Fiona had been anxious.

After everything, Adam still insisted to come home with her and eat dinner with her and her mother. He kept to his promise of helping her, even though the day had been beyond hectic. Fiona didn't know how he found the energy, but it was admirable.

– But that now also led to a very terrifying upcoming evening.

They had taken the bus and then walked to her home, and Fiona had been absolutely freaking out the whole way while Adam had chuckled at her. He had wrapped his arm around her and told her it would all be okay, just as they walked inside her house.

Her mom was in the kitchen with the dinner on the stove as Fiona walked in first. Her mom turned towards her and smiled, but then immediately froze up when she noticed Adam standing behind her. Her face went from loving to alarmed in a split second. Great start.

"Mom, this is Adam," Fiona quickly blurted and felt Adam give a wave behind her, probably followed by one of his megawatt grins. "Is it okay if he joins us for dinner?"

Her mom gave a deep and furrowed frown as Adam stepped forward to extend his hand. Politely, her mom shook it, but with a very guarded stare. "Adam? And how do you know my daughter?"

"We dance and study together," Adam prompted, and Fiona cringed at the flash of surprise that rolled over her mom's face. "I'm from the DanceDec. You have a really talented daughter, Mrs Torrence."

Now Fiona was the one who blinked up in surprise; Had he lurked their last name off the mailbox or something? He really was good.

"Thank you," Her mom replied, still giving him a slight skeptical glare. "You look a little old to still be in school. How old are you, Adam?"

"I'm 19, ma'am," He replied, giving a smile while her mom hummed quietly. "I'm in my senior year."

"Mm-hm," She looked him over thoroughly, doing the regular probing mom-stare. Fiona groaned internally.

"Please, mom?" She said, drawing the attention to herself. "We're just going to be studying and then he's going home himself. It's a school night."

Her mom gave one last long glare at Adam who smiled back. She then finally sighed. "Alright. But I want the door to stay open, that's not up for discussion. Now go wash your hands and help set the table."

"Thank you, ma'am," Adam grinned and then did as Fiona, following her lead. They both washed their hands and then set the table for the three of them, whereafter her mom came over with the food. Chicken breast with rice and curry sauce.

"Do you mind if I say grace?" Adam asked as they all sat down and placed their napkins in their laps. Fiona's mom raised a sharp brow, clearly not expecting that from him. "My grams would whip me if I didn't," He grinned.

Pursing her lips, Fiona saw her mom try and hide her smile, but she knew he had just earned a bucketful of points in her mom's book. With a nod, they therefore all joined hands and let Adam say grace.

Dinner went surprisingly smooth after that. Her mom eased off when Adam answered all of her grilling questions without pause and laughed when he told her about his grandmother. Fiona noticed that the more he told about himself, the more her mom started smiling. Adam had been right; he really was great with parents.

After cleaning up the dinner table, she and Adam then left for her room, keeping the door halfway open, as promised. Fiona knew her mom would be listening to every word they spoke, which made the whole thing that much more awkward. She hadn't brought a friend home since her dad died, and now she brought a boy home.

If that wasn't alarming in the Mom-handbook, nothing was.

The second they were alone in her room, Adam looked around curiously, like he had never seen a bedroom before. "Awesome room," He grinned and immediately walked up to her dresser where all of her hair styling products and makeup was. Not that she wore it much, but she had it, just in case...

"Thanks," Fiona muttered, taking an awkward seat on her bed. Why couldn't she think of a single damn thing to say?

"I told you, didn't I?" Adam chuckled when he looked back and noticed her face again. "I passed with flying collars. I'm every parents' dream."

Until he brought up the rapsheet, that was, Fiona thought, but decided to let him have his proud moment. He was grinning to himself and picking at her hairspray bottles, looking at- and reading the brands.

