I do not own Dirty Dancing.

Chapter Eleven

POV Johnny

Dance Like No One's Watching

I sighed as Baby left, not quite sure what to think. Since the very moment I met her, I hadn't been able to get her out of my head. I wanted her out, she shouldn't have been there in the first place, but she was. I just didn't know what to do about her.

Baby had improved today, that much I knew. It wasn't possible for her to get worse. One side of me was telling me that any attraction I had for her would go away in time, to just do what I had to do as far as the lessons went, and that once the Sheldrake had passed, I could, should, forget all about her.

Then there was the other side. The side that told me she was incredibly beautiful and she didn't even know it. The side that wanted to act on my attraction to her, and at the same time knew it was wrong to do so without knowing her feelings. The side that was constantly telling me to abandon the Mambo and show her the real, dirty dancing that I wanted to show her.

Still deep in thought, I exit the storage room and began heading down the trail, which lead to my cabin. Feeling warm in the moment, I push up my sleeves. It was humid today, and while my time with Baby hadn't exactly been the most strenuous of a practice, with today's humidity, it had still been enough to work up a sweat. Upon careful appraisal of my attire and skin, I conclude that I was definitely going to need to shower before tonight's party.

As I continued down the path, I further explored the trail of confusion winding it's way through my brain to my protege and newest dilemma, Baby Houseman. She, as far I knew, was indifferent towards me. Baby was naive, and she wanted to help everyone, even people like Penny and I. She wanted to believe the world was good, that it could be better. I didn't understand her motivation to help us, but I knew that she was in this for Penny, and no other reason. She hadn't wanted to learn how to dance, I recall, thinking of how adamantly she had originally argued against Billy's suggestion of her filling in at the Sheldrake.

"Two, three- no! Dammit!" A voice exclaimed from further ahead. In curiosity, I peek my head around the bend, not wanting to reveal myself to the person.

A small smile curled onto my face when I saw that all too familiar head of curls standing there on the bridge in all her white Keds wearing glory. She was practicing the steps, I realized in a dry thought.

Baby growled in frustration, kicking at the wooden floorboards of the bridge. Baby backed into the railing, glaring at her feet as if they alone were responsible. "I know this! It shouldn't be this hard!" She exclaimed.

Baby went back to the beginning of the bridge, and repeated the steps, watching her feet each time. And then she did it again and again. I realized then that I was going to have to teach her not to look at her feet when she danced.

Baby stomped her foot in rage at her fourth failed attempt to cross the bridge. "He just showed me this!" She wailed to herself in distress.

I was torn. Part of me found her little idiosyncrasies incredibly endearing, and wanted to keep on watching these little moments when she wasn't insecure, or somebody's Daughter or student. Just Baby, or whatever her real name was. The other half wanted to go down there and help her, but I knew that if I did, I would never see her do this again.

So she went back, and she danced. But she didn't look down this time, she kept her head up, muttering the count furiously to herself. And it worked.

The next time I witnessed her little bridge routine, we were both on our way to the lesson. I'd been running late, since Vivian had held me at her lesson a few minutes longer than I would've liked. And after that, I'd ran back to my house to change clothes, and take a quick shower. Her perfume had gotten all over me, my clothes, everything. And I couldn't stand the thought of showing up like that to Baby, even if I was only going to get sweaty again.

It was silly, I knew. I was chasing a woman who would never be mine. I didn't even have a chance, and even if such things were allowed, she'd never go out with me. I shouldn't have wanted to impress her the way I did.

And then I saw her dancing as she walked up the steps. Her arms were half in the frame, and she bounced on the balls of her feet, prancing up the steps. Baby wore a tight pink tank top and jean shorts that were belted at her tiny waist, with her trademark white Keds.

I wondered if it was possible for someone to be wearing too much and not enough at the same time. The clothes revealed pleasant curves, and her shorts might as well have been underwear for all they covered. The way she swayed her hips and behind while she danced was enough to drive a man wild. Drive me wild. I wanted to take her away, someplace where no one but me could see her like this. Where I could kiss her, take off the rest of-

No. I couldn't allow myself to think like that. Baby wasn't mine. She wasn't anyone's, and she never would be. She was her own person. And more than that, she was forbidden.

