A/N: Hey y'all! School's been a little hectic (I have a science test tomorrow and mocks in about 3 weeks as well as a chinese oral I have to memorise for the 19th) so updates will be kinda rare.
On with the story...
It was the time of the year. The time where the next step would perform their annual recital. It was something that the whole studio looked forward to; especially the non-competitive dancers who could finally take the chance to perform.
Baby ballet had their routines, with a troupe helping them out on stage. J troupe had a group routine and a couple small groups. B troupe had two groups and duets between everyone. And finally, a troupe had a group, duets, trios, and solos for everyone.
It was pure chaos organizing this one recital. Emily in the lightbox running the show, Nick presenting, Michelle backstage helping the dancers. A troupe, with all of their routines, are tasked to help out the younger dancers, as well as do their own makeup, costumes, and quick changes.
--
To an outsider or a member of the audience, the performances were all put together and organized. But backstage was a completely different story.
Costumes haphazardly strewn across the floor. Spilled makeup on the vanities. Hairpieces thrown carelessly across the floor. Quick change booths rumpled and half fallen in the corners, rendered almost completely useless. Dancers' suitcases open across every corner.
It was near impossible to navigate for an inexperienced dancer. But it was the norm for a troupe. Even the dancers with anxiety and OCD didn't care about the messiness. Making it on stage, on time, with the perfect makeup and costumes, came first. They could deal with the messes later.
--
One of the j troupers had a wardrobe problem, and she was the only one available who could sew well enough to fix it. None of the boys could, and the girls were either preparing for a trio or a duet.
Her solo wasn't for another three performances, so she rushed to the j troupers' backstage room, which was honestly a lot less chaotic than a troupe's. She empathised with the j troupers, having been in their shoes for years.
"Richelle. My costume's ripped here and I can't fix it."
"Okay, Pressley. Just hand me the costume and the sewing kit please."
She grabs the costume, and sees quite a large rip in the back. It wasn't detrimental, but it would definitely cause some unnecessary attention. Palming the needle, she got to work, the j troupers watching her intently.
She had to work quickly. Her makeup had been done, but she hadn't changed her costume from the group routine one yet. And this costume was hard to get in and out of.
--
He's performing with the baby ballet kids. He'd bonded with them easily, being a dancer who'd once trained in their shoes. They were adorable, he thinks, and his goofy personality really worked well with them.
The routine ends, and he goes back to the dressing rooms, leading the baby ballet kids to Michelle with the J troupers. There, he finds her, finishing off sewing.
"Riri. What are you doing here? You're on in two numbers."
"What?! Crap. Here you go, Pressley. I've got to go."
He follows her as she rushes back to their dressing room. She tries to her hair into a ponytail as she searches for her costume, only to realise the headpiece is missing.
"Piper, can you help me out here? I need to get changed and I don't know where the headpiece for this costume is."
Looking around, she doesn't see any quick change booths empty. She didn't have time to wait. Feeling comfortable about changing in front of a troupe, she tries to yank her costume top over her head.
--
Most of the time, a troupe didn't have the privilege of having proper changing booths. So they'd just changed in front of each other. She remembers that one time that Finn couldn't find his hip hop costume, and had wandered around the whole area in just his underwear. Unorthodox, she knows, but it had to be done.
Unfortunately, her costume top had a tight turtleneck and lots of straps. And it gets caught in her ponytail.
"Mrmmmph. Piper, help me out here?"
She struggles, the costume almost off but still caught on her head. Piper rushes over to help her, the boys laughing in the corner.
"Richelle, I didn't know you wore girly underwear." Piper remarks.
Crap. She'd forgotten that she'd put on her bright pink lace bra for one of her later costumes in the show. It was supposed to save time, but she hadn't anticipated that a troupe would see it.
--
He tries not to blush when the love of his life starts to strip down and get changed in front of him. 'It's fine. You've seen everyone get changed in a troupe. This is normal.' He thinks to himself. They'd been close for a while, but they hadn't established anything along the lines of a relationship.
"I can't get it. I'm not tall enough. Ozzy, can you help?"
He shakes himself out of it. Trying not to shake or blush too much, he walks up to the frustrated blonde, and starts to work on the costume. He tries not to think about how close she is to him, and the fact that she's not wearing a top.
Eventually, he releases the costume from her hair, and she emerges, face flushed and hair undone.
"Thanks, Ozzy." She smiles, pink dusting her cheeks.
"You're welcome." He returns, also blushing.
She turns around and puts her other costume on. It's a halter top with a mesh skirt on top of the shorts she has on already. Reaching back to lift up her hair, she fumbles with the clasp.
"Dammit. Ozzy, can you get it for me?"
He nods, and does up the clasp. He's still blushing, and he knows he's going to get teased so much for this.
"Richelle. It's your number in a minute. Come on!" Michelle rushes in to tell her. 'Screw the hair', she thinks, resigning herself to dancing with her hair down. It wasn't optimal, but it would have to do.
--
She dances spectacularly, no matter what had happened backstage. It didn't matter that she hadn't rehearsed, or had to improvise her hairdo. She was a performer, and he'd known that ever since they'd met.
He watches her dance from the TV inside the dressing room, the rest of the bros watching with him.
"So. Bet you were thrilled to be so close to her when she was changing." Kingston elbows him in the side.
"Shut up."
He rolls his eyes. But his blush gives him away, and all of the dancers in the room smirk or smile knowingly. Neither of the pair knew it, but the whole troupe was rooting for them to get together.
In fact, Piper had actually pretended to not be able to free Richelle from her top. But Shhh. Neither of them needed to know that.
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I hope you like this oneshot. It was inspired by one of my dance recitals and how the quickchange booth literally collapsed (it was very funny).
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The Next Step Oneshots
FanfictionOneshots of missing moments in the more recent seasons. Friendships, relationships, and overall a troupe cuteness.
