In The Unlikely Event [updates begin may 3]

30 | slow dancing

a/n: hey y'all! i'm working on itue for nano so im rlly gonna try to update every few days as i write. 

previously on itue:

after her aunt went on her date with her uncle, addy spent the night talking to rome, telling him about the racist altercation that occurred at the store while rome shared with her that he was scared of disappointing his mom. he told her about his mom getting pregnant while in high school and choosing not to go to college to raise him. when he was 12 after his mom finish university after she went back to school, his dad left and he fell in with a bad group of friends. which led to him getting arrested a few times despite which his mom never gave up on him and continued to bail him out. now that she's completed her nursing degree and found a great guy, he just wants to continue to make her proud to thank her for her sacrifices for him. 

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The warmth of the retirement home was like wearing a sweater that'd just come out of the dryer. Shaking the snowflakes that laid atop my faux locs, I shot a smile off to Caroline by the front desk and made my way down the hall.

As the music grew closer, I struggled to contain my nerves. I could lie and say that it was the thought of starting a new dance that had me so nervous, that made my palms sweat and made my heart race. And I did convince myself just enough until I stood in front of the dance room's door, my whole being hyper-aware of Rome possibly being somewhere on the other side of the door.

I couldn't figure out exactly what about seeing Rome again made me nervous -- I could but pointing it out was pulling on a whole thread that I wasn't ready to unravel yet. So instead, I steeled myself and opened the door, coming face to face with Rome.

"Hi," I said on a sharp exhale.

The corner of his lips ticked up in a familiar smile that tugged at something, low and deep in my stomach.

"Hi," he returned.

The ensuing silence dragged out for a few seconds before I blurted out, asking, "Are you -- are you leaving? Or going somewhere?"

He looked above me to the hallway I'd just walked down before looking back down at me. "Well, I was. But it's nothing important," he said as we headed inside together.

Inside, Ellie is leading the seniors through a warm-up. Making her way through the group, she stops where she's needed and makes necessary adjustments or feedback. Towards the front of the room, Mrs. Finley was engaged in a warm-up of her own with another man. Laughing together as they worked through their modified stretches. And after promising to find each other later, he headed towards his grandma while I made my way over to Ellie.

"Hey, Ellie. I'm so sorry I'm late," I said, apologizing as soon as she stepped away from one of the residents.

"Hey, it's completely okay, Addy. Unforeseen things are always going to come up. We're just working through a quick warm-up session as a group before we start. Also, as you can probably see, we've got a few more additions to the class, and I actually was going to pair you up with Mrs. Finley's grandson, Rome, just so we can have more teachers for everyone, but I'm not sure he's going to be staying for today's class. Um...you can continue to help out with the stretches, and I'll see if I can work something out, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

I worked my faux locs into a quick ponytail and began to make my way through the group. As I worked, I introduced myself to every new face I met and spent a few minutes talking to them or aiding them through the stretches.