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Chloe remembered the day Sam had asked her to help her out with her dancing lessons like it was yesterday.
She’d been so stressed Chloe had half-expected her to blink herself out of existence before she could even ask — Chloe already knew, of course, even though she’d been trying hard not to, and she had been going to say yes — but she’d managed to stutter the words out, her cheeks a burning red that Chloe had found herself thinking of later.
(Cute, she had thought.)
“I… I was wondering if — that is, if you don’t mind,” Sam had asked, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt and her eyes fixed downward, “if you wouldn’t mind helping me with… Something. Dancing. It’s something Doctor Bright suggested,” she had hastened to add, her voice bright and eager, and Chloe had smiled.
“Of course I’ll help,” she’d said, before Sam could even go into explaining how Doctor Bright thought this might help her anchor herself into this time as well as ease her nerves.
She was reminded of those moments very clearly now though, as Sam stood stiffly two feet away from her as the instructor in the video guided them through the first steps of a valse.
“Just breathe,” Chloe said with a breezing laugh. “I won’t judge you even if you step on my feet.” She winced. “Sorry, I don’t know if you meant for me to know that.”
“It’s fine,” Sam replied with a slightly wry smile. “I know you can’t exactly help it.”
Chloe grinned back thankfully, and stepped away to start the video over again.
When she came back and opened her arms for Sam, Sam stepped in with a slight smile, and she was no longer as tense.
It was fun, Chloe had to admit. They had only done this a handful of times, trying out different styles of dances in Sam’s living-room, cleared of furniture for the occasion, but it had been fun every time.
Sam was easy to be around, and Chloe liked her.
There didn’t need to be anything more to it — except that Chloe liked Sam’s smile too, and the way her laughter sounded when she missed a step and almost stumbled off her feet.
She liked the bit-off curses Sam didn’t let out when she hit her elbows against a wall trying to spin she wasn’t ready for, and she liked the way Sam seemed to know so much about people and history, sometimes randomly dropping bits of information from another time in conversation.
Which was how they had ended up picking a valse for this week’s lesson — Sam had seen a ball once, and she wanted to dance like that.
It had been a lot of fun already, but the valse was a partnered dance, really, and that felt… different.
It was a little hard to focus, Chloe reflected wryly, when your partner made your heart race constantly.
“You’re sure you don’t mind leading?” Sam asked, drawing Chloe out of her musing.
Chloe blinked and shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “Oh, no, I’ve told you, it’s fine. But we can always switch if you’d prefer,” she hasted to add.
Sam’s cheeks darkened adorably, and Chloe’s foolish heart fluttered. “I’m fine with this if you are,” she replied, and it seemed true this time. She was certainly more relaxed, at least.
They started dancing again, slowly performing circles around the room to the low voice of their YouTube instructor. They didn’t speak, but it didn’t really feel like it — somehow, Chloe felt like they’d been chatting for hours.
Chloe suddenly jerked back her left foot with a hiss and Sam mumbled a mortified “Sorry” that made Chloe giggle even though she was currently hopping on one foot.
“It’s fine,” she replied, waving Sam’s concern away. Already, she could barely feel any pain anymore. “Lucky we’re both barefoot in here,” she offered with an easy grin.
“You’re sure?” Sam asked, biting her lip and frowning. “We can stop if you need to.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure.” She put her feet back down and wiggled her toes, a clear ‘See?’ sign that made Sam smile.
She took Sam’s hand again and moved back into position expectantly, and Sam followed her with a fond huff.
“This is nice,” Sam said in a sigh a few moments later.
Chloe grinned. “It is.” She nudged their toes together. “As nice as one of your fancy balls?”
Sam huffed out a laugh, her eyes shining with mirth as she shook her head. “The people there definitely knew how to dance better than us,” she said.
“They were probably pretending,” Chloe retorted with a smile. “I’m sure they were stepping on each other’s feet all the time.”
Sam hummed. “You know what? You might be right. I wasn’t exactly watching their feet.” She laughed, and Chloe’s heart swelled.
I want to kiss her.
The thought, sweet and half-formed and yet somehow so very clear, rising above everything else, took Chloe by surprise and she tripped forward, half-stumbling into Sam’s arms, who let out a surprised gasp.
“Oh,” she said, stepping back. “Oh.”
Sam’s darkened cheeks suddenly made more sense.
She wants to kiss me, Chloe thought, giddy with disbelief, and then, staring into Sam’s concerned eyes, she thought, I want that too.
She was leaning in before either thought had really registered.
Sam’s lips were soft and warm, but for a heartwrenching and endless second, they didn’t move — and then, Sam kissed her back.
When she pulled back, it felt like centuries had gone past, and yet also like no time at all.
“Sorry,” Chloe blurted out.
Sam’s eyes went wide and she rocked on her heels. “What for?”
“I, erm, read your mind again,” she confessed, her cheeks warm.
But Sam only huffed out another laugh, her eyes warm and kind. She licked her lips. “Well, if this where you reading my mind gets us, I can’t say I mind it.”
And she wasn’t lying, not even a little bit, Chloe realized, half-dumbstruck by it.
“Oh,” she said, her heart feeling suddenly too big for her chest, and then she leaned in to kiss Sam again.