synopsis: y/n, the choreographer for the michael movie, begins rehearsals with jaafar.
pairing: jaafar jackson x choreographer!reader
warnings: so much tension. fluff, slow burn - all the usual
a/n: sorry that it's taken me so long to upload this! life has gotten busyyyy but a longer chapter for 3 as promised. also wrote half of this in the back of a taxi on my way to see ethel cain (mother) so sorry if it's a bit rough. enjoy :)
The beginning of the week passed by in a blur of emails, scheduling meetings, and intense rehearsals . A quiet chaos settled somewhere between all the planning, and by Tuesday morning Y/N was already exhausted. Other people seemed to notice the slightly absent glaze over her eyes in conversation, as if her body was there but her mind was somewhere else entirely.
But then Wednesday arrived. The first day of the extra rehearsals for Billie Jean. Just Y/N and Jaafar. The second she opened her eyes, a blend of excitement and anxiety pulsed through her at the realisation that the next few days would be just them. Suddenly, it seemed easier for Y/N to push herself out of bed, and the usual grogginess that dominated her mornings had eased away. She hummed to herself in the shower, and took extra care in scrubbing her body, a lightness encompassing her - one that hadn’t been there before. As she stepped out and wrapped her towel around her, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She caught herself smiling as she reached for her toothbrush, shaking her head as she tried to wipe the smile from her face.
The buzz that settled in Y/N’s chest followed her to her car, through the L.A. morning traffic, and all the way to the studio. She walked with purpose as she swung the door to the studio open, cheerfully greeting the crew members before heading to the smaller studio where she and Jaafar would be rehearsing for the next few days. As she entered the room, she found Jaafar already warming up despite the fact that she had arrived fifteen minutes before they were meant to start. She paused against the door frame for a moment, watching him as he sat with his back facing her on a chair. He was wearing simple black sweatpants, with a white t-shirt stretched over his chest, ending perfectly at his waistband. She caught a glimpse of his lower back muscles as he reached down to roll a ball under his foot. As if he sensed her presence, his eyes flicked up to the mirror in front of him.
“Hey. Sorry, I didn’t realise you’d be early too. I just wanted to warm up a bit.” He said, smiling at her as he stood up and pushed the chair to the edge of the room.
“Good to know we’re both overly eager.” She lightly laughed out, walking over to put her bag down and change her shoes. He watched her as she tightened her laces, head slightly tilted as he took her in.
She looked up to meet his eyes, before quickly looking away.
Snap out of it. She thought to herself, hoping that he didn’t notice the way she held her breath when he looked at her.
An hour later, and Y/N thought she might explode if Jaafar brushed his hand against hers one more time. They had run through the routine a few times, with Y/N sat to the side with a laptop playing the Billie Jean performance, and Jaafar stood in front of her. She made him stop every time that she noticed a slight difference between Jaafar and Michael’s moves, jumping up and trying to show him how to do it right.
Jaafar smiled as he watched her, arms crossed, trying to pay attention to her careful demonstration; however his eyes were fixed on her face. The excitement in her eyes as she pointed to the laptop to show him where he was going wrong, and the smile that seemed to be permanently on her face these days made him dizzy.
“Jaafar.” She complained, face now sporting an unimpressed frown as she turned to him, arms crossed.
“What? I’m listening.” He responded, a lazy smile still gracing his face.
“Fine.” She huffed out, turning back to the laptop to rewind it whilst trying to suppress the warm feeling growing in her chest.
She couldn’t let her personal feelings get in the way of her job. What feelings, anyway? She was probably just hot from the studio lights, she thought.
She unknowingly began to nervously bite the inside of her lip as she leaned over the laptop, a habit that was becoming way too frequent.
Jaafar noticed, though. He took his place in the starting position, whilst watching Y/N intently. Did he make her nervous? No, surely not. He shifted, becoming increasingly aware of the growing silence between them.
Y/N turned her head to him and raised her eyebrow to ask if he was ready, only to find him already staring at her. She swallowed thickly, and he waited for a beat before nodding and dropping his head to get into character.
She turned to hit play on the video again, and leaned back against the wall to observe. His moves were polished and precise, but there was still something off. She brought her hand up to her bottom lip and fidgeted as she watched him with a tilted head. He finished the section and looked up to her, waiting for her feedback. They held eye contact for a moment, tension only intensifying in the heat of the studio.
“I think it’s your posture. You need to move your arms back a bit when you do this bit.” She started, walking towards him and lightly grasping his forearm to place it correctly.
Instead of a verbal response like she expected, Jaafar just stared at her. He held his breath instinctively, as if his body was reacting to her presence before his mind could. The warm, musky smell of her perfume flooded his senses, leaving him dizzy. Y/N could feel his gaze burning into the side of her face as she realised how close she was to him now. She took a small step back, eyes still focused on his arm and grip still tight, almost like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Finally, she tore her eyes away from his forearm, looking up at him. Her breath hitched at their proximity, feeling the heat of his body radiating onto her. The room suddenly felt a lot smaller as he felt her fingertips tense against his arm, his heartbeat hammering against his ribs. He was sure that she could hear it, hear the effect that she was having on him. His eyes searched hers before briefly dropping to her lips, and then back to her eyes. Her lips parted, breathless and flustered, before forcing herself to tear her eyes away, stumbling back a bit.
