Author's Note: This takes place right where the last chapter left off so it's the SAME Saturday. Featured music: Santa Maria by the Gotan Project, Save the Last Dance for Me by Michael Buble, Quando Quando Quando by Michael Buble (please listen to this one when you see it written in the chapter - thanks!)
Also, please skip to 0:57 (57 seconds in this youtube video) to see Renee and Rastio's dance. This is the girl that's actually portraying Renee in my story as well :) It will give you a better description of the dance than I did in this chapter. Hah! h t t p : / / www. youtube. com/watch?v=biW75hxq3aY - Just take out the spaces!
"So what're you doing tonight?" John asked.
"John, isn't there some dating rule and how many dates in a row you can have or something? I don't know! We just got together like… two seconds ago," Renee reminded.
John chuckled, "I play by the rules. You should know that."
"I can't. I've got this thing," Renee said.
"What is this thing that you have? You've been saying that for so long now. Can't you just ditch it?" John asked, flirtatiously, trying to coax her into ditching.
"I can't. I kind of promised someone I'd be there," Renee answered. John froze. Why was she being so secretive about it and who was she promising things too? John thought about it for a moment. Was Renee seeing someone too? They just got together so maybe she was going to break things off. Or maybe she would two time him.
"Renee, what're you-," John started.
"Renee, Mom needs you now," Iz said, coming out onto the front porch.
"Okay, just a second," Renee said back. She sighed, turning back to John. "Look, you don't have to worry about it. It's nothing you'd be interested in. I promise."
"Renee-," John started.
"I'll see you later, okay?" Renee asked, kissing him once.
"Bye," John said back with a sigh. He pushed his doubts to the back of his mind. Renee wasn't that kind of person, right?
Meredith jumped up, as John swung his leg under. She quickly whipped around, kicking him and the knee. John bent over, catching his breath.
"You okay?" Meredith asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank God for knee pads, right?" John asked back.
"Yeah. You're doing well, John. Just a something to think about. When I contract, you expand and if I expand, you should contract. I think we can call it a day for now though," Meredith said. She hated having to teach her kids hand to hand combat, especially when she had to physically fight them to teach them it, but she knew it was for their safety.
John on the other hand, didn't mind it at all. He thought it was cool that his mom knew all this stuff. Of course, it was a bit of an ego blow that his mom could kick his ass, but she had had a lot more training and actual experience with this stuff. He was still learning. Maybe one day he's be the one winning in these hand to hand combat training sessions. John grabbed his water bottle and gulped half of it down, sweaty and out of breath. After he left Renee's that Saturday morning, he went over to the center to meet his family for another training session.
"Hey, Mom?" John asked.
"Yeah?" Meredith asked back.
"So I'm going to be out tonight. I'm probably just going to head over to Renee's and surprise her," John replied.
"You and Renee have been spending an awful lot of time together lately…" Meredith started, trailing off and hoping that the subtle hint would be enough for John to fill her in on what had been going on.
"Yeah… we're kinda like dating now," John admitted, looking over at his mom to gage any kind of reaction.
Meredith looked over at her son, surprised, "You're 'like dating' or you are?"
"We are," John blushed, looking away.
"Since when?" Meredith asked, a smile spreading across her face.
"Since… this morning," John replied.
"Oh my God! I knew you two were hanging out a lot and you were talking about her an awful lot as well recently. Oh, sweetie this is great. I'm happy for you two. You know, it's about damn time. We always thought it would happen at some point," Meredith said.
"What? And who is 'we'?" John asked, chuckling.
"Molly and I. Sometimes your father and, well, Ethan knew it would happen. He just hoped it wouldn't because he thinks you'll be a heartbreaker just like Dean. Hah, I can't wait till Renee tells Ethan. He's going to flip!" Meredith laughed, imagining her best friend's reaction.
"Flip? No! Mom, that's not good," John said, panicked.
Meredith chuckled, "Oh, he'll be fine, sweetie. He knows you're a good kid and besides. That heartbreaker of a dad you've got made me happier than anyone else could. John, this is great. It's about time you found a nice girl – not to mention she's beautiful. You're doing alright, kid."
John chuckled, "Wait, what do you mean by 'it's about time'?"
"Oh, please. Like I didn't know about Jamie Callahan, or any of the others girls you were with, in the past… couple of… well, a couple of years but that's not important. I mean, you actually told me about this one," Meredith smiled.
"Well, I kind of had to, Mom. Our families are always together and someone would find out eventually," John said. "Besides, I wanted to. I actually like this girl…"
"Oh, thank God, because if she was your new Jamie Callahan, you know Ethan would-," Meredith started.
