Flames of Love

Disclaimer: Don't own Shake it Up.

A/N: IMPORTANT NOTE: So this is my first Shake it Up story, it loosely follows the series, and I mean very loosely. It starts from the episode in which Gunther and Cece dated. This idea kept me up during the night, so I've got to write it. Please, enjoy the story! There aren't all that many episodes to look at, but there's a lot of drama to unfold, such as old exes, family drama, various things that will shape this story into something great. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 (Another Chance)

The scent of magnolia, the vision of her auburn hair flying through the air like brilliant fire, he never quite experienced a thrill like this. The look of purity upon her snow white face, and her beautiful ruby lips. It pulled him in like a dream, a dream turned into a nightmare when he witnessed the look of horror and shock upon that wondrous face.

Guilt trampled his heart like a stampede of animals running over him. If it hadn't been for his sister's anger, things would have been different. They knew all about that advice show, but he didn't care, he knew what Cece had said was not meant as a serious statement, but their cousin did take it to heart. Tinka wanted to ruin her for it, the girl hated that red-headed goddess with a passion greater than then thousand suns. He only followed along because she begged him, guilted him. They'd done everything together since they were kids, and she never quite got enough of that. She had him wear clothes he didn't want to wear, but he wore them anyway because he was afraid of hurting her feelings.

Truth be told, he despised all that glitter, he despised glitter more than a vegan despised meat. He didn't mind the flashy clothing, but he still felt embarrassed showing his face around in public. Did he have no backbone? Whenever he wanted to say 'no' to Tinka wanting him to wear some glittery outfit she made, she would have this sad expression upon her face, and so he would wear the outfit and take whatever heat he got because of it.

The whole date with Cece, the whole dance, not everything had been a lie. His feelings for her were very real, and before the whole dance, the two of them had a talk, and she did mention there was something there that could develop, but she was not too sure. Oh if only Tinka hadn't wanted to get revenge for their cousin's pain. It wasn't like it was Cece's fault he was lonely. Now, many people would laugh at her because of that dress that Tinka made, which she had him claim to make to avoid suspicion. He understood how uncomfortable it made her feel, he dealt with that same embarrassment every day. He was used to it.

He lay upon his bed, in the room that he declared off limits to his entire family. Though his dad often came in anyway, but he knocked first. Tinka, under no circumstances, ever came all the way into his room. He didn't want her to think for a minute that he had different desires than she did, for fear that she would break down and cry.

His walls were covered with various posters of rock stars, guitarists, and singers like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Above his blue striped bed and sandy brown headboard, rested a imitation Van Halen. This was the type of artists he enjoyed. Rock, classical, and just maybe a splash of pop, but not so much.

He stared up at the bottom of the guitar, groaning as his stomach churned about like a blender, mixing his dinner together. The look of anguish upon Cece's face played over and over again. Tinka's final dash of salt in an open wound, having him breaking up with Cece. Surely the girl's pride couldn't take it, especially not if there stood a chance of there being something there.

"God, I have to apologize to her. I cannot take this." He sat up and looked over to the wooden desk to his right. It rested in front of an open window, the wind was howling like a wolf in the pitch black night. Maybe he could sneak out there, he knew his parents, and even Tinka, wouldn't want him running about. "I have to show her the real me…I can't take her hating me…"

He leapt from his bed, only in his boxers. It was just a little after midnight, but so what if he couldn't sleep. Was he crazy? He charged to his closet and opened it, on the right were a bunch of outfits that Tinka always wanted him to wear. No matter where they were together, she wanted them to match. On the left, the clothes he liked, but hadn't worn in ages, because he never had the chance. He had band tees, solid colored shirts, decorative shirts, leather jackets, polo shirts and even button ups. Most of the colors ranged from blue, to red, to black. He had a couple orange and green shirts, of varying shades. For pants, he had blue denim jeans, black jeans, brown pants, and even khaki shorts.

Back when Ty tried to make him look 'cool', he wanted to wear these, but Tinka just wouldn't hear of it. So he went on with her dressing him up in what she thought looked nice. Ty laughed in his face, just like he thought. Yes, he screamed when Ty took away his sister's 'twinkle' shit, but that was only because he was certain it would devastate her.

Would she care what he wore right now? Probably, but for all his family knew, he was asleep. He reached in and pulled out a solid brown, short-sleeved shirt. Next he tore some blue jeans from his closet. This was what he wanted to wear. If Tinka ever saw it, she'd bawl her eyes out.

No time to think about her.

Within minutes, he was sneaking out of the window. He was halfway when he saw a light turn on beneath the door. He froze and waited, watching anxiously as a shadow ran along the floor. His heart started racing and he began whispering to himself for that light to go off. What was worse? His family catching him, or Cece killing him?

