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Chapter Text

Miss Angela's return to the studio comes as a shock to everyone. Amy gets why Nick would ask her to coach them for the show. The woman lives and breathes Dancemania. She's not Baroness Von Dance for nothing.

It takes A-Troupe a few rehearsals to get used to dancing for Miss Angela again. Most of the team warms up to her fast, but there's a few of them that can't overlook the past so easily.

Naturally, it's the hardest on Piper. She puts up a strong front, assures everyone she's fine and no Lily, don't tell your mom to go easy on me, I can handle it.

But Amy knows her best friend better than that. She notices the way Piper's shoulders tense every time Miss Angela corrects her in rehearsal, notices the way Piper can't look the woman directly in the eye, notices how quiet Piper gets after a particularly strenuous rehearsal. She tries to support her the best she knows how (usually with food and whatever show they're bingeing together- currently New Girl), and Piper knows she's there for her when she needs her.

But as if there's a tether pulling them together, connecting them at the hips and in their hearts, she usually seeks out her boyfriend instead.

Like Amy, Finn isn't as forgiving towards Miss Angela as the rest of the team. Amy resents the woman for putting her best friend through utter turmoil last year, but Finn's resentment goes even deeper than that. He's become protective of Piper- always checking in to ensure she's not lying about being okay on the good days and sitting with her as long as she needs him to on the bad ones.

Amy hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with Finn, but she doesn't hate him. Far from it. Sometimes, it's just hard to accept that he holds the new number one spot in Piper's life now. Piper lives in her head. She dreams big but tries not to and worries herself sick when something goes wrong. Amy was always her go-to when her worries and fears weighed her down, but that was before Finn came into the picture.

Even months after rejoining A-Troupe, Amy still doesn't know all the details of Piper and Finn's blossoming friendship. She's only seen the aftermath- the couple that's been evolving before her very eyes, the one that she can't believe she ever stood in the way of. She doesn't reckon she'll ever know everything that happened between them last year, but she does know that Piper trusts Finn. She sees it in her eyes, in the way she immediately looks for Finn when Miss Angela enters the studio, in the way her tense shoulders relax when he slips his hand into hers.

And she sees it that day in The Next Steep.

With Dancemania drawing near, rehearsals are getting longer and more intense. Everyone's feeling the pressure but especially Piper. She stumbled in her aerial, and Miss Angela snapped at her for it, and Amy knows it has to be eating her best friend up inside. Piper's eyes are glassy when Amy asks if she's okay after rehearsal. She nods though her eyes are glazed over, and Amy's not actually convinced she even heard the question at all.

Finn's the one who suggests going to The Next Steep to get a bite to eat, and Amy doesn't realize she's included in the invitation until he turns back to her in the doorway, raising his eyebrows at her as if to silently ask, 'Are you coming or not?'

The thing about getting tea with Piper and Finn, however, is that no matter how hard they try not to make you feel like the third wheel, you still end up blatantly aware that you're the third wheel. There's nothing wrong with that. Amy doesn't mind third wheeling, especially when her best friend is visibly upset, but some days are harder than others. It's a total mental game. Finn is good for Piper, and Amy knows that. But there are some days where she wishes it was still just Amy and Piper Against the World, not Piper and Finn and Sometimes Amy Against the World.

Finn keeps them distracted that afternoon with an engaging story about his mother's rivalry with his little sister's pet frog, complete with hand gestures and over the top impressions. Amy can't help but laugh and remember why she ever had a crush on him in the first place. He's fun to be around, and his energy is contagious. Or at least, it is to her.

Piper's eyes are still glazed over, and Amy has a feeling the frog story is not succeeding at its job of cheering her up.

When the story's over, Amy gets up and moves to the counter for a refill of her iced tea. Her fingers tap against the counter absentmindedly, and she worries about Piper, worries the pressure of Dancemania will be too much for her. She knows Regionals was hard for her. She and Finn have talked about it in the past.

It's when she looks back to the couple that something in her heart cracks. Finn has dropped the attempts at cheering Piper up, and she's finally opening up to him, tears rolling down her cheeks as her shoulders heave for breath. He's holding her hand, thumb brushing back and forth, listening intently to what she's saying and nodding occasionally. When she pauses to catch her breath, he murmurs softly to her, reaching out to brush away her tears, and Amy finds herself tearing up at the tender sight. She quickly turns away, feeling like she's intruding on a private moment and mustering a small smile as the barista slides her tea to her.

She's never seen Finn in action while comforting Piper, but it's like a wave of understanding has washed over her. Finn knows what Piper needs to hear when she's upset, what she needs when her anxiety is at its highest.

He understands her.

And suddenly, Amy gets it- gets why Piper trusts him, why he's the first one she seeks out when she needs comfort and reassurance.

Piper found her person, the one who will love her gently and support her endlessly and hold her through the good times and the bad. And even though things are changing and Amy has to share her best friend with Finn, she's happy for them.

Piper and Finn belong together, and Amy supports them completely.

Chapter Text

Noah's known Piper for years. They competed against each other in the past before she came to the studio. Back then, he knew her as James' little sister. Now, she's just Piper- his friend and teammate.

He can't be entirely certain, but he suspects something happened between her and Josh.

What he knows is that Piper and Josh got really close and then suddenly stopped talking after the Qualifier video. Josh left the studio not long afterwards, but he did have one request for Noah when he revealed his family was moving away.

"Will you tell Piper goodbye for me? And just... Let her know I'm sorry."

The color drains from Piper's cheeks when he tells her Josh is gone, and he quickly clarifies that nothing bad happened to him, just that his dad got relocated and the family abruptly moved away.

Piper's hands fidget nervously, and her eyes are glued to the floor as she mutters, "Oh. That sucks."

"Did something happen between the two of you?" Noah asks curiously, and her head snaps up, brown eyes widening.

"No. Of course not. We were just friends. It sucks that he left."

On that stilted note, she turns and hurries away from him, shaking her hands out as she runs to the cubbies and then pauses as if she doesn't know why she's there. Noah doesn't really believe her, mostly because her voice was about three octaves higher than normal and Piper is usually calm and collected. She only gets flustered when she's nervous.

She's flustered for the rest of the day.

He doesn't think anything of it again though, mostly because Jacquie's on his case about celebrating their upcoming anniversary and Henry keeps blowing up his phone with ideas for the next Bro Night.

And then, of course, everything goes to hell at the studio.

Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic. But Miss Kate fires Emily and Michelle, and then Miss Angela saunters in with her daughter and three other dancers, and Noah finds himself working overtime to find civil grounds with the new studio head while making the other new dancers feel welcome with the rest of the team.

Miss Angela and Lily are both nightmares to work with, and everyone gets concerned when Piper stops coming to rehearsals and is replaced with Winnie. But thankfully, Richelle comes back and saves the day (though not without a few miscommunications, which Noah finds himself apologizing for later). Miss Angela is kicked out of the studio, and Emily and Michelle are reinstated as studio heads, and everything is as it should be again.

The only good thing about Miss Angela is that she brought Finn, Summer, and Kenzie to the studio. The three of them fit right in, seamlessly filling the holes left behind by Lola, Josh, and Zara.

Piper finally returns to rehearsals, and Noah's relieved to see her again. He knows from talking to Amy that she hadn't been coping well with what happened on Miss Angela's first day. He's proud of her for overcoming her fears and coming back to the studio and tells her as much. Piper's shoulders seem to relax a little at his words. Her smile grows, and she thanks him. But she's different now- quieter and much less confident in herself. It concerns him, and Noah can't help but look out for her.

It doesn't escape his notice when Finn takes an interest in her.

It's kind of obvious to everyone. He perks up whenever she's around and milks Henry and Noah dry with questions about her until Henry snaps, "Bro, if you want to get to know her that bad, just talk to her."

"I don't think she likes me much though," Finn mutters with a frown.

Noah's still fairly certain that something happened between Josh and Piper, so he doesn't want to give Finn bad advice and tell him to pursue her if that's not something Piper wants or is ready for. But while Finn may be over six feet tall and pretty broad in the shoulders, he still somehow manages to be the least threatening guy on A-Troupe. (Well, aside from Ozzy.) They're all still getting to know him, but Noah gets the feeling that Finn is just a friendly guy, and if anyone could use a good friend right now, it's Piper.

So reluctantly, he says, "Look, man, you like her?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, have you seen her? She's incredible," Finn answers, and Noah can tell just from the way his eyes light up that Finn's already in deep. It wasn't that long ago that Noah was in the same boat with Jacquie, so he tries to give him some good advice.

"You're going about it all wrong. Piper's been through a lot, and she won't let her walls down around just anyone. If you want to get to know her, just be her friend. Don't try to force anything. If it's meant to be, it'll be, but Piper needs to have a say in that. You've got to take a step back, and don't pressure her so much."

Finn nods along as if Noah's telling him the key to happiness (which in a way, maybe he is). "Maybe you're right," Finn muses, giving Noah a grateful smile. "Thanks man. I know it may not seem like it, but I'm pretty hopeless with girls to be honest."

Noah shares a look with Henry, and they both fight back a laugh. Finn, hopeless with girls? Somehow, it's not that surprising.

But he takes Noah's advice to heart, or at least Noah assumes he does because the next time he sees Finn, he's battling Piper in an intense game of Checkers, and she's laughing, more at ease than Noah's seen her in a long time.

As the season goes on, Piper and Finn become practically inseparable, especially after Amy leaves for AcroNation. Piper's smiling more, laughing more, and the light and life Miss Angela stole from her gradually return to her eyes.

Noah misses her when he leaves the studio, but he knows if anyone will look out for Piper, it's Finn. And months later, when he sees on social media that the two of them have finally become more than friends, he's not surprised.

It was only a matter of time.

Chapter Text

Ozzy has a lot of thoughts about Dancemania, and only some of them are good.

After spending his whole life watching the show religiously with his family, it didn't exactly live up to the hype. Izzy will be majorly disappointed, but it's not his fault that the judges are snakes and the producers only care about image. Seriously. They spent half an hour before the Resurrection Round trying to talk him out of wearing his glasses. You know, as if he didn't actually need them to see.

Fame, Ozzy is finding, is not all it's cracked up to be.

But the experience wasn't all bad. He killed his musical theatre solo, and he knows it. He never thought that was something he could be interested in or even good at, but maybe if his career designing video games doesn't work out, he'll give Broadway a shot.

The team is exhausted from a long week. It's been dramatic to say the least. After missing the last rehearsal because of a bad sushi burrito, Ozzy showed up to the airport Wednesday morning to utter chaos. Richelle had bailed on the team to go solo. Summer was his new dance partner. Finn was missing.

Really, they all should have expected the trip to be a disaster before they ever even left the airport.

They didn't win. They didn't even lose. They just disqualified themselves, and Ozzy's still not sure how to feel about the whole ordeal, but for now, he's just angry that his favorite dance show has been revealed to be a total sham.

But at least Richelle is back on the team where she belongs. Really, that's what Ozzy's most concerned about at the end of the day.

He and Richelle have a complicated relationship. He's still in love with her, even after a very brief stint of trying to get over her with Winnie, who is beyond cool solely because she helped him beat Legions of Lasers on Master mode. But he's not compatible with Winnie, not as anything more than friends at least. Maybe the fact that his heart seems to belong only to Richelle plays a role in that. He doesn't know.

All he does know is that Richelle still doesn't feel the same, but regardless, they're friends, and he's learned to take what he can get with her at this point. Maybe one day, she'll return his feelings, but right now, it feels like wishful thinking.

Even still, his goal is to snag the seat next to her on the plane. Five glorious hours sitting next to Richelle is all he wants after the week they've had. But because nothing this week can go according to plan, Summer and Kenzie get to her first.

Ozzy groans when he realizes his dreams are crushed, and Kingston rolls his eyes behind him, pushing him forward. "Come on, you're holding up the line."

"Would you stop pushing me? I'm going."

With Richelle sitting with Summer and Kenzie and Amy and Henry sitting with Nick, Ozzy's options are narrowed down to Kingston and Lily, Piper and Finn, or Heathcliff. Piper and Finn are by far the least nauseating choice, so he drops into the empty seat next to Piper without much of a second thought.

It only dawns on him once he's seated that this couple has spent most of the trip fighting and that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, but Kingston, Lily, and Heathcliff have already claimed the last row together, so Ozzy's stuck with the couple that has a strange attachment to Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box. Finn explained the significance of the dance the other day when they were working on his song for Piper, but Ozzy still doesn't really get it. It's just a party move, and a lame one at that. What's the big deal?

Then again, what does he know about romance? Given his nonexistent love life, obviously not much.

"What movie should we watch?" Piper asks Finn as they're waiting for the plane to take off. She scrolls through the options on the screen in front of her, but Finn's hardly paying attention, his eyes glued out the window.

Ozzy tries to ignore the way his seat is shaking from Finn's rapidly bouncing knee and tells Piper, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm always down for a zombie movie."

Piper grins at him, in a better mood than she's been all week. "I haven't seen any of those yet, but if I do, you'll be the first to know."

"That's all I ask."

Finn isn't much help in picking a movie to watch with his girlfriend, and Ozzy's thrown off by his usually energetic friend's weird behavior. He's never seen Finn nervous, but as the plane starts moving, the color starts to drain from his face, and it's then that Ozzy remembers Finn mentioning a fear of heights in the past.

Perhaps he and Kingston should have included Finn in the Get Over Your Fear of Flying simulator they put on for Heathcliff.

Finn's always been the confident, happy-go-lucky guy that Ozzy looks up to (not so much literally anymore but figuratively), but as the flight takes off into the air, he looks like he actually might hurl, and Ozzy finds himself regretting the decision to sit with them all over again.

Piper is completely undeterred, however. Ozzy watches in his peripheral vision as she holds her boyfriend's hand, lacing their fingers together and running her other hand up and down his arm in soothing motions. Her chin rests on his shoulder, and she's whispering comforting reassurances that Ozzy can't hear in his ear.

Slowly, Finn seems to relax, and by the time the plane is sailing smoothly in the air, the color has returned to his cheeks. "Sorry," he mutters, seeming embarrassed, but Piper's completely unfazed, looping her arm through his and looking back to the movie selections.

"Don't even worry about it. I'm in the mood for a musical. What about you?"

