All for the Mirrorball

Chapter 6 - Pick Me Ups

At 7AM, Alan had texted to offer to get coffee. "I think you might be the only person who still drinks dairy milk in their lattes," he said as he walked into their studio.

"Good morning, Alan," Ilona said, in perfect mock-teacher voice. "Please, get it all out before Shay and the camera crew get here and start filming," Ilona shot back from where she was on the floor stretching.

They started working on a new dance - a salsa this time. It felt weird to switch and just start learning a whole new style, but Ilona was really thankful for Alan's initial crash course on the basics, despite her frustration.

During their first break, Alan turned to her and said, "So... I have a question to ask. How do you feel about lifts?"

Ilona's eyebrows shot up. "Lifting as in... me spotting you in the gym? Or lifting as in... me above your head?" She quipped despite knowing the answer.

"Definitely the latter," he replied, "but I can see why you'd get confused. I am pretty ripped." He flexed his biceps for the effect.

Ilona rolled her eyes. "I'm not confident you can lift me, Alan."

"I can totally lift you!" he protested, eyes going big.

"Okay. You can lift me under one condition."

"I've already told you, Ilona, I'm not going to promise you my firstborn child!" Alan joked. She rolled her eyes again. "Your eyes are going to get stuck if you keep doing that. Anyway, what's your condition?"

"If you get to lift me, I get to lift you." The look on her face was determined.

"Are you serious, Ilona?" Even as the question left his lips, he knew he should've expected this from her.

"Deadass." She stared him down before throwing up her hands and following up with, "give the people what they want! You've seen the comment sections."

She had a point, but he still didn't like it. "You almost dropped me on my head during a simple 10 second tik tok the other day!"

"That never happened! But I guess we have equal doubts about our ability to lift each other!"

They started practicing their lifts after doing some filming for the next episode's package.

Alan had a working lunch with Britt, where they started talking out choreo for next week's opening number. Ilona was surprised by how weird it felt to have lunch without him, despite having a really nice time with Chandler, Jenna, and Olivia.

After lunch, Olivia recorded a silly tik tok of Ilona and Danny, each fighting to lead their dance. They were still watching it back as they waited on Alan. "Lo, I think a football player could be good for you," she said.

"A football player?" Alan scoffed as he entered the room. "I hate that this is basically a dating show."

"You're one to talk!" Ilona shot back. Even without his little behind-the-scenes romance she was sure was happening this season, Alan famously had one of the most bachelor-esque scenes in all of DWTS history.

The haughty look on his face quickly shifted to one of guilt. "Damn, I keep forgetting your whole family follows the show religiously," he said with a laugh. Throwing his hands up, he added "you got me!"

"Quit flirting and show me your sexy little salsa!" Olivia play-shouted at them.

—

The week was flying by, with Ilona's frustration with the new steps quickly dissipating as it all started to click. Early on, they asked a few of the bigger guys to spot while they first practiced their lifts, but Ilona was actually excited about them after the first few days - and not just the lifting. She liked being lifted!

They channeled Dirty Dancing all week, posted tons of content that was popping off online, and she felt tiny when he was spinning her around in the air. The feeling to her was foreign, but so powerful; especially when she'd immediately use her own strength to lift Alan once her feet were back on the ground.

During lunch on Friday, Jenna asked Ilona "what was going on with Danny," which surprised Ilona... and Alan. "Witney says he keeps bringing you up."

"Oh, stop! He does not!" Ilona protested. She took a long sip from her water.

Is she blushing? Alan thought. She's way out of his league. He told himself that was why he didn't like this new development.

Adrianna got into town that night, which meant Ilona and Alan had some more one-on-one time during and between rehearsals now that Olivia had her own buddy.

Sunday morning, Ilona walked into the studio with their coffees.

"What's wrong?" Alan said, looking up from the studio couch. His question clearly caught Ilona off guard.

"What? Nothing," she said with a shrug, as she moved to sit next to him on the couch, handing him his coffee in the process.

"First of all, I'm here before you. Second... your face."

"What's wrong with my face?" she spat back, clearly concerned.

"No, it's fine! Normal - cute! You just look, uh, off... sad? I don't know! That's why I asked!"

"Oh," she said, breathing out a sigh. "Sorry. I thought you meant like, I looked weird. I don't know what it is, I just woke up feeling shitty about myself."

She knew exactly what it was. She'd spent way too much time the past two days analyzing her first dance on TV, letting speculation get to her, comparing herself to the other bodies on stage, and being too harsh with herself.

"I get it," he said, understanding exactly what she meant. "Being in the spotlight is tough. It's easy to get self-critical. Trust me, we've all been there."

"Thanks, Al. You're the best."

"No you are the best, Lo! You are beautiful, so smart, and crazy funny, and I can remind you of it whenever you need it." He set down his coffee and pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay to have a bad day, but remember who you are, what your body can do, and try to refocus."

Ilona could feel her eyes welling up. "Thanks. I love ya, but let's do something silly. I need to snap out of this sappy moment or I won't get through this. I'm a big girl and I've got big emotions," she joked.

She set up her phone, he grabbed them matching skirts, and they recorded another tik tok that got a casual six million views.

*****

Hiiiii thank you for reading!!! Hope everyone's doing okay post-finale. What are your thoughts??

Thanksgiving might slow me down a little bit, but I will keep working on this story. I hope you're enjoying. Writing this has only made me more obsessed with them hahaha.

xx