❛ Well, do you want to dance and hold my hand? Tell me, baby, I'm your lover man. ❜

DEAD POETS SOCIETY
chapter seventeen

ELIZA HAD NOT been allowed to attend the assembly held Saturday morning after they had released the school paper. Instead, her Uncle John had asked her to go into town to help distract her. Maybe even look for a new restaurant they should try out for dinner that evening. She was free to take his car and a little of cash from his wallet if she found something that spoke to her.

⠀⠀⠀Eliza did as her Uncle told her, going into town and finding a strip center of little shops that held antiques and books and coffee. She went in, her mind elsewhere as she looked at the tiny figurines, chests, and other things. Then, she found a small something on one shelf that caught her eye and cleared her head.

⠀⠀⠀She smiled lightly at the small, girlish music box. It was a pale white with gold leaf birds adorning it. When she opened it, a soft tune emitted from the tiny box, and two dancers popped out from their hiding place, spinning along with the music and each other. She smiled, closed the box and picking it up, and headed to the cashier.

⠀⠀⠀When Eliza made it back to Welton that afternoon, she headed straight to the boy's dormitory despite not being allowed there unless studying. She didn't really care much at the moment since she doubted the assembly went over well, especially with how dramatic Charlie was.

⠀⠀⠀"What happened?" Eliza asked, jogging over to Knox, Meeks, and Pitts, slightly out of breath. She turned to look at Knox, who had a large bruise taking up the side of his face. "What happened to you?!" she exclaimed, slapping his arm before taking his face in her hands to inspect.

⠀⠀⠀"I, uh, got into a fight," Knox stated the best he could while Eliza squeezed his cheeks together. "We can talk about it later. Charlie's getting swatted," he whispered, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

⠀⠀⠀"No!" Eliza breathed, holding a hand over her chest.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Knox sighed with a solemn nod.

⠀⠀⠀"He's an idiot, you know that?" Eliza asked Knox before turning to Meeks and Pitts. "What did he do?" she demanded.

⠀⠀⠀"Um," Knox began, looking to Meeks and Pitts but found no help under Eliza's scrutinizing gaze. "He, uh, brought a phone to assembly and told Nolan that God was calling for more girls at Welton."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh my, God," Eliza gasped, taking a step back like she needed a breath of fresh air. "He's gonna get expelled!"

⠀⠀⠀"We don't know that yet, Liza," Knox assured her, setting his comforting hand on her shoulder.

⠀⠀⠀Behind them, Charlie was making his way down the hall. The boys moved to the side as he walked past stiffly, with tears held back in his warm brown eyes. He kept his eyes forward until he found Eliza practically running into him. She pulled his right arm around her shoulder so that she could help lead him to his room.

⠀⠀⠀"Are you kicked out?" Neil asked behind the two.

⠀⠀⠀Charlie stopped at the frame of his door but didn't turn back. He didn't really want to talk to anyone at the moment; Eliza was the only exception.

⠀⠀⠀"No," Charlie assured him.

⠀⠀⠀"So, what happened?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm to turn everyone in, apologize to the school, and all will be forgiven," Charlie explained, his voice shaky as he leaned against the door, defeated.

⠀⠀⠀"What are you gonna do?" Neil asked, panicked as Charlie continued to move into his room without answering him. "Charlie!"

⠀⠀⠀Charlie snapped at Neil, annoyed, "Damn it, Neil!" Charlie exclaimed. "The name's Nuwanda," Charlie corrected him with a watery, reassuring smile before finally closing the door.

⠀⠀⠀Charlie was silent as he moved across his small room to lie down on his bed, struggling from the pain. He rested with his shoes still on and hands behind his head while Eliza looked around the room curiously. She stood awkwardly, taking in Cameron's neat side while Charlie's was a mess.

⠀⠀⠀"What did you get?" Charlie asked suddenly, looking down at the brown paper bag in her hand.

