Lover's Dance

“Holy crap what am I going to wear?” I shouted, running back and forth from my room to my bathroom to my closet.
“Is this what girls always do before a date?” Josh called from the living room, laughing. I ran back into the living room, pointing an accusing finger at him.
“Technically,” I breathed, “You are not even supposed to be here, never supposed to see such a freak out.”
Throwing up his hands in surrender, Josh laughed and leaned back on the couch, next to Kayla and Jacob. I could hear them talking and laughing from my room, and was relieved no one would be sitting around awkwardly while I got ready.
“I still don’t know how the hell you found what hotel I’m staying at.” I called to Josh, standing in front of the bathroom mirror trying to figure out what to do with my hair.
“I know people.” He answered simply. I walked over to the door, where I could see Josh. I raised an eyebrow.
“What kind of people do you know that can find me?” I asked, before ducking back into the bathroom. After a moment’s hesitation, I called for Kayla to come help.
“I’m not good with this stuff.” She said when she walked in, closing the door behind me.
“I know,” I laughed. “But I’m freaking out. Why the hell is he here?”
“I think it’s romantic.” Kayla shrugged.
“And borderline creepy.” I added.
“Yes, but you live your life romantic borderline creepy, so it’s perfect.”
I laughed and flicked her off, going into the closet. I hadn’t been too willing to unpack my things, knowing we’d be leaving soon anyways, but it was insisted upon. Kayla hadn’t listened, of course, and her things were still in the bags by the door. But Kayla never listened to anyone. I grabbed a nice cotton dress with red flowers on it, showing it to Kayla.
“Is it too casual?” She asked.
“I don’t know where we’re going.” I admitted.
“Well, what is he wearing?”
We sneakily opened the door and peaked out into the living room, where Josh and Jacob were watching a game of sorts. Josh simply wore some nice dress pants, a dress shirt, and draped next to him was a nice blazer to boot. We closed the door and reassessed.
I knew I’d found the right dress when I stepped into it. Really I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it sooner, it was one of my favorite dresses. It was simple and strapless, and flowed just above my knees. I chose some simple teal heels, surprising Kayla when they went well with the deep maroon dress. I had successfully pinned half of my hair back and was about to leave the room when Kayla stopped me.
“Can’t forget these.” She smiled, handing me the long string of pearls I loved so much.
“Of course not.” I laughed, slipping them on. I grabbed my small black purse and headed for the door, stepping into the living room. Josh was fixated on the TV, so he didn’t notice when I entered right away. But Jacob heard the door close, so he glanced over first. He smiled, nodding in approval before nudging Josh.
When he looked at me, his face lit up. Slowly, like a candle slowly coming to life. His eyes widened and he smiled, standing immediately.
“Wow.” He whispered, still smiling. “You look great.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself.” I shrugged, smiling slyly.
He handed me my flowers, which I sniffed politely before handing to Kayla so she could put them in some water. Grabbing his blazer, Josh followed me out into the warm night air, smiling. He opened the back door to the car and I climbed in, fastening my seat belt as he walked around and came to sit next to me. The car began to move and Josh asked the driver to put some music on. I wasn’t going to lie, having someone drive us was a bit weird, but I didn’t bring it up.

“So, do you play any sports?”
I took a sip of my drink, nodding. “Oh yeah, I surf.” Josh smiled, nodding himself.
“That’s cool-“
“The internet.” I finished, looking at him seriously. Josh blinked and tried to hold back a smile before laughing. He shook his head, his laughter dying down after a few minutes. We were seated at a small restaurant outside; the small round table had a soft red table cloth and candles to light up the night. We hadn’t been there long, and had only been served our drinks, but it was as if Josh and I had been with each other for years. Between the occasional getting-to-know-you questions, we were just talking and joking and laughing as if we’d been going out to dinner every weekend. It was comfortable and easy.
“I hear that’s a really competitive sport.” Josh joked. I nodded.
“I’m going to nationals next week; you should come and cheer me on.”
Josh laughed and nodded, about to add something when the waiter returned, asking if we were ready to order. I glanced over at Josh; I’d completely forgotten to even look at the menu. He smiled, and turned to the waiter.
“I think we’re both going to share a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.” He looked over at me, “Is that alright?” I nodded quickly, smiling.
