Swing Dancing

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you people? I don't own the Artemis Fowl series!

We were sitting in the living room at Fowl Manor. After Artemis got Atlantis Complex his whole family found out about the People. They had easily accepted me. I think they recognized how before Atlantis I made Artemis a better person. They whole family was sworn to secrecy.

Currently I looked human. I was testing out one of Foaly's new inventions, a shot that made fairies temporarily human. Right now I looked about 16.

The radio was playing. I smiled as a song I recognized came on the radio. It was an old mud man song, swing style. I started tapping my foot to the beat.

Artemis Senior stood, holding out a hand to Angeline. She took it and he pulled her to her feet, twirling her around. Artemis stood and held out a hand to me.

"Do you know how to swing dance?" I asked.

Artemis scoffed. "Of course."

I grinned and took his hand. We'll see. I lived through the time when swing was first in style with the mud men. It was still popular with fairies.

At first we just did the basic steps. Then Artemis twirled me around. He let go of one hand to wrap his hand around his back, palm up. I put my hand in his and he twirled me around into a move known as the pretzel. It ended up with my arms crossed over my chest, my hands still in his, my back against his chest.

Slowly Artemis' moves grew more elaborate. Swing dancing requires trust, as sometimes the guy actually picks the girl up. I was surprised to find that I trusted Artemis not to drop me on my head. Trouble did that once. But Artemis held me up easily. The last move of the song was a perfectly timed pretzel and on the last note of the song he twirled me out and let go of my hand, bowing to me. I smiled at him.

We sat down on the couch. "Thank you." Artemis said.

"You're welcome. I didn't know you could dance like that."

Artemis smiled his vampire smile. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

I smiled a little. Another swing song came on. Artemis stood, holding out a hand. I put my hand in his and he pulled me to my feet. After the song Artemis' parents decided to go upstairs. Artemis sat on the couch and I sat next to him. The radio played a slow song. There was a fire in the fireplace. I felt tired. I leaned my head on Artemis' shoulder. He put an arm around me and leaned his head against mine. I fell asleep.

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After a while I guess Artemis decided sleeping on the couch wasn't a good idea. He slid one arm under my legs and another around my back and picked me up. It woke me up a little, not enough to have it bother me that Artemis was carrying me, but enough to wonder since when was Artemis strong enough to carry me? I leaned my head against his chest, not awake enough to care.

I heard Artemis tell Butler that he would carry me himself, and Butler answer. Artemis carried me up to the bedroom and laid me in my bed, pulling the covers over me. He kissed me on the forehead and left.

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The next morning I woke up and couldn't remember how I got in the bed. Then it came back to me. Artemis carrying me upstairs. I groaned, I hoped Artemis wouldn't tease me about falling asleep. Of course, I could always tease him about carrying me upstairs.

I got up and got dressed, then went downstairs. We had breakfast in the kitchen. Angeline Fowl liked to seem like a "normal" family, so, breakfast around the kitchen table.

When I got to the kitchen Angeline offered me coffee. I gladly accepted. Artemis came down a minute later. He dropped into the chair next to me. Angeline pushed a mug of coffee towards him, seeming amused by the fact that her son was apparently not a morning person. It amused me to, as I always assumed Artemis got up with the sun.

Angeline was reading the paper. "Oh, look, Arty," she said. "The local homeschool choir is holding a swing dance to raise money. You two should go."

Artemis groaned. "Mother!"

I snickered, he was always doing this.

"It would probably be fun for Holly. Don't you have to go home soon? We should do everything we can to have her enjoy her stay."

Artemis put his head on the table. "It's up to Holly."

I grinned. He probably thought I'd say no. "I think it sounds fun."

Angeline smiled. "Excellent!"

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Artemis led me into the dance. It just a gym, but they had hung Christmas lights around. The regular lights were dim. Artemis pulled me onto the dance floor, dancing like we did last night. It felt right to dance with Artemis.

"Alright everyone, we're gonna do a snowball!" the MC said, then proceeded to explain. A snowball is were two people start dancing then switch partners, pulling everyone in. a couple started. Then the MC called, "Snowball!" and they broke off. The guy came and held his hand out to me.

I took it, what else could I do? He pulled me onto the dance floor. Whoever he was, he was a good dancer. He stayed away from a lot of the moves Artemis had done with me. I was glad of that. With Artemis I didn't mind, but I didn't know this guy.

"Snowball!" my partner let go of my hand and I ran to find Artemis.

After the snowball the MC played a couple regular swing songs. Then he announced, "I know this is a swing dance, but I've had several requests for a slow dance. So here you go."

A slow song came on. I was standing next to Artemis and he looked over at me. Almost nervously he asked, "Will you dance with me?"

I nodded and he slid his arms around me. I put my arms around his neck, glad that tonight I was human, and therefore not that much shorter than Artemis. He pulled me close as we swayed back and forth and leaned his cheek against the top of my head.

When the song ended he seemed reluctant to let go of me. I realized that I liked having his arms around me. We went to sit down. There were benches around the edge and I sat close to Artemis. Tentatively he put an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him. I felt Artemis' hand on my face and looked up at him. I could see in his eyes that he was worried, then he leaned in to kiss me.

I realized that I had been wanting him to kiss me for a while, and kissed him back.

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A couple weeks later I was back in Haven. Trouble came into my office to ask me if I would go to a swing dance with him.

"That depends."

"On…?"

"On whether you're asking me as a friend or as a date."

"Just a friend. I know you like to swing dance."

I smiled. "Yep. I love to swing dance." I said, thinking of the last swing dance I went to, and hoping I could go to another surface one soon.

END

Author note: I love swing dancing. I'm not very good, that's why the more complicated moves aren't described; I've never done them. My friend, who's way better than me did tell me that her boyfriend dropped her on her head once, so that bit about Trouble dropping Holly on her head is realistic. Swing dancing does require trust, because there are a lot of moves that have the guy picking up the girl. I've never done those cause I don't have a guy I trust enough. I went to a swing dance last weekend, that's what inspired me to write this, cause it's just so fun. And watching homeschoolers slow dance it cute. Homeschool guys have more respect for girls. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated, they make me feel special.