A/N: To make up for the delay: an extra long chapter!

Ten: One Last Dance

A few hours passed. Tugger and Paige danced and spoke and danced yet again, and she began resting her cheek against his chest as they did. He invited Anne to dance once, which made the freckled girl grin insanely and accept with a long, triumphant look at the group of girls that had teased Paige before. Dancing with Anne was miles away from dancing with Paige, and the music was now loud and intense. Tugger had no idea what to do, but he watched what they other couples did and mixed a few Jellicle steps into it, twirling and spinning Anne around until she got dizzy and had to sit down for a moment.

Coming to the dance with him had obviously improved Paige's social status. A lot of people came up to talk with her, to ask about her mysterious date, and wonder, as a side note, if he had a single brother. A few of the more courageous ones even dared to get close to Tugger himself and pretend that they were totally cool talking to him and that this sort of thing happened every day. Some guy with glasses and red hair tried to strike up a conversation about Manchester United, which was of course totally lost on Tugger. He politely got out of the talk and went to find Paige.

She stood discussing something with Anne and a couple of other girls, and from their awed looks it was quite probably that she was telling the story of how she met Tugger. She looked... happy, like she enjoyed being the centre of attention for once. Tugger didn't want to disturb her, so he strolled over to the table to fetch some more red punch. He sat down on one of the plastic chairs by the wall, nonchalantly sipping his drink and watching the dancing couples.

"You shouldn't be drinking that," said a voice suddenly, and Tugger turned his head.

The one who had spoken was a boy. He had brown hair and was wearing a jacket similar to Tugger's own. He nodded towards the cup the man was holding.

"Why not?" asked Tugger.

"Someone's spiked the red punch. I saw them do it. The yellow should be safe, though, unless you want to get really drunk."

"Drunk..."

Mr Talbot had been drunk once, after a late night out with his friends at the office he worked in. He had stumbled in in the middle of the night, almost tripped over Tugger and finally fallen asleep on the couch, where Mrs Talbot had found him the next morning. She had not been pleased. Mr Talbot had been really sick the next day. Why any human would want to do that to themselves was beyond Tugger, so he put his drink aside.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Can I sit there?"

The boy gestured towards the empty chair next to him.

Tugger shrugged. "Be my guest."

The boy sat down. "I'm Andy, by the way."

"Tom," said Tugger and frowned as he remembered something. "Andy... You wouldn't be the same Andy who took Lucy Briggs to the dance, would you?"

Andy looked surprised. "How did you know that?"

Tugger smirked. "I have my sources."

Andy... A couple of years her senior, he was the boy Paige had had a crush on before Tom Tugger came along. The one she had been crying so hard about that day that seemed such a long time ago, when Tugger had decided to help her out and become human. She had told her cat many things about this fine young man. How he sometimes smiled at her in the lunch-queue, and how he had spoken to her more than once. One time he had asked if she could borrow him a pencil. He had given it back to her again at the end of the day, specifically looked her up to say thank you, Tugger remembered.

"Oh," said Andy and paused. "Well, yeah... That's Lucy, over there."

He pointed at a blonde girl in the group gathered around Paige.

"She seems nice," said Tugger without really looking at her.

"I guess. She's the daughter of a friend of my mum's, so mum wanted me to go with her."

Tugger raised his eyebrows. This was very interesting news.

"Really? So she's not the one you would have liked to go with?"

"I don't know." Andy shrugged. "I mean, she's nice and all. I guess it could have been worse. We've known each other since we were kids. But I'm not, like, into her or anything..."

The girls broke out into a fit of giggles, and a couple of them threw glances Tugger's way. He waved at them, which caused them to blush and giggle even more. Andy looked at him with some admiration.

"How do you do that?" he asked. "I mean, how can you act so cool and make them like you?"

"Well, it helps being dashingly handsome," said Tugger with a sly grin. "But mostly it's just about complimenting them, talking to them about stuff they like, and paying for things when you go out."

"How do you know what they like before you talk to them?"

"You figure it out as you go along. Try a few different topics first and see what works the best."

"What did you talk to Paige about before she went out with you?"

It was a completely innocent question and he had almost expected it, but still it made Tugger a little surprised. He had not pegged Andy for being so straightforward.

"Cats," he said after a moment of pretending to think. "Paige really likes cats."

"Cats..."

Andy looked like he made a mental note of it, and Tugger rolled his eyes. This boy was as transparent as a glass figurine. One would have imagined someone asking you for tips on how to talk to your girlfriend would have been a little more subtle about it.

There was a sudden commotion in the far corner of the room, and both Tugger and Andy looked up. A crowd had gathered in a circle around something, but the music was too loud for them to understand what was going on. Tugger frowned, stood up from his chair and strode over to the crowd. He heard sounds of struggle, a girl pleading, and a few voices cheering.

