Lover's Dance

I traveled a lot. Always having an interview, or an audition, or a movie to film kept me moving around. I'd traveled by plane mostly, sometimes by jet or helicopter, the occasional train, but never by car really. And never with Delaney in the passenger seat.
"'CAUSE BABY YOU'RE A FIREWORK, COME ON LET YOUR COLORS BURST-"
I laughed, lowering the volume on the radio. Delaney quieted and looked over expectantly, smiling.
"You getting a little tired?" I asked. "We've been driving for hours."
"Yeah, actually." She nodded. Glancing out the window, she made a face. "Where are we?"
"In the middle of Georgia," I said. "I think."
"Seriously?" I nodded. She laughed. "It doesn't seem like we've been driving that long. Let's stop at a motel or something. There's one."
I nodded and turned into the parking lot. Delaney immediately got out and hopped towards the entrance, her red dress blowing a bit behind me. Getting out of the car, I fixed the blazer I still had on and followed.
She was already at the front desk, ordering a room for the night. I stepped next to her and threw my arm around her shoulder just as she was giving the guy her credit card.
"Thank you," she said as he handed her the room key.
"You too." He said boredly. We turned away and headed towards the elavator.
"Stop." Laney said suddenly. She pointed to a sign on one of the walls.
ROOMS NOW INCLUDE TEMPERPEDIC BEDS
I glanced over at Delaney slyly, and she just smirked.
"Ah!"
Delaney laughed as I almost fell off the bed, catching myself on the wall.
"Shit don't let me fall!"
I laughed, grabbing Delaney's arm just as she neared the edge of the bed. We continued to bounce up and down, both watching the glass of red wine of the other side stand in place. I'd already thrown my jacket across the room and Delaney was holding her dress up out of the way.
"Shit," she cried, "Those commercials weren't lying, were they?"

"Do you think we'll reach the next state by nightfall?"
I shrugged, leaning my head on the window and looking over at Delaney as she drove. We'd stopped by a small tourist shop and bought some cheap clothes. Delaney had somehow scored a Rolling Stones tee and shorts while I was stuck with a big yellow shirt with a smiley face on it. She'd insisted on driving today since I drove yesturday, and I didn't argue.
"Depends which state we're going to." I said. "Which brings up the question, where are we going?"
"Look at the map, we'll decide."
I nodded and reached in the glove compartment where we put the map we bought. Delaney slowed and stopped on the side of the road, looking at the map as I unfolded it.
"Oh where oh where should we go?" She wondered.
"Well," I started, "From where we are now, we could go to South Carolina, Tenessee, Alabama... we could go anywhere, really."
"What about Idaho?"
"Why Idaho?" I asked. She shrugged.
"I've never had an Idaho potato from Idaho."
I laughed and she waved me off. I looked back down at the map, my eyes scanning the states, stopping on a familiar one.
"What about Kentucky?" I suggested. "We could drive over and you can meet my family." I looked over to see her reaction. She smiled before glancing up at me.
"You want me to meet your family?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
She didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at me and smiled. Finally, she nodded.
"Okay. To Kentucky then." She started the car again and started driving down the road. "I bet we could cross the state line by night fall," she proposed. "If I drive fast enough."
"Let's stick to the speed limit." I suggested, laughing.

"I wonder if they have his toilet here too."
I whipped my head to look at Delaney, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" She cried. "I'd like to see where Elvis took a shit -wouldn't you?"
I shook my head. "No darling, not particulary."
She laughed and rolled her eyes before taking a moment to put her hair up with a clip.
I'd laughed when we passed by an Elvis musuem driving through Tennessee, and I'd cracked up when Delaney insisted we check it out, thinking she was joking. But she pulled over and we've been in here ever since. It was nice seeing all of The Kings memorabilia, but it was even better seeing Delaney so excited about it all. Her face lit up like a firework on the Fourth of July, and she kept running from place to place. I wrapped an arm around her waist as she looked at Elvis's old Cadiallac.
"It's so pretty." She squeaked. I laughed, rubbing her shoulder.
"That it is. You ready to go?" She nodded, and I kissed the top of her head before we left.