But then it happened again as she left. I caught her on the bridge as she made her way back to her cabin, only it was dancing like I had never seen come from her. Baby pranced down the aisle, kicking gracefully, like every step had been thought out. Then she twirled off to the side, resting her hands on the railing, looking from side to side, checking if anyone had seen her.

Baby dipped back seductively, chin tipped back, eyes shut, curls spilling through the air. Her dainty legs elegantly slid back under her while she rose, and began shimmying off the bridge and out of sight, rolling her shoulders as she went.

The sight of it was nearly too much to handle. I felt like a letch just considering it. Baby's lips, her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, all things I wanted to kiss. Her hair, the curls I yearned to play with, but knew I never would. Her legs, legs I burned to touch in ways only a lover could. In ways that I was never going to be able to.

That was not the Baby I had originally met just now. That was the new one. The one that had come out after I'd taught her to dance. The one I didn't know what to do with. Who still didn't know how beautiful she really was, how much I wanted her. The Baby that reeked sex appeal, and wasn't a baby at all. Her inner vixen had come out to play.

Baby had grown up.

"What are you doing here?" I ask in disbelief.

"I needed to see you," Baby answered from where she stood on my front stoop. "Are you going to let me in?" She questioned, glancing at the doorway as if there were a glass wall separating us. Something that was there, but neither of us could really see it, and as long as it remained, the other would be just out of reach. And fragile. Oh, so very fragile.

The wall was not made of glass, I muse. It was of made of all the things between us. Every unspoken word, unsaid emotion, and unfulfilled wish for contact. Every time I thought about being with her, and held it back.

I gave an anxious nod and let her in, gesturing into the room behind me. "Would you like to sit?" I inquired timidly. I had a feeling why she was here. Today, I had taken her out to the lake to show her the lift. And there had been a moment. A moment, when I had wondered if she liked me, too. A moment, when she looked like she wanted to kiss me just as much as I had wanted to kiss her. You know. One of those moments.

Baby gave a shy nod. "Sure," Swiftly, I removed my leather jacket from one chair, and some other clothes from my second one, dropping them next to my record player, which was playing Kiss Me Goodbye. Looking rigid, Baby sat down in the chair. Frowning, I realized that I probably should have put a shirt on for this. But it was too late for that, and Baby had seen me like this before.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I ask, pretending I don't know why she's here. I knew why. She knew why. And it was killing me. In an effort to defuse the tension, I sat down next to her.

"Don't play dumb with me, Johnny Castle," Baby said in a stern tone, "You know why I'm here. You know what I'm talking about. You're not stupid. You've known for a long time, and I think you're just too afraid to tell me," She accused, face bearing a frown. I hated to see Baby frown. She deserved nothing but happiness until the day she died. She deserved the things that I would never be able to give her.

I looked down to the floorboards. So, she knew. She knew my secret, the one that I had been struggling to contain since I met her. I had been falling in love with her. With a sigh, I shut my eyes, like it will make this go away, and tell her, "I don't know what you mean," Wishing she would get the hint and talk about something less painful. Less desirable.

Baby slid off her chair and onto her knees in the floor in front of me. "You know," She whispered. Baby set one cool hand on the hot skin on the back of my neck. Her delicate fingers threaded into my hair, and she set her other hand on my jaw, pushing my head up. "Look at me," She whispered, urging me to open my eyes.

I can't do it. I can't open my eyes now. It will be far to much to see her like this, warm and willing. Not a hesitant bone in her body, and she was asking for me. She wanted me.

"Look at me,"

I do. I look her right in her eyes, trying to express what she makes me feel. Being around her made me feel alive. It was like I had been asleep my whole life, until meeting her. And now I was awake.

Baby's breath hitched in shock at whatever she saw in my eyes. We are close enough to breathe the same air, breaths warming each other's face. Her hand fell to my waist, and she pulled me closer, lips hovering just below mine.

