"Amber you won't be going! That's final!" Velma Von Tussle's crude and piercing voice carries beyond the closed door of her office.
"What's going on?"
He glances down at the small speaker. Tracy Turnblad, the big girl with even bigger dreams who had not only turned his world upside down but then shaken it all up as well. In the weeks that had followed her initiation to the council he'd checked his feelings and subsequently emptied them out of him. He was with Amber and he certainly didn't believe in such foolish things as love at first sight. Now she was Tracy Turnblad, a girl who was quickly becoming a best friend.
"Mrs. Von Tussle won't let Amber go to the gig in New York, 'cause it's integrated," He tells her.
"Who will you dance with then?" She asks him.
"Probably you, didn't you hear? Fender's dad is getting married that week, he can't go either."
"Oh, no, I hadn't heard," She replies.
Hurt strikes at his heart and his pride, she looks disappointed and… weary.
"You don't want to dance with me?" He questions defensively.
"Oh no Link! That's not it at all! It's just… that means we'll have to rehearse together a lot, and…" Tracy trails off her beautiful brown eyes are no longer gazing into him but instead peering in the direction of Amber's raised voice.a
"Amber," He finishes, "You know, she's only jealous because you're a good dancer, better then her, she's afraid you'll win Miss Teenage Hairspray, and for some reason she's afraid you'll steal me."
Tracy giggles softly, it rings warm like bells and chimes in his head and stings in the pit of his stomach. He tells himself it's because he's too used to girls fawning all over him and worshipping him. But he knows it's because deep down he wants Tracy to want him like he wants her.
/L&T/ L&T/ L&T/ L&T/ L&T/ L&T/ L&T/ L&T/ L&T/
He jumps onto the end of the shopping cart leaning towards her, his sexiest smirk playing on his lips for her.
"Take me away, Pretty Princess!" He instructs.
"Isn't it supposed to be Prince who rescues the Princess? And takes her away?" She asks her soft smile and raised eyebrow stilling his heart.
"Hmm, too right," He observes sauntering towards her a wicked grin directed at her.
"Link," She warns, holding her hands out in front of her to ward him off. They press into his powerfully built chest even as she takes a step back. With her soft hands on his hard chest he snaps moving like lightening to close the slight gap between them. He stares into brown eyes that seem to invite, eyes that radiate hope, happiness, peace.
"You chariot awaits, my princess," He breathes into her ear.
And she feels so good in his strong arms when he scoops her up. It's like coming home and sinking into a warm, steamy bath after a day that never ends and the tension leaves.
"Link! Put me down!" She shrieks grabbing at her skirt to prevent any wardrobe malfunctions and he thinks about how she's caused him more then one. He gently places her in the basket.
"Link!" She cries in outrage as he pushes the cart towards the aisle of baking goods.
He blatantly ignores her situation and says instead, "So chocolate chip?"
"Link, let me out!"
He stops and asks a motherly looking woman, "Excuse me, ma'am," He pauses long enough to wink at her, "but could you tell me what this beautiful princess needs for her chocolate chip cookies?"
She giggles and gives Link his ingredients, he nods earnestly in mock interest and records it on a small note pad.
"You kids have fun!" She calls with a wave as Link whisks the handcart away and Tracy resumes her pleas for liberty.
His heart jumps and plummets into his stomach when he turns from the shelf a sack of chocolate chips in his hand to find her attempting to climb from the basket.
"Tracy! Jesus Christ! Sit down!" Link commands in panic, dropping the bag.
He seizes her by her waist and heaves her quickly to safely, groaning from the strain of his fast movements and her heavy weight.
She begins to fire back, "Well..."
But he sharply cuts her off as he sets her on her petite feet, "Are you crazy? You could have fallen and hurt yourself!"
She's hurt by the harsh tone he uses. He can see the hurt pooling in her eyes. Her head bows and her hands clutch at the front of her shirt, picking at the fabric in agitation. He quickly attempts to right his wrong.
"Look, Trace, baby doll," He cups her face with his hands, they seem so big on her tiny, round face, "I'm sorry I snapped, you just scared me is all, okay? I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
He tightly hugs her small frame to his chest. Outside he appears calm, cool, collected, but inside he's nothing but raging chaos, a mixture of 'She could have died.' and 'She's hugging me!'
"You know, Link, if you hadn't put me in the basket-"
He interrupts her once more as he unwillingly frees her, "I know, Trace, I'm sorry."
He tosses the previously forgotten chocolate chips to her, and she places them where she sat a minute before.
"Trace? Ya mind? My dad must be late at work."
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He loves the way it sounds and tastes. Her nickname on his lips, it's like a privilege, an honour. It was intimate. It was him saying with one word, I care about you now, we're not just peers and colleagues, We're friends. She takes the key that dangles from hands that balance groceries bags.
"Dad?" He shouts as follows Tracy into his home.
"He's not going to go ape because I'm here with no chaperone is he?" Tracy questions timidly.
"Nah, Don't sweat it, my sisters will be here any minute," He replies, "Besides I don't think he could be mad at a real gone girl like yourself."
"Oh, Link?"
"Yes?"
"Can I use your bathroom to change? I don't want to get anything on my clothes," She says.
He directs her towards the bathroom and gets to works unloading the bags, trying and failing to think of anything but her pink, rosy flesh on display. He swallows hard, his breathe hitching then quickening as the image of her nude form fills his head.
It was going to be a long night.