Can’t Look Away

76: I Am Better Than I Thought I’d Be

Pulling a pair of socks onto her feet, Sasha quirked a small smile, watching as Lionel stepped past her to place Arlo’s baby monitor down on the coffee table. “You were upstairs for a long time” she quipped “I was starting to think you were going to hide up there all night” she added impishly.

Lionel offered her a shrug, flashing her an impish smile. “I was tempted to” he noted.

“You can’t hide from me forever” Sasha replied with a smirk “Besides, don’t you want to get it over and done with?” she prodded.

“We could just not do it” Lionel countered “I mean, do you really think people are going to be watching us dance when there’s going to be a free bar?” he asked.

Sasha shook her head as she pushed herself up from the couch. “I don’t care if they’re watching or not” she mused “There’s going to be someone filming, and I’d like to look back on it fondly. So, you can either do this with me now, or I can invite Cassie to show you, which will be a lot, lot worse” she added playfully.

She knew that he was reluctant to do it. Whenever she had broached the topic of the two of them taking a couple of dance classes in preparation for the wedding, he had shied away, but still she had prodded, eventually encouraging him to agree to one lesson with just her in their living room. She knew it didn’t matter. If they stumbled through their first dance or not, no one was really going to take any notice, but still Sasha wanted to try and perfect it. She wanted everything to go as well as it could when the day arrived.

“You’d let her come here and make fun of me?” Lionel played along.

Sasha shrugged nonchalantly, something which caused Lionel to feign a groan before he threw his hands up. “Fine” he mused “I’ll do it” he added.

Sasha stepped towards him, stealing a quick kiss, before she padded towards the stereo. Scrolling through the list of songs on her phone, she chose one before she pressed play, allowing soft music to fill the room. Quirking a soft smile, she offered Lionel a hand. “Come here” she cooed.

Lionel hesitated for a moment before he placed his hand into hers, allowing Sasha to draw him close. Carefully, she guided his hands into position before she lifted her head, smiling up at him softly. “It’s pretty easy from here” she mused “You take a step back, and I follow. Give it a shot” she added.

Lionel’s stare moved down to their feet, watching them closely as they took their first cautious steps before Sasha gently tipped his chin back. “Look at me” she said gently.

Lionel held her stare, guiding her through a few more steps before his foot caught the corner of the coffee table, causing him to stumble slightly. Letting out a slightly rueful laugh, he glanced down at the table before he looked back up at Sasha. “Am I going to have to worry about tables on the dance floor?” he quipped.

Sasha let out a soft laugh. “I don’t think so” she mused “Though, if we don’t figure out the seating chart, I can’t rule it out” she added.

“I thought you and Cassie had it figured out?” Lionel quipped.

“We did” Sasha mused, pulling him back into position “And then we found the stack of returned invitations, all saying that they were coming, and we had to start over” she added, nudging him to take a step.

Lionel rolled his eyes playfully, but obliged, guiding her around the room again. “Is it coming together?” he asked.

“Slowly” Sasha confirmed “I mean, I’ve got a few cousins that I haven’t been able to place, and I will definitely need your help with your friends and family, but it almost resembles a seating chart” she added.

Lionel’s lips quirked slightly at her joke, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he focussed on guiding her through the steps before he lifted an arm, coaxing Sasha to duck underneath it. Letting out a soft giggle, she followed his lead before she pulled close to him again. “You’re not as bad at this as I thought you’d be” she mused.

“I am better than I thought I’d be” Lionel replied, smiling in relief.

“For what it is worth, even if you had been awful, I would have still danced with you” Sasha mused, her eyes shining amusedly.

“Even if it had ruined your perfect wedding video?” Lionel played along.

“I could have edited that” Sasha retorted, rolling her eyes teasingly.

“Then why are we doing this?” Lionel quipped.

Sasha shrugged. “I wanted to see what I was working with” she said.

Lionel shook his head, but couldn’t shake the grin off of his face, something which was mirrored in Sasha’s expression. “I love you, you know” he mused.

The teasing smile that Sasha wore softened slightly before she nodded, gently pushing the hair back off of his forehead. “I love you, too” she replied.

Lionel leant towards her, but before he could press a kiss against her lips, the doorbell rang, causing his forehead to crease. “Were you expecting anyone?” he prodded.

“No” Sasha replied “But it’s probably just Cassie. You know she sometimes doesn’t text ahead” she added.

The frown that had clouded Lionel’s features remained in place as he gently untangled himself from their embrace. Stepping towards the stereo, he pressed pause on the song before he made his way up the hall, swinging the front door open.

Leila smiled at him awkwardly. “Leo” she greeted “I...uh...I was hoping that Sasha would answer the door” she added.

Lionel glanced over his shoulder, checking that Sasha hadn’t followed him, before he shook his head. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I want to talk to my sister” Leila replied.

“Why?” Lionel asked.

He knew that Sasha wanted things to be better. As much as she tried to hide it, he knew that the unsent invitation that still sat on his desk, addressed to her older sister, bothered her, but he wasn’t prepared to just let Leila swan inside. They had gone through the motions before. Leila had apologised, she had vowed to make things better between herself and Sasha, and it had only ended in Sasha getting hurt all over again, something Lionel wasn’t prepared to sit back and watch. He hated that Leila had the power to get Sasha’s hopes up, only to destroy them again.

“Because she’s my sister, Leo” Leila replied “Because this mess has gone on long enough. Please, I just want to talk to her” she added.

“You’ve not wanted to talk to her before now” Lionel shot back “You’ve tried your flimsy apologies with me, but never her. What’s changed?” he asked.

“Please, Leo. I just want to talk to her” Leila insisted.

“So you can upset her again?” Lionel retorted.

“Leo...”

“Let her in” Leila’s voice was cut off by Sasha’s.

Lionel whipped around. “Sasha?” he asked.

“Let her in” Sasha repeated “We should talk” she added.

Lionel hesitated, but eventually relented, allowing the door to swing open and Leila to step past him. Sasha offered him a small, slightly apprehensive smile, wordlessly assuring him that she would be fine, before she turned towards the kitchen, Leila following after her.
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Thanks to Jayme112234 for the comment :)