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We danced together alone

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They’ve been living together for three months when Matt decides he’s had enough of only dancing in the house and declares that they’re going out to a club. He promises that it isn’t a club where everyone is shirtless and on drugs (how he knows that’s the sort of atmosphere Alex was picturing, she’ll never know), so when Salome spends the night at a friend’s one weekend, they dress up and go out.

 

It isn’t an unusual occurrence for them; they try to go out on dates fairly frequently just to keep things interesting. It’s far too early in their relationship to become boring and domestic. Their sex life certainly doesn’t need any spicing up – it’s one area where they need no help – but the other things in a relationship need to be nourished as well and they’re both all too aware of this. So they’ll go out to dinner somewhere lovely, see a movie or just stroll down the streets in London holding hands – any excuse to spend time alone together. Matt enjoys coming up with different places to go and wild romantic gestures to perform. Alex thinks he gets a kick out of wooing her, since he didn’t really get a chance to in the beginning.

 

Two weeks ago, he’d driven them far outside of London and spread out a blanket under the stars in an open field. They’d had cheap wine and boxes of candy from a petrol station. Alex had felt like a teenager. They’d talked and laughed, and when they’d had their fill of wine and candy, they’d made love on that blanket surrounded by stars and candy wrappers.

 

Now, Matt leads her by the hand into the club and filled with trepidation, Alex clings to him. There are photographers outside but she keeps her head down, offering them no comment.

 

Inside, Matt turns to smile at her and Alex can’t help but smile back, despite her misgivings. He looks so excited and his enthusiasm is catching. As he leads her through the room to the bustling bar, Alex takes in her surroundings. The club is nice – one large room filled with little tables and plenty of room for dancing and then smaller adjoining rooms for those who want to escape the cloying crowds. The whole place is richly decorated with dark mahogany wood and red velvet; Alex might have mistaken it for something out of the Victorian era if not for the pounding music vibrating the whole room.

 

This is not the sort of place she would frequent but she’s willing to try it out. After all, one of the things she loves about Matt is his unfailing ability to make her feel younger than she really is.

 

Finding an open spot at the bar, Matt pulls Alex close and cups a hand around the back of her neck, letting his thumb caress her skin. She’d pulled her hair into an elegant up-do tonight, letting a few curls frame her face, and she shivers at his light touch.

 

“What do you think so far?” He asks into her ear.

 

Turning to face him, she leans against the bar and eyes him up and down. He looks rather delicious in tight jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair a deliberate mess that she aches to run her hands through. Reaching out, she slips her fingers into his belt loops and tugs him close to her, smiling when his eyes darken. Alex pulls his head down to hers with a hand at the back of his neck and suddenly he’s looking her right in the eye.

 

“Not bad.”

 

Matt places his hands on her hips and presses further into her, murmuring in her ear, “I’d really like to ravish you against this bar.”

 

Alex beams. A roomful of young, barely dressed girls and he still wants her. She’ll never get tired of hearing that. “Well,” she says huskily, letting her fingers slip under his t-shirt and scratching her nails against bare skin. “Why don’t you?”

 

Matt growls into her ear and before Alex can laugh, his mouth is on hers. His kiss is rough and his fingers tighten around her hips, pressing her back into the hard line of the bar behind her. Whimpering into his mouth, Alex clutches at his shirt and opens her mouth against his, letting his tongue swipe against hers.

 

His hands begin to wander, sliding over the silk material of her tight red dress and she shifts in her high heels to press herself closer to him. If she could, she would crawl inside him and just curl up there. Even that might not be close enough.

 

Letting his teeth sink gently into her bottom lip and tugging, Matt’s hand slips down to cup her arse and Alex is seconds from letting out a wanton moan when Matt is jostled from behind and they’re brought back to their surroundings. Breathing heavily and lips swollen, they stay pressed tight together and smile goofily at one another.

 

Matt kisses her nose playfully. “We’re meant to be dancing, Kingston,” he says. “Instead we’re going to be arrested for public indecency.”

 

Alex laughs and straightens his shirt for him, pushing him away with a teasing smile. “Stop looking so edible and we won’t have this problem, Mr. Smith.”

 

“You first,” Matt says, kissing her again.

 

“Matt,” she complains half-heartedly as he pulls away to trail his hot mouth across her jaw. “Dancing.”

 

“Mm,” he murmurs, paying her no mind. “Did I ever tell you your skin tastes like vanilla? It’s quite wonderful, actually.”

 

He nips at the underside of her jaw.

 

Alex bites her lip against a moan, allowing his arm to slip around her waist. Damn him. Why does he always render her utterly senseless?

 

A tall, thin girl in a micro-mini shoves her way to the bar but Alex is too lost in Matt to notice her until she says, “Vodka. A double.”

