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Title: Last Dance
Pairing: Vanessa Olivarez/Kimberly Caldwell
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not true. The end.


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While the lights shone down upon her and the cameras stared at her with their glass eyes, Vanessa Olivarez was all smiles and sunshine, laughter and glitter, Bette Midler and Rainbow Brite all rolled into one. But once the spots were dimmed and the cameras shut off, a very different girl shuffled offstage to the girls’ dressing room, her head lowered, her hands shaking.

The rest of the girls were afraid to change out of their outfits that night. No one had ever seen Vanessa in any mood less than chipper, and to see her this distressed was heartbreaking to all of them. No one expected that she would be the first to go, and consequently, no one knew quite what to say to her. Julia and Carmen whispered to each other at the end of the hall, both knowing that they probably should have gone ahead of Vanessa, but not wanting to say it. Kim Locke clutched tightly onto Clay’s hand as they stood in front of the boys’ dressing room, talking quietly, every so often throwing a glare in Trenyce’s direction, who was standing in front of the changing room, arms crossed, irritatedly tapping her fingernails against her forearm. She didn’t dare go inside, but decided to make the fact that she wanted to go in as obvious and annoying as possible. The only person who had no fear of Vanessa the Downtrodden was Kim Caldwell, and after throwing disgusted looks at the rest of the contestants, she barged straight through the door without knocking.

Vanessa’s back was facing the door, but she turned around as soon as she heard Kim stomping through it. Her face was streaked with tears and makeup, and she looked like someone who had gotten caught in the rain on Halloween with her crazy hair and smeared eye shadow. “Kim, come on,” she said quietly, wiping her eyes. “Can I have a couple of minutes?”

“Nope.” Kim moved directly in front of the girl and brushed Vanessa’s tears away with her thumbs. “Baby, this isn’t you and you know it.”

Vanessa gently shoved the girl’s hands away. “How do you know, huh? How do you know this isn’t me? What if the constantly cheerful slash annoying girl was just an act? Anyone can dye their hair pink and bounce around. What if I’m secretly emo, and smoke cigarettes in coffeehouses, and have debates about theology?”

Kim couldn’t help but crack a smile and soon after, Vanessa started to laugh as well. “Nessa, you don’t need to cry. Everybody loves you. They love you so much they just assumed you’d be safe. You said yourself they hadn’t seen the last of you.” Kim wiped away the last of the girl’s tears and placed her hands on Vanessa’s shoulders. “I love you, too, you know that, right?”

Vanessa blushed slightly, her pink cheeks rivaling the color in her hair. “Thanks, Kim,” she whispered. “I love you, too. And…you’re right.” She sighed and let out a nervous laugh. “I think…I think I just needed to throw a diva fit before I got my title stripped from me for being kicked off the show.” She let out one of her infamous giggles, and Kim tightened her grip on the girl, pulling her in for a tight hug.

“That’s my girl,” Kim said, her warm breath tickling Vanessa’s ear. Her lips barely grazed Vanessa’s cheek as she pulled away, but Vanessa shivered anyway. She watched Kim with an arched eyebrow as her hands lingered a little too long on her shoulders and then slowly slid down to rest on Vanessa’s hips.

“What? I refuse to laugh like the Pillsbury Dough Boy if you poke my tummy.”

Kim gave Vanessa a half smile, her fingers trailing up and down the girl’s sides, and Vanessa sighed softly. “You’re so...curvy. That’s really, sexy.”

Vanessa’s eyebrow arched even higher. “Um…okay,” she stammered, trying not to lean into Kim’s touch, but she couldn’t help it. “I always thought so…that…curves were sexy…not that you’re not pretty, too, because you’re…a stick…and…ugh.” The girl shook her head. “That did not come out how I wanted it to.”

However, instead of Kim backing away in disgust of the quasi-insult, she merely laughed her musical laugh and shifted closer to Vanessa. “I get it,” she whispered, her lips dangerously close to Vanessa’s own. “Thanks.”

When they kissed, it was like a vanilla dream, comforting and sugary, softness against softness, everything pink and white and fluffy. It was cotton candy and flavored lip gloss with just a hint of spice when Kim slipped her tongue past Vanessa’s lips, and then everything was cinnamon and heated, warm apple cider and tongues gliding alongside one another, just briefly though, because Kim always left people wanting more. She pulled away first, and heard a little whimper come from the other girl.

“Dance with me,” Kim purred against Vanessa’s cheek as she took the girl’s hands and wrapped them around her waist. Kim threw her arms over Vanessa’s shoulders and let the girl rest her head in the crook of Kim’s neck. Kim started to hum a tune that was very familiar to Vanessa, and the girl grinned as she pressed her lips to the side of Kim’s neck.

“Baby be strong for me, baby belong to me,” Vanessa sang softly, accompanying the blonde. They repeated the song over and over as they swayed around the room, their whispered melodies drowning out the world around them. It was their first dance and their last dance all at once. But when Kim dabbed away a smear of her lipstick from the corner of Vanessa’s mouth before they let the other girls in to change, Vanessa finally believed what they had both said earlier, even if it was in a different context; this wasn’t it for her. There was always more, and there were always bigger and better things. She secretly hoped one of those bigger and better things was to keep in touch with Kim Caldwell.



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