AN: This was updated thanks to feedback that made me go "aww..." Glad some of you are enjoying this romance as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Though it makes me want a JC of my own, but... *sigh* LOL And yes, I wrote the song lyrics instead of snatching them from somewhere. **************************** Blindsided: Chapter Ten ************************* Laura was right, she wasn’t the best dancer in the world, but JC hadn’t exaggerated his own hard earned talents. In his arms she could have been a ballerina. They moved well together, seamlessly, and he was beaming from genuine please by the second song. “You know what I like best about you?” she asked as she broke their comfortable silence. He looked down at her in askance, for the first time noticing that she wasn’t wearing her glasses tonight. He usually didn’t notice them, just her gray eyes. She regarded him from a fringe of dark lashes and he would have sworn that they were silver in the dim lighting of the restaurant. “What do you like best about me? I’m eager to hear this one… Is it my charm? My voice? My good looks? I guarantee you that I’ve heard them all from someone.” Laura smiled primly and answered with the smile, though her voice was shy. “I like that you walk with me. You never make me run to keep up with you. You always shorten your stride so that you’re in step with me.” He stared at her in shock for a long moment and she blushed under his sudden appraisal. “You know,” he replied as he dipped her in a grand movement that left her dizzy, “that was actually a new one.” He brought her up to him and kissed her forehead before he could stop himself. “Thank you,” he said by way of explanation for the spontaneous show of affection, “I haven’t had such a sincere and touching compliment in a very long time.” “You very welcome but Jayce, please lay off the dips… I’m used to coffee not fine wine. I’m a little heady.” He frowned but then grinned boyishly, rakishly. “Then we’ll just have to request a slow song.” And before she could stop him they were dancing to the small orchestral quartet who had joined the piano for accompaniment where JC indeed had the gall to request a slow song. The quicker piece ended and the new more sedate piece began. “Relax,” he murmured as he held Laura closer so that they danced pressed against one another, her head resting against his chest because she was too short to reach his shoulder. He hummed softly under his breath, harmonizing with the wordless melody of the quartet, before he started to sing, creating a rhythm for the words that had been the mantra of his heart since Laura Danon had walked into their lives months ago and Joshua Chasez had learned what it was to truly fall in love. ‘I won’t ask you for forever, Just a moment in your arms, Would be enough to love you, Until the world falls…’ ‘I don’t deserve your heart, And this world doesn’t deserve you, You light rooms, Like you light my night…’ ‘I would be content with a kiss, Would treasure your lips, Don’t you know how beautiful you are? You give me purpose dear one…’ ‘You give me reason, You give me truth, You give me everything, I’d give anything if you gave me you…’ He trailed off, letting his voice die at the end of the chorus, wanting to finish the song that he woke and lived and dreamt to but not quite able to. He didn’t know if he was brave enough to sing of his love without knowing if there was ever a chance of her feeling the same way. Laura looked up at him. “That was beautiful Jayce. Absolutely beautiful. Is it for your new album?” He smiled again and reached up to brush a stray tendril of hair from her brow before allowing his palm to follow the right side of her face, stopping along the sweep of her jaw. He ached to trace her shoulder blades but returned his hand to her side where it tightened involuntarily. “Yeah,” he answered somewhat sadly, “its for my new album. Maybe I’ll sing the rest to you sometime.” “Sometime soon,” Laura said firmly as she leaned her head against his chest once more. JC held her as tight as he dared. “Sometime soon,” he affirmed, both to her, and himself. They danced until the restaurant closed, two friends who didn’t quite know how to be in love. Even if they had grown to love each other desperately. ************************************************************************ “I had a lovely time tonight, one of the best I’ve had in a long while. Well, not counting our coffee talks.” JC smiled at his shy Laura as he walked her to her room back at the hotel. He held her arm in his and was extra careful to walk exactly with her short stride. It was amazing how natural he found it. All of it. It was so easy to love her. It was funny because he felt like he was floating and he had the strongest urge to change into his pajamas and go running to his best friend and tell her all about the woman who had made him so happy. It was funny because they were one in the same and he had to restrain the impulse to barge into Laura’s room, drape himself across the bed, and analyze every detail of the evening. “I had a perfect night too. Thank you for giving it to me.” He debated for an instant and leaned down to brush his lips on her forehead again. JC felt her shiver but she didn’t protest the familiarity or regularity of the action. “Will you go out with me once in awhile, really go out, now that I’ve proven that you don’t have to have a horrible time?” He waited, blue eyes dark and hopeful. Laura beamed. “Only if you promise we’ll still have coffee.” JC snorted. “I hardly think that will be a promise I’ll be hard pressed to try to keep. I adore coffee just as much as you do. I’ll probably even have to drink extra to keep my word to security about punctuality. I don’t know how you do it,” he grumbled good naturedly. She shook her head ruefully. “It’s all in the genes my dear Mr. Chasez. I have a wonderful internal alarm clock.” He raised both brows. “Among other attributes…” He left her blushing and went up to his own empty room, evading Chris and Justin with skill born from years of practice, the busy bodies. That night JC dreamt of Laura Danon and a world of possibilities. Laura was already making him into a better, more punctual, man. It was the start of a beautiful relationship, JC just knew it, even if they still had some details- like all of them- to work out. In the end it was just technicalities though. He hoped.