It was then Fiona happened to think back to dinner, at all that he had told her mom about him and his grandma. She already knew they lived alone together, but she didn't know that she knitted socks for the sick cancer children at the hospital. After retiring from the church, she had needed something else to occupy herself with. Adam had told she loved visiting the hospital and always joked about how she might as well get comfortable there soon. She had humor, and Fiona couldn't help but see where Adam had gotten it from.

"I like your grandmother," She voiced, folding her hands while Adam still animatedly looked through all of her things. "She seems really nice."

"Yeah, she's the best," He told with a grin. "She was actually the one who got me started with ballet when I wouldn't stop doing Tasmanian Devil spins around the orphanage. I guess she figured if I was going to keep doing it, I might as well learn how to do it properly."

"You started with ballet?" Fiona gaped. For some reason, that surprised her. "How come you stopped?"

Adam picked up one of her red lipsticks and pulled off the cap, twisted the colorful part up and watched it with curiosity while speaking. "I couldn't stay within the lines—literally. My teacher told me my lines weren't clean enough and also told me to start spinning on my feet instead of my head. I dunno, for some reason that was a deal-breaker for her."

Fiona rolled her eyes. "I can't imagine why. I mean it's—oh, my God, what the hell are you doing?"

He had put her red lipstick to his lips and suddenly begun smearing it all over and around them, pretending to do it classily by watching himself in the mirror and then smacking his lips. "Huh, well look at that, I guess red suits me, too."

"Adam!" Fiona couldn't help but burst into laughter when he put the lipstick down again and pretended to primp himself silly. "What the actual hell are you doing?"

He turned around and puckered his lips at her. "Kiss me, princess Fiona! Only a true love's kiss will break your spell!" And with that, he jumped across the floor towards her, arms spread wide.

"Adam, oh, my God!" She screamed as he bellyflopped onto the bed and then tackled her, wrapping his arms around her, whereafter he began smacking wet and red lipsticky kisses up and down her arm and what was exposed on her shoulder. "Adam!" Had he actually lost his whole mind?!

"You shall be hideous no more, Princess Fiona!" He chimed in a classic fairytale voice.

"Adam!" She shrieked when he wetly kissed the ball or her shoulder. "Adam, my mom can hear you!" Oh, God, if she walked in right now...

"She's also hearing you not saying stop," He pointed out with a smug grin. Fiona rolled her eyes as he then laughed and climbed off her. "Okay, okay. Let me just go wash this off, we'll get started on the homework. Bathroom?"

"Through that door," Fiona looked down at her arm and saw she was covered in red lipstick, too. Thank God for makeup remover. "You damn fool..." How the hell did Kalo survive him for years?

Adam laughed, but then shot her a wink before going to the bathroom. "I got you to laugh, tutu. That was all I wanted."

And as he closed the door and she heard the water start to run, Fiona leaned back on her bed and looked up at her ceiling with a small sigh.