“Definitely! I love love love spaghetti and meatballs. You have no idea how much, really.” I went on a small rant, going as far to reveal the only thing I remembered from my kindergarten graduation was the yummy meatballs they served. Josh laughed, placing his hand on mine gently before assuring the waiter that’s what we wanted. He held him there for a moment to ask about their deserts, but I could hardly pay attention. My eyes fell on his hand, simply placed on top of mine as if it were nothing. My excitement over meatballs passed, only to be replaced by the rapid beat of my heart when he touched me. His hand was soft, gentle. Something about his hand there felt nice- right. Safe, really was the better word for it.
“Do you think you’ll want some desert after dinner?” He asked. I snapped back to the situation at hand, automatically saying yes. Of course I’d want desert, I always wanted desert; even better if it was chocolate. He nodded, and the waiter took this as his cue to leave. Josh turned back to me, smiling.
“You look beautiful tonight.” He said. I could feel my eyebrows shoot up and knew I had pulled one of my infamous on the spot faces. I smiled, though a bit doubtfully.
“Beautiful?” I repeated. I bit my lip and rolled my eyes playfully. “Golly gee, you’re making me blush.”
Josh laughed, more likely than not at whatever face I’d just pulled. It was something I enjoyed about myself yet hated all at the same time –there were times I couldn’t control my expressions. I had the tendency to react to things immediately and you could almost always see it on my face. It was good, because usually they were funny and got a laugh out of people, but it was bad because I wasn’t sure how I liked not being able to control it. There are times a person can’t wear their heart on their sleeve, believe it or not.
“You’re very handsome yourself,” I admitted, laughing. He shook his head.
“Nah,” He shrugged, smiling.
“You smile an awful lot.” I noticed.
“So do you,” He accused. I shrugged.
“I’m a smiley person, what’s your excuse?”
He, once again, smiled -softly, this time. “You make me smile,” He admitted.
I looked away, fighting the huge smile trying to make its way onto my face. It was crazy; this whole night was just crazy. Here I was sitting with actor Josh Hutcherson on a date, and here he was saying the sweetest things and being so genuine. If you’d have told me last week I’d be sitting at a quaint restaurant with Josh Hutcherson –no, if you’d have told me yesterday morning- I wouldn’t have believed you. I looked over at Josh slyly, he turned his gaze away quickly. I found myself humming to the tune of You are my Sunshine, nodding my head along. Josh gave me a strange glance, but otherwise didn’t say anything.
The waiter came back with our food, and I smiled widely and grabbed my fork in preparation. Once it was set in front of us, I dug in. Josh laughed before joining, twirling spaghetti around his fork smoothly and eating it without mess. I, on the other hand, could already feel a bit of sauce on my chin. Cursing myself, I grabbed a napkin and wiped it off, smiling sheepishly at Josh. Instead of frowning at my messy table manners, he sloppily grabbed a piece of spaghetti and slurped it up, leaving residue all over his chin and cheeks. I covered my face with my hand, smiling like a maniac and trying not to laugh. Josh reached for a napkin and wiped some off, leaving most of it on his cheeks. I smirked, pointing to his face.
“You missed a spot.”
He raised an eyebrow, and tried again. He got some more of it off, but once again left most of it. I laughed and shook my head, indicating he still had some more. He moved to his other cheek, getting rid of some on that side. Still, some remained, as well as the spaghetti sauce left on his other cheek. I laid my head against the table, laughing. Josh threw down his napkin playfully.
“Oh, come on!” He laughed. “Are you going to leave me to fend for myself here?”
Getting over my giggles, I sat up and grabbed a new napkin, gesturing for Josh to face me. Holding back a laugh, I wiped off the last of the spaghetti sauce, telling him that’s what he gets for being such a sloppy eater.
“Look who’s talking.” He rolled his eyes.
“At least I always get it off my face, Mr.” He raised an eyebrow.
“Really?” Before I could fight for my honor, he reached over and softly but quickly wiped something off the very bottom of my chin. He revealed the evidence, pasta sauce. I stared at his dirty finger for a second, thinking of a way out.
“I was, obviously, saving that for later.” I finally said. He threw his head back, laughing. Shaking my head, I took a sip of my water and waited for him to finish. He kept laughing, but something across the street had caught my attention. I mindlessly twirled one end of spaghetti onto my fork and lifted it out of the plate for easier access while I watched the small girl run down the sidewalk, her mother chasing after her. I put the end of the pasta in my mouth and slowly slurped it up as the girl squealed whenever her mother came close, her doll dragging behind her.
