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“Elijah hasn’t played in a while, Legs,” Mason said softly, his voice drawing my focus “But if he’ll play, will you dance?”

It was on the tip of , but I hadn’t done it in front of an audience—well, not counting Finn—in a long time And my body was still so wound up from my dare to Mason that I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to stand

But then Elijah began to struuitar, and my heart skipped a beat

It was fucking a while he played, not in recognizable words, just sounds But they were so infused with e, that I could’ve sworn I knew exactly what he was saying

The sound filled the large basement room, filled my ears, filled my entire soul, until there wasn’t even a question

Wordlessly, I stood and walked to the an to —but he played with me and I danced with him until we synced up perfectly I didn’t push too hard, just let the simple movements, the arcs and curved lines that had drawn uide me

I wasn’t sure how long he played, but unlike the exquisitely torturous ten minutes when Mason had knelt before me, I didn’t ever want this to end

Finally, Elijah strunized from earlier, repeated it twice, and then let the last note fade

I floated to a stop and dropped hter than I had in years, happy and proud

Mason, Cole, and Finn all stared at the two of us, but I knew they wouldn’t clap On the lake the other day, my ballet pose had drawn raucous and enthusiastic support from the crowd But this moment wasn’t like that

It was bigger than that

It wasn’t us showing off for each other

It was us… sharing

I’d shown a part of myself that not everyone even knew existed My favorite part of ht truly die if I ever lost

And Elijah had done the sauitar was to him what dance was to me—what football was to Finn