They don't actually end up watching a movie. Twenty minutes into the flight, they're both asleep, Piper's head on Finn's shoulder, her arm still looped through his. At some point, Finn's head rolls to the side, resting perfectly on top of Piper's, and she shifts in her sleep, hugging him closer.

It's almost like they were made to fit perfectly together.

Ozzy's never personally been one to nap. Once he's awake for the day, he's physically incapable of falling asleep again until the sun goes down. As his teammates sleep all around him, he spends the flight listening to his favorite sci-fi podcast and occasionally glancing to the snoozing couple next to him. He wonders if he'll ever find something like what Piper and Finn have. Because even though they spent most of the week fighting, everyone knows they love each other. It's obvious in the way they look at each other, in the way they talk about each other, in the way they talk to each other.

At some point, Ozzy turns his phone towards the sleeping couple and snaps a photo. He doesn't really know why he does it, but he has a feeling Piper will appreciate it.

Even in their sleep, Piper and Finn are the picture-perfect couple.

Chapter Text

When James has a mission for Eldon, he sees it through to the end because James is his bro, his longest friend, his brother from another mother. He takes these missions very seriously.

This particular mission starts with a phone call.

Eldon's in the middle of battling his brother Thaddeus in Honor Quest when his phone rings. He answers without thinking about it and grumbles when Thad takes the opportunity to decimate his character in his moment of distraction.

"Dude, no fair. I wasn't looking," Eldon grumbles, holding the phone up to his ear as he addresses his brother.

Thad rolls his eyes, tossing a piece of popcorn in the air and trying to catch it in his mouth. It misses, falling to the carpeted floor instead. Unperturbed, he says, "Not my problem."

It's Eldon's turn to roll his eyes. At 16, Thad's attitude is sky high, and he's developed a superiority complex that's done nothing but get under Eldon's skin and start many arguments over family dinner. Have teenagers always been this unlikable? Was Eldon this unlikable at that age?

No, there's no way. He's always been the favorite, whether at home with his parents or the studio with Miss Kate and Chris.

That's what he likes to tell himself anyway.

"Eldon, bro, are you there?" James' voice says in his ear, and that's when Eldon remembers he's supposed to be on a phone call. His best friend is speaking urgently. "I don't have much time. Riley's in the shower, and she can't know I'm talking to you about this."

"About what?" Eldon asks, turning away from his brother who's now stuffing his face with popcorn. James only calls when something big is going on, so something big must be going on.

"You're DJ-ing the prom at the studio, right?"

"Yeah, Electric Eldon is really taking off since my cousin's birthday party."

The prom is, in fact, the first DJ gig Eldon's booked since his cousin turned seven three months ago. Choreographing for AcroNation, of course, is his primary job, but this is a nice way to earn money on the side. And even though Emily hired him on a major discount, meaning he won't be making quite as much as a usual gig, he's still excited because a prom has to be more exciting than a birthday party with screaming kids and a freaky clown with questionable intentions.

"I need you to do me a favor," James continues, and Eldon's intrigue piques at the words.

"Sure. What do you need?"

"I need you to keep an eye on Piper. Some kid at the studio keeps asking her out- Finn." James spits out the name distastefully, and Eldon scoffs in solidarity.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye out for him. What's he look like?"

"No idea. But he'll be the one following Piper around like some gross lovesick puppy or whatever, so just don't let him try anything with her."

"Got it. Operation Puppy Dog is a go."

James groans at the name. "Can you not come up with something better than that?"

"What? You said he'd be like a puppy so—"

"Shit. Riley's out of the shower. I gotta go. Keep me updated. I want to know everything."

With that, James ends the call. As Eldon sets his phone aside, Thad starts a new game and asks, "What was that about?" The question's likely a formality as Thad doesn't actually sound like he cares, but Eldon answers anyway.

"I'm supposed to keep an eye out for Piper at the prom on Saturday. Apparently, some guy keeps asking her out, and James is concerned about it."

Thad's shoulders tense, and he suddenly sounds a lot more interested. "Oh. Does Piper like this guy?" he asks, trying and failing to sound casual, like he doesn't actually care whether the answer is yes or no. Considering he used to harbor quite the unrequited crush on Piper when they were kids, however, Eldon suspects he does care, at least a little.

"You know, James didn't actually say. I'm pretty sure if she was dating someone, I'd never hear the end of it, so I guess not."

Thad lets out a stilted laugh. "Right. Yeah."

Prom comes around that weekend, and while Eldon gets a little distracted with making sure his playlist for the night is flawless, he eventually remembers that he's supposed to be fulfilling his promise to James.

The night starts off strong. Piper gradually makes her way around the party, first chatting with Amy and her date and then with Henry and Summer. Both Amy and Summer are the kind of dancers Thalia would love to recruit for AcroNation, but she doesn't because she has a feeling neither of the girls would be willing to leave their studio for hers. Even still, both girls stop by his booth at separate times during the night to say hello to him and chat about his playlist for the evening.

It's not difficult to figure out which guy is Finn. He's the only one there sending glances Piper's way every ten seconds. Eldon recognizes that look in his eyes. It's the look of being hopelessly in love with a girl, only to have her reject you at every turn. Eldon feels for the kid, knowing that feeling all too well.

He calls him over to the booth, and they talk. Or rather, Eldon talks and Finn listens. He tries to be intimidating, to threaten him on James' behalf, but he's not really sure it works. Finn doesn't seem that put off as he walks away from him. Instead, he leaves Eldon's booth and goes straight over to where Piper is sitting alone by the office, plopping down in the seat next to her.

Eldon's fairly protective of Piper, having known her since she was the little girl who wanted desperately to follow in her brother's footsteps. He considers her his honorary sister, so he doesn't want her to get her heart broken any more than James does.

But honestly, he doesn't think that's going to happen, or at least, not by this Finn kid. Piper's been closed off all night, standing to the sides of the party and watching her friends dance. When Finn joins her on the sidelines, she doesn't seem irritated or uncomfortable. Instead, she seems almost relieved.

He keeps a close eye on the two, watching them dance and talk and laugh together. Piper's the happiest he's seen her all night. It's almost like Finn's company makes her feel free to finally let loose and have some fun.

They remind him of himself and Thalia a bit, back when they were getting to know each other, bonding over sweet spots, and talking on the phone late at night, both at the safety of their own homes where James couldn't yell at them for speaking to each other.

Maybe it's for that reason that Eldon takes a small liking to this Finn kid. He sees a little bit of himself in him just from their brief conversation and observing him with Piper.

Honestly, he doesn't seem that bad.

Piper approaches his booth at the end of the night after the party has come to an end. Finn has already left with Ozzy, and Eldon can't help himself as he says, "So you and Finn, eh?"

She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms as she looks up at him. "Shut up," she grumbles, "I don't guess James sent you to spy on me tonight?"

"Of course not. Why would he do that?" Eldon replies in a blatant lie.

She seems to know he's lying anyway. Glancing to the spot where she and Finn slow danced earlier in the evening, she says with a sense of finality, "He's just a friend."

"It always starts out with just a friend," Eldon comments casually, "Until it becomes something more."

Piper glares at him, and in that moment, Eldon is reminded scarily of James. "It's not anything more than that, and you can tell James that."

Despite her defensive tone, her cheeks have blushed as she stalks away from him to help Amy with clean-up duty.

Eldon simply smirks to himself because he remembers the days when James once claimed that he and Riley were just friends too.

He's spent enough time around dancers denying their unaddressed feelings in his twenty years of life to recognize all the signs in Piper. Regardless of whatever unaddressed feelings she may have, however, Finn clearly makes her happy, and she clearly enjoys spending time with him whether she wants to admit it or not.

At the end of the day, Piper's happiness is what matters most, so Eldon reports to James at the end of the night and tells him:

You've got nothing to worry about. This Finn kid's not so bad

James still seems unconvinced, but Eldon's done his job.

When Emily refuses to pay him at the end of the night, claiming she could have done the job herself, however, he has a feeling he won't be DJ-ing any more proms at the studio for a while.

Chapter Text

Summer lives in a constant state of confliction.

It was stupid to audition as a soloist for Dancemania. She knows that now. She regrets it.

She spent the first decade of her life moving around the world wherever her parents' work took them, and when they finally settled down in Toronto, she was always moving around to different dance studios with Miss Angela.

The Next Step is the first place that ever really felt like home. Her team wasn't just her team. They were her friends, her family. She'd thought putting her choreo up against Richelle's in a vote would be fair. And it was fair, she supposes. She'd known there was a chance Richelle would win. She just never guessed that the entire team would vote against her.

Something about standing there, completely alone, seeing all of her friends turn their backs on her- it hurt, more than anything has ever hurt before.

She thought she was justified in auditioning as a soloist because she was hurting, but then she walked into that audition to come face to face with her teammates and knew in that moment that she had put all of her friendships on the line with this one decision.

It wasn't worth it. Obviously.

It seems like no matter what she does these days, she can't get anything right. She's too nice. She's too worried about what other people will think of her. She doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

She's on a path to self-destruction, and she desperately wants off but can't seem to find the exit.

B-Troupe is her chance to start over, to be a better dance captain, a better teammate, a better friend. They're welcoming and accepting and full of exciting energy. Summer quickly grows to love them and tries her hardest to do better by them than she did for A-Troupe.

And yet, as much as she enjoys being on B-Troupe, it's just not the same. She misses A-Troupe. She misses catching up with Amy while stretching before rehearsals. She misses movie nights with Kenzie and discussing the latest episodes of Supernova Superstar with Piper. She even misses tutoring Kingston in math so he can keep his grades up.

A-Troupe was the first team that made her feel like she was a part of something really special. And she ruined it.

There's no one to blame but herself.

She tries not to sulk though, tries to hold her head up and get through the days where it takes all her energy just to get out of bed in the morning. She spends her mornings working on schoolwork in the kitchen with her dad and her afternoons leading B-Troupe through the Nationals routines. She's surrounded by people she loves, and yet, she's the loneliest she's ever been.

When she walks into The Next Steep that afternoon, Summer hesitates when she notices Piper sitting at one of the tables. The two of them haven't spoken much since A-Troupe moved ahead with Dancemania and Summer joined B-Troupe. In fact, Amy's the only one Summer's talked to since then, the two of them occasionally grabbing tea and Amy filling her in on everything she's missed. They never say it out loud, but Summer's fairly certain the only reason Amy sticks by her is because she knows how lonely it is to make a decision you regret and lose everything important because of it.

She hesitates to approach Piper, but her friend gives her a small smile when she notices her. "Hey Summer."

Two words. That's all it takes for Summer to push aside the doubts constantly weighing her down these days and sit with her friend. They smile awkwardly at each other, and Piper wraps her hands around the mug of tea in front of her. "Uh, so how's B-Troupe?" she asks.

"It's good. They're really great," Summer answers simply.

Piper nods, taking a sip of her tea. "That's cool about you guys going to Nationals. Are you excited?"

"Yeah, it's nice to have something to work towards." The unspoken words hang between them: "Since I betrayed the team." She clears her throat then asks, "Um, how are Dancemania rehearsals going?"

Piper shrugs, staring into her tea as she mumbles, "They're fine." Her demeanor says otherwise. Amy told her all about Miss Angela's return to the studio, and Summer can only imagine that would be difficult for Piper, given their history.

Before she can comment on it, however, Finn arrives, pulling out the chair next to Piper and saying, "Sorry I'm late. Heath was predicting the odds of a zombie apocalypse, and I couldn't get away." He leans over, placing a kiss on her cheek without a second thought.

It catches Summer off guard. It shouldn't, but it does. She knows they're dating now, and not even because Amy told her but because Winnie did. At this point, everyone at the studio knows, not that anyone was that surprised.

Finn finally seems to notice Summer as he pulls away from his girlfriend, and his face brightens at the sight of her. "Oh, hey Summer! How's it going?"

She smiles and tells him she's well, and he grins as Piper asks, "Why were you and Heath talking about the zombie apocalypse?"

"It's more likely than you think, Pipes," Finn says, growing serious. "Heath has a whole survival plan. You should really ask him about it. It might save your life someday."

She gives a tight smile, gazing at him so endearingly that something in Summer's heart pangs and she has to look away. Meanwhile, Piper's saying, "Well, I have other things to worry about until then. I'll let you protect me if it comes down to it."

It's sappy- so incredibly sappy- and Piper's not a sappy person. Once again, Summer's completely caught off guard.

This is the first time she's seen them interacting as a couple, and it's strange, not because they don't belong together but because they do. It's like nothing's changed between them and everything has changed all at once.

Summer figures she should just be happy they finally figured things out. She always suspected there was something more than they cared to admit between them.

She feels a little awkward sitting with them, like she's interrupting a date or something, so she quietly excuses herself.

"Oh, you don't have to go," Piper tells her, "You should stay. We miss you."

Summer smiles sadly and murmurs, "I miss you guys too." She takes a shaky breath then adds, "But I've got rehearsal soon. I'll see you around."

They accept this, not fighting her on it any further. She pauses in the doorway, glancing back to them. They're holdings hands now, and Piper's holding her mug of tea up to Finn's nose as she tells him something with a rare mischievous grin. Finn laughs at whatever she said before taking her tea and sipping from it like it's his own.

It's oddly domestic and natural, like they've been together for years instead of a couple of weeks. It sends another pang to Summer's heart, and she forces herself to turn away and leave The Next Steep without another look back.

She tries not to think about Henry too much these days. She misses him sorely but knows in her heart that it was the right decision to break up with him. He's with Amy now. They got together around the same time as Piper and Finn, and their relationship caused more shock waves throughout the studio and in Summer's heart.

Amy and Henry are her friends. She loves them, and she's happy that they're happy. But Henry's the one thing Amy doesn't bring up around her, and Summer's grateful because she may be happy for them, but she's not ready to hear the details of their relationship just yet.

She realizes now that her relationship with Henry was probably nothing more than a rebound for him. It hurts. She wishes she had meant more to him because he had meant more to her.

She longs to mean as much to someone as Piper means to Finn. Maybe one day, she'll figure things out for herself and find her happy ending. In the meantime, she's just happy for her friends who already have.

Chapter Text

Team morale is high after the hip-hop round. They're competing in the Senior Advanced Division, and they're already in first place. A-Troupe's got this Regionals competition in the bag.

Henry's not worried as the next round starts. The dancers in the contemporary number are some of the strongest dancers on the team. This will easily be another win for the studio, and everyone already knows that Richelle and Noah will win the Pas de Deux, so really, they might as well book their tickets to Nationals now.

