dance for you ~fransykes~

31

Oliver's POV

We were in town, though I couldn't quite tell where as we weaved through small snickers and alleyways like a maze. I didn't know where we were heading, but I didn't want to interrupt Josh who looked lost in thought as he held onto my shoulders soft. He would have held onto my hand if it wasn't for the crutches, which were making my arms ache as they resisted the uneven cobble below our feet.

"Are we going to talk about why you decided to bunk off French and instead kidnap me?" I ask.

Josh sighs heavily. "Just some shit my friends said. Made me think, I guess."

"Shit about me?" I ask. He stays silent and glances down at his feet, leering me know that the answer is definitely yes. "What did they say?"

"It doesn't matter." He shakes his head, sending me a smile tight lipped smile of reassurance. "I just don't like people chatting shit about you when they don't know what they're talking about."

"Wow, how strong and manly of you to protect me from all the nasty bullies." I smile, taking my hand off to my crutches to pinch him in the arm playfully. "I think I can take care of myself, Joshua."

"I know, I remember the time you gave me a concussion by the lake." He snorts, making me smile at the memory. God how much we've changed since then, even if it was only a few months ago. He use to act like he resented me, never noticing how I'd sneak glances at him when he wasn't looking.

We were strangers back then, which seems almost impossible now when I think of the way my heart stops beating when we touch or the way he smiles at me when we fall back into the messed up sheets. The thought of his eyes, and his smile and his face and his laughter. Ugh, someone stop me, I almost sound like I'm...in love. Like I'm in love with Josh. In love.

Am I in love with Josh? Josh who I punched at the lake, who use to chat shit about me behind my back, who use to assume I was just the quiet stuck up boy with his head stuck in a book. Then he got to know me, the real me beneath the persona I display at school, the conflicted side of me that was torn between the rational option of perusing education to keep my parents happy, and the passionate side of me that just wanted to dance. And then the injury...when my whole world came crashing down around me, but Josh was there by my side to help me pick in the pieces and slowly put the, back together.

"And here we are!" Josh all but yells into my ear, pulling me violently back into reality. I blush, realising I've been staring at Joshua's face for god knows how long.

I gulp, looking away from the boy next to me and up at the building Josh has led me to. From the outside it looks like some random record store in the deserted part of town, cigarette butts and empty beer bottles lining the black window ledge. When I looked back over at Joshua, his face was split by a grin that reached from ear to ear. It reminded me of the look he always gave me when I danced for him...was this what love looked like?

"A record shop." I state, slightly confused why he has made us walk all the way through town for this one record shop when there was half a dozen other ones like it in the city centre.

He smiles fondly, bashing his shoulder into mine lightly before he pushes the door open for me. Inside smells faintly like smoke mixed with antiques, and the only guy there is behind the counter eating fries from a McDonalds bag, not even looking up from his phone as we walk straight past the lanes of record shelves and into the room in the back.

Josh shuts the door behind us, leaving us alone in a small room stacked around the edges with different musical instruments and thick sound proof cladding against the walls. It's dim and small, but warm, and I feel safe with Josh here, especially as he's still smiling like he had found a winning lottery ticket on the floor.

I watch from against the door as he walks around the room, tracing his fingers up and down the musical instruments fondly, the floorboards squealing in pain under his feet. He pauses for a second before picking up a black sleek acoustic guitar, turning to me with eyes as bright as a Christmas tree.

"This is my place. My meaning." He smiles brightly, pulling out a folded chair from the corner that I didn't even notice before setting it up in the centre of the room. "Before my sister died, we use to come to guitar lessons here every Saturday morning together. It was our thing, we always talked about starting a band together and touring the world. We even made an album together using my dads old cassette recorder. It was shit, but we were literally seven."

He laughs as he tells me his story, but I can tell deep down that the words lay heavy with grief on his tongue. The pain is so visible in that moment that it's almost startling. He never really opens up about his sister, and I suddenly realise how much that must be hurting him.

"You never told me you could play guitar." I say softly, watching how he gently strums the cords between his fingers.

"I haven't really told anyone that I still do, not until now." He smiles sadly, glancing up at me with those dazzling blue eyes that glisten slightly with tears. "Here, I'll show you."

He gets up, gesturing for me to sit on the chair. I carefully do, losing myself down carefully on my injured side before tossing my crutches out of the way. Josh stands behind me, his warm chest radiating it's heat onto my neck as he lowers the guitar around my neck, settling it between my arms. I can feel his breath against my check as he softly takes my hands in his, positing them over the strings before he presses down. My fingers vibrate as sound rips from the silence around us, the slow sound of a simple beat coming together under my finger tips as he guided my hand up and down.

When the song comes to a finish, I realise I've been holding in a breath the whole time. His hands are still against mine, so soft and loving. His head is on my shoulder, the stubble on his chin rubbing against my hoodie. He's been so vulnerable with showing me this place, and I feel like I'm lying by keeping how I feel inside a secret now.

"I love you." I blurt out, surprising myself as I instantly want to retract the words. But I don't. But I do. Oh god, he's not saying anything back-

"I love you too."

I sigh out in relief, a wide smile lighting up my features. He loves me too. Of course he does, I don't know why I was doubting myself so much. That's why he came to all those doctors appointments with me, and went to the audition because he knew it meant so much, why he even suggested I audition in the first place. It was all because he loves me, and I love him too.

"I'm glad you felt able to share this place with me. But now I know that you can play guitar I expect to be serenaded at least once a day."

"Fuck off." He laughs, kissing down my cheek until he reaches my lips. I smile into the kiss, making us break apart far too soon as we are both grinning with joy.

Ping.

My phone bleeps I'm my bag that's against my crutches, making it vibrate.

"Ugh, can you get that for me? It's probably Sienna." I ask Josh, not being able to reach it without my crutches from here. He sighs, removing his arms from around my neck along with the guitar before reaching into my bag for my phone. His face goes blank for a second as he pulls down the notification before his jaw falls in shock, an audible gasp falling from his lips.

"Oh my god Oliver, you got in. You got the full scholarship to the dance academy."

And just like that, my whole life changed because of Josh.