New York • Sean & Kaycee

The Sleepover

“Sure, I'd love to.”

“Awesome!” Dylan sighed in relief. “I'll text you this weekend, so we can make plans.”

“Okay.” Kaycee smiled at him at he placed a warm hand on her shoulder.

With a final million-dollar smile, he retreated with his friends, waving as he went. Tahani, Chloe, and Charlize turned to her, visibly appalled.

“Did my partner just ask you out?” Charlize said, dumbfounded. Kaycee almost forgot that they were dance partners in the troupe. “No wonder he was asking about you and Sean. Dammit, I should have said you two were dating!”

“Yeah, Kayc. What about Sean?” Tahani exasperated.

“What about him?” Kaycee turned to her curly-haired friend.

“Sean is-" Tahani started.

“My best friend.” Kaycee said firmly.

“Come. On. Girl. How long have you two been in denial? I cant imagine what your friends back home have to deal with. I have been to enough dinners with you two to know that you guys aren't strictly platonic.”

“It's complicated, T.” Kaycee sighed, resigned.

“Relationships are always complicated, Kayc. Take it from the one who actually has a boyfriend here.” Chloe advised. “You either end up together forever or you don't. No matter what, there's always a risk.”

“But the thing is, Chlo, we aren't like you and Julian who met at a soiree and hit it off." Kaycee answered bluntly. "Sean isn't some guy I just met and found cute and want to date. He's my best friend. I met him when I was 6 years old. I don’t even remember life before him. Heck, even my family barely remembers a time before him.”

“And to top it off,” Kaycee continued. “He's my partner. No, not like Greg, who I probably won't ever dance with again when he graduated. No, Sean is my real, official  dance partner. We are 'Sean and Kaycee' – and that means something in the real world. We have a career, a real future together. So if things don't go well, we don't just risk a romantic relationship, we risk losing everything.”

The three girls nodded solemnly, understanding the gravity of Kaycee's situation. It wasn't all fireworks and butterflies; there was a lot of the line for them.

“Okay, we'll behave.” Tahani offered a kind smile, a truce.

With the discussion final, the four women made their way to the apartment. Kaycee led them up the stairs and through the hallway, until they stopped at their door. She could already hear music softly flowing through the door as she slotted her key in.

“You guys have to take your shoes off, okay?” Kaycee reminded as she opened the door. “Sean, I’m home!”

A laugh came from inside. “In here.” Came the response.

“Yeah, not married at all.” Chloe muttered as they stepped into the apartment. Kaycee closed the other three took their shoes off by the front mat.

“Girl, this is actually pretty nice.” Charlize complimented, taking a look around. And it was, Kaycee had to admit.

The pair bought all the essentials, but at her parents' insistence  and expense, Laura bought a few extra things to make the place more homey and cozy.

They found cushioned seats that matched their couch, a coffee table, a decent TV, and a sound system. They also had designated “his" and “her" shelves on either side of the TV to help keep their things organized.

The kitchen stayed mostly the same, save for the bar stools at the counter and some shelf organizers to keep it all tidy.

“Hi, ladies.” Sean greeted them from the kitchen. He looked like he was fresh from a shower – hair damp and tousled, a white shirt sticking slightly to his muscular back, and black skinny jeans. He had a dish towel tossed over one shoulder, and a hand flipping something in a pan.

“Hi, Sean!” Chloe replied, heading straight towards the living room area.

“Hi, gorgeous!” Tahani jokingly flirted, greeting Sean with a side hug.

He laughed, and accepted her embrace. Kaycee rolled her eyes at her former roomie, and nudged her away. Tahani laughed and swatted Kaycee’s hands away, then moved to join Chloe and Charlize in the living room.

“I’m still cooking dinner, so just relax and make yourselves at home.” Sean called out to the three guests. Turning to Kaycee, he lowered his voice. “I put out the extra blankets and pillows. I figured you guys might want to camp out in the living room since you probably won't fit in your room.”

“You're the best.” She replied. “What are you cooking?”

“Chicken and fried rice.” He smirked, turning back to his cooking.

Kaycee squealed and clapped her hands, before hugging him from behind. “My favorite!”

Sean's back vibrated against her cheek as he laughed. “Yeah, I know, I know.”

She let him go, and earned on the counter space next to him, and took a moment to look him over. “So I'm guessing you're going out tonight?”

“How did you know?” Sean raised an eyebrow at her.

Kaycee tugged lightly at the fabric on his thigh. “You don’t normally wear tight fitting jeans.”

“Ken invited me to go out with him, Bailey, and a bunch of other friends tonight. I figured you'd want some alone time with your friends, so I said yes.” Sean explained absentmindedly, preoccupied with the fried rice.

“What time are you heading out?”

“Maybe after dinner? They're actually pre-gaming already, so I'll just go meet them wherever later.”

“Oh. Well, why didn't you join them? I could have just ordered us pizza or something.”

Sean rolled his eyes at her. “You'd choose pizza over my chicken and fried rice?” He clutched his chest in mock hurt.

“Nooooo!” She playfully protested, smacking his arm. “I'm just saying you didn’t have to be bothered with all this.”