"Screw it." The light went off and he slipped fully out the window. He pulled on a red hood jacket with a dragon insignia on the chest and looked up as he was pelted with rain. Throwing on the hood, he took off in a run, not even thinking about how crazy he probably looked running around the streets of Chicago at the midnight hour with a hooded jacket. Though it did hit him, Cece's mom was a cop. "Well, I didn't think that through…"

When he made it to Cece's home, the rain had started to die down. It was enough that he was able to take off the jacket and toss it on the sidewalk beside the house. He made it to her window, a warm glow emanated from within. He pushed his hands into his pockets and gazed inside.

The room had slight pink walls, red carpeting, and a bed with a fiery comforter on it. There was a long red bed gown gracing the floor, possibly covering the twelve inch gap between the mattress and the floor. The walls were decorated with various rock and pop artists, some framed photos of different moments in Cece's life, and finally a white marker board in the center of the far wall. To the immediate right of the board was an oak desk, much like his, with a laptop and a black desk lamp. The desk lamp was on and Cece was seated in front of her laptop, bent over some notebook. The expression on her face held that similar irritation from earlier. She was wearing a long red nightgown, the dress she had in the dance was spread out on the bed. He had been wondering if he would even be getting that back.

Probably not.

His heart pounded as he eyed the marker board. On it were words that tore his heart in two. 'Gunther Hessenheffer is a fucking liar, never talk to him again.' He put his hand over his heart and breathed in deeply.

"Ouch…" No, no, no, this had to end. He had to talk to her. Without thinking, he quickly reached up and started knocking on her window. She flinched and sat up straight in her seat, tensing up. She turned her gaze to the window and stared, her mouth agape. "Please don't leave me out here…I think the rain's going to start again."

After a few seconds of staring, she moved over to the window and opened it. She put her hands on the windowsill and leaned out, narrowing her eyes. "Gunther? What the hell are you doing here?" She looked over at the door, then back to him. "Don't you know my mom's a cop?"

"Yes, yes, but I had to talk to you!"

"It couldn't wait?" She looked up as the sky lit up with lightning. Gunther flinched and felt the water already on him dripping from his hair.

"C-Can I come in? I ran all the way over here in the rain already…" Her eyebrow arched and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave you out in the rain right now?" Thunder rumbled and Gunther let out a quick yelp.

"Because I'm sorry about earlier, and if you'll let me, I can explain how that was all Tinka's doing!" She seemed skeptical, but her eyes were studying his clothing.

"What are you wearing? I don't think I've ever seen you in anything but glitter or flash…talk about wanting to stand out." He clenched his teeth and looked to the side.

"I don't like to dress like that. By the way, if you want to burn that dress over there, feel free to do that."

"What? This thing?" She moved over to the bed and grabbed the glittery dress. Her lips curled into a devious smirk as she began crumpling it up. He watched with exasperation as she stared back, appalled that he wasn't reacting. "You'd think you would be more concerned."

"I'm really not. Can I come in? Please?"

"Fine. Do whatever."

"Thank you!" He quickly pulled himself inside as Cece remained several feet away from him. She tossed the dress past him, out the window into the mud and rain, then crossed her arms. He lifted his eyebrows and sighed, his sister really did put a lot of work into that thing.

"Now you wanted to talk, so talk." She started moving towards him, her glare burning into his very soul. "You led me on, Gunther. I mean sure, the dance was embarrassing as hell, but before that the most embarrassing thing you did was the whole cookie thing. Whenever we were talking, I thought I felt something, but apparently I was wrong about that." She'd already told him this before, the good part of that statement at least.

"No! No you weren't wrong. I do feel something for you." She raised an eyebrow and he put his hand to his chest. "Look at me, this is what I want to be like. I want to be myself, wear good looking outfits. I'm embarrassed to go out in public wearing those glittery outfits my sister has me wearing all the time, but I deal with it because I know that if I don't, she's going to start bawling her eyes out just to get me to wear the outfit anyway."

Cece's expression turned to shock, and she slowly sat on her bed, speechless. "Wow. So…"

"If you'll give me a chance, Cece, I can show you the real me. I can show you the person I am when Tinka's not around." She raised an eyebrow and jerked her head back.

"Is that your way of asking me out? After earlier, you think I'm actually going to-"

"That was all Tinka's fault!" She clicked her tongue as he put his hand to his head and exhaled slowly. "Look, I don't care what you said to my cousin, I really don't, okay. I know you didn't mean it. Tinka was the one who was pissed. She wanted to humiliate you, and I had to go along with it."

"Oh, you had to?"

"Yes! I tried to tell her I didn't want to go through with it, but she got all pissed at me and basically went on to guilt me into doing it." Cece rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"It still hurt, Gunther. I don't even know if I know anything about you now. Was everything a lie?" He watched her closely. She was biting her lip, and her shoulders were relaxed, so maybe he was getting through to her somehow. He moved closer and dropped to his knees. She lifted her eyebrows as he clasped his hands together and started begging.

"Give me a chance, I'll prove to you that I do care about you. I have-"

"Since when?"

