The weeks passed and little really changed. To Lilly and Teddy's surprise, nothing spectacular seemed to have happened on the Queen's trip. When they returned, Stig still pranked Lucy and she still moaned, constantly about him. Life returned to normal. On the face of it.

There were instances which no one else saw though.

Quite often, Stig looked up during his hockey games and saw Lucy hiding at the back of the spectator benches. She was never there at the beginning and never there at the end, but he knew she'd seen most of the game. Sometimes he caught her eye and grinned but if he had stopped her in the hall at school and asked about it, she would have denied it.

In return whenever it happened in his presence, Stig skilfully deflected teasing away from her and she alone noticed.

And every now and then, when fate had them stumble across each other in a quiet area of the school with no witnesses, they did talk. Nothing spectacular just,

"My god! It's alive!"

"Thanks Stig I appreciate that."

He would laugh, then…

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Still here."

"Still with Jessica?"

"Hmmm."

"Aw. Young Love."

"Thanks Lucy." He would say sarcastically.

And then one time.

"Do me a favour Steven. Don't let her be your first time."

Lucy had walked away leaving him looking bemused.

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And then there was Senior Prom. For Lucy, it was an excruciating evening.

It started with her date dumping her for his ex-girlfriend about five minutes after they walked through the door. (He'd only asked Lucy to make his ex jealous). Emma and her boyfriend were getting on very well and being around them was akin to going on someone else's honeymoon. And then a close friend of Stig's girlfriend remembered about the whole Queens thing and decided to pick on her all evening.

Lucy really wondered why she had bothered going.

In fact, as she sat on the steps of the fire escape she was contemplating leaving.

Stig appeared. "Hi Loopy."

"Not in the mood, go away."

He stepped through the doorway. "What's up?"

She told him.

"Ah. Prom night. The happiest night of the year and the most tragic." He looked around him to see if anyone had noticed them talking.

"Come on." He said and started to climb higher up the fire escape. He held a hand out to her.

"Are you crazy?" She cried her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Probably. Come on. Before Jessica misses me and comes looking."

So she hoisted her dress and climbed carefully up the ladder. At the top was the roof and a large section of it was flat. They could hear the music from below.

Stig stood in the middle away from the edge for which Lucy was grateful, she wasn't good on heights. It was a warm evening, but high on the roof there was a slight breeze.

"Do something crazy." He said. "Dance with me."

"That really would be crazy. For a start, we hate each other. Never mind the fact half the school would have a coronary if they even saw us talking. Not to mention your girlfriend!"

"Lucy. The people down there are high school. We're moving on. Their opinion doesn't count. And I'm not asking you to date me. I'm asking you to dance with me – one dance; up here, where no one else can see us."

"Why?"

"Because we've both had a crap Prom and I want to rescue something from tonight."

"Your Prom night is crap?"

"I've argued with my best friend, been pushed around by my so-called girlfriend, and now one of my other friends is refusing to dance with me."

He stepped forward and took her hand.

"Please?"

"One dance – that means nothing?"
"One dance that means nothing and then you can go back to being the shy keener in the corner."

"Okay." She said and let him pull her into his arms.

It was a slow, love song and she smiled at the irony of who she was dancing with. His fingers held her waist and hand in a traditional, respectable way. To her surprise, he could dance.

"Where did you learn to dance?" She asked.

"I'm my mother's son. She occasionally practices at home and needs a partner. Dad always bows out. I guess I should too, but she said I'd be glad of it one day. You've had lessons too?"

"I did ballroom before I got into jazz. You realise we are probably the only two people in the entire building who are dancing properly?"

"Strictly speaking we aren't in the building."

"No. I guess not." They grinned at each other.

Silence settled over them, broken only by the distant music.

"You're too good for high school, Lucy. You'll find your place in college."

She was embarrassed and started to pull away.

"Don't go Lucy. Learn to accept compliments." She relaxed in his arms and he pulled her closer as they danced again. "I'm sorry, about the pranks."

"S'ok. Some of them were fun and it meant someone was paying attention to me. Most of the time I just get ignored."

"You weren't being ignored. Just avoided. You showed responsibility and teenagers aren't exactly good at embracing that. Your behaviour reminded us that soon we have to take over the running of our own lives and that scared us."

"I scare you?"

"Crazy, eh?"

"Totally."

"You scare me for other reasons now though." He murmured.

"Which are?"

"I'll tell you when we're at Queens."

There was nothing to say to that. Below them they could hear shrieks and laughter.

Lucy shifted her head from where he had rested it on his shoulder and looked at Stig.

"So. Prom night. So many things happen on Prom night."

"Yeah. I guess plenty of girls lose things they can't get back tonight." He spoke meaningfully.

"Including Jessica?" She asked quietly.

Stig chuckled. "I think hers went a long time ago."
Lucy looked away.

"But not with me." He whispered. "And that isn't going to happen tonight."

"Why?"

"I'd call tonight our swansong. I've dated her for four months so I thought it would be mean not to take her to Prom but realistically we both know this is the end. I think that's why she's being so demanding tonight."

He sighed. "Talking of which, I'd better get back." He let go of Lucy and then took her hand. "Come on. I'll help you down the ladder. It won't be easy in that dress. Which, by the way, looks amazing on you."

Lucy smiled at him. "Flatterer." Then she paused. "Thank you. For the compliments and the dance."

"You're welcome. Just remember, it never happened."

"Who are you again?"

They laughed and then he started down the ladder.

At the bottom, he lifted her down from the last rung. He glanced around to make sure he didn't have an audience and then pressed a tiny kiss on her forehead.

Then he was gone.