It would have been easy for both of them to follow in their siblings' footsteps. By the time Ari got to high school, his brother was the stuff of legends. He was the ballet boy who'd died too soon after a senseless car accident on the rainy morning before his big change at international fame. For Paige, she had a lifetime of living in Abigail's footsteps. She had long been used to trying and failing to be as talented, as perfect, as special as her older sister. They could have so easily taken that same that their siblings did when it came to their talents but never did. When it came to matters of the heart, well, that was something entirely different.
Ari had been surprised to receive the invitation to Christian and Tara's wedding. While he had known both of them vaguely through his brother, it had been five years since he had died. It wasn't like any of them had really been in touch with the Lieberman family. He had seen them once since the funeral on the day that the performing arts center was dedicated in Sammy's honor. Since then, the only person he had talked to with any regularity was Kat, and that was only because she was still kicking around Sydney dancing with the Company and teaching at the Academy.
He had gone to see Kat once right after he had gotten the invitation to see if he should go. He was all of eighteen now and didn't really feel any obligation to doing it. However, a part of him felt like it was what Sammy would have wanted, and if he couldn't be there, maybe Ari was the next best thing for his friends. Kat had encouraged him to go and had revealed only briefly that Abigail and Ethan would be back in Australia from St. Petersburg and that she thought Ben would be flying in from Berlin.
Paige had been less surprised to get the invitation from Tara. She knew that her sister was in constant contact with her old roommate and classmate. Abigail had mentioned that Tara wanted her to come since she would be in Sydney, and since she rarely got to see her own sister and brother-in-law, she was treating the wedding as just another family reunion. Besides, it would be good to hang out with Kat again.
She had been hoping to be seated with her sister or Kat at the reception, but after the filed out of the church and into the warm afternoon air, she was less than thrilled to find that they had been assigned toward the front of the hall while she'd have to slum it near the back. Paige quickly scanned the name cards for any sense of familiarity, but only one name stuck out. Ari Lieberman had been Sammy's little brother, and Paige had loved Sammy. She had absolutely adored the boy, the first one to ever hold her sister's heart and make Paige feel butterflies in her own stomach.
"You must be Sammy's brother," she said when he slid into his chair a few minutes earlier. The tall brunette looked at her suspiciously before rolling her eyes. "I'm Paige. I think you know my sister, Abigail."
"You're Abby's little sister?" Ari smiled affectionately. He had always liked his brother's ex-girlfriend. She had been surprisingly good at video games. "Is she here? I haven't seen her for ages. Kat said she married Ethan awhile back."
Paige smiled politely. "Yes, they're up there somewhere. I'm surprised that you're here."
He knew that it could have been rude but it wasn't. "Tara and Christian invited me, and I guess I think Sammy would be happy about it," Ari replied. "I never picked up the dancing bug or became the doctor my father wanted, so I figured this was a good way to pay tribute to my brother."
"So you're not a dancer like Sammy?"
"God no," Ari chuckled. "I play hockey. I'm in my first year at Uni. Starting goalie." He waited a beat before continuing. "Are you a ballerina?"
"Hardly," Paige shook her head. "I'm actually a rhythmic gymnast, which Abigail still absolutely abhors. I swear, between her and Ethan, my family is full of absolute snobs when it comes to my sport. We all supported Abs for ages with her stupid dancing, but they all think it is just silly dancing with ribbons and hoops. You know what I mean?"
Ari shrugged. "My dad sort of hated ballet. Anything else is better by comparison."
They must have sat there talking for two hours, all through dinner and when the cake was served. They hushed their conversation when the happy couple took the floor for an elaborately choreographed but funny first dance. She pointed out her sister and Ethan, and he called Kat over so that they could all three catch up. And when the rest of the attendees made their way out to enjoy a particular Miles Davis song, Ari extended his hand and led Paige out to the middle of the floor.
"You know that my brother used to date your sister, right?"
Paige nodded as she pressed her cheek to his shoulder. "They were in love."
"Do you think they would have ended up together?"
She leaned back for a moment in contemplation before shaking her head. "She was meant for Ethan."
"And what about you, Paige Armstrong? What are you meant to do?"
"I'm meant to enjoy my life and be happy," she smiled softly. "And dance with you. I'm meant to be here dancing with you."
Ari went home that night with Paige's phone number written on a napkin, and she went home with a million dreams of what could be dancing in her head. Two years later, he picked her up with a little ring box in his pocket, and three days after she graduated from Uni, she led him up the stairs at the quaintest little inn with a room key in hers. It would have been so easy for them to become just another ballet statistic, but Ari and Paige weren't meant for that world. They were only meant for each other.
For goofy.