'Because it's just not a party without a fight,' he thought grimly. 'Humans.'

It wasn't much of a fight, really. Two boys were crawling in a pile on the floor, both trying to inflict as much injury as possible to the other without caring much how. There were punches, certainly, but scratches, biting, and pulling of hair were even more common. Next to the fighters, careful not to get too close, stood a very pretty young girl who tried to convince one of them to "let it go." The rest of the crowd looked at the three with a mixture between nervousness that they all would be in trouble for this and excitement about something interesting happening.

When Tugger approached, they parted to leave way for him, like the Red Sea before Moses. A few of them hurried to get a safe distance between themselves and him. It was not because he was six feet tall and could lift both fighters with one hand if he wanted to, but because he was an adult. For all they knew, he would tell their parents.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

The man quickly separated the fighters. One of them was bleeding from a busted lip, while the other one sported a glorious black eye. When Tugger let go of them, they glared at each other with venom and tried to get back into the match, but the ex-cat got between them.

"Okay, kiddies, what's with the ruining of the party?"

'My goodness, I've become Munkustrap,' Tugger thought with an inwardly groan. 'I'll be telling them to act like responsible adults next.'

"Why should we tell you?" muttered the black eye moodily.

His voice was slurring. Someone had clearly been drinking of the red punch. Tugger crossed his arms across his chest and tried to mimic Munkustrap's patented Glare of Disapproval.

"Because you're destroying it for the rest of us," he said calmly. "I think you both need to calm down a little. Perhaps go out and get some fresh air. Come on, out with you."

The pretty girl, who had been begging them to stop fighting, went up to the black eye and looked at him pleadingly.

"Yes, please, Alan," she mumbled. "Just... just go outside and chill, okay?"

The boy looked at her for a moment, and then he tried to focus on Tugger. He frowned a little.

"I do­I don't have to do nothing you say," he murmured. "You... you're just..."

He interrupted himself and seemed to forget what he was about so say. Then he squinted at Tugger, trying to stand up straight.

"Your eyes look weird."

Alan said it in such a low voice that Tugger was the only one who could make something out of his slurs, and what he heard made him slightly nervous. He had forgotten to talk to Mistoffelees about his strange, non-human eyes. Would this be a problem now? It didn't seem like it. Alan was too incoherent for people to care much about what he said. Still, better to be on the safe side.

"Okay, here we go, Alan," said Tugger and easily hoisted up the boy on his shoulders. "You're going to sober up a bit. Cold water might just do the trick. And don't think I've forgotten about you, pipsqueak." He looked sternly at the other fighter, who had tried to join his friends and leave the scene as quickly as possible. "You seem uninebriated enough to walk yourself. Come along."

The boy with the busted lip had apparently not had as much to drink as his comrade, and was definitely not brave enough to stand up to the man. When Tugger left, Alan slung over his shoulder, the boy followed him, looking embarrassedly at the floor. The girl also ran after them, maybe to keep watch so that Alan wouldn't do anything stupid.

Tugger led them outside, where the air was cool and refreshing. It seemed to penetrate Alan's befuddled mind as well, and he was starting to look exceedingly green in the face. Tugger allowed him to sit down on a bench outside the school, and the girl sat down next to Alan, stroking his forehead and mumbling soothing words into his ear. The other boy sat down on the neighbouring bench, sullenly touching his swollen lip and throwing angry glares at the pair next to him.

"You could tell me what this is about, or you can leave it be," said Tugger calmly.

"They were just being stupid, sir," said the girl and looked at Alan fondly. "They won't be stupid anymore. Really. I promise."

Tugger looked at her. "What's your name?"

"Sophie, sir."

"Don't 'sir' me, Sophie. I'm Tom." He let his look wander from one former fighter to the other. "You sure they won't go at it again?"

"I don't think Alan is feeling very well."

That was true. As a matter of fact, Alan looked like he was going to be sick. It was not really unexpected, considering. He was sweating and staring intently at the ground in front of him, barely noticing that Sophie was next to him.

"And the other one?"

"Hey!" said the second boy. "I can talk for myself, thanks."

"Pardon. Who are you, then?"

"I'm Jack."

"Nice to meet you, Jack. Now, will you be making any more trouble?"

Jack seemed unwilling to answer, but when he saw Tugger's look on him, he relented and sighed. "Fine, I won't. For now."

"All I wanted to hear, mate. Now go and clear up that lip of yours. Shoo."

Tugger waved his hands at him, and Jack grudgingly disappeared back in to find a bathroom.

"You can go back in now," said Sophie. "I'll take it from here. Thanks for breaking them up."

She smiled brightly at him, and Tugger grinned back.

"My pleasure, Sophie."

He turned and went inside, figuring he should find Paige.

As soon as he entered the dance room, he spotted her. She was talking to Andy, and apparently she was enjoying it. She was smiling at him like she used to smile at Tugger. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and her eyes shone, and she was telling him something that caused her hands to gesture wildly and eagerly. Andy seemed interested. He was smiling too.

