Catch me

22:56 Juh 0 Comments

Summary: AU. I need you to catch me when I jump.
Notes: They always look better in my mind because I can see the action. Also, what I know of dancing is what I saw inSave the Last Dance and Step Up (the first one). And blame those photosets of Maisie dancing.

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"Hey! Silent Guy, hey!"

Gendry looked up from his book and saw the small ballerina in the stage waving at him. He looked around to be sure if she was talking to him.

"Yes, I'm talking to you, there's no one else here. Can you help me?"

"Uh, okay."

He put his book down and turned off the iPod. Getting to the stage, Gendry couldn't help but feeling extremely awkward in front of the small girl, tall and well-built as he was.

Gendry used to sit at one of the chairs in the auditorium for long hours after his classes to study. His house wasn't the best place in the world to be in peace. The small ballerina came to dance every day (practicing for the oncoming audition, probably; he had seen the posters anouncing it all around campus) and they have this unspoken agreement to ignore to each other. She would put her iPod in the dock and dance to classic songs Gendry didn't know the name and he would sit on some chair, throw his backpack on another, put his headset on to muffle her music, open his books and notebooks and study. They didn't even nodded at each other. But now he was there, in front of her.

"What can I do for you? You need me to carry something?"

"No." She looked nervous, like she was regretting asking for help. "Do you work out?"

He made a face at that. "Why?"

"How much weight can you lift?"

"Show me what you needed to be lifted and I tell if I can or not."

"Well, it's me. I need you to catch me when I jump."

Gendry opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking too much like a frowny fish, but without actually saying words.

"I explain. There'll a big presentation in a few months and I'm going to audition to be part of it."

"I've seen the posters announcing it."

"Good! Uh, I'm working on my coreography and I wanted to see if I should add some jumps to it. My partner couldn't be here today and I really need to know if I can make it work... The auditions start next week and I'm running out of time."

By the way she was twisting her hands, Gendry could tell she was incredibly nervous.

"But I'm not a dancer, I can't do your jumps..."

"Oh, no, you don't have to. Just catch me when I jump. Just stay here" she pushed him few steps back and walked to the other side of the stage. "and stop me from hitting the floor with my face. Think you can do that?"

Gendry didn't know why, but he nodded. She ran to him and he catch her in an embrace. She was really skinny, his arms went completely around her.

"That's... good. Is it your first time?"

"Helping a ballerina? You can bet." He looked up at her, leaning his torso back a bit to look at her face.

"You should have caught me with your hands, not your arms. I'm slipping, can you feel?" Oh, he could feel her body sliding slowly against his. And how well he could. She patted his shoulder and he put her down.

She took his hands and put them on her waist. He could feel the warmth of her skin through the fabric of her clothes.

"You have to hold me by my waist with your hands. Let's try?" He nodded. She put her hands on his shoulders. "1, 2, 3, now!" She gave an impulse and jumped and he held her in the air. She let go off his shoulders and moved her arms back and then up, leaning back slowly. Gendry put her down.

"Sorry, I was losing balance. We would both end up on the floor."

"It's okay, I should have prepared you. These shoes have good adherence to the stage?"

"I don't know." He slid his foot easily on the wooden floor. "I don't think so."

"Take them off. And your hoody too, it's tying up your arms. Come on."

"You are a demanding little thing, aren't you?" But he did as he was told. She grabbed his hood and shoes and place them on the corner of the stage, along with a large bag, that was probably hers.

"Yes, I am." She walked back at him. "Now, firm your feet on the floor, depart them a bit-" She pushed them lightly with her own foot. "-and straighten up your back. Yes, like this. Now, I'm going to push you. If your feet are well planted on the ground, I won't move you. If not, well, the floor is not so far away." His chuckle died quickly when he had to give a large step back to not lose his balance. "At least, you managed to avoid the floor." She said, with a smile.

He corrected his posture, remembering his judo lessons from all those years ago and motioned for her to try again. She didn't moved him this time and smiled, satisfied.

"Very good. It's a like a dance miracle."

"More like a memory miracle." He said, adding a 'nevermind' at her puzzled expression.

"Okay. Let's try again. Hold me by the waist." He nodded and she walked again to the other side of the stage. She ran to him and he hold her, higher this time. "Good. Now, I'm going to lean back again, so you, should do the same to keep us balanced."

The jumps were repeated for what looked like hours, evolving even to more elaborate moves. Gendry cursed mentally. What the hell was he doing? The small and demanding ballerina was doing things to him. He shouldn't be thinking of how warm her skin was or how he wanted to embrace her again. That was stupid! He was looking up, trying (failing in) not to see the curve of her breasts. He hated when girls accused all men of being driven by their dicks instead of their brains, but for him and in this particularly situation, he couldn't say those girls were wrong.