The mother had just scooped the girl in her arms and was playfully scolding her when the piece of spaghetti was getting shorter and I had to lean my head in to get to the end. Instead of the end of the pasta, though, I met Josh’s lips. My eyes shot open and I bit off my piece of spaghetti to disconnect us, sitting back and staring at him in shock. Even I couldn’t help but smile as Josh looked away sheepishly.
“I have no idea how you pulled that off, Hutcherson,” I laughed. “But that was smooth.”

Josh and I walked in the street towards my hotel, side by side. We’d opted out of the car and decided to walk off that huge piece of chocolate cake we’d eaten after dinner. Casually, I twirled the string of pearls around my neck as Josh told me a joke.
“And then he was like, ’your momma!’”
I laughed, it was actually funny, despite its misleading punch line.
“Okay, okay.” I said, calming down. “It’s my turn.” Josh nodded, giving me the floor. “Alright,” I started, “So a redhead, a brunette, and a blonde are on the run from the cops.”
“A blonde joke?” Josh laughed. “Really?”
“Hey, you just told a rabbi in a bar joke, don’t even.” He laughed, backing off. I continued my story. “So, the three of them decide to hide out in a barn, and each jump in a barrel. The cop follows the trail right to them, and starts checking out the barn. He comes to the brunettes barrel and kicks it, and the brunette goes, ’woof! Woof!’. Obviously, it’s a dog, so he moves on. The kicks the redheads barrel, and she calls out, ’meow! Meow!’. Not wanting to bother the cat further, he moves onto the final barrel. He kicks the blondes barrel, and she goes, ’Potato! Potato!’”
Josh laughed so hard he stopped walking. I stopped too, and threw my arms in the air and spun my hips in a small circle, laughing. Josh laughed harder.
“What the hell are you doing?” He demanded between laughs.
“This is my I-just-told-a-successful-joke dance!” I explained, throwing my arms in the air again. If possible he laughed harder, doubling over and clutching his stomach. I kind of just watched Josh as he laughed, amused, while I waited for him to calm down.
I felt a drop of water my forehead, and I looked up in confusion just in time for two more to fall against my cheeks. In a matter of seconds, it was raining softly. That got Josh to stop laughing real fast. I began to laugh as the rain came down harder, getting me soaked in a matter of seconds. I raised my arms and spun in a circle, letting the rain fall all around me. I’d have to get up even earlier to wash my hair -if I even tried to salvage it- but I didn’t care. I hadn’t realized until right then how long it had been since I’d been in the rain, and I just laughed. I kicked off my shoes and carried them in one hand and grabbed Josh’s with the other, taking off down the street. I heard Josh yell in surprise, but he followed and didn’t pull away his hand. I let out a yell, feeling so free I didn’t care who heard. Behind me, Josh laughed and yelled after me.
We ran for a good two or three blocks, but my hotel was almost right in front of us when we stopped. I turned to Josh, and he almost ran into me from loss of momentum. I laughed and smiled, glancing back up at the sky, momentarily blinding myself with water.
“You know you’re crazy,” Josh laughed, “Right?”
I looked back down at Josh, smiling. “I’ve heard rumors.”
And because I could and I wanted too, I pulled Josh by his hand so he was even closer and kissed him. No one pulled away, like we had with the spaghetti. Josh’s lips were soft against mine and I smiled into the kiss, pulling away briefly before going in for another one. Josh squeezed my hand softly, safely, and kissed me harder.
I pulled away and looked at Josh for a moment. Josh’s hair was pressed against his head with all the moisture and I could almost feel my hair waving into loose, wet curls. My dress was soaked through and he might never be able to wear that jacket again, we were a mess but it didn’t matter. All that matter was that Josh’s eyes were sparkling and I was probably smiling like an idiot and I didn’t want him to let go of my hand, ever.

I leaned against the door to my hotel suite, watching Josh as he squeezed some water out of his jacket. He looked up at me and smiled, giving up.
“Well,” I sighed, “I’ll probably have to throw these shoes away.” I held up my favorite pair of teal pumps and shrugged, smiling.
“And my dry cleaner is going to kill me,” He nodded, laughing. Our eyes met and we shared a secret look that brought back memories of his lips on mine and said who the fuck cares?
“Goodnight, Josh.” I said softly. He smiled, nodding.
“Goodnight Delaney.”
I moved so I could open the door, squeezing in and turning back to Josh as I closed the door. I gave a small wave, which he returned, before closing the door.