*C89 - Can I have this Dance?

'Inner dialogue/thoughts'

"Normal dialogue"

[System]

[Diary entries]

(Word Count: 2,611)

~ With Luke ~

"I found you."

The room descended into a comfortable silence as Luke held Wanda's teary gaze. Just as he was about to speak, a sudden ringtone rang out, breaking the atmosphere completely. All those present turned their heads to the source of the disturbance.

"Oops, that's my bad. It's my emergency phone." Pepper began abashedly, taking out the mobile device. "This is Virginia Potts."

"Ms Potts," JARVIS's voice echoed in Pepper's ears, "There's been an emergency. Mr Stark requires your presence immediately."

Pepper's eyes widened, "I'm on my way, give me a moment." She said, turning to face her friends, "I'm sorry guys, I have to go. Company emergency."

"Please, it's no worries. Take care Pepper." April answered, while the rest echoed her sentiments.

Pepper nodded her thanks before hastily making her exit. "Tell me exactly what happened. . ."

With Pepper's sudden situation and subsequent exit, the earlier romantic atmosphere was all but lost. However, Luke had managed to salvage what little he could by remaining by the side of Wanda.

Seeing that her face was still tear-stricken, Luke raised his hands and gently wiped the single tear remaining on her cheeks. "The party's still not over, Wanda. How about Natasha here accompany you to get yourself cleaned up? You look like a mess." He mischievously remarked.

Wanda scoffed and lightly smacked his shoulder. "And who's fault do you think that is. . . Thank you, Luke. I loved the song." She ended, before leaning into Luke to brush a soft kiss on his cheek and then immediately walking away.

Her actions had gone unnoticed, except by two people. Luke, the recipient, stood in shock at what Wanda had just done. He raised his hand and idly rested it on the cheek that Wanda had kissed just moments before.

Meanwhile, Natasha, who had heard Luke's request and saw what Wanda had done, simply had a gentle smile on her lips as she ushered Wanda to the washroom. 'Oh, I am going to have fun with this one.' Natasha thought, already thinking of the many things she could imply to Wanda since they were both aware of Luke's past relationship.

After a moment of shock, Luke sighed as he returned to his senses. 'Why can't I have a simple day. . . I just want to enjoy the birthday party, I even get a kiss from Wanda. But judging from how Pepper left in such a hurry, there's really only one event from the timeline that could warrant such a response.

Stane has finally made his move. I was wondering when he would re-appear, considering his arrest was a huge deal, and his subsequent release being an even bigger deal than the arrest. The question now is, should I step in?' Luke thought absent-mindedly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" A voice had cut him out of his thoughts.

Turning around, he was met with the concerned face of April. "Hm? Why do you ask?"

"You have that look on your face, you know? The one where you're thinking deeply about something." April revealed, "So, what's the matter?"

'I have a look?' He mused. "It's nothing, just wondering what company emergency it was."

April nodded her head in realization, "Ah yes, you bought some stocks. Wouldn't be a good thing if your stocks were affected now, would it?" She asked rhetorically.

Luke did not respond to her question as something, or someone, else had caught his attention. Noticing his dazed behaviour again, April turned around to see what had caught Luke's attention.

"Even if the stocks were hit, this night has already made up for any potential losses." He muttered.

'Ah. . . How wonderful. . . And irritating that he's found his other half. . .' When April turned around, she saw that Luke's attention had been grabbed by Wanda once again. Although she was certainly happy for the two of them, a deeper part within her felt a hint of envy.

Even though an emergency occurred on the side of Stark Industries, it still did not deter the festive mood that the rest were in, as they continued the celebrations deep into the night.

~ A few hours later with Luke and Wanda, along the streets of Los Angeles ~

The party had ended not long ago, and the partygoers had already left the café to head home. Normally, Wanda and Pietro would have left to return back to their apartment together, however Natasha had a brilliant idea.

Since it was already late into the night, she had reasoned that it would be safer for the girls to have someone accompanying their walk home. Pietro voiced that he would walk Wanda back first, before returning to the café to walk Crystal home. He thought that Crystal would be staying behind to do some simple cleaning and reasoned that by the time he came back after sending Wanda, he would be just in time to walk Crystal home too.

However, Crystal had disappointed Pietro by reminding him that Luke had already hired and paid for a clean-up crew to come the following morning to clean up their mess and the café.

