CHAPTER NINETEEN

"All right, places, everyone!" Mr. Schuester orders the New Directions. "We'll start today with some basic steps. Brittany, Blaine, Jake, Gina, take it away."

The four star dancers in the group step up to the front, teaching the other groups some basic choreography to warm their bodies up. Jake, however, is dancing with a sullen expression, and it's obvious that his heart is not in Glee practice today. He avoids standing too close to Marley or Ryder, choosing to stand next to Kitty instead.

Gina's head seems to not be in the game as well. She keeps glancing at the door, as if wanting to dash out of the choir room and go someplace else. Only Brittany and Blaine seem to be excited to dance for the Glee clubbers.

After almost half an hour of warm-up dance moves, Mr. Schuester orders a five minute break. The guys slouch down on one side of the room, drenched in sweat, while the girls mop up their clammy faces with towels.

Gina's phone buzzes in her pocket. She checks it, and her face beams as she sees Nick's name on the screen.

"Mr. Schue?" she stands up. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Sure," Mr. Schue nods.

In one minute, Gina has dashed out of the choir room.

The door of the auditorium creaks on its hinges as Gina bursts inside. She looks around eagerly, before spotting a lone figure on the center of the stage, hands clasped behind his back, smiling down at her.

"Nick!" she laughs, rushing up to the stage to meet him. He's in his full Dalton uniform now, and to be honest, Gina is starting to like the classy uniform. Nick had given her an old Warbler blazer that belonged to his older brother, and Gina has grown to love it ever since. "You crazy ass weirdo, what are you doing here?"

"You canceled our date," Nick says, raising his shoulders. "I was disappointed, but I wanted to see you, so I thought I'd drop by McKinley and give you a little surprise visit."

"Yes, but why the auditorium?" she says, frowning. "You… do know where the choir room is, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I guess your friends won't be too happy to see me around," he admits, "so I decided to call you here."

Gina grins. "Good call. You're absolutely right."

"Yep. And to make up for our postponed date, I have brought you something." He pulls out a large package from the side of the auditorium and hands it to her. It is neatly wrapped in silver wrapping paper, with the words To Gina written on it with black marker.

"What's this?" Gina asks, smiling mischievously. Nick watches her silently as she turns it around in her hands. She looks so excited over the gift.

"A backpack," Nick confesses. "Thought you would like it."

Gina laughs. "I'm sure I will," she assures him. "Thank you, Nick. That's really nice of you. I'll wear it to school on Monday."

Nick gives her a tiny smile as he pulls his tie looser. He clears his throat. "I also prepared something… special," he says. He gestures to a small CD player on the floor of the auditorium. "You up for a little, uh, vocal challenge?"

Gina smirks. "Bring it on, Warbler."

Nick grimaces as he goes to turn the player on. As soon as the music starts flooding out of the speakers, Gina notices the song: Just a Kiss, by Lady Antebellum. She blushes; give it all to Nick to choose a romantic song for a secret duet.

She turns to look at Nick, smiling at him, feeling her chest grows heavy with emotions, as she starts to sing.

Lying here with you so close to me,

It's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe,

Caught up in this moment, caught up in your smile…

Nick walks up to her, slowly, gradually, as he sings his part.

I've never opened up to anyone,

So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms

We don't need to rush this, let's just take it slow…

They are face to face now, and Gina can feel herself floating off the ground. Nick's eyes seem to twinkle, and she is just so happy to see him right now.

Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight,

Just a touch of the fire burning so bright,

No I don't wanna mess this thing up, I don't wanna push too far

Gina's head swoons as Nick takes her hands in his. His hands are much bigger than hers, and they are warm. Very warm.

No I don't want to say goodnight,

I know it's time to leave, but you'll be in my dreams, tonight…

Tonight… tonight…

Nick's hand moves to caress her cheek. She closes her eyes, savoring his touch, almost bursting with happiness. This song is perfect for us, she thinks, lost to the beauty of the music. Just the perfect song. The perfect words. The perfect time. The perfect person.

Just a kiss goodnight, with a kiss goodnight,

Kiss goodnight…

Gina opens her eyes, and stares directly into Nick's deep, brown ones. They look so mesmerizing, so beautiful, so full of emotions. His eyes, his face, his voice, his touch… everything is so perfect.

He starts to lean in, his hand still on her cheek. She holds her breath, and slowly closes her eyes again. A tiny smile appears on her lips. She can't believe this is happening.

Just a little bit now, just lean in a little bit closer… just a little bit… closer…

"I'm sorry."

Gina's eyes flutter open. A look of confusion passes her. "What's wrong, Nick?" she asks, worried that she had done a mistake.

But the Warbler has retreated. He puts a hand over his mouth, and his eyes are wide with repulse as he says, "I'm sorry, Gina, but I can't. I just can't."

Uh-oh! Why did Nick stop at the last minute? What do you think, guys? ;)

Anyway, I've been kind of picturing their duet to be quite romantic. This is a personal favorite chapter of mine, just fyi, hahaha.. :D