Disclaimer: I don't own Dirty Dancing or any of its characters; I'm only doing this for fun.

Storyline: So I had a thought the other night, what if things were not as they appeared in the movie, what if everything we believe about the final show was not what it seemed…

Time: The final show at Kellerman's, Labor Day weekend 1963

Chapter 1:

"Robbie!"

I watched silently as my father stood from our table and headed over to the tall slender young man who had just walked by. His dark, almost black hair was neatly slicked back with some sort of gelatin product that caused it to shine in the dim light of the large auditorium, and his tie was tied so tightly around his neck it looked as though it would nearly choke him. His plaid blazer was of the latest preppy style and while showing off almost every color in the rainbow, it also succeeded in silently announcing to all who watched him that he was someone of importance, or at least HE thought he was.

As he turned to face my father who had come up behind him, he almost looked worried for a moment and I believe with good reason. He shot a quick glance in my direction before forcing a smile at my father, waiting for what he had to say. I can only imagine what thoughts may have been running through Robbies mind at that exact moment, I suspect fear and sheer terror would top the list. Robbie knew full well that I had been completely informed about his involvement with Penny, he knew that I'd been the one who had helped her out of that jam by performing with Johnny at the Sheldrake so Penny could have the abortion, and he also knew that I had asked my father for the money to pay for the procedure. I can only imagine that he would have assumed that I had told my father in great detail about Robbies involvement in the events of the past two weeks. So I think that his fear to talk to my father was well justified. Robbie had every right to feel terrified to speak with him after what he'd done and assumed daddy already knew about. So I only sat quietly and watched with smug satisfaction to finally see Robbie squirm the way I knew he deserved to.

I couldn't hear what daddy was saying to him, Neil singing the Kellerman anthem was far to loud, but I did see daddy hand Robbie a white envelope and at that exact second all the worry and fear melted from Robbie's face. His entire persona changed and he instantly looked relaxed, his smile widened and he responded to whatever my father had said. I could tell that he was now in his element, all his confidence had been restored and he felt as though he could take on the world. But much to his dismay as he spoke to my father I watched as daddy's face turned from a cheerful and almost proud smile down to a frown of sheer disappointment and confusion.

The two spoke for a few more seconds until finally daddy reached out snatching the small white envelope angrily from Robbies hand and headed back to our table. Daddy didn't speak a word as he sat back down and Robbie didn't dare argue with him, he only shot me another angry glance to which I gave him a sarcastic smirk and watched him walk away.

As our family sat there at the table watching Neil and the others sing the Kellerman's anthem up on stage, I could only sit and wonder what daddy and Robbie had talked about, I would've loved to hear that conversation where Robbie was finally exposed for the fraud he really was. But I would settle for just knowing that daddy finally knew, and even if he didn't know the entire story of what had happened there that summer, at least he knew that Robbie was not all that he seemed to be and that would have to be enough for now.

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

I suddenly heard an all to familiar voice coming from beside me so I quickly looked up to see Johnny standing there looking down at me and my family. Daddy glared up at him, but Johnny didn't seem to care at all, he only reached out his hand for me to take and said, "come on," then led me up onto the stage in turn interrupting the song that was still in progress.

Neil seemed pretty stunned and extremely unimpressed, he glared over at Johnny as we walked out in front of him and Johnny took the microphone, "sorry about the disruption folks," he began, "but I always do the last dance of the season. This year somebody told me not to, so I'm gonna do my kinda dancin' with a great partner, who's not only a terrific dancer, but somebody's who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs them. Somebody, who's taught me, about the kinda person I wanna be. Miss Frances Houseman."

I could only stand there in complete and utter amazement at Johnny's speech, I couldn't believe that this was actually happening, he'd actually come back for me and we were about to perform in front of a room full of people that were just waiting for us to fail. As the last syllable left Johnny's lips I saw daddy stand and begin to head towards the stage to stop us but my mother quickly spoke up holding him back. I couldn't hear what she said but I knew she was serious from the look on her face, and I could tell that daddy knew she was serious too in the way he immediately sat back down without argument.

Johnny stepped quickly across the stage toward Billy who stood just off to the side next to the record player and handed him a record to put on. The next thing I knew, music notes began to fill the air and Johnny was walking towards me, he pulled me in close to him and grabbing my hand lowered me around into a circular dip. When I finally came back up to meet him I somehow knew that this was right, something about that entire moment just felt right, like everything in my life up until then had led me there and this was our time to prove that to everyone who had doubted it.