⠀⠀⠀Eliza turned to him from the picture of Cameron and his family, noticing the raise of Charlie's eyebrow and the quirk of his lips.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh! I got you a present," she explained, holding the bag out for him.

⠀⠀⠀Charlie took the bag from her hesitantly, "For me? I thought you were mad."

⠀⠀⠀"It reminded me of you," Eliza explained, shrugging her shoulders. "And just because I'm mad doesn't mean I don't still like you."

⠀⠀⠀Charlie hummed in amusement, looking down at the bag and opening it to the paper keeping it safe. Then, slowly, he opened it to find the music box and laughed lightly at the sight of it.

⠀⠀⠀"I know it's a little girly, but, uh, look, it has birds, and if you open it," she explained, moving over to Charlie's bed to sit beside him and took the music box from him. She opened it to show him the two figures dancing together. "It's us," she whispered like it was their little secret.

⠀⠀⠀Charlie smiled, the tears in his eyes coming back from her sweetness. "It is us," he whispered, his finger barely coming into contact with the figures as they spun. "Well, if they're dancing, I think we should, too."

⠀⠀⠀"But, your ass, Charlie," Eliza laughed as he stood with a pained grunt.

⠀⠀⠀"Doesn't matter," he assured her, taking her hand and pulling her up to him. "Only you matter."

⠀⠀⠀Eliza smiled as they held each other, slowly dancing in the middle of his room, the lights dim and silence filling them. They spun with the dancers, soaking in the calm before the storm that would come for them. Eliza smiled into his chest, and Charlie smiled into her hair, his ass still stinging from the swats, but it didn't matter.

⠀⠀⠀"You're the best thing to happen to me in a long time, Keating," Charlie said into Eliza's hair.

⠀⠀⠀Eliza nodded her head, "You're the same for me, Dalton."

⠀⠀⠀Charlie grinned wickedly soon after, swinging Eliza around quickly and falling backward onto his bed with her burrowed into his chest. Charlie laughed as they fell with her on top of him.

⠀⠀⠀"You didn't have to be this forward, Eliza," Charlie laughed, raising his eyebrows while she rolled her eyes. "I would've kissed you if you asked."

⠀⠀⠀"Who said I wanted to kiss you?" Eliza asked, leaning down towards him.

⠀⠀⠀"Mm, I did," he claimed, leaning up with her, his hand rested on the back of her head to pull her closer to him. "I'm gonna kiss you now."

⠀⠀⠀"Then do it," she told him, waiting for those warm lips back on hers.

⠀⠀⠀Charlie pulled Eliza close again, her mouth on his, warm and bitter from the coffee she had that morning. Her hands rested on his chest, her nails slowly dragging into fists as she balled up his shirt. He pulled her just a hair closer, his tongue sneaking into her mouth. Eliza immediately started chuckling.

⠀⠀⠀"What? What are you laughing at?" Charlie asked, pulling back.

⠀⠀⠀"Ugh, it just felt weird," Eliza explained, her eyes shut in disgust. "Like a slug."

⠀⠀⠀"A slug?" Charlie exclaimed, mocking offense.

⠀⠀⠀"No, sorry. Not a slug... a, uh, sl... ug," she stated through a laugh, unable to come up with anything better.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, yeah?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah."

⠀⠀⠀"Well, then," he stated, rolling himself over so that he was now hovering over her. "You'll just have to see what this slug is made of, Birdie."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, God, no," she whined, trying to squirm her way out from beneath him, but his mouth had quickly pulled her back into him, and all she could do was melt into him.

⠀⠀⠀Soon after, the door creaked open, Cameron barging in even with protests from the hall streaming after him. "I'm sorry, but I need my math textbook!" he shouted to the hall out of frustration, turning to look at the two on Charlie's bed. "Oh, my, God! Charlie! Eliza!" Cameron screamed, but neither let up, neither really caring he was in the room.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, Cameron," Eliza sighed when he had yet to leave the room, sending him a wink.

