Chapter Fifty Six

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek myths.

I know, I know, I just updated not too long ago. But see here's the thing…my brain wouldn't let me leave this chapter alone lol. Hence why you're getting an early update :D And yes, for those of you who recognize the dance, it's the tango scene from Cheetah Girls 2! Special thanks to LotusQuil for helping me with some of the dance moves!

There are some things mentioned in here that are spoilers for LotusQuil's fic series, however we wanted to keep our universes cohesive so they gave permission for me to reference the events here! If there is anything that doesn't seem familiar to what has happened in the Choosing series prior, it's because it should happen later in LotusQuil's fic! :D

Estela234: Glad you liked it!

AmethystDragon14: Yay! Yeah I loved writing Kit's reaction just because it was so much fun. Plus I kinda think he would be close with Chad being the only guys in the family. So glad you liked it!

Ruth Reyes: Glad you liked it!

OceanBlueSeaEyes: That's a good problem to have lol

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Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!

Hadie took a calming breath as he rolled out his shoulders to loosen them before he grinned as he looked around at all his friends who had gathered in Lacey LeGume's dance studio. He had commandeered the dance studio for a very special purpose—it was his and Alexandria's anniversary and by gum, he wanted to make it one to remember.

Lacey had been kind enough to give him lessons for years, both on the Isle though they had o be in secret and in Auradon, and now it seemed as though all that practice would finally pay off.

"I still think you're insane," Celia told him and Hadie looked over at her. "I mean the dance would be enough but are you seriously wearing black?"

"Actually he's not," Dizzy said as she spoke up. "I know the scene in question that we're performing had everyone wearing black but I didn't want anyone to be too uncomfortable so for us VKs at least, I made our outfits in the shade of midnight blue. It's the darkest shade of blue there is and can often be mistaken for black. Plus it won't clash with Hadie's hair."

"Working with Evie sure has paid off for you, huh Diz?" Celia asked and Hadie smiled as Lacey went over and kissed Dizzy on the cheek. Oh yeah, that had been a fun surprise for Hadie and Celia to discover. They had gone over to Evie4Heart's to surprise Dizzy and bring her some lunch one day only to find her mid kiss with the youngest LeGume girl.

Dizzy had been worried that they would be mad but Celia reminded her that they didn't care that Harriet liked girls or that Dustin liked guys. The only thing they cared about was that they had somehow made Dizzy feel like she couldn't tell them. They had then treated Dizzy to all of her favorite things to try to make it up to her. It had only been recently that Dizzy had told them that she and Lacey had only been trying to take things slow and that was why she hadn't said anything. She would have told them that day but they had been so determined to do all her favorite things to 'make it up to her' that she didn't have the heart to say anything.

Well at least them finding out also led to Celia finally bringing Cyrus into the fold and introducing him to the group. The Hun boy was rather quiet but as long as he treated his friend the way he should, Hadie didn't care if Cyrus didn't say one word to him.

"Hard to believe how much has changed," Evan said from his spot next to Hermie Fitzherbert née Bing; the two of them having gotten married about a year after Mal had given birth to Effy and Reese. "In a good way, though."

Melody shook her head in amusement. "Honestly, I don't think anything's really changed other than the fact that we've all kinda paired off. Well except for Herkie."

"Look, Macaria somehow got Gil. I don't know how Herkie's going to surprise us when the time comes for him to get a partner," Hadie chuckled before tossing Evan a small box. "Keep that safe for me?"

"Just like we practiced," Evan nodded and pocketed the box.

CJ shook her head. "Honestly Hadie, do you really expect us not to notice that was a ring box you just tossed to Evan?"

"Yeah, and do you really expect us not to put two and two together that we've been practicing the dance from Alexandria's favorite scene from one of her favorite movies?" Ashaki asked. "You're going to propose to her!"

"Well I won't if you manage to blow the surprise," Hadie shook his head. "I've been studying that scene for months and the fact that it ends with the two of them in the room alone…"

"Then we shall say no more on the subject," Robert said and nodded at Hadie before gently placing a hand on Ashaki's stomach. Hadie had to smile at the sight. Sure it was a little strange that his perpetually single friend had gotten married and was having a kid before he was but at the same time, Ashaki and Robert had pretty much been a couple since they had met much to Aziz and Emir's shock and Rachel and Emma's amusement.

