Chapter 11

December Kisses

It was an early cold December evening that Derek drove Anna and himself to the school theater center 2 hours before the play was to begin. The rest of the clan would be coming later. He glanced over at Anna briefly and noticed that she looked slightly more pale and shivered still even after increasing the heater. She had looked a little smaller than before since she lost some weight, and tired. Everyone else noticed and Nora offered to take her to the doctor to which Anna refused.

But as Derek looked at her, she was still the beautiful person he had first laid eyes on a few months ago. He then pulled up to the school parking lot and parked the car.

"Are you nervous?" He asked putting the car to a halt.

She let out a small laugh and faced him, "No, I just always feel like my heart is dropping into my small intestine."

He smiled warmly and took her hand. "You are going to be great. We practiced and have it down. Besides, I promised remember? Everything will be okay."

She looked away from his eyes to face the window, "After the play, I have something to tell you and it's kind of important so just find me at the back of the school after everyone has left okay?"

Derek was confused but intrigued at the proposal, "Why not just tell me now?"

Anna shook her head and turned back to him, "We have a lot of things to think about now, just trust me okay?"

He smiled and nodded. Giving her hand another squeeze for reassurance, they got out of the car and ran slightly into the building from the cold to go into their separate dressing rooms.

Ten minutes before the play was about to begin and everyone was in their 30's styled costumes. The auditorium was filling up fast and everyone was nervous. Anna wrung her hands backstage and straightened the skirt she had on wondering what Derek was think then.

Derek was on the other side backstage preparing for his entrance when he saw Anna and couldn't help but stare at her. Her hair was hung in loose waves cascading down her shoulders. Her blouse was form fitting and complemented each curve; her skirt was a blue that matched her eyes. As he looked at her eyes, he noticed that she had on a slight bit of make up but just enough to bring out her true beauty. His thoughts drifted back to the ball gown that was brought into her dressing room earlier. It was wrapped because of the delicate fabric but Derek found himself anticipating the ball scene more. He drew himself out of the trance and made his way to the stage to begin the play.

Before Derek went up to the stage, Anna noticed he looked very mature yet boyishly handsome in his costume, his hair was gelled but tossed just enough to give the casual look and his warm brown eyes shown with anticipation. She laughed quietly to herself at the thought of the fight he must've put up when he found he needed to put on make up. She was thankful that Derek had pushed her to do the play and knew that there was no one else she would rather do the play with.

Surprisingly, the play was a hit! People laughed, they cried, they basically enjoyed the cheesiness of it and took it all in as a new Christmas experience. Derek had been the biggest surprise to everyone since he added so much emotion and even cried openly just to through people for a curve. People loved Anna as Dana. She allowed everyone to really relate to her and the chemistry between the two was incredible.

Everyone was on the edge of his or her seats by the final scene, the ball scene. Derek found himself nervously waiting backstage for his call since he missed Anna coming out to the stage. He was changing then. He straightened out the tux he was wearing for the scene since it was way too uncomfortable and itched in all the wrong places. He ran over the lines in his head since when he just steps into the scene, he was supposed to look taken by her beauty in the scene and say, "You're an angel." And really show that he meant it. Each time he tried it for rehearsals, he had never gotten the emotion down since the line sounded very, cheesy.

It was finally his entrance and as soon as he stepped onto the stage he saw Anna in her gown and found raw emotions rushing to him. Her dress was royal blue and form fitting around the torso but the skirt was loose and studded with rhinestones. Her hair was loose like in the beginning but this time had traces of glitter in it and the jewelry she wore sparkled as brightly as her eyes. She looked, in everyway, like an angel.

"You're an angel." He finally let out.

And everyone could sense he meant it.

As the scene wound down, everyone was again, on the verge of tears. Anna mentally psyched herself up for the kiss but felt her legs buckle as they finished their lines and Derek slowly approached her. She could barely make out the look he had in his eyes as he slowly caressed her neck with his right hand and brought his left hand to her waist and slowly, they kissed.

Derek forgot everything that was happening around him. The wailing and applauding audience members, the hysteric Ms. Waverly, and just, everything. It was just he and Anna, sharing a moment that would stay with him forever. She allowed him to deepen the kiss as her hands came up to his chest. He felt her pull away as she leaned her head against his, a single tear streaming down her face. He was about to comfort her before Ms. Waverly took the stage and stood between the 2 for their post show bows. Only half aware of his surroundings, one thing crossed his mind. He wanted Anna to know now and to really know, how he truly felt.

Next chapter is the confrontation! Keep reviewing!