(Not So) Dirty Dancing PrussiaxReader

PrussiaxReader

    Gilbert Beilschmidt sat sulking on his porch as he waited for one of his only friends to pick him up for (as she described it) a “fun” day out. He was definitely not in the mood to be out having fun, but he couldn’t tell _____ no. They had been childhood friends despite his loner personality, and he had recently started to develop different feelings for her. He couldn’t quite place what this new consciousness was, but it wasn’t normal for him. Gilbert, angry that he could not understand these sensations, got up and began pacing in front of his house. Where the hell is she anyway? Gilbert thought to himself. She said she’d be here ten minutes ago!

    As soon as he finished the thought, _____ pulled up alongside the curb in front of his house and got out.

    “Hey, Gil,” she sang happily.

    “You’re late,” he snapped.

    “Traffic, Gilbert. Traffic,” _____ said matter-of-factly. “Now quit complaining and come on,” she said, glancing at her watch.

    Gilbert complied, albeit a bit reluctantly. “So where exactly are we going?” he asked.

    “You’ll see! Just be patient, Gil,” _____ said, trying like hell not to let her usual teasing tone escape with her words. She knew Gilbert was angry and didn’t want to piss him off any more. She felt the need to tread lightly around him lately. No, it wasn’t his massive ego-- she was used to that. He seemed much moodier as of late; like, he was perpetually annoyed at the world. “Please, just... Try to lighten up a bit? You’re so cute when you’re upset, but not this upset. For me?”

    Gilbert scoffed. He wanted to lighten up, but he was confused about his feelings. As soon as he had seen her car pull up he felt butterflies dancing around in his stomach and his pale face began to heat up. He didn’t understand why.

    _____ sang along with a song playing on the radio as she drove away from Gilbert’s house. It was a love song, but he wasn’t sure what it was called or who it was by. As Gilbert listened to _____ belt out the lyrics he couldn’t help but think about how silvery and pretty her voice was. Again, he felt a small blush come across his face. He looked out his window, embarrassed and annoyed. Someone as awesome as me shouldn’t be thinking that, he reminded himself. I like being alone. _____’s voice is nice. So what? Why am I blushing? I’m way too awesome to blush.

    _____ broke Gilbert’s train of thought. “So, Gilbert, how do you feel about ballroom dancing?” she asked in a sing-song voice.

    “Sounds lame,” he said pouting. And that’s when it hit him. “Wait, you don’t mean…”

    _____ giggled. “Yep~ I scheduled a private ballroom dancing lesson for us. I figured it might cheer you up a bit since you’ve been so agitated lately.”

    “You didn’t!” Gilbert practically yelled.

    “Oh, I did,” _____ said, laughing.

    He merely sighed in response.

    “Come on! It won’t be so bad. I bet you’re great at dancing anyway. You’re great at lot of things,” _____ said, almost wistfully. “Remember when we used to play sports together and stuff? You were always so much better than me. I really admired you for that...” she said, though more to herself than to Gilbert.

    Gilbert was taken by surprise, but tried not to let it show. “Obviously you admired me. I’m awesome!” he said, not all that convincingly.

     _____ just chuckled. “You are, Gil.”

    Gilbert was silent the rest of the way to the dance studio. _____ continued to sing with the radio, knowing just about every song. Again, he found himself thinking about her voice. Then his mind wandered to the dance lesson. How did she even come up with that? Will that really cheer me up? I doubt it, he thought. I guess I should try to be a little happier for _____, if anything. After all, she probably is paying a lot for this lesson, he found himself reasoning.

    A few minutes later, the two friends arrived at the studio. _____ parked and hopped out of her car excitedly. “Come on, Gil~ We don’t want to be late!”

    Gilbert stepped out of the car, sighing. “Yeah, yeah.”

    _____ ran to Gilbert and took his arm, dragging him to the front doors of the studio. Subconsciously, he opened the door for her.

    “Ah, Gilbert, you’re quite chivalrous today,” a familiar voice taunted the Prussian.

    “Roderich,” Gilbert sneered, acknowledging the Austrian man. “Of course someone as awesome as me would treat a lady right.”

    Roderich Edelstein chuckled. “How rude of me,” he said in a sarcastic tone. He then redirected his focus to _____, embracing her in his arms. “It’s been far too long, _____. I’m glad you took the time to set this up. I promise it’ll go smoothly, despite your friend’s… well, quirks,” Roderich said as he let go of her.

    “I can hear you, you know!” Gilbert said crossly.

    “I’m aware,” Roderich smirked. “Shall we begin?”

    “You’re the instructor?” Gilbert exclaimed.

    “Yes, dimwit. Why else would I be here? I find it rather amusing that Miss _____ kept you completely unaware of all this. I must say it’s absolutely entertaining.”

    _____ giggled.

    “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with,” Gilbert said, now fully aware of _____’s scheme. Of course she wouldn’t have told him the details-- if he had known Roderich was going to be the instructor it would have been painfully obvious that the lessons wouldn’t cost a cent, and the money was one of the biggest reasons he considered going. Plus, _____ knew that Roderich and Gilbert weren’t exactly… best friends. Well played, _____, he thought.

    The lesson was dry at first, as Roderich insisted on providing some background information on the origins of ballroom dancing and things of the like. _____ seemed content, but Gilbert was nearly bored to death. As Roderich was almost finished with his lecture, Gilbert blurted out, “Can we just dance already? This is so freaking boring.”

    Roderich merely snickered at Gilbert’s childish behavior. “I suppose, if you’re ready,” he said, still laughing a bit. “Now, _____ has visited me here before and knows some basic steps. If you would, please just watch her and I to start. I’ll let you take over as soon as you think you’ve got a fundamental idea of what we’re doing here.”

