"THAT WAS SO FUN!!!" kaycee exclaimed as she threw her dance bag in the back seat and climbed into the passenger seat of sean's car. he did the same and then started it. "that was amazing" he agreed referring to the class they just gotten out of. the guest choreographer gave them a really difficult combo both technically and emotionally with partner and solo work that was exciting and challenging. these were the types of classes the duo loved to go to. it was close to eleven now.
Sean was staying at the rices' house for the weekend while the duo took several days worth of classes from a string of guest choreographers. today was friday— the first day of classes, and tomorrow they had to be back at the studio by eight.
kaycee's house was only about twenty minutes from the studio, so they were nearly home to her house in the outskirts of los angeles when suddenly a dear flew in front of his car from the right side. "SEAN!" kaycee screamed seeing it before he did. he slammed on his breaks and threw his arm across her middle so she wouldn't fly forward. she shut her eyes and turned her head waiting for the impact. WACK! came the sound of the deer. sean had slowed down just enough so that the deer bounced off the car, stumbled a little, and then pranced back into the woods.
not moving his arm, sean quickly pulled off to the side of the road. kaycee had not moved— she didn't even open her eyes. sean threw the car into park and turned his body fully toward kaycee who seemed like she was holding her breath. "hey" he said softly prying her hands off of his arms. he smiled softly when he saw that her nails left small crescents on his skin. kaycee gasped and her eyes flew open looking at him as if she was coming up for air. "sean" she choked out and dove toward his side of the car. he took her in his arms immediately. unclicking both of their buckles. "you're okay.. we're okay" he spoke quietly holding her tightly. she shuttered and looked up at him. "we're okay" she repeated still
holding onto him. "we're okay" he said back stronger to reassure her. "it's all okay" he whispered pulling
her in. she felt him sigh as he pulled her body tighter toward his as if she was going to disappear.
"is it bad?" she asked after a few moments. he paused... oh the car. he hasn't even thought of that— he was only concerned with making sure she was okay. "i'll check" he said nodding and hopping out of the car. he was shocked at how minimal the damage was the front right corner of his car had noticeable dent, but other than that, there wasn't any other signs of what happened. he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. that could have ended up way worse. the deer was at kaycee's side of the car. she could have gotten hurt....something could have happened to her. his stomach flipped at just the thought of it. they were so lucky. he was so lucky.
he shook his head and walked over to kaycee's side of the car. as if she knew what was coming, she opened up the door and all but leapt into his shaky arms. she wasn't stable either, but far more so than he was. he hugged her head close to his shoulder. "that could have been so bad" he muttered. "how does it look?" kaycee asked into his chest. "not as bad as it could have been" he answered not changing his hold on her. she nodded "that's good" she sighed. "kaycee i'm so sorry" he whispered. kaycee pulled back immediately and looked up at him "sean, that wasn't your fault at all!" "it doesn't matter" he argued "you could have gotten hurt" he squeezed his eyes shut "something bad could have happened to you.... while i was there" he added sounding horrified. "but i'm okay..." kaycee reminded him gently "we are both okay— that's what's important" she tucked herself into him again. he nodded silently and put his head down on hers. kaycee could have sworn she felt him kiss the top of her head, but they were both shaking too much to tell.
after a while, kaycee suggested that they get back home to rest. sean nodded still not saying anything. he just kept replaying what happened in his head. if something had happened to kaycee... he couldn't even think about it. kaycee could tell he was anxious the whole rest of the way home. he looked straight forward the whole rest of the drive, he kept both hands on the steering wheel, and he kept his brights on the whole time— even when other cars passed them, he also went at least five under the speed limit. "hey" kaycee whispered putting her hand on his thigh. "i'm okay" she reminded him "we are both okay." he smiled softly still not taking his eyes off the road and reached down to hold her hand.
sean didn't relax fully— or what kaycee thought was fully— until he parked the car on the street outside her house. "i'll take it to get fixed after the convention" he said climbing out. kaycee reached back and grabbed both of their bags and started walking toward the house. "oh no you don't!" sean laughed and tried to grab for them. relieved that sean seemed to be in a better mood, kaycee giggled and started running toward the front door. "no!" sean laughed and started tickling her causing her to drop the bags. triumphantly, he picked them up and opened the door.
