Empire - The Next Step

apologies from all around

A lot had changed over the past few weeks at the next step. All the regionals dances were assigned, Richelle and Noah had both got the ballet duet, so they were working on the ten person dance for the finals as well. The two alternates that were chosen were Davis and Kingston. It was originally Ozzy but he had revealed to Michelle and Emily that Kingston was skipping school, so he became the alternate.

Harper was still mad at both Noah and Richelle and hadn't spoken to either one of them since the day of choosing for the contemporary dance. Neither one of them had made any attempts to apologise either so she wasn't just going to wait around for them.

She was practicing in studio one as Acro Nation had the day off. The blonde was still yet to master her back layout and couldn't quite stick the landing no matter how hard she tried.

"You need to try it without the mat. It's throwing off your landing." Came the voice of Richelle, although it sounded much more vulnerable than usual. She walked into the studio with a timid expression and was awaiting Harper's response with nerves trickling out of every part of her.

"Do you want me to die?" She asked sarcastically making Richelle roll her eyes. It was an odd thing to request though. Whenever she had been learning a new move before, it had always been with a mat.

"I'm serious." Harper sent her an uncertain glance but decided that Richelle probably knew what she was talking about more than she did. She tossed the mat aside and prepared herself from the corner. She set herself up and as she flew up into the air, she managed to flatten off her body and before she knew it she was back on her feet. She did it. "Told you."

"Thanks." Harper said quietly, she was appreciative of Richelle's help but that didn't excuse how rude she had been earlier in the week.

"Harps, I'm really sorry for what I said. Of course Noah didn't pick you just because your his girlfriend, he picked you because you are an amazing dancer. You have flexibility, tricks and amazing moves but you also know how to put your emotions into it. You deserve it more than I do." It was almost shocking to hear Richelle sincerely apologise. She was an extremely stubborn girl, even more so than Harper, and she didn't often admit she was wrong.

"Really?" Harper asked hopefully, it really meant a lot that Richelle told her how great she was. It wasn't something she heard very often but she really needed to. The shorter of the two nodded with a smile and rushed over to hug her best friend. They didn't often fight, but when they did it was always resolved somehow.

"So, will you forgive me?" Harper debated the idea inside her head. She had seen a side to Richelle that she really didn't like, but she also didn't want to throw away a friendship so strong based off of one argument.

"Well I guess so." She replied with a small smile as Richelle threw her arms around her once again. Harper was ecstatic to have her best friend back, she hated when herself and Richelle fought. It made her feel more alone than ever.

The two of them decided to head over to shakes and ladders to take a short milkshake break before rehearsals, but they ran into someone unexpected on the way. It was Noah.

"I'll leave you two alone." Richelle announced awkwardly before she strode away from the pair despite Harper's desperate silent pleas for her to stay. As soon as the blonde had left the troubled couple, a silence washed over the two and neither of them knew what to say.

"I have something to tell you." Noah told her abruptly causing a rift to form in the increasingly awkward silence. Harper wasn't expecting him to say that of all things.

"Oh, so you can talk to me about stuff now?" She questioned sarcastically earning herself an exasperated sigh from Noah. She did feel the slightest bit guilty for giving him such a hard time about it, but he had made her feel so useless when he didn't tell her. It was well deserved.

"Harper, I'm auditioning for Robin Hood the musical." Noah stated, completely ignoring her snide remark, and awaited his girlfriend's response. Of all the things he could have said, that would have probably been her last guess. How could Noah be thinking of auditioning for a musical?

"What do you mean? We have regionals coming up." She informed him with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Even the notion of Noah pursuing this was ridiculous. His full attention should have been on regionals.

"I know and it wouldn't interfere with regionals. Chloe told me about it when she came back to choreograph the ballet duet for Richelle and I, she said it's a really good opportunity that I shouldn't pass up on." Harper was glad to know that the audition would leave Noah still able to compete with them at regionals, however she wasn't too pleased with the entire concept.

"So say you did audition and you got the part, what would you do? Would you leave?" She chocked out with a wavering voice. The blonde was trying not to show how much the idea affected her, but it was easier said than done.

"Well I don't know yet, it's a pretty big decision. But Harps, I'm eighteen and I've been here since I was eleven. It's been my home for so long, but there's always gonna be a right time to move on. Maybe this musical is mine." As much as Harper hated to admit it, Noah was right. If he remained at the studio after regionals then he wouldn't continue to improve, he was at the top of his game and not taking advantage of that could be a huge mistake.

"I don't know what I'd do without you here, but it's your decision." She said in a thick voice as she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and blinked away tears that welled up in her eyes.

"There's just one thing holding me back though." Noah said as his glistening eyes gazed down at her.

"Noah, you can't stay here just for me. You have to do what's best for you and this musical could be the opportunity of a lifetime." The blonde said as her own eyes flickered upwards to meet his. Noah looked distraught at her answer, the thought of leaving the studio, Harper and all his friends was devastating.

"I guess I have a lot to think about then." Indeed he did. This would be the biggest decision of Noah's life, and it would affect the person he cared about the most. Harper couldn't imagine a life without seeing Noah every day, he was the only thing that kept her going. The only person who gave her the confidence to be herself. A life without that would be far more difficult than she could ever imagine.

| | |

a/n: yayyy richarper is back together. i couldn't keep them apart for too long. i also know that noah didn't really apologise but it was kinda enough, like he said it without really saying it. he has a lot on his mind too so cut the guy some slack. also thinking about noah leaving makes me wanna cry, imma be so sad reliving it through this book :(( thank you so so much for reading and voting it means so much to me! please feel free to comment what you thought i love to hear what you guys are thinking. we're close to the end now! i hope you enjoyed :)