"Kill me. Yes, I know," John chuckled.
"Okay, I think I've memorized the entire exorcism in here, but I'm not quite sure. Will someone quiz me?" Flynn asked, coming out of the study.
"That's my cue. Nice talk, Mom," John said, hopping up from the bench they were sitting on and jogging over to Flynn who had peeked his head out from the study. Meredith smiled to herself. She loved the idea of John and Renee being together. She knew that they had drifted apart over the years but she hoped that this time it would last. For some reason, she had a feeling that Renee was going to be good for her son.
"Hey, you guys are still here," Dean said, coming into the center, Victoria close behind him.
"Yeah, John and I just finished combat training," Meredith said back. Dean shot her an apologetic look. He knew how much she hated having to, technically, beat up her kids. Or at least he knew that was the way that she saw it. Dean knew just how to lighten up the mood. "How was shooting practice?"
"Good," Victoria answered, putting down her bag and looking through the transparent doors of the study. John was sitting on top of the desk with a book in his hand while Flynn was pacing and reciting an exorcism from memory.
"This one's getting pretty good here," Dean said.
"That's good," Meredith said back.
"So combat, huh? Any chance you want to go?" Dean challenged.
"Really?" Meredith asked, skeptically.
"I think I could take you. Plus, it's a fair fight seeing as I'm not still learning," Dean replied, trying to cheer Meredith up.
"Why not?" Meredith shrugged.
"Watch this, kiddo. This is really how it's done," Dean said, before charging at his wife. He threw a punch and she ducked. She spun around and this time her hit was blocked as Dean blocked it with his forearm. He undercut it and Meredith grabbed his forearm. But Dean was too quick. He swung a kick, uprooting her as she fell to the ground, him following. Dean pinned her to the ground, straddling her as he pinned her wrists to the ground.
"If you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask, baby," Meredith smirked. Dean grinned widely.
"Okay, that was really cool but now this is getting really gross some I'm going to go see what John and Flynn are up to," Victoria said, attempting to excuse herself.
"Hey, you kill Jefferson Starships with phoenix ash, right?" John asked, peeking out from behind the study door. "Woah! What is going on here? Did I miss something?"
"Nope, just Dad and Mom showing me some combat. And of course, it turned in to this," Victoria sighed, rolling her eyes. Meredith and Dean exchanged glances, laughing as Dean got off of her and Meredith stood up.
"Yes, that's how you kill Jefferson Starships," Dean replied.
Meredith laughed, "I still can't believe we call them that!"
"Hey, how much longer are we going to be here? I should probably do some conditioning," Flynn asked, coming from the study too.
"As long as you guys need to be here," Dean answered.
"Yeah, I don't see any rush," Meredith said.
"Actually, I've got to meet Paige by six. I said we'd go for a walk downtown," Flynn replied.
"Yeah, and I told Haley I'd go over to their house for a little while," Victoria added.
"I took a short shift at the garage tonight," Dean said, an apologetic look on his face.
"And you know my plans, Mom," John said. They all stared at John.
"What kind of plans?" Victoria asked.
"Yeah, what are you talking about? I thought you broke up with Jamie," Flynn added.
"Guys! Hold on. What happened to family dinner?" Meredith asked.
"Oh, we were doing that tonight?" John asked.
"Yes," Meredith replied.
"I get off at eight. What do you guys say to a late dinner tonight? We could do a late dinner at around nine or something," Dean suggested.
"Ooh, and we could do that unconventional take out thing where we order take out and then sit on the living room floor with all of our paper plates," Meredith added, her eyes lighting up at the thought. She just loved her family and since she had all high schoolers, they were getting so busy lately! She just wanted to have some family time that wasn't spent teaching them how to hunt.
"That's not a bad idea. I can be home by nine," John shrugged.
"Yeah, me too," Flynn said.
"I'll tell Haley. I'm sure she'll be fine with it," Victoria answered.
"Good. Good… well, nine it is, then," Meredith announced, satisfied.
John was driving towards the Walsh house when he saw Renee's car backing out of the driveway. He quickly drove by, turning onto another street and doing a three point turn while he waited for her to go. He had forgotten that she always had that this 'thing' on Saturday nights. What was she up to anyways? Was she seeing someone too? Oh, no. He hadn't even thought about it. Her car passed by and the curiosity was killing him.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," he said aloud to himself as he made a turn and began to follow her. So maybe she hadn't been lying when she said that she had a thing, but why wouldn't she tell him? As he followed her, he always made sure he stayed two cars behind him so she didn't see him. John hated it, but he let curiosity get the best of him.
