Title: Dance with Me
Rating: T
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 Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing.
Comments: Based loosely on the reality t.v. show Dancing with the Stars.
I have to say thank you to all my readers. All of you have been a great help in offering me beta advice. Also, a very big thank you to Candy Cullen, Riss-uscma, flutetenorsaxplayer2008, and TMTF for their work on editing, reading, and encouraging me.
May 29th 2008
Edward POV
Did they call out our names?
I wasn't sure what was happening, but all of a sudden the whole studio erupted in applause and cheers. People were screaming and there were confetti and balloons coming down from the ceiling.
I knew the winner was just announced, but I wasn't sure who won. I was in such a daze and it wasn't until Bella jumped on me that I realized it was us that won.
"Oh, my goodness!" she cheered. "I am so proud of you!"
That was all it took.
I grabbed Bella and lifted her up and swung her around the floor. I was happy, ecstatic even. Bella and I had just won a major reality show competition. Yeah, it felt good to win!
I must have spun around a few times because I felt her tighten her hold on my arms. She squeezed letting me know I had to stop or else she'd feel sick.
I laughed and cheered with her. I looped my arm through hers, and smiled.
"I can't believe this!" I cried. "Is this really happening?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Ahhhhh!"
Three months ago, I would have thought it was impossible for me to win this competition. I never fathomed what this show could do for me. And now I was standing on the stage with my arms wrapped around Bella basking in our win.
Everyone surrounded us. They gave us hugs and cheers of congratulations. Bella and I were separated when Jared lifted me onto his shoulders, then Mike took Bella on his shoulders and we held the tacky-looking trophy in the air.
It was utter chaos. The whole studio was in an uproar. A lot of people were trying to rush to the stage as Bella and I were soaking up all the cheers.
A couple of minutes later, we were both standing on the stage floor again. The whole cast gave us hugs and congratulatory wishes. Our dancing family members were so happy for us. Jared bumped fists with me and promised to take us out when we got to New York.
Everything was happening really fast. I shook hands, hugged, and kissed people. I was in a euphoric trance. I couldn't even tell you who I was talking to after the third person slapped me on the back. Somehow, I found myself talking to press. Bella wasn't with me; she was doing her own interviews.
"How does it feel to win?"
"Amazing!" I replied. "I never thought I would win."
"You're so humble, but you're a well-known athlete; surely, you got competitive and began to think about winning."
"Honestly, I never imagined I'd win. I wasn't comfortable being up here dancing to these Latin beats. It wasn't till about our fourth dance when I felt like, 'okay, I'm having fun.' After we got our first perfect score that was when I thought 'maybe we could go all the way.' But I still never thought I'd win."
"Isabella is now a reigning two-time champion. What can you say about her? How was the relationship with her? And did her partnership help you win?"
"I'm very happy for her! She's a wonderful dancer and teacher. Our relationship is great. I definitely think our relationship carried us to the finals. If we didn't get along, if we didn't work well with each other, we wouldn't have made it passed the first round. This type of dancing requires teamwork. We're a partnership and we rely on each other. If I messed up, she messed up. We play off each other and it was extremely important for us to have a common ground with each other."
The interviews were never ending. Jasper and Alice trailed behind me and Bella. They helped direct us to the media. Bella and I did some interviews together and some separate. By the time we finished, we had to rush backstage. The party wasn't over. The crew and production were all screaming and congratulating us.
I finally managed to snatch Bella and give her a much needed hug.
"How do you feel?" I asked her.
"So good," she sighed. "I'm so happy."
I smiled down at her and kissed her chastely on her lips. "Thank you."
"Edward! Bella!" Alice screamed. Alice had brought the whole family backstage.
I rushed to my mom.
She gave me a huge hug. "I'm very proud of you, Edward! You and Bella have touched a lot of people's hearts. You should be happy."
I gave mom a kiss on her cheek and another hug. "Thanks, Mom. I didn't think we'd win! This is amazing and Bella and I will definitely try to see you guys when we're in New York."
Our family time was cut short, because Bella and I had to change. Then we had to board a red eye. Jasper and Alice were coming with us and the rest of the family was also headed to New York, but they'd be flying out the next day. Bella was able to speak with her parents and after promising to see them over the summer, we ran to our trailers.
I pulled Bella into my trailer and locked the door.
"Edward," she said in a warning tone.
"Two minutes."
Bella was too hot for her own good. Her costume wasn't bad either.
She rolled her eyes at me.
"We have a flight to catch," she reminded me.
"They can't leave without us," I replied.
