Title: Dance with Me
Rating: PG
Summary: A major league baseball player with a bad rep needs to clean his image. He signs on to do a reality dance show. Will he clean his image and have the right kind of chemistry with his partner?
Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer I own nothing.
Comments: Based loosely on the reality t.v. show Dancing with the Stars and because Bella/Edward is my new favorite ship.

Flashbacks in italics.

Happy reading!

Thank you RuthPerk for beta'ing!

April 9th 2008

Edward POV

The lights were low and the crowd was silent. Bella stood next to me on the dance floor. We were holding hands and she was facing me directly. My green eyes found her brown ones, and with one look, I knew. I knew things changed between us. She didn't need to tell me what she felt or anything like that. With one single look, I knew.

I high-fived Bella. We had made it to the next round, and we were in the red room along with the others. The producers were handing out our music. We would soon find out what dance we were to learn. I heard the two dance choices were the Paso Doble and the Waltz. I knew neither of them, so I didn't have a preference.

Bella went up to the producer and he gave her our music cd. On the cd was a sticky note with the name of our dance.

I peered over her shoulder. "What'd we get?"

She looked over at me and grinned. "The Waltz. It's my favorite ballroom dance," she said.

Her favorite dance is the Waltz, huh? I may not know how to dance it, but I did know it's slow and romantic. I would have to work extra hard for her. It's her favorite dance; I don't want to make her look bad. I need to impress her.

Right after we got our music, Bella and I scrambled to the studio. She and I were eager to get a head start on the choreography.

We were in the studio and she was still wearing her dance heels. She put the cd in the stereo and our song filled the room.

Nice, I thought. I like this song. It was Alicia Keys "If I Ain't Got You." I had always liked her as an artist and the song was very sweet.

I met Bella in the center of the floor. She placed my hand in the middle of her back and the other in her own hand.

"This is the hold position. Stand up tall and do not bend your knees. Keep your back straight," she said sternly.

I held her close and fixed my posture. She smiled. Good, I had done one thing correctly.

"You step with your right foot going forward. Small steps and this is a box step. See our feet?" She put her head down to look at our moving feet. I stepped with my right and she went back on her left. We ended up doing the box step that she was talking about.

Bella called it quits for the night. She said she needed to get brainstorming on our routine and that tomorrow morning she would have a lot of stuff to teach me. I enjoyed the challenge and told her that I was looking forward to learning the dance.

The music started and Bella spun away from me. I, then, pulled her close to my body and buried my head in her long curly brown locks. I inhaled her scent, it was sweet like strawberries. We were in hold now, and I knew my head position was wrong. I was supposed to be looking sideways, not at her. But I couldn't help it. She was absolutely exquisite tonight.

When Bella and I met in the studio that Wednesday, she was bouncing with excitement. I had only seen Alice so enthusiastic, so it was a treat to see Bella in such rare form.

"Happy to see me?" I teased.

She winked at me. "Yup."

Oh, my. I wasn't expecting that. Gosh, she's so cute.

"So what's our agenda today?" I asked her.

She clapped her hands together. "I've got some great ideas for choreography. I want to try out a bunch of different things and we'll see what's comfortable for you okay?

"Sounds good," I replied.

She went and put the cd in the stereo and put it on repeat. We always did this on our first rehearsal. She always wanted me to listen to the song before we start dancing. Bella told me it gives me a better feel for the dance and keeps me in tune with the music.

After it finished for the first time, she motioned for me to meet her in front of the mirrors.

"I want to teach you how to spin. You can spin me, but I want you to be able to spin. And do not go all Tasmanian devil on me, k?"

I laughed. "I'll try my best."

We started by standing next to each other. Bella was on my right side and she positioned my right arm around her waist. Then, she told me to place my other arm in the front of her, so it looks like I'm holding her close to my body.

"Now, take your left arm away from me. I'm going to spin outwards and then you let your right arm loose. I'll spin back into your arms and pull me close. Dip your head to my shoulder, like you're embracing me."

Bella swiftly spun away from me and when she was back in my arms I did just as I was told. I pulled her in close and rested my head on her shoulder. Bella laid the side of her face against my shoulder blades. In that moment, I knew that Waltz would become a favorite dance of mine.

Bella POV

We were in hold, and Edward was looking the wrong way. His head position was off, but I didn't care. I wanted him to look at me. I wanted him to watch me as I danced with him.

During our rehearsals, Edward was surprisingly timid. He didn't joke around with me as much. He was quite serious this time. And even though I appreciated his seriousness, I missed my funny and playful Edward.

I suppose the reason why he took this dance seriously was because I slipped. I had mentioned that this dance was my favorite ballroom dance. Secretly, I wanted up to get a really high score. I know the scores don't matter all that much, but I just knew that dance was ours. We would totally own it.

Edward picked up the dance steps pretty fast. The hard part was perfecting his execution and getting the character of the dance correctly. Repetition was good for him and he was coming along nicely after the second day of rehearsals.

"You've got to sweep with me. Arm around my waist and step back with your right foot."

