Hearstopper from the edit room floor

Can I have this dance?

Nick's POV 

"Do we need to slow dance or dance at all at prom?" Charlie asks, It's currently Friday afternoon, two weeks before prom (my year 11 prom!) and Charlie and I are scrolling through Google trying to look for suits. "Well, I was thinking, kind of hoping, actually that we would have to dance, but if you don't want to, well, that's okay too, I guess. Why do you ask?" I say that closing the laptop suddenly makes me more interested in this conversation, which suits Charlie rubs his neck nervously. "I... well, I don't actually know how to dance properly, so to speak," he admits gingerly, picking at the nailbed of his thumb. I lift Charlie's head up. "Do you want me to teach you?" I offer, and Charlie looks at me stunned. "You know how to slow dance?" I shrug simply and say "I spent a summer in France with dad and David when I was like thirteen, and one of our activities was ballroom dance classes. Dad figured it would make us both more appealing to the girls, and well, I guess I might still remember a thing or two." I smile, gently sliding off the bed and standing up.

"Take my hand," I say, offering an open palm to Charlie. He giggles, looking at me as though I have gone totally insane. Feeling Charlie tense against me, I tell him to "take a breath," and his shoulders melt. "Good," I smile. "I'll pull you close, and as you do, take one step." As Charlie shuffles towards me, he looks down at his socked feet nervously, and I gently lift his chin to look at me again. "Keep your eyes locked on mine," I say softly. "Remember to breathe and let the music be your guide," I remind him. Charlie gives me another confused look. "Baby? There's no music," he says, gesturing around the room. "Easily sorted, darling," I say, flicking through my phone and pressing play on Taylor Swift's "LOVER." Charlie scoffs softly, "Nicholas Nelson, you cheesy sap." He smacks my chest softly, "she's a queen." I shrug, pulling us back into our hold.

"Will you promise me one thing?" I mumble as we sway to the music, and I utter a simple 123,123 rhythm under my breath. "And what would that be?" Charlie asks, not bothering to lift his head up from where it is lying on my chest, trying to reach my shoulder. "Won't you promise me that you'll never forget to keep dancing wherever we go next?" I ask "only if you promise me one thing that you keep smiling wherever we go next?" Charlie retorts and I kiss his head in a silent agreement. "But I gotta ask." Charlie sighs after a moment of silence. "Where's this coming from?"

I took a pause for a moment, a lump gathering in my throat as I tried to find the right words to tell Charlie how I was feeling. The truth is, I am heading to sixth form at Higgs in a few months (Charlie knew that, of course!). and I was nervous, and the fear of the unknown scared me to death, but I surprised myself by blurting out, "It's like catching lightning—the chances of finding someone like you. It's one in a million. The chances of feeling the way we do and with every step together, we just keep on getting better, and I am so nervous about starting sixth form and leaving you and"... Charlie lifts his head from my shoulder, looking at me. "Nick," he says calmly. He takes a few steps back. "You don't have anything to worry about; we will be okay!" he assures me.

Charlie takes a step back towards me, hands out stretched. "Now," he says, smiling. "Take my hand; I'll take the lead." We're suddenly back in our swaying dancing movement, and Charlie is slowly turning us around the room. "And every turn will be safe with me," Charlie says, pulling me slowly towards him and kissing me gently. "But don't be afraid, afraid to fall. You know I'll catch you through it all!" I tell him, suddenly dipping him effortlessly, "Nick, you totally stole my moment!" Charlie laughs, seemingly enjoying the dip all the same.

"And you can't keep us apart." I call even though I wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, the universe. Maybe Charlie looks up at me as I balance him back on two feet. "Even a thousand miles can't keep us apart because my heart is wherever you are," he tells me gently, and I can't help but lean down and kiss him.

"Oh, no mountains too high and no oceans too wide, cause together or not, our dance won't stop," I say again to no one in particular, scooping Charlie up despite his protests and giggles and spinning him around. "Let it rain; let it pour. What we have is worth fighting for." You know, I believe, that we were meant to be!" Charlie spreads his arms out wide and shouts as if proving a point. Luckily, mom was out for the evening, so we weren't exactly disturbing everyone.

"So why do you love dancing so much, because I can tell you do?" Charlie asks as we glide together for the last few bars of the song, "It's like catching lightning. It's one in a million," I tell him. Within this short time, Charlie's dance moves had actually improved; we were actually dancing properly this time and not just doing some weird shuffling movements. I look down at Charlie's coordinated feet in surprise, "and look at that with every step together, you've just kept on getting better." I say. Picking up Charlie and plonking us both on my bed, my phone still playing music steadily in the background we fall into a comfortable, happy silence.

"So can we dance to love at prom?" I ask Charlie later that evening as we relax in my bed, twirling a finger around his curls, "Only if we have a dance to dance monkey by tones, and I," Charlie insists, and I giggle, "on the condition that we all do a group Mama Mia dance to waterloo?" Charlie sighs, knowing he is quickly losing this discussion. "We will only dance to that if we then request that I want to dance with somebody by that band sleep token I showed you the other day!" Charlie tells me and snuggles closer into my side, "Fine, but only if our last dance is by Robbie William's, he tells me matter of factually.

This is how we remain for the rest of the evening, making up fictional dance playlists.

Inspired by HSM 3 x 

A/N: Hello you wonderful souls! Its been a while since I updated this but none the less hope you have enjoyed this part and your all keeping well x