I tugged on her wrist and she came willingly. I lowered my forehead to hers and looked into her eyes. She was absolutely breathtaking. Her eyes held so much admiration and devotion towards her and me. I loved this girl more than I ever thought was possible. Who knew that I'd end up loving her after all this?
"Thank you," I said.
I had a lot to be thankful for, Bella was the only reason we made it this far. She carried me throughout the whole competition and I was lucky to have her in my life.
She smiled and pressed her lips to mine. It was a sweet closed-mouthed kiss. When she pulled back, she pressed another kiss to my cheek.
"You're welcome."
"I'll let you get changed now." I gave her one more kiss, and then opened the door to let her leave.
After changing my clothes, I waited outside for Bella. Jasper and Alice were getting our luggage together. We'd be leaving in half hour to go to the airport.
Once Bella came out of her trailer, we made a quick trip to wardrobe to drop off our costumes. When that was taken cared of, we went back to the lot. A lot of the cast were still milling around. Mike and Jessica were taking pictures with the crew.
"Hey!" Mike called to us. "Come join us champs!"
Bella looked at me and giggled, "Picture time."
We jumped into the photo and smiled.
"Funny faces!" Jessica cried.
I crossed my eyes together and pursed my lips. Bella threw her arm around me and did some sort of peace sign while she smiled cheesily.
Jared and Jessica walked with us to the end of the lot. An SUV was waiting for us to take us to the airport. Once inside the car, I whipped out my phone and called Jasper. Everything was going according to schedule; he and Alice were meeting us at the terminal. I was glad they were going with us. Bella and I needed some structure while we visited all the shows and do the publicity. The producers arranged for us to be there for about 2-3 days. Bella and I needed to get back to LA because rehearsals for the summer tour were going to start. Our schedules were tight, but I had plans to take Bella out while we were in New York. By the time we arrived at LAX, my plans were set.
Bella, Jessica, Jared and I climbed out of the SUV. I helped Jessica with her bags, and Jared and Bella started leading us through the airport. Our flight was leaving at midnight, so that gave us some time to get something to eat. It was nearly eleven o'clock and Bella and I hadn't eaten anything since before the show went live.
"What do you want from McDonalds?" Bella asked as she and Alice and Jessica stood taking everyone's order.
After we gave the girls our order, Jared took out his iPod. I took the opportunity to talk privately with Jasper.
"How's the scheduling going?"
"Okay, so far," he replied. "I've got your week of rehearsals and then you're on tour. How long did you plan to be on the road?"
"I talked it out with the producers. I'll be out for one week."
"What are you going to do when you get back?"
"Look over the offers. Can you believe all these people want me to come in and read for a part?"
Jasper smirked. "I never considered you an actor, but who knows? It could be something fun to do while we wait for the next season."
"I am not going on The Secret Life of the American Teenager," I scoffed as I started already sifting through the pile of offers.
"But you'll lend your voice for an episode of Family Guy?!"
"Hell yeah!" I answered. "That show is awesome. And besides I was thinking of going for that guest spot on Entourage."
"How come I'm not surprised? If you really want to do that, then I'll give them a call. Thank god they shoot in LA."
"Yeah that makes it easier."
"For now at least."
I shot him a look. "I'm not 100% decided."
"No," he hissed. "You're not 100% decided what you'll tell Bella."
"Jasper," I said.
"You need to tell her, Edward. You've made up your mind haven't you?"
I hadn't really even considered how I was going to tell her. I was torn and there were a lot of things to consider. I knew including Bella in my career was important, but this was my career. I'd let Bella do anything she wanted. She didn't need my permission. Her career was her own and she could do anything she set her mind on. I really wanted to stay in LA, but the opportunity to move to an out of town team was very appealing.
"I'll tell her soon."
"You better."
The girls' came back with our food. Bella handed me my quarter pounder and she unwrapped her snack wrap. I teased her about her choice of food. I knew for a fact she didn't just order a snack wrap.
"I'll have you know I didn't order fries," she huffed. "But I did order cookies"
"I knew it."
She rolled her eyes at me.
After we finished our food and cleaned everything up, Bella and I began talking about the trophy. We each got one. Since this was Bella's second one, she was going to give them to her parents to display them at her house. I was going to put mine in my sports room alongside with all my other trophies.
We were still talking when we heard our flight being called. Bella, Alice, Jasper and I gathered our luggage. We followed Jared and Jessica to the plane.
I hadn't flown in a long time. Not since last season when I was in Philly for the NLCS. We boarded first class, and Jared and I had to pay for Jessica and Bella to be bumped up from the coach seats. We didn't like that the producers put them in coach while we were in first class.
The flight was about five hours long. To pass the time we all goofed around and hung out. We spent so much time together filming the shows that we all grew close.
