Hey all! It's a new chapter. Vince retires from the military and picks up bartending at The Bottoms before going on to the Police Academy. Enter Jamie Fleming; you'll see what happens.

I own nothing. Thanks to my three lovely reviewers from last chapter. The chapter title comes from Brad Paisley's "We Danced".

The Many Sides of Vinwell: Chapter Twenty-One- We Danced

It was closing time at The Bottoms, finally. Vince had been sweeping the same dust pile back and forth for going on an hour now. They had been busy for quite a while, and then came the dry spell. Faraday grabbed the keys from behind the bar and padded over to the front door, his head down as he tried to fumble for the right key. His boss had too many damn keys on this one ring. The former soldier was lucky that the particular key he was looking for had a faded sharpie mark on it.

Vince found the correct key and murmured something sleepily under his breath. 2 AM was a late night, especially when he had to be up in the next couple of hours to take his mother grocery shopping…

The blonde paused when he heard a sharp gasp in front of him. He looked up, and found himself staring down at a brunette girl with a small, round face. Her eyes were the most expressive part about her. The golden brown orbs just wavered back at him fluidly. Their eyes met for a second too long, making it hard for Vince to regain his composure.

"Ah—I'm sorry, miss, but we're just closing up. Can— can I help you?"

"Oh, I know," the girl replied quietly, a tiny smile spreading across her face. "I just wanted to see if you found a missing purse? I came in earlier this evening."

Vince looked around the place, trying to recall any missing belongings he found during the night. You would be surprised how many people left important valuables such as keys, hats, purses, cell phones. Of course, considering how much they had to drink during their stay, it was a wonder how they were able to get up and walk out of the door. He remembered this girl coming in earlier. She came in with two girls, a dirty blonde and a strawberry blonde, and they spent half of the night just giggling. They had ordered maybe one drink a person, but that was about it. The former soldier looked back at the petite brunette and gave her a tired smile. "Hey, I think I've got one behind the bar. I bet it's probably yours."

She laced her fingers together and spread them across her slim torso. "Thank you. I'm sorry to bother you at such a God forsaken hour. Sometimes I think I'd lose my head if it wasn't screwed on just right, you know?" The girl let out a light chuckle, something that brought an even broader smile to Faraday's lips.

"Don't worry. I'm sure I'd lose my purse in a heartbeat. You know, if I carried one," Vince told her, turning back around to head behind the bar. "You want some water or something?" Five minutes ago, there wasn't a better idea out there than going home to sleep. Now, though, all he wanted to do was get to know this girl better.

"No, thank you. I need to be heading back home soon. My girlfriends are waiting for me out in the car," the brunette confessed. This much was true. But what she neglected to inform the bartender was that her friends had tricked her into coming back in here. They were the ones who ushered her out without a purse. Raia and Dana had seen the way Vince was looking at her, and the way she was looking at him. When they got back to the car, it took Jamie all of five minutes to realize that she had left her purse. The girls never left the parking lot, however. Jamie was far too shy to come back inside to get her purse, and neither Raia nor Dana volunteered to do it for her. They were determined to get the brunette a boyfriend. Vince seemed like the perfect candidate, seeing how he could hardly keep his eyes off of her.

Vince felt like smacking himself in the face over that. Of course she didn't want to stay long; it was two in the morning for crying out loud! "Right. Well—" the bartender took the Prada purse from behind the bar and padded back over to her. "Can I at least get your name?" he asked, a curious smile in place.

"Jamie Fleming," the brunette answered after a beat, having had to regain the breath that was knocked out of her a moment prior. "And you are?"

"Vince Faraday," the former soldier began, taking her proffered hand and kissing the backside of it. Hey, technically, he was off the clock. This much was allowed, wasn't it? "Nice to meet you."

Before either of them knew it, they had been talking for about half an hour. Vince's boss was in the back doing paperwork, so it wasn't like they were hurting anything. The open signs were turned off and everything, so what if he hadn't left yet?

Vince was pretty sure that he liked this girl, and he liked her a lot. Maybe she wouldn't turn him down if he asked her out on a date, or at least exchanged phone numbers with her. But what he ended up telling her instead was something totally different.

"I'll give this purse back to you on one condition, Jamie Fleming," the former solider began, eyes locking with hers intently.

Jamie's stomach twisted into an uncomfortable knot. "Yeah? And what's that one condition?"

"Dance with me," Vince smiled gently, his head nudging towards the speakers, which were still playing a medley of different music.

"At two in the morning?" Jamie asked, quirking an eyebrow incredulously.

"Why not? I've got all the time in the world to know you better," the blonde told her, holding out his hand expectantly. As she took his hand in her own, she was pulled into the strongest set of arms she had even been in, in her entire life. They began to sway to the music, which had transitioned into a much slower one just a moment ago.

And from that point on, there was no such thing as doubt. They started seeing each other on a regular basis. Jamie and Vince took things slow for a while. He was serious when he told her that he wanted to know her better. He didn't dare speed things up, not unless she wanted him to. Their first intimate kiss wasn't even until a few months after they met, despite the fact that the attraction was there and had been from the very start.

