Snapshots

2. Noah

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.