    “You’ve been here before?” Gilbert asked, suddenly disappointed. Why is that disappointing? Who cares? he thought, comforting himself from the foreign feelings.

    _____ smiled apologetically. “Actually, just once. I know you’re naturally good at things like this and I’m… not. I just wanted to be sure I wouldn’t make a fool of myself and step all over your feet,” she said, her apologetic smile turning into a rather sheepish one. “Sorry, Gil.”

    Gilbert felt his face heat up. “N-no worries, _____. I just didn’t know,” he said stuttering ever so slightly. _____ grinned, realizing that Gilbert was slowly but surely coming around. He seemed much less hostile already, even with Roderich in his presence. She was pleased.

    “Now that everything’s cleared up, we’ll get started. Pay attention, Gilbert,” Roderich instructed.

    The Austrian man started by explaining the importance of posture and and describing several different positions. With _____’s help he demonstrated correct holds. From Roderich’s lecture Gilbert knew that ballroom dancing was often a social activity that in no way implied or encouraged dating or any physical contact (such contact is considered vulgar, Roderich minded them), but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed when Roderich held _____ in any dancing position. Gilbert tried to push away the nagging feeling, but he couldn’t. After a few more moments of instruction, Gilbert felt ready. He needed to get Roderich to stop touching _____.

    “I think I’ve got the gist of it now,” he said, allowing some of his discontent tone into his voice.

    “If you want,” Roderich said, stepping away from _____.

    Gilbert, relieved Roderich was letting him take over, quickly took his place in facing _____. “Like this, right?” he asked, holding her the way Roderich instructed.

    “Precisely,” the Austrian answered.

    “I told you he picks up on these things quickly,” _____ said to Roderich.

    Gilbert blushed a bit. “It’s pretty simple,” he said. “Watch,” he said, suddenly smirking. He looked deeply into _____’s e/c eyes and she gave a slight nod in approval. Gilbert began leading her around the studio, expertly applying the simple steps Roderich taught him and even throwing in some improvisation. “Not so hard,” he called out as he danced with _____, realizing he was happy for the first time in at least a month.

    Gilbert laughed as he spun _____ around the room, blocking out everything in the world besides him and his best friend. He glanced at the determined expression on her face and began laughing harder. No one in their right mind would ever try so hard for me, he found himself thinking, suddenly very aware of how grateful he really was for _____. He gazed into her eyes as their dancing slowed, and a light blush came across her face. At that moment, he felt the familiar sensation of butterflies in his stomach and began blushing himself. “_____,” he breathed as they stopped dancing.

    “Wow,” she said, catching her breath. “You’re fantastic!”

    Gilbert’s slight blush deepened. “Eh, thanks. That was fun,” he said, his voice trailing off.

    _____ seemed pleasantly surprised to hear that. “Really? Are you just saying that for my sake?”

    “No, I really did have fun. I enjoyed it even more because I was with you,” he said without taking the time to consider it. “I-I mean, uh-” he stuttered trying to cover up his previous statement.

    “He’s got a heart,” Roderich suddenly yelled, reminding them of his presence.

    “Shut up, prick,” Gilbert said, reverting back to his normal tone, annoyed at Roderich for ruining the moment. “Was that really necessary?”

    “Gil,” _____ started, “it’s no big deal-”

    Gilbert cut her off. “Seriously. I appreciate you did this for us, but you really don’t have to be a condescending asshole all the time.”

    “Speak for yourself,” Roderich said, pushing up his glasses.

    And that’s when it hit him. After a few long moments, Gilbert spoke in a small voice. “Have I really been that much of an ass lately?”

    Roderich stood and exited the room in order to give Gilbert and _____ some privacy. He did feel badly for causing trouble, but it seemed to be exactly what Gilbert needed.

    “Kind of…” _____ said, looking at the ground.

    “Be honest. I’ve been horrible to everyone. Especially you. That’s not fair,” he said, holding back tears.

    “It’s okay, Gil, really. I just don’t understand why you’ve been so mean,” _____ said in a voice barely above a whisper.

    Gilbert thought about this. Is it because I’m lonely? Am I jealous? Of what? Couples? Why…

    “Because I really love you and I don’t know how to tell you,” he said, finally identifying the foreign feeling that had been tugging at his heart for so long.

    “That was a pretty effective way to confess,” _____ said quietly, still staring at the floor.

    Gilbert was mortified. Did I really just say that? It sounded so much more awesome in my head.  I wasn’t sure how I was expecting her to react, but it wasn’t like this…

    “I’m s-sorry,” he stammered. “I just… Forget I said that.”

    “No, Gil,” _____ said, finally looking up. There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. “I’ve been waiting so long to hear that. I’m just so happy. So, so happy. I was always too afraid to tell you how I felt, especially because you’ve been so wound up recently. I was starting to think you didn’t like me anymore, but I guess it’s the exact opposite,” she said, laughing and crying at the same time.

    “Pretty ironic,” Gilbert managed to say despite his utter shock. “Does that mean…”

    “Yes, Gil. I love you, too. With all my heart.”

    Gilbert stood in the middle of the dance studio, stunned, but feeling like everything was right in his life for the first time in a very long time. _____ wrapped her arms around Gilbert’s waist, trying to stop crying. Gilbert hugged her back affectionately, resting his chin on the top of her head. “Thank you, _____. Thank you so much,” he whispered.

    “How polite of you, Gil,” _____ said, hugging him more tightly.

    “Someone as amazing as me should know how to treat his girlfriend right,” he began. “You will be my girlfriend, won’t you?”

    “Absolutely.”