"Ever since I first saw you dancing on Shake it Up, Chicago…" Her eyebrows rose and his heart slammed once again in his chest. He couldn't deny the truth to that statement, he fell in love with her dancing. "Sure I've teased you about your dancing, but that was only because I was trying to hide the fact that I loved your dancing, and Tinka's not too fond of me dating anyone." Her face softened for a moment, then scrunched slightly.

"What, twin separation anxieties or something?" Something like that, he wasn't too sure what it was. She didn't have a problem dating Ty. Of course, Tinka did know that if he ever dated anyone, it probably meant less time for him to be spending with her, and she likely couldn't deal with that. "I guess it explains some issues, but why couldn't you tell me this before Rocky and I started to have issues with you guys?" His eyes narrowed and his voice fell flat.

"Were you really going to accept being asked out by a guy wearing a flashy shirt and a glitter G on his chest?" Her hand flew to her mouth and she began snickering. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"No, I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you…Honestly, I probably would have accepted if you told me that. I guess I don't need to ask about your current outfit. Didn't know you had clothes like that…"

"They're hidden away in my closet. Yeah. Tinka may try to control what I wear or what I do when she's around, but like I said before, give me a chance to show you how I am when she's not. Will you let me take you out, maybe to dinner, just you and me?" Cece pressed her lips thinly together and ran her finger along them thoughtfully.

"Rocky pretty much hates your guts. Both of you. Especially after tonight, she's the one that wrote what's up on the board there…" She pointed her thumb to the whiteboard and Gunther filled with a mix of relief and shock. He was glad it wasn't Cece who wrote it, but was shocked at the same time that it was Rocky. "If you and I date…I'm pretty sure Rocky would flip out on so many levels. I wouldn't hear the end of it. I'm also sure you wouldn't hear the end of it from Tinka either…"

"Yeah she'd kill me."

"So then, what do you propose?" She leaned forward, hovering inches from his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled the minty breath shooting out onto his face. "Because I would love to get to know you a little more…to be honest."

"So then we can date, but secret." He opened his eyes and saw her frown, as though she wasn't too keen on the secret idea, but it was the only thing he could think of. "I know it doesn't sound good, but…for now, it might be for the best. Especially if the first 'real' date turns out to be good…"

"I guess." She leaned back and ran her hands along her legs. She nodded and closed her eyes. "I'll give you another chance, but I promise, if you screw this second chance up…I really won't talk to you again." He grinned, his heart was dancing on air.

"I promise, it'll be all me."

"I don't know how we'll work it out, since you're so tied to Tinka, and Rocky kind of likes to know whatever it is I'm doing, but…I'm sure we'll think of something." He was positive of it, he knew Cece was independent enough to be able to do things on her own without Rocky caring. It was Tinka he was worried about, not Rocky.

"You won't be disappointed."

Suddenly a knock erupted at the door. Cece gasped and Gunther froze, hearing her mother calling out to her. "Shoot. Just a minute mom!" Cece jumped from the bed and looked around, groaning slightly. Thinking fast, she pointed to the bed. "Quick, under the bed!"

"Wha-"

"Just hide!" He nodded and started crawling beneath the bed, astonished that he actually fit. Though, he was vertical, and his head was all the way against the wall. He sucked in a breath and held it as he heard Cece's mom walk into the room. "Hey mom."

"I was just checking on you, I thought I heard voices."

"Nah, I was just talking to myself really."

"Oh…anyway, are you okay now? I know you were upset earlier." He frowned and closed his eyes, he didn't realize that she had been so deeply affected. Tinka really did humiliate her.

"I'm fine now, Mom." The two women sat on the bed and Gunther's eyes widened as he felt a slightly broken board begin jabbing him below the waist. He started to whimper, but resisted the urge.

The pain started to overwhelm him, so much that it distracted him from the conversation. He had no clue how long it lasted, but once the mom said goodnight and left, he saw Cece's upside down face looking back at him with a bright smile.

"All right, come on out." He carefully slid out and rose to his feet, limping a bit. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, no worries. I do need to get home, though…can I call you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, hold on." Cece rushed over to the notebook on her desk and started writing in it. She scribbled her number down, tore it from the book and handed it to him. "Here, call me and let me know what you've decided for the date."

"I'll do that." Now he wasn't sure how he would explain the wet clothes to his parents, but that seemed like a far distant problem. He was now overcome with joy that Cece was actually going to let him take her out on a real date! Unfortunately it had to be kept under wraps for now, but who really knew how long that would be for?

"Now get going before people start wondering…I need to get to bed."

"Goodnight, Cece."

"Goodnight." Once he left her room, via window, he took one wistful glance back and saw her shut the window down. He watched her gazing out, holding onto her crème colored curtains for a few seconds, then closing them. His heart was racing and his soul was jumping for joy. He had a very good feeling about tomorrow.

Well this is my first shot at something in the style of "Shake it Up". I'm sure you'll like it. Keep in mind that it is not going to be a pure fluff, as I don't deal in fluff, where nothing bad ever happens and everything is 100% perfect. No, this is a romance, in which case, a drama, which means there are rules. Every romance novel has rules, as an English professor once told me. Enjoy ^_^