She had a feeling he would be a fool any day if he just made people laugh.

~~~

The next morning Fiona felt kind of strange as she walked into the dance studio and met up with Adam. He was already setting up as usual and cast her a smile as she dumped her bag down. At that, she felt a strange flutter in her stomach she couldn't find end or beginning in. It only seemed to intensify when Adam finally laid his phone down and rolled his shoulder blades around.

"So, Kalo's back again," He voiced. Fiona lifted her eyes and looked him over.

"Yeah? Is she okay?"

"She's alright. Or at least she says so. I told her she could stop by if she wanted to. I hope that's okay?" He asked.

Fiona nodded, but in her stomach the fluttering changed. It suddenly twisted around, and it wasn't nerves.

"Alright," Adam slowly walked up to her, and with every step, Fiona noticed his expression changed. A slow frown formed on his face, and when he finally stopped about three feet away from her, something serious was definitely on his mind. "So about today's lesson..."

"Yeah...?" Fiona nervously replied. Had yesterday made things weird? By the look on his face, it felt like miles of shit had changed between them. He knew her so much better now, and even though that should have made her feel safer... it unsettled her when he finally looked up at her with a somewhat hard face.

"I noticed something yesterday when I was at your house," He suddenly said and threw her way off. Fiona blinked confused and raised a brow. "You don't have any pictures of your dad hanging around. Not in your living room, the hall, or in your bedroom. I even checked your bathroom. Nothing."

Fiona swallowed and looked down. Ah. So that was what was on his mind. After everything she told him yesterday... he probably expected her to have a shrine of her father somewhere at home. "I... my mom removed all the photos when I... when I couldn't look at him without crying. It reminded me what happened," She told, watching Adam nod slowly.

"Right."

That was it. He said nothing more and it only unsettled Fiona even more. She watched him turn and walk back towards his phone, hands on his hips and head lowered; Deep in thought.

Fiona tipped on her feet. She hated the silence, especially because it seemed to fill up with all of the unspoken. When it finally became too much for her, she opened her mouth to speak, but in that same second, Adam decided to speak as well. And what he said hit her hard.

"You're angry, Fiona."

He slowly turned around when she didn't move or reply. Fiona stared at him in astonishment as his words sunk inside. Why the hell would he say that? "No, I'm not?"

"You are," He said and started walking back to her. "It took me so long to figure out why you are the way you are, but after last night I realized what your problem was – why you can't dance; You're angry at your dad, Fee."

Fiona felt like he had stabbed her in the lungs. She couldn't breathe, but pushed out a breath anyway, a harsh one.

She loved her dad. How could he even have come to that conclusion?

"So just because I don't like to have his picture up, I'm angry? How the hell do you jump to that conclusion?" She argued, defensively. If he wanted to accuse her of being angry at her dad, he'd better back it up.

Adam came closer and met her head on. "You say every step you take reminds you of him. You starve yourself to punish yourself, but why would you need to punish yourself for something you know deep down you didn't do? It all leads back to that day, Fiona," He stopped in front of her and stared down into her eyes that had turned glossy. "You're angry that he caused you to hate dancing. Because he died. He turned something you loved into a bad memory, and now you have to keep dancing because otherwise you feel like he died in vain. You're angry, Fee."

Fiona's heart stuttered in her chest and her anxiety took a skyrocket blast into the ceiling. She stared up at Adam and he stared back at her, waiting for her to defy his words.

But the words on her tongue never came.

"Today we're going to do something different," He then said. He took a step back. "An exercise. I need you to break through your shield and let go of your anger. Today, you dance battle me."

"W-what?" Fiona stuttered shakily and felt her whole body tremble. Adam had turned towards his phone and was already picking a song while she tried to process his words. "B-battle you?"

"You have one and a half week's training to draw from. It doesn't have to be perfect or even decent, it just has to be." He laid his phone down again and then turned towards her and crossed his arms. "Let out all your anger in your steps. I don't care how you do it, just do it. Let me have it."

"I don't..." Fiona felt herself crimp as Adam walked up to her and stopped in front of her again. "Adam, I... can't. I'm not... I'm not a-angry."

