Chapter 23

Its Wednesday morning and I have practice today. I'm sitting in the practice room waiting on Derek to get here. Last night after the show we had practice for the group dance. Sabrina and I were playing around and I rolled over her back. I fell when I rolled over and landed on my knee that I had surgery on. Its hurting pretty bad this morning. Derek seen me fall but I haven't told him how bad its hurting. Maybe he wont notice. I'm stretching when I see him walking in.

" Hey babe." he says

" Hey"

He walks over to me and gives me a kiss on the lips. Then he goes over to the steps and puts his bags down.

" Are you ready to get started?" he asks

" Yeah"

" I have the whole dance choreographed and the judges want the contestants to have a solo part."

" Okay"

" Are you okay?"

" Yeah I'm fine."

" You just seem a little off."

" What do you mean?"

" I don't know. You are just being short."

" I'm just not feeling to good this morning."

" Okay, let me know if we need to take a break."

" Alright."

Derek explains some of the dance and goes over the steps with me. Its hurts my knee pretty bad when I move it certain ways. I'm almost to the point of tears its hurting so bad. Derek is getting frustrated with me because I'm not learning the steps as fast as I usually do.

" Are you sure your okay? You seem a little off today."

" Well you seen me fall yesterday at rehearsals. I landed on my knee and its hurting pretty bad."

" Do you want to ice it?"

" No, I will be fine."

He reluctantly agrees with me and we continue to practice. We do a couple more moves and I wince every time. My knee hasn't hurt this bad in a long time.

" If you cant do these moves then we need to take a break. I can tell your in pain. Your knee looks huge. Lets go ice it."

He takes my hand and leads me into the back room. I lay down on the couch and prop my leg up on a pillow. Derek goes somewhere to get some ice. I cant hold back the tears anymore and I start crying. Derek comes back and sets the ice down on my leg. He then lays down on the couch with me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I lay my head on his arm and cry silently.

" I think I messed it up again." I say while wiping my tears

" That sucks and its was just you having fun and being silly."

" Yeah, that's one of the worst things. I was acting stupid when I did it. I should have just been standing there like everybody else." " You cant blame yourself. With all the tricks and lifts we do you might have hurt it then."

" But it is my fault. I shouldn't have been playing around." I say weeping

" Shawn look at me."

I look up at him and he bring his hands to my face. He wipes the tears that are rolling down my cheeks. Then he kisses my forehead, cheeks, nose and then my lips.

" We will get through this. I can change the choreography to make it easier on your knee."

" Okay."

I kiss him on the lips and then lay my head down on his arm.

" Thank you for being here for me."

" I wouldn't be anywhere else. I love you."

" I love you too."

We lay on the couch for a couple hours. When the swelling goes back down we get up and practice the dance. My knee is numb so its not hurting right now. We have learned some of the dance, he has changed most of the dance. Its pretty late and we decide to call it day.

" Well I'm going to go home." I say

" Make sure you ice you knee."

" I will."

I reach up and give him a kiss.

" I'm glad you talked me today." he says

" I am happy your hear to listen to me. I have been taught my whole life to suck it up. That if its still attached your okay. So its different to talk about it with someone and explain my feelings."

" Just remember that this is dancing with the stars not gymnastics. I'm your boyfriend and I want to know why your upset when you are. I love you."

" I love you too."

I give him one more kiss and the leave.

Its Friday morning and I'm on my way to practice. My knee has gotten much better since Wednesday. Its still hurts every once and a while. I just ice it as much as I can. That helps it a lot. I walk into the room and Derek is sitting on the steps. I put my stuff down and walk over to him.

" Hey baby" I say

I lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek.

" Hey babe. Is your knee better?"

" Yeah, its not hurting right now."

" Okay, well lets get started."

I have learned the whole dance. We have today, tomorrow, and Sunday to practice it, and the group dance. We are in hold and in the middle of a move when Derek stops. He grabs his neck and winces. He is major pain.

" Are you okay?" I ask him

" Yeah, my neck has just been hurting the past few days."

" Lets take a break and you can talk to me about it."

" Okay"

We walk over to the steps and sit down.

" When did it start hurting?"

" Well it has always hurt me on and off. It has just been really bad this week. I think I am going to get a doctor to look at it after the show Monday."

" Why not before then?"

" Because if the doctor says I cant dance with you then who will? It's a little late in the week to get someone else to do it. I will just wait till then and go from there."

" I hate to see you in pain. I know how you feel."