Of course, when Ashaki and Robert had met was practically a mystery to Hadie but at this point, he expected as much. His friends who liked to poke their noises into his love life the most were often the most secretive about their own. But he had been invited to the wedding; Robert even asking him to be a groomsman since all the other Rats had been asked.

"Anyone got a change of subject before I start grilling Ash about how her pregnancy's going?" Hadie asked.

"Do it and I throw a shoe at you and it won't necessarily be mine," Ashaki said. "Bad enough Emir's been texting me every chance he gets. If he didn't have two kids, I know he'd be practically living with me and Robert."

"Georgia and Rick are a couple," Lacey spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Rick as in Rick Ratcliffe?" CJ asked.

"Is there another Rick from the Isle?" Lacey asked her.

"Your sister is dating Ratcliffe's son?"

"Why does this seem to be something that surprises you?" Ryan asked as he shook his head. "We're off the Isle, anyone can do what they please."

"I'm with CJ in all honesty," Neal said. "I don't even know this Rick guy but I've met Georgia from the few times she's brought us snacks when Lacey was training us and if CJ's shocked, then maybe this Rick guy is bad news. It'd be madness to think otherwise."

Grace White née Hatter snorted in amusement as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "Honestly Neal, what's life without a little madness every once in a while? And if Georgia's happy then isn't that all that matters? Save the over protectiveness for your nephew and niece."

"You do realize I technically have two nieces right? With Eloise being your sister's daughter?"

"Yes but Paige has her husband to be overprotective of her child."

"And Emma doesn't have Emir?"

"…Touché."

"Oh speaking of nieces, how is Felicity?" Hadie asked as he looked over at Celia, hoping to change the subject slightly from the strange debate Grace and Neal were going through. "And Uma gave birth as well, from what Mal's told me didn't she?"

"She did," Celia nodded. "Milah Malinda Hook is doing very well and Helena is quite pleased at being a big sister. Felicity is thriving though I think she's going to be an only child from what little Freddie's told me about the procedures they had to go through."

"CJ's also doing fine, thank you all for asking," Ryan said and CJ snorted in amusement.

"Ry, it's been like two months since I gave birth," she said. "They all saw Cameron when we brought him home remember?"

"And how's Harry handling no longer being the only male Hook this side of the bridge?" Robert asked.

"If he could make my son his First Mate, he would," CJ snorted in amusement. "Of course it probably didn't hurt that we used 'Harrison' as Cameron's middle name."

"First middle name, you mean," Ryan said.

"Ryan, we agreed to hyphenate our last names. That does not designate your last name as a middle name," CJ told her husband.

"How's Harriet doing, speaking of kids from your side of the family?" Hadie asked CJ, cutting off the argument he was sure was coming. "Mal mentioned Harriet and Sammy were trying to have a kid of their own but I haven't heard anything from Mal about that."

"Harriet's still not pregnant," CJ said. "But that's all she'll tell me. Alas, it's the curse of being the youngest child, no matter how old you get your siblings still try to shield you from bad news."

Evan, Neal, Ashaki, and Melody all snorted in agreement.

"I'll take your word for it," Phillip Jr. shook his head. "Audrey was never really one to hide the awful truth from me. But then again, neither was Leah for that matter."

"Phil, the darling man who is the father of my children, that's because Leah was insane," Melody said and Phillip Jr. shook his head in amusement.

"I mean, she's not wrong but what are you guys all standing around here for?" Alexandria's voice asked and everyone turned around to see the youngest Charming child standing in the doorway looking somewhat bemused.

"Hey you!" Hadie said with a grin as he rushed over to give her a hug before kissing the top of her head. "Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary to you too," Alexandria said with a small chuckle. "What is all this?"

"It's your gift," Hadie said. "Wait here, we need to get changed…well I guess you do too, Buttercup."

"Dread Pirate Roberts, what are you up to?" Alexandria asked, a teasing note to her voice as Melody and Ashaki rushed over and gently took her by the hand to the dressing room. Hadie made his way to his designated changing room and changed into the aforementioned midnight blue outfit. Dizzy had done an amazing job; while it looked like he was wearing black it didn't make his skin crawl or make him feel like he was betraying Mal in any way.