Of course, you know what they say. Pride comes before the fall or whatever.

The contemporary number starts off strong, and it seems like it'll be another easy win for A-Troupe. Until Piper falls out of her aerial onstage.

Henry's heart instantly sinks. Jacquie lets out an audible gasp before sharing a grim look with Richelle. There's no way this can be happening.

Part of Henry wants to be mad, but he can't because Piper is his friend, and it's not a secret to anyone that she's been struggling this year- not just with her aerial, obviously, but you know, mentally. And no one seems to know that better than Finn.

Henry glances up at his friend to find Finn rubbing his face with his hand and watching Piper stumble her way through the remainder of the dance with a look so sad that it almost breaks Henry's heart all over again.

They'll be lucky if they're even in the top 5 now. And while everyone else is upset about their chances at the finals disappearing, Finn's only concern seems to be Piper. He reaches out for her as the small group leaves the stage, but Piper doesn't seem to notice, pushing past the whole team and running away from the backstage area, her bottom lip trembling and eyes shining with unshed tears.

The mood has immediately shifted, and Kingston plops down on a sound amp, his face glum as he grumbles, "There's no way we'll win now."

Summer bites her lip, disappointed, and Henry puts an arm around her. Finn simply huffs at Kingston's words and turns on his heel, grabbing his TNS jacket from where he tossed it earlier and hurrying after Piper without a word to anyone.

However disappointed the team may be in Piper, she has to be feeling even more disappointed in herself. Henry figures it's probably a good thing that Finn goes after her. She's going to need someone to reassure her that it's okay because, knowing Piper, she'll beat herself up for days if someone doesn't.

Michelle runs her hands over her hair before breaking the morose silence that's settled around the team. "Look, I know this is hard, but we're not out of the competition yet. We can still do this. There's still hope."

Everyone simultaneously turns to Noah and Richelle, who share a serious look. The fate of the team is resting on them now, and they all know it.

As the last few studios perform in the contemporary round, Henry and Summer find a spot to sit backstage while they wait. He runs her hair through his fingers as he murmurs, "You were amazing," to her.

She gives a small smile, leaning against him as she mutters, "I just hope Piper's okay."

Henry lets out a small sigh, his cheek resting against her head. "Me too."

While Noah and Richelle prepare to perform, Finn and Piper finally return. Piper doesn't exactly look okay, but she doesn't seem to be in utter distress either. She's holding tightly to Finn's hand, and neither of them let go as they rejoin the team backstage. Finn leans down to whisper something in her ear, and she looks up at him, her lips in the saddest smile Henry's ever seen as Finn grins down at her.

She sticks to Finn's side while they wait for the Pas de Deux, still holding his hand, and eventually, Summer nudges Henry with her elbow, nodding towards them. "Look."

"I know."

"Do you think they're together?" Summer asks, sounding genuinely curious. "He likes her, you know."

"Oh, I think the whole world knows."

"Seriously though," Summer laughs, smiling softly as she observes the pair from afar.

"They're not a thing," Henry tells her with certainty because if Piper and Finn were anything more than friends, the Bro group chat would know every detail. Finn already bombards them with a long ass story any time Piper so much as laughs at one of his dumb jokes.

"I think she likes him too," Summer muses, "She just doesn't know it yet."

"You willing to bet money on that?" She giggles and shakes her head, and he pretends to sigh in disappointment. But then he adds, "You're a wise one, Summer Hills."

She grins and shrugs dismissively. "Or maybe I'm just observant."

"Those things aren't exclusive, you know," Henry points out with a good-natured roll of the eyes, but then he leans in to kiss her, and she smiles against his lips, and he forgets about their friends for a few moments.

In all reality, Summer's probably the most observant of all of A-Troupe, and Henry likes that about her. He doesn't doubt that she's right about Piper liking Finn. Amy's filled him in on Piper's past with Josh and how it made her more guarded. (And then she swore him to secrecy, of course, because it's a sensitive topic for Piper and she didn't want it getting out to the whole studio.)

Henry doesn't remember much of what Piper was like around Josh, but he does know that Finn brings out of a side of her he hasn't seen much of before. Piper's always been hardworking and professional around the studio, but Finn brings out a more carefree side of her that Henry suspects has always been there, but it's certainly refreshing to see. And in return, Piper seems to have a positive influence on Finn as well. Dance is the one thing he's always seemed to take seriously, but even more so since befriending Piper.

Josh was a good guy, and even though he hurt Piper, Henry doesn't resent the dude for it. You can't control who you have feelings for. But even if Josh had returned her feelings, Henry knows it wouldn't have lasted. It's just hard to picture Piper with anyone other than Finn, and vice versa. They're so close that Henry tends to think of them as a pair more often than not these days, and he knows he's not the only one.

Piper and Finn make a good pair. And when Finn finally drops Piper's hand, and she glances down almost as if she's disappointed, Henry's certain that Summer's on to something.

He knows Finn's sure of his own feelings. He just wonders how long it'll take Piper to realize her own.

Chapter Text

Of all of his siblings, James is the only boy, meaning he's the only brother to three sisters. It's a role he takes seriously, not that any of his sisters seem to care.

It's not that his sisters can't take care of themselves. They can, and James knows that. It's more just the principle of the thing. He's their brother, and he's a naturally protective person. His family always comes first, and he'll be damned if some careless asshole breaks one of their hearts.

It's happened before- on more than one occasion- and it hurts him when they're hurting. He can't help it when his protective instincts kick in, and there may be a few times where he takes it a little too far. Lauren always tells him she appreciates the thought but doesn't need him to fight her battles for her. Julia, ever the outspoken sister and James' dearest partner in crime, has no reservations in telling him when something's not his business and butt out of my love life, please and thank you.

His older sisters are the definitions of strong, successful women, and none of them have any doubts that Piper will grow up to be just as strong and successful. She's well on her way already, but at 16, she's still got a lot to learn. Didn't they all?

And that brings him to Piper- the baby of the family, his only sister who can't rub being older and having more life experience in James' face. She's been through some stuff. A cruel group of girls at her old school and dance studio bullied her relentlessly for years. She had some scares with an irregular heartbeat that almost took her out of dance as a child. And then, of course, just as she hit a turning point in her life where things began to look up for her, she was unwittingly dragged into James' relationship drama, which he still regrets her involvement in to this day.

He was on tour with the band when she got her heart broken by some dolt named Josh. It was tough not to be there for her, but James thanks his lucky stars that Lauren and Julia were both at home for the summer to get her through it.

And as protective as James is of his sisters, they're equally as protective of him. When Riley cheated on him with Alfie (and dragged Piper into the middle of it all), Lauren and Julia cut her off completely. Blocked her on social media. Deleted her number from their phones. It was kind of a big deal because Riley was the only girlfriend that they ever really welcomed into the family. She was practically another sister to them.

Even after all was forgiven, his older sisters still weren't as quick to welcome Riley back with open arms. They made her squirm, made her earn their trust again. Piper, on the other hand, kind of had to forgive her because Riley was still her studio head, and it was too awkward otherwise, what with Regionals approaching and all.

But that's the thing about the Gardiner siblings. They drive each other up the highest walls and grate on every single last nerve, but they hold each other up when they're down. They support each other fiercely. They're ride or die to the very end.

Maybe it's not cool or whatever, but James loves his sisters, and he's not ashamed to admit it. They were his first friends (and also his first rivals). They're the ones who will always have his back until the very end.

And so it's that love that kicks his brotherly instincts into overdrive when Finn comes into the picture.

Of all his sisters, Piper has always been the least interested in dating and romance in general. She must have really liked Josh if she was willing to tell him how she felt and risk getting rejected. But it's because she's gotten her heart broken in the past that James is especially wary when she starts talking about Finn all the time.

Okay, so maybe the kid doesn't actually sound that bad. Apparently, he brought Piper cake one time when she wasn't feeling well, and because of that one incident, Julia's given him the stamp of approval and is convinced that Piper's going to marry this kid someday.

James doesn't even want to think about Piper getting married. She's way too young. Way, way too young.

But as if it's not enough that Jules has already accepted the kid as a future in-law, Eldon reports to James that he doesn't seem that bad either. Piper danced with him at prom.

Piper doesn't dance at events like prom.

Obviously, her relationship with Finn goes much deeper than just friendship, and everyone seems to realize that. Everyone except Piper and Finn.

James meets him for the first time at the Christmas party and tries not to be too miffed that Jules met him first. Riley reminds him to be nice on the drive to the party, and James rolls his eyes. Of course he'll be nice. He's not a jerk. But just because he has to be nice doesn't mean he has to be friendly. ("Yes, Riley, of course there's a difference. Don't give me that look.")

As far as James is concerned, the new A-Troupe boys have nothing on himself, West, and Eldon. They're the og bros. No one will ever live up to their legacy. But, James will admit, the new bros aren't that bad. They all follow James around like adoring fangirls, and it's nice to receive such attention from people that Riley can't get jealous over for once. (Alas, the life of a rockstar is not all fun and games.)

Finn introduces himself to James in between rapid-fire questions from Kingston and Ozzy. The kid has an easy grin and doesn't appear at all put off by the glare James is giving him to assert his dominance. (It would be a lot easier to assert said dominance if Finn wasn't taller than him, but whatever. That's neither here nor there.)

James shakes his hand and says in a level voice, "So you're Piper's new best friend, eh?"

"Yup, that's me," Finn says, still grinning, "She's my best friend for sure, but I guess I have to share that role with Amy. Not that that's a bad thing or anything. Amy's cool. But... Yeah. Hey, is it true the Mask Man at Bangerz and Mash-Ups sent you guys a self-destructing flash drive?"

West enthusiastically cuts in, answering the question, as James stares dumbfoundedly at Finn. This kid is at least six feet tall and is somehow the least threatening guy James has ever met.

He's like a mixture of Eldon and West.

And dammit, that's going to make it so much harder to hate him.

Naturally, James keeps a close eye on Piper and Finn throughout the party, which they spend most of glued to the other's side. Even when James pointedly pulls Piper away from Finn, she always gravitates back to him like it's physically impossible for her to stay away.

They all dig into the cake, and James is in the middle of catching up with Chloe and Giselle when he hears Piper's squeal across the studio. He immediately turns, eyes searching for his sister, and spots her, of course, with Finn.

She's wearing a ridiculous blue hat with a fin tail sticking straight up, but the hat isn't what made her squeal in horror (even though it would certainly make James squeal in horror). No, instead, there's icing smeared across the tip of her nose.

"Finn!" James hears her exclaim, and the kid has the nerve to laugh. He's about to go over and give Finn a piece of his mind for smearing icing on his sister's face when she clearly didn't want that when he suddenly freezes. He recognizes that look in her eye. It's the same look she got when she wrestled Cousin Freddie for the last piece of Nonna's chocolate pie a few Christmases ago.

Before he even knows what's happening, Piper's dragging her fingers along the icing of her cake and then reaching up to smear it all on Finn's face.

"Okay, you're in for it now," Finn says, and she simply raises her eyebrows at him, challenging him. Miss Kate yells something about no more food fights in Studio A, and Piper and Finn both shove their plates into the arms of Amy and Henry, respectively, and then Finn is chasing Piper around the studio until he catches her from behind, lifting her off the ground as she laughs uncontrollably.

It's the first time James has ever actually seen her interacting with Finn. He can't pretend not to notice the undeniable joy written all over his sister's face.

"You know who they remind me of?" Giselle says, and Chloe nods, a knowing grin on her lips.

"Oh, they're the next Jiley for sure."

James is fairly certain they're only saying that to tease him, but he has a sinking feeling that they're right.

It's going to be impossible to keep Piper away from Finn, and frankly, James isn't sure it's worth the fight.

Maybe he can give the kid a chance- for Piper's sake. If Finn makes her happy, well, that's the most important thing, and after seeing them together, there's no doubt in James' mind that Finn does just that.

Chapter Text

It's lonelier at the top than Richelle anticipated.

She's always been somewhat of a lone wolf. Sure, she has lots of friends (namely, A-Troupe), but she only ever lets a very select few get close to her. By her logic, limiting the number of people close to her limits the distractions, and with her goals for the future and her professional career, there's no room for distractions.

In the end, going solo makes the most sense. She loves her team, but she thrives most on her own, and when the opportunity arises, well, she takes it. Never mind the fact that she wasn't technically invited to the audition. Never mind the fact that she was furious with Summer for doing the same thing a few months ago.

Summer was selfish. Richelle is kickstarting her career.

At least, that's what she tells herself when she boards the plane with an uncomfortable knot in the pit of her stomach that she's never felt before. That's what she tells herself when she runs into her team in the lobby of the hotel and realizes just how angry they are.

This will all be worth it. The guilt, the loneliness, the pain she's caused her friends. It has to be worth it.

She doesn't expect to miss them as much as she does. Being alone should give her time to focus and prepare for the competition, but it's hard to do that when she can hear her friends laughing and having fun together through the walls. A surge of longing unlike anything she's ever felt before surges through her, and she allows herself exactly ten seconds to ponder if maybe she made a mistake, acted too brashly, before pushing the thought aside.

Once the competition gets started, these feelings will go away. Once she's in the zone and focused on what matters most- winning- this terrible loneliness and longing for her friends will go away.

Except it doesn't.

She watches her team perform the dance she knows by heart on opening night and is so appalled by their performance, she can't even be bothered by Summer performing in her place. They receive harsh criticisms from the judges, and Richelle can tell by the looks on their faces that they're crushed. Her heart aches for them, but she also can't help wondering what in the ever-loving world happened. They weren't even that bad. They were good. But they can be so much better. She knows it because she's seen it, been a part of it.

She can't help thinking that if she had danced with them, if she hadn't thrown them all for a loop just 24 hours before, they would have easily moved on to the next round. But then she shoves that thought away. She'll never win as long as her mind is on something she chose to leave behind. This is her future now- Richelle against the world. It's just as it should be.

She wins the solo round easily, and it's not like she was nervous per se, but it's a relief to move on. Until it dawns on her that if A-Troupe win the Resurrection Round, she'll be competing against them in the finals. That's not a relief. That's just awkward.

It doesn't help that A-Troupe aren't forgiving towards her. She had clung to the hope that they would understand, that they would see she had done what she'd felt was right for her.