“You know it's no bother, Kayc.” He smiled down at her. “I love cooking for you. There no place I'd rather be.”

He gently nudged his hip against hers, signaling her to go join her guests, who already began surveying their apartment.

“You guys sure have a lot of photos.” Charlize noted, lifting one of the picture frames set on the coffee table.

“Yeah. My mom brought us a ton from home, and we figured it'd be a waste to keep them away. So we just hang them all out. I think it's a nice reminder of home.” Kaycee smiled.

Charlize looked at the frame again. “So where's this picture from? It looks super romantic.”

“That’s from The Cut round in World of Dance. We did a song called ‘Can I Be Him?’. It's actually Sean's favorite photo of us.” Kaycee answered. Charlize smiled down at the photo, then put it back.

“What about this?” Chloe pointed to a photo part of a collage-type frame hanging on the wall. Kaycee stood to see which one she meant.

It was a photo of her and Sean in chunky Christmas sweaters, standing in front of a decorated tree with Serris and Kyle. “This is Sean's sister and her boyfriend. We decorated the Lew family's Christmas tree that year.”

“And this?” Chloe pointed to another one - a photo of her and Sean, joined by Devon and Kylie, standing in front of the lake. The sun was starting to set behind them, casting a golden glow on their skin.

“Easter. We spent the weekend at our lake house.”

“Just your family and Sean?” Chloe asked, confused.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Where was his family?”

“His family went to Hong Kong, I think.”

Chloe shot her an ‘are-you-kidding-me' look. But before Kaycee could respond, Tahani called her over.

“Oh my god, Kayc. When was this?!” Tahani squealed over a picture of tiny Kaycee and tiny Sean.

“That was Showstopper! One of our first few competitions, and the first time we met too. Our moms forced us to take a picture.” Kaycee laughed.

“Kaycee, where is this?” Charlize asked, this time from the kitchen. She spotted the three picture frames set at the corner of the kitchen counter.

“Man, you guys are loving the photos, huh?” Kaycee rolled her eyes. Sean approached Charlize and looked at the frame she was holding.

“That was Kaycee's Sweet 16. We went to Hawaii.”

“You went with her family?” Charlize asked.

“Yup.” Sean replied simply.

Charlize held up another frame. "What about this one?"

Sean squinted at it, them chuckled. "My 17th birthday. We went out for some Korean barbeque."

"Are these your sisters?" Charlize asked, pointing at the faces in the photo.

"Yup, my sisters. And that's my mom," Sean continued to enumerate the people in the photo. "Then there's me. Kayc's sister Kylie. Of course, that's Kaycee. Then that's her mom and dad."

"You celebrated your birthday with both your family and Kaycee's family?" Char asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing." Charlize dismissed him with a knowing grin. Sean narrowed his eyes at her jokingly, before turning back to his cooking.

The girls continued to ask questions about other photos – some were individual, like conferences they taught separately. Others were work-related, like the music videos they've done. Eventually, Kaycee got them to stop, but only with a promise to give them detailed stories about them later on.

“Can I use the bathroom?” Chloe asked.

“Sure. It's just that door down there.” Kaycee pointed out.

A few minutes later, Chloe rejoins them in the living room with a smirk. “You guys have two of everything – toothbrushes, towels, shampoos-"

“Did you see the ‘K' and ‘S' mugs in the kitchen? So cute!” Tahani chimed in.

“Seriously.” Chloe said, looking at Kaycee with an amused grin. “This looks like a married couple's apartment. Like, ‘we’ve-been-together-forever-and-have-our-shit-together’ kind of married. Good thing Dylan hasn’t seen this place or he might just take back his offer to go on a date.”

A loud metallic slam resounds from the kitchen.

The girls turn to Sean, who glanced at them from over his shoulder.

“Just dropped the pan.” He mumbled, voice barely audible, quickly turning his back to them. Then a moment later, he speaks up. “Kaycee, can you set the table? I’m almost done here.”

Kaycee took a deep breath and excused herself, noting the painfully apologetic look from Chloe and the worried expressions of Charlize and Tahani. As quietly as she could, she padded over to the kitchen.

The second she stepped into his space, Kaycee felt it. The tension and controlled fury rolling off him like a heat waves. His back was still turned to her, so she couldn't see his face. But she was more than familiar with his body. She could pin point the tense muscles on his shoulders, and the coils of anger on his back.

Not wanting to poke the beast, Kaycee did as she was told. Maneuvering around him, she took out their spare plates and utensils, and began to lay them out on the table.

Kaycee stilled as she felt a warm presence behind her, and seconds later, Sean was there. She held her breath, not realizing just how close he was until her back pressed against his front when he reached around her to set the food on the table. Her pulse raced hard, and for an insane moment, Kaycee was worried he could here it too.

She wanted to laugh at her ridiculous behavior. They have been in far more intimate positions that this. Yet, there she stood, sweating like a dumbstruck schoolgirl.

Kaycee kept still, focusing solely on keeping her composure in front of him, in front of her friends, that she was absolutely unprepared for what he did.

Sean leaned in close, his breath hot on her and neck, and whispered low enough so only she could hear.

“Who the hell is Dylan?”