Up until they decided to take their relationship up another notch, Vince had still been the perfect gentleman. If he took her out, he always paid for her meals, opened doors for her, and slid her chair in as she sat down. They danced, for the most part. And cuddled, there were a lot of cuddles.

Jamie came into The Bottoms on a regular basis to see her boyfriend. Even then, he always paid for her drinks. They were slowly but surely falling in love and everyone around them could see it.

o—o—o

The couple had their first real kiss at a county fair during the summer. They had met two months ago and finally decided that they were ready for a more intimate aspect of their relationship. Neither of them was obligated to wait, but it was still nice to take things slow.

Vince aimed the ball directly for the target in sight. If he could nail it, he could win his girlfriend the giant cat plushie she had been eying since they first got to the fair. The former soldier and Jamie came to the county fair for the obligatory funnel cake that everyone loved so much; they figured that they would also see what the vendors were selling, and what rides there were to offer this year. Either way, though, the couple was there for some quality time. As long as they were together, who cared what they did or didn't do?

"You know, I don't think that anyone has ever taken the time to win me a prize at the fair," Jamie murmured as she held onto her boyfriend from behind.

"Well, they say that there's a first time for everything," Vince grinned as he pulled his arm back and threw the ball towards the target, hitting it spot on. "Pick out whatever you want, baby," he whispered down at her.

The brunette smiled warmly up at the former soldier, earning her a kiss on the temple. This hadn't been the first time that he had kissed her on the temple, or even the lips, for that matter. They had kissed many times, but it was never more than a few chaste kisses in a row. The couple was just waiting for the right moment for that spark. "The cat, of course," Jamie replied, her smile growing shyer as she looked over at the woman behind the booth.

"Giant kitty plushie coming right up," said the vendor. She was a tiny girl with curly red hair and black thick-rimmed glasses that were far too large for her face. The redhead obviously thought Vince was attractive. The way she was blushing when he just nodded told him everything that he needed to know.

The former solider wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist and led her up towards the vendor, who was holding out the huge plushie. "Thank you," he called back to the vendor, who just smiled at him in return. Vince ushered Jamie away, his eyes on her carefully. "How do you like it?"

"I love it," Jamie chuckled, her eyes lightening up as she looked up at her boyfriend. "My kitten might get jealous if I cuddle the plushie tonight instead of her."

Vince gently pecked at her lips. "Yeah? Well, how about we shovel down some more of that funnel cake and I'll take you back to see her?"

The brunette just stared up at her boyfriend, brown eyes wavering back and forth. It was almost a minute later before she stretched onto her tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck. "Maybe you wanna stay a little longer than you did last night?"

"As long as you'll allow me to," Vince whispered down at her, arms snaking around her hourglass frame. He was taken off guard when she pulled his head down further to meld their lips together. The contact lasted a lot longer than it usually did and, before either of them knew it, they were practically making out right there at the fair.

"We can stay up all night just dancing, if that's what you really want," he told her after his lips parted from hers.

"That sounds wonderful to me. Just…" Jamie began, tapping her boyfriend's lips with a small smile, "I don't want the kissing to stop. It doesn't have to, does it?"

"Not at all. In fact, I think I can get used to more kissing…" Vince began kissing her once more, his large hands supporting her tiny face as the rhythmic motions picked up again.

Within two months of knowing each other, the former soldier and his girlfriend had taken it slow. But now that the ice had been broken, who could say what was going to happen next.

o—o—o

A year later, not much had changed. Vince was still bartending and, when he wasn't with his girlfriend, he was looking into classes so he could start at the Police Academy. But he was also looking at another particular thing.

The bartender glanced down at his shirt pocket, a small grin in place. Safely tucked away in the pocket was a special gift for Jamie. He had it all planned out; when Jamie and her best friends came in for their weekly night out, he was planning to propose to his girlfriend.

He kept his word, too. As he was fixing drinks for Jamie and the other two, he was finalizing his plans. The brunette was busily chatting with Raia and Dana, glancing over at Vince lovingly every now and then.

"So, where are you three ladies off to tonight?" Vince asked as he began pouring the last drink for his girlfriend.

"Haven't decided yet. Why? Thought you were stuck here until late again," Jamie told him, accepting the drink, quickly leaning over the bar to give him a kiss in return.

"Oh I am," he frowned, taking a cloth to wipe down the bar with. "Otherwise, I'd tell you that we needed to start shopping for some more… formal things," he added with a proud grin.

The brunette just gave him a look before taking a sip of her drink. "What kind of formal wear? Are you talking me to another one of your Military Balls? 'Cause those are always nice."

"Well, kinda. I'll be wearing my uniform. But I picture you in white this time. And—" the bartender slid the box over to his girlfriend. "And wearing this."

Jamie never cried so much in her life than when she opened up that box. Of course, when Vince came over to the other side of the bar and got down on one knee, she cried even harder. Through it all, she was still able to give him his answer. When she told him that she would marry him, only under the condition that he danced with her like he did the night that they first met. It was just as special as any other time. They held each other close and danced for what felt like eternity.

That's it for me. As always, I didn't think that I would be able to get this updated. Ya'll know what to do!