Roughley Drabble (BWWM)

Perfect

Derek and Amber share something special.

"Shit," Amber Riley mumbled under her breath. She and her dance partner, Derek, were pushing on their fifth hour of rumba rehearsal and she wasn't sure her knees could take any more.

"That hurt?" Derek asked, stopping in the middle of move they were working on.

"It's fine. Let's just keep going," she probed, getting back into her dance position.

"No, no," Derek mumbled. "I don't want to do it if it hurts you. Here, we'll try this instead," he said, making his way to the corner of the room, gesturing for her to follow. "Okay, arms go here, and now you just go under- Fuck!"

Amber didn't expect the outburst, and looked up to see Derek leaning with one hand on the nearby wall, and another pressed to his lower back.

"Yeah, we can't do that," he said through gritted teeth. Amber watched as he took a deep breath to recover, before slowly moving away from the wall. After another minute of silence and closed eyes, she heard Derek say, "Crap, I don't know what to put here. Come on, let's try again."

She nodded, grabbing his hand once again. She wasn't surprised when she heard Derek suck in a breath and saw him clench his jaw. "Derek, we should stop," she offered gently.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking up, concern clear in his eyes.

"I'm fine, but you-"

"I'm fine too," he finished, a bit harshly. "I just can't figure out what we should do next. Between your knee and my back... it just all kind of looks like rubbish right now."

Amber didn't know why that made her so angry, but it did. Derek seemed so angry right now and she could sense his frustration rising over the last two weeks. Before she could stop herself, she bit back, "Well I'm sorry I'm no Kellie Pickler."

Derek, who was marking steps around the room, suddenly stopped. "What was that?"

Before either of them could continue, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. They turned to see Emma and Bill standing at the door, clad with large smiles. "We're all heading to get some dinner, you guys in?" Bill asked in a loving tone.

Amber, wanting any way out of her current situation, plastered a smile on her face and nodded, "I'm in. Just let me grab my things."

"Derek?" Emma asked.

"I'll actually stay here. I've got a meeting tonight anyways."

"Want us to bring you anything?" Bill asked.

"No, no," Derek smiled at Bill's generosity. "You guys go on ahead." He turned to Amber, not quite making eye contact. "I'll see you in the morning?"

Amber nodded, "Yeah, tomorrow." And with that, she was gone.

______________________________________________________________________

Derek couldn't focus the rest of the night. I'm no Kellie Pickler. What the hell does that mean? He knew Amber had been getting criticized about her weight, but he never thought she was one to let it bother her. Is that what's bothering her? Or is she just hurting?

He could've waited til tomorrow to talk to her, but in reality, he couldn't. After a another failed hour at the studio, he decided to pack up and head home. But not his home.

"Derek?"

Amber was confused to see Derek standing on her front porch. Shit, shit, shit. What if he wants to talk? No, no, Amber, you probably forgot something at rehearsal and he's just being a good partner and bringing it to you.