It makes her physically sick to her stomach when she realizes that this must be how Summer felt when they all turned their backs on her.

The worst part is that Richelle remembers that anger, that indignance that Summer could just leave them all hanging, that she could be so selfish. Now, she's just a hypocrite. A hypocrite who will be competing against her friends, the people who have been with her through thick and thin, in the finals.

She may be having some second thoughts.

There's no rhyme or reason as to why she sticks around at the Dancemania studio after the Resurrection Round is over. Even though most of the crew and competitors have left for the night and the building's empty, it somehow feels less lonely, less suffocating than her quiet hotel room.

She's wandering the halls, preoccupied with the impending finals and wishing Noah was here with her. He always knew exactly what to say in situations like this. He's like the personification of the voice of reason, and Richelle misses him dearly.

It's when she hears the music that she freezes, confused. Where is the music coming from? Who could possibly still be here this late at night?

Curiosity getting the better of her, she follows the music back to the soundstage and sneaks inside, staying hidden in the shadows. Finn is performing a dance for Piper as the rest of A-Troupe watch on, faces lit with giddiness. It's a grand gesture straight out of a ridiculously cheesy romcom, but it's cute, Richelle has to admit.

For the briefest moment, she thinks of Elliot and wonders if he would have ever done something like that for her, all while knowing the answer is no. In fact, if Elliot were here with her right now, watching this performance, he'd be scoffing up a storm and muttering about how Finn would never even make it past the first round of Broadway auditions.

But Broadway seems to be the farthest thing from Finn's mind.

No, it actually seems like Finn is trying to win Piper back, but Richelle has no idea why he would need to. Piper and Finn are one of those couples that you look at and just know that they'll be together forever. It's almost enough to make Richelle envious, to make her long for a relationship like that of her own. But settling down has never been a desire of hers. Dance is her first love. There's no room for anyone or anything else in her plans for the future.

As she watches the team mingle on the stage, Richelle has half a mind to step out of the shadows and attempt to apologize again. Maybe they'll be more willing to forgive her while still on a high from Finn's performance.

Instead, she turns and quietly leaves the studio behind. If her teammates are as upset with her as she once was with Summer, then she gets it. She doesn't like it, wishes things could be different, but she gets it.

She goes back to the hotel and takes a long shower, changes into her comfiest pajamas, and texts her parents goodnight. They're somewhere in Europe for a business trip, and despite their promises to tune into the show if they can, she has a feeling they haven't even thought about it once this week.

Just as she's about to climb into bed, she realizes she needs ice for her water, so she slips on her slippers and robe, grabs the ice bucket, and steps into the hall. The ice machine is just down the hallway. She fills her bucket as fast as she can, exhausted from the toil of the last few days. But as she's rounding the corner out of the utilities area, she freezes.

Piper and Finn are at the other end of the hall. Piper's leaning against the wall, a cardboard box clutched tightly in her arms, as Finn stands in front of her, his arm resting on the wall next to her head. He's murmuring something to her, and Piper blushes, turning her head away from him. They're both smiling softly, and Finn brushes a strand of hair out of her face before placing his fingers under her chin and turning her head back to him to kiss her softly.

It's a tender moment that's probably not meant to be witnessed by anyone else, and yet, here Richelle is, watching it anyway. It makes her happy in a way she doesn't totally understand to see two of her friends so in love.

High school relationships have always seemed kind of pointless because they rarely last. Distance or growth or life gets in the way, and most high school sweethearts end up strangers within a matter of years. But Richelle sincerely hopes that doesn't happen to Piper and Finn. It would be such a waste for a connection as strong as theirs.

As she returns to her hotel room, she reconsiders for the second time that night her stance on love and wonders for the first time since breaking up with Elliot if maybe there could be room for that in her life one day. It's possible, she supposes, but only for the right person.

If someone as driven and focused as Piper can find love without it changing the essence of who she is, then maybe Richelle shouldn't write it off just yet. It's a matter that only time will be able to tell.

Chapter Text

Lily doesn't exactly know much about having friends. For years, she's just been Miss Angela's Daughter to every single one of her teammates, which hasn't helped her reputation. Everyone's all smiles to her face because if they're not, Lily can easily have them kicked off the team. But behind her back, it's a different story.

She's not an idiot. She knows her fellow dancers think she's an entitled bitch no matter where she goes. It's the same at every studio. They hate her mother's unique sazzle and dazzle methods, and they hate Lily when her mother inevitably gives her front row center and dance captain.

It's not like Lily doesn't try to make friends. She does- when she's young and, thus, hopeful and optimistic about people and the world. But it doesn't matter who she befriends. They all have ulterior motives- namely, to improve their standing on the team by getting close to her. Behind all those fake smiles lies a deep resentment for both Lily and her mother.

After one too many "friends" turns their back on her once getting what they want, she stops trying.

If her teammates hate her, then that's fine. She hates them right back. What does she care how many people don't like her when she's got front and center in every dance?

But the thing about living in a state of hatred for everyone around you is that eventually, it gets tiring. And it's lonely as hell.

She's 16 when her mother takes over The Next Step. This studio is unlike any other Lily's ever danced at because, for the first time in her life, the dancers don't sit idly by as her mother transforms the studio to her own liking. No, they stand up to her. They stand up for their studio. And when they drive Lily and her mother out, faces covered in icing and cake in their hair, Lily can't figure out why she wishes they would have fought for her too.

It's not like the dancers were any nicer to her than at any other studio, and she wasn't exactly kind to them in return. She did steal Noah's dance captaincy by promising to save Piper's spot on the team, only to turn around and immediately give it to some wide-eyed, overexcitable girl from the recreational team that she can't even remember the name of now.

And yet, something about The Next Step changes her, stays on her mind when her mother takes over Encore, where everyone is concerned about themselves first and foremost. It's a gradual change, one that Lily doesn't even realize has really happened until she stumbles upon her mother bribing the judge at Regionals and is filled with absolute horror. Because while her mother sometimes turns to questionable methods of coaching, she's not a cheater, and that's not how they're meant to win.

It shakes Lily's world, and it's as she's observing A-Troupe from afar the next day as they prepare to take on AcroNation that she realizes why this team and their studio has stayed on her mind as much as they have.

They're a family.

It's so disgustingly cliché, but it's true. They love each other. They support each other, and they clearly enjoy working together. It's obvious in the way that they scramble to throw together a phenomenal routine in just a couple of hours.

They make her realize that she doesn't have to hate her teammates and vice versa. It's possible to be a part of a team and actually like the people you're dancing with.

So when her mother is banned from coaching at any Absolute Dance competitions for the foreseeable future, Lily makes her decision. There's an open spot at The Next Step, and she's going to take it.

She should be upset, angry about what her mother did, but instead, she feels free. Because for the first time in her life, she's free to make her own decisions and be the person she wants to be without the voice of her mother influencing her every step.

A-Troupe aren't exactly welcoming to her at first, and probably for good reason. If it weren't for the overly cheery new studio owner, she's not sure they would have even given her a chance to audition. But they do, and she puts aside the sazzle and dazzle to pour her heart and soul into her solo for the first time in years.

She makes the team, and thus begins the process of winning their trust. For the first time in perhaps her entire life, she makes friends. She starts with Finn, Summer, and Kenzie because she's known them the longest and figures it's only right to make amends with them first. Ozzy and Kingston follow, and then Henry, Amy, and Richelle. She even befriends Heathcliff after a heated debate about whether Severus Snape was a morally good character or not. (Heath makes some valid points she never considered before, and it kind of rocks her world.)

But there's one person on the team who's less willing to open up to her.

Piper isn't unfriendly by any means, but as Lily quickly learns, that girl has walls that are hard to break down. Piper's never the one to seek her out for conversation, and while she'll talk to Lily when approached and is perfectly civil to her, they never discuss anything meaningful.

Lily feels bad about how she treated her last year and even more so for how her mother treated her. She's desperate to make things right with Piper, but she's still figuring out the rules and boundaries of making and keeping friends. So one day, when she's particularly desperate, she asks Finn for help because she suspects these walls of Piper's aren't new, and Finn and Piper are practically inseparable. He has to have some kind of advice for her.

She corners him at the cubbies one day after rehearsal, and once she's asked him how she can break through Piper's façade, he gets this awkward look on his face, like he would rather talk about anything else. "Here's the thing, Lily..."

She takes a deep breath because no good conversation ever starts like that.

"Piper went through a lot last season, and a lot of it was because of your mom," Finn says, "She can't just let everything that happened last year go because your mom apologized. It doesn't work like that."

"But I'm not my mom," Lily starts to say indignantly, and Finn holds up a hand.

"I know that, and so does Piper, but... She associates you with your mom, and you did technically get her kicked off A-Troupe last year."

Lily grimaces, looking away in shame, and Finn lets out a sigh. "She does like you. There's just a lot of baggage there. Just keep trying. When she feels like she can trust you, she'll come around."

So Lily keeps trying. She hosts movie nights. She invites her to sleepovers. And gradually, Piper opens up to her little by little. One day, she even asks Lily how her date with Kingston the previous night went, and Lily in turn asks her about Finn because by that point, Piper and Finn have become the new power couple on A-Troupe.

It's progress, and Lily will take it.

But Dancemania is where their real turning point is.

Finn misses the flight to California, and after he shows up, he and Piper spend the whole time fighting. Or rather, Finn keeps trying to apologize and Piper keeps telling him she wants nothing to do with him. It kind of has the rest of the team on edge, and even though the other boys keep making jokes to lighten the mood, Piper and Finn are obviously miserable, which means they're all miserable.

On the second night of the trip, Nick gets them all dinner reservations at a nice restaurant not far from the Dancemania studio. They've spent the day watching the soloists and duets compete. Richelle won the whole night, which doesn't honestly surprise anyone. Lily sat next to Piper the whole day, offering her support as she avoided Finn like the plague, but frankly, Piper's bad mood is starting to wear Lily down, and she can only imagine what it must be doing to Finn.

The team spreads out amongst several tables in the restaurant, and Lily ends up sitting with Piper, who insisted on sitting as far away from Finn as possible. Yet she spends most of the meal constantly stealing glances in his direction. He's sitting with Kingston, Ozzy, and Heath and, judging by the blank look in his eye, has completely zoned out of their conversation.

After Piper steals her hundredth glance at her boyfriend, Lily decides she can't take any more of this. She sets down her fork and crosses her arms on top of the table, giving her a pointed look. Piper notices and sheepishly mumbles, "What?"

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to him? Because you look like you want to talk to him," Lily says candidly, and Piper sighs, glancing, once again, towards Finn.

"I can't," she mutters.

This fight with Finn, while seemingly pointless and completely annoying, has served one good purpose in that it's given Lily a wide open door to sneak in and secure her friendship with Piper once and for all. She knows all about fighting with a boyfriend after all, so as far as Lily's concerned, she's the perfect person to help Piper through this.

"Why not?" Lily questions.

Piper bites her lip, poking at her pasta with her fork as she gives a weak shrug of the shoulders. "I just can't."

She offers no other explanation, so Lily decides to take another approach, one that often helps her out when she's mad (like genuinely mad) at Kingston. "What do you like so much about him?"

Piper looks up in surprise at the question, but then she pauses, seriously considering it. It doesn't take her long to come up with an answer. "He's my best friend. He makes me laugh. And he's a really good guy, the best one I know."

"So it's not just because he's cute?" Lily jokes.

Piper cracks a smile, looking in Finn's direction. For the first time all day, doing so causes her expression to soften the slightest bit. "Well, that too," she replies quietly, and Lily nudges her arm with a smirk. Piper continues with, "I guess he makes me feel like I can let go and be free, like nothing can hurt me as long as I'm with him. He's always been there for me when I needed him to be, but..."

She trails off, her smile fading. Something clicks in Lily's mind, and she says, "When he didn't show up for the flight the other day, it must have felt like he wasn't there for you, huh?"

Piper sighs and nods. She pushes her plate away from her and mirrors Lily's posture, crossing her arms on top of the table. "It's the first time he's let me down. And I feel so stupid, like I'm overreacting, but I've just never felt so disappointed in him before. I don't know how to deal with it."

"When I'm mad at Kingston, it helps to remember the things I like about him," Lily offers, "Finn's human, and he's a guy. He was bound to mess up at some point, but if you really love each other, you'll find a way to work through it."

Piper nods, staring down at her food as Lily speaks. A moment passes, then she quietly asks, "Have you and Kingston said it yet? I love you?"

Lily smiles and nods. "Yeah, we have." Piper gives a faint smile, and Lily adds, "Have you?"

"No," Piper says quickly, shaking her head. "We've only been together a month. It's way too soon for that."

"Hey, if you're in love, you're in love. Doesn't matter how long you've been dating."

Piper looks up, seeming to consider the words seriously. Her gaze travels to Finn again, and this time, he catches her looking. A blush creeps up her cheeks, and she quickly averts her gaze. Lily watches the exchange then looks away, pointedly taking a sip of her lemonade.

She's positive Piper and Finn will make up from their fight eventually, and when they do, they'll learn from their mistakes and be stronger as a couple. In the meantime, she's just grateful that Piper's finally letting her in.

Making good friends is much more fulfilling than Lily ever imagined it could be.

Chapter Text

Coming up with obscure facts about all ten of your dancers for an escape room is no easy feat despite Michelle's assurances that it would be.

They spend hours wracking their brains, scouring Facebook, and even discreetly questioning a few of the dancers to find enough fun facts. And once they finish that, they have to figure out which dancers need to be paired up the most.

This escape room is probably more trouble than its worth, and they should absolutely be thinking about Regionals instead, but frankly, Emily's always been a fan of puzzles. This escape room is a welcome distraction, and she rarely seeks out distractions, but what can she say? Those three-feet-long ropes and the team's morale being so low two days before Regionals is really stressing her out.

Being Studio Head has given her a lot more respect for Miss Kate and Chris and how they rallied the team together back in her own A-Troupe days. They certainly hadn't made it easy on them.

"Oh my gosh, did you know Summer was in a band?" Michelle asks excitedly. On her laptop, she's scrolled through several years of pictures on Summer's Facebook page and has pulled up an image of a young Summer holding a guitar and smiling with two other kids, one of whom is holding drumsticks and the other frowning at the camera like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"I can't say I knew that, no," Emily quips while scrolling through Finn's Facebook page, which has told her nothing other than Finn is awful at updating his social media and really likes pizza (according to his most recent status from 2014). While the love for pizza is relatable, it's not escape room material.