 

In her arms, Matt freezes and it only takes her a moment to realize why. Their eyes meet and slowly, they both turn to look at the girl. Daisy Lowe stands next to them, tapping her fingers against the bar to the rhythm of the music and smiling tightly.

 

Hurriedly, Alex pulls away from Matt – she isn’t sure if the reaction is just instinctive after hiding from her for so long or if it’s just out of respect for the girl’s feelings – but Matt keeps a tight hold on her hand and won’t let her go far.

 

“Hey,” she says, pointedly not looking at Alex.

 

“Daze,” Matt says, smiling a little. “It’s good to see you.”

 

Daisy nods. “You too. Didn’t think this was your kind of scene anymore.”

 

Matt shrugs and his grip on Alex’s hand tightens. “Not often. Better things to spend my time doing now.”

 

For a moment, there is an awkward pause while Daisy waits for her drink and Alex looks anywhere but at the woman in front of her while trying to offer Matt her silent support.

 

“You look good,” Matt finally says and Alex can tell he’s grasping at things to say. She knows the feeling; it’s horrible, feeling so far away from someone who used to mean so much.

 

“You too,” Daisy says, tilting her head.

 

Matt’s other hand drifts to the small of Alex’s back and she leans into his touch. “Heard about the fiancé. Rafe’s a great guy – I met him a couple of times a few years ago.”

 

“Yeah,” Daisy rolls her eyes. “He was your fanboy but I’m slowly poisoning his mind against you and your bastard ways.”

 

Alex is pretty certain Daisy is utterly serious; her face is a mixture of scorn and discomfort but Matt laughs and says, “As deserved.”

 

“Of course,” Daisy says, still not smiling.

 

When her drink slides across the bar in her direction, Alex can see the relief flash across Daisy’s face. “Well,” she says. “I’m off. See you.”

 

“Daze,” Matt calls just before she disappears into the crowd.

 

She turns and her large engagement ring flashes in the light.

 

Matt falters, hesitant, and Alex squeezes his hand encouragingly. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

 

For a moment, Daisy looks so surprised that Alex thinks she might walk away without saying anything but then her eyes briefly flit in Alex’s direction and her face softens ever so slightly when she looks at Matt again. “I’m glad you’re happy too,” she says stiffly. Alex can’t blame her – she isn’t sure she could have been as generous, were their situations reversed.

 

And then Daisy’s gone and Matt is turning to her, letting out a breath and pressing his face into her neck. Alex runs her nails across his back and lets him have a moment.

 

“That was awkward as hell,” he says, sounding pained.

 

“At least it’s over,” she says comfortingly. “And you conducted yourself beautifully.”

 

Matt snorts, pulling back to grin at her. “Alright, enough of this. I promised you dancing, darling. So let’s get to it.”

 

He pulls her out onto the dance floor to the pulsing beat of Shiny Toy Guns and before long; their brief encounter with Daisy is a distant thought in the back of their minds. The sort of dancing they’re doing now is a whole world away from the slow dancing and silly waltzing they do around the house. This is more erratic and gyrating; they grind against each other provocatively and Alex can’t help but blush at first but everyone else seems to be doing much the same thing. It takes her a while to get used to it but eventually she realizes it’s just like making love to Matt – just expressed in a different way. It’s wild and frantic, the way it feels when she’s finally with him again after a long time apart.

 

With her back to him, Matt holds her hips in a bruising grip and pulls her against him, grinding shamelessly into her arse. His breath is hot against her neck and she reaches behind her to rest her hand against the back of his neck, turning her head to look into his eyes. He smirks at her, winking. Alex laughs – no matter that his dancing is a sight better than she thought it would be, he’s still her ridiculous Matt. Occasionally, he can’t seem to help himself and his arms flail or he does something totally silly and dorky and Alex can do nothing but laugh until tears spring to her eyes.

 

When she isn’t laughing at him and they aren’t grinding together, and the songs slow to a crawl, Matt will sober immediately and pull her gently into him. She revels in his closeness, in the warmth of his body against hers and his lips against her hairline. He holds her close like something precious and when she looks up at him, he kisses her as if he’ll never stop.

 

They finally stumble out of the club in the early hours of the morning and Alex is exhausted. It was brilliant, but she isn’t as young as she used to be and she certainly won’t be doing that every weekend.

 

Holding hands, they wander down the street together, still not quite ready to hail a cab and head home. They’re enjoying their time out together and while Alex is eager to get him home and strip him of his clothes, she can wait and savor this quiet moment.

 

As they stroll together, fingers clasped tightly between them, Alex’s thoughts drift back to Daisy. On the dance floor, she’d glimpsed the girl a couple of times sitting at the bar with some friends and occasionally out on the floor. Most of the time, Alex had been too focused on Matt and his hands on her, lost in the rhythm of the music to pay anything else any mind but sometimes, she would glance in Daisy’s direction and see her looking at them with a strange expression on her face. It hadn’t been jealousy and it hadn’t been bitterness. It was almost like she hadn’t known what to think.