Before Tugger really knew what he was doing, he strode up to Paige. She noticed him right away, excused herself to Andy, who to Tugger's secret delight looked a bit crestfallen when she left his side. Paige walked up to her date and smiled warmly.

"Where were you?" she asked curiously.

"Someone had a bit too much to drink." Tugger shrugged. "No big thing." Then he gently caressed her cheek and smiled in the way that made her blush. "I saw you talking to Andy."

"Yeah... He's nice. Did you know he's got a cat?" Paige giggled a little. "I had no idea."

Tugger felt a sudden surge of severe dislike towards this Andy, and Paige must have seen how his face darkened, for she immediately turned serious.

"But that's nothing," she hurried to say. "Nothing at all. I'm here with you."

"Yes. You are." Tugger took a deep breath. "I... I have to talk to you about something."

"Can we dance first? I love this song."

Tugger listened to the music. It was another slow dance, one of the at least a dozen others they had danced to that evening. It was growing late. Did he have time for one more dance before he would have to leave?

Yes. One last dance with Paige, before he had to tell her.

Together they sailed out onto the dance-floor. He held her tightly to his chest, and her head rested against him. Her body was warm and soft, Heaviside, so soft, and she was so completely at ease around him. A small smile played across her lips, he saw, and she gave a little sigh. In this moment, right now, everything was perfect in her world, and she could ask for nothing more.

'You've dumped queens before,' Tugger told himself as he breathed the scent of her hair. 'Is this different because she's a human?'

No. This was different because she was his human. The only one who could stand him and who gave him food and cuddled with him even when he was in the way.

"Paige, I can't be with you anymore."

She instantly froze in his arms, warmth turning to cold, softness to rock. Then she looked up. The shadow of her smile was still on her face, and there was a glimpse of disbelief in her eyes.

"What?"

The word a whisper, not understanding. Tugger closed his eyes for a second, too embarrassed to look at her.

"I'm sorry. I can't... I can't see you anymore."

He looked at her again. The disbelief had faded, and now her shock was painfully obvious to all.

"I... I... Why?"

A hundred reasons swirled through Tugger's head at once. They were all plausible, all believable, all lies.

"Because I'm not who you think I am," he said finally.

"Then who are you?"

'She wouldn't believe me if I told her. She'd think I was insane. Not even if I told her things that only her cat would know, it would be too big for her. She's only human.'

"I... It's a long story, Paige."

And time is running out.

Tugger could feel how his entire body itched. He knew what it was. The universe had recognized him and known that he was in the wrong shape. It was going to fix it. Soon. Mistoffelees' magic could not hide him anymore.

"I'm sorry. I have to go very soon."

He had thought that she would let him go then, but she kept clutching to his waist.

"I won't let you."

"Paige..."

"You can't leave."

Tugger turned her in their dancing, and they slowly made their way towards the doors. Paige's face was hidden against his chest, and he felt her tears seeping through his shirt, touching his skin. When they were out of view from the rest of the partygoers, Tugger pried her arms off of him. The itching grew worse, and his bones had started to ache, warning him that they were about to change.

"Paige," he said, forcing her to look into his eyes.

She sniffed and turned away, but he managed to look at her face. She was crying, as he had known she would.

"Why are you doing this to me now?" she whispered. "Why did you lead me on? Why did you even talk to me at all?"

"I'm sorry," Tugger repeated. He could say nothing else. "I'm really very sorry. There's nothing I can do. You... you deserve better."

Paige snorted. "Yeah, right..."

"You do. Don't let anybody make you think differently."

Tugger suddenly felt a warm sensation spread through his body. When he looked out the window, he saw the large, round Jellicle moon rise, completely engulfing him in tender white light. The eye of the Everlasting Cat was watching him, ready to welcome him back to the feline world.

"You're a great girl, Paige Talbot. I'm sorry I can't drive you home. But... talk to that Andy bloke. I'm sure he can give you a lift."

"I thought you were different. But you're just like the rest of them."

Paige's voice was cold and hard, so unlike her regular one it was frightening. Tugger was about to reply, but a sudden shot of pain ran through him like electricity, and he twitched. His skin was burning, and tiny prickles of something that was not exactly pain and not exactly pleasant began to spread all over his body. His fur was coming back. In a moment Paige would notice. There would be comments.

In a hurry, he planted one last kiss on her lips. She didn't respond to it at all, and she tasted of salt water.

"Bye, love."

Then Tugger turned and ran. As he ran he felt how he shrank. His clothes were suddenly too baggy. He had to stop for a moment and groan in discomfort when his tail grew out, but then he continued on his way.

When he reached the Jellicle junkyard, he was a cat again, and the moon shone down on him from a clear, starlit sky.