Finally, he arrived at a house, driving by it but making sure to remember which one it was as Renee pulled to the side of the curb, parking. There were a couple of other cars there too. What exactly was she up to? John made a circle around the cul de sac before passing by once more, his eyes widening as he saw Renee hugging some man at the front door before she went inside. Okay, what the hell was going on?
John drove out of the neighborhood, trying to decide what to do. If he went in and saw that she was with someone, it would screw it all up. They had just gotten together! He didn't want to give that up already. Had the risk not been worth taking? Then again, if he didn't go in, he'd drive himself crazy with all of these questions. After driving around for a good thirty minutes, John went back to the house, parked the car and knocked on the door.
A woman with short, light brown hair stood in the door way. She looked in her mid-forties and wore a warm smile on her face.
"Hi, you must be new," the woman greeted. "I'm Sarah. I assume that you're here for Rastio's classes."
"Classes?" John asked.
"Come inside," she encouraged. Before John could say anything else, he found himself being ushered inside the house. What was going on? Why was Renee here and who the hell was Rastio? As Sarah showed him into the house, he stopped as soon as they got to the dining room. The room was lined with chairs where couples sat.
"Next up, we will be doing the tango. Now we're going to start with the basics first, but me and my lovely assistant here are going to give you a little taste of what an advanced tango looks like," the man with dark black hair said. He had tan skin and a Spanish accent.
John was surprised when he saw Renee get up out of her chair and meet the man halfway on the dance floor. The seductive, sultry tango music began to play and the two looked at each, their eyes not leaving one another's eyes. The man pulled Renee in close to him and then began to dance. John's eyes widened as he watched as the two maneuvered the floor, performing complicated twists, turn, and dips to the tango music. Finally, it ended and Renee smiled a friendly smile, before hugging the man. The rest of the people there clapped and Renee and the guy parted.
As Renee pulled away from her friend and ballroom instructor, Rastio, her eyes widened as she saw John, "John?"
"Alright, pair up! We shall start with the basics," Rastio started.
"Hey, we have a newcomer," Sarah said, going over to Rastio and Renee.
"John, what're you doing here?" Renee asked, still in shock.
"Looks like you two know each other. How about you teach our new friend here the basic steps?" Rastio suggested.
"Uh, yeah. Sure," Renee said, still caught off guard. She walked over to John.
"Is this weird?" John asked.
"What? How the hell did you even get here, John?" Renee asked back.
"I… followed you," John answered, avoiding eye contact.
"Okay… creepy, much?" Renee asked back.
"I'm sorry! It's just you've been so mysterious about where you've been going Saturday nights and it's not like I can't trust you but I drove by your house around five to see where you were going and… well, kind of ended up here," John confessed, feeling like an idiot by now.
"I-, Oh my God, John-," Renee started.
"I know it's weird and I know I shouldn't have but I just… I don't know I thought about it and the next thing I knew I was here at your house and-, it was stupid I know but-," John started.
"John, it's okay," Renee chuckled.
"Yeah?" John asked, looking up at her.
"Yeah, it's kinda sweet, actually. Still creepy, but definitely kind of sweet. Come on. I've got to do my job so you and I are going to dance," Renee said, pulling John out into the dining room.
"Wait, what? But I don't dance!" John protested.
"You do now. You followed me here. Now you pay the price," Renee teased.
"So it goes T-A-N-G-O," Rastio instructed.
"Oh God. What did I get myself into?" John groaned. The music began to play and John's eyes widened. "Wait! I don't even know what I'm doing! Renee, maybe this was a mistake. I have two left feet!"
"You do not! John, don't get your panties all in a bunch. I'll show you. After all, you are with an instructor," Renee smiled.
The song "Save the Last Dance for Me" by Michael Buble began to play and Renee began to show John the basic footwork of the tango.
"So don't forget who's taking you home/Or in whose arms you're gonna be/So darling, Save the last dance for me..."
"Quando Quando Quando" by Michael Buble
"Tell me when will you be mine/Tell me quando quando quando/We can share a love divine/Please don't make me wait again…"
"So this is where you've been going all these Saturday nights? What do you do here anyways?" John asked. John had finally learned the basics and it was just John and Renee along with a couple of other couples on the floor now as they tangoed to the soft sounds of "Quando, Quando, Quando" by Michael Buble and Nelly Furtado.
"Yeah. I'm a dance instructor. I started coming to these when I was a freshmen in high school. My mom saw an ad in the paper and thought it would be good for my shyness or whatever. During junior year, Rastio asked me to be an instructor and teach a couple of classes with him. It's really not even in a class though. We should the basics and then everyone is allowed to dance all they want. And for the record, you have nothing to worry about. Sarah is Rastio's wife and they're very happy together," Renee explained. Finally the mystery was unraveled!