The music picked up and we began to step back and forth together, flawlessly, effortlessly, we moved around that stage like one. It was truly the most amazing time of my life. Then suddenly, Johnny spun me in a turn and as I stopped he laid a sweet kiss on the back of my hand and jumped off the stage! He turned back to look up at me and I could only giggle, I was so happy, I didn't think that anything in the world could make this evening more perfect than it already was. I just stood there up on the stage watching as he danced his way down the centre aisle, between all the chairs and clapping guests, when he reached the back of the room which was filled mostly with staff, they all joined him dancing back toward me. I felt the smile on my face grow into a rather large grin as they proceeded toward the front of the room in a unified motion, matching every step to Johnny's in perfect unison.

Finally as they neared the stage Johnny stopped, the rest of the dancers continued toward me but my eyes were glued on Johnny's and when I saw him give me that little nod, I knew what he wanted. I was quick to nod back and took the hands of the guys who lined the stage waiting to help me down to the main floor. The moment my feet touched the hard wood dance floor I broke into a run straight toward Johnny who still stood in the middle of the aisle waiting for me. And with a little hop I was instantly lifted high into the air above his head, my arms outstretched to either side and the smile on my face undeniable. I hadn't thought that anything could ever make that night more amazing but I was wrong, finally succeeding in completing a lift was a dream come true for me and my heart raced from the excitement of finally doing it.

After several moments Johnny lowered me down to the floor and I flung my arms tightly around his neck, he smiled down at me realizing how thrilled I was that I'd finally done it. We danced together in the middle of that crowded room completely unaware of the other staff helping the guests fold up the tables and chairs to make room for everyone. Before long the room was filled with dancing couples and families and when Johnny and I finally looked up to see it all we were amazed to even see Max and his wife enjoying the music.

Johnny smiled down at me and taking my hand led me out of the crowd toward the door for us to get some fresh air, but before we made it outside we were stopped by my father.

He reached out touching Johnny's arm lightly indicating for us to stop and wait, "I know you weren't the one who got Penny in trouble," he began.

Suddenly everything was becoming clear to me. That must've been what Robbie and daddy were discussing earlier and that's why daddy had seemed so annoyed with Robbie in the end, he must've told him that it wasn't Johnny that was responsible for Pennys situation and that it was him all along.

Johnny didn't seem to know what to say to my father or how to react, so he only responded with a gruff, "yeah," looking back at my father blankly.

But daddy wasn't finished, "when I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I'd never heard my father admit he was wrong about anything before and it amazed me to no end that the first time he would finally choose to say it, would be to Johnny, a man he'd never approved of.

Daddy's eyes shifted from Johnny down to me and I could only stare blankly back at him.

"You looked wonderful out there," he managed to choke out. I could tell that daddy was fighting so many emotions at that moment, he was still hurt from all the things I'd done that summer but he loved me more than anything and I think he finally realized that my happiness was more important to him than being right. So I smiled up at him and threw my arms around his neck just happy that we were finally speaking again and that there seemed to be hope for us to reconcile.

Johnny and I danced the rest of the night away in each others arms, we'd both finally gotten what we wanted, I got to be with him with daddy's approval and Johnny had gotten his chance to show Max and all the other skeptics including my father, what he was capable of. It was the perfect moment and nothing could spoil it for us.

"Baby? Baby come on!"

"Huh?" I snapped up to look at Lisa standing in front of me dressed in her tight Hawaiian skirt and floral bikini top.

"Quit daydreaming silly, the shows over we have to go." She smiled down at me obviously amused at my confusion, then tilting her head to the side she finished, "we have a ton of packing to do and daddy wants to leave first thing in the morning, so hop to it," and with that she was gone leaving me sitting there alone.

I looked dazedly around the room trying to sort out my thoughts, there were staff everywhere, sweeping the floors, gathering dishes, collecting garbage and folding the chairs and tables that still filled the room. I still sat backed into a corner against the wall, my light pink dress unfurled and my hair neatly styled just as it had been when we left the cabin several hours before. Nothing had changed, nothing was different, the summer was over, the final show had gone off without a hitch, there had been no amazing dance to awe the crowd, daddy still believed that Robbie was some golden child who could do no wrong and Johnny was no where to be seen, it had all been a dream…

Ok so I hope I have you all intrigued for Chapter 2.

I'll give you a hint, Baby gets a surprise, a surprise that she'll have to keep a secret for almost 20 years!