𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 / 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 ☼

Originally posted by laurens-german

jackson couldn’t help but smile at her laughter, glad he was able to get her mind off of things for a moment. then came the but. he knew it would come, especially with how… sudden this all was. feeling her hand take his, he gave her a smile, gently kissing her hand and nodding his head. then he laughed at her comparison. mormons on a date. not one he had heard before, but he knew exactly what she meant. “sure thing, chadwick. we can take things slow, like mormons or whatever.” taking her hand, he spun her before pulling her back to him, her back to his torso. “i do have one question,” he breathed into her ear, his hands on her hips. “when we’re dancing, do we have to go back to elementary classes, making sure we’re always six feet apart or whatever?” he moved her hips to the beat of the music from inside before pushing her forward slightly and spinning her to face him, throwing her arms into the air before placing his arms around her waist. “i’m all for moving slow, but that could seriously effect the dances we’ve got coming up.” he winked at her with a shit-eating grin on his face, knowing full well that wasn’t what she was talking about, but glad he got an excuse to dance with her, instead of against her. 

jackson paused at the door as she started, and then she didn’t stop. he was jealous of gabe (though now he wasn’t sure what his name was) because he had the opportunity to do everything jack wanted to do to summer. as he listened, his eyebrows furrowed, and he only realized it when she brought it up and he immediately tried to stop it, running his fingers across the lines before he turned fully towards her and took a step forward, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her, mainly because he wanted too, but also because he knew she’d stop talking.  slowly pulling back, he ran a finger under her eye, catching some of the tears before brushing the hair behind her ear. “summer, I…” he was going to say how he couldn’t believe she thought so low of him, but now wasn’t the time or place.  “I’m jealous because you already have my attention. you don’t need some guy whose name you don’t even know to do that.” he gave her a small smile before taking a small step back, not wanting to overwhelm her with what he knew was already an overwhelming situation. hell, he was overwhelmed, so he could only imagine how she was feeling. “i don’t want anything from you, nothing that you haven’t already given me. i want a shot, yeah. i want to give us a try. i also know you’ve been through a lot, i get it. i mean… you’ve told me, so i understand there’s a lot there. and if it takes a lifetime for you to be able to trust i won’t treat you like those other guys, then fine. i’ll wait.”  taking a breath, he shrugged his shoulders, “besides, you can trust me.” he hesitated a moment before softly chuckling, “i don’t have any friends to brag to, anyway. besides you. and we can’t risk inflating that ego of yours.” he winked, hoping he could at least get a small smile from her. 

summer seemed happy at first, receptive, despite here thinking at first he was trying to rub the win in. the exact opposite, though. he was tired of the constant battles, of them always fighting each other and trying to one up each other. “a… jerk? what i just said… what?” before he could get an answer out of her, she was pulling him to the back patio, him willingly following because what the hell? she thought he was a jerk? that certainly wasn’t what he meant for her to think, and he thought his words were sweet. they made it to the patio, which was, as suspected, empty. before he could even think about asking her something, she was going off in typical summer fashion.  he listened to her words, at first incredibly confused and sad, but then he was angry. he held back the anger, though it was difficult. “summer, you distrust me… people, so much that you think…” he crossed his arms, let them dropped, crossed them again before letting them hang at his side, shoving his hands into his pockets. “i’m not playing with you. i’m not saying this because you lost or because of some stupid dance. i did it because i saw you with some guy, and i hated that you were dancing with him and not me. i hated the thought of him touching you, or kissing you, or…” shaking his head, he shrugged his shoulders. “if you really think i’m that awful of a person, then fine. that’s not the case though, summer.” he tried to keep his head from bowing, but it hurt. it hurt that she genuinely thought that low of him. “some day you’re gonna open up. and i’ll be here, waiting.”

while he expected summer to go with things and dance with him, he didn’t expect her to kiss him. he returned it, of course, a smile forming on his face as she broke it off.  he gently let her feet touch the ground and let her step back. her words left him… stunned.  she spun and left the crowd, the music still going on and a new duo engaging in what he knew wouldn’t be as good of a battle as theirs was. jack had people asking him questions, gathering around him but he pushed his way through the crowd and followed after summer, gently grabbing her hand and pulling her back, “summer, wait.”  he let her hand go and allowed her some space if she really did want to leave, but he felt that he needed to explain. “that wasn’t what that was about. sure, at first, kicking your ass was all I had in mind, but…” he took a small step forward, keeping his hands to himself, “you bring something out of me. something that is… competitive, yeah, but also..” jack shrugged his shoulders, “summer, I’m attracted to you. to your stubbornness, your shortness, your… body, the way that you move yourself, the way you control yourself and you know who you are. you challenge me, you push me, sometimes beyond my limit. but summer… “ he rolled his eyes, now feeling like an idiot. too late to go back now. “i like you.”