"Why didn't you just tell me where you were going in the first place?" John asked, a goofy smile on his face.
"I don't know. I guess I thought you'd make fun of me for it and pull out a Swayze reference," Renee replied.
"Haha. Swayze…" John chuckled.
"See what I mean?" Renee asked. "I didn't think you'd care. It's not something that I thought would interest you."
John shrugged, "You know, normally I'd say that dancing wasn't really my thing but right now it doesn't seem too bad."
"When will you say yes to me/Tell me quando quando quando/You mean happiness to me/Oh my love please tell me when…"
"You're surprisingly a lot better at it then I thought you'd be," Renee admitted.
"Oh yeah?" John asked.
"Yeah," Renee answered.
"Plus, you looked pretty hot doing all those tango moves when I first got here," John said.
"Thank you?" Renee answered, not even quite sure how to take that.
"I'm serious!" John said back.
"Okay," Renee giggled. "So what exactly did you think I was doing Saturday nights?"
John shrugged, "I thought maybe you were seeing someone else. I honestly didn't know what you were doing. That's kind of why I followed you here! I mean, who knows? You could be selling crack on the street or something!"
Renee laughed, "Well, this is definitely better than crack, right?"
"Yes. Definitely better although I wasn't too happy about that Rastio guy having his hands all over you," John said.
"It's just dancing," Renee said.
"I know, I know," John sighed.
"Every moments a day/Every day seems a lifetime/Let me show you the way/To a joy beyond compare…"
"So are you going to hold this against me for the rest of my life?" John asked, after a long, comfortable silence between the two as they just danced together, holding each other in their arms.
"Oh yeah," Renee replied.
"Oh God… why am I such an idiot?" John groaned.
"Well, you're a very sweet, charming idiot if it helps," Renee added.
"So how long do these classes go on for because I don't know if I can take another rejection from you? That or I'll just have to stop asking you out on Saturday nights," John asked.
Renee laughed, "Just till mid-October. Then I'll go back to assisting the Tuesday night classes."
"Which is good because I don't think we'll have dates on Tuesday nights," John added.
"No," Renee smiled. "I'm glad you came, John, even if you did follow me here at of your crazy need for answers." John laughed.
"I am too," he answered, leaning in to kiss her. Renee met him halfway, kissing him too. They were too lovesick teenagers at the moment and neither of them really cared.
"I can't wait a moment more/Tell me quando quando quando/Say it's me that you adore/And then darling tell me when…"
"The prodigal son returns," Meredith said, as John walked in to the house. John set his keys down on the little stand next to the door and locked the door behind him. Meredith had just gotten up to get the stuff she left by the door earlier today.
"Sorry. I got kinda tied up," John replied.
"Oh really?" Meredith asked.
"Yeah. It's a long story. Let's just say I'm an idiot and because of that, I learned how to tango," John chuckled.
"I'm sure you'll tell me all about it later. It's good you're home in time. We were beginning to wonder whether you were even going to make our late dinner," Meredith replied, a small laugh escaping her lips. She could already tell how different John was now that he was with Renee. He just seemed happier. Weeks ago, dancing in general would be hell for him, but she could tell that John really liked Renee. She wasn't quite sure what the tango had to do with it, but someone would fill her in later.
"Oh, I totally forgot someone texted me about dinner votes. What did we end up getting anyways?" John asked as he followed his mom to the living room. In the living room, they had pushed back the couch and pushed the coffee table to the side so that there was a big space for them to sit at. Victoria was curled up with a blanket and Flynn sat Indian style on.
"Thank God, you're here. I would've started without you but Mom said we couldn't unless we heard from you," Flynn groaned.
"Come on, John. We got Thai food," Victoria encouraged.
"Sweet," John smiled, sitting down.
"Alright, I've got the paper plates. Did someone get the plastic ware?" Dean asked, sitting down on the living room floor, their takeout cartons spread out across a towel in the middle of the room.
"Right here, Dad," Victoria reminded, holding up the cardboard box with the plastic utensils in it.
"God, I'm getting old," Dean mumbled to himself. Meredith just chuckled, giving his knee a squeeze. Dean grabbed Meredith's hand and the two exchanged glances. Flynn had his camera, snapping away at their family moments.
"Alright, who's hungry because I'm starving?" John asked.
"You're always hungry," Flynn replied.
"Shut up, you are too!" John said back.
"Boys," Victoria said, rolling her eyes.
Meredith smiled. This is why she loved family time so much.