I could kiss her now. Now would be the right time, the opportune moment. In fact, I was fairly certain that she would let me do a great deal more than kissing. No one would ever know. Here, in the quiet of my room, softly illuminated by lamps and red tinted light from Chinese paper lanterns, we could be whatever we wanted to be to each other. We could be lovers, could kiss, and it would never leave this room.

I turned my face away at the last second, and stood up from my spot. I couldn't. I couldn't do this, I think, looking at every spot in the room, walls, floor, windows, ceiling. Everywhere and everything but her. I would lose my job for this, for feeling the way I did about her. I wouldn't allow myself to be more than this to her. Not with the cost. Not with the pain it could do to her.

Baby sat back on her feet, face crestfallen. Did I do something wrong? Her face asks. Am I not enough? She is enough. She is more than enough. And under better circumstances, she could be the only thing I ever needed for the rest of my life, a thought that was both wonderous and terrifying.

"Wh-" She starts, but I interrupt her. I will not let her blame herself for my pulling away.

"It isn't your fault," I assure her, shoving my hands in my pockets. Baby swallowed. "I just can't. Don't get me wrong, you're- you're..." Baby cocked her eyebrows in curiosity, both daring me to say it, and at the same time, finding it amusing that I couldn't. "You're beautiful," I finish. We were both adults. Well, I was. And Baby was one in everything but name and age. We both liked each other, more than liked each other. It wasn't a sin to tell her that she was beautiful. "But I can't. We can't. You can not feel that way about me, Baby," I whispered. "You can never feel that way about me. And I want to, more than anything. As much as you do,"

She stood up, face painted in confusion. Baby stepped closer. "Then why not-"

"Because of Max," I cut her off. "It's against the rules for me to have a relationship with a guest," I illustrated harshly. "I teach people to dance. Unless I'm recruiting you, or teaching you, I'm not even supposed to talk to you. I'm not supposed to see you, I'm not supposed to be sneaking around giving you dance lessons. I'm not allowed to be friends with you, I'm not allowed to touch you unless it's dancing, and I'm sure as hell not allowed to want the things I want with you. Max will fire me if he finds out about us."

"He's not going to find out," Baby whispered, stepping ever closer. "You don't know that,"

"Yes, I do, Baby," I spat, "He always finds out."

"Not this time," Baby assured me. She looked up hopefully, looking determined and ever so brave. So much braver than I was. "I want to dance with you,"

"Now?" I questioned in disbelief. Our whole system of denial goes crashing to the ground, everything is out in the open, and she wants to dance? "At a time like this?"

"Yes," She answered, brown eyes looking into mine, arms around my neck. I slide my hands across her ribcage to meet at her back. The first embrace after such a confession should be more, but this one can't be. This is what we have to satisfy ourselves with. "You're not supposed to talk to me, or touch me or see me. Unless we're dancing."

"Baby, we can't be together," I sigh. "I've told you. As much as I want to, we can't."

"Just dance,"

I sighed, hearing the song change to Sixteen Candles. "What do you want to learn?"

"I want..." Baby pursed he slips and pinched her eyebrows together. I await her response, ready and willing to dance. "Like what the staff do." My eyebrows shot up. That? She wanted to learn dirty dancing? "Only... slower. Like how you would dance with me if we could be together."

Jesus. That kind of dancing. The kind I had wanted to show her since I first began realizing the depth of my feelings. I wouldn't dance like that even with Penny. I just couldn't fake that kind of emotion. That kind of passion, of yearning. But... it was what she wanted. It would make her happy.

So we danced.

It was slow at first. But it was almost unbearable. To see her like this, know she wanted the same things I did... and know that it could never be. Every time she dipped, I didn't know wether to look away from the tantalizing skin on her neck, or to kiss her. Every sensual motion was a new challenge, and brought me a hair closer to breaking. My feelings for her were so strong that it hurt.