"We have to stop there!"
The car behind me almost ran into me after I hit the brakes so hard. I glared at Delaney.
"You scared the shit out of me, Laney. You can't just shout like that, I thought something happened!" She frowned.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you."
I sighed, running my hands through my hair. I wasn't really mad, I was just caught off gaurd and was still having trouble slowing my heart rate.
"What was so important?" I asked. She pointed to a small shopping plaza.
"I wanted to get a dress, so I can look nice when I meet your parents."
I bit my lip, fighting the urge to smile. Sighing, I gave in and kissed her cheek before smiling widely.
"Okay, let's go."

"Jooosh, let's stop for the night."
I briefly looked over at Delaney, who was having trouble keeping her eyes open.
"But we're almost there!" I insisted, keeping my eyes on the road. "Only four more hours."
Laney groaned. "Four more hours? Come on Josh, we'll stop at a motel or something and get an eary start tomorrow."
I realized that made more sense than getting there at -I glanced at the clock- midnight, at least. And I was getting tired myself. I nodded.
"Alright, next motel I see we'll stop."
She nodded, her eyes slowly closing as she rested her head on the window. "Okay," she said slowly, "Wake me up when we get there."
I laughed quietly. "You're a horrible driving partner." I said, more to myself since she was already asleep.
I drove to the quiet sound of the radio, keeping my eyes out for a motel, or maybe somewhere I could use the bathroom. Which ever came first.
The first turned out to be a motel, half an hour later. Parking, I softly shook Laney.
"Baby, wake up we're here."
She sat up quickly, startled. "What? I'm up, I'm up." She glanced around sleepily, smiling when she saw we were at a motel. "This place is cute."
It was, actually. It was one of those small motels you hardly ever paid attention to but would someday end up in the back of a magazine's secret wonders editorial. It had two floors and only three small buildings with rooms. Delaney smiled and got out of the car, waiting for me to get out before walking to the lobby. There was a lot of noise coming from the back of the motel, and I glanced at Delaney curiously. She shrugged and kept walking, so I did too.
The woman behind the counter was older and had flowers in her hair. As soon as we walked in, she smiled.
"Hello!" She greetd, quite clearly for someone her age. "Welcome to the Flora Inn!"
I grabbed Delaney's hand as we made our way to the counter, smiling.
"Good evening," Laney smiled. "How're you? We'll just take a room for the night."
"Well I'm dandy, and you?" She set to work on getting us our room, getting out a big book and handing it to me to fill out. I assumed they didn't use computers here.
"I'm well." Laney said sweetly.
"That's good, and you young man?" I glanced up and smiled.
"Great, thank you." I handed her the book and she put it away, going to grab some keys from the many hanging on the wall.
"Here you go," she said nicely, handing me the keys, "Room D14."
"Thank you." I said, nodding. Delaney and I turned to leave when she stopped us.
"We're having a lantern convention out back," she said. "It's a yearly thing, lots of fun. Maybe you two would like to swing by?"
I looked to Delaney for an answer, by the huge smile on her face I'd say there was no way we wouldn't be stoppinng by.
"We will." I told her. She smiled and wished us a good night. We made our way out of the lobby and found our way to our room.
"It's funny," Laney smiled. "Because 14 is my favorite number."
"And D is my favorite letter." I added slyly, quickly giving her a kiss. She opened the door and we walked inside. The room was small, but not too small of course. It had a queen sized bed and a small bathroom. There was a small stove and sink with a mini fridge. But the best part was the view that looked over the horizon as the sun set.
"I love it here." Delaney said happily, throwing her bag onto the bed. I agreed, running for the bathroom.
"Are you ready?" She asked when I came back. I nodded, and we were on our way.
Finding the convention was easy enough, we just had to follow all the noise. We reached a large clearing in the back, holding hands. Everyone was in good spirits, talking animately and drinking and dancing to bluegrass. Some were making lanterns, some were studying a collection of them, but all were having a good time. Pulling my hand, Delaney rushed in, immediately pulling me to dance. While I had some idea as to how to dance to this music, Delaney was lost. She tried to imitate the people around us, and if you weren't looking closely she looked like she knew what she was doing. I laugheed and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her off the dance floor.
