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.
---
A/N: Hello dear reader! Welcome to my new fic! It's been a while since I posted anything on here, but with the announcement of season 8, I've been thinking about TNS again. This fic was actually written over a year ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. Each chapter will explore different parts of Piper and Finn's relationship from a different character's perspective. This isn't a sequel to my other fic, Missing Moments, but I do consider the two of them companion fics, so if you've read Missing Moments, you might notice some callbacks to it here and there. As always, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think! :)
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Snapshots
Fanfiction"Look at the two of them, flaunting their love for the whole world to see. It's sickening." "Who's flaunting their love?" "Piper and Finn. They're so in love, it's making my eyes bleed." Or: Piper and Finn's relationship through the eyes of their fr...
