HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[3.14] never there

❝Do you think good is gonna win us Internationals? Do you think good is A-Troupe material? Because it's not.❞

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"So, I've quit the band, if that's what makes her happy," James threw his head back with exasperation after having just told Maxie everything going on with him and Riley that'd led to him breaking down and quitting his band.

It was almost eleven at night and the two were sat in James' basement, the remnants of that days 'bro hangout' scattered across the floor: Eldon's empty protein bar wrappers littered the concrete flooring and West's hoodie was splayed across the arm of the sofa as a perfect cushion for Maxie to rest on whilst she played couple therapist.

After finding out about James taking drastic measures in quitting the one thing he loved just as much as Riley, Maxie had organised a much-loved hangout with their friends on the one day off they had that week ― it felt like old times when the four of them used to hang out during the lead up to regionals, before the drama of the studio and its relationships took a hold over their friendships.

In all honesty, Maxie counted herself lucky. After the mass fallouts, betrayals, breakups, new additions and lost members, she, West, James and Eldon had still remained as strong as ever, even if they didn't spend as much time together as they use to. If anything, their friendship had grown better and more mature since the day they'd met.

There was virtually nothing, at that point, that could separate their friend group. Virtually.

After hours of watching insane past dance videos, and multiple seasons of sitcoms, consuming masses of unhealthy food and creating multiple silly dance, singing and miscellaneous competitions amongst them, West and Eldon had eventually caught rides home.

That had left Maxie and James stretched out across his ridiculously large sofa, their eyes trained on the TV displaying the climax of the most recent James Bond movie whilst the boy droned on about his most recent argument with Riley ― the heart of it being, of course, Ella.

"Look, you know the last thing Riley wanted you to do was quit your band," Maxie shrugged, taking a bite out of her chicken drumstick from their earlier fast food delivery, "If anything, as your girlfriend, she'd want you to do what you love most."

James scoffed, "Tell that to Riley then, last time I checked she was whining about the fact I spent more time with my drums than I do with her."

"Okay, maybe that's the issue, then," Maxie mumbled loud enough for him to hear, "In the last week, how many times have you been at band practice?"

"Well, there was two on Monday, and we had quite a few extra sessions on Thursday, too," He began to recount, "So, over the past seven times, I've probably gone to, like, eleven? Eleven point five, maybe?"

Max jeered at the 'point five' before following up, "Okay, and in the last, say, three months, how many dates have you had with Riley?"

"Oh, like―"

"Dance rehearsals don't count."

"Right."

James pondered for a moment, struggling to remember the last time he and Riley had been alone in a romantic setting, "I don't know, like, twice?"