they were quiet, so as to not wake the rest of the rices, as they climbed up the stairs to change and shower. kaycee went first, and while sean was in the shower, she filled their water bottles and packed clean clothes in their bags. she put sean's in the guest room where he was sleeping and hers in her own room across the hall. she was in her bed on her phone when he walked in "thank you" he smiled referring to the bags. "no problem" she smiled. "goodnight sean." he walked over and she stood up to hug him. "we're okay" he repeated even though it still sounded more like a question. "we are okay" she nodded and buried her face in his neck. sean went back to his room, leaving her door open just a bit, and kaycee climbed under some blankets and fell asleep quickly.
"KAYCEE, NO!" sean scared himself awake and sat up rapidly. "AH" he shook his head trying to put together what just happened. he had a dream that he and kaycee were in the car again. the deer came, but this time they weren't okay. kaycee wasn't okay. the deer hit the windshield and kaycee had bloody cuts on her arms and face and the worse part is she was unconscious. sean couldn't wake her up. no matter how loud he yelled or how much she shook her shoulders, she would not wake up.
sean jumped out of his bed and stumbled toward the door loudly trying to open it. what he didn't know was that his yells woke up kaycee too as well as her brother who was in the room next to sean. sean whipped his door open and made his way across the hall. "hey... hey dude" devon whisper-yelled before sean could push open kaycee's door. "are you okay?" sean couldn't even coherently tell devon what happened "we crashed— a deer— there was a deer— and kayce wasn't— she couldn't— kaycee— kay-kaycee" "okay okay" devon interrupted putting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder trying to calm him down. "let's... here, look, she's probably fine" he assured sean still confused about what was going on.
just then a quiet "sean?" came from a small sleepy voice who opened kaycee's door for him. "sean, what's—" but before she could ask a full question, sean rushed toward her and enveloped her i'm a hug. "you're okay" he sighed. taken back, she wrapped her arms around us middle "i'm okay. you're okay. we're okay" she assured him. she looked up and saw tears rolling down his cheeks. "oh sean" she sighed. "come here..." she pulled both of his arms into her room and toward her bed. "are you guys good?" her brother asked yawning "yeah, thank you, dev" kaycee smiled. he nodded and closed her door and went back to his own room.
"sean i'm right here" kaycee whispered as they both sat down on her bed. "b-but you w-weren't" he shuttered shaking his head. he pulled up the bottom of his shirt to wipe the tears off his face. "it's okay" kaycee whispered realizing that sean had woken up from a nightmare about the crash they almost got in "it was just a—" "it felt real" sean snapped. kaycee sighed knowing that he wasn't angry at her— he was just scared— terrified "if something happened to you..." sean whispered looking down "i-i... i can't..." "shh....i know you won't ever let that happened" kaycee assured him climbing into his lap. "i know you, sean... i trust you completely" she snaked her arms around his neck." he nodded and slowly stopped shaking and wrapped his arms around her. "we're okay" kaycee said again while rubbing his back. "want to go to sleep?" she asked. he nodded and then paused "wait..." he moved one of his hands up to hold her neck and slowly pulled her toward him. she didn't fight him in the slightest, and she leaned in and kissed him gently and slowly while pulling him closer to her too. "i thought i wouldn't get to do that" sean sighed smiling for real for the first time that night. "but you do" kaycee smiled and leaned in to kiss him again. "now can we go to sleep?" she giggled. sean nodded and yawned.
sean laid down and pulled kaycee into his side tightly. she didn't mind at all, though, and wrapped and arm around his middle— resting her head on his chest. "i'm so thankful you're okay" sean whispered kissing the top of kaycee's head" "i'm so thankful for you" she answered tilting her head up to kiss him. "goodnight, sean." the two of them stayed completely tangled in each others' arms for the rest of the night— just thankful than the other was there.