"You'll never guess what the name of the band was," Michelle goes on, stifling a giggle. Her brown eyes are shining brightly, and Emily suspects she's having way too much fun with this.

"What is it?" she asks, not looking up from her phone. She doesn't have to to know Michelle is rolling her eyes at her.

"You have to guess, Em. It's no fun if you don't." At the unamused look Emily gives her, she huffs and reveals, "It was Spaghetti Pedicure."

A laugh actually escapes Emily's lips, and she sets her phone down, moving to look over Michelle's shoulder. "Spaghetti Pedicure sounds like something West would come up with."

"Right?"

Emily paces behind Michelle's chair, ticking off their dancers in her head. "So that covers Summer. The only one left is Finn."

"Did you find anything on him?"

"Nothing," Emily sighs, throwing out a hand exasperatedly. "How is it that he's our most talkative dancer, and we still know nothing about him?"

Michelle shrugs, shaking her head in wonder, but then her eyes catch on someone out the window, and she suddenly smiles. "I think I know someone who might though."

Emily pauses in her pacing, brows creasing as Michelle jumps up and moves to the doorway, calling Piper into the office.

Piper. Of course. She's been spending a lot of time with Finn these days. Emily can't believe she didn't think of her sooner. Sometimes, she supposes, it does help to have Michelle's mind working alongside her own. Michelle occasionally has a few good ideas, this escape room being one of them.

Piper enters the office, smiling at the two of them as she asks, "Did you need something? There's not a problem with my paperwork for Regionals, is there?"

"No, everything's fine, Piper," Emily quickly assures her. The last thing they need is Piper worrying about something like paperwork two days before Regionals. They're not Riley. They had all of that triple checked and submitted months ago.

"We were just wondering if you might be able to help with a special project we're working on," Michelle explains, and Piper raises her eyebrows curiously. "Do you know any fun facts about Finn?"

"Oh." Piper seems taken aback at first, but then she smiles, wracking her brain for any useful information. She lets out a suppressed giggle, still smiling, as she tells them, "Well, he's seen Hotel Dystopia a hundred times probably. He tried to memorize it word for word a couple of years ago. He didn't, obviously, but he got pretty close. It's actually kind of impressive."

Somehow, this doesn't surprise Emily. Still, it's not escape room material.

"Anything else?" she questions.

"Um, he's allergic to shellfish? He grew up in Vancouver, and his life dream is to get a dog, but he can't because his mom's allergic."

Emily's starting to think Finn is going to be a lost cause for this part of the puzzle. Michelle seems to be thinking a similar thought.

"Is there anything that would just, like, shock people? Like something that nobody else knows about him?" Michelle asks.

Piper's eyes suddenly light up. She glances around as if checking to make sure no one's listening then leans in close like she's revealing a major secret. "Okay, well, there is one thing," she starts, her voice lowering in volume though thick with excitement. "You know the Fruity Moons kid?"

"Like for the breakfast cereal?" Emily asks, and Piper nods, biting her lip and bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"It's Finn! Finn's the Fruity Moons kid!"

"Oh, no way! I used to love that commercial!" Michelle exclaims, and Emily shoots a bewildered look her way. Finn being the Fruity Moons kid is cool, but it's just a breakfast cereal commercial. She doesn't think it's that exciting.

Still, it will work for what they're trying to accomplish.

When Michelle's and Piper's excitement dies down, Emily fixes the young dancer with a smile and guides her towards the door. "That's very helpful information, Piper. Thank you."

Piper stops in the doorway, turning back to them, the curious glint returning to her eyes. "What is this for anyway?"

"That's for us to know and you to find out," Emily replies before gently pushing her out of the office and shutting the door behind her.

Michelle is still grinning as Emily turns to their desk, adding the fact about Finn to the list she's been keeping in a notebook. Now that they have all their facts, they'll have to assign each dancer a number at random and then pair them all up for the choreo card scavenger hunt.

"I can't believe Finn's the Fruity Moons kid," Michelle gushes, shaking her head in amazement. "I used to eat those all the time when I was a kid."

"I think they're overrated," Emily replies without looking up from her work, and again, Michelle rolls her eyes at her.

Emily's taken over the desk chair, so Michelle perches herself on the desk next to the laptop, swinging her legs carelessly. "You know," Michelle says, "Piper seems really comfortable around Finn."

Emily simply hums in response, and Michelle continues on. "She's been having such a hard season. I'm glad she has someone she can lean on. I worried about her when Amy left." There's a pause, legs still swinging back and forth, and then: "Do you think there's something going on between them? Piper and Finn?"

Emily sighs, finally looking up and giving her a pointed look. "What our dancers get up to in their personal lives is not our business as studio heads, Michelle," she points out with all the professionalism a good studio head should have. As she looks back to her laptop, however, she adds in a lighter tone, "But as Riley's sister, I can tell you there's definitely something going on there."

Michelle sighs happily at the thought of young love, and Emily continues typing away. She and Riley discussed James' dismay over Piper's new friendship with Finn just last week during their designated Sister Time. Personally, Emily thinks James is a little overprotective. She's seen Piper and Finn interacting in rehearsals and around the studio. She even saw them at the pizza place down the street one time.

The fact of the matter is- Piper's happy when she's with Finn, and Finn looks out for Piper when she needs someone to. They're a good match, and their chemistry is off the charts.

According to Riley, they're not dating, but Emily's spent enough time at this studio to recognize the early signs of a blossoming relationship, and Piper and Finn reek of those.

That random compatibility test she found online was evidently much more accurate than she gave it credit for.

When it's time to pair up the dancers for the choreo card hunt, obviously they pair Piper with Finn, already knowing they'll make a good team. And when Michelle makes an offhanded remark about how maybe working together will cause the two of them to address whatever romantic tension is between them, well... Emily doesn't argue with her for once.

Chapter Text

Winnie's kind of the head of the gossip chain at the studio. Any time something major happens, she's the first to find out. Poking her nose where it doesn't belong and snooping around in her older brother's business for years has trained her for this role, but it also helps to have sources in the right places. (Heath making A-Troupe is seriously the best thing that ever happens for her career.)

Piper and Finn have been a hot topic amongst the younger troupes all year, and the two of them don't even seem to realize it. In the season leading up to Regionals, Winnie and Heath see them in Shakes and Ladders together all the time. One day, while she and Heath are playing Checkers, Piper and Finn are sitting a few tables over, sharing a basket of veggie chips and chatting like there's no tomorrow, both of their eyes bright as they sit in the other's company.

"Look at the two of them. Flaunting their love for the whole world to see. It's sickening," Winnie sighs. Her chin rests dejectedly in her hand as she lazily double hops her checker over Heath's and snatches his up. Today's one of those days where she's decided to swear off love forever because Ozzy's barely given her the time of day since they danced together at prom. Boys suck. Love sucks. What's the point of it all?

She'll likely change her mind tomorrow, of course, when she gets to make eye contact with Ozzy as she passes him on her way to Wednesday rehearsal, but for now, she holds her ground. Romance is dead, and love is a waste of time, and couples like Piper and Finn should show a little more discretion and respect for miserable singles like herself.

"Who's flaunting their love?" Heath asks, sounding particularly disinterested all while knowing Winnie will tell him anyway.

"Piper and Finn," she scoffs, "They're so in love, it's making my eyes bleed."

Heath slides one checker diagonally then sits back. Her move. As Winnie slides her corner checker forward, her companion says, "How do you know they're dating? I haven't heard anything about that."

Granted, most of the A-Troupers don't give them much of a second thought so it's not like anyone would have informed them of Piper and Finn's relationship status. Ozzy's the closest thing either of them to have to a source on the competitive team, and he always seems to forget of their existence completely until Winnie reminds him that yes, they are still at the studio, and no, he is not superior to them just because he made A-Troupe before they did. One of these days, she'll finally make A-Troupe too, and then Ozzy will have no choice but to acknowledge her existence again.

But that's a story for another day.

"It's obvious. Look at the way they look at each other."

Heath pauses, forgetting it's his turn as he observes the couple. Winnie does so as well since she can't make her next move until he does.

If life were a romantic comedy, Piper and Finn would be the stars. They're the textbook definition of the perfect couple. Finn gets this dopey look in his eyes every time Piper so much as opens her mouth, like whatever she's saying is the most interesting thing in the world. Piper's much more subtle. Every time Finn makes a goofy gesture or tells a joke she finds funny, she gets this tight smile on her face, like she's trying to hide the fact that she actually thinks it's funny.

And there's also the fact that they both blush every time they make accidental hand contact, which has happened at least three times today as they share their veggie chips together.

Given all the blushing going on over there, Winnie's fairly certain it's new love, puppy love, but love nonetheless.

Heath doesn't seem as convinced, but he seems to take her word for it anyway. He gives a shrug of the shoulder, turning back to their game. "I guess they do seem pretty cozy together."

"I'm telling you, they're the studio's new power couple."

"As opposed to an old power couple?"

"Noah and Jacquie," Winnie replies as if it should be obvious. Noah's the dance captain of A-Troupe after all, and Jacquie radiates power and confidence. They're cute and a good match, but Winnie's certain Piper and Finn will dethrone them, and sooner rather than later.

She realizes Heath's made his move, so she skips her red checker over his three remaining ones and throws her arms up in victory because she just won this game. Heath huffs and grumbles, "Can we play something else? I'm not good at this game."

"Fine. Let's play Chess."

"That's even worse."

They may be responsible for spreading the rumor amongst B-Troupe and J-Troupe that Piper and Finn are a couple, but honestly, anyone who's ever seen the two of them together would have come to the same conclusion anyway.

So fast forward several months later, after Heath has joined A-Troupe and kept Winnie in the loop on all the A-Troupe gossip, and her world is completely turned upside down when she gets the following text from him:

Just so you know- Piper and Finn are NOT a thing like we thought. He's dating Amy

Finn Whalen and Amy Walker? Dating?

There's absolutely no way. No. Freaking. Way.

Not only has Winnie never seen the two of them hanging out, but Amy is Piper's best friend, and last Heath had told her, Finn and Amy didn't even get along. Now they're dating?

Something doesn't add up here.

The entire thing throws Winnie into an existential crisis. She's stirring a spoon around her tea in a daze as Heath joins her in The Next Steep the next day.

"How ya doing?" he asks as he takes the seat next to her. She had sent him a series of unintelligible text messages after finding out about Finnamy (Famy?), so she's pretty sure Heath already knows how she's doing.

Not only is everything she knew a lie, but her reputation as the All-Knowing Head of Gossip is in shambles. A J-Trouper called her a joke this morning. A joke.

"How did I get it so wrong?" she mumbles into her tea.

Heath gives her a sympathetic smile and awkwardly pats her on the shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up too hard, kid. Anyone could have made the same mistake."

She should get on to him for calling her kid because they're the same age and she will not be talked down to by her male peer, but she just doesn't have it in her today, so instead she says, "My career is in shambles. No one will ever believe what I have to say again."

Heath gives a slight grimace then hesitantly reveals, "Honestly, I don't think you hold that much power at the studio, Winn. Finn and Piper are just really close for people who claim to be just friends."

This irritates her all over, and she huffs, turning her gaze to the new couple across the café. Finn and Amy are sitting together, smiling and chatting about something. On the loveseat only a couple feet away, Piper and Henry are chatting as well though their smiles appear more forced.

Given how this week is going, Winnie assumes it's only a matter of days until she finds out Piper and Henry are dating. And then, while the trend of couples once deemed impossible continues, Ozzy will announce he's dating Richelle. (Not that Winnie will care about that couple anymore. She gave up on Ozzy months ago. He didn't give her much of a choice when he friend-zoned her, but again, that's a story for another day.)

It's as she's observing the two pairs that she notices it. Finn is grinning at something Amy just said, but as his smile fades and his girlfriend takes a sip of her tea, it happens. Subtly, ever so subtly, he glances over at Piper, who's engaged in conversation with Henry. Finn bites his lip before looking back to Amy, his smile suddenly appearing more forced.

But after Finn has looked away, almost as if she had sensed his eyes on her, Piper tears her gaze away from Henry to glance at Finn. A look of sorrow crosses her face momentarily, but then it disappears so quickly that Winnie could have missed it entirely if she had so much as blinked.

And then, as if that's not enough, as Finn is gesturing with his hands to emphasize some point or another, Amy nods, appearing unfocused as she glances over at Henry. He just so happens to glance to her at the same time, and they force an awkward smile then each turn back to their respective conversations as if it never happened.

It's all so pathetic and so intriguing at the same time, and Winnie sits up straight, slamming her hand down on the table next to Heath in her excitement. He jumps, looking up from whatever he's staring at on his phone to gape at her. "What?"

"Oh my god, they're in a love rectangle," Winnie whisper-shouts at him.

Heath blinks, his eyes blank, uncomprehending. "Excuse me?"

"Piper and Finn! They're in a love rectangle with Amy and Henry." Winnie laughs to herself, shaking her head, her spirits immediately rising because she knew it wasn't all in her head. "God, it's so obvious now. They're all in denial about their feelings. Pinn is totally still a thing."

Heath isn't as receptive to her new theories as he once was and slowly points out, "But Finn's dating Amy. Why would he date her if he likes Piper?"

"Who knows?" Winnie laughs again, throwing her hands out and shaking her head in amazement. "But the most important thing is that we were right!"

"But we weren't," Heath reiterates. Joining A-Troupe has apparently turned him into a skeptic. "Piper and Finn aren't dating."

"But they will be at some point, so we were half right!" Winnie enthuses, "Look at them, stealing glances, trying to be all subtle. It's destiny, Heath. Pinn is going to happen. Take my word for it."

Heath glances over to where Piper and Finn, like Amy and Henry earlier, have now caught each other's eye and are smiling awkwardly at each other. He sighs, shaking his head in bewilderment and looking back to his phone, where Winnie can now see he's playing one of the various knock-off versions of Candy Crush.

"Whatever you say," he mumbles, but Winnie simply smiles to herself in triumph.

So maybe she jumped the gun a little when assuming that Pinn was a real couple. Maybe they've just been friends all this time, but she knows the way just friends look at each other. She and Heath don't look at each other the way Piper and Finn do. No way. With the way they're looking at each other now, the way they've always looked at each other, Piper and Finn are destined to end up together, and Winnie plans on being the first to know when they finally do.

