A/N: Hey everyone, guess I need to apologise again. I know I've been pretty terrible at keeping to my update schedule lately but I'll try to work on that. I was on track to have this updated yesterday, but unfortunately I had my car broken into. I've been pretty distracted, what with all the cleaning (who knew glass could be so hard to clean in a car?), booking a window specialist to come and replace it... it's been a bit of a headache.

On the plus side, the rock that the thief put through my car window was pretty cool looking, so I've decided to keep it. Gotta have a sense of humour about these things, eh? Hopefully I've used up my bad luck quota for a while now.

Anyway, I'll work harder to get back on track now, and I hope you enjoy the update.

"I-I don't know if I'm ready to try this…"

"Relax your body parts, Johnny. You are more than ready to do zis now! Just remember, you know ze steps so you should not be thinking about them, you should only be thinking about the beat."

"But Gunter, I only jus' learnt it."

"You will not be alone, come, join me."

"Everyone's watchin' though…"

"Ignore zem, just focus on me and follow my lead."

Johnny took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to settle his nerves. He could feel the gazes of his classmates on him as he stepped to the front, joining Gunter as the music began to play. The room filled with the now familiar arrangement of accordion and saxophone, together with the beats provided by a bass guitar as well as the tambora and güira, two instruments Gunter had been more than happy to describe in long and excitable detail. The description had been so long, in fact, that Johnny couldn't help but zone out and focus on Gunter's amusing movements. He was never one to stay still whilst talking and seeing him discussing something that seemed to fascinate him so much just made his motions far more animated and distracting. All Johnny could take from it was that it was a two-sided drum and some kind of cylindrical metal instrument that sounded like a maraca.

Indeed, this style of music had taken over Gunter's classes the past week in place of the usual pop and dance music they had been used to before. Inspired by his promise to Mike at the theatre, Gunter decided it was about time he introduced all of his students both there and at his studio to the expansive world of Latin dance styles, beginning with the merengue. It was the perfect choice to begin with, being relatively easy to learn as a dance to be performed either alone or with a partner. Up until now they had been learning to perform alone, but Gunter decided it was now time to partner up. And, to his amusement, not a single female animal in his class had hesitated in trying to partner up with Johnny. Nor had Aaron and Carl.

The poor young ape looked much like he had when he'd met his first group of fangirls after their first official show upon the New Moon Theatre's reopening. And Gunter had to admit, his students didn't act much differently from those fangirls either. To save Johnny from his predicament he declared himself as Johnny's partner, much to everyone's disappointment. Gunter simply brushed it off as needing Johnny in order to demonstrate for everyone else. The others were dubious, and with good reason. Johnny was by no means a terrible dancer, having improved a lot since he first started classes two short weeks ago, but he was far from Gunter's star pupil. Still, with the way the gorilla had been improving that could soon change, and Gunter knew that. He wanted every possible opportunity to nurture Johnny's talent and bring out the dancer he knew was in there.

That, and he really didn't want to watch poor Johnny be torn apart by his rabid fans.

"OK, now just as you practised before," Gunter began explaining, both to Johnny and to the rest of the class. "However, you are working both around and with another dancer now, so you must be aware of their movements as well."

"So no stepping on his feet!" a female rabbit called out, to which everyone laughed.

"Oh, do not worry Jane, there will probably be lots of stepping on toes," Gunter said, looking pointedly over to her and her partner. "Fortunately some of us have smaller feet than others, however."

This earned another round of laughter from the class, even from Jane herself after a moment's attempt at pouting. Johnny laughed along with them, the light-hearted jabbing doing wonders in alleviating his nerves. He'd quickly come to learn that no matter how many insults were thrown around the studio, none of them would ever be meant maliciously. The animals who attended regularly just seemed to be the type to have an impeccable sense of humour, something he greatly appreciated.

"Okay, now, one, two, three, four," Gunter said, grabbing Johnny and immediately manoeuvring him into the dance.