"No?" He leaned down and stared at her.

Fiona swallowed and looked back up. "N-no."

"Time to get it then."

– And then he shoved her hard, just as the music started.

Fiona stumbled back and almost lost her footing, but managed to catch it in the last moment. She stared preposterously up at Adam and saw him glare at her as he stepped closer again. "What the hell are you—"

He shoved against her shoulders again and Fiona let out a sound as she stumbled again. When she caught her balance, she gritted her teeth and saw Adam was approaching again. He  cocked a hard brow, almost arrogantly. It lit a fire in her stomach, but she pushed it down. He was just trying to provoke her.

"Stop it," She snapped when he circled around her. "It won't work. This is stupid—"

His chest pushed against her shoulder blades and Fiona stumbled forward. When she spun around to throw words at him, Adam stepped forward with a hard step. The floor slammed beneath his shoe and made Fiona take an involuntary step back. The music only grew louder.

"Your dad's dead," He then suddenly spoke up. Fiona blinked up at him, mortified. "Dead, Fiona. He died while you danced, but you didn't kill him. You think you honor him by dancing? You're mocking him," He sneered. "Starving yourself? You think he'd be proud of you for that? You think he'd like watching you cry while you pirouette? Is that what he would have wanted?"

"Shut up!" She shouted. Her whole body was trembling, but she could no longer keep it under control. She was shaking and glaring at Adam who kept provoking her with a hard stare. He started walking towards her. "You don't know shit about my dad, so don't you fucking talk about him!"

"Life's shitty, Fiona," He repaid with a harshly spoken tone. "You think you need to throw this kind of pity on yourself? Grow up. Face your fucking fears and move on."

He shoved her one last time, and that was it for Fiona. She let out a scream, and before she knew it, she was jumping towards him.

Adam stepped back fast when she spun towards him and let her anger out with the beat of her heart. It was drumming harshly and everything was rushing before her eyes. Adam stepped up to the floor again and suddenly his feet were moving, moving fast. He was dancing, but his hands kept shoving at her, provoking her.

Right until Fiona had enough and shoved him back.

She stomped her foot harshly into the floor like he had done and shoved him back with everything she had. Adam stumbled back, but Fiona didn't let her catch his balance. She shoved again and let him fall onto the floor. He landed on his back, and only then did she step back with gritted teeth. Adam glared up at her, but then, firming his gaze with a hard movement, he jumped up onto his feet again and vaulted his whole body up with one push.

He came at her like a bull, but Fiona didn't stand down this time or fall back. She was angry and she wanted to hurt him, even though her body felt like it was falling apart. Adam didn't seem to care, but only pushed her further.

"That's it?" He snarled at her and started circling around her again. He kept walking around her, making the circle he was creating around her smaller and smaller until his skin touched hers. His eyes stared her down from every angle, burning her.

Fiona snapped her eyes shut and then felt as his hands gripped her shoulders. The next moment, she felt his breath near her ear.

"Dance, Fiona," He growled. "Fucking dance or get the hell off the floor."

"You're an asshole," She whispered, feeling his snort against her neck.

"And you're a coward. You're only pretending to dance, but you're not even moving, Fee. It's pathetic."

"Pathetic?" The last straw was pulled, and with nothing else, Fiona spun around and let it all rip. He wanted angry? He got it. "I'm pretending? You're the one to talk! You walk around here and act like you're the happiest goddamn person alive, but I see through you!" She shouted and pushed his hands away from her when he tried to touch her. "You say I'm walking around with a guilt in my heart, but then how come you spend all day here helping people feel better? You used to deal drugs, Adam. You dealt drugs to kids, and that's still sitting with you."

Adam clenched his teeth, but didn't say word. And just as well, because she wasn't done yet.

"You pretend like you've moved past it—that you're okay and that you moved on to a better life, but it's all just a mirage," She breathed, angrily. "It's bullshit. You act okay to hide the fact that you still feel horrible that you did what you did because you were so desperate for the family you never had. You're trying to make up for all your past mistakes by dealing out happiness now, but it's all fake. So don't you dare come and tell me I'm the one carrying the guilt and anger."