"Remind me to teach you how to dance," I said. We walked over to a man making a lantern, so entranced by how careful he was with his hands.
"I wish I could make a lantern." Laney said quietly, so she wouldn't disrupt him. I nodded.
"That'd be cool."
"EVERYONE, IF YOU'D BE SO KIND AS TO GRAB A LANTERN, THE RELEASING IS ABOUT TO BEGING."
Everyone seemed to move after the announcement, and Laney and I followed blindly. A huge collection on unlit lanterns were gathered a few yards away, and everyone seemed to be grabbing one. Shrugging, I told Laney to pick one. She grabbed one with two sparrows painted on the side, bringing it back to me. The woman who was behind the counter earlier came around lighting each lantern.
"Now hold on tight," she warned us. "Don't want it to fly away before we're ready." We nodded, and the two of us tightened our hold on the lantern.
"This is so amazing." Laney smiled. I nodded, entranced by the way her eyes glowed in the light.
"You're amazing." I breathed. She lowered her head, embaressed, before looking up at me from under her lashes.
"Josh, I-"
"AND NOW, GET READY. IN THREE, TWO..."
I smiled at Laney.
"ONE! RELEASE YOUR LANTERNS!"
We lightly pushed ours, and it took off, slowly floating up and away. I reached over and grabbed Delaney's hand as we kept our eyes trained on our lantern until it disappeared. Looking down at her, I saw Delaney was still smiling up at the sky, watching all the other lanterns. I lightly grabbed her chin and brought her down to look at me, leaning over to press my lips with hers. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck, lightly tangling her fingers in my hair. I grabbed her waist and pulled her in closer, kissing her harder.
Delaney pushed me against the door, blindly fumbling in her pockets for the keys as she continued to kiss me. She unlocked the door and it swung open, almost making us fall. Immediately Laney jumped and wrapped her legs around my waist and I kicked the door closed, somehow making it over to the bed and laying her down. She pulled on my shirt and I peeled it off, helping her out of her Rolling Stones tee. She backed up on the bed and I followed her, stopping when she ran into the backboard. I grabbed her torso and pulled her against me, my lips seeking hers again. Her fingers wound themselves in my hair and she pulled lightly, I let out a quiet moan, biting her lip. My hands moved all over her torso, her hips, her back, her breasts, her bum, anywhere I could reach.
I went for the buttons on her shorts, lightly pulling them down and exposing the top of her underwear. Delany's hand moved away from my hair so quickly I didn't even know what was happening until she was pushing me off, a paniced "stop" on her lips. I pulled away, looking down at her confusedly. She covered her face with her hands, whimpering.
"Laney," I whispered. "What's wrong? Did I do something?"
She shook her head, moving her hands so I could see her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly. I rolled to the side so I was next to her.
"What happened?" I asked. She covered her face again and groaned, mumbling something.
"What?" I asked, straining to hear.
"I'm avirdfgvbhjkf."
"What?"
"I'm a virgin!"
My mouth fell open and I stared at her. "What?"
"I've never had sex." She groaned. "Okay? I'm all pure and shit."
I sat up, crossing my legs and looking at her. She looked so sad and frustrated, I just laughed. Except I couldn't stop. I laughed and laughed, almost falling off the bed.
"What's so funny?" She demanded.
"You're a virgin?" I repeatedd, chuckling.
"Is that so hard to believe?" She asked. I nodded.
"Well, yeah." She shot me a look, so I hurried to explain. "You're just so- beautiful. And amazing, and radiant. It's hard to believe anyone wouldn't want to get in your pants."
She shrank farther into the bed, covering her face again. "I just haven't felt that way about anyone, okay?"
Laughing quietly, I scooted over so I could pull her closer where she could bury her face in my chest.
"Okay." I said quietly. "Then we won't do anything."
"You don't mind waiting?" She asked, looking up at me curiously. Something about the way this shocked her made me think others hadn't been so keen on waiting.
"Well, I don't really feel like its waiting." I shrugged. "I just like being with you. And if it happens, great. If not, boohoo -I won't die."
She nodded, smiling, before turning over.
"Alright. Goodnight lover boy."
"Goodnight."