Even so, he was not disheartened. He was about to ask if Crystal would be willing to wait for him, when Luke spoke up and said that he would not mind being the one to walk Wanda home, while Pietro could walk Crystal home. It was a win-win situation for them, and seeing that Wanda truly had feelings for Luke, Pietro reluctantly agreed to his suggestion.

This has led to the current situation, with Luke and Wanda walking side by side, hand in hand. Unlike earlier in the day, this time as they strolled along the streets, a comfortable silence hung between them. Neither of them willing to speak, be it due to shyness, nervousness, embarrassment or the like.

'Come on Luke, you little shit. . . You have a beautiful girl right beside you. Your feelings are already out in the open. So, stop being a little bitch and man up, speak!' Luke was psyching himself up to break the silence. But he was a second too late.

With her fingers interlocked with his, Wanda's thumbs gently brushed over his knuckles. "I'm glad we had tonight." She said softly, her voice carrying the sincerity of her feelings.

'YOU PUSSY! SHE MADE THE FIRST MOVE. . .' While he was internally berating himself, outwardly, Luke's eyes softened. "Me too," He started, "Although we had some embarrassing moments, but I'm glad that I was able to finally convey my feelings for you."

Luke stopped in his tracks, causing Wanda to do so as well, before walking ahead and turning to face her. With an embarrassed yet determined look in his eyes, he gently held both of her hands in his, feeling the warmth of her touch, and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Wanda, from the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew that I had found someone special. Every time I'm with you, I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Wanda's breath hitched slightly as Luke continued, his heart pounding, "I've been trying to find the right words. The perfect moment. But, I realized that there is no such thing as the perfect moment. Because with you, every moment that we are together, it just feels. . ." His words lingered, as he searched for the perfect word to describe what he felt.

"Right." She added, causing a smile to form on both their lips.

As Luke was about to continue his confession, the sudden thundering had caught their attention. They both looked up, and not a moment after, rain drops began falling down.

"Wha-" / "GOD DAMNIT!" Wanda and Luke simultaneously reacted, before chuckling at the timing of the sudden rain. Luke scanned the area and noticed that there was a phone booth not too far away from them. Making a spontaneous decision, he grabbed her hands and began running towards the phone booth,

"Come on!"

"Not too fast! I'm wearing heels, Luke!"

As they ran together in laughter, no one noticed the red hue forming around the sky for a brief moment. Entering the booth, they were both mildly drenched in the rain.

"Well, I can't believe this happened again. That makes it twice now." Luke sighed, exasperated at the unfortunate interruptions throughout the night, "The first time was fine, Pepper had an emergency. But I was just about to get to the good part of my confession to this girl I like when it rains! It's almost as if someone is playing games with us. . ."

Wanda laughed softly at his misfortune, "Oh I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. Besides, because of the rain, aren't you now alone in a phone booth with said girl?" She teased, the corners of her lips edging upwards.

"You're right." He replied, a smile adorning his lips as he stared into her eyes, both of them standing not too far apart.

With the rain pouring down, Wanda was reminded of a similar situation, "You know, this reminds me of a romantic scene from a movie I've watched not too long ago."

Intrigued, Luke raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Do tell."

"Have you seen the most recent High School Musical movie?"

"You mean the final movie of one of the greatest musical trilogies of all time? Of course I have, I don't live under a rock, you know."

Wanda chuckled, "Well, there's this scene where they dance on a rooftop garden under the rain, with a lovely and romantic song playing over."

"Oh, that scene. . ."

"Yeah, it's kind of romantic, don't you think?" She asked.

Luke nodded. "You know, I've never actually danced, nor played under the rain before."

"Really? That's a shame. . . Because me too." Wanda revealed.

Luke scoffed at her response, "For a moment there, it almost sounded like you were mocking me."

"I would never do such a thing, Luke." She said, mischief heavy in her tone.

"Well, in that case," He started, taking out his mobile phone and searching for a particular song. After finding it, he maximized the speaker volume on his phone, before removing the coat that he was wearing.

Wanda raised an eyebrow, confused at what Luke was planning. "What are you doing, Luke?"

Luke did not respond just yet. He placed his coat over the payphone, then placed his phone over his coat, and then opened the door to the phone booth. Pressing play on his phone, he gently held her hand and led her outside the booth. Wanda went with the motions, her anticipation building when she heard the starting instrumentals to the song that he played on his phone.

