Old, But Not That Old [Motough]

1. accidentally [bethany]

It's our fourth week on Dancing With the Stars.

Derek and I have been doing really well.  I got my first 10 last week, which was incredibly exciting.  Derek is a great teacher and choreographer.  And luckily, we have really good chemistry.  We get along really well and he's so much fun to work with.  Every rehearsal is a ton of fun and Derek makes it really comfortable, especially since dancing isn't something I'm super exerperienced with.

Yesterday though, things took an unexpected turn.

I could tell that the chemistry between Derek and I had begun to change a bit.  Last week we danced a rather seductive tango.  With rehearsal being more intimate than usual and our first 10 of the season, we got closer in a way; I felt it.

This week we have the rumba.  According to Derek, it's the most "romantic" dance. 

"It involves a lot of passion and chemistry, so we have to really channel that.  Pretend like we're in love," he said on Tuesday with a slight blush on his cheeks.  I noticed him look down quickly but didn't pay much attention to it.

Until now.  Now it all makes sense.

I learned all the steps by Thursday, and Friday was the day where we began to 'channel the passion'.  The camera was set up, as always, recording our rehearsal for the show clips package.  For some reason I was incredibly hyper and had a case of the giggles.  Derek laughed as I covered my face in my hands, trying to control myself.  I could tell, though, that he wanted me to get serious.

"Bethhh," he said, grabbing my hands and removing them from my face so he could make eye-contact with me. "I'm sure whatever has you laughing is extremely funny, but we need to focus now, alright?  We will have plenty of time to goof around later."

I looked at him, biting my lip to stifle my laughter, as he held my hands in his.  I sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm done..."

"Good," Derek said in the midst of letting out a small laugh.  "Alright so, remember what I said: passion, romance, chemistry... Look into my eyes as much as you can so we can establish that connection."

I obeyed him and looked into his deep blue eyes as we stepped together to begin the dance.  The first run-through wasn't bad, but as always, Derek insisted that we do it again.

"That was good, but I can tell you're still not completely focused.  Focus on me, only me."

"What about the steps and the arms and the posture and all that?  Should I not focus on that then..?" I muttered, jokingly, with a raise of my eyebrows.

Derek tried to hide a smile, and in noticing that, I did the same. "You're cute," he said, a hint of surrender in his voice.  I always listen to him and never really challenge his authority, but when I do, I know he secretly likes it.  It adds a little... fun to his intense rehearsals.  "Of course focus on the aspects of it too, you little smartass," Derek rolled his eyes.

We laughed and were both reminded we weren't alone with the camera guy chuckled as well.  Derek pointed in his direction. "That better not be going in the clips package!" Derek joked.

"Oh, it just might," the man said with a wink.

Derek shook his head, smiling slightly.  "This is all your fault," he whisper-said, tapping me on the nose.

I shrugged as if to say 'sorry, not sorry'.  My mind flashed to him calling me cute.  Obviously he thinks of me as a little girl.  Or at least that's what I thought before the rest of the night's events ensued.  

"Alright, now that you made us lose focus..." Derek joked, snapping my mind back from my daydreaming about my partner.  I couldn't deny that I had a major crush on Derek.  I mean, he's attractive, sweet, funny, a hell of good dancer, and a perfect gentlemen.  But I kept telling myself to ignore the feelings I had for him because it would never happen.  He didn't think of me in that way.  Which is why I was so beyond shocked when he kissed me.

We were nearing the end of our routine.  I made sure to pay attention to the chemistry and try to keep our eye-contact as much as possible.  It was different this time around, and I didn't know why.  Maybe it was because I was completely focusing on him, and maybe he was doing the same about me.  We did the last twirl of the dance and stuck the landing, heavily breathing, looking deep into each other's eyes.  A moment passed and neither of us blinked; we simply breathed in and out in complete synchronization.  His hands were on my cheeks, as per the choreography, but what happened next was most definitely not part of the routine.

Derek leaned in quickly, but gently, and before I knew it, his lips were on mine.  For a minute we both fell into the kiss, letting all of the passion we had 'channeled' pour onto the other in our liplock.  Suddenly, presumably at the same time, we realized what was happening and pulled away, wide eyed.  Our eyes met for a second before our gaze fell.

"Umm..." Derek searched for words to say.  "I'm sorry, I..." He looked up at me quickly but then looked back at the floor and began walking away from me with his hands on his head.  He must've noticed the camera man or remembered that he was there, because his head shot up quick and he frantically commanded the man to forget that happened.

"Was that recorded?" Derek questioned with wide eyes.

"Yes," the man answered, simply, with a smug grin on his face.

"Please delete that."

"Why should I? That's some juicy footage," the camera man said with a smirk.

I stood, breathing deeply, trying to process what had just happened.  On one hand, my schoolgirl crush on my dance instructor was no longer a stupid crush that would never go anywhere.  This whole ordeal meant that he had feelings for me too, right?  I should be happy.  But on the other hand, this opened a whole can of worms that was gonna stink up the entire country if we didn't cover it up.  So at this point, I was as frazzled as Derek was.

"Come on, delete it.  I'll pay you," Derek offered.

"How much?" the man greedily asked.

"One hundred."

"Three hundred," the man countered.

"Two."

"Two fifty."

"Fine..." Derek said. "Two fifty it is, as long as you forget what you just saw."

"Oh, that might cost you extra," the sleazy man teased.

"Derek, that's ridiculous..." I chimed in, compassionately.  He shouldn't have to feel bad about what just happened.  At the same time though, I think we both needed some time to deal with what just happened before the entire Dancing with the Stars viewing population, and my Motavators, the rest of the Youtube population, the Hough fans, and basically the whole world overreacted.

Derek looked at me with sad and confused eyes before turning his attention back to the man. "So three hundred...?"

The man grinned. "Your secret is safe with me kid."

The money was exchanged and Derek walked back over to me, checking his watch.  "Well I think that's good for today.  You did well.  I'll see you tomorrow?" His gaze was mostly on the ground until he looked up at me for confirmation.

I nodded, giving a small smile.

"Great.  See ya," he muttered uncomfortably, and walked over to grab his belongings.  I sighed.

As my mind continued to try and process everything that had just happened, my thoughts flashed to the moment of the kiss.  The chemistry.  The surprise.  The spark.  I gulped.  

What the hell did we just get ourselves into?