Chapter 17

I wake up the next morning and I am laying on Derek's chest. He is laying on his back with his right arm wrapped around my shoulder. I have my head on his chest and my arm thrown across his torso. I don't want to move but I am about to burn up. It feels like its 100 degrees in my apartment. I slide out of his arms without waking him up. I go and fix the thermostat and use the bathroom. I noticed that Mark and Sabrina aren't here. They didn't drive home last night because they had been drinking. I check the clock on my way back to the living room and its 10:00. I guess they got up early this morning and left. That is probably better because that would be awkward to wake up with Derek and them be sitting there looking at us. I get back to the couch and lay down in the same position I was in earlier. When I get comfortable I hear Derek groan. I look up at him.

" Good morning babe" he says while kissing the top of my head.

" Good morning"

" How long have you been up?" he asks

" Not long. Its 10:00 and Mark and Sabrina aren't here. I guess they left some time this morning."

" Yeah he got pretty drunk last night."

" He sure knows how to drink."

" I don't remember him drinking that much during season 8 but I was a teenager and didn't go to the clubs with him."

" Yeah as he's gotten older he drinks more. There's nothing wrong with it as long as he don't drink and drive."

" Right. Are you hungry? I can fix us some breakfast/lunch if you want something."

" No I'm not that hungry and I'm fixing to head home. I need a shower and to get to the studio for elimination tonight."

" Your right. We're probably late."

I get up from the couch and walk into the bathroom to brush my teeth. If he decides to kiss me I don't want my breath to smell awful. I walk back into the living room and all the blankets are neatly folded and the pillows are in their right places on the couch.

" Sorry I am a little bit of a neat freak."

" It's fine with me it probably wouldn't have gotten folded till this weekend." I say laughing

I walk Derek to the door to say goodbye. When we get to the door his hand reaches up to caress my cheek. He leans down and I reach up standing on my tip toes. He brings his mouth down onto mine.

He pulls away " I don't think I will ever get tired of doing that."

" I hope not. I had a great time last night even though it didn't go completely as planned. We at least had enough time to talk."

" I had a great time too. I am glad we got to talk I have been wanting to have that conversation for a while."

I reach up and peck him on the lips. The first time I ever kissed him first.

" I will see you in a little bit." I say

" Bye"

I shut the door and he is gone. I think this is going to be a good thing between us. I haven't felt like this in long time. I have missed it. One of the hardest things is going to be hiding it. They have cameras in the studio rooms where we practice, paparazzi following us, and all of our friends could walk in on us at any moment. I really want what ever we have to work out so we will just have to try very hard to keep it a secret.

I get to the show's studio at 1:00. I think I am kind of late but my hair is still curly from yesterday and it doesn't take them long to do my make up. I walk into my trailer to put all my bags down. I then go to the make up room. I sit in the chair beside Sabrina.

" Hey" she says

" Hey did you have a good time last night?"

" Yeah Mark is even funnier when he's drunk."

" Yes he is. What time did you leave this morning?"

" We left about 8:00. You looked so comfortable laying on Derek we didn't want to wake you up."

" Oh… ummm.. You saw that?"

" Yes Mark and I both seen it. You two look great together."

" Shhh we don't want anybody to know. Heck I don't even know what we are. Yesterday before the performance he just came up to me and told me these things and then kissed me. I asked him to come by the house later and we would talk about it. That's why he was there when you got there."

" Oh well dang Shawn you should have told me and I would have made us leave."

" Its fine. We were mostly done talking when you got there. He hasn't made it official yet but we have kissed one or two more times."

" That's so sweet. You deserve someone like him. He is a sweet and genuine guy."

" Yeah he is the sweetest." I say blushing

I walk back to my trailer to change into my dress. We have about an hour or so before the show starts. I take my shirt and pants off and hear someone knock.

" Shawn are you in there?" Derek asks

" Hold" and before I can get the rest of the sentence out Derek opens the door. I am not completely naked I have my bra and panties still on.

" Derek" I holler and he slams the door back shut. Luckily there is a robe beside me and I put it on. I walk over to the door and he is sitting on the steps.

" You can come in now." I say blushing

" Sorry I should have waited till you answered."

" Its fine at least I wasn't totally naked. That would have been bad I probably would never show my face in front of you again."

Derek starts laughing " You can finish changing and I will just leave you to it."

" No its fine. Please stay." I say giving him my best puppy dog eyes.

" How could I say no to you?"

I go in the bathroom and change into my Mambo outfit. The more I wear it the more I like it. I walk out of the bathroom and Derek's sitting on the couch I go and sit beside him. When I sit down he throws one arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him.

" You look great."

" Thank you. You looked pretty good yourself."

" You know I never knew you had a tattoo."

" Yeah" I stand up and pull my dress down a little bit to where he can see it.

" I like it. I never could see you having one."

" Yeah not many people know I have it." I say sitting back down beside him.

" Are you nervous about elimination tonight?"

" I always am nervous about eliminations because I'm just not ready to go home."

" I know me either. I'm not ready for it to end this has been an amazing season so far."

" Yeah way better than the original seasons. I am just so glad they asked me to come back and partnered me with you."

" So you like me better than Mark?"

" Yes"

" Good I was getting a little worried. You never answer the question when people ask you."

" Well I wouldn't want to hurt Mark's feelings by saying that I like you better and am having a better time."

" Your right. That probably would upset him. Totally changing the subject but I have a question to ask you."

" Okay what is it?"

" Shawn Johnson… will you be my girlfriend?"

" Of course. I was waiting for you to ask but I didn't want to be pushy."

" I just had to talk to myself and get the courage to ask you."

" I would have said yes if you would have texted me and asked me." I say smiling

" Good"

Derek pulls me into his lap and I wrap my arms around his neck. His lips lock to mine and I can feel his tongue skimming my bottom lip asking for entrance. I open my mouth and I feel his cool tongue. Our tongues go back and forth with each other. We keep kissing till we have to break apart for air. We're both panting.

" You're a great kisser." Derek says

" Thank you, I try." I say giving Derek a kiss on the lips.

" We should probably go to the studio."

" Yeah people will start wondering where we are."

I stand up and grabs Derek's hand to help him up. We walk out of my trailer hand in hand.

We are one of the first couple to get told we are safe. They tell us that we are going to get the two couples with the highest accumulated score and we're going to pick teams and do a group dance. Derek and I and Gilles and Peta are the team captains. Gilles and Peta pick first and then Derek and I. We go back and forth until we have our team. On our team is us, Sabrina and Louis, and Melissa and Tony. We got the song Call Me Maybe and Derek wasn't too happy because the other team got Gangnam Style. The show is over and Mark and Bristol got sent home. I feel bad for him and her. Derek and I go and find him as soon as the show is over.

" Hey Mark" I say and Derek follows saying the same

" Hey" he says

I walk up to him and give him a hug. " It sucks ya'll got sent home."

" Yeah" he says

" I wish you could stay on the show anyways."

" Yeah me too."

I let go of hugging him and then Derek hugs him.

" Well I have got to go and catch a flight."

" All right. I will see you in later."

I wrap my arms around Derek's waist and he wraps his arms around mine with his chin resting on my head. He kisses the top of my head.

" It sucks he has to go home."

" Yeah I always hate when people get eliminated."

" Me too and especially good friends."

" Are you ready to go do press?"

" Yeah lets go."

I take my arms off of Derek's waist and he takes my hand and our fingers intertwine. I'm looking him deeply in the eyes fixing to kiss him when I hear someone walking up behind us. I turn around and there is somebody I didn't think I would see….