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Seth pulled him up, walking backward, eyes on Nick as the crowed parted behind him. “Then I guess you’ll be giving me a teaser of the Nick Experience.”
Mouth dry, Nick could only nod.
Seth led them away from most of the other dancing couples and found an unoccupied corner of the dance floor. Unsure if he was supposed to lead or let Seth have the honor, he stood awkwardly, hoping for some last-second inspiration. The choice was taken from him when Seth positioned Nick’s hand on his own waist. Seth thenmirrored the position with his own hand on Nick’s hip, bringing them close together with only a whisper between them. He clasped Nick’s other hand, capturing it between them, his thumb brushing the skin of Nick’s palm.
“Show me what you got, Nicky,” Seth whispered, and Nick thought the rising temperature had nothing to do with whoever had cranked the heater up to ninety degrees.
They danced. Here, in this little corner of the world, they danced. It wasn’t perfect, but then, Nick thought beautiful things didn’t always have to be. The truth was in the awkwardness, the imperfection. It was in the way their knees knocked together, in the way Nick stepped on Seth’s feet a time or two. About to apologize, Nick stopped when Seth leaned forward. “It’s all right,” he said, mouth near Nick’s ear. “You’re doing fine. You got this, Nicky.”
He didn’t know how much he needed to hear it until this very moment, and even though it was just a dance, it gave Nick courage. It gave Nick hope, something to hold on to, and there, on the tip of his tongue: those three little words like a lighthouse guiding him home.
They danced for what felt like hours, everything else falling away.
Perfect? Never.
Good? Always.
The song ended.
Seth grinned at him as he stepped back. And because he was the best sort of person, he bowed low in front of Nick, one hand behind his back, the other flourishing in front of him. Nick laughed—not at him, never at him. He laughed because he was happy.
A new song started, another infectious pop travesty where the bass rumbled through the floor and walls, crawling along Nick’s sweat-slicked skin. Seth was pulled away by Jazz, and she shouted in joy as he spun her out expertly, their arms snapping. Before Nick could react, Gibby stood before him, a devilish smile on her face. “Let’s see what you can do, Nicky,” she said, taking her hands in his.
It wasn’t like it was with Seth. The beat was faster, insistent,and Nick wasn’t sure what to do with his arms or legs—especially when Gibby started moving like liquid smoke, something Nick would never be able to emulate, even with years of practice. But instead of worrying about how he looked, he let go. He raised his arms above his head, shimmying his hips, much to Gibby’s delight.
Then she was gone, and Jazz was in front of him. She put her hands on his shoulders, and Nick blushed furiously when she slid down his front, dropping low before rising back up slowly. She turned her back to him, her hair in his face as they moved together. Nick placed his hands on her deadly hips, feeling them as they swayed from side to side. There were others around them, the dance floor now crowded, but Nick paid them no mind, his sole focus on the way Jazz felt against him, Gibby and Seth in their periphery, Seth’s hands around the back of Gibby’s neck, hers on his waist. They all bumped together, moved together, dancing, dancing, and in the back of Nick’s mind, a thought like a comet shooting through his head—
We’ll always stand together. No matter what. Nothing can stop us. Not now, not ever.
Another slow song. He danced with Gibby, neither of them speaking.
Another fast song. He danced with Jazz, her eyes sparkling.
And then Seth was in front of him again, and Nick knew it was time. It had to be. It was now or never. Seth deserved it. He deserved everything good, and if Nick could add to that, if he could be part of it, then he had to give Seth his all.
He was nervous, yes, but it was agoodkind of nervous, the kind where the butterflies in his stomach felt like they were on fire. He was burning from the inside out, and it had nothing to do with Extraordinaries or Pyro Storm. It was because of Seth.
Nick took a deep breath, letting it out slow as he and Seth swayed from side to side.
He said, “Seth?”
Seth smiled quietly at him. “Yeah?”
“I need to tell you something. Something big.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
Seth shrugged. “Okay.”
Nick nodded. His palms were sweating, and his breath caught in his chest. They stopped moving. He looked at Seth, standing in the middle of the dance floor, his bow tie slightly askew, his glasses fogged up from the heat. Now, now,now.
Nick squared his shoulders. He held his head up high. He looked at Seth and said, “I l—where’s my dad going?”
Seth blinked. “What?”
Nick frowned as he looked beyond Seth, watching as his father practically ran from the cafeteria, heading for the doors that led further into the school. Dad looked as if he had his phone pressed against his ear, but Nick couldn’t be sure. It was probably nothing. Cap, maybe. Or Officer Rookie. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t supposed to matter. Tonight was aboutthem, not anything else.
