Two unlikely pairs

Ashley was pissed. She'd gone to the bathroom for five minutes, and now her sister was dancing with her boyfriend, her best friend was dancing with a prospective boyfriend, her other best friend was dancing with her own prospective boyfriend who was also her ex-boyfriend... fuck. Everyone was having fun but her. Everyone was probably going to get laid but her. She was proud of her body, she'd worked hard to balance fitness and curves, but watching Brandon go googly-eyed over Hannah's giant tits? That sucked.

The music boomed, and the bass rattled her spine. Then she remembered she was leaning on the front door.

“Lisa?” Zack's ex stood outside in a lavender blouse, black skirt, and a pair of flats. She couldn't have traveled far. “I'm so sorry, come in! I didn't know you were gonna be here!”

“Chloe invited me. Love your dress!” The two girls hugged. “Wow, Ashley, I haven't seen you in forever. Was it...?”

“That party that got raided last summer?”

“That's it!” Lisa laughed as she stepped inside. “Brandon was mixing us those awful cocktails. Where is the big lug?”

She followed Ashley's scowl to her boyfriend, and his drooling gaze to Hannah, then her sultry eyes over to Zack, whose his hands were practically inside Heather Ravers' dress.

“Men,” Lisa muttered.

“Preach it,” Ashley snarled.

The two girls looked at each other. They'd never been close. They really only knew each other through their boyfriends. But now...

Lisa looked for an icebreaker and found one across the room. “So who else is here? I don't recognize that blondie tearing up the floor.”

Kendra beamed, breathing hard, and Kurt felt sweat beading on his forehead. They slumped against the wall.

“Aaaah!” She threw her head back and cheered. The weight of the world had flown from her shoulders. “Oh man, thank you. I've always wanted to learn how to dance.”

“You picked it up fast. A good partner made all the difference in my case, too.” He puffed out his chest, and she rolled her eyes.

“I don't believe it, you must be a natural. Girlfriend?”

...This question shouldn't be so hard to answer. There really hadn't been one after Andrea, had there? He looked back on past dates, “Come over and we'll watch a movie,” wink wink, bump bump, that ended with minutes to spare before the next girl arrived. It was weird.

It was weird he'd ever been comfortable being that guy.

“I'm not really a girlfriend kind of person,” he said slowly.

Her face screwed up as if she wanted to laugh but suspected the joke was on her. “Really.”

Aw shit. “Don't give me that!” He blushed despite himself, and Kendra's resolve failed. “You know what I mean.”

“I really don't,” she giggled. “Please, explain it to me.”

“Well, her name was Tabitha, and she taught me how to navigate the dance floor, but in the bedroom...”

“Ah, so you were enjoying the benefits of friendship.”

“Every one of them, as often as I could."

“And those were...?”

“Tango. Pasodoble. Lindy hop when we were feeling nasty.”

Alone in the corner, Shawn looked self-conscious and small. Without Kendra he had no one to connect with either, and when he caught Kurt's eye, he made a rude sign.

“What about him? Your boyfriend never takes you dancing?”

Kendra's head jerked around, then examined her ankle boots.

“Oh, um. He's my ex, technically, but we. We're still close.” Kendra faltered. “But we go to different schools. And his schedule is always super busy, so he skypes me when he has a couple minutes free, and, you know, it's hard to go out or plan too far ahead when he might want to...”

Eventually Kurt offered, “You must've met other guys in college,” but she shook her head.

“Never had the time for it. Doesn't matter, really. I don't know how to talk to guys.”

“Not true. You're talking to me, and you're doing just fine.”

They hugged, her arms wrapped around his neck, enjoying the hum of another body against hers.

...Of course I am, Kendra realized. Have we talked about anything else this whole time? Her sly grin surprised Kurt.

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

Wolfish fangs flashed behind his lips.

“Are you feeling seduced?”

Then he winked, broke the hug, and walked away.

Shawn immediately filled the space he left behind. “Close your mouth. You look like an idiot. What the hell's gotten into you?”