The words from her mouth finally stopped, and so did the music. The whole room became quiet, and all that was left to hear was her harsh breathing. Fiona stared at Adam who stared back at her, showing nothing on his face. Almost a full minute went by where none of them moved.

Then, Adam moved.

Fiona broke down when he walked up and slung his arms around her. He pulled her against his chest and Fiona clutched on to his shirt with a trembling heart. Her cries ripped from her throat, from her lungs, from her soul. She cried and kept repeating the same words over and over again; "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Adam clutched her tightly and then exhaled near her ear. "Yeah... me, too."

Fiona shook her head rapidly and then looked up at him through her tears. "N-no. I'm so sorry, I-I didn't... what I said—"

"Wasn't a lie," He cupped her face, and it was only when she blinked away her own tears, she realized... his eyes looked wet as well. "I do try to make up for what I did, but I don't fake any of the love I give out. I turned my past into something good—you didn't. And I needed you to know that you should have," He whispered, leaning down and pressing his forehead against hers. "What happened to you wasn't your fault, Fiona. Stop blaming yourself for something you never had any control over. You were just a kid."

Fiona swallowed, but clutched tighter on to his shirt. She took a deep breath, but then met his jungly green eyes. "So were you."

Adam looked back down at her, and then with a softened look, he smiled. His hand brushed her cheek and then tucked a loose strand of hair out of her face. It was right then when their eyes met again that Fiona realized...

Their lips were just inches apart.

She felt his breath on her lip and looked up at him when she saw his gaze change. Something shifted inside his eyes, and with a firmer hand, he leaned even closer. Fiona stopped breathing all together, but realized her feet were pushing her body onto her toes...

The door opened abruptly, and Fiona pulled away so fast, she almost felt the whole earth come with her. She heard Adam clear his throat behind her, but then sensed him turn as a person stepped in.

"Hey," His voiced changed completely, and she instantly knew who had joined them.

As Kalo stepped further in, Adam stepped up to give her a hug. She smiled and patted his back.

"Hey, gringo. I thought I'd take you up on your offer and drop by. I'm not interrupting, am I?"

Adam chuckled hoarsely, but then looked towards Fiona who had cleaned up her tears and erased all evidence of her crying. She slowly turned and saw him look probingly at her.

"No," Fiona then spoke up. "We were just... taking a break."

Kalo looked between them, but then shrugged. "Alright, cool. I won't stay long, I just wanted to... say thank you for yesterday," She said and looked up at Adam again, then back at Fiona. "It was some messed up shit, but you guys were real sweet. I just wanted to say thanks for being there. It meant a lot."

"Hey," Adam grinned a little and then nudged her shoulder. "That almost sounded like a feeling. Are you growing goo-y on me? Soft coffee toffee?"

Kalo did exactly what Fiona would've done and rolled her eyes. She shoved him away and muttered something in Spanish under her breath. "Puto. Don't make me regret coming here." When Adam grinned again, she shook her head and turned towards Fiona. "You're officially a part of the family, girl. Ever need anything, you know who to call."

Fiona looked perplexed for a moment, but then realized she was talking to her. "Uh... t-thank you."

"Alright, I'm out again," She rolled her eyes when Adam threw his arms around her for a hug. "Urgh, I don't know how you stand him for a whole day."

"No, stay," Adam insisted. "I have to use the ladies' room anyway. Keep her company?" He said, then eyed out Fiona.

Fiona blinked in startle when Kalo shrugged, but then pushed Adam away who ran to the door with a grin. "Don't forget to wash your hands after you wiped your vagina!"

"Why does he use the ladies' toilet?" Fiona spoke before she could stop herself. Kalo snorted and shook her head.

"Because it's the only place the locks work."

"Why is—"

"The guys have sex and smoke weed in the boy's room."

"Ohh." Fiona finally understood. Now it made sense that he preferred to use the girls' bathroom; It was hard taking a dump with people groaning and moaning in the next stall over.

Kalo slowly walked into the studio and looked at herself in the big mirrors, checking on her clothes and hair. She had a gorgeous body; curvy hips, a nice bosom for a dancer, thick thighs and a juicy bottom. And she knew how to work it all.

"You know, I meant what I said yesterday," She then suddenly spoke. Fiona tore her eyes away from her body and quickly tried to hide her obvious ogling.

"Huh?"