So when she finally kissed me, I didn't have that strength to resist. I didn't care enough to fight it anymore, I just needed her. I needed to hold her. And soon enough, it wasn't just kissing and dancing, it was taking off each other's clothes. It was stumbling out of shoes. It was me laying Baby down on the bed. It was our naked bodies moving together, hot and sweaty under the sheets, too breathless to even speak. It was-

Abruptly, I roll out of my bed and onto the floor with a thud. Muttering a string of swear words, I brush some of the hair from my eyes, and glance at my watch. Two in the morning, still dark. Still the middle of the night. I rub a palm across my face, hoping to walk up further, and untangle myself from the mess of bedsheets on the floor, eventually climbing back under the covers.

It was just a dream, I think through my heavy breathing, which could have been from waking up so suddenly, or the intensity of my dream. Just a dream. Nothing had happened yet. I hadn't done anything that could get me fired yet.

Yet.

Just act natural, I told myself on the way to my next lesson with Baby. Act normal, and she won't know the difference. All you have to do is pretend you didn't have a sex dream about Baby. You didn't do anything last night. You can control yourself.

Sure.

The dream I'd had last night had thrown me for a loop. It had only been a dream, I hadn't done anything wrong. But because of that dream, I had overslept, and was running late, which I would have to explain to her.

I hadn't thought I would see her on the bridge again, but clearly I was wrong. Only this wasn't dancing, like it usually was... she was applying makeup. Leaning against the railing, Baby ran a beige lipstick over her lips, watching her reflection in a small compact to keep it neat. I didn't even know she wore makeup. She certainly didn't need it. But... how long had she been wearing it? Had I not even noticed?

In that moment I made a decision to reveal myself to her. Tomorrow night was the Sheldrake. It wasn't going to do any harm now. "Baby?" I call out.

Baby stopped, looking around nervously in an attempt to spot her intruder. She quickly closed the lipstick and slammed the compact shut. "Johnny? Is that you?"

"Yeah," I answer coming into the open from my spot in the woods. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," She said curtly, trying to close the topic, even when she had the evidence on her face, the mirror still in her hand, though she was trying to hide it behind her back. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd already be up there?"

"Overslept," I explain with a nod. "I had trouble sleeping last night." Boy was that an understatement.

"Bad dream?" Baby inquired.

"You could say that," I answer, not wanting to elaborate further. Hoping to turn the topic away from me and my dreams, I not so conspicuously try to sneak a glance at her make up. "What do you have there?" I smirk, knowing all too well what it was. Before she can react, I take it from her hand.

"Johnny!" She shrieked, clambering around me in an effort to steal it back, but I am faster than her, and stronger, not to mention taller. I have the advantage in every way. "Give that back!" She wailed in a helpless, yet irritated voice. Baby stamped her foot in frustration.

Knowing it would drive near crazy, I briefly open the compact. "You call this nothing?" I smirk. Baby snatched it back.

"It's not even mine," She admitted, snapping it closed again with a soft click. "I stole it from Lisa,"

I raised my eyebrows. "You stole it?" She nodded wordlessly, avoiding my gaze. Baby clasped her hands together, fidgeting nervously under my scrutiny. "Baby, you don't even need makeup," I sigh. She was beautiful enough without it. She was too beautiful, if such a thing were possible. "You're better than stealing,"

Baby glared at me, expression icy. "I'm supposed to wear makeup at the Sheldrake," She elaborated sharply, like it was something I should know. "I need practice. And don't tell me what I'm above doing. My Father would say that I'm above helping you. Neil would, Max would, and so would two dozen other people I can think of. I am the one who decides what I am above," Baby articulated. "I, and I alone."

"Penny can help you before the Sheldrake," I suggest, deciding that I had better back off. Having her mad at me was the last thing I wanted. "I know she's having the dress fitted tomorrow."

"I'm going to have to learn at some point," Baby argued, "I can't go my whole life without wearing makeup. The me that came here would never have been able turn understand that, but I do now. I'm not the same," She admitted.

"Yes," I agree. "That, at the very least, is something I can understand."

I thought it might be fun to write the bridge scenes from Johnny's eyes, which is how I ended up with this chapter. But in the movie, Baby clearly thought she was alone, so I had to work around that for this. And the reason I can tell is that you don't dance like that when people can see you.

I also really wanted to have Johnny dreaming of Baby. It's really cute, and I hope you guys liked it too.