Chapter Text

Piper and Lily are the ones who come up with the idea- a double date. Kingston's not exactly thrilled about the idea of double dating with Finn and Piper, and to be completely honest, he's kind of surprised Piper would suggest it at all. In the past, whenever Kingston and Lily would bring up the idea of double dating, all of their friends had a tendency to run in the opposite direction.

Of course, that was before their break-up.

It happened right before Nationals. Lily was the one to end it, for good, claiming she was tired of fighting all the time and they were "toxic" and she wanted "to be more like Piper and Finn."

It had completely blindsided him, and if he's completely honest with himself, he had spent a lot of the following painful months resenting Finn and Piper, certain that they must have said or done something to Lily to make her think that there was something wrong with their relationship.

But when he finally stopped being angry enough to take a step back and look at the situation he was in, he realized that maybe Lily was on to something, that maybe what Henry and Ozzy and the rest of the team had been saying for months was right. Maybe they were toxic.

He'd never thought anything of his and Lily's constant breaking up and getting back together. To Kingston, their arguments had always been in good fun, never actually that serious, but at some point, Lily must have started thinking otherwise.

Their break is good for them in a way. It gives them both time to figure out what they really want and why there were issues in their relationship in the first place. It's when he's sitting in the new smoothie bar one day and sees Piper and Finn mid-argument that it finally dawns on Kingston what Lily meant when she said she wanted to be more like their friends. Because Piper and Finn are arguing, and he doesn't even know what it's about. He just knows that Finn looks upset, and Piper looks irritated, and they're not exactly the power couple everyone expects them to be in that moment.

But then it happens.

Finn takes a deep breath, slowly lets it out, then speaks to his girlfriend in a softer tone, and Piper's hard expression softens. She mutters something back to him, seeming to apologize, and he shrugs. A few more words are exchanged, then Finn's placing a kiss on her forehead, and she's turning and leaving the smoothie bar, probably to join the other girls in Studio A so they can rehearse for an upcoming small group competition they were chosen for.

Finn watches her go then meets Kingston's eye from across the room. Mind reeling from the exchange he just witnessed, Kingston waves him over urgently. Finn sighs, picking up his smoothie and joining him at his table. "What's up?" he asks as he sits.

"What was that?" Kingston asks, completely mindblown by the exchange he just witnessed. "You two were totally fighting, and then you just weren't. What happened?"

"We weren't fighting," Finn says then takes a casual sip of his smoothie. Kingston rolls his eyes. He's an expert on fighting, and Piper and Finn were fighting.

"She was mad at you, and you were mad at her. That's a fight."

Finn sighs as if this conversation is physically taxing for him, then he says, "We were just having a disagreement. My dad's coming to town for work, and Piper wants to meet him, and I don't want her to. She thought it had something to do with her when it actually has everything to do with him."

Finn's dad is kind of a touchy topic. Kingston knows this because Finn rarely talks about him, and when he does, he never usually has good things to say. It's kind of a surprise that Finn evidently talks to Piper about him, but considering she's his girlfriend and all, maybe it shouldn't be.

"So what happened then?" Kingston asks, "How'd you get her to stop being mad so fast?"

"It's this thing couples do called communicating. You should try it some time."

Kingston's in no mood for Finn's sarcasm (or anyone's sarcasm) these days, so he simply grumbles, "Yeah, yeah. What about it?"

"Whenever Piper gets worked up over something like that, I just have to be honest with her. I can't control how she reacts, but honesty is the best policy no matter what. And usually it works, at least enough to calm down in the moment and come back to it later if we need to."

It all sounds too easy, but Piper and Finn have also been dating for several months now with very few bumps in the road since their fight at Dancemania, so they must be doing something right.

"So you're just honest with her?" Kingston repeats skeptically. "It's that easy?"

"Not always," Finn admits, "But communication goes a long way."

Kingston purses his lips, staring down into his juice. He thinks of Lily, wonders if better honesty and communication could have saved them, and asks reluctantly, "Do you think if I was better at talking about- I don't know- feelings or whatever, that maybe I wouldn't have lost her?"

Finn takes a deep breath, pausing before saying candidly, "I think you and Lily had a lot of issues, but communication was definitely one of them."

With that, he leaves him to contemplate his words and nurse his continual heartache with another juice.

It takes a few days before he gets the courage to talk to Lily again. It starts with one conversation, and then a second, and then a third, and so on and so forth. Gradually, they mend their relationship, discuss issues they felt they had in the past, agree that maybe they should give not fighting a chance. They've always believed they operated better while mad, but maybe their chemistry could be even stronger if not motivated by anger but something better: love.

They get back together before Internationals. They talk more and fight less, and Kingston's just happy to have Lily in his life again. Being apart from her, not talking, trying to avoid dancing with her in rehearsals- it was too much heartache, too much strain on him.

They're much better now, and apparently even more pleasant to be around, given the double date Piper and Finn agree to go on.

Funder Town seems like the perfect place for the two couples. There's rides and attractions to keep Piper and Kingston entertained and enough shops and restaurants to keep Finn and Lily satisfied as well.

It only takes two rides, however, to remember why Finn doesn't like rollercoasters. It's not just a fear of heights.

The poor guy gets ridiculously motion sick.

Kingston scratches the back of his head awkwardly, shielding Lily's view as Finn hurls into the trashcan behind him. Lily cringes at the sound, and Kingston mouths an apology to her, knowing that kind of stuff completely grosses her out.

Piper runs past them, a water bottle clutched in her hand, and Kingston can hear her asking Finn if he's okay. Obviously he's not, given that he just spent the last thirty seconds throwing up the lunch they had an hour ago, but he tells her he is anyway. The whole exchange is a formality at best, and Kingston finally turns around as Finn drops onto the bench that a perfectly nice family abandoned as soon as he started emptying the contents of his stomach into the trashcan next to them. His ears are a little pink, but Kingston's not sure if it's out of embarrassment or the nausea currently overtaking him.

Piper sits next to him, offering him the water bottle, which he takes but then just kind of holds loosely in his hands, staring at the balloon stand across from him in a daze. Piper scratches his back gently and looks to Kingston and Lily as she suggests, "Maybe we should just head home."

Kingston's about to agree, but then Finn shakes his head, keeling forward so that his arms are resting on his knees. He doesn't look good, but he mumbles anyway, "No, I just need a few minutes."

"Babe," Piper starts to say, unconvinced, but Finn gives her a determined look that makes her sigh and give in. To Kingston and Lily, she says, "You guys go on without us. We'll meet up with you in a bit."

They simply nod, and Kingston wraps an arm around his girlfriend's waist, pulling her closer to him as they continue on through the park without them.

"You'll take care of me when I get sick, won't you?" Lily asks, turning her head towards him. Her face is close enough to nuzzle their noses together, which is exactly what he does.

"Obviously," he says, squeezing her waist affectionately. "I'll take care of you so well, I'll put your mom out of a job. You'll never need her again."

She giggles, saying she'll hold him to that as they continue on towards Kingston's favorite ride- the kiddie rollercoaster. Lily pretends to be annoyed when she sees which ride he's leading her to, but he silences her with his adorable enthusiasm.

As they wait in line, Lily rests her head on his shoulder and murmurs, "I love you."

Kingston smiles contently, resting his head on top of hers. "And I love you."

They're together again, just as they should be, and in a way, he supposes, they have Piper and Finn to thank.

Chapter Text

"I need a status update."

Riley sits in the chair of her hotel room, inhaling fistfuls of jellybeans, as her soon-to-be sister-in-law Julia works on her hair behind her. Emily sighs and rests a hand on her shoulder, meeting her eye in the mirror. "What you need is to relax," she reprimands.

"Jules told me Eldon and West lost the rings, Em. Status. Update," Riley snaps through gritted teeth. She's getting married in exactly three hours and 21 minutes. She won't relax again until she and James are sitting on the beachy sands of the Bahamas 48 hours from now.

Emily sends an exasperated look to Julia, who grimaces and mouths a silent apology. "The rings have been found," Emily reassures, moving around the chair to kneel in front of her. "Hunter found them, and Michelle will hold onto them now until the ceremony."

Riley breathes a sigh of relief, feeling a little better. But only a little. There's a still a thousand other things on her mind. For one thing, the hotel room is quiet. Too quiet.

"Where's Ella?" she asks, "She disappeared after we ate lunch. What is she doing?"

She and Ella have rekindled their friendship over the years after Ella admitted she was wrong for stealing her solo at Internationals and then helped James out during their 2016 break-up. It was a no-brainer to ask Ella to be a bridesmaid, but Riley knew someone was going to have to keep an eye on her during wedding prep to ensure no uncalled-for shenanigans ruined her wedding day.

It's the beat of hesitancy Emily takes that concerns her, and she tenses once more. "What did she do?" she asks dreadfully.

"Nothing," Emily is quick to assure her. "She's helping out with the flowers. That's all."

"The flowers? What's wrong with the flowers?"

"Nothing's wrong with them per se. They're just not quite what we ordered."

"Em, be honest."

Emily sighs. "They're humongous. We think they got the wedding mixed up with a funeral, and the flowers showed up in baskets instead of bouquets. But don't worry! Mom and Deborah are on it, and Piper and Ella are helping sort it all out. It's all going to be fine."

Except it doesn't feel like it's going to be fine. How does a mistake like that even happen? Riley squeezes her eyes shut. She can't catch her deep breath, and stress sweat is pouring out of her pores. "Is it really hot in here, or is it just me?"

Her sister grabs a cloth and dabs at her forehead. "Quit sweating. You're going to ruin all your make-up."

"I can't help it!" Riley huffs. She grabs a magazine sitting on the table and fans herself. "God, it's boiling in here."

Emily and Julia share a look then Julia puts the finishing touches on Riley's hair and steps back. "I'm going to find someone to crank the A/C," she says, already moving toward the door.

Once she's gone, Emily gives Riley a serious look. "Do you trust me?" she asks.

Riley sighs and nods. "With my life."

"Then I need you to trust me when I say that everything is going to be fine." Emily gives a soft smile, taking both of her hands in hers and squeezing gently. "It's your wedding day, Ri. I'm not going to let it fall apart. That's my job as your Maid of Honor."

If there is anyone Riley can trust to keep their word, it's Emily. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she tries to heed her sister's advice and relax. It's her wedding day. She and James are finally getting married. This is supposed to be the best day of her life.

"You're right," she breathes, tension releasing from her shoulders. "I'm relaxing as we speak."

"Good," Emily says with a satisfied nod. Her smile softens as she adds, "And you look beautiful."

"Thank you," Riley murmurs, squeezing her sister's hands again. The morning was a mad rush as everyone got dressed and ready for the day. Now that things are a bit calmer, she's grateful to have this quiet moment with her sister.

But then the door opens, and Michelle pokes her head inside. "Hey Em," she says, her smile appearing a little forced. "Can I talk to you about something that is definitely not a disaster or anything to worry about?"

Emily's eyes widen in exasperation, and she gives a stiff nod. "Yes. I'll be right there." Turning back to Riley, she whispers through gritted teeth, "Trust me," then pats her on the shoulder and hurries over to Michelle. Just before the door closes, Riley hears the word "cake" uttered in an urgent tone and suppresses a groan.

It will be a miracle if they get through this wedding without any major catastrophes.

And yet, somehow, they do.

The ceremony goes off without a hitch. No one trips or stumbles while walking down the aisle despite a couple of the bridesmaids' dresses being too long. The bridesmaids' bouquets are almost exactly what she wanted thanks to the hard work of their mothers, Piper, and Ella. Eldon makes a show of passing the ring to James during the ceremony, clearly proud of himself for not losing it again. Riley even elicits a chuckle from James and the wedding guests when she sneaks a clever "Don't even worry about it," into her vows.

In the end, they both declare, "I do," and sweetly kiss over the applause of the guests and Uncle Arthur's sobbing.

She wouldn't change a thing.

The reception passes in a blur. She remembers dancing with James, sharing their first dance as husband and wife to "We Go," and she remembers giggling when James gets frosting on his nose as they feed each other the first bites of cake. Towards the end of the night, Riley's got just enough wine in her to let loose on the dance floor with her friends and former teammates. In the end, it's these moments she likes to think she'll remember 30 years from now when their grandchildren ask about their wedding day.

But everything in between flies by in a sea of smiling faces and earnest congratulations. By the time the guests begin clearing out, Riley can't believe it's already over. It felt like the party was just getting started.

Chloe, Giselle, and Stephanie are amongst the last guests to leave, and then it's just the wedding party and family left. Piper approaches Riley, bouquet clutched tightly in her hand. Her cheeks are particularly rosy tonight, probably from the champagne she'd been downing with Amy and Summer earlier. Riley wonders if her sister-in-law (That's surreal.) is as exhausted as she feels. The only other person who's been as stressed about this wedding as Riley is Piper.

Sometimes, Riley fears Piper is too much like her for her own good.

"Hey sis!" Piper exclaims with a wide smile. "That's the first time I get to say that. It's about time!"

Riley chuckles. How many times has she heard that tonight?

"I think Finn and I are about to head out," Piper continues, giving Riley a hug goodbye. "Thank you for letting me be a part of tonight. It means a lot."

"Are you kidding?" Riley says as they pull apart. "I've only been able to breathe today knowing you and Emily were holding everything together. Thank you."

Piper smiles and shrugs. "It was nothing."

"You spent the day babysitting Ella. That's not nothing."

"You know, she's actually not as bad as I feared. Maybe she's finally matured."

"Or maybe you've spent too much time around Finn."

Piper giggles and tilts her head to the side as if to say, "You're probably right." Riley eyes the bouquet in her hands, a sly smile sneaking onto her lips. Piper caught the bouquet during the bouquet toss, much to James' dismay and Finn's utter delight. Riley gestures to it now and says, "We'll be celebrating your wedding next."

Piper rolls her eyes though her cheeks flush even more. "It's just a stupid tradition. It doesn't actually mean anything."

"You may be right," Riley agrees, "But you and Finn have been together a while now."

Four years to be exact. Riley wasn't surprised when it happened. Everyone had figured it was coming at some point. Piper had been noticeably happier since befriending Finn and always got defensive when someone asked if they were more than friends. Riley had recognized the early signs of denial right away because that had been her too once upon a time.

