In the same moment they heard similar melody.

"Whoaaa, there's a Belgian song!" Taylor exclaimed excitedly as the first notes of "T' Smidje" rang through the air. "Let's go dancing!"

She glanced at Ben i ran towards the crowd gathering in the middle of the hall and forming pairs in a circle. Ben followed her. 

"Weeeeel, I think Logan'll agree with me that we're going back to the table", Tyler looked at the friend who nodded. 

"Let's eat something. Finally." They moved towards food tables. 

Then, with a smile, Aiden grabbed Ashlyn's hand with and wordlessly dragged her to the dance floor.

"Wait, Aiden! Stop. I don't want to dance!"

"It doesn't matter if you don't know how. It's simple, you'll get it in a moment, seriously!"

"I can dance it, I just don't want to", Ashlyn protested.

"Did I ask you for your opinion?" the boy grinned.

"Aiden, please. I hate physical contact with strangers, you know that."

"They just said we dance without changing pairs," Aiden smiled widely. "You dance with me." 

"Umm... will be your leg okay?" 

"Girl. I twisted it a month ago. It's at least okay." 

Ashlyn sighed, but felt little butterflies in her stomach as Aiden's fingers intertwined with hers.

He intertwined their fingers even though he didn't have to. He could have just held her hand normally.

Damnit. Why is his touch always so... electrifying? 

Her neck itched and she turned around, then met Taylor's eyes. The girl held Ben's hand and smiled knowingly at Ashlyn. She sighed and turned her head away. 

"Three, two, one, and..." she heard Aiden's voice and the dance started.

Ashlyn realized how long it had been since she had danced this - and it reminded her of old times. And when the song ended, the dancers applauded, and the sweaty crowd started chanting for an encore - she had to admit she was having a great time.

They danced again, until they were almost completely wet. Then the music changed to a slow piece.

"So?" Aiden chugged after the second applause. "How was it?"

"Well", Ashlyn brushed a strand of hair out of her face and felt herself smile. "It was great. Seriously, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I'm surprised myself."

"Wow, I didn't expect you to say that! I thought you were going to say something like 'it wasn't that bad'."

"Umm", she blushed against her will. "Maybe I just try to open up to you." 

She didn't specify whether "you" referred to all her friends or just him. Maybe because she didn't know.

He looked at her with wide eyes.

"That's good." he ran his hand through his hair. "Hey, are you very tired?"

"Not that much, so what?"

"Would you... like to dance?"

Ashlyn felt her heart speed up.

The music was romantic, perfect for a slow dance.

The light was shining pink.

The heart-shared hearts were flying under the ceiling.

She opened her mouth to say she'd rather sit down for now, but then something stopped her.

Because... why not?

Of course it was Valentine's day. Of course the vibe was way too romantic. But they were just friends, and she promised her friends to have a good party and forget about problems. And she could have dance with the one of her friends.

"Yeah... okay." 

"Wow, really? You surprise me more and more, Ash." He chuckled. 

He reached for Ashlyn's hand and pulled her closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she hesitantly put her arms around his neck. 

And when they started dancing, looking at Aiden from inches away and practically being hugged by him, she wasn't sure what to think. 

No, more precisely - she forgot to think. 

Aiden, strangely enough, hardly smiled at all, which made him look completely different. She couldn't find the courage to look him in the eye, so she looked at his lips - which didn't turn out to be a very good idea. She felt a wave of heat pass through her. 

This irritated her. 

So she forced herself to look up at his eyes and felt herself tense as she realized how close they were. That felt... so strange. Eye contact sometimes is even worse than physical, she realized. Or maybe not worse, but just harder to bear. 

Then his gaze moved towards something behind her.

"Whoa, look there!"

Her gaze followed his eyes and she looked Taylor and Ben dancing together. They were smiling and chatting about something. They were very close to each other, what made Ashlyn wonder how her and Aiden looked from the different point of view. 

"By the way, why did you dress up so... different?"

"Different?"

"Y'know, Doc Martens, black beads... All you're missing are black lines under the eyes and a cross in your ear."

He snorted with laughter.

"So?"

"You look bad", she smirked.

"I am bad. Haven't you noticed that I paint my nails black?" 

"It doesn't mean anything yet."

"...do you want me to do the eyelines?"

"And do you want to be a gangster?"

He winked. 

"All for you."

She rolled her eyes. How did it happen that he was flirting with her?!

"So, a challenge? You're wearing the eyelines for the, let's say, next two weeks."

"Okay, but I can call you Pookie Wookie Cookie Pie all this time."

"Ugh. I'd even prefer Mrs. Clark." she said before she bit her tongue. "Erm, I mean- This is terrible itself, but Pookie Wookie is even worse, ya know."

She blushed and there was no way Aiden wouldn't notice. Besides, his smile spoke for itself.

"So, what would you rather?"

"Eh, I think 'Pookie Wookie Something' is a bit less embarrassing."

"You're welcome", he laughed.

For the next minute they danced, looking at each other in silence. Ashlyn tried to relax, but somehow it wasn't easy when she felt Aiden's breath on her cheeks and his arms around her waist.

"Umm, Ashlyn", he said quietly at one point.  

"Yeah...?" she held her breath.

"I... have to... tell you something. I..." he stopped, blushing, and she realized her heart was beating at least twice as fast as normal. 

No. 

Aiden, don't. 

Don't tell me...  

"...I owe you cinnamon rolls." 

"What?" for a moment it didn't dawn on her what he had just said.

"I owe you cinnamon rolls. I promised to buy them for you after school for five days, right? And then I twisted my ankle." 

"Oh. I completely forgot about that." 

He smiled. 

"Lucky I didn't." 

She smiled back. 

She felt relieved. And - even thought she didn't want to admit it in front of herself - dissapointed. She expected something... different. Although she didn't really want to wonder about what she expected. 

Well. 

Fuck it.

Forget about problems, about everything else. 

Now there was just her and Aiden. 

She remembered how she was afraid at first that she liked touch contact with him. And now she didn't give a shit. 

They were friends. 

And it was okay. 

She slowly put her head on his shoulder and felt his arms tighten. It gave her a shiver, but it felt good.

Warm.

Safe.

She always felt this way close to him - and now she knew that meant they were good friends. Just a few months ago, she wouldn't have allowed herself to be so close to anyone other than her parents. And now she was dancing, hugged to Aiden, not caring about any boundaries.

It's funny how quickly things can change. 

And who said that changes are bad?

________________

Hey Pookies Wookies Cookies Pie 🤭❤️✨

Key question: do you wanna part 3 or next chap? →

Fun fact about Belgian Song if you doesn't know it: 

In Poland this is called Belgijka. T' Smidje is there the most popular party song ever. Almost everyone knows the dance steps and can recognize this song from the first sounds. This is simple but very tiring, ya know, jumping for three minutes... 😏

My record was dancing it probably 10 times in a row. But believe me, the Belgijka is my favorite memory from every camp and party. 

Even thought everyone knows it, the version with changing pairs is very confusing and funny. Here's the video lol

Pathetic 🤭🤣