Chapter 1

A yellowish leaf swayed a bit in the brisk New York wind. It was plucked from the old tree that stood tall and graceful next to the New York City Ballet School. Young boys and girls rushed into the building to prepare for their dance classes.

The leaf spun to the ground but was almost instantly kicked up by a young girl dashing towards the door. Caught in the breeze, the leaf spun again in the air, brushing the head of one of the younger students. It fluttered past a group that included boys and girls and got plastered against the window that gazed into one of the many halls of the school.

In that particular hall way stood a young handsome man. Unlike how the dancers were dressed, this one was dressed in some faded Levi's, a blue T-shirt and tennis shoes. His blondish hair had a slight curl to it making his sky blue eyes and sharp cheek bones pop out nicely.

Brian Littrell sat on one of the tan glossed benches that lined some of they hallways as he waited for Grace, his girlfriend, to finish up her ballet class. Grace Cassidy danced for the New York City Ballet and had been taking lessons since age 3. Looking up, Brian noticed the leaf against the massive bay window and admired the simplicity of the beauty. It was amazing how beautiful something so simple could be.

Brian smiled to himself as he thought of his girlfriend and her name. And just like her name, she also danced that way. As a child, Grace had always loved dance. She and Brian made quite the pair as she was always dancing in her every spare moment and Brian sang as much as he could. Both of their parents were blessed seeing their children's talents both starting at such young ages.

Brian walked to the window of the classroom door, and watched as Grace stretched out her legs in a wide split. He knew actually that the class was just beginning and he would have to wait an hour and a half, but he didn't mind at all. He had always supported her passion as she did his. He watched all of the dancers stretch and warm up. Grace sat near one of the center ballet bars. She wore a black leotard with an attached skirt, light pink tights, black leg warmers and her light pink satin toe shoes. Grace carefully did up her ribbons tightly to make sure that her shoes were secured, then stood.

Pulling in from her ribs, Grace placed her heels together, turning her feet out, the backs of her knee's touching. Brian studied her carefully. She was a beauty with dramatic dark brown eyes and soft dark hair that she always kept pulled back tightly. Her dark looks made her mysterious to others, her beauty much darker. She carried herself on a beautiful frame, floating as she walked. Like other dancers, Grace was very thin and had long legs.He watched her do a couple of dance steps making sure her toe shoes were put on right. Her feet arched and pulled the slipper with them. Brian then studied her face trying not to be worried. He could see that she was straining a bit, she had worried lines that caressed her forehead and she was chewing her lower lip.

He felt for sure that there was something wrong with her, though he couldn't figure it out. Grace seemed to be struggling with all of her dance moves. She was struggling with basic steps he knew that she could do flawlessly in her sleep. Unlike other times that Grace danced, this time, it did not seem as if her heart were in it. She was almost robotic. Grace stood in line with the other girls at the bar.The room was surrounded by large mirrors that went from the ceiling to the floor and had several of the ballet bars around the edges of the room leaving plenty of room for center work. The floors were boards laid and glossed over.The piano music was played lightly, the soft swish of ballet shoes against the floor, the dance teacher walking around clapping in time, giving each girl instructions.

"Very good Larissa, excellent turn out... Keep your lines smooth Amanda. Much better." Brian watched the instructor going to the girls. Realized that she was almost at Grace.

Madame Black walked over and stopped in front of Grace, she was not smiling. Grace bit down on her lower lip as she pulled her leg up.

"No no, not like that Grace, you know you can hurt yourself." Madame said getting Grace's leg and helping her do the proper way of the leg lift which happened to be pretty painful.Grace's nose wrinkled as she concentrated on feeling exactly what Madame was doing. Taking a deep breath, she pulled through getting just a nod from Madame before she continued around the dance room.It was like that for almost the entire class, Madame pausing to help Grace with her moves, never giving her a praise. Grace was extremely frustrated.

Soon class was over and she grabbed her stuff, threw on some warm up pants over her leotard and walked over to him.

"Hey baby", Brian greeted her with a smile pretending that he hadn't noticed how she struggled.

"Hi Brian. Weren't you bored just watching my dull class?" She asked him.

"Nope," He smiled. “I never get tired of watching you dance.”

