Darcy was all but forced to attend her first high school dance and she had sworn to herself, on that fateful night in February, that she would do anything within her power to keep from attending a second. That Valentine's Day Dance was to be her first and only high school dance.

And yet, there Darcy stood, four months later, on a cool early May evening, standing at the top of the stairs, taking several deep breaths, preparing herself to descend.

Charlie had gone first and received many vocal positive exclamations at the sight of her carefully pinned up hair and floor-length ballgown. The yellow tulle made Charlie's rosy cheeks glow and her eyes bright.

It had been long enough. Darcy could go down now. It was her turn at shock and awe. But she waited, just one more long moment. This was her senior prom. Her last big event before graduation. An event she had never even dreamed of attending and yet, there she stood, in a floor-length dress, with someone waiting for her. At that thought, Darcy finally started down the stairs.

Henry, Lois, Carson, Charlie, and Jamie were all already there, waiting for her. But Darcy only wanted the reaction of one person.

Eli was cuter when he was smiling. Darcy had thought him cute even during all the times he had scowled at her, especially when he smirked in victory during their heated debates. But his face softened when he looked at Darcy these days and Darcy wanted nothing for than for him to keep looking at her like that.

He was watching her every move as she took the stairs step by step. She could hear Lois gasp and saw out of the corner of her eye Charlie's glow of accomplishment. Darcy owed her makeup and hair for the evening all to Charlie. The dress, too, was Charlie's idea. And it perfectly matched the light lavender of Eli's vest.

"Hi."

Darcy didn't turn towards the others. Darcy followed Eli's gaze down and then back up her dress, equally as shocked as he was that she was not only in a full-on prom dress but that it was a color other than black.

"You look beautiful," he finally managed to say.

"Thank you. So do you."

He offered her his arm and Darcy slid hers through, holding on tight.

"Alright, everyone! Pictures!"

It was only after fifteen minutes of photos and then an extra ten minutes of trying to get Lois to let them go, that the five teenagers finally exited the house. Henry and Lois stood on the front steps watching them as Eli and Darcy took the front (Darcy behind the wheel), Jamie, Charlie, and Carson taking the back, making sure there was ample room for the skirt of Charlie's dress.

They hung their hands out the window and waved goodbye as Darcy pulled out of the driveway and headed east towards the city.

Meriton Charter's prom was held in a hotel that year, as it was most years. This year, it was a nice hotel located on the outskirts of the city. The parking lot was packed with cars and valets were running in every direction to keep some order among the chaos.

Darcy passed the nearest runner her keys as Eli rounded the car to offer his arm once again. Darcy was grateful for the stability. Her heart was already racing just being near him but as they entered the hotel and followed the crowd up several stories to the banquet hall, Darcy was afraid her heart might just pop out of her chest.

Darcy paused just outside the large room, moving to the side to keep out of the way of the crush of bodies pushing to get in. Her hold on Eli's arm tightened and he looked down at her. The excitement in his eyes turned to concern at the sight of Darcy's wide-eyed stare.

"You okay?"

He had to lean down and yell in her ear as the music pumping from the speakers set up on either side of the DJ booth made it impossible to be heard anything any other way.

Darcy tried nodding, thinking she should reassure him, but she couldn't. Eli pulled her off to the side, further away from the entrance, giving her some room to breathe, and let the tension in her chest ease, if only a little bit.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to go in?"

Eli's eyes were searching her face but Darcy was having a hard time tearing her eyes from the mass of bodies all moving in time to the beat, only a few yards away. The sight made her stomach queasy.

"I do. Really."

"Darcy, what's wrong?"

Darcy took a deep breath and finally managed to tear her eyes from the party within and meet Eli's. She took another deep breath before speaking.

"I'm claustrophobic."

"What, you don't like crowds?"

That was putting it mildly but still, Darcy nodded.

"I really, really, really don't like crowds."

Eli looked from her to the dance floor and then back again. His frown lasted a long minute and then suddenly softened, a realization hitting him.

"The Valentine's Day dace. That's why you didn't want to dance."

Darcy nodded.

"Well, then. We can't have that. This is our senior prom. We're going to dance. Do trust me?"

It was taking way too much energy for Darcy to keep her focus on Eli and the sincerity in his eyes and not the party happening without them. She managed a nod.

"Grab my hand and hold on. I've got an idea."

Darcy took his outstretched hand and sent her eyes down to the floor as he led her into the banquet hall. From what she could tell, they were skirting the dance floor altogether. When that faded from her narrowed view, Darcy looked up and found a host of tables filled with even more students, many partaking in the buffet of food lining the back wall. But Eli didn't stop.

They moved through the tables and kept going until they reached the other side of the room. Eli paused, dropping Darcy's hand for a second, and then took it again when a gush of chill evening air hit her face. Darcy looked up. Eli led her out onto a balcony, completely empty, lined with twinkle lights and wrought iron benches, overlooking the glowing city just beyond the bay.

It took Darcy an extra moment to recognize all those other attributes, as she was primarily focused on the space and lack of people. She could breathe out here.

"Darcy Williams, would you care to dance?"

Eli stood with one hand out, the other behind his back, in a half bow. The old-fashioned gesture made Darcy smile.

"Eli Bennett, I would love to dance."

He pulled her close and placed a gentle hand on her back, the other hand enveloping hers. The music from inside poured out the doors and into the night, along with the excess heat from the dancers inside. It was an upbeat song, something most people were jumping up and down to inside. But Darcy and Eli just swayed back and forth. And they continued to do so, no matter the tempo of the music.

It wasn't where Darcy had imagined she'd be spending her senior prom. It was so much better. But then again, Darcy didn't care too much about the circumstance, the surroundings. As long as she was dancing with Eli, she was happy.

A/N:

This chapter is short and sweet but I love it.

Look at our Darcy girl being vulnerable and our boy Eli being supportive! We love to see it.