“Let’s just… try it again. Keep your arm there.” She said, looking at the ground as she turned away from him and walked back over to the laptop. She tried to ignore the flush creeping onto her cheeks, or the fact that the room seemed considerably warmer than it did five minutes ago, however the air felt different now. Heavier.
Y/N forced herself to focus on solely the choreography for the rest of the day. She refused to acknowledge any of what had happened earlier that day, chalking it up to tiredness. People do crazy things when they’re tired. Definitely.
She yawned before glancing at the clock, eyes widening as she realised it was seven o’clock at night. Jaafar followed her gaze from his place in the centre of the room.
“I swear it was just lunch. How can it be so late already?” He muttered, half to Y/N and half to himself.
“I know. We got everything that we needed to do today finished though, should we head out?” She asked as she sat down in the corner of the room by her bag, fishing out her sneakers.
Jaafar watched her slowly. “Yeah.” He breathlessly responds, crouching down to rummage through his own bag. Silence engulfed them, but instead of it being comfortable, an underlying tension now coursed through it. Like something had shifted, and with it the friendship that they had shifted too.
Hues of pink and orange painted the sky in a dream-like way as they exited the studio. The heavy, humid air immediately crawled over their skin - although it was evening now, the L.A. heat prevailed. They walked silently to the car park, and Y/N couldn’t tell if it was the heat that made the air feel heavy between them, uncomfortably tense like either one of them could snap at any moment. She glanced at him sideways with her head still hung, and noticed the crease between his brows and the way his hands were ever so slightly tense at his side. Like the way that Jaafar was consuming more and more of her thoughts was reciprocal. Like she wasn’t going crazy.
They reach her car, but neither of them make an effort to move.
“You did really great today. I can really see him in you.” Y/N mumbled quietly, lifting her eyes from her fidgeting hands to his face.
His features softened, like he wasn’t expecting such a heartfelt compliment from her. He looked down, smiling softly, before looking back at her.
“Thank you. It feels like a heavy burden sometimes.” He admitted, eyes still on hers.
“Well, you carry it well.” She smiled, gently nudging his arm with hers as she unlocked her car.
He chuckled, and a shy grin tugged at the corner of her lips while she walked over to open her trunk and put her bag in it. He opened her door for her and leant against the frame of her car as she shut the trunk, still watching her intently. He found himself doing that a lot now, even in the mundane. Her presence seemed to comfort him, like an anchor. Even in the moments where he felt overwhelmed with the pressure that came with such an intense role, there was just something about her. She paused as she reached him, and her eyes locked onto his. His grip tightened on her car, knuckles turning white as the muscle in his jaw ticked, fighting the urge to close the space between them. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, watching the way his lips parted by a fraction of a millimetre, before meeting his eyes again. The warmth in them had been replaced by something heavier. Something darker. Before either of them could act on the desire pulsing between them, a car alarm a few spaces over goes off, causing both of their heads to whip towards the noise.
Jaafar let out a sharp exhale and a dry laugh at the interruption, shaking his head as Y/N dropped her gaze to her hands again, a small smile growing on her face. She looked at him once more before climbing into her car, her breath still shallow from the intensity of the moment they just shared. Jaafar slowly closed the door, moving back to stand with his arms crossed against his chest. His jaw was still tense, the muscles ever so slightly twitching as he watched her put her seatbelt on and turn on her engine. She looked back at him, winding down her window.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night, Jaafar.” She faintly smiled at him, before training her gaze back to the parking lot ahead of her.
He smiled at her, nodding his head as though he couldn’t form a sentence right now, and she slowly drove off.
“Yeah. Tomorrow.” He breathed out, watching her drive away for a moment before turning on his heel to walk towards his car, rubbing the back of his neck in defeat.
The drive home was silent, as Y/N replayed each moment in her head. Rolling up to the stoplight, she rested her elbow on the inside of the door and leant her head against her hand.
Coworkers don’t stare into each other’s eyes like that.
She groaned, leaning her head back before driving on.
She must be overthinking it.
Maybe she imagined the way that his eyes kept dropping to her lips.
Pulling into her driveway, Y/N felt more exhausted than usual - the emotional weight of today took it out of her. She trudged her feet to her trunk and retrieved her bag, before heading inside. She dramatically dropped her bag to the floor the second she stepped in, kicking her shoes off and dragging her feet over to the couch before collapsing on it.
How did everything get so complicated?
She sighed, before turning onto her back and staring at the ceiling. A buzz took her out of her thoughts, and she patted her jeans before finding her phone in the back pocket.
jaafarjackson sent you a message.
She shot up, grasping her phone like it was gold. Her heart raced as her thumb hovered over the notification before clicking on it. It was a photo of the bottom of his shoe with a hole in it.
You might be working me too hard.
She stared at the message for a second longer. A faint, slow smile tipped the edge of her mouth, as she slowly lay back down, holding her phone above her.
Impossible. There’s no such thing as working too hard ;)
A moment passed, and Y/N thought that that was the end of their interaction, dropping her phone beside her and rubbing her face in her hands.
jaafarjackson liked your message.
You’re like a machine. See you tomorrow, machine-lady.
She lightly laughed at the ridiculousness of his message, before typing out a response.
See you tomorrow, Jaafar.
With that, she forced herself from her place on the couch and up the stairs.
This was going to be a long few days.
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