The alarm on his watch started sounding announcing it was time to go. She patted his shoulder and he put her down. She was smiling, looking incredibly happy with herself. "Oh, I'm going to add some jumps to my coreography, I have to."

Gendry turned off the alarm. "Look, I'd like to help you more, but I gotta go."

"Oh! Sure! Sorry, you always come here to study and I kept you busy all the time."

She was nervous again, her hands twisting.

"No, it was really cool. I kinda liked it." She smiled at that and he felt a flutter in his stomach.

"Hey, can we borrow the stage now?" They looked to the doors to see three people walking in, a guy and two girls. "Oh, and who are your new partner?"

Arya sighed. "He's not-"

"It's the Silent Guy!" shouted the girl with bright brown hair.

"Yes, it's him..."

"Silent Guy? You called me that earlier." Gendry turned to Arya, but it was the guy that answered.

"We see you here all the time, but you never speak, so we give you a nickname." He smiled. "Hope it's not a problem."

"No, it's okay, but my name is Gendry."

"Well, hi Gendry. Nice to meet you. I'm Loras, this is my sister Margaery and our friend, Sansa. Sansa is your small partner's sister."

"He is not my partner, he was just helping me! He doesn't even dance!"

Margaery looked from Arya to Gendry. "Not a dancer? Why are you always here, then?"

"It's peaceful here. A good place to study. Usually."

"And what do you study?" Asked the beautiful Sansa. So different from her sister: delicate face and voice, small smile, delicate pose. He wondered if they were actually related.

"Mechanical Engineering."

"Oh, all these muscles and brains too... Well done, little Arya!" Loras joked, much to Arya's discomfort.

"Shut up, Loras. I'm done, anyway, the stage is yours."

"Ah, don't be so grim, Arya. We're all friends." Said Margaery, placing a lock of Arya's hair behind her ear and resting her hand on the other girl's shoulder.

"No, you're more like my sister's friends." She moved her shoulder to get rid of Margaery's hand and walked to the corner of the stage where her bag and Gendry's shoes were.

"I'm sorry, but do we met before? You look familar." Gendry asked Loras.

"I don't think so, hotshot. I wouldn't forget a face like yours... Or arms."

"Give it a rest, Loras.", said Arya, coming back. She had put a hoodie over her dance clothes and handed Gendry his stuff. "You do that to everything: men, women, streetlamps, bottles of beer."

"Like everything in life, you only get good in being charming when you practice, darling. But of course you don't understand, you don't have a single drop of charm in this tiny body of yours..."

"Loras, enough. I've told you before to not talk like this to my sister."

"Okay! Jesus, what is this? Collective PMS?" He scoffed and walked to the stage."I'm going to warm up and you two should join me, we have a lot to create today."

"I'm sorry for him, Arya. You know how he is."

"I do, Margaery. That's why his insults never really affect me, I don't care enough to let them." She started walking away and Gendry followed her, awkwardly nodding to the other girls. He put his shoes on, grabbed his books and put them on his backpack, throwing it over the shoulder.

They were half-way out of the auditorium when Gendry turned around. "Hey, dude! I know where I've seen you before. It was in a picture. On my uncle's cellphone."

Loras stopped stretching and looked at him, his face serious.

"And who's your uncle?"

"Renly."

Loras swallowed. "So you are the Gendry. One of the nephews..."

"That's why he doesn't go to the family meetings anymore? Because you're together?"

"He's not ready yet, I think. To face the family. To tell."

Gendry nodded. "We miss him."

"I'll tell him that."

"Thanks."

He turned around and saw, surprised, that Arya was waiting for him. Outside the building, she asked him:

"So, it is a big deal that your uncle is gay?"

Gendry felt that the question was a test and smiled. "Not to me. My father would probably make some nasty, crude joke and them brush it off with a gulp of scotch. Uncle Stannis, I don't know. I have no idea what he thinks of the matter."

"Can't you just ask?"

"He's... out of reach. I don't know how to talk to him. Uncle Renly will tell the family when he's ready and I'll be there to support him. That's all I can do." He shrugged. She nodded. "Now, I have the impression that if I was against gays, you would beat me bloody..."

"Well, your impression is correct, I would kick your ass." She punched him playfully in the shoulder.

He laughed. "I don't doubt."

She smiled and waved a goodbye.

"Wait!" She turned and faced him. "I feel like we haven't introduce ourselves properly." He offered her his hand. "I'm Gendry."

"I'm Arya.", she replied, shaking his hand. In an impulse, she asked. "Will you come tomorrow?"

"I come everyday."

"So, same time?"

"It's a deal."

"Good. See you, then. Good bye, Gendry, the Engineer."

"Good bye, Arya, the Ballerina."

She smiled again as she walked away and the flutter in Gendry's stomach came back with full force.