Falling Dumb Into Desire

Looking out to the dance floor, I let a small smile cross my face as I observed everyone at the reception. Leaning in toward Kennedy, I said, "this is like a prom open to all ages." I grinned.

He glanced around the place, and then laughed softly as he nodded his head in agreement. "It is." He said. "Especially since my mom made me give you this corsage." He added, running his fingers gently over the extravagant floral arrangement on my wrist.

"Yes," I agreed with a light laugh. "I think it's the corsage that gave it that extra push toward the prom feel."

"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to." Kennedy said. "I put it on your wrist just to keep my mom from beating me with that camera of hers."

"I don't mind," I smiled, holding my wrist up for the both of us to see. "It's pretty. Plus ... I never got a corsage when I went to prom with Brandon." I sighed, thinking of my ex boyfriend.

"Oh yeah," Kennedy said slowly, "that was the night you broke up with him, huh?"

I nodded my head. "It was a long time coming, and it just so happened that that night he pushed me over the edge."

Beside me, Kennedy frowned softly and then reached over, messing with my necklace. It was my guess that my clasp was showing, because he moved my chain around until he was satisfied with it, and then sat back to look at me.

"Yeah, well, our senior prom wasn't so great for me either." He admitted. "Lacey and I got into a big fight, and she left prom early. I got an angry call from her dad later on, threatening me to no extent because he said I made her cry." Kennedy rolled his eyes. "She was the one who started the fight in the first place, and I only responded with the truth." He mumbled.

"Kennedy, I know you're not the kind of boy who makes girls cry." I said. "At least, not if you can help it."

Kennedy shrugged his shoulders and then sighed heavily as if he were ridding himself of all the bad memories he had of our senior prom, and then gave me a shy smile. "So, since you and me both had a somewhat crappy night at prom, how about we make up for it tonight?" He suggested.

"Sure," I smiled.

Kennedy laughed quietly and then stood up before he held his hand out to mine. "Come on," he said, "dance with me."

I stared up at him momentarily, and took in the tiny glint in his eyes that he usually only got when he was excited but was trying hard not to let it show. Feeling a sense of my own excitement wash over me, I did my best to let my smile get any bigger, and slipped my hand into his, letting him pull me to my feet, and lead me off to the dance floor.

"It hasn't occurred to me until just now that I don't know whether or not I will be able to dance to this kind of music." I laughed as Kennedy led me to an empty place on the dance floor.

Kennedy opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the current song ended, and was replaced by the slow, soft sounds of a Whitney Houston song. Giggling cutely, Kennedy shrugged his shoulders before he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Now this," he said, indicating the song, "is easier for me to dance to."

With that, he squeezed my hand tightly and we slowly began to revolve around on the spot, swaying in time to the song.

"Yes," I agreed, "it is definitely a lot easier to dance to." With that, I stepped even closer to Kennedy, and rested my head on his shoulder.

I felt him tense slightly before he recovered, and then he tightened his arm around my waist, compensating for how much closer I had moved to him.

"You know, when you went to the bathroom I had a little chat with your cousin Josh." I said.

"Before you say anything else, just let me express the fact that he likes to make up things." Kennedy growled lowly.

I laughed softly and then turned my head slightly so that I could see Kenney's face. "So he was lying when he said that you were glad when I agreed to be your date tonight?"

"Oh," Kennedy said offhandedly. "Well ... actually ... he was telling the truth when he said that."

"I thought so." I grinned.

"What else did he tell you?" He asked hesitantly.

" ... Stuff." Was all I said.

"Madison, tell me." Kennedy insisted. "Josh has been known to spread some rumors around, and likes to make my life miserable from time to time. Just ... let me know what he said so I could clarify anything for you."

"Fine," I grinned, "all he said was that you liked me our freshman year."

" ... Was that it?"

"Hmm ... he also said something about you having a picture of me sitting on your bedside table."

At my words, Kennedy's complexion turned a soft shade of pink. "It's not a picture of just you." He mumbled. "It's that picture of all of us when we went to check out the Grand Canyon that day. You remember ... you, me, John, and Lacey."

"Yeah, I remember." I replied.

"And ... he was telling you the truth when he said I liked you our freshman year." He sighed.

"Yeah?" I asked.

Kennedy nodded his head, and then gave me a shy smile. "I had the biggest crush on you then." He said.

"Why didn't you say anything, Kennedy?" I asked.

"Because," he sighed, "you were with that ape of a junior."

"Duncan?" I asked with a laugh. "Was he really that bad looking?"