"There's a first time for everything." He spoke.

(Can I Have This Dance – Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Effron.)

As they both stepped out the booth to the tune of the song, Wanda released Luke's hand as she walked ahead of Luke. He followed along, smiles plastered on both their faces as he stood right in front of her. Wanda's arm reached out as she sang along with the song.

♬♪ "Take my hand. Take a breath. Pull me close. And take one step." ♬♪

Luke followed her lead, playing his role as Troy Bolton from the scene.

♬♪ "Keep your eyes, locked to mine. And let the music, be your guide." ♬♪

Although they had no experience in ball-room dancing, they both found it easy to perform the simple swaying and back and forth movements.

♬♪ "Won't you promise me" / "Now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget." ♬♪

♬♪ "We'll keep dancing" / "To keep dancing" ♬♪

♬♪ "Wherever we go next" ♬♪

As the song built up to the chorus, their movements got bigger, more passionate. Luke easily lifted Wanda off the ground, before giving her a twirl.

♬♪ "It's like catching lightning. The chances of finding someone, like you." ♬♪

They ended up sitting on a sidewalk bench, twirling each other to the next seats.

♬♪ "It's one in a million. The chances of feeling the way, we do." ♬♪

Luke stood, pulling Wanda to stand along with him as they danced away.

♬♪ "And with every step together. We just keep on getting better." ♬♪

Wanda leaned into Luke, gazing into his eyes intently.

♬♪ "So can I have this dance?" / "Can I have this dance?" ♬♪

Luke picked Wanda up and held her in a princess carry as he twirled around under the rain.

♬♪ "Can I have this dance" ♬♪

Luke gently lowered Wanda, and instead of following the choreography from the movie, they both simply ran around the street alongside one another as they sang out loud.

♬♪ "Ooohhh, no mountains too high. And no," ♬♪

♬♪ "Oceans too wide. 'Cuz together or not, our dance won't stop." ♬♪

♬♪ "Let it rain, let it pour. What we have is worth fighting for." ♬♪

Luke gestured for Wanda to come close, and with their hands together and outstretched, Luke spun in circles around Wanda, letting her perform the iconic Carousel with ease.

♬♪ "You know I believe, that we were meant to be. . . Yeah." ♬♪

Another clap of thunder echoed through the skies. With the skies playing along, their grins widened as they resumed running and dancing around the streets once again.

♬♪ "It's like catching lightning. The chances of finding someone, like you." ♬♪

♬♪ "It's one in a million. The chances of feeling the way, we do." ♬♪

♬♪ "And with every step together, we just keep on getting better." ♬♪

As they ran closer to each other, Wanda outstretched her arms once again. Luke understood what she was going for and caught her, before holding her by the waist and spinning around on the spot, performing the Promenade Twirl.

♬♪ "So can I have this dance?" / "Can I have this dance?" ♬♪

♬♪ "Can I have this dance." ♬♪

After the twirl, Wanda immediately grabbed Luke's hands and began leading him through the simple dance, just like at the beginning.

♬♪ "Can I have this dance?" ♬♪

With the song slowing down, they both paced around each other.

♬♪ "Can I have this dance." ♬♪

As the final notes of the song faded into the distance, the rain continued to pour down around them, creating a soft, rhythmic backdrop. They both stood close, their eyes locked in an affectionate gaze. Wanda's arms gently wrapped around the back of Luke's neck, while his hands found their place on her waist.

In that moment, it was as if the world around them ceased to exist. Time seemed to slow down, as the sounds of the raindrops hitting the ground, and the cool sensation of the rain, were all but forgotten.

Luke leaned in slowly, his eyes never leaving Wanda's. She responded in kind, her eyes filled with equal affection. Their faces drew closer, the anticipation building between them. Then, as if pulled together by an invisible force, their lips met in a tender, heartfelt kiss.

The kiss was soft and gentle, a sweet affirmation of their feelings for one another. The rain continued to fall, but it only served to heighten the magic of the moment, making their shared warmth even more precious.

For that brief, beautiful moment, Wanda and Luke were both lost in their own little universe, oblivious to everything else around them.

- End of Chapter 89 -

Next time in *C90 - The Hunter and The Prey.

Other Wanda's gaze snapped back to Wanda, her eyes filled with fear and desperation that made Wanda's blood run cold. "She's found us. . ." She whispered, her voice barely audible, trembling under the weight of her words.