Lost in the Middle

Three

AN: Finally at the whole reason I started this fic. I desperately wish the three of them had a trio together and then my brain latched onto that idea and came up with this whole thing.

Every night the week leading up to the trio competition the three of them are at the studio until around 10. Except Friday, Friday they run through their dance a handful of times before leaving early. They're meeting at Noah's at 7 the next morning and running it until they're dead on their feet would be counterproductive.

They make it to the high school hosting the competition by 7:30, and then spend 30 minutes trying to find parking and locating Emily when they finally make it to performer check-in. They won't be performing for a few hours so they find an empty practice room and run through their dance one last time for Emily before they perform it.

When Noah and Jacquie head out into the audience to watch some of the teams they're up against Emily pulls Richelle aside in the hallway. "I know that storytelling isn't your preferred dance method. But when you guys showed me your dance last Friday you looked good. You probably don't want to hear this, but what's going to set you apart from the other teams here isn't your technique, it's going to be the emotion you put behind it. Whatever you were feeling last week when you danced for me, you need to find that again."

"What if I can't?" Richelle whispers.

"Come on." Richelle looks up and sees Emily walking toward the exit. She gets up to follow her, slightly confused. "What's going on?" Emily asks when they're sitting outside the school. "I'm asking as your sister, not your studio head," she clarifies when Richelle still doesn't say anything.

"I don't know. My head and my heart are at war with each other. I don't feel like I know what's going on with my feelings anymore. My heart wants to be with Noah, but also Jacquie, but my head says that doesn't make sense, and how can I want to be with two people at once. Not to mention I've never even liked anyone besides Noah before. And he and Jacquie are dating, which adds a whole other level of complexity. Everything is so confusing." Richelle feels Emily start to put an arm around her so she shakes her head, "No, no touching right now. Please."

"Okay. Let's start at the end first, are you going to be alright for the dance, I know you have a few lifts."

Richelle fists her hands in her skirt and shakes her head to clear her mind. "I think so, but I might need help after, finding a quiet spot where I can decompress." Usually competitions don't bother her this much, normally she thrives on the stressful and overly chaotic environment. But with everything that's been going on internally, she's not sure she's going to enjoy the backstage as much.

"I'll be in the wings the whole time, so as soon as you guys are done just come find me. Do you have your headphones?" Richelle nods and pats her bag, "Good. I can hang onto them if you want, and we'll come back out here."

"Thanks. I really appreciate what you do for me. Both as a sister and as a studio head. When I first came to The Next Step we didn't know, my parents just thought I couldn't sit still. And when I got my diagnoses I begged them not to tell Miss Kate, I thought she wouldn't let me be on the competitive troupes. But you already knew when you became studio head, and you've helped me. A lot." Richelle looks up when Emily doesn't continue with whatever her pep talk had been. Emily looks a little at a loss for words, which is weird, because Richelle has never seen Emily speechless.

"I'm glad you felt safe enough to tell me. But I think even if Miss Kate knew you would still be on A-Troupe, you're an amazing dancer and you've proved you earned your place several times." Emily pauses for a few seconds, "Now, let's circle back to the reason we're out here. Richelle, ignoring your feelings won't make them go away, I know, I've tried. I don't have a solution though, I wish I did, I know you like having set rules, but there really aren't any when it comes to stuff like this.