"He really likes you—Adam." Kalo turned around and smiled at her, the most genuine and down to earth smile she had ever seen on this girl's lips. She was always up to something mischief or teasing, and her smiles always portrayed it. But right now, she was coming up to her with a friendly smile.

"I, uh... I..." Fiona didn't know how to respond. First of, she was certain she was wrong. After all... how could you notice someone like her with someone like Kalo around? "I think maybe you're wrong... I mean, I just don't think I'm his type." She was much too un-happy and introverted for someone like him.

"Listen," Kalo came up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You wanna know how I know he likes you? Because in all the time I've known and danced with that boy, he ain't never ever had a girlfriend. He's never even expressed a crush, he's just been doing himself and dancing around like a hyped up kid on Adderall."

Fiona slightly frowned and tried to see what she was saying. "And...? What's... your point?"

Kalo slowly smirked. "It means I know when he's acting different around a girl. He's into you! I don't know what y'all are doing up here every day, but whatever it is, it's working, girl. Keep it up."

Fiona blinked, absolutely shocked. When Kalo patted her shoulder and grinned, then took a step back to walk up to the mirror again, Fiona tried to process the facts she had just gotten. He had never had a girlfriend here? Why was that so hard to believe? He was Adam—someone had to have scooped him up, or at least tried to. Or he had to have tried someone else.

But now Kalo was saying he wasn't that kind of guy.

Swallowing a lump, Fiona slowly walked up beside Kalo and tried to keep her nerves in check. She was about to ask a question she had been dying to ask since she first got here. "I kind of thought you and him were..."

"Me and Adam?" Kalo snorted preposterously, then broke into a laughter. She waved her hand dismissively, but then caught her breath. "Hell no, girl. There's nothing wrong with Adam, but he is just waaaaay too... Adam. You know what I mean? He's not my taste. Nah, he's too good for me."

"Too good?" Fiona slowly questioned.

Kalo sighed and then turned to look at her. "He's a real good guy. Been through some shit, but he made it through, you know? He's not into being a daredevil anymore, doesn't break the law, doesn't even smoke. He's not a ride or die, he's a choir boy. Maybe there's something wrong with me then, but he's just not what I want."

Fiona nodded slowly and thought about her words. The Adam she knew loved messing around, but when she thought about it, he was pretty good. For some reason, in her head, his bad boy looks had somehow put him in a box, even when she knew he was the opposite. Maybe that's what she liked about him; he had the bad boy vibe, but chose to be good.

And unlike Kalo, it sounded like something she could like.

But why would he ever like someone like her? What did she have that anyone else couldn't give him?

Fiona shook her head. Why was she even entertaining this thought? Nothing was going to happen between them. They were just friends.

The door opened behind them and Adam came in, drumming on the door jamb. "I'm back. Don't tell her you taught her anything I can't do. It'll make me look bad here."

Kalo scoffed and turned, walking back as Adam came forward. Meeting him halfway, she flicked his forehead. "You always look bad standing next to me, gringo. Laws of nature, women are the fairer sex."

"No arguments there," Adam teased and looked her up and down, then whistled lowly to annoy her. It worked; Kalo muttered something, but then brushed past him after saying something about boys will be fucktoys.

"Have fun," She tossed over her shoulder and turned to look at Fiona in the door. "He's all yours," She smirked, then tapped the door and walked out.

Fiona felt her cheeks redden when Adam raised a slow brow and looked at her. "All yours? Did she make you sign the custody papers while I was gone?"

Fiona laughed nervously when he grinned, but it sounded strained to her own ears. She needed to forget the conversation with Kalo ever happened, especially if she was going to get through the rest of the day. Things were weird enough as they were.

"Hey..." Adam slowly came up to her when he noticed her awkward face. "We're alright, right? About before..."

"We're good," Fiona promised. When Adam lifted a questioning brow, she released a shaky breath. "Water under the bridge. I... I know why you said it." Because it had to be said.

"Alright..." He slowly nodded. "So... friends?"

When he stuck out his hand and looked at her with an unreadable face, right then, she knew there was nothing between them. He was making it clear to her, whatever moment might have passed, had passed. Moving forward.

So reaching out, she squeezed his sweaty palm. "Friends."

• • •

Ha.