She leaned down to hug him. "Thank you." When she stood tall again, she pressed her palm against his cheek. "You've given up a lot to help your dad and I. I wanted you to know how much we appreciate it."
Adam shook his head. "I didn’t give anything up. I made a choice, Mum. I enjoy teaching."
Her gaze was sad. "Perhaps, but we all know you enjoy dancing more."
"I haven't stopped dancing."
"You know what I mean. Your dad and I... we both had our time on the stage. And you... you belong there too. But instead you're here, helping us."
He laid his hand over hers and squeezed it reassuringly. "Iwantto be here."
The sadness in her eyes didn't dissipate. For all that she hadn't given birth to him, Deborah was his mum. Always had been.
"I need to get back to writing down ideas. Thanks for the food." He grinned up at her. "I'll make peace with Luc, if it'll make you happy."
She smiled. "It will. Thank you, Adam."
Her hand slipped away from him and she wandered out of the room, leaving him alone with his angry thoughts and a sheet full of ideas that he had to convince his dad were worth implementing.
***
Adam and his parents got back from the dance school at about half past nine that evening, to find Luc on the sofa, channel surfing whilst tapping away on his laptop. Every other night since Luc had turned up, Adam had retreated straight upstairs to take a shower and head to bed, but their mum's words rang in his ears and he felt fidgety, like he needed to get out and let loose for a while.
He cleared his throat to attract Luc's attention. "Do you... want to head out to a club or something?"
Luc stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth, almost causing Adam to backtrack on his offer.
"That's a lovely idea," Deborah said, smiling.
"Err... sure," Luc said. He glanced down at himself. "Let me go throw something nicer on."
"Take your time. I need to shower." Not that he'd done any real dancing himself, but it would still make him feel fresher. "Be ready in half an hour?"
He barely waited for Luc to nod in agreement, before heading out the door and jogging up the steps.
He'd probably made a huge mistake inviting Luc out, but at least in a club they wouldn't have to talk to each other. In fact, talking would be hard given the volume of the music. He was envisaging that they'd maybe sit at the bar for a drink and then separate on the dance floor to find their own partners to dance with. They'd probably head home together at the end of the night, unless one—or both of them—was lucky enough to find someone worth going home with. He wouldn't exactly be hanging out with Luc, but he would be keeping their mum happy.
He took his time showering and getting changed into a slim fitting shirt and a pair of black jeans. He squeezed gel onto his hands, rubbed them together and then ran them through his hair to give it some texture. It had a tendency to stick up all over the place, like he'd just gotten out of bed, but he was fairly happy with its chaotic appearance.
Luc was waiting for him when he got downstairs. He wasn’t dressed much differently: he was still wearing black jeans and a shirt with the top couple of buttons open, except instead of being white, the shirt was royal blue. His hair was as perfect as ever, unmoving thanks to the ridiculous amount of styling product he presumably used.
"I thought we'd get the bus," Adam said. "Unless you'd rather take a taxi?"
"The bus is fine."
They both grabbed their jackets and then wandered along to the bus stop, uncomfortable silence hovering between them. Even if Adam had known what to say, he didn't particularly want to talk to Luc.
"Which club were you thinking of heading to?" Luc asked, as they stood at the bus stop.
The electronic signboard told them they only had five minutes to wait; thank God.
"The Vibe?"
Luc scrunched his nose up. "That was always a bit of a dive."
"It got taken over a couple of years ago and done up. It's a lot better now. But we could go to Magenta instead." Adam wasn't sure why he was bothering to be so accommodating. What did Luc know about the nightclubs in town? It wasn't like he'd been to any of them in at least four years.
"If you say the Vibe is a good place to go, I trust you," Luc said, though he didn't look at Adam as he spoke.
