care about you [completed]

Hopelessness

Finn feels so uncomfortable. And from her fingernails digging into his palm, Amy does too. He watches Pipes in his peripheral vision, and she is shifting nervously as well.
The camera guy circles them like a hawk.
"So you must be the leading lady? Where have you been?" He directs at Emily. She steps forward confidently,
"We were attending a small dance convention up north. Good practice. We have dancer colleagues in the farmlands, and they run an annual event. I would tell you all about it but it's very exclusive."
"Oh come on!" The camera man prys, "Give me something, studio head!" Emily looks a little startled, but Finn has her back,
"Well, sir, we can tell you one thing: our duet placed second by a point and Piper's brilliant solo here won first place!"

What. The. Flip. There's not an annual farmland convention The Next Step attends, Richelle thinks. If so, she'd have been invited; she's sure of it. And why do the four of them appear uncomfortable. The cameras could never pick up on it, but Emily only smiles with her teeth ground together when she's nervous and Piper has an anxiety quirk of breathing rapidly, and Richelle can physically see her breaths. Finn doesn't sound like himself, either. He's too…serious. Something is going on. So she claps and cheers when he says they placed well, because that's natural. She needed to act natural.

Kenzie is confused when Richelle starts clapping. What was Emily talking about? Then she notices Finn's lips. They were moving. Like how they moved when he danced. He was shaking. Kenz had known him for longer than anyone on the team, and Finn did not stress. Something strange is happening. She joins in Richelle's cheers though. Gotta play nice for the camera.

Piper is so grateful for Richelle. Despite their differences, they both have dance captain minds. She clearly figured out this was an act and is playing along. She's got the whole team with her. Her breathing slows, and she realises that she didn't know how fast she was exhaling. She closes her eyes for a split second. She cannot freak right now. Calm. Calm for the cameras.

Ozzy is bewildered - what convention? But he sees Richelle start to clap and he knows that she's very intelligent, as well as beautiful of course, so he follows her. He can't let his not knowing show though. You have to put your best self in front of a camera.

Kingston sees Ozzy join in this cheering, a fraction of a millisecond after Richelle. He clearly didn't know what was happening either. Ozzy was playing along! Kingston thinks he should too. Looking unified is good for the cameras.

Emily is so proud of their team. This plan is actually working. A-troupe are somehow sliding right into place. Click! She gives a whoop herself. Being a strong, female leader is going to look fabulous on camera.

Lily notices her boyfriend join in this cheering mayhem. He gives her a wink, very subtly, and she doesn't know why, but she knows she has to join in, so she does. Kingston looks so cute winking. She hopes it wasn't caught on camera though.

Amy stops clawing away at Finn's palm as she sees A-troupe start to cheer. She hates to admit it, but she was a little terrified of being exposed. Especially on camera.

Henry peers at Amy, looking for a clue in her eyes as to what is happening. Nothing. He sees her hand, in Finn's and notices her nails scratching into him. Classic freaked out Amy. But why was she freaked out? Something was up. But the cameras couldn't know, so he claps along with the rest of a team for a convention he knows not a single thing about.

Heath is so lost. What is happening? Ozzy spies him out of the corner of his eye and circulates over.
"Haven't they done an amazing job, Heathcliff?" What? Heath doesn't get it.
"They did so well at the convention!" Ozzy puts emphasis on the word convention and it snaps in Heath's brain. They're playing! He joins in, cheering loudly and replies,
"I know right?" Staring right at the camera.

Nick knows what happened. He knows it's a cover, he just wish Emily had kept him in the loop so he could tell the team. He does find it impressive how quickly they pick up and join in the cheering. They knew how to work around cameras.

The camera guy smiles, and seems satisfied.
"Well, I have another contestant to see, but congratulations on the win, Piper, and lovely to see you all!"
Piper thanks him quickly and Emily shows him out. The minute she returns, the questions roll in.

"Guys, what just happened?" Richelle' s eyebrows raise.
"Yeah, what is this convention?" Ozzy asks.
"Why do you all look so fake?" Kenzie pouts in inquiry.
"I'm so confused." Heath says.
"That clapping was weird. I had no clue what is was even for." Lily agrees.
"Emily, what's going on?" Kingston pinpoints her.

Finn suddenly feels Piper tense beside him. He gives in to his natural instincts and lets go of Amy's hand. He turns to her. She had a hand on her chest and is breathing very fast.
"Hey," he looks at her, and breathes in and out. She copies. He repeats this until she settles. He doesn't care that everyone is watching. He puts an arm on her shoulder reflexively. Big. mistake.
"Hey." Henry speaks the same word in a very different tone, glancing over at Amy.
"Finn!" Amy whispers harshly. She doesn't know why. Everyone can hear her.
"What is happening!" Kenzie exclaims.

"Who wants to explain?" Emily gestures at the three of them. Piper shakes her head with certainty. Amy looks to Finn for an answer.
"I will," Finn answers, "I'm the one who messed everything up."
All eyes are filled to the brim with curiosity.

As he explains the situation, he has stop several times to allow for gasps, comments, the girls (and Nick) "coo-ing" over the library kiss and some hostility from Henry as he ends.

"How could you do that? That's not cool, bro. That's- you're a bad person. As Amy's best friend, I could punch you."
"Henry!" Amy slaps him.
"You're not upset? He kissed another girl, Amy!"

Everything suddenly resurfaces. Piper's eyes fill with tears and she needs to get herself out of that studio as soon as possible. So she runs. Finn is consumed by his guilt and needs to sit down. Amy finally gives a voice to her dark thoughts,
"It's me, I mean, at this point it has to be. Every single guy I've cared about has broken up with me for his best friend."
"Amy," He looks up slowly.
"I know you're sorry!" She's shouting now, "I know, Finn! I know! I love Piper so much and you love her and that is not your fault and you two just should be happy together, ok?"
"Amy, it's -"
"Henry, please. You're a part of this."
Henry has nothing else to say. Amy storms out.

"Great," Finn whispers, just audible to everyone, "I've done it. I've destroyed the team."

OH MY GOSH. 600+ reads, how? I can't even believe this. All of you reading, thank you more than ever, and 60+ votes. I want you all to know that every single read, vote and comment means so much to me. Hope you're all safe and happy.

P.S. I'm really proud of this chapter, hope you loved it x