She lost track of how many songs they danced to together, as each song kept bleeding into the next. She didn’t notice when Beatrice and her friends left, but eventually she noticed the two of them were alone. They still hadn’t spoken to each other, but really there were no words that could express what was going on between them. They were both sweating, but neither noticed or cared. At times, both of Vronsky’s hands were on her back, and at times she ran her fingers through his golden hair. Sometimes he spun her around, spooning her and putting his face in the back of her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist. They moved together to the beat of the music. Either of them could only stand this for so long before one would pull back slightly, but it never lasted. Any amount of distance felt too far, and soon they were pressed up against one another staring into each other’s eyes. Anna was desperate to kiss him, to have him kiss her, but she knew that was the line she couldn’t cross. So instead she pressed her face into the side of his neck and breathed in his scent.

If someone saw them dancing together, they would just see two beautiful teenagers having a good time on the dance floor. There were hundreds of others around them in various states of intoxication and no one cared. What they cared about was feeling good, dancing with their friends, and the next song.

Lolly pointed them out to Steven, but they were rolling hard, so seeing Anna dancing with Vronsky didn’t mean much. If Lolly were asked about it the next day, she wouldn’t really be able to say what she had seen because while it looked like they were dancing a little too long and a little too close, all she could feel was happy about it. Steven was thrilled, too, not because Anna was dancing with Vronsky, but because his sister looked happier than he had seen her look in a long time. That was all that mattered, all that Steven wanted from a night on the town: everyone he loved reveling in the good life and saying fuck everything for the night, just like him.