Title: Balance
Author: shallowness
Fandom: Step Up 2
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Blake/Andie, Andie/Chase
Summary: Blake watched Andie stand up on the wall, smiling down at Chase.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and make no profit from this fanfiction.
Author's Note: 780 words. I haven't seen Step Up 3D, so this fic takes no account of that film.

Balance: shallowness

Blake watched Andie stand up on the wall, smiling down at Chase. He knew there was no way she'd get his little brother to join her, no matter how much she teased him with that smile. Blake knew for a fact that Chase had never tried to climb up on that wall, let alone walk along it. But Chase watched Andie do just that – like Blake did, but closer. She was graceful, confident, impossible not to watch.

She was still a little uncomfortable at the Collins' house, but in their garden she was free. There had to be rain, hail and wind to stop Chase from taking her out there at some point whenever she visited and all the rest of the family were there. Blake wasn't sure if she ever dropped in just to be with Chase, when their parents were out. He didn't want to know.

On her first visit, she was all eyes, saying very little. Blake was tempted to comment on her silence, but she had dressed up so conservatively that it wasn't Andie at all, but some polite girl named Andrea. It was hard to understand why Chase would date an Andrea. When Chase drove her home, Blake had had to stay and explain to their parents that she wasn't like that most of the time.

Chase and Andie made perfect sense, especially when you had seen them dance together. They were the same age, and if they weren't on the same wavelength for everything, the ways they weren't kept them flirting for hours.

Blake had realized his brother cared when Chase tried to take the rap for Andie after the studio was trashed. Chase had never stood up for a girl in that way before, but then there hadn't been a girl like Andie in his life before. And Andie was special. Blake had seen that at The Streets. Before, even. It was why he'd fought for her after her audition. It wasn't the only reason why he'd got so frustrated with her in the early days, but it was a reason. Andie stood out, whether she was standing still, waiting to dance, making a point in an argument or up on the top of a wall, walking along it with perfect balance.

On the first day at school after the fundraiser, Blake had been crossing the building, thinking about how best to revise the schedule for the crew of unexpected dancers Chase and Andie had found among his students, because he tried not to make promises he couldn't keep. He'd had to side-step to avoid some kids streaming out of a studio, and that was when he had seen Chase and Andie in the doorway. Chase's arm was slung around Andie's waist as she tried to appear unimpressed about whatever he was whispering in her ear. Of course. Blake had thought. They're together. It's only natural. And he remembered the way that they had danced together the previous night. And though Director Collins would have said something about PDAs, yes, even to his brother, Blake had just walked on.

Here, now, staring through a window at his parents' house, he stood still.

"She's not affected by heights, is she?" his mother said, the question rhetorical.

"No," Blake replied, turning away from looking at Andie, at Andie and Chase, to speak to his mother. It was the polite thing to do, especially when he'd been too engrossed to notice her presence before she spoke.

"Very graceful, but I'd expect no less from an MSA student."

Blake nodded, his guard up. Andie had got more relaxed and his parents, realizing that their baby boy was serious about her and might even be growing up because of her, asked fewer questions and made her as welcome as they could. It all made Blake feel even more aware of how starchy he could be around her.

"And she has an entrancing smile."

Blake thought about lying and saying that he hadn't noticed.

"As her teacher, and torturer in chief, I don't get to see much of it," he said instead. He turned to look back out through the glass at the couple in his parents' garden, the girl looking down at her boyfriend. His mother patted his arm – gestures meant as much as words in their family.

Andie was looking down at Chase, saying something to him, while laughing at him or at life or at what she was about to do. She leapt. Chase caught her. Blake would never forget that moment, he'd even steal that move in a piece he'd choreograph. A girl would leap, her partner would catch her. The audience would watch, entranced.

FIN

Feedback is welcome, especially as this wasn't beta read.