How Could This Be Real?

19. This Is Real

[Listen to the song at the end (or not at all, it's your choice). I explain it in the A/N]

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After a few Fall Out Boy songs, I bent over to catch my breath. "Oh, wow, that was..."

"Fun?" David suggested.

I stood up and brushed the hair out of my eyes, "Yes, fun."

The DJ spoke again, "Alright, now I think it's time to slow things down a bit." A ballad came on and I started to walk away but he took my hand and turned me to him.

"May I have this dance?" he asked. I glanced around at the couples gently swaying together.

"Um..." His eyes caught mine and all of the colorful lights made them look like a rainbow, but his natural blue was still the brightest. Eventually, I couldn't resist. "I... don't know how."

He smiled sweetly and set my hands on his shoulders. I held my breath as he put his hands on my hips and we started to sway. We slowly turned and I looked at our feet, not wanting to step on his toes. He lifted my chin so I was looking right in his eyes, and it just clicked. Everything felt right and I didn't doubt myself.

We danced for what felt like hours and I didn't realize how close we were getting until our chests were touching. I gently set my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, in a state of complete serenity. Eventually, the song did end and I started to pull away.

"Come with me," he whispered in my ear. I let him lead me across the floor to a set of stairs that was hidden in shadows. We walked up them and came to a door. He started to open it but turned to me, "Close your eyes." I lifted an eyebrow at his odd request. "Please."

I shook my head but did as he asked. I heard him open the door and he guided me through it. The air felt cool and I smelled flowers so I figured we must have been outside. I heard the door close again and he said, "Alright, open them."

I did and took in an awed breath. "Wow, it's beautiful." We were on a balcony facing out the back of the building towards the castle we had visited. The moon and the stars cast a gorgeous glow over everything and I wished I could stay there forever.

He picked a flower from a pot nearby and handed it to me. I tucked it in my hair and he smiled, as if that one little addition had somehow made me something to look at. I put my hands on the railing and looked out over everything.

He did the same and I saw him chew his lip out of the corner of my eye. "Well, now I guess it's time to get serious. Do you want to go first or shall I?"

I sighed and glanced at him, "You said you were going to explain so start explaining. Please."

He tapped his fingers on the railing and looked at the ground, "Where do I begin?"

"Let's not get into that yet," I suggested. "How did things go with Nicole?"

He smirked, "We broke up."

I blinked. Well, that was unexpected... I swallowed and simply said, "Oh."

He gazed at the stars, "I brought her to a nice restaurant and we had a good time. After a while though, I knew what I had to do. So I asked her," he paused, "I asked if she could look me in the eye, and say she loved me. Well... she couldn't, and neither could I. She got all upset and said that didn't matter, that we could still be together, but I said no."

"I'm so sorry," I said sympathetically. "That must have been awful."

He tilted his head at me, "Awful? It's the best thing that's ever happened to me!"