We were in the middle of a series of turns. We had to be smooth and fluid. Edward stepped back and now we were doing the rotating part.

"Good job. You're really getting the hang of it!" I cried.

He smiled sheepishly and mumbled a quiet "Thank you."

I smiled back at him. He is so cute when he's being modest.

So far, we had only been focusing on the technical part of the dance. His footwork was good, but his posture was something else. And he wasn't really getting into character well. The dance is quite romantic and intimate. I really needed him to be the leading man in this. He would have to sweep me off my feet.

Edward's problem wasn't his footwork and learning the dance, it was his lack of passion. Although, he was serious about this, I needed him to really feel it. I needed our chemistry to sky rocket to the moon. For some reason, every time we would perform close contact gestures and face-to-face parts, I could feel Edward holding back. He wasn't giving me the right emotion, and I didn't know why.

"Edward, I want you to look at me. You have to play up the romance in this and I'm not getting it from you. Is something wrong?"

Edward looked defeated. "I'm sorry, Bella. While I enjoy learning this, I'm still a bit uncomfortable."

"It's okay. Just remember what I told you the first time, dance like no one is watching. It's just you and me, okay?"

"I'm trying," he said.

"I know."

I spun into him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. We were nose-to-nose and Edward's eyes met mine. Suddenly, I forgot we were on the dance floor being watched by 100 people plus the viewers at home. I was getting lost into his deep pool of emerald eyes. There was something there that I recognized. He was mirroring my own expression. It was then that I realized, I had fallen for him, and to hell if I'd ever get up.

The camera guy wasn't able to make it today. He had to pick up his brother from the airport or something like that. I told him it was ok and that we'd see him another day.

It was perfect. Edward and I were all alone, with no camera to bother us. This was my chance at getting through his hard exterior and having him show me the real romantic side of him.

"Edward, I know you're struggling a bit with the character of the dance but I you have to get past that. I need you to dazzle me."

He looked down at me and frowned. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"It's alright. Just dance with me okay? Let it go."

After our lunch break, I decided to work fully on maintaining our chemistry. We dance well together, I could feel the chemistry, but he was still holding back.

I was in front of him now, and we were very close. Something about this time changed; perhaps not instantaneously, but gradually.

"Let it go, Edward," I breathed out.

He exhaled and grabbed me a little bit firmer. I took a chance and looked at his eyes. They were soft and penetrating my dull brown orbs. We stayed like that a little too long. We stared at each other and then I could feel it-he let go.

Edward released me and I took a step back. I fixed my gaze on the floor. Wow. It's never been like that for me before. I've danced countless of Waltzes and I could conjure up chemistry with a lot of guys, but this time it was different.

All week he got the footwork correct, but he seemed uncomfortable with the intimateness of the dance. I could feel him holding back and now, I knew why.

I promised myself that it was just a crush. Edward was a handsome guy and that's why I am attracted to him. But no, it was more than that. There was something under the surface between us. He knew it, and so did I.

Edward POV

I released her and looked back at her as she walked away from me. Our eyes met and I almost forgot that we were on the show. The sound of applause brought me back as Bella walked over to me to get our scores from the red room.

She was staring at the floor and I ran a hand through my hair. All week I put up a wall between us. I told myself she doesn't see me like that and that we're just working together, it means nothing. But I was wrong.,

I knew Bella was frustrated with me. She was begging me to "let go" and just dance with her. But if I did that, then she would know my feelings for her. I knew if I danced with her the way she wanted me to nothing would stop me and I would act on impulse.

Today, though, I broke down. I no longer had the strength to be away from her. I was weak and I finally let everything go. In that embrace, I could feel her small body pressed up against my own body. We were so close and I could feel her breath on my face. She was alluring.

I looked back at her and could see hints of rosy pink on her cheeks. She was blushing. My heart fell. She was embarrassed.

I walked over to her. "Bella, are you okay? Talk to me please."

She lifted her head up and tried to smile. "I'm fine, Edward. Thank you for asking."

I cleared my throat. "So, uhh, I think I've got the hang of it," I said sheepishly.

"I'd say you do," she agreed.

We were walking hand in hand back to the trailers. Bella was beaming and so was I. We had gotten a really good score. I did get sucker punched for not keeping my head in the proper place, but I didn't care.

"I'm proud of you, you know."

"You are?" I asked.

"Yeah. That was best we've danced and you did very well," she said.

"Thanks. I, ummm, I wanted you to be proud of me," I admitted.

"Edward, I'll always be proud of you," she admonished.

"But, this is your favorite dance. I wanted it to be special and I didn't want to make you look bad."

Bella let go of my hand and went to stand in front of me.

"It is special. It was special because I was dancing with you."

She reached up and lifted her hand to my cheek. I reveled in her touch. Her small hand cupped my face and she leaned up on her tip-toes. Leaning forward a bit, she placed a small, sweet kiss on my cheek.

So that's progress, right? They're getting more comfortable and brave now. Soon, they'll vocalize they're feelings. :)

Till next time.

Tina