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it’s 4:32am. darnell and nene both lay in bed together, unable to sleep. nene’s back was against darnell’s chest, his arm wrapped around her torso, keeping her close.
“nell,” nene called softly. darnell hummed in response. “remember that time you mentioned your mom put you in dance classes when you were younger?”
darnell chuckled. “yeah, why?”
nene laced her fingers between darnell’s. “do you still remember how to dance?”
“yeah?”
nene turned her body around so she could face darnell.
“can we do one of those, like, ballroom dances? like in the movies, i think they’re called waltzes. do you know how to do those?”
“yeah, sure, let’s do it.”
nene squealed as climbed out of bed, darnell following shortly after. the former turned on the lamp on the nightstand, making the room dimly lit. “wait, i got a good song…hopefully you can do something with it.” nene said while grabbing her phone.
while she was finding the song, darnell examined how much room they had to dance. there was about maybe 6 or 7 feet of space between their bed and the wall, and enough room to go back and forth.
darnell then remembered nene mentioning how she wished she was a good dancer after he had mentioned his dance classes. she always found dancing really romantic, and dreamed of dancing with someone special to her.
interrupting darnell’s thoughts was the song that nene had selected.
“抱きしめあい くちびるかさね”
“床の上を ころがりまわる”
“まわりまわり 壁につきあたり”
“止まったとき 二人はつぶやく”
“死んでもいい 死んでもいい”
“i like this song,” nene smiled, turning to darnell. “i like the lyrics.”
nene was wearing one of darnell’s shirts, but she had cut off the hem of the collar so that, one, the shirt could naturally fall over her shoulder, and two, so that she could keep darnell’s shirt to herself. she also sported pink satin shorts with black polka dots. her short black hair was also let loose, not being put up by her usual pink headband.
darnell loved every version of nene, but he loved this version the most, the one that only he sees every night. she was just breathtaking.
and holy shit, did darnell want to light a million fires for nene right now.
nene started walking toward darnell, which caused him to snap back into reality and clear his throat out of (a little) embarrassment.
“shall we?” darnell reached and put his hand out. nene looked down at his hand and giggled, then looked back up to meet darnell’s gaze. nene smiled ear to ear as she accepted his hand.
at first, darnell was the lead, swaying nene here and there, and grabbing onto her when she was missing some steps.
when he noticed nene starting to get a little frustrated she wasn’t getting the dance, darnell twirled her around his arm, and slowly did a dip on her. “just follow my steps, okay? you’ll get the hang of it.” nene’s face was burning up. she gave darnell a subtle nod before he lifted her back up.
the music continued playing; darnell guided nene through a series of turns. this helped her, since nene was able to follow his lead with less effort than before.
both of their laughter mingled with the music as they navigated the rest of the dance. there was a shared joy in the dance, making the room feel lighter despite the dim lighting.
they moved as one now, their bodies matching the melody of the song. each step was a silent exchange of trust and love. and in that moment, it did feel like they were in a ballroom, dancing a waltz, like in the movies.
as the music was fading out, darnell stepped back and did a subtle bow, putting his hand out. nene giggled and took his hand. darnell pulled her into the final pose.
“肌と肌が はなれるときは”
“心まで はなれる気がする”
“指先でも さわっていたいの”
“梦の中で ささやく言叶も”
“死んでもいい 死んでもいい”
they held each other close, even after the song was finished.