Take This Dance. {Markiplier x Reader}

Chapter Sixteen:

242 days until competition.
October 26.

"One, two three... One two three," I muttered to myself, trying to keep pace with the sound. We were currently working on the part of the song where we waltzed.

One of my hands rested gently on top of Mark's shoulder, as the other intertwined with his hand. Mark's free hand was pressed up against the small of my back. We both glided across the studio, from wall-to-wall. I moved my head to the side then glanced down at the hardwood floor to make sure I was in the correct position. Occasionally, I would form into a Chassé to give the waltz more depth.

"One two three," I muttered once more, "One two three..."

Mark stopped, then twisted my arm around to spin me. I lifted my leg and placed my foot flat against the side of my thigh. I spun around three times, then he dipped me. He grabbed onto my back quickly to catch me. I arched my back, and leaned my head back. I looked at myself in the mirrors in front of me before being jolted back up quickly.

Mark had pulled me close to him once he brought me back up from the dip. Our noses touched ever so slightly, causing chills to go down my spine. I breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath. I allowed only my eyes to glance down.

"That was good," he breathed before releasing me.

"Yeah," I smiled a little, "That was probably the best one yet."

"You really think so?" His eyebrows stitched together as he crossed his arms.

"Yes, I do," I walked over to my duffel bag and unzipped it to pull out my water bottle.

"Huh," he said, as he ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek.

I zipped my bag back up and sat down on the floor, resting my back against the cool wall. From the corners of my eyes, I saw Mark grab his bottle of water and then make his way over to me. I untwisted the cap to the bottle and raised it to my lips. I practically began to chug the crystal clear liquid, feeling the coolness of the water slip down my throat. I heard Mark grunt as he plopped down beside of me.

"Tired?" He asked, now looking at me chug the whole bottle of water in one sitting. I stopped drinking from the bottle to respond back to him.

"No," I shook my head as I wiped the tiny droplets of sweat that trickled down the edge of my forehead. He chuckled to himself as he looked down at the water bottle that sat in front of his loosely crossed legs. I sighed deeply, then leaned my head backwards to rest it onto the wall behind me. We sat in silence for a while, trying to recollect our breath.

"So," Said Mark, still looking forwards, "...Did you actually want to do this dance competition?"

I turned my head to the side to look at him. I itched the side of my cheek, "What?"

"Or was it Luna that just made the decision for you, whether you liked it or not?" He also turned his head towards me. His head was still pressed against the wall. I looked away from him, and pursed my lips.

"To be honest..." I hesitated, playing with the cap on my water bottle, "...I was going to say no."

"Then, why didn't you?" He asked as his eyebrows knit together. I gulped, still not looking at him.

"Because I..." I exhaled, "...I missed ballet."

"Hm," his mouth formed a hard line.

"I really did," I said, still playing with the cap of the bottle, "And when Luna basically blurted out that I had agreed, that's why I didn't object to it. It was like a voice in my head was just telling me to do it."

"So, you listened to your instincts?" He responded lowly.

"Yeah," I pressed my lips together hard. We sat in silence once more.

"I never asked, but..." I began to speak, "...When did you start learning Tango?"

He laughed, "It wasn't too long ago."

"Really?" I felt the corners of my mouth tug upwards.

"Yeah, it was..." he tiled his head upwards and squinted his eyes, trying to think, "...The end of my Junior year of high school and the beginning of Senior year."

"Oh wow," I smiled as I looked at him.

"Yeah, they were looking for volunteers at the school for a new Tango club," he explained, "And uh, I didn't have anything else to do so I signed up, not knowing a single thing about Tango."

"Mhm," I listened, nodding my head.

"Well, luckily there were a lot of beginners in the club," he smiled, "So we were all at the same level."

I crossed my arms and continued to listen.

"And even though I was thinking that I would absolutely hate this club," he gestured his hands whenever he talked, "I ended up really enjoying it." Mark nodded to himself and turned his head to look in the other direction. "And ever since that day, I've been studying Tango."

"Hm," I smiled and nodded.

"Sorry for rambling," his eyebrows turned downwards.

"Oh, no need to apologize," I waved my hand in front of me, "I enjoyed listening." He looked at me and smiled.

"When did you start ballet?" He asked.

"Hm," I squinted my eyes trying to remember, "I started doing ballet when I was about four years old."

"Mhm," he nodded.

"I don't really remember much about joining," I shook my head, "So, I'm sorry that I don't have a big story like yours."

"That's alright," he laughed a little. We both turned our heads to look in front of us.

It now turned into awkward silence at this point. Mark glanced his eyes to my hands, examining the three bracelets that currently coiled around my wrists. One of the bracelets had a single bead the read the letter, "A."

"What's this?" Asked Mark. He dug only his pinky finger underneath the bracelet, wrapping his finger against the bracelet. I felt his skin against my arm.

"It's just a bracelet that me and my old friends made in high school," I explained, "We each made matching bracelets that had our initials on it and we all exchanged them."

"Ah," I nodded his head a little, and slid his pinky finger out from underneath my bracelet.

"You can look at it, if you want," I offered, holding out my hand. He scooted himself closer to me, and took my hand to examine the bracelet. One of his hands held my hand flat onto his palm, and his other hand held the bottom of my wrist. I tilted my head upwards to look at him. At this point, he was so close to me that I could breath in his scent.

He nodded, "Cool." His eyes glanced to our hands.

"My hands are so tiny compared to yours," I laughed.

He laughed in response, "They really are."

Mark positioned our hands, touching our palms together to compare hand sizes. We both laughed, as I had the smallest hands.

"Why are you laughing?" I joked, "They're average sized!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he responded back, laughing once more. After laughing for a bit, we both looked at each other. My smile faded, as I began to examine the features on his face.

His dark, chocolate eyes looked deeply into mine, as the corners of his full lips tugged at the edges, forming a slight smile. The stubble that grew across his chin and cheeks complimented his face perfectly.

For some odd reason, I had thought he was...Attractive. I never thought that way about him until this moment. It was weird.

"We should get back to practicing," I spoke, breaking out of my trance.