the next step au's

call him pt. 2 (jiley)

weeks had passed since the call.

riley was now in her car, on her way to meet james.

he told her to come to the bands show.

yes, he was still in the band.

no, they did not succeed and become something really big, despite of going to a casting show. 

everyone there told them that they were good, but more like small bars good, instead of madison square garden good.

they would never make it.

but none of the members were taking this too bad.

except maybe shane.

who went on to pursue his solo career, which led to john and theo singing now.

james was occasionally rapping, whenever it would fit. but he liked staying in the background. it gave him a chance to play the drums without being too much in the spotlight.

despite of loving being the center of attention whenever he was dancing, which he was still doing; in fact he was teaching a few classes here and there in the country; people liked to book the internationals winners from a few years ago a lot, as they thought they were good at teaching kids and teenagers some moves.

they booked riley and the others too, occasionally. sometimes they would even try to get more at once. but james and riley tried to keep away from each other as much as they could after their break up. 

it would be better for the both of them; or so they thought.

after a miscarriage, riley felt like james was disappointed in everything, mainly in her; which he wasn't, he told her that enough times, he just did not know how to cope with losing their child; it caused her to close herself off, away from him, and eventually this lead to their break up.

it wasn't messy, or loud or anything, just a silent agreement on both sides.

they did love each other, even after their break up, but both of them could only see their child, whenever they would look at the other one.

the show was held at a local bar, in toronto. 

riley knew that there were shows, and she knew almost always when they would be playing, but this was the first time she would actually go.

like it was a first date, she was nervous, shaky and could barely concentrate on the road.

probably a bad condition to drive in, but she didn't want a cab, or to take the bus. 

at least she could think like this, in private. 

she put effort in her clothes, her hair, her nails, everything. for the first time in months, she looked so good, that anyone would think she was going to some fancy event.

not that she looked disgusting the few months before, but she never bothered dressing up anymore, or doing her hair, makeup, nails properly. she always just kept it casual. because that was how she felt.

but now.

it was as if a spark emerged out of her.

she had the same smile on her face now, which she has had for weeks.

her ex-boyfriend, alfie, left their apartment to go live with one of his brothers until he found a place of his own, after riley called james that day.

he didn't call nor text riley afterwards anymore, but she knew that he wasn't mad at her. she was thankful for that.

finally, she pulled into the driveway of the bar.

it was empty, except a few cars, one of them being james'.

she sucked in a slight breath once she saw his car, and it set her whole body on fire again.

for the first time in years she would see him again, which caused her to feel sick, but happy at the same time. scared and excited, hot and cold, all at once. 

after sitting in her car for about fifteen minutes, the blonde finally pulled herself together, and got out of the car.

she walked towards the huge door, which was unlocked, which she discovered a few moments after.

her heart was racing, her mind blank, she had no idea if she could even speak in front of james anymore, she had no idea if she could be able to do anything for that matter, but somehow her legs kept moving, and she found herself inside of the bar.

there were a few people, most of them setting up everything for the instruments, some were behind the counter, talking about some drinks they needed to get until tonight, out of the back of the bar.

and then she finally got a hold of who she was looking for.

behind the drum set.

his figure seemed to be bigger, more defined, more muscular now, than she remembered, but maybe it was just because she hasn't seen him in a long time.

his hair was a little bit longer, or so she thought, as he was wearing a snapback, as he was setting up parts of his drum set, his back turned to her.

"hey... riley." she heard a familiar voice call her out, from the other side of the stage. 

it was john, who was setting up his guitar, and happened to look up to spot the blonde, his old friend.

james' head automatically shot towards her, his eyes widened in shock.

just like hers, as she finally looked away from John and towards the person she was longing to see for so long.

"riley.." she heard him breathe out, as he rushed from behind the drum set, to the front of the stage, then jumped down from it, walking straight to her.

he wrapped his arms around her, picking her up with what seemed like no effort at all, his face burried in the crook of her neck. 

her arms moved around his shoulders, holding onto him, she closed her eyes tightly, wishing for this moment to never come to an end.

"i missed you." she heard him whisper into her ear, to which she was only able to reply with a deep breath in. she wasn't able to talk, from being overwhelmed with her feelings for him.

-ok thats it yooooo i hope yall like it :))))