 

Alex wonders if Daisy had been silently questioning why Matt would want to be with someone like her – someone who doesn’t frequent clubs and most of the time prefers to be home with her little girl. It can’t be the exciting life Matt must have had with Daisy, filled with parties and drinking and staying out at all hours of the night with musicians and other actors. Sometimes, Alex too wonders why Matt is so attracted to the life she can give him but she knows. Matt has never been shy about his feelings and she knows he would never go out to a club again if that’s what she asked of him. It isn’t important to him anymore and Alex can only thank her lucky stars that the unassuming little life she tries to lead is enough for him.

 

Glancing up at him, Alex slows to a stop under a street lamp and admires his features in the glow of the light. His cheeks are still flushed from the dancing and the cool night air, and his hair is even more of a mess than usual. Eyes bright, he smiles down at her and gently squeezes her hand in his. He’s beautiful, and he’s hers.

 

“What?” He asks, looking at her questioningly.

 

Alex shakes her head, grinning up at him. “Nothing,” she says. “I’m just glad you love me.”

 

For a moment, Matt does nothing but stare at her with slightly widened eyes and Alex knows he isn’t used to hearing her say such things. He’s usually the one being a sap. Judging by his brilliant smile just a second later, however, Alex decides she should really say things like that more often. He likes to hear those things just as much as she does.

 

“Well I’m glad you love me too,” he says, and he pulls her into a sweet, soft kiss under the street lamp, still grinning.

 

When he releases her mouth, Alex presses a playful kiss to his chin and says, “You know…while this was very nice and I wouldn’t mind doing it again, I’m rather fond of dancing in the kitchen.”

 

“Really?” He asks, brows raised. “You don’t mind my terrible waltz?”

 

Laughing, she shakes her head and leans close, murmuring, “I also like the other sort of dancing we do. You’re rather brilliant at it.”

 

Matt’s mouth twitches and he looks so uncharacteristically shy that she can’t wait to get him home and push him into bed. “You think so?”

 

Nodding, Alex nuzzles her face into his neck, breathing him in. “I have first hand experience with your particular talents, darling.”

 

He laughs into her hair and begins to tug her along, pulling her to the curb and hailing down a cab. “In that case, allow me to escort you home for a private demonstration of my abilities.”

 

Giggling, Alex allows him to usher her into a taxi.

 

--

 

When she wakes up the next morning, groggy and pleasantly sore – she isn’t sure if it’s from dancing or dancing but either way, she isn’t complaining – Alex opens her eyes to find Matt already sitting up in bed. Usually, if he’s up before her, he’s either watching her with a goofy grin or relentless in his endeavor to wake her as well, with pleasurable results. This morning, he’s engrossed in a copy of the morning paper, muttering to himself as he scans the gossip section.

 

Rolling her eyes, Alex scrubs tiredly at her face and says, “What are you doing? It’s downright blasphemous, being up so early.”

 

“We made the paper,” he says distractedly. “Again.”

 

Alex groans, stretching out amongst the rumpled sheets and reaching out to rest a hand on Matt’s bare hipbone. He scoots into her touch, making a pleased humming sound but doesn’t take his eyes from the page.

 

“Listen to this,” he says, sounding annoyed. “‘Matt Smith runs into ex fiancée Daisy Lowe while out on the town with new girlfriend River Song. Sadly, no catfight ensues.’”

 

Alex snorts but Matt doesn’t seem to find it nearly so amusing and for a few seconds, she listens to him grumble under his breath about the quality of journalism these days before growing tired of his tirade. Reaching out, she snatches the paper from his grasp, crumples it in her fist and tosses it across the room.

 

Mouth open in silent protest, Matt watches the morning paper sail across the room before turning to look at her in unabashed outrage. “I was reading that!”

 

“And you were ruining my lovely mood,” she says, voice still sleepy. “So kindly shut up and make love to me.”

 

At this, Matt grins, jumping a little when her hand slides from his hipbone to more interesting places. “Insatiable trollop,” he says with a fond laugh, moving quickly to cover her body with his under the blankets. “Whatever shall I do with you?”

 

Stretching languidly underneath him, Alex trails her fingers down his stomach and eyes him appreciatively. “I can think of a few things.”

 

As Matt begins to press wet, open-mouthed kisses down her chest and stomach, Alex closes her eyes and lets herself be grateful once again that this man loves her and not someone else. And then Matt’s talented tongue is somewhere wonderful and Alex gasps up at the ceiling, suddenly remembering other things she’s grateful for.

 

Matt’s lovely mouth, for one.