Not exactly the feeling he wanted to have when he was proposing.

I mean, yeah black looks okay on dad but he wears more smokey dark grey as opposed to true black, Hadie thought. And yes I know Carlos has reclaimed his color but there's been too many years of black being tied to the French fanatic of the Isle as opposed to Carlos.

Tying his shoes, and trying to not feel jealous that Neal got to wear the converse instead of the dress shoes, Hadie made his way back to the dance floor.

"Looking good there Hads," Melody said, giving her cousin a gentle punch on the arm. "All that training with Herkie's been good for you."

"You mean Flametop here works more than just his brain?" Celia teased with a small chuckle.

"Hey!" Hadie shook his head. He knew it was good natured teasing but he couldn't call himself a VK if he didn't protest in some form or another. Despite the fact that it had been years since he had been a kid.

All teasing or any conversation halted as Alexandria stepped out and Hadie had to work to make sure his jaw didn't drop at the sight of her. Sure, she was only wearing a plain black dress, black leggings, and heels and had her hair pulled up in a ponytail but to Hadie, she looked as beautiful as Aphrodite.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Hadie asked as his brain finally decided to work and he brought Alexandria close to him so that they were standing in promenade.

"If I'm correct, and we're performing my favorite dance scene ever put to film, shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Alexandria asked with a playful smirk as Lacey pressed play on the stereo before pocketing the remote and taking her spot with Dizzy. Upon hearing the strum of the guitar and the first words of the song, Alexandria's smirk grew into a smile. This was something she knew by heart, both the dance and her partner.

It had helped that they had been dance partners at functions for a couple of years by this point so dancing with each other felt natural. Each move was as if they'd been doing it all their lives, from the caminada to the parada before shifting into a rock step which then led back into the caminada.

The flow of the dance felt natural, almost as if she was a little girl again and Ben or Chad were dancing with her.

The thought of Hadie taking Ben or Chad's spot as her dance partner seemed almost too ridiculous for words, no matter how much she loved her boyfriend, and she had to stop as she seemed to have a small giggle fit.

"You okay?" Hadie asked as the rest of the group paused.

"I'm fine," Alexandria said as she calmed down before looking around. "Did you plan for this?"

"Hey, I wanted to give you as accurate an experience as I could," Hadie said with a small smile and held out his hand once more. Alexandria gently placed her hand in his and the dance resumed with heads turning left and right and Alexandria couldn't help but stare into Hadie's eyes as she mentally prepared for the next move.

How did I get so lucky? Alexandria thought as Hadie gave her a small smile before the group made their way to the other side of the dance studio; the balls of their feet sliding against the floor before Hadie took Alexandria's hand in his once more and the group made their way back across the dance hall with the women kicking a leg up before both men and women bent down in a lunge.

"Hadie's lucky he's my friend and crew mate, otherwise I'd have to kill him for having someone who's two months post birth doing lunges," Alexandria heard CJ mutter. She didn't have much of a chance to respond as Alexandria and Hadie spun under his arm and the group made their way back to the other end of the dance studio.

Alexandria wasn't going to lie, she was very impressed with how Hadie wasn't glancing at his feet. Even she was nervous at how her feet were overlapping the other and she practically had the dance memorized!

Taking a quick glance at the floor to make sure she wasn't in danger of stepping on Hadie's foot, though she wasn't sure how much damage she could do to her Olympian boyfriend, Alexandria had to smile as she was twirled so that her back was against Hadie's chest; her right hand resting on top of his as he held her close.

The dancers broke off from the line and Hadie gracefully led the two of them to the center of the room; his face still dangerously close to Alexandria's. Had they not been in a room filled with their friends (and family in Hadie's case), Alexandria was sure there would have been kissing by this point.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alexandria saw one of Hadie's legs sweep back and she had to admit, she was surprised with how detailed he had been with this dance. She knew the move that came next and she wouldn't have faulted Hadie for leaving out the part where he would have had to lift her up. But it only took a blink of her eyes for Hadie to bring her arm over his head before he lifted her up off her feet and spun her around.

Alexandria smiled as she felt herself come down to Earth, Hadie holding her close in his arms. Their foreheads touched before Hadie leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"You ready to show off?"

"What do you…?"

"I told you Alex, we practiced all of this dance," Hadie told her. "But if you don't think you can…?"

