To The Moon And Back.

7- There for You

It was hard, Maddie decided, to keep secrets around him. They had the kind of relationship where there were no secrets; there wasn't anything to hide. But with this secret, it made Maddie tense around him, thinking she would accidentally let the words spill from her lips in a simple conversation. It was only thursday, so Maddie had to teach for two hours today. Coincidentally, Derek had called her and asked her to come in at three o' clock instead of four, stating that today school got out early because the students' last class of the day was called off. She, of course, said okay as not to lose her job. She wouldn't have said no if she was given the chance. She loved the job almost more than her own professional dance career. It combined her two of her favorite things, teaching and dance, and gave a great pay for a schooling job.

Dalton knew something was going on, much to her dismay. He knew her like the notes in his favorite songs, and he knew when something was wrong. The boy noticed when she tensed up, when she let herself fall silent despite his attempts to keep her talking. He knew she was hiding something, but he wasn't going to try and push her to say it. Dalton wouldn't ever do anything like that, especially since she was so leniant with him during the rough times.

"Maddie?" Dalton asked, trying to snap her out of her thoughts. Her back was to him, and she had her headphones in. He called her name again, sitting in front of her on the couch, as he pulled one of her headphones out. She looked up at him, noticing he was only a few inches away from her.

"What? Huh?" She responded, turning off her music. "What time is it, Dal?"

"It's almost three. I'm going to come with you to the school and then leave when it's time to go see Shaw." He said, grinning. Maddie returned the smile, and grabbed her bags for work. Dalton grabbed the keys for his own car, knowing she wouldn't care at this point. They drove to the school, arriving at four, right before the girls come in. Derek waved at them as they walked into the dance room. Maddie dropped her bags by the music systems, and put her pointe shoes on. She did a few turns and stretches, getting ready for the class.

"Hi, Maddie!" The girls said as the waltzed into class, not aware of Dalton, who was in the back corner of the room.

"Am I seeing things?" Jessica, Ani's friend, asked. Maddie looked at her, confused. The girl took a moment to rethink her words, and then whispered to Ani, "Is that Dalton, or am I crazy?"

"I think so, but if we say anything, he might disappear." Ani giggled, as the two girls began stretching for class.

They were loud enough for Maddie to hear. She started laughing, and walked over to Dalton. She pinched his cheek, causing him to jump away from her hand and give her a look that said 'the fuck was that for?'. "Yes, he's very much real."

"Okay," Ani said, dragging out the syllables. She pointed to the opposite side of the room awkwardly, where her bag was. "I can go fan-girl over there now."

"Way to play it cool, An." Jess said, glaring at her friend. "We already met him why do you have to be weird?"

"I don't know I panicked!" Ani said, "Maddie talked and I was like, 'what do I say!' And then that came out."

Maddie watched her as she ran to the other side of the room, blushing. She smirked, and then began teaching. Around half way through the hour, Maddie gave the girls a break, and sat on Dalton's lap when they left the room.

"You stink." He stated, pretending to choke on air. "You're supposed to teach, not dance full out."

"Ha, you're funny." Maddie laughed sarcastically. She had relaxed because of the activity, forgetting about Saturday momentarily. "Really funny."

"I'm hilarious." Dalton smirked, even though she had her back pressed into his chest and couldn't see him.

"You wish."