Piper glances across the room to where Finn is gesturing animatedly while chatting with West and Hunter. A smile tugs at her lips, and she brushes a strand of hair behind her ear before looking back to Riley. "I mean, we have talked about it..."

Riley grins. "And?"

"And we're going to finish school before he even thinks about proposing."

A snort of disbelief escapes Riley's throat. "Sure. You know he's been thinking about proposing since you two were sixteen, right?"

"Did Jules tell you that?" Piper deadpans, smile disappearing.

"Of course."

"Well, Jules exaggerates."

"I know. Either way though, I expect a wedding invitation the second you graduate."

"Okay, Mom," Piper sighs, but then she grins, unable to continue her annoyed façade. She gives Riley another hug then says, "I should get Finn before he can commit to any more drinks with West and Hunter."

"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" Riley asks in concern, only to then wonder if she really is turning into Piper's mom.

"Oh, no way," Piper says. "Noah's our designated driver tonight."

In hindsight, Riley should have known Piper would never commit to drinking at a party unless she already had a plan of how to get home. It's one of the respectable qualities of her new sister that she admires most.

They bid each other farewell, and Piper sets off to round up her boyfriend and their friends. Riley says goodbye to a few more extended family members, and then James finally returns from where he wandered off to.

"Sorry. I was saying bye to Aunt Kathy and Arthur," he says, his hand naturally finding the small of her back.

"Without me?" Riley asks in surprise.

"JJ had too much cake. He wasn't feeling so good."

"Say no more."

"I saw you talking to Pipes," James says. He glances around, clearly looking for his sister, but she's already long gone.

"She already left with Finn and the others," Riley says. James makes a disgruntled face, and Riley thumps him reproachfully on the chest. "What? So you're perfectly happy to go to drinks with him, but the second he goes home with Piper, you hate him again?" She sighs, shaking her head at him. "Can we please stop pretending like you hate him? It's been four years, James. I'm tired."

"Riley, it's—"

"The principle of the thing. I know." Riley crosses her arms, and James sighs dramatically. "You know, if tradition rings true, you and Finn will be real bros pretty soon."

He makes another disgruntled face. "Hilarious."

"Thank you. I know I am."

James rolls his eyes. Riley grins, having amused herself.

He scuffs the floor with his shoe then looks to her curiously. "Do you think I'll get to be in the wedding party?"

"I think Finn adores you against his better judgment, so yeah, chances are high."

"I mean, I just meant for Pipes' sake, but..."

"Sure you did." Letting out a deep breath, Riley loops her arm through her husband's (Wow, that will take some getting used to!) and starts to pull him to the door. "That's enough talk about Piper and Finn though. It's our wedding night. We're not discussing your weird relationship with your sister's boyfriend anymore."

She doesn't need to say anything more, having effectively caught James' attention with the mere mention of their wedding night. He picks up the pace, holding the door open for her. "Shall we, Mrs. Gardiner?"

"That's Mrs. Shannon-Gardiner to you," Riley corrects because of course she chose to go the modern route of hyphenating and keeping her own last name for professional endeavors. But there's a sly grin on her lips as she adds, "But yes, we shall."

And hand-in-hand, they walk together into the rest of their forever.

Chapter Text

Ironically, Izzy doesn't really get to know Finn and Piper until after they've all left The Next Step behind, when they're in their last year of college and she's in her first.

She's going to school in Peterborough, an hour and a half away from home and her family. It's just far enough away to feel like she actually has the independence she's always wanted but close enough to go home on the weekends, which she does perhaps more often than she should, much to the utter dismay of her old 2006 Nissan Altima that she inherited from her mother on her sixteenth birthday.

It's the last night before spring break, and she's looking forward to a week at home. She and Ozzy have big plans of binging the entire Blade of Dragons series before the next installment comes out next week.

Most of all, she's looking forward to getting away from her roommate. Skyla Morris- very friendly but has absolutely no concept of personal space. Izzy's come back from class to find a new guy with her roommate every week. To each their own. She's not one to judge. She just hopes Skyla has enough decency to not be fooling around with them all behind their backs.

The only guy who sticks around for longer than a week is Miles. He lasts for three but apparently decides to end things with Skyla right before spring break. She's so distraught about it, she drinks herself sick (literally). Izzy's friend Maggie, who's going to school for nursing, declares Skyla to have alcohol poisoning, and Izzy's fairly certain that means her roommate will be stuck in the dorm at least a few days, effectively ruining whatever plans she had for the break.

But that's not Izzy's problem.

She loads her car as soon as classes end on that Thursday afternoon and prepares to head home- but her car doesn't start. No matter what she tries, her 2006 Nissan Altima seems to give out, refusing to take one last trip home.

She's devastated, stranded at her dorm with a roommate suffering from alcohol poisoning. Maggie's already left, so she has no choice but to tell her family she's stuck and return to her room to figure out what to do next.

A couple of hours later, she's sitting on her bed, earphones plugged in and blasting music to block out the sound of Skyla's whimpering. She's sorting through what little money she's earned from her job at the campus bookstore and wondering if it's enough to afford a bus ticket home when a sudden pounding on the door draws her attention.

With a dramatic sigh, Izzy hops off her bed, striding to the door since Skyla's in no state to answer it herself. She assumes it must be someone coming to check in on her roommate but freezes when she pulls open the door.

Piper and Finn are standing in the hallway of her dormitory.

Izzy blinks, her brows knitting together. Why are Piper and Finn standing in the hallway of her dormitory?

"Hey," Finn greets with a grin and a nod of greeting, as casual as if he shows up at her dorm room every Thursday night.

Izzy pulls an earbud out. "Hi?"

Piper seems to pick up on the bewildered look in her eye and quickly explains, "Ozzy sent us on a rescue mission. He said you're stuck."

"Yeah," Izzy says slowly, "My car won't start."

"We're here to take you home," Piper continues, "Ozzy would have come himself, but he has a night class on Thursdays, and you know your brother. He doesn't miss school for anything."

It's a nice gesture and not at all unlike Ozzy to do something out of the ordinary in the name of having her back. But Izzy still can't believe that Piper and Finn, of all people, would drive an hour and half just for her. Heathcliff or Winnie, maybe, but Piper and Finn? She hardly knows them compared to the rest of Ozzy's friends.

Still, it's not like she's going to turn them away since they're here.

She makes sure Skyla has plenty of water and soup before leading her brother's friends down to her car. They help her move her things from her car to Finn's, and as she's climbing into the backseat of Finn's car, she asks, "Did you really drive all this way just for me?" Because an hour and a half isn't that long, but it's still no small feat, not to her.

"We didn't have classes today, so we were visiting Finn's sister. She lives in Lakefield, so Ozzy asked us to just pick you up on our way home," Piper explains.

Izzy's fairly certain it wouldn't have killed her brother to send her a text and let her know that his friends were dropping by to pick her up, but while Ozzy's a genius in many senses of the word, he doesn't always think ahead like that. She's not sure if that's just part of being a boy or part of being Ozzy.

The trip home passes by rather quickly. Finn's easy to talk to, and Piper at least looks interested as Izzy tells her about the Physics classes she's taking. Finn's not a bad driver, but he only drives with one hand, the other clutching Piper's over the console. Izzy just hopes they don't crash because Finn couldn't stop holding his girlfriend's hand for a couple of hours to put both hands on the steering wheel at the safely approved ten and two positions.

They're thirty minutes from Toronto when Finn sees a billboard advertising a diner in the next town. "Ah, babe, we've gotta stop. They have the best pancakes!"

"We just ate dinner two hours ago," Piper points out. From her tone of voice, Izzy's fairly certain this isn't the first time they've had this conversation.

"But how many chances do we get to eat at Benny's?"

"We can go some other time. We need to get Izzy home."

"Maybe Izzy wants to stop for pancakes. Ever think about that?"

Piper rolls her eyes exasperatedly, and Izzy can't help herself as she pipes up, "I'm always in the mood for pancakes."

It's two against one, so they pull off the highway and into the parking lot of the retro diner when they reach the next town. Piper tries to act annoyed, but the endearing smile tugging at her lips gives her away. Finn spends the entire walk from the car to their table telling Izzy about the pancakes that are bigger than the size of her head.

Indeed, the pancakes are the biggest Izzy's ever seen, but she scarfs hers down. Considering she's been living off of ramen and peanut butter lately, it's nice to have a fancy meal for once. (And Finn pays for her. She doesn't stop him, thinking to herself that Ozzy should send his friends to pick her up every time she comes home. She certainly wouldn't complain about being stuck in a car with Heath for a couple of hours.)

Piper only orders coffee for herself, making a comment about how she'll need the energy when working on her thesis paper later. Finn orders himself his own pancake and eats until he no longer can. When it's evident he's done, Piper picks up his fork and eats most of what's left.

They're cuddled up in the booth opposite Izzy, Finn's arm around Piper's shoulders and Piper leaning against him. The conversation's fizzled out, and Izzy simply watches the two of them, noting how comfortable they are together. They almost remind her of her own parents, always seeking some kind of physical contact, easy banter bouncing back and forth between them, and completely comfortable in the silences that eventually befall them until they find something new to talk about.

Ozzy always says Piper and Finn have practically been married since they were sixteen, and if it wasn't for the fact that neither of them have rings on their fingers, Izzy would probably believe it. They were always somewhat of a power duo around the studio, but she's heard enough of the behind-the-scenes drama to know that Finn and Piper are far from perfect.

But then again, isn't every couple far from perfect? Some are more compatible than others. Some have no business being together at all.

But Piper and Finn are one of those couples that you just can't help but root for. They love each other, but even more than that, they just like each other. They like spending time together and being near each other. They can hardly keep their hands off each other, but in a subtle, natural kind of way, not an obnoxious, in-your-face kind of way. They function as a unit while still holding to their own independence.

By the time Izzy finally makes it home, she can't help thinking that that's exactly what a functioning relationship is supposed to look like.

Chapter Text

Growing up, Kenzie dreams of becoming a professional dancer or a dance coach. No matter what, she's going to do something with dance.

But Dancemania changes everything. While it doesn't do much for A-Troupe aside from causing a lot of tension and stress in the weeks leading up to Nationals, it does introduce Kenzie to the world of television. She's never given much thought to how TV shows are put together behind the scenes, but there's something about watching the crew work together to put on the best show possible for people all over the world to enjoy that catches her attention. Even after she returns home, and Nationals and then Internationals are all said and done, she can't stop thinking about TV production.

She applies to the California Institute of the Arts just for the hell of it. She mostly just wants to see if she can get in, but then she does. She takes it as her sign from the universe that this is what she's supposed to do and tells her parents over dinner that instead of her original plan to train in dance in New York, she's moving to California instead. Her parents are a little bewildered and very wary of her moving so far away from home, but they support her nonetheless. It will be a stark contrast to their own careers in the medical field and her sister's career in accounting, but Kenzie's always been a go-getter. When she knows what she wants, nothing stops her from going after it, and she's never wanted anything more.

College is everything she wants it to be and more. She grows. She makes mistakes. She falls in love and out of love and everything in between. But most importantly, she falls in love with the industry completely, and by the time she graduates, she's more than eager to finally start her career.

California remains her home for years after she graduates. Noah and Henry are living together in LA, having moved to the city to work with the best producers to further their music careers. They're the only A-Troupers Kenzie stays in frequent contact with though she FaceTimes Lily once every few months, catching up with her best friend like no time has passed. As for everyone else, she keeps up with their lives through Instagram and Facebook, but they all gradually fall out of touch no matter how hard they try to keep their little family together.

A-Troupe, dance, and The Next Step will always hold a special place in her heart, but as Kenzie's learning, life has a way of moving on whether you want it to or not. Before you know it, you're an adult with a job and rent and bills, and the people who were once your everything are only memories of the past.

Some of her old teammates still get together once a year for an official A-Troupe reunion. Kenzie knows this because Amy sends an invitation via Facebook every year. But she's never gone. Her job keeps her busy, and she barely has enough vacation days to go home to visit her family, let alone people she hasn't talked to in years. That's another thing she's learning. The longer you stay away from home, the harder it is to go back.

She's 26 when her father falls ill. Stage 4 colon cancer, the doctors say. They give him six months to live, and all at once, Kenzie's world comes crashing down around her.

It's been over three years since she's last been home, and the guilt weighs her down, that little voice in the back of her head telling her she's missed out on so much time that she can't get back now, all for her career. Which is supposed to be more important?

She drops everything- quits her job, packs up her apartment, and moves back to Toronto. If her father has six months, she plans on spending as much of those months with him as she can. Thankfully, there's an opening for a producer at SNR Network in Toronto. It takes her back to her roots, reminding her for the first time in years of all the competitions she dedicated so many hours of her life preparing for. She charms everyone in her interview, and her background as a dancer seals the deal for her. She starts work the following Monday.

Even though it feels like everything is falling apart at home and her father seems to have more bad days than good, work is an escape for her- a place to go and forget about her troubles and do what she loves. A woman- Stacey or Sydney or something that starts with an S- who has worked at the studio a few years shows her around on her first day. They're just taking a break for lunch when she suddenly hears a deep voice from across the room.

"Kenzie?"

She immediately recognizes him. He's not any taller, but he's broader in the shoulders if that's possible and sporting a beard these days. His easy grin is still just as warm and welcoming as it was ten years ago, and Kenzie grins. "Finn!"

They exchange a brief hug and all the formalities of two former friends who quite literally haven't seen each other in years. ("How have you been?" "What have you been up to?" "What brings you back to Toronto?")

They catch up over sandwiches in the break room, and Kenzie learns that Finn got his degree in Communications at York University then landed his job at SNR after interning for the network his final year of school. He co-hosts segments with Chuck Anderson throughout the year and interviews dance coaches and captains at Absolute Dance competitions. His mother passed away the year before from breast cancer, and even though Kenzie never met his mom, she tears up anyway because the news makes her think of her father. She was never an empathetic person (That was always Summer's thing.) but she can imagine how difficult the loss must have been for Finn.

Less surprising is the fact that he and Piper finally got married two years ago after finishing school, which Kenzie is already aware of because she's seen the wedding photos on Facebook. She'd received an invite in the mail, of course, but hadn't gone because of work and, at the time, she hadn't had the finances to afford a plane ticket.

Also not surprising- Finn and Piper are now parents.