Jared did a freestyle rap for me and Bella congratulating us on winning.
"Dude, if I had lose I'm glad it was to some punk ass baseball player and his hot dance partner."
Jessica slapped him on the arm.
"Oww! Jess!"
"Don't embarrass them."
He smiled and shook his head at her. "But it's so much fun!"
After a while, Bella reclined her seat and pulled a blanket over her body. She smiled sheepishly at me.
"Need to get some rest now. We'll be walking zombies by the time we're done with GMA."
She curled up beside me and leaned towards me with her eyes closed. I brushed some of her bangs away and leaned in to kiss her temple. Unfortunately, Jared and Alice caught me. Alice squealed and Jared pretended to be paparazzi and started making clicking noises with his index fingers taking our picture.
Thankfully, Bella didn't see that. She was so tired, that she fell asleep easily. I gently moved her so she could sleep by herself. I got up, and stretched my legs. Jasper was sitting down with his laptop. He glanced at me and I walked over to him. He was looking at the MLB page on Yahoo.
The Angels have been a decent team. They've made it to the ALCS numerous times. They won the World Series a few years ago. I was interested in them, but I was also interested in the Mariners. They had a bad year last season, but they were working things out. They had a good history of players who just happened to go to other teams. I believed I could help them in their re-building process. It wouldn't be a total loss to go there.
Jasper scrolled through the rosters and looked at some of the players stats. I knew all the players of course. I played with them plenty of times in the past. We had a mutual friendship. Well, I wouldn't call it friendship, but we got along.
Jared came over and peered over my shoulder.
"You're going to the…"
I kicked him and he cried out in pain.
"What the hell, man?!?"
"Bella doesn't know," Jasper chirped from beside me.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Bella doesn't know what?" Alice asked walking over to us.
Damn it.
I closed my eyes and then glared at Alice. "Bella doesn't know where I'm going yet."
She frowned. "I don't like the sound of this."
"Then shut up!"
"Edward!"
"Sorry," I muttered although I kind of wasn't.
The flight was long. Bella slept through the rest of the flight, but I was otherwise preoccupied. Even though I was happy about winning, I still had a lot on my plate. My choice in team was going to be big.
We arrived in the early in the morning. It was after six by the time we were hustled into another dark SUV. We didn't have time to go to the hotel and check in. GMA was going live soon and we'd be there for the eight o'clock segment. Bella and I carried around one the trophies. We had to bring it with us for the press tour.
We arrived at Good Morning America almost an hour later. Jared, Jessica, Bella and I were led through the productions hallways to a backstage room.
"Wow," said Bella. "The last time I was here they didn't have all these yummy food."
There was a long table filled with breakfast type food. Jared and I immediately began munching on a breakfast sandwich.
I sat down on one of the cushioned chairs and ran my hands through my hair. I was tired. I hadn't been able to sleep on the flight and my mind was so jumbled. All I wanted to do was check in to the hotel and sleep all day.
Alice must have sensed my lack of energy because she handed me a plate of food and reminded me that we had to dance out Samba again. Bella sat down next to me and held my hand. She gave me a comforting smile.
"We'll be able to sleep later. Till then drink a protein shake and loosen up for the Samba."
I almost laughed out loud. We weren't on the show anymore, but she was still bossing me around. I ate the scrambled eggs and roll Alice gave me. I ended up drinking part of a protein shake, and then Bella led me over to a corner to stretch.
Even in the early morning she was still limber. She arched her back, touched her toes and did the splits. I could only stare in awe.
"Stretch," she instructed.
I stretched my arms, legs and bent down to touch the floor. Just as I was coming back up a camera crew came in and started filming us. Jasper informed us they just wanted some candid footage of us before we went out for our interview.
Jared took this time to jump on my back and yell really loud.
So much for candid.
I laughed and bumped him so he ended up standing behind me. Jessica and Bella came next to us and played with the camera.
They cut to a commercial and then we were told our segment was next.
We were announced and the four of us walked out. The studio was loud and electric. The crowd was insane and it definitely woke me up. I could feel their energy and it was amazing.
Diane and Robin greeted us. We all sat down and the questions started.
They asked Jared questions about his music, his love life, his dancing, and finally they asked him if he was going on tour. He wasn't because he was in the midst of recording his album.
They asked me how happy I was to win.
"It feels fantastic. I didn't think I'd win."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't consider myself a dancer. I felt so unbelievably uncomfortable during the first few weeks of the show. The entertainment business was so foreign to me."
They also asked about my partnership with Bella. Of course we gave them the canned answer, "We're really good friends. We're definitely close and we'll be fiends forever."