The next morning, I woke up with Delany next to me. It hit me, waking up next to her for about the second time, how nice that was. Simply waking up next to each other, staying in silence, just being together peacefully. She looked so sweet when she was sleeping. I'd say like an angel, but how cliche is that? And besides, it was more an entirely different magical creature all her own.
Her eyes slowly opened, and she caught me staring. She didn't say anything though, she just smiled.
"Dreaming about me?" I asked, smirking. She rolled her eyes, turning over to stretch.
"Come on," she yawned. "We've got to start ready, check out's in a few hours and we want to get to your parents house soon."
I nodded and got out of bed, going to go shower while she looked for her clothes. When I came out and she went in, I quickly threw on a shirt and jeans, pausing to do something with my hair my mother would approve on. Delaney came out in a towel and playfully shooed me out. I decided that might be a good time to check out and put the little things we brought in the car.
"Did you enjoy your stay?" The lady behind the counter asked. I finally took a second to glance at her name tag. Marina.
"I did," I nodded. "Thank you. This place is great."
"My grandfather used to own it." She informed me. "For 75 years, and then he passed it on to me."
"It's amazing." I assured her. "I think your grandfather would be proud."
She beamed at me and told me to have a good day. I walked back over to my room, opening the door and finding Delaney, ready in a pretty white dress, sitting on the bed and staring out the window.
"Laney?"
She turned to me, immediately smiling. The way the sun behind her caught on her hair gave her a halo and she seemed to be glowing, and I stopped, taking her in.
"Yeah?"
"You ready?" I asked quietly. She nodded, standing.
"Yeah, I'm ready." She grabbed her phone on the nightstand and walked over at me. It wasn't until she was right in front of me I noticed something was up.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked. She nodded.
"I'm just nervous." She laughed awkwardly. I tilted my head in confusion.
"Why?" I asked.
"What if your parents don't like me?" I laughed, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug.
"Don't worry, they're going to love you." I held her at arms length and smiled.
"You look wonderful." I told her.
Delaney lowered her head and blushed, shaking her head. "Shut up." She laughed. "Lets go."

I got in the car, watching from inside as Delaney and my mother spoke on the front porch. My mom had practically beat me to get me to leave them alone. They seemed to be alright, though. My mother was smiling warmly and Delaney kept laughing everyonce in awhile. It was nice they were getting along, I just hate knowing they're probably talking about me.
After awhile, Delaney gave my mother a hug and came skipping over to the car, smiling from ear to ear when she came in.
"You girls had a lot to talk about?" I joked. She rolled her eyes, laughing. She waved to my family as we drove away, who were standing on the porch to see us off.
"Well," I said when we had passed the house, "That went well, I think."
"I think it did too." She smiled. "I like your family, they're just like you."
"They are not!" I laughed. "I'm much cooler."
"Sure you are," She teased.
"My mom seemed to like you." I said. She beamed.
"She invited me to your cousins birthday dinner in a few months!" She said excitedly.
"What were you guys talking about just now?" I asked, looking over at her. She gave a small smile and looked away.
"Nothing, don't worry about it Hutcherson."
I dropped the subject. "So when am I going to meet your family?"
She shrugged. "I don't really talk to my family anymore."
I didn't say anything for a second. "You don't?"
"We never really got along." She said simply. "Except for a few aunts and uncles and one cousin. You can meet them whenever they come visit, I guess. Other than that, the band's my family."
I couldn't imagine anyone not being close to their family, like I was. Family was everything to me, and knowing Delaney didn't have that upset me. I wished I could just make her a part of my family, and then I realized I just had.

"You were gone for four days, do you know how much trouble you're in?"
Delaney pushed past Amanda tiredly, her bags in hand.
"Shut up Amanda." She yawned. "It's like, 2 in the morning." Grabbing my hand, she pulled me upstairs to her room before falling onto her bed, where we fell asleep in instantly.