She cast him a weak smile. “So are you going to take me home?” She asked walking towards the car.

”Don't you want to get some lunch first?” He asked her walking fast to keep up with her quick steps..

She sighed. “I guess so.”

In the car she changed out of her toe shoes and into some clogs the stared out the window until they got to a pizza place. Brian knew how moody Grace could get at time's so he figured it would be best just to give her some space.

”Brian!” She groaned.

“You know I can't have this stuff.” She grumbled but she opened the door and walked in. Brian sighed mentally slapping himself for this choice but he had been craving pizza and had just driven not thinking.

"Listen Grace, I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking. We can go some where else." He told her taking her arm gently.

"Don't worry about it Brian. I'm sure I can find something."

They together entered the old fashioned pizza shop. It had a nice roaring fireplace in the center to keep it warm during the cold New York winters. The walls were made of stone that were left plain. After a short wait, they were led to a corner booth. The tables were made of some dark wood, the booths were a dark maroon covered in plastic that wasn't very comfortable during the hot summers when it could stick to your thighs.

After carefully scanning the menu, Grace ordered and small salad and a bottle water Brian ordered himself some pizza and sat back watching her. Grace listened to the music play in the popular hang out.


I just trusted him
Pero, cuando le segui
I saw you together
I didn't know about you then 'till I saw you with him again
I walked in on your love scene
Bailando Suave
You stole everything
how could you say I did you wrong

Grace smiled a bit tapping her foot and moving ever to slightly to the music. That's how it always was. A song caught her attention and flowed over her until her heart beat to the rhythm and her blood pumped along to the words until she was taken over completely.

Brian reached over taking her hand and interrupting the song he said to her, “You danced beautifully, just as graceful as your name.”

She tried to smile at him. She realized she was being a bit harsh with everything including him, but he didn't understand the stuff on her mind.

“Thanks Brian, I don't mean to be in such a bad mood, I'm just tired. We are going to start rehearsing for our usual winter production of The Nutcracker and I'm trying for the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” She rolled her eyes.

“It's always the same thing, winter it's The Nutcracker, spring, Swan Lake and on and on. They never can do anything new but oh well I guess that is ballet for you.”

Brian was silent for a bit not knowing what she needed to hear. He looked at her carefully and noticed that she wasn't eating her salad; just taking tiny sips from her bottle of water. "Don't you like your salad?" He questioned her.

She looked down and blushed, “No not really. I'm sorry Brian, I am just not in the mood for eating right now."

”You have another class in about two hours, you need your energy.”

She sighed but took a couple of small bites. She decided that she would work it off during class anyway. That was one of her problems. She knew there was no way a fat ballerina would ever be cast as the Sugar Plumb Fairy so she had decided to just drop a couple of pounds.  She took a couple more bites then pushed back her chair, "Come on Brian, I want to go for a walk."

"Now?" Brian asked looking out the window at the gray day. It looked chilly and un-inviting.

"Yup, right now." Grace insisted.

He looked at her and then laughing he agreed. He took her hand and led her to the park.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Anything." Grace responded gazing around her in awe. The tree's were all turning colors to match the colder weather.

"This place is so beautiful," She breathed. Central Park had always been a magical place for her. When there, she could imagine that she was anything she wanted to be. It was her escape. They walked on and then came to a rest and sat down on a bench.

"Gosh I love it here in New York!" She cried out suddenly making Brian jump.

Brian laughed. She was so cute when she got excited about things. "Grace you are so wonderful."

"Why? Cuz I dance with the New York City Ballet?" She teased, almost like her old self.

"Um well yeah why else would I like you?" Brian teased back playfully.

She punched him on the arm. "You are such a jerk" She laughed.

"Yeah, but you love me for it." She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever."

Brian felt his grin stretching across his face. This was the Grace he loved and knew. He figured that he had been just worrying too much. She seemed fine, just needed to relax a bit.

"So," Brian said trying to calm down from laughing so much, "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know "She answered him with a shrug. "I just love it here in the park. It's so peaceful and calm here. It is the most beautiful part of the city."

Brian knew he had to agree with that. He looked over at her and thought how lucky he was to have found such a woman. Yes, he was lucky indeed. They soon got up and went on for a walk to the park until it was time to head back for another rough practice.