It caught Johnny off-guard and he almost stumbled, but Gunter kept hold of Johnny's hands before placing one upon his shoulder, placing his own hand above Johnny's hip. Johnny managed to keep his footing and quickly caught up with the steps. As soon as he realised he was counting steps, however, he stopped. He realised these were the same steps he'd been doing before, just with another animal doing them along with him, and a little less arm movement. He didn't focus on what he was doing, he had that memorised, and instead put his concentration into the beat and the way he moved around Gunter. A couple of times he got a little too close, other times he drifted too far away, but not once did he step on Gunter's toes. It probably did help that the pig's feet were fairly small.

After a moment's demonstration Gunter pulled away from Johnny and turned back towards the class. "You see, it is zis easy. You are just making the same steps as before. Forwards and backwards, side to side. You are just needing to make sure you stay ze correct distance from each other. And you are not doing any elaborate arm movements as you do not want to break your partner's arm. At least I am assuming you do not want to, but maybe you get into an argument, I don't know. Just please, do not make me perform ze first aid, I am very rusty."

Another laugh rippled through the room before everyone took hold of their partner and danced the way they were shown to. Since Gunter had stopped to watch the class Johnny could do nothing but watch as well. For the most part everybody seemed to be getting the hang of it fairly quickly. The male rabbit who was dancing with Jane only seemed to wince once, indicating that they were doing a reasonably good job of keeping off each other's toes. Johnny spotted a couple of other animals whose toes were stepped on at some point or another, but nobody slipped up any more than that and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

As the song faded out and another began playing Johnny's ears perked up as he heard Gunter gasp from beside him. He turned to look at the pig just in time to find himself being pulled into another dance.

"I love this song!" Gunter cried out, his face lit up with excitement. "Come, come!"

"Wait, Gunter, I-"

Johnny tried to protest but it was all in vain. Gunter already had Johnny in his grasp and was leading through the dance. The pace was a little faster than the last song but he didn't struggle to keep up as much as he thought he would. What did surprise him, however, is when he suddenly found his arm over his head as Gunter lead him through a turn. He performed it, though barely, and Gunter again had him in his arms as they continued.

"Ja, very good Johnny," Gunter laughed.

"Thanks," Johnny croaked, only now realising how short of breath he was. The pace may have been manageable but it was intense. Still, he was proud of himself for being able to keep up.

After a couple of minutes and a few more turns and other tricky manoeuvres the song began to fade out, replaced with another, slightly slower one. For as much fun as the dance was, Johnny would be lying if he didn't admit he was glad that it was over. It was fine to practice parts of a dance routine on your own, but suddenly being thrust into a full four minute dance with a partner was more than he had been prepared for.

As soon as Gunter pulled away Johnny had the overwhelming urge to roll his shoulders, feeling a lot of tension within his muscles. He groaned as he did so before moving on to stretching his arms.

"Ah, I am sorry, I am forgetting that zis is different than when I am dancing with Rosita," Gunter apologised, smiling bashfully.

"S'alright, I jus' wasn't prepared for… that," Johnny said.

A loud crack could be heard as Johnny stretched out his back, making both of them cringe.

"Are you alright?" Gunter said, visibly alarmed.

"Y-Yeah, I… I'm jus' a little sore."

Johnny's voice was strained and he seemed to be clutching at his back. It probably wasn't cause for concern but Gunter didn't like the idea that he'd caused Johnny to get hurt. He stepped behind Johnny, small, deft hands shooing away Johnny's own as he began massaging the area Johnny had been holding. "I am sorry, this is my fault, I should not have made you do so many turns."

"It's alright, honest," Johnny said, trying to move away. Gunter held onto his shoulder though, keeping him in place before going back to the impromptu massage. "I just can't stretch it out like I feel like I should, kinda like there's a knot there."

"Hrm, well… I do not think you have sprained anything, at least, or else this would be causing you a lot of pain. Does it hurt when I do this?"

"W-Well, no…" It felt good, actually, but it was embarrassing to be experiencing something like this in front of a class full of other animals. Still, it did feel good. A little too good…

Johnny suddenly spun himself around, stopping Gunter from doing what he was doing. "Sorry! Sorry, I… I appreciate ya tryin' to help, but honestly, I'm fine."

