All for the Mirrorball

Chapter 15 - More Passion, More Footwork...

The meanest voice in Ilona's head spent the rest of her morning prep time trying to convince her that she was either going to die alone or settle for something she wasn't truly invested in, because the men she really liked never seemed to feel the same way about her, or vice versa.

By the time she got to the studio, she was feeling particularly low, and skipping her usual morning workout had definitely not helped (but was necessary for her to function, for once). At least the hangover had waned a good bit, and the weight of talking to Graham had been lifted.

When he walked in, it took all of four seconds for Alan to sense something was up with Ilona aside from the morning effects of last night's drinks.

"Morning!" she said, attempting to mimic her own usually-cheerful demeanor.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He said. His eyes bored into hers. She felt as though he could view into the depths of her very soul with a quick glance, and it was unsettling.

"No, actually," she started, before rushing to add, "thanks, though." She'd learned her lesson about bringing up "distractions" when they were meant to be rehearsing.

"Okay." He held her gaze. "Whatever you need, okay?" He attempted to convey every possible reassurance in that one look.

"Do you think... Alan, I need a hug." Unrelated to any of the feelings she'd admitted to her sister (and more importantly, to herself) this morning, she was desperate for solace, and he had become such a safe space for her.

Before the words could fully cross her lips, she felt herself being pulled into his arms, engulfed in a hug that transcended warmth and comfort alone and instilled her with a sense of safety. His touch was the kind of comfort she hadn't realized she'd been missing - and for just a moment, she let herself lean into it, feeling the weight of some of her insecurities fall away. Neither of them knew exactly how much time passed.

"Thanks," she breathed into his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, gave her an extra squeeze, and pulled back to assess her expression.

"I didn't do anything," Alan replied without hesitation. "But I'd do it again... or you know, whatever else you need."

"I need... I need to start learning this new dance and not have another emotional session with the film crew."

He searched her face, longing to understand what was going on inside her head. "Okay... only if you're sure?" She nodded, and he dropped the subject. He took the hug as a sign that his behavior last night hadn't been the thing upsetting her, which he saw as the silver lining of that interaction.

They had an okay half hour of rehearsal before the crew came in for the first round of filming. It was a pretty positive session, especially after she finished tied for second place on the leaderboard last week. Alan told her a little about their main dance this week, the tango, and then the backstory for her halloween theme. Since he knew Ilona was not a fan of being scared, he'd put her into the role of the one doing the scaring.

Soon, they were alone again, and he said something in a deeper tone than his usual speaking voice. "I think you're going to like this one."

"Oh really?" She said as she tried to ground both her emotions and the butterflies taking flight in her stomach.

"You tell me," he said as he pulled her into the classic tango hold. "It's very... dramatic..." He led her across the room. "Passionate..." His face was incredibly close to hers, and the hand on her back sent tingles up her spine. "And you get to pretend you're about to murder me." He released her to mime slashing his own throat, and she'd have sworn she could feel the oxygen return to her brain as she remembered to breathe again.