Cheers erupted around them as her moves got a little lower to the ground, a little faster, and a lot more arousing. She used him as a prop, which opened up a whole other door for them, and worked out perfectly for him.  As the music took on a slower beat, Jack too a hold of Summer’s hand a pulled her to him quickly, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her from pulling back or leaving.  The room got quiet as everyone watched, but his words were only for her.  “Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses, Chadwick. Don’t move the beat, let the beat move you.”  He gave her a smug grin as he spun her out, letting her hand slip out of his as he moved into the dance. similar to her, he moved around her, slowly beginning to incorporate her into his dance more and more as the beat of the song picked up a little more. he manipulated her body with his moves, gentle enough that she could step back if she wanted too, but he knew she wouldn’t. that would be a sign of weakness, and god forbid she show that.  his last move spun her up slightly, one of her legs over his arm as he slowly let her foot touch the ground, their faces mere centimeters apart. the music continued around them, the crowd going wild for a seemingly mediocre dance that was meant purely for her.  “how was that for something?”

jack laughed as summer continued to dance, not even slightly phased by this move.  she wasn’t one to back down, even when someone got in her way. he liked that about her. “well, maybe if you called them by their name, they’d listen to you.”  he took his step back, knowing full well that, as the music began to change, the battle was just beginning. at ballo, everything was a dance battle, but the battles only officially began when the lights got a little dimmer, the music changed pace constantly, and only snippets were played, usually 30-45 seconds long. rarely were they in the middle of the bar, and this was no different. her dancing was impressive, he was the first to admit that. he could hold his own, however, and was rarely one to lose a battle. as her dance came to an end, he walked in, feigning to brush some dust off her shoulder. “that’s cute, but it’s 2021 now, Summer. it’s time to freshen those moves up a little bit.” bowing slightly, he took a step back, starting his battle. 

jack was having the time of his life, dancing various battles, choosing various partners, enjoying what he enjoyed most away from the computer. he had seen summer come in with gabe, laughing with how awkward it already looked. additionally, a circle formed around the two, gabe being probably the clumsiest dancer he’d seen outside of the littles’ dance studio. “yo, jack, careful where you’re dancing.” a buddy of his raised his voice over the music, bringing jack back to where he was. “sorry, man.” his buddy nodded towards summer, who was now alone as gabe walked away, jack knowing this was his moment. “how’s it going over here, summer? seems you aren’t quite the teacher you thought you were.” he smiled, joking only slightly. 

@summerdcys​

“okay....maybe you were right about the whole dancing thing.” summer said as she tried to dance with her date....who’s name she could not remember for the life of her. garrett? graham? oh well, but he was right when he wasn’t much of a dancer. no she couldn’t exactly dance with him during one of the dance offs, but she could teach him something...and from the corner of her eye, she saw the one who she secretly hoped would be here. jackson. just as she had planned. she grinned to herself when she saw him looking over “let’s try this...” she said to gavin, putting his hands aside, turning her back to him, before putting his hands on her hips again. “follow me.” she said, moving her hips to the music, for him to follow her, and then immediately making eye contact with jackson, giving him a smirk.

right, not partners. how many times had they made that threat to each other? more than he could count. and the amount of times they’d followed through? zero. zip. zilch. nada. taking her phone, he looked at the person, seeing his responses as they came in. “gabe says he can’t dance. i’m sure you’ll be fine.” he winked at her before handing the phone back and crossing his arms. “what’s that special place? wouldn’t happen to be the place go every weekend, would it?” they’d gone a few times before, this gnarly dance club where legit dance battles and competitions happened. saturday was his time to let loose, not follow anyone’s choreo besides his own. of course that’s where she’d take this new boy. 

jack rolled his eyes as he stopped in his tracks, raising an eyebrow as he watched her.  “summer, you asked for us tot cut it short, then insulted me. you… I…” sighing, he crossed his arms as she pulled out her phone. a… date? he wasn’t surprised that. she could just call someone up on the spot. she was attractive, sexy, intelligent, hard-working. he gave her shit and got annoyed,  but he would be the last to deny anyone would be lucky to have her in their life. “wow, real mature, summer.  sure, go on your date, get exhausted and have just as hard of a time tomorrow.  that is fine by me. “  he stared at her, nodding down at her phone, waiting to see if she’d actually do it. 

jackson laughed. full blown laughed.  “i don’t care what you do in your spare time, summer. but when it effects me and my livelihood, then i have a problem.” standing up, jackson walked over to where summer was sitting and grabbed his bag, putting it on. “just forget it. i’ll ask for a new partner tomorrow or i’ll just make it a solo. i don’t need my time wasted by a prissy cheerleader who thinks she can get away with anything by batting her eyelashes.” he was a sucker when she did that, but she didn’t need to know.  was he being harsh, probably, but she was being… exactly how she always was and being the same girl he had fallen for years ago.

summer was… less than usual. In almost every sense of the statement.  Not less beautiful, and not less annoying, but less whiney. he was back in their starting position, about to hit play on the music when he noticed summer wasn’t next to him and rather, on the floor across the studio.  loosing at her, he raised an eyebrow. ahh, there’s the whiney part of her that he didn’t particularly enjoy.  then she insulted him. alright, he spoke too soon. she wasn’t less anything. “really, summer? what, you drink too much less night? a little hungover? if you just had some water in between your drinks..” he rolled his eyes as he leaned against a post and slid to the ground, shrugging his shoulders. “if you don’t care, whatever. you can leave. but for the record, you’re not good. at least not to your normal standards. maybe you’re spreading yourself a little thin…”

no. she was not attracted to jack. she was not attracted to jack. she was not attracted to jack......ok that’s just what she had to keep telling herself. but she couldn’t help the closeness between the two of them, when they were set to be dance partners for class. which they were currently practicing. summer hella hungover, but still trying. “listen...” she said in the studio, as she went for her waterbottle on the floor to drink. “i cheered a whole game yesterday....and came home late this morning....anyway we can cut this short? i know you need work...but i’m good right?”