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Chapter 25 - Pleasant Surprises

No, I wasn't dreaming. L actually was standing before me asking me to dance. Furthermore, he appeared rather serious about it. I daren't laugh. I wondered if Annie had suggested or dared him to do so. I couldn't see the idea of dancing with me being one of his own. He always hated being the center of attention and he would most certainly claim it with this move.

Nevertheless, I gulped and placed my hand in his. He smiled a little at the touch and slipped his other arm around my waist. I stiffened as he drew me close and he smiled wider. "I don't bite, G."

"I know that." I answered, relaxing enough to place my hand on his shoulder. "Still a touch surprised that you're out here is all."

"Well I had to rescue Liam from another full interrogation did I not?"

My returning look was dark. "That is one of the least flattering things I have ever heard."

"All right, then how about this?" His odd posture brought his face close to mine as our feet began to move. "I find it pleasant to be close to you."

I sucked in a breath and in my distraction, stomped firmly on his foot with my heel. His smile vanished into a grimace of pain. "Blast it!" he growled. "If that is how you respond to a compliment, remind me to keep them to myself."

"My apologies." I muttered embarrassed, wishing to be anywhere else as I stepped back. "I didn't mean it."

He reached for my hand then and pulled me back into the dance. "At least you didn't do it purposefully as you did when we were younger." He regained his good nature, leading better than I expected him to. "That is a comfort."

"That's because our old dance master always paired us together, despite us both adamantly protesting the grouping." I said as Fritz threw a wink my way over Jinya's shoulder. I shifted my gaze back to L, not needing to see my younger brother throwing lascivious signals my way.

"Our cries certainly fell on deaf ears," L noted with a fond smirk. "I would dread that lesson. You so maliciously would torture me by stepping on my feet and not allowing me to lead."

I smiled, warming up to the subject. "You were just as bad. You wouldn't even be engaging! You would just stare coldly at me until the dance was over. How enjoyable is that?"

L cocked an eyebrow. "Did you really deserve an affable demeanor when you were actually timing the crushing of my toes to the music's rhythm and then smiling at me oh so innocently after?"

I laughed then, resting my forehead on his shoulder. "You were on to my game, I see."

"Yes. It is a shame you did not appreciate my talents. Master Lavinier said I was the male with the best form in the class. Despite obvious first impressions."

"Well when the class was you, Win, Fritz and Beyond, that wasn't saying much." I raised my head again with a grin. "He told me I was the best girl too. That my talent was effortless. That was of course, before Jinya came here and blew me out of the water."

"Did he? Then that is likely the reason that we were so often paired."

I wrinkled my nose. "I don't see why. We were awful dancers together."

L lowered his head to be closer to mine, our eyes only locked on each other. "Well right now, I believe we are doing quite well, don't you?"

I blushed and nodded, not afraid to admit that I thoroughly enjoying myself. We glided so smoothly across the floor, it was like a dream. "Yes, but then again, we don't really hate each other anymore."

"Did you truly hate me? Back then?" L asked, not with any sense of disappointment.

My grin grew bigger. "I despised you! You would say you wished Wammy had never brought me home—that it was better when it was just Win and you. That's not the nicest or most endearing thing to say to a child."