hangs out until the other students have all left the studio, then marches up to her at the piano.
"At least try and keep your criticisms constructive, Ms July," Rachel says scathingly, and Cassie sighs.
"Do you want people to know whose bed you've been in lately?" Cassie asks her. Rachel scowls, looking away and crossing her arms.
"I don't think anyone's about to suspect anything when you're setting a new record for insults per class," Rachel tells her sullenly.
"Well, how about," Cassie begins, moving forward to uncross Rachel's arms and slide her hands around her waist, "You come over to mine tonight, and enjoy this secret we're so wonderfully managing to keep? I'll make it worth your while," Cassie teases, and Rachel's lips twitch into a reluctant smirk.
When Rachel collapses onto Cassie's chest later that night, a contented grin plastered across her face, she doesn't seem to have any more complaints.
Cassie finds herself spending gradually more time with Rachel. She discovers a new challenge in finding places to take Rachel in the city where no one will see them, and she can't fight the buzz she gets at Rachel's ever-enraptured face at the new wonders Cassie introduces her to.
A lot of the time though, they stay in, and Cassie doesn't know what it is, but the sex just keeps on getting better. Sometimes it's rough and angry and Cassie leaves Rachel with hickeys she knows it takes an extra half-hours work in the morning to cover up; usually after days when Rachel's been particularly provocative in class, which Cassie is convinced is happening more and more just so they end up in situations like these, where Rachel's handcuffed to Cassie's bedpost, whining and straining in mad frustration.
"Cassie!" she screams, as Cassie blows lightly over her swollen clit, and god, they should've been doing this months ago.
Other times it's slower and more intense, and somehow sadder, where Cassie finds herself desperately clinging to Rachel as if she's scared she's going to suddenly disappear. It's these times she usually ends up lying on top of Rachel's chest, falling asleep to the feel of Rachel's small, strong hands running through her hair.
"Where did you grow up?" Rachel asks her softly one night, just as she's drifting away.
"Kansas," Cassie responds without thinking.
"Were you the Wicked Witch of the West?" Rachel says, and Cassie can hear her smiling.
"Doesn't she turn out to be good in the end?" Cassie teases, and then falls silent as the implication of her words hits her.
Rachel says nothing either, but continues to stroke Cassie's hair until sleep pulls her away.
Something in the way Lucian said maybe she does has got underneath Cassie's skin, though, and the fear that Rachel, with her impulsive, dramatic emotions, is developing some sort of attachment to her grows a little each day.
Sometime in early February a whole week passes where Rachel's so busy the only time Cassie sees her is in class, and it puts her in an awful mood. Mostly just due to frustration; but a part of Cassie misses her, and that makes her even angrier.
They're revisiting the tango again today, and as the dancers pair off, Cassie represses a stab of jealousy at the male dancer whose waist Rachel currently has her leg wrapped round. It's like Everytime all over again, except now Cassie's used to those legs round her and it just… it fucking grates.
"Schwimmer, there's sensual, then there's trying to rub one off on your partner," Cassie snaps as she walks past them, and Rachel's cheeks flush in embarrassment, and she loses her step.
It continues like that for most of the lesson, with Cassie's criticisms going more and more below the bar, and Rachel becoming more and more frustrated. By the end of class Rachel's barely even reacting anymore, and Cassie knows she pushes just a little too far when she makes a lewd suggestion about her sexual prowess.
Rachel doesn't hover after class; she grabs her things and storms out, but Cassie has absolutely no time for her diva strops right now.
(She regrets it later that night, when she's writhing in frustration at her own fingers that are somehow nowhere near as adept as Rachel's.)
Rachel appears in her office early the next day, and she doesn't look like she's slept much.
"You were out of line yesterday," she says angrily as she marches over to Cassie. Cassie raises an eyebrow, moving round her desk to lean against it.
"Schwimmer-" she begins, but Rachel interrupts her.
"No, you listen to me," and Rachel says it so firmly that Cassie actually does, because she's never seen her quite like this. "The way you're acting is ridiculous and completely unjustified. I get that you're not going to be any nicer to me in class, but going out of your way to humiliate me every time I dance with someone else?"
Cassie's eyes narrow. "Schwimmer, I am not jealous, if that's what you're accusing me of."
"Well what was that in class yesterday?" Rachel demands, gesturing angrily. "And what about the other week when that woman hit on me at that bar. Or back in January at the salsa club?"
"We're just fucking," Cassie tells her coldly. "And if you can't deal with that, then get the hell out of my office."
"You know what," says Rachel in a low voice. "I can deal with sleeping with you, and I can deal with your unconventional methods. But I can't deal with someone who doesn't have an ounce of respect for me."
And with that she turns on her heel, and storms out of the office, leaving Cassie standing in shock.
She's literally too mad to even speak to Rachel for most of the next week, and when she does it's only a few, snapped criticisms. Rachel's clearly just as angry, determinedly trying to avoid looking at Cassie, but she doesn't miss the glances Rachel casts at her across class when her back's turned.
(She's pretty sure Rachel's waiting for her to apologise, but she's got to be fucking joking if she thinks that's about to happen.)
And whatever, it was fun while it lasted. She'd pretty much expected for Schwimmer to blow up in her face the moment she discovered Cassie really was a cold-hearted bitch underneath her outer layers of cold-hearted bitch, and she couldn't care less.
(Aside from being really fucking frustrated without regular, mind-blowing orgasms, but the couple of men and women she picks up at bars do the job well enough.)
She's fucking fine.
Except a couple of weeks later and Rachel starts to look less mad, and more like a wounded puppy. Cassie brushes it off at first, but it gradually begins to wear her down, until her heart starts twinging with guilt whenever she glances over at Rachel to see her look away quickly with round, occasionally tearful eyes.
She almost confesses their argument to Lucian, except that makes it sound like they're having some kind of lovers spat, so she leaves it.
Instead, she spends several sleepless nights staring out at the nearly star-less sky, alternating between dark coffee and dark rum.
When Rachel bursts into laughter in the middle of class the next day, something in Cassie's heart softens. Rachel seems to feel her gaze, and glances over, and the brief lick of her lips before she looks away sends tingles through Cassie's body.
She switches her lesson plan and divides the class of into pairs, beckoning Rachel over to her.
"Schwim, with me."
Rachel comes over slightly hesitantly, but she's clearly biting back a smile. Cassie pulls her into hold, and the feel of Rachel's hand on her back and the other almost caressing her arm is so familiar it makes her heart ache a little.
The music changes, and they begin to dance. Cassie says nothing, but her eyes don't leave Rachel's as they turn around the floor, moving almost perfectly in time with the music. She can feel her heartbeat quickening far too quickly, and her body somehow instinctively moving closer to Rachel's, and maybe she has missed this a bit.
"Keep your back straight," Cassie tells her, pressing against Rachel's spine, and she feels Rachel's soft body collide tantalisingly with her own.
"That's good, Schwimmer," she says softly, and Rachel shoots her a smirk.
It's not an apology, exactly, but Cassie feels something shift; and it seems to be enough for Rachel, who's clearly missed Cassie just as much if the sounds coming from her mouth as Cassie pins her against the piano are anything to go by.