⠀⠀⠀"We're not doing this again," Charlie told Eliza as he pulled away from where he tried to kiss her neck.

⠀⠀⠀"You've done this before?!" Cameron screamed again, thinking the worst of the two rather than their teasing words by the lake.

⠀⠀⠀"Cameron, get out of there!" Knox shouted, running into the room with a hand over his eyes. He dragged Cameron by the shirt collar out of the room.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, where were we?" Charlie asked once the door slammed shut.

⠀⠀⠀Charlie went back to Eliza's neck.

⠀⠀⠀"Cameron," she breathed out, causing Charlie to groan at her teasing and fall like a lump on the side of her.

"CREAK! HE STARTED walking towards my left. Creak. Creak. 'Assume the position, Mr. Dalton,'" Charlie retold the story of the aftermath of the assembly to the boys in the study room. He sat with a pair of bongos in his lap. Eliza squished into the chair right beside him as he held her flush against him.

⠀⠀⠀In the middle of their story, John stepped into the room, most of the boys standing. Eliza quickly jumped from where she was seated beside Charlie, thinking it was one of the other teachers. Although, at the sight of her Uncle, she smiled softly.

⠀⠀⠀"It's alright, gentlemen, Eliza," Keating assured the teenagers as he made his way to Charlie.

⠀⠀⠀"Mr. Keating," Charlie greeted where he stayed seated, setting the bongos onto the side table.

⠀⠀⠀"Mr. Dalton," Keating nodded, although his face was grim. "That was a pretty lame stunt you pulled today."

⠀⠀⠀Charlie sat up in his chair, his mouth fell open in shock.

⠀⠀⠀"You're siding with Mr. Nolan?" he asked, offended. "What about carpe diem and sucking all the marrow out of life and all that?"

⠀⠀⠀"Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone," Keating stated, giving Charlie a knowing look. "Sure, there's a time for daring, and there's a time for caution. And a wise man understands which is called for."

⠀⠀⠀"But I thought you'd like that!" Charlie tried to defend himself.

⠀⠀⠀"No, you being expelled from school is not daring to me. It's stupid cause you'll miss some golden opportunities," Keating concluded, although Charlie didn't seem impressed by his statement.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, like what?"

⠀⠀⠀"Like, if nothing else, the opportunity to attend my classes or," Keating said, lowering his voice, "dating my niece." He grinned as he winked at Charlie reassuringly. "Got it, Ace?"

⠀⠀⠀"Aye, aye, Captain," Charlie said with a grin, something about his words inspiring hope into him.

⠀⠀⠀"Keep your head about you," he told Charlie, turning to the rest of the room and pointing a finger at the boys swarmed around him. "That goes for the lot of you."

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, Captain," they all nodded.

⠀⠀⠀Keating left the room, musing, "Phone call from God?" he laughed, turning back to Charlie. "If it had been collect, it would've been daring," he concluded, gaining a grin from Charlie. "Eliza?" he asked, turning to look at his niece, nodding his head to the door.

⠀⠀⠀"Right," she agreed, leaping to her feet before catching Charlie in a quick goodnight kiss.

⠀⠀⠀"Goodnight, boys!" she cheered.

⠀⠀⠀"Goodnight, Eliza," the boys rang back.

⠀⠀⠀"Goodnight, gentlemen," Keating nodded, looking across the boys. "Keep your wits about you."

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

Here's the next chapter and we're almost to the end! I haven't finished writing this out yet but I'm almost there. I think it's safe to say that there will be 7-8 more chapters? Not for sure but I have the next four written out and I'm at the play.

Also, there will be a chapter with some Keating and Charlie discussing things as parent and suitor! So, that's fun!

I hope you're all well and I'm so excited to see some new readers, getting to 4k reads and even hitting number one in the deadpoetssociety tag! Thanks to all of you! stay safe!

SONG: Do You Want To Dance by Bobby Freeman

Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.