Jiley and TRITTANY Oneshots

Rock Bottom

Following a painful breakup, James finally goes head to head with Alfie and Riley is struggling with a downhill battle

James's POV

I hated coming here. No words of mine could explain just how much. But a lot. It was a place that I used to love. A place that I used to hang around at for no reason, other than the pure joy it brought me to be there. But that didn't exist anymore. Now every time I pulled up in my car or I walked the halls of the very building - all I could feel was complete negativity. It didn't matter how many good times had happened under that chandelier or in that music room or within the four walls of the studio. They couldn't compare to how badly the newer memories of the place were in my mind. And the worst part was, the one person in the world who I cared about more than anything was always there...and she was more of the problem than the place itself.

I had spent the last few weeks in London with West and Eldon, competing at an elite dance competition that we had been invited to. Going had always been a no-brainer, it was an experience I couldn't miss, but that hadn't made it easy to leave Riley behind. This wasn't like going away on a two week vacation kind of deal. I was going away for quite a while and leaving her to run the studio by herself for her first time ever. Technically I wasn't any part of running the studio. Ms Kate owned the place and Riley was studio head and choreographer. I wasn't even on the team anymore. However, my main job was picking up Riley after she had had a bad fall. (Metaphorically of course.) I can't tell you how many nights she would come to my place, after she had finished work and I had finished band, and would crash out on my couch before she had a chance to go home.

*Flashback*
It wasn't long after Riley had come inside the door that she was sat beside me on the couch in the living room, sighing deeply. She ran her hand through her short blonde hair, closing her eyes as she did and then smiling at weakly.

I sat facing her, my knee touching hers as our legs were folded in between us. We were both resting one arm on the back of the couch. I slowly traced my finger up and down hers.

"How was work?" I asked her softly.

She groaned a little, rolling her eyes. I smiled sympathetically.

"That bad, huh?"

"It's just so tiring James," she whispered, "I don't know how to handle it. What am I supposed to do when B-Troupe and A-Troupe both need a dance choreographed at the same time and I'm stuck answering phones and writing out competition entries until midnight? When am I supposed to find time to choreograph?"

"I know, that's tough," I nodded.

"And on top of that, there's always some sort of tension between the dancers - what with Noah and Amanda dating and Richelle so determined to be dance captain and Michelle so competitive and Amy dating LaTroy which makes Sloane jealous and then the Zero Percent Cl..."

At that moment I leaned forward, placing my hand on the side of Riley's neck and slowly pulling her towards me until my lips were on hers. I kissed her extremely softly for no more than a few seconds before I pulled away, keeping my hand in place. I opened my eyes before she did, catching her with a relaxed expression and a small smile on her face following our kiss. She opened her big brown eyes slowly and smiled a little at me.

"Man I wish that could solve all my problems like it used to," she said quietly, lifting her hand to my wrist. I removed my hand from the side of her neck, consequently pulling her with me and wrapped my arms around her.

"Riley, you are doing an incredible job," I reminded her as she rested her hand on my chest, "and I'm here for you..."

I made her look at me by placing my finger under her chin and lifting her head. She gave me a weak smile.