"Well ... no," he mumbled, "but he was massive ... and he picked on John and me a lot in our welding class."

"Oh." I said quietly. "Sorry about that."

"Eh, its fine I guess," Kennedy replied, "I mean it was like what ... three years ago?" He added with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I suppose it was."

With that, Kennedy fell silent and we continued to dance in silence. Within a minute or two, though, Kennedy started a conversation about something else, and was able to keep my mind off of how he chose not to elaborate about the part where he used to like me.

The song soon ended and changed to a different, faster, and even older song by Fleetwood Mac. Before we had a chance to escape the dance floor, though, Kennedy's dad caught me and somehow got me to dance with him, while one of Kennedy's aunts got him to dance with her. I laughed at the sight of him trying to dance to the music, and then found myself amused by the fact that I wasn't doing much better than him.

"I'm so sorry," I laughed, "I don't know how to dance to this."

"Just find the beat and go with it." Kennedy's dad grinned.

From there on in, I followed his advice and just went with it. Time seemed to fly by as the night wore on, and it didn't matter what song was playing or who I was dancing with, whether it was one of Kennedy's younger, adolescent cousin or his sixty-seven year old uncle. Once or twice I found myself dancing with Kennedy for a song or two before someone else swept me away. It was the most fun I've had in a long time.

I'm not sure how long it was before I found my way back to Kennedy, who was dancing with his grandma. Laughing to himself, he leaned over and kissed his grandma on the cheek when he saw me, and then he excused himself before he came over and took my hand in his, pulling me through the somewhat crowded dance floor.

When we emerged from the crowd, I saw that we were back at our table where our drinks were sitting. Still laughing to himself, Kennedy pulled out my chair for me, and helped me sit down before he collapsed onto his chair.

"You know, I never thought that I'd be having this much fun at my grandparent's anniversary party." He grinned.

"Yeah," I agreed as I set aside my heels that I had taken off a while ago, and had been packing ever since, "neither did I."

I sat back, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before I took in Kennedy's appearance. His cheeks were flushed, this time from dancing so much rather than blushing at something I had said, and he had since loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt once or twice.

"It's late." I pointed out.

"It's nearly 2 o'clock in the morning." Kennedy said, glancing at his watch.

"Wow, I guess I didn't realize how much time had passed." I replied. "Um ... do you think you could give me a ride home?"

"I actually don't have a car." He said sheepishly. "Well ... I do have a car, but it's not here. Remember, we all rode here in the limo."

"Oh, okay." I said. "I'll just call John I guess and make him come and get me."

I made a move to pull my cell phone from its 'hiding spot' but Kennedy placed a hand on my arm, stopping me.

"I have my own hotel room upstairs," he said quietly, "if you want you can spend the night with me, and we'll drop you off at your house in the morning."

"Um ... I don't know, Kennedy." I said slowly. "I have to pick my brother up at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning and get him to another one of his games."

"I can get you home early tomorrow morning." He promised. "Just ... spend the night with me." He said shyly.

I bit my lip, and continued to stare at him, unsure as to whether or not it was a good idea for me to stay with him.

"We don't have to have sex or anything," Kennedy grinned, "we can just ... hang out, watch a movie that's out in theatres from the comfort of our room, order some tasty food from room service, all the while running up my grandparents bill."

"Kennedy," I started, and then stopped when I saw the look in his eyes, clearly begging me to agree to stay. Sighing quietly, I finally nodded my head. "Fine, I'll stay the night with you."

"Kay," he said, a smile slowly pulling at the corner of his lips, "you wanna go up right now?"

"One more dance," I insisted as the DJ playing another slow song.

"Alright," Kennedy said, standing to his feet. He stretched slightly and then pointed to my shoes. "Are you going to put those back on?"

Wrinkling my nose, I shook my head and then stood up. "My feet hurt." I said simply as I straightened out my dress.

Kennedy rolled his eyes and suppressed a smile before he linked his arm with mine, and led me back to the dance floor. "I'll try not to step on your feet, then." He joked as he found us a spot, and then pulled me to him into a position that was beginning to feel familiar.

Gazing up at him momentarily, I was suddenly, and oddly gracious that I had a younger brother whom I had to chauffer around the town. If I didn't have to get him to his game the day before, I would have never had run into Kennedy, and instead of spending the night with him tonight, I would be home alone, having a Johnny Depp movie marathon. As much as I enjoy any movie with Johnny Depp in it, I would much rather be with a sweet boy like Kennedy.