the next step au's

be calm (jiley)

James is pacing back and forth in the wing. while everyone is staring at Ella in the center of the stage, just finishing off her solo.. or let's say; Riley's solo.

she just ended up stealing it.

and although James wasn't so surprised about it, the hurt on Riley's face stabbed him right through the heart.

how could someone hurt her?

how could someone even think of hurting her?

she was so nice, caring, sweet; practically perfection in his eyes.. and this British girl just went on and played Riley.

James would have lost it by now. he wanted to just walk out on stage and yell at Ella. tell everyone that she took his girlfriends routine, and is playing basically the whole world. tell her how much of a bitch he thinks she is.

he clenched his fists.

while the whole team had their attention on the stage, Riley noticed the absence of James, who was standing next to her while Ella started the solo.

she was hurt too. deeply hurt.

she really thought that Ella was her friend, despite of being on a rival team.. but looks like James was right after all.

Riley was on the edge of crying, but they figured something out.

they would send Giselle to do a solo. and Riley actually felt like Giselle could take this home. plus, a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Riley was playing with the rings on her fingers, as she looked around herself, trying to spot James, whom she saw a second later, pacing a few feet away from the team.

he looked mad.

his eyebrows were furrowed, his fists clenched, his jaw was tense and his breaths seemed rapid.

Riley knew this was a bad sign.

she knew about his temper, she knew how bad it would get sometimes.

and considering the fact of how overprotective he was by nature already, the whole Ella situation made it even worse.

she knew what was going on through his head.

she also knew that once the anger would get the best of him, there was no way to stop him.

none of the boys could stop him. no one could.

except maybe one thing.

but Riley knew better than to let it get this far. she knew that the rules at internationals were strict, and that if someone would act out, the whole team would have to pay. Riley knew they wouldn't tolerate a sudden outburst of anger. and she knew how bad James could get.

plus, she didn't want the studio to get a bad reputation. after all; this was the whole dance world seeing them.

she made her way through her team, who was still looking shocked at Ella performing.

honestly, Riley was done with this girl. she was hurt, but part of her was furious. maybe just as furious as James was right now. but she had to stay calm.

for him.

"hey.." she said, her voice was quiet and soft, and it seemed to lower his tension a little, as he looked down at her.

"I can't believe she's doing this Riley, I can't believe she actually thinks she would get away with that.." James said, anger dripped from his voice, as he looked back onto the stage.

she sighed. "I know.. I can't either." Riley looked down at his fists. they were still clenched, his knuckles turned white from how much pressure he put on them.

"James.." Riley picked the conversation back up. she had to calm him down, no matter what it would take.

he couldn't act out in front of the eyes of so many people. Ella was not worth it for them to get disqualified after coming so far.

she took one of his hands in both of hers. which calmed him down a little as he looked down at her.

James took a deep breath, looking down at Riley, with hurt in his eyes. "I can't believe she would hurt you like that.." his voice sounded broken.

"sh, it's okay.. I'll survive." she said, a small smile appeared on her face. "I got you." Riley added, looking down at their hands.

"someone needs to confront her." he said, a little more mad again now, looking back on the stage.

"James.." Riley started off, but got cut off by his voice.

"Riley, it's not fair. you took her in as your friend, so believed in her.. more than any of us.. more than me.." he looked down. it was only now Riley realized how hurt he was by the fact that she didn't believe him when he warned her. "and now she goes on and does this." he shook his head, hatred in his eyes, while Riley was still looking down.

her vision got a little more blurry.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, before she looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

it felt like someone put a dagger right through his chest. like someone ripped everything inside of him apart.

he despised Ella for this.

he despised her for hurting the person he loved the most.

he just couldn't let this one slide.

his fists clenched again, which Riley noticed. "James, it's fine. I'll know better in the future, okay? just don't.. don't worry about it, okay?" she said, as she wiped her tears out of her eyes, with the sleeve of the tns jacket she was wearing.

"but she can't just go through with this.." he said, a frown on his face as he shook his head.

"we will just get disqualified.. and she's not worth it.. she's not worth is giving up everything.. please don't do anything, okay? for me.." she said quietly.

he looked down at her. his eyes full of hurt. he hated not to be able to do anything about this.

James nodded at her, closing his eyes as Riley wrapped her arms around him, he immediately replied with pulling her close to himself, and buried his face into her neck.

"James, it's-" Riley started off, but got cut off again.

"I love you." he whispered to her.

it was unfair. how someone would get away with doing something like this and not get any consequences.

it's unfair how someone would dare to hurt her, and James not being able to do anything without getting it backfired on the team.

but he was determined to show her who she was messing with.

"I love you too, James." he heard Riley's voice, as soft as before, and a small smile appeared on his features.

truth was, she was the only one who was able to calm him down.