Violet pranced lightly, like a fairy, for forty-five minutes, pausing only to sip water. Then, placing her hands on her hips, she frowned. The music stopped, and Noah looked up, confused.

"What's up?"

"The next part I'm supposed to practice is with the prince, but he's not here. The director really gave me a hard time about missing practice with him yesterday," she sighed.

Her eyes lit up. "Could you be my stand-in? You don't have to do the complicated parts—mostly hand touches and holding me as I spin. You would need to lift me a few times, though…"

"You want me to what?" he coughed.

"Come on, Noah! You've been a stand-in before!"

Yes, but that was during a college ballet performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He'd only had to hold her hand across the stage and do a dramatic cape swish. No actual dancing was involved. There weren't enough male dancers, and someone needed to play Theseus. The student director had asked Violet (Hippolyta) if she knew any guys.

Oliver and Nathan flatly refused ("I'm not marrying my sister, even in a ballet."), despite the marriage being off-stage and implied. It was the principle of the thing.

"I think this is a bit different," Noah said weakly.

What if he dropped her? Karate and dance used different muscles! He was strong, but male ballerinas were superhuman—lifting women overhead with one hand while spinning.

"I only need a rough approximation," Violet pleaded. "It doesn't need to be perfect. I have a video of the choreography on my phone; you can watch it while we practice. Please?"

Noah sighed. He couldn't say no to her. "Alright, but let me watch it a couple of times first."

"Thank you! You're the best, Noah!"

The video showed the prince carrying Cinderella overhead. Noah could use both arms, right? Then came a weird elbow thing while Cinderella rolled over his back. What had she meant by "not having to really do anything"?!

It got simpler after that, though, involving the moves Violet described. He could probably do that. He knew ballroom dancing and roller-skating, and he'd watched plenty of ballet, but he couldn't dance ballet. This would be interesting. He hoped she wouldn't laugh too much.

"Hey, Vi? Can we skip the first bit? I don't want to kill you," Noah admitted.

"Sure," she laughed. "Even the prince nearly dropped me on the elbow roll a couple of days ago."

Violet started the music, and they waited to skip the difficult part. Noah did his best to follow along. It wasn't bad at first. The lifts weren't completely overhead, and the spins were slow. He had to spin her by her waist while she was en pointe.

It felt strange—touching her like this. They hugged, but this was different. How did she get used to this? Cinderella and the prince touched faces and necks a lot, and Noah's face felt red. Violet didn't touch his face.

Flustered, during an overhead lift requiring straight arms, his arms gave out. She fell, but he caught her (bent elbows were fine), and they stared at each other before she snorted.

"Don't worry, you were doing great. Let's try from the next bit," Violet said cheerfully.

While she rewound, Noah felt like combusting. She was in his arms—princess style! And she was unaffected!

The next part involved the prince carrying Cinderella across the floor. Noah was clunky, but Violet remained professional. Then came hand touches, more lifts, spins, and a short sequence Violet said he could skip. More lifts. More spins.

Geez! What weight training did male ballet dancers do?

The next part involved a spin and catch, then a turn holding her with one hand around her waist and one under her thigh.

"I can't do this, Vi!"

"Yes, you can," Violet urged. "This is the part I need to practice most!"

Noah took a deep breath and did it. Violet managed the spin. He just had to let go and catch. It felt sensual, but she didn't react. This was normal for her.

(The final advertisement was removed as it was repetitive.)