Gunter hummed, still slightly concerned. "I suppose, if you are not in pain…"

"I'm not."

"Alright," he muttered. He couldn't say that he wasn't a little disappointed. He hadn't been able to get a handful of that much muscle in a very long time. If only there wasn't a jacket separating his hands from the fur of Johnny's back…

"Hey Gunter, can you come watch us a minute?" a female goat called out, garnering both his and Johnny's attention. "I'm not sure if we're doing this right."

"Ah, of course, let me come see," he said, making his way over.

Johnny watched as Gunter left him at the front of the class. He scanned the room, seeing everyone else was still dancing. He was relieved not to have had any eyes on him. As nice as it was to be in such close contact with Gunter he really didn't want to be seen in such a position. Of course, what Gunter was doing would have been reasonable if Johnny had suffered an injury, and it could be explained that way to anyone who had caught the act, but it made the thought no less embarrassing.

Plus, it had begun threatening to do things to Johnny's body that would be much less easy to explain away.

Not sure what to do now that he was alone, and desperate to get his mind off what had just happened, he skulked off to one of the back corners of the room, watching the rest of the class dancing with their partners. There wasn't much time left now and he felt like he'd gotten more than his share of practice for the day.

The remaining ten minutes passed quickly, another three songs playing in the time before Gunter finally shut the boombox off.

"Excellent practice today, everyone," Gunter announced. "You are all finally beginning to dance with ze fire in your bellies, ja? I am thinking next class we will begin trying something more difficult, so be ready to learn how to dance with even more spice!"

Everyone cheered and bid their farewells to Gunter and to each other. Johnny hung back to have a final conversation with Gunter, as had become routine for them now. A couple of animals Johnny had been more than expecting approached to say their final goodbyes as well.

"Bye Gunter," Carl said, giving him a wave. "Same time tomorrow?"

"You bet," he replied cheerily, waving in return.

"And you'll be here tomorrow, too?" Aaron asked Johnny.

"Yep, I'll be here," Johnny confirmed.

"Good," he said with a wink while Johnny simply rolled his eyes. He'd grown used to it now.

"See you both tomorrow, then," Carl added as he and Aaron made their way out, following behind the two rabbits.

"So you two saw Gunter getting his hands on Johnny there, right?" Jane said in a hushed tone.

"Totally," Carl said just as quietly.

"How long 'til they hook up?"

All Gunter and Johnny could hear from where they were was giggling as the last animals exited the studio. They had no idea what it was about but didn't give it much thought.

"So I guess I'll be seeing you at the theatre tomorrow then?" Johnny said.

"Ja, and I think we vill be doing this same class for ze others there, too."

Gunter finished packing up his bag and the two left the studio, Gunter locking it up behind them.

"I am sorry again for what happened earlier," Gunter said.

"Oh no, it's fine, my back's already feelin' better," Johnny insisted. "Besides, I think I kept up pretty well."

"You did! I was impressed. I think Mike should be worried now."

"Yeah?" Johnny smirked. It was a nice thought, finally being able to give the cocky mouse a run for his money.

"Ja, from here you vill only keep improving, especially with all the extra classes you are taking. You will even be able to match me and Rosita one day."

"Nah, I don't think I'll ever be that good."

"You will, I am guaranteeing it."

"Heh, well thanks for the confidence."

"Of course I am confident, I am ze one teaching you after all," Gunter smirked.

"Ah, so my success is your success then?"

"Exactly."

The two shared a laugh before Gunter began taking a couple of steps back, indicating he was ready to get back to his apartment.

"Well, uh, I'll see you tomorrow?" Johnny said.

"Ja, see you tomorrow."

Gunter unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped in, giving Johnny a small wave before closing the door behind him.

