The Next Step Oneshots

1. You Should - Richozzy

He watches her dance at the studio, day and night. Always here before everyone even arrives, and the last to leave. She works hard; so hard that she even injured herself once. Yet, she didn't seem to be getting the recognition he thought she deserved.

He sees the light leave her eyes when the position of dance captain was taken from her. He sees it again when her position as face of absolute dance was wrenched from her grasp. He sees it once more when they all take her dedication towards the team for granted.

Then, he sees the light in her eyes once again, when solo auditions for Dancemania are announced online. But it dims straight away. He knows her; he knows that she would never throw away the team for her own benefit.

--

She doesn't know what to do. Every step and move she takes, she didn't seem to be recognised. Sure, the dancers respected her and her seniority, but they didn't care about anything else.

They didn't care when she spent all night doing their choreography, as there was nobody else to do it. They didn't care when she was the one who lead all the exercises and stretches when their previous dance captain Noah left. They were taking her for granted, and she was becoming upset.

What did she do to deserve this? She had never once abandoned the team, except for when she was working undercover. Every action she took, was to benefit their chances of winning. She had longed to be dance captain since she was 13. Her role model had even encouraged that she would get the spot. Yet here she was, just an average dancer.

--

He finds her in the locker room, looking enviously at her phone. He sees on the screen a post on social media; where the auditionees' names have all been listed. He sees the person who had unintentionally taken everything she worked towards away from her on that list.

He walks towards her, and sits next to her.

"You know, you should really take that opportunity."

"And betray the team? Never."

Typical. She'd never intentionally hurt the team, or their chances at winning. He knows that without her hard work, they'd never have made it onto the show.

--

"You're betraying yourself staying here"

"No. I'm helping the team by staying."

"But you're not helping yourself, are you."

"It doesn't matter. A troupe comes first."

She refuses to think about what would happen if she weren't on a troupe. It had been her dream, her life goal as a child. But now that she was living it, it wasn't all that she thought it was.

She dreamed of having a family; Noah had always told her about the closeness of the internationals team. But when she made the team, everyone had branched off into little cliques. There were the zero percent girls, then the new bros, and the previous members. She had only made one friend, and that friend hadn't even stayed.

"Please. Do it. For you. If not, for me."

"Did you see what happened to Summer when she auditioned? There's no way I'm risking that."

"We all know that you're everything that Dancemania wants. Flash, style, sass, impressive tricks. You could do so much better than us."

--

"Why are you encouraging me to leave?"

He sighs. Of course she didn't understand his thought process. He really did care for her, despite everyone's teasing.

"Because I want you to succeed. And I can tell you're being held back here."

She's quiet. She doesn't understand how someone could care so much about her that they would give up their own chances of success, just to help her. It surely wasn't how she was brought up.

"And if I don't make it?"

"Then you come back, and nothing changes. But I know you'll make it, you know. You're the best dancer in the country."

He presses a kiss to her cheek and leaves. The next day, her Solo is posted on the Dancemania website, introducing her as the new soloist.

They're livid- they think that all she wants to do is betray them; to ruin their chances of winning. He's absolutely disgusted that they thought so low of her. No wonder she didn't enjoy it here. He sits in the back, silent as they rage. He's just glad that she's no longer here to experience this.

--

They meet again at the competition, only as competitors. They mock glare at each other, but secretly, they know that each of them are rooting for each other. But the glares from the others are real, and they hurt her, a lot.

Eventually, the team finds out. They're horrified, that he would go behind their backs and encourage their once proclaimed lead dancer to leave them. He yells at them, enraged at the fact that they were so ignorant. So arrogant that they believed that they deserved having her on their team.

He leaves the team, resigning from the contract that kept him competing with them. Instead, he manages to join her.

They compete as a duet. And the audience loves them. Onlookers don't understand the animosity between them and their old studio. They love the dynamic duo, and cheer them on, much to the dismay of the team.

--

Despite everything, they triumph and win. And they get that tour that he always knew she deserved. He just never knew that he would be alongside her for this opportunity.

She's delighted. Delighted that she had won, and even more satisfied that he was alongside her. She never knew that she could do it, but he knew. And he had encouraged her every step of the way. It was only right that he got the opportunity with her.

Eventually, she asks him on a date, much to their fans' amusement. They had all thought that he would crack and ask her out instead. Nobody had anticipated the turn of events, yet it was just so right. The steel willed sassy woman, with her goofy yet intelligent man alongside her.

They're the ultimate power couple of Toronto, adored by all, dancers or not. Eventually, they make up with their old teammates. But they don't keep in contact. They didn't need any negative influence in their lives.

They had each other. And they loved each other. And that's all that mattered.