" I will be fine, I've had to deal with it for a while."

" I'll go get you some ice." I say

" There is no need for it, I will be fine."

" Derek, I'm not going to argue with you about it. You need to ice your neck. It will help it and make you feel better."

" Fine." he says

I walk into the kitchen and get some ice. I find a bag to put it in. I walk back into the room and Derek is not sitting on the steps. I look over towards the mirror and he is standing in front of it dancing.

" Derek, what are you doing?" I ask

" Just doing some of the dance."

" Why? You need to be sitting down and icing your neck. I hate to sound like the nagging girlfriend, but please just sit down and ice your neck."

" I don't think your nagging. Its cute because it just shows you care about me."

" Your right I do care about you. I don't want you to hurt yourself worse by dancing with me."

" I've had to deal with it for a while. I guess I'm just use to pushing through it."

I take his hand and lead him over to the steps. I sit down and put my legs straight out in front of me. I pat my thighs.

" You want me to lay down in your lap?" he asks

" Yes, your head on my thighs."

He lays down and puts his head on my thighs. I take the ice and set it on his neck. I run my fingers through his long hair. We have been sitting like this for 15 minutes or so and Derek has fallen asleep. I grab my phone sitting beside me and just play on it till he wakes up. He wakes up 2 hours later. He looks up at me, smiling. I lean down and kiss him on the lips.

" How long was I asleep?" he asks

" Uh, maybe 2 hours."

" Dang, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

" Its okay, I could tell you were tired. I was just going to let you sleep as long as you wanted too."

" Do you have plans tonight?"

" No"

" We should go out somewhere."

" Where?"

" I don't know. We could go to a club?"

" Okay, just the two of us?"

" Yes, is that okay?"

" Yeah, I just mean it would look like we were dating."

" I thought you wanted people to know."

" I meant our friends, not everybody."

" We could invite a couple of people to go with us."

" I would rather just us to go alone."

" Okay then, lets just stay in and watch movies."

" You want to go out. Lets just go out. Screw what everybody else thinks."

" I always have. I don't think anybody would actually ask us if we are dating."

" Yeah, surely not. What time?"

" Um, 11:00?"

" Sounds good to me."

" Good, I'm excited. This is like the first time we have been out on a date. We had the one at my house, but this is public."

" Yeah, I am too."

Its finally time for me to start getting ready. I have no idea what I'm going to wear. Since Derek and I are dating I want to wear something really sexy. I walk into my closet and search through all my clothes. I finally find something I like. It's red and has a black belt to match. It is also strapless and I find some black heels to match the belt. It is pretty short, but I cant wear a dress that goes down to my ankles to a club. It doesn't end at my butt, but it don't go all the way down to my knees. I take a shower and change into my dress. I curl my hair and put on some make up. I add a pair of earrings and a bracelet. I spray some of my perfume on that Derek likes. By 10:45 I'm ready and I know Derek will be here soon. I grab me a bottle of water out of the fridge and then sit down on the couch. At 10:50 I hear a knock on the door.

" Who is it?" I ask

" Derek."

I open the door and let him in. I then walk into the kitchen to put up my water bottle and Derek is still standing in the same place. He is staring a whole through me.

" What? Is it too much? Should I go change?"

" No, you look hot! You most definitely shouldn't change. I going to have trouble keeping all the guys off of you."

" Oh whatever."

I walk closer towards him and wrap my arms around his neck. We are just staring at each other.

" Your taller. I don't see straight over you."

" Yeah, I'm wearing taller heels."

" I cant get over how sexy you look. Miss Johnson is coming out of her shell."

" Thank you, and I'm trying."

Derek leans down and kisses me on the lips. He has his hands wrapped around my waist. My hands are around his neck.

" If I don't stop kissing you we will never leave."

" I know, but I like it."

I kiss him one more time and then walk over to the table to get my phone.

" You ready?" I ask

" One more kiss." he says smirking

He pulls me over to him and he kisses me.

The ride to the club is very short. Its in Hollywood and its called Boulevard3. I have only been here one other time. Derek pulls in a parking place pretty close to the door. He gets out and walks over to my side and opens the door for me. He lends me hand and I take it. When I stand up I pull my dress down a little bit. Before he shuts the door I turn my phone off and put it under the seat. So far there are no paparazzi outside. If they don't show up then there wont be any pictures of us together. We walk up to the door and there is a guy checking licenses. You have got to be 18 to get in.