It was always hard saying goodbye to Gunter and Johnny knew that he was always the one keeping Gunter from getting home as early as he otherwise could. He wondered if perhaps he was being a bother to Gunter but decided against it, he was sure the pig would have said as much if he was. Still, their goodbyes always left him feeling awkward, though for what reason he couldn't say, although it was probably at least in part because he never actually wanted to say goodbye.

With a heavy sigh he turned and made his way back home. At least they now had extra time together that he could appreciate.

The practice room was hot and thick with the smell of sweat as Gunter had the cast practice their routine over and over again. Johnny had been paired with Meena, Ash with Rosita, and Mike had convinced Gunter to allow Nancy to join them as his partner. It was probably for the best, the next closest in size to Mike was Ash, and nobody would have been surprised if she not-so-accidentally stepped on him. That was a medical emergency Gunter would rather avoid, amusing as it might be.

Gunter spent the class either demonstrating or correcting the cast on anything they were struggling with. Mike had little to work on, whereas everyone else, Johnny included, had more to correct. Johnny didn't let that upset him, though. He might not be as good as Mike yet, but he'd get there.

Eventually Gunter had everyone practice the merengue individually again. For the most part he would tell everyone what they needed to work on or demonstrate again to give them a clearer idea. Whenever it came to Johnny, however, Gunter didn't hesitate in physically correcting him, something that didn't escape the notice of the rest of the cast. It was easy enough to brush off, though. Since Johnny had started taking extra classes at Gunter's studio he had been trying harder to bring Johnny into line. Mike had even claimed at one point that it was just patent favouritism, but nothing more than that. It all seemed innocent enough.

At least, it did to most of them. Whenever she had the chance between helping the others Rosita had been keeping a close eye on them. And while at first glance it may have seemed innocent enough, she noticed how Gunter's hands would linger just a little too long every now and then, how Johnny would watch a little too intently whenever Gunter demonstrated a routine, how they would laugh and joke just a little more often than they used to. It was clear to her that they were getting closer, and that perhaps the infatuation she'd once noticed with Johnny wasn't as one-sided as she thought. She was reminded of the fact that she had yet to invite Johnny for dinner and a chat, so perhaps now would be the perfect time.

When the class wound down to a close Rosita made an effort to catch Johnny before he left. However, as she began to make her way over her arm was caught, stopping her. She turned around, finding Ash had been the one to stop her.

"Rosita, have you got a minute?" Ash asked.

Rosita turned back around, watching as Johnny left. Having missed her opportunity she sighed as she faced Ash again. "Yes Ash, of course. What did you want?"

Ash shuffled her feet awkwardly. "It's… it's about Johnny. And Gunter."

Rosita's eyes widened. She didn't say anything, however this seemed to be enough to provoke a reaction from Ash.

"So you see it too?" Ash ventured.

"See what, dear?" Rosita replied, trying her best not to let on.

Ash crossed her arms, raising her brows. "Oh come on, it's obvious isn't it? Johnny's got feelings for Gunter."

"I don't know what you mean."

Ash huffed. "Look, I know you see what I see. I've been watching them today and Johnny's been acting… strange around Gunter. I know you were watching them too."

"Ash…"

"Look, I get it, it's private. If you know something and can't talk about it, that's fine. Just… look out for Johnny. I don't wanna see him get hurt again," she sighed.

Rosita placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, meeting her eyes. "I promise you, I only have Johnny's best interests at heart. I will look out for him."

Ash looked away, giving a small nod. "Okay. Thanks."

With that Ash left, a little dejected. Rosita could tell Ash had Johnny's best interests at heart as well, but she just wasn't willing to discuss something she didn't really know enough about.

She missed her opportunity this time but she was going to make it a point to have a talk with Johnny as soon as she could. She would probably have to have one with Gunter too. She knew Gunter wouldn't be one to take advantage of Johnny but it wouldn't hurt to try and find out if there were feelings on his side as well.

Rosita grabbed hold of her bag and heaved it over her shoulder, beginning to make her way to her car. It looked like she may have to get more involved in this matter than she'd wanted, but there were two animals at the heart of this that she cared an awful lot for and she would hate to see either of them get hurt. She only hoped it would work out for both of them.