"You want to see pictures?" Finn asks when he reveals the news, and Kenzie nods excitedly.

"Duh!"

He immediately whips out his phone and opens his camera roll, which, from just one glance, seems to consist solely of pictures of several dogs and a cat, Piper, and, of course, their baby girl.

Abigail Rose Whalen is six months old, and from one glance at her, Kenzie can tell that she's a perfect mix of her parents. She's got Piper's dark eyes and nose, but Finn's curls and contagious smile. From the several pictures Finn shows her, she can also tell that this girl is likely going to grow up to have a personality as big as Finn's and strong as Piper's.

"Abigail is Amy's middle name, so that's after her, and Rose is after my mom," Finn explains while swiping through photos on his camera roll.

His face lights up as he comes to a video, and he quickly hits play. "Oh, here, you've got to see this! She started crawling last week. She's like a little machine. Piper's stressed because now we have to start watching her more to make sure she doesn't hurt herself or get into things, but according to all the parenting books, we've still got a few months until she starts walking."

In the video, Piper's holding her arms out to Abby, who's pulling herself the small distance along the carpeted floor. When she reaches her mother, Piper picks her up, holding her up in the air and grinning as she says, "Look at you! You're getting so big!"

"Next thing we know, she'll be dancing in her first recital," Finn says off camera.

"No, don't say that," Piper says while cradling her baby in her arms. There's no other way to describe the look on her face than utterly adoring. "I want her to stay this little forever."

Abby lets out a little laugh as if she's agreeing, but then her face crumples, and she chooses that moment to spit up on Piper. The camera shakes, presumably as Finn jumps up to help his wife, and the video promptly ends.

Kenzie bites back a laugh as she tells Finn, "She's adorable."

"Yeah," Finn agrees, his eyes still bright as he sets his phone aside. His background, Kenzie notices, is a picture of their little family cuddling in bed, Piper holding Abby and a small cat curled up on Finn's chest.

Somehow, it's the exact kind of picture-perfect domesticity she always figured Piper and Finn would one day have. It's not all cute pictures and videos though. Apparently, Abby was colicky as a newborn, and sleepless nights are currently making a comeback in the Whalen household as she starts teething. Pregnancy was really hard for Piper, and Kenzie's not sure she's ever going to be up for the challenge of growing another human inside of her, let alone raising one. Parenting is not for the faint-hearted, she's learning. Even still, Finn beams as he tells her all about Piper's non-profit work and the little girl they brought into the world together.

It's probably a mix of various things- losing his mother, becoming a father, getting married, and simply getting older in general- but there's a new maturity that Finn carries himself with. Kenzie remembers him as the funny, well-meaning, but kind of dim-witted guy on A-Troupe, and while he still seems to be the fun, kind-hearted guy he always was, he's also different. He's not a boy anymore. He's a man with a family to care for now. But that's what ten years and life will do to you.

Even after all these years, one thing remains the same: Finn is still as in love with Piper as he was when they were sixteen. And in a way, it's nice to know that some things never change.

Chapter Text

When Finn and Piper will finally get married has been a hot topic amongst their friends for years. Lily was convinced they would get married as soon as they turned 18, but Amy disagreed, insisting that Piper wouldn't want to get married until she was sure of who she was as a person and established in her chosen career.

Clearly, none of them should ever doubt Amy again because she obviously knows her best friend better than any of them.

Finn doesn't propose at high school graduation like Lily thought he would. He doesn't propose on Piper's 20th birthday like Summer thought he would. He doesn't even propose at college graduation like Heath thought he would.

No, it's a random Saturday night in April a couple of years later, when Finn's 24 and Piper's 23, that he proposes. They're away at some cabin in the middle of nowhere, claiming they need alone time as if they don't already get enough of that in the apartment they share in the city. (Sure, Heath and Ozzy live a floor below them and come over a lot because Finn's a better cook than either of them could ever hope to be, but it's not like they're over all the time.)

Piper sends a photo of the ring to Amy as soon as the question's been asked. They're all sitting in the bar of a restaurant they frequent, Heath squeezed against the wall on one side of the booth with Ozzy and Winnie, and Amy, Summer, and Izzy across from them. Winnie and Summer squeal so loudly, they attract the disgruntled looks of several other patrons.

Ozzy simply gasps. "Don't tell me you knew this was happening tonight," he says to Amy, who pointedly looks away, taking a long sip of her margarita with a sly smile.

"Why wouldn't he tell us? We're his best friends," Heath says, gesturing between himself and Ozzy. He's slightly offended, but not as much as Ozzy. They were Finn's roommates in college. They've nursed each other through hangovers and heartbreaks and everything in between. All of that bonding, and Finn didn't even tell them when he was proposing?

Granted, they knew he had the ring and that it was coming soon, but how were they supposed to figure out that soon = tonight?

"Maybe he wanted to- I don't know- keep it a secret?" Izzy suggests while crunching on a nacho chip.

"We can keep a secret!" Ozzy insists, but then Heath remembers the time they accidentally spoiled the big date surprise Finn had planned for Piper on their fifth anniversary and grimaces. Maybe Izzy has a point.

Looking her brother dead in the eyes, Izzy deadpans, "Christmas 2014," and he groans, throwing his head back against the booth.

"Fine. I see your point," he admits in defeat. Izzy smirks, catching Heath's eye from across the booth and taking a victorious sip from her club soda.

The wedding is originally planned for next spring, but then they find out Finn's mother's breast cancer is back, and it's moved up to November, two weeks before Finn's birthday. Moving the wedding up means a lot of scrambling to rearrange caterers and flowers and whatever else a wedding entails, but Piper handles it like a champ, at least according to Finn. It also probably helps that Amy is on top of her Maid of Honor duties. When Amy and Piper are working together, they get stuff done.

Heath and Ozzy are the best men, of course. Finn didn't want to choose between the two of them, so he just gave the role to both of them. Part of Heath likes to think he feels bad for not telling them the day he was planning on proposing so he's compensating in this, but he doesn't mind. He's never been in a wedding before, hasn't even really been to a wedding since he was a little kid, so he's just excited to get to be a part of the big day at all. Finn's always been like a big bro to him, having taken him under his wing when he first joined A-Troupe as an alternate, so it feels like the biggest honor to be included in his wedding, even if he has to share Best Man with Ozzy.

Along with Amy, Summer, who lived with Amy and Piper in college, is also a bridesmaid. The rest of the wedding party consists of Piper's older siblings and Finn's cousin Jack, who immediately bonds with Ozzy over their love-hate relationship with the latest Legions of Lasers game. Heath's just relieved that Ozzy finally has someone else to talk to about the video game he wants to create one day. He's heard all of Ozzy's ideas so many times at this point, he could probably make the game himself.

As the wedding day draws near, many of their old friends from their Next Step days begin RSVP'ing for the ceremony. It's set to be a major A-Troupe reunion, and Heath can't wait to see Henry and Kingston and everyone else.

But then the snowstorm hits.

It's the biggest snowstorm to hit Toronto in years, and of course, it blows in the night before the wedding.

Heath's not entirely sure whether a blizzard on your wedding day is a good omen or a bad one, but Summer claims it's bad, and she seems to know a lot about that kind of stuff, so he takes her word for it. What he does know, however, is that Piper is panicking.

They're at the rehearsal dinner when all the texts start coming in, all of their friends who were set to fly in for the wedding saying they're so sorry and won't be able to make it. Lily's trapped in Montreal. Kingston's stuck in New York. Noah and Henry's flight is grounded in Los Angeles. Even Richelle, who was travelling around Europe last Heath heard, calls to say she'll have to send her gift in the mail and that hopefully it won't break on the overseas flight but to let her know if it does so she can call and demand a refund.

In a matter of a couple of hours, their A-Troupe reunion and Piper and Finn's big day has turned into a giant question mark. No one's sure what to do or if they should even have the wedding at all. But then Deborah insists that this hasn't all been for nothing and that it'll be an even bigger hassle to change the date again.

Piper leaves the dinner in tears, her bridesmaids trying to console her, and the boys half-heartedly leave for the bachelor party, which turns out to be downing bottles of champagne in Finn's hotel room while playing video games.

Finn clearly isn't invested in the gaming, however, and Heath eventually pauses the game, turning to his friend to address the melancholy that he shouldn't be feeling the night before his wedding.

"Alright, let's talk about the elephant in the room," Heath says. Finn groans in response, throwing his head back against the bed behind him.

"This is supposed to be the happiest day of our lives, and instead, it's a disaster."

"It could be worse," Ozzy says through a mouthful of potato chips.

"How?"

Ozzy pauses, looking to Heath, eyes pleading for him to answer because he actually has no idea. Heath rolls his eyes at him. Typical Oswald.

James is the one to come to Ozzy's aid, clapping Finn on the shoulder and shaking him. "You've gotta pull yourself out of it, man. So the day isn't going to go exactly as planned. What's the most important thing?"

Finn sighs and mutters, "I'm marrying the love of my life."

"You're marrying the love of your life," James reiterates loudly, and Finn grins as his future in-law shakes him again. "Every wedding has a few things that go wrong. Hell, I can't even tell you half the stuff that went wrong on my wedding day. But once you're married and all's said and done, that stuff won't even matter anymore. Don't even worry about it."

The phrase 'Don't even worry about it' is uttered approximately 109 more times over the next 24 hours. Heath hears the words so many times that he's certain by the end of this wedding, they'll be etched into his vocabulary forever.

The morning of the wedding is utter chaos. There's a mix up with the caterers, and then the bouquets show up with the wrong flowers. Amy drags Heath into damage control, the two of them rushing around and working with both mothers to try to keep Piper from finding out too much because she's already a nervous wreck as is.

Kingston was originally supposed to be an usher, but since he can't make it, Amy puts Heath on usher duty as the ceremony draws near. He stands by the doors to the hotel, welcoming guests. Many of the people who initially RSVP'd don't come, but the weather doesn't deter much of Piper's family from showing up as well as Winnie and Izzy. Finn's uncle Bill arrives with his grandmother at the last minute, and following the two of them are none other than Emily, Michelle, Eldon, and Thalia. Heath greets them all haphazardly before dashing over to where Piper's Aunt Kathy is gesturing wildly for him to join the rest of the wedding party before they all start walking down the aisle without him.

Ozzy and Amy are the first of the party to go, then Heath and Summer follow. As they walk down the aisle with familiar faces watching them from every angle, he thinks about how they always used to joke about this day when they were teens and didn't know any better.

Now this day has actually come, and it's not a joke or a far-off fantasy. Piper and Finn are in love and wanting to spend the rest of their lives together, and Heath couldn't be happier for them.

The wedding party makes it to the end of the aisle without any mishaps, and then Piper's three nieces, one of whom is James' daughter, precede the bride down the aisle as the flower girls. In the front row, Piper's cousin Freddie has a camera set up, streaming the wedding online for those who couldn't make it. He's oblivious to the way Winnie is eying him a few rows back, smiling slyly to herself.

The doors close for a moment and then open once more to reveal the most important person of the day: the bride.

Piper's always been beautiful, but today, she's stunning in her lace gown and hair flowing in loose curls down her back. Heath immediately looks to Finn to see his reaction, and the groom is looking at her with a look of pure adoration, like he can't believe that she's real or that any of this is real.

Across the stage, Summer, Amy, and both of Piper's sisters are all dabbing away their tears. Heath can't help himself as he leans over and mutters, "Try to keep it together, Oswald."

"Speak for yourself, Heathcliff."

They share a grin before turning back to the ceremony. Piper's dad gives her away, pulling Finn into a hug before joining Deborah in the front row. Next to them are Finn's parents and three sisters. His mom is looking frailer these days, but she's positively beaming as Piper and Finn hold hands and the officiant begins his speech on love.

Piper manages to hold it together during her vows, only getting choked up once. Finn's hands shake so much during his that he drops the book he wrote them in and loses his place, sending them both into a fit of giggles.

Meanwhile, Piper's eccentric uncle Arthur cries through the vows until his wife hands him a handkerchief, which barely muffles his sobs. James' one-year-old son cries along with him, sending Heath and Ozzy into their own fit of giggles, and Riley looks conflicted on whether to carry Tanner out or let him cry along with Arthur. None of Piper's family seems bothered or even fazed by the crying, so Riley stays put though Finn's grandmother sends a scathing look her way.

The ceremony is short and sweet and to the point. Piper and Finn have never sounded more sure of anything as they both declare, "I do," and when they seal the marriage with a kiss, absolute chaos breaks out as Piper's family erupts into cheers. Heath and Ozzy share a wide-eyed look at the outburst, and Heath's not sure if that's normal or not, but James is whooping on his other side, so he quickly joins in.

When they finally make it to the reception, the wedding party let out a collective breath of relief. James leaves them to join Riley and their children at their table with Emily and Piper's sisters, and Jack leaves them to join his own family while they eat (though not without sending a longing look to Summer as he walks away. The two of them have been making heart eyes at each other all weekend, and Heath's sure it's only a matter of time until Summer pulls him out of his socially awkward shell to dance with her).

Heath and Ozzy sit at their own table with Amy, Summer, Winnie, and Izzy. The six of them watch together as Piper and Finn dance their first dance. It's unchoreographed, just a simple waltz. Piper keeps giggling while Finn whispers in her ear, and Heath thinks for probably the thousandth time since he's met them that they're just so in love.

Amy sits back in her seat, her eyes a little teary as she watches her best friends, then says, "We did it. They're married."

"I know today's all about them, but this feels like a major victory for us," Ozzy says while munching on his dinner roll.

"I don't want to say I called it, but I totally called it," Winnie says with a smug smile. Heath rolls his eyes, and she pushes him playfully. "Don't give me that look, Heathcliff McFadden. You know I'm right!"

"Oh please. We all called it," Heath retorts sarcastically, earning an eyeroll from his best friend.

It doesn't actually feel like it was that long ago that he and Winnie were speculating about Piper and Finn's relationship status in Shakes and Ladders. He can still remember the first conversation he ever had with Finn. They were talking about TV shows, bonding over their love for House Flipper, until Finn, for whatever reason, brought up how Piper's favorite show was Supernova Superstar, and suddenly everything became about Piper. That one conversation had told Heath everything he'd needed to know.

Finn had been in love with Piper for as long as Heath had known him. They had been through so much together. Now, they would have the rest of their lives to continue loving each other, just as it should be.