" Mr. Hough." the man says

" Chad." Derek replies

" You may go on through." Chad says

We walk on through the doors. The club is packed, there are people everywhere. We walk up some steps to a secluded place in the corner.

" I had us a V.I.P. place reserved." Derek says

" Its nice."

We have a couch and then a table in front of us. Derek and I take a seat on the couch. A women walks up to us.

" Would ya'll like anything to drink?" she asks

" No, not right now." Derek says

The women leaves and Derek and I are left alone except for the people around us.

" Did you want anything to drink?" he asks me

" No, I'm good."

" Okay, I don't think I'm going to drink tonight."

" Me either."

" Do you want to go dance?" I ask him

" Yes."

We walk down the steps and on to the dance floor. Derek leads me into the middle. I guess he really did mean it when he said he didn't care what anybody thought. The d.j. is playing a pretty fast song. Derek and just start dancing. I haven't ever really danced at a club before but I just do what everybody else is doing. The d.j. changes it to a slow song and Derek doesn't waist a minute. He reaches for my hand and I give it to him. He takes it and wraps it around his neck. I put my other one up there beside it. He wraps his arms around my waist. We are swaying back and forth and Derek starts singing the song to me. When the song is over we move apart and start dancing like we were before. There is a guy beside us that is dancing with some girl. He turns around and bumps into me. I would have fell if Derek wouldn't have grabbed my arm. When I get steady I look up at Derek and he looks pissed.

" You just bumped into my girlfriend and almost knocked her down!" Derek yells

" Dude chill, she is alright. No big deal."

" Don't call me dude, and don't tell me to chill."

I see Derek's fist clench up. I grab his hand and turn him towards me. I then place my hands on his chest.

" Please don't do anything you would regret. Remember who you are and your job." I say calmly

" Oh I most definitely would not regret hitting this jackass in the face."

" Lets just go. We can go back up stairs." I say

" Fine."

As we are walking up the steps I intertwine my fingers with Derek's. He looks over and smiles at me. We walk to the couch and sit down.

" Are you okay?" he asks me

" Yes, I'm fine. I would have fell if you wouldn't have caught me."

" That dick. I should have just hit him."

" Just stay calm, I'm fine. You did the right thing."

I lean over and kiss him on the cheek. The waiter comes up and has a drink sitting on a tray.

" There is a young man over there that sent this to you ma'am."

She turns around a points at him. Derek looks to were she points and gives the guy a death glare.

" You can take it back and tell him thank you, but I'm in a relationship." I say to her

" Okay" she says

The waiter walks over to the guy and hands the drink back to him. He waves shyly at me and I just ignore it.

" I told you I would have trouble keeping the guys away from you." Derek says

" They can try all they want, but I'm happily taken."

I lean over and kiss him on the lips.

" Are you hungry?" he asks me

" Starving"

Derek calls over the waiter. We order our food and she leaves to go get it. She comes back in no time. While we are eating we talk about anything and everything. She comes back and gets our empty plates. We are sitting on the couch, Derek has his arm around my shoulder. My hand is laying on his thigh.

" I noticed when we were coming in you called the guy Chad. How did you know his name?" I ask

" I come here a lot. Mark and I usually come every weekend."

" Oh."

" Yeah, it's a pretty nice club."

" That it is."

" Are you ready to go?" he asks

" If you are."

The waiter comes back with the check and Derek pays for the meal. He leaves a tip and then stands up. He holds out his hand and I take it. We intertwine our fingers and walk down the stairs. We get to the car and Derek opens the door for me. I get in and he gets in the drivers seat. It doesn't take us long to get to my apartment. We pull in the parking deck.

" I will walk you in." he says

" Okay."

He walks me all the way to my door. I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his neck.

" I had a really good time tonight. Thank you." I say

" Your welcome. I had a great time too."

I kiss him on the lips. When I go to pull away he places his hand on my back and pulls me closer to him. We walk backwards until my back is against the door. We are passionately kissing each other. I finally pull away.

" Derek we are in the hall way." I say laughing

" I know, I just cant help myself."

I run my fingers through his hair and give him a peck on the lips. He then backs away.

" I will see you tomorrow at practice. I love you." he says

" Okay, I love you too."

I watch him walk all the way until he gets on the elevator. Before he steps in he turns around and winks at me. I blush crimson and then walk into my apartment.

I hope you all are still enjoying the story. I'm having so much fun writing it. Please review and let me know how you are liking it. If there is anything specific you want to happen private message me and tell me. - Mallory