A/N: It's Dancey Dancey time!

Chapter 16: The Dance

Ralph let himself be dragged out onto the dance floor. He'd never actually been out on it before. The first thing he noticed was that the music was louder over here. Not much, since Tapper's was a quiet place, but a little. The floor was smoother and well worn. It had a different sort of finish on it, presumably to help prevent scuff marks.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are we gonna dance?" Vanellope said with a snicker.

"Umm..." Ralph hesitated.

"What?" Vanellope asked as she swung Ralph's arms a little.

"I just remembered that I don't know how to dance." Ralph explained.

"Ahhhh, it's easy. If you just sort of move around and start shuffling your feet then the rest of it comes on it's own." Vanellope dismissed.

Ralph looked at her skeptically. He somehow doubted it would be that easy for him.

"C'mon. I'm a good dancer. Just let me lead. I'll teach you." Vanellope said. She put her arms over his and grabbed his elbows with her hands.

"Uhh..."Ralph thought. Before he could agree Vanellope was already starting to jerk him around. He stumbled as she pulled him around the dance floor in weird zig-zaggy circular motions. He couldn't get a handle on the motions she was trying to take him in because every time she changed direction he'd trip over his own feet.

"Ralph, you've got to pay some attention." Vanellope admonished.

"I'm – trying." Ralph said haltingly as he caught himself again. "It's just not easy as you make it look." He said with a frown and a nervous breathy laugh.

"Alright, alright. Let's try something a little easier." Vanellope conceded. She slowed down and changed her movements into a slightly slower and more predictable pattern.

Ralph found that his feet could follow these movements, but he was having a hard time finding the will. The types of movements Vanellope was making this time were swishy and swaying. She rolled her hips, and her shoulders, and kept moving her whole body in undulating circular motions. That was even more distracting than having to stumble around.

"This just isn't working." Ralph thought with a frustrated sigh. Sometime in his distraction the music was starting to slow down.

The music melted into a calm, symphonic, sounding song. Ralph liked this one better than whatever had been on before. It wasn't filled with a lot of conflicting sounds that hid the rhythm, and it was slow enough that Ralph felt he could probably keep up with it. He looked at Vanellope, who had stopped moving. She looked a little pink, but it was hard to tell in this light.

"What?" Ralph asked.

"We don't have to dance to this one if you don't want to." She said shyly. "I mean... slows songs..." She trailed off.

Ralph felt his heart skip a beat. Vanellope's seldom shown shy and unsure side was showing through. Ralph could never stand it when that happened. That vulnerable look had the effect of making her ten times more adorable. So when Vanellope raised her eyes to him shyly...

"No... I think I can probably handle this one." Ralph said confidently. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Vanellope stumbled and fell against him. Vanellope made a small squeaky sound as they came together.

Ralph actually only had a little idea of what he was doing, and in the back of his mind he was praying fervently that he wouldn't trip over or step on Vanellope's feet. But he knew what slow dancing looked like, and he was pretty sure he could do at least the basics. The shuffling of feet, the somewhat back and forth motion, it wasn't anything strange like they'd been attempting before. Vanellope, despite never actually taking her eyes off of Ralph's face, easily followed the movements of his feet without much thought.

This wasn't the stumbling around the floor that they had been doing. This was actual dancing. Ralph was dancing with her. Really incredibly well too considering how terrible he'd been doing just a moment before.

"We're really dancing!" Vanellope thought with silent excitement. She bit her lip as she smiled up at Ralph. He hadn't stopped looking at her this entire time and she was slowly turning bright red. After a moment she couldn't stand it any more and stuffed her face into his chest. The back of her neck was hot and tingly. She heard Ralph's breath stutter and was pretty sure he was laughing at her, but she didn't care.

Without thinking about it, their steps made a smooth transition from small and shuffling to wide and flowing. They danced a slow circle round the dance floor, side stepping the sparse few dancing couples that were occupying the floor as well. Ralph was getting more sure of his steps.

Neither of them really wanted to let go of the moment, so when the music changed to something faster paced they just kept going. Ralph loosened his grip on Vanellope's waist and gave their upper bodies a little more range of movement. Vanellope felt her back bend over Ralph's arm gently. Vanellope put her hands on Ralph's shoulders and felt his hand rest on her hip.

Once he'd gotten a sort of confidence into his steps Ralph wasn't half bad at dancing. Maybe not very graceful, but he looked self assured. He and Vanellope made for an impressive sight.

After a bit they got a little more enthusiastic. Ralph even dared to try more than one spin, which, thanks to Vanellope, came off looking flawless whether or not they were. Before too long they were going so fast that Vanellope was giggling and starting to trip over herself just a little, relying on Ralph to catch her.

"Ralph!" Vanellope giggled excitedly. Finally near the end of the current song, when Vanellope had stumbled again when coming back from another twirl, Vanellope just used her momentum and jumped into Ralph's arms. She threw her head back and laughed out loud when Ralph caught her. She was breathing heavy and sweating again, but Ralph had barely broken a sweat.

When Vanellope looked down at Ralph's face and her bangs fell to shade her eyes and face just a little... That's when Ralph went breathless.

A/N: I was going to put quite a bit more in this chapter... But then that line. I just couldn't resist it. That had to be the last line.

Review Response:

KCRedPanda98 - Don't be scared to start a fanfic just because you don't think you'll finish it. I don't think I've ever finished a fanfic, and I never let that stop me.