They showed clips of some of our dances and then they asked Jessica and Bella questions. Jessica described her relationship with Jared very brother/sister type.
"He drives me crazy with the jokes, and he never shuts ups. I drive him crazy by yelling at him all the time. We fight like we're related. It's good."
They asked Bella how easy it was to teach me.
"It was good," she said. "He's an athlete so he's used to having a coach. He's used to people telling him he sucks, so when I told him he's messing up he doesn't get angry. He listens to what I have to say, he does what I tell him to do. He's a terrific student."
"Is he a natural dancer?"
"Umm," she stammered. I winked at her and she laughed. "Sort of. It doesn't come easy to him, but he tries his best and he works really hard, so that pays off."
After the interviews, we went for a commercial break. When we came back, we were standing on their make shift dance floor. It was small but it was good enough for our dancing segment. Jared and Jessica went first with their Paso. Bella and I performed our Samba again. It surprised me how easily I remembered the routine. Even though we performed it two days ago, my mind was not thinking about the dance. It was nice that my body reached autopilot and I could now just dance without having to worry about memorizing the steps.
After our segment, we had press. ET, Access Hollywood, The Insider and Extra were all waiting for us. I grabbed Bella's hand for support. Talking to the media was not exactly my favorite hobby especially so early in the morning.
Jasper and Alice trailed us, and guided us from interview to interview. We were all tired, and we still had a lot of things to do. We talked about our flight, the GMA show, our plans and the tour. Bella was so happy to have me on tour. She squeezed my shoulder and told ET that her summer was complete now that I'd signed up to go on tour. I felt good that she was so enthusiastic. I knew we'd have fun, but I was a little worried about saying goodbye.
Our morning interviews stopped and Jasper and Alice led us back the SUV. We were finally headed to the hotel to check in.
"We can only stay for half in hour though," Alice said. "We have a photo op at Central Park and then more press in Manhattan."
I stifled a groan.
Who knew winning Dance X would be so difficult? Especially after we won!
"When is lunch?" Bella asked. "We're gonna need our energy today and if we don't stop for food, we'll end up fainting."
"I've already arranged for us to eat somewhere. You guys have a two hour reprieve and we'll have lunch at two," Jasper replied.
"Thanks guys," I said looking at them. They were both working furiously on the BlackBerries. Shit, our schedules were wearing them down too. I'd have to go out shopping and get them something nice as a 'thank you.'
The car ride was silent. Bella was leaning against my shoulder getting some much needed rest. I closed my eyes, but I couldn't go to sleep. All sorts of things were running around in my head. I knew Bella was to oblivious to notice I was distracted. It was better that way for her anyway. When we arrived at the Waldorf Astoria, Jasper, Alice and Bella began taking our luggage out. A bell boy came up to help them, and I leaned over to the driver and handed him some money, asking him to make a trip to Starbucks for us. Of course he agreed because I told him he could keep the change and the rest of the money; I gave him a fifty dollar bill.
I got out the SUV and followed everyone inside. I'd been to this hotel before. It was a favorite of mine and I was hoping Bella hadn't been here before.
"Oh. My. Gosh." She gasped.
I smiled. She hadn't been here before.
"You like it?"
"Uhh, yeah!"
"Where do they put you when they send you out here?"
"I usually stay in the Radisson over on Lexington."
That was the hotel Jared and Jessica were staying at. They actually put me there too, but I changed my arrangements, or rather Jasper changed them for me.
Alice took charge of our check-in. She was in her bossy mode and even though I hated bossy Alice, today I needed it. We had so much to do; bossy Alice would keep things moving smoothly.
Jasper booked two rooms. Bella and I would share one and Jasper and Alice had the other room. I didn't get a special room. All the rooms were exquisite and I knew Bella would have a field day once she saw our standard room.
When we arrived at our room, Bella's mouth dropped in shock.
There was a hallway, a living room area, a bedroom and bath, and then there was a smaller room for a guest. The whole room was huge and I had fun watching Bella look around.
"Oh my goodness!" she cried. "This room is the size of my apartment!" She was in the smaller guest room and I smiled at her exclamation.
I walked in behind her and wrapped my arms around her torso in a hug.
"I'm glad you like it."
"You did this for me?"
"Yes."
She turned her head to look at me. I leaned forward and brought my lips to hers. I kissed her slowly, deeply. She was my girl and I wanted this to be the time of her life. I would show her how much I wanted her, cared for her, appreciated her and above all I'd show that I loved her.
We're in NY now. We'll be here for a few days.
This story is drawing to a close. I know exactly what will happen and how it will end. Got any questions or comments about the story? You can tell me. I may or may not divulge my plans though. ;)
Till next time.
Tina