Lover's Dance

“Are you sure about this?”

I looked beside me at Kayla, who was fidgeting in her delicate black dress nervously . Next to her, Matt, Ethan, and Jacob all stood in black tie, pulling at their ties or messing with their hair. In the next room was a crowd completely out of our league. The amount of déjà vu we were feeling was insurmountable, we didn't exactly know what to do with ourselves. Thinking of those in the next room, the stuffy suits and pointed noses, scared the living daylights out of us, and mostly we wanted to walk out of this party without being laughed at.

I turned to Kayla, rolling my eyes playfully. "Do we have a choice?"

We were soon being told to head on and made our way into the room, finding our way onto the small stage where our instruments waited. A few dinner guests stared, I'm sure we were quite a spectacle. Four young adults all in formal black with instruments and one in a shimmering gold floor length gown that was obviously leant to her with a microphone. If I were them I wouldn't know whether to be impressed or confused.

But I'd be damned if we didn't impress them.

Knowing we were here purely as background music, I didn't bother saying anything, instead letting Ethan strum his guitar softly. As a whole, we'd decided to cover some songs from the original Hunger Games soundtrack, almost as an ode to those who got us here. We started with Rules, and Matt softly hit the drums.

Things were very different from the last formal party we'd played. Except for the occasional listener, we were mostly just background noise, as we were intended to be. Casper's Dance: world's best mood setting band. In all honesty, I missed the loud head banging concerts we usually played. We were supposed to be taking a break to write and record this new album, which we were doing, but it seemed like a whole step away from the world we knew -with the parties and celebrities and everything else.

I couldn't wait until this break was over and I could become the Laney I was used to, skinny jeans, Vans, cut up tee shirts and all. My fingers brushed over the many sequins on the dress I wore, and I sighed, immediately going into the next song -Just a Game.



Kayla sat behind the piano, her dainty fingers sprawling across the keys while Matt continued to keep the beat.



I felt sorry for my friends. Agreeing to even be on the Catching Fire soundtrack had been my idea, I had put us here. Glancing over at Kayla, she looked so different in her lovely black dress playing the piano, her hair perfectly swept to the side, in comparison to the crazy blonde hair and ripped tights. She was so heartbreakingly beautiful, yet it didn't feel right. Nothing about this really felt right. In the last few months, only one thing has actually felt right.



Song after song, we played. No matter how much I sang, or smiled, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Because something was. Unlike the last time, Josh wasn't in the audience, smiling up at me. And in such an open setting, with all the lights where I could see every single person staring at me, it made a difference. Instead of enjoying myself as I performed, as I usually did, I simply wished for it to end soon.

We continued on to play Thank You for the Music and a few other songs, and finally it was the last song of the night. I turned to them while they set up for the next song, smiling sadly.

"One last song guys," I said quietly, "and we're free."

"What're you talking about?" Jacob said. "This is a pretty cool gig. We just get to play for the fuck of it."

The others nodded in agreement, and I shrugged. Realizing I must be the only unhappy one. Sighing, I waited for the music to begin.



My eyes scanned the audience once more, watching as all the people mingled and chattered, eating their finger sandwiches and drinking their champagne.



I sang like it was routine, and by now it was. My band mates might not have been miserable, but I was. Josh's absence was starting to affect me. I of course understood, he was working and this was what he had to do. I wasn't upset that he had to work, I was more upset at the situation. Because really, the situation sucked.

I looked to the door, where we would hopefully be leaving soon. I looked to the door like it was my lifeline, all I wanted was to leave.

The door opened, and a body slipped through. My breath caught and I would've messed up the song had it not been an instrumental pause. Josh's eyes met mine and he smiled, waving sheepishly. I broke out into a wide, resisting the urge to jump off the stage and run into his arms.



Casually taking a few steps forward, Josh's eyes never left mine and I couldn't look away from him. The reality that he was actually here was a little overwhelming, all I could feel was this giant surge of happiness and I couldn't stop smiling.



Josh smiled softly, his hands in his pockets. I couldn't stop the blush creeping up my cheeks and looked down, uttering the last line before looking back up at him.




"Hey guys," I looked over at my friends, who were walking towards our car. Josh's hand in mine, I smiled sheepishly. "Would you mind if I just-"

"Get the fuck out of here," Kayla laughed. "And take lover boy with you."
Rolling my eyes, I waved to the four of them and followed Josh to his cab. Quietly giving the driver my address, Josh sat back in his seat and wrapped an arm around me. I smiled up at him.

"I can't believe you made it," I laughed, giddy. "I thought you said you were getting back way too late."

Josh shrugged, "Don't worry about it, I pulled some strings. How was I supposed to miss you in that pretty dress?" He lightly touched some of the sequins, studying the dress before looking over at me with a soft smile.

"Well, I'm glad you could make it," was all I said, snuggling in his grasp. We spent the rest of the ride home like that, quietly making conversation. I asked him how his trip went and he let me blabber on about being in the studio. By the time we got home, we were laughing so hard the corset in my dress was starting to hurt.

"I'm going to go take a bath," I told him, once we were inside. "And then maybe we can watch a movie?" He nodded, going to the attic to choose something to watch. It didn't take me long to strip out of that uncomfortable dress and slide into the warm bubble bath I had prepared. It had been a long night, and the warm water felt so nice. Relaxing into the tub, I closed my eyes and hummed a random tune, hoping to fall asleep yet stay awake all at the same time.

"Hey Laney, I thought this might be a good- whoa." Josh's voice woke me up immediately, opening my eyes and looked over at him blush and cover his eyes in surprise. "Sorry, didn't realize you were, shit. Is Underworld a good movie?"

I laughed quietly, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, it's good. I love that movie."

"You do?" He asked, surprised, momentarily removing his hand to look at me in shock. In seconds he remembered the situation and had them covered again. I laughed.

"Yes."

"Oh. Okay, well, uhm- I'll just be going. Sorry for, you know."

He left, closing the door behind him and leaving me to my thoughts once more.



I closed the door to the bathroom, feeling the heat in my cheeks cool down and making my way to the living room to put the movie in. The menu was playing on repeat and I was microwaving some popcorn when I heard Delaney call my name. Curious, I of course walked back up the stairs to her room, into her bathroom. She was still in the bath, which continued to confuse me as to why she had called me in. I squinted, unsure if I was allowed to look.

"You, uh- you called?"

Laney smiled, nodding shyly. When she didn't say anything else, just looking away and biting her lip, I spoke up.

"Was there something you need?" I asked. She took a deep breath, nodding once more. Glancing over at me, she leaned her arms on the side of the tub, resting her head there and smiling up at my slyly. Raising an eyebrow and tilting my head, my mouth slowly widened as she gestured for me to join her, winking before quickly moving to the other side, behind the shower curtain.

I was confused and unsure, but it didn't take me more than a few moments before I was hurriedly slipping out of my clothes and walking over the bathtub, taking a glance inside. Delaney lay, covered by the bubbles, and shrugged sheepishly. Smiling widely, I gingerly stepped in and joined her, immediately being covered with her slow yet urgent kisses.



For awhile after, we sat across from each other in the tub. Each with bubbles scattered across our chests and silly smiles. Not wanting this moment to end, we spent an hour talking quietly and giving each other bubble beards and mustaches.

I was molding Josh's hair into a mohawk, laughing quietly when he said it. So close to a whisper I barely heard it.
"I love you."
Gently placing a handful of bubbles on his nose, I smiled and told him I loved him too.