Alexandria shook her head before breaking from the embrace and began to dance. Sure, the contemporary moves were not traditional to the tango but as Hadie had said, they wanted to make it as authentic as possible.

It wasn't long though before the rest of the group joined in and the contemporary moves melted back into the traditional tango as Hadie and Alexandria went back and forth with each other; Hadie's hands on her hips and his megawatt smile melting her heart.

"And we're lunging again," Alexandria heard Ashaki mutter. "Why are there so many lunges?"

"It's not that bad," Robert told her.

"You're not in heels! Or pregnant!"

Alexandria snorted in amusement and Hadie shook his head as the two of them spun once again under each other's arms before heading back to the other side of the studio; their feet criss-crossing over each other once more only this time neither one of them looked anywhere but in each other's eyes.

Pausing in the center of the room, Hadie gently spun Alexandria around; his face dangerously close to her's. She wasn't going to lie, she was disappointed when he walked off and the rest of their friends surrounded her. Though…had Evan handed Hadie something?

Nah, it was probably a trick of the light.

Smiling as she saw Hadie once more, Alexandria's hands met his and everything seemed to slow down as the rest of the group danced off leaving the two of them to their lonesome. Alexandria wasn't even nervous as Hadie picked her up so that she was horizontal to the ground before spinning her slowly. She had complete trust in him.

Hadie gently placed her back on the ground as the spinning stopped and slowly dipped Alexandria toward the ground before the two of them spun once more. The music picked up and the two of them smiled at each other as they continued to dance; Hadie dipping Alexandria once more as the music paused before bringing her back upright. Alexandria spun out of his arms before grinning at him.

Hadie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow before quickly picking Alexandria up once more so that her legs wrapped around his body as they spun. Setting her down on the ground, Hadie couldn't help but pant slightly as his forearm met her's and the two of them stared into each other's eyes as the music finally faded out.

"Gods, I love that scene but I think I'm old enough now to admit there was no reason for it to go that hard," Alexandria chuckled before pausing as she realized that their arms were still intertwined. "Hads, you know you can let go now?"

"Oh…yeah but I…I had a question for you," Hadie said.

"Yes we can go to your father's restaurant for dinner," Alexandria teased.

"Oh that wasn't even up for debate," Hadie chuckled before slipping his arm out from her's and bending down to one knee. "And it wasn't my question."

"Hadie…?"

"I love you Lexi," Hadie said, using his nickname for Alexandria when they were home alone. "I love the way your eyes sparkle as you're working on an embroidery project, I love the way you go all in when you're practicing a dance. I love the way your hair flies in the wind as you're flying on your horse. And I love how loyal you are. You could have found anyone else back when I was in my month long coma but you didn't."

"Why would I?" Alexandria asked. "I love you, you goof."

Hadie chuckled and pulled a ring box out of his pocket and opened it. Alexandria gasped as she saw the ring. It was a beautiful golden band with a gorgeous singular sapphire sitting in a bed of small diamonds.

"Alexandria Charming, will you marry me?" Hadie asked. Alexandria didn't answer but instead tackled Hadie in a hug that almost knocked him over. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"You bet it's a yes!" Alexandria grinned before gently giving Hadie a kiss on the lips. She looked at him as they separated. "You're okay with Chad as your brother-in-law right?"

"Only if you're okay with Mal and Rea as your sister-in-laws."

"Why wouldn't I be okay with that?"

"Exactly."

Alexandria snorted slightly. "You're a goof, you know that right?"

"A goof you're going to marry," Hadie said with a grin as he helped her up off the floor. "Now come on, let's get changed and then I do believe we have a date with some garlic crispy chicken."

"You know we'll have to tell our families right?" Alexandria said as she put on the ring and held it up to admire it. "Also, please tell me you didn't ask my father for permission? I mean…you're a God so you don't really need to."

"Of course I did!" Hadie said. "Chad, Bobby, and Roland all asked for permission to marry their respective wives, I wasn't going to be the one to ruin the tradition even if it is slightly ridiculous and outdated."

"Huh…slightly ridiculous and outdated could be Auradon's motto," Alexandria said with a grin as the two of them walked off, eager for their dinner and then to tell their families the good news.

Hadie could only hope his father's freak out would be minimal.