The day after 6x11

The pizza place Piper and Finn ate at after rehearsal was a DIY pizzeria that gave its patrons free reign to craft the pizza of their dreams. Piper had never eaten there before, but Finn evidently had, judging from the way he rambled about it on the entire walk from the studio to the restaurant.

Though they asked several of their other teammates to join them, everyone else already had plans, meaning Piper and Finn were on their own. A few weeks ago, that would have bothered Piper, and she likely would have come up with an excuse to get out of it. Now however, she figured that an evening spent with Finn outside of the studio couldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Who knew? Maybe it would be fun.

"Don't tell me you're one of those people," Finn groaned as soon as he sat down at their table and lay eyes on Piper's pizza.

She glanced down at her meal and frowned. "What?"

"Pineapple on pizza? Really, Pipes?"

Ah. So he was one of those people.

Smiling for perhaps the first time since Amy had revealed she was leaving the studio that afternoon, Piper rolled her eyes at him. "What? It's good." She picked up a piece, intending to take a bit to prove her point, but immediately dropped the pizza crust back onto its tray. It was way too hot to eat yet.

"It's a fruit," Finn argued, "Fruit doesn't belong on pizza."

"Tomatoes are fruit," Piper countered, quirking an eyebrow at him and peering at his own pizza, which was covered with every meat available and topped off with extra cheese. "What kind of sauce did you get again? Tomato sauce?"

"Okay, but it's not like I have whole tomato slices on mine. They're mixed with seasoning and stuff to make the sauce. It's completely different."

"You might need tomatoes on that. That pizza's all carbs."

"I'm a growing teenage boy. Give me a break," Finn responded with a roll of the eyes, but the corners of his lips twitched, and Piper took that to mean that she was the winner of this debate.

Carefully, Piper finally picked up a piece and took a bite. The roof of her mouth still got burned from the hot pesto sauce and mozzarella cheese, but it tasted as good as she could have dreamed.

Finn still looked unimpressed, however, and she frowned at him. "Have you ever actually tried it?"

"No, I don't like pineapples," he said with a shrug before taking a bite of his own pizza.

Piper gave him a dumbfounded look. "Well gee, no wonder you don't like pineapple on pizza."

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree," Finn sighed.

"I guess so," she agreed, "That's more than my family does on the matter. My cousin says I'm a disgrace to Italians everywhere."

"Wait, what? Seriously?" Her comment effectively caught him off guard, and she nodded.

"He was only half kidding, I'm pretty sure." She still had yet to figure out if Freddie was actually serious, but knowing his love for authentic Italian cuisine, he was.

Finn's eyebrows had shot up, and he let out a low whistle, picking up another slice of pizza. "And I thought my family was tough."

"We're just serious about our Italian food," Piper told him with a shrug. The joking tone had dropped from the conversation, and it seemed that they had moved on from the pineapple debate.

"So is your family from Italy? Like, you're actually Italian?"

There were probably several ways Finn could have better worded the question, but he sounded genuinely curious, so Piper let it slide and nodded. "My great-grandparents came here in, what? 1940? Sometime during World War II. But that's just my mom's side of the family. My dad's family has always been in Canada, but we think we've got French ancestors somewhere on that side."

"Have you ever been? To Italy?"

"No, but I want to one day. My sister did a semester abroad there last year, and it sounded amazing."

"Oh, you've gotta go one day. It's so cool," Finn told her so earnestly that she paused, furrowing her brows at him.

"Wait, have you been to Italy?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding as if this was the most casual bit of information he'd revealed all day. "I mean, I was only seven, so I don't remember that much about it, but I thought the boat rides through the city were pretty cool, and I had the best pizza of my life there. I'd totally go back just for that."

Piper stared at him in surprise, processing this new information. "So... You went to Italy when you were seven... Just because?"

"It was for a dance competition."

"A dance competition," Piper repeated.

Finn nodded. "Yeah, a dance competition. I didn't win. I don't even remember dancing in it honestly. I think I just stood onstage and waved to my mom the whole time."

"I'm sorry. I'm still confused," Piper interjected, shaking her head as she tried to keep up with this new information. "So you had a dance competition when you were seven that took you all the way to Italy?"

"And Germany," Finn said, shooting her a look that clearly said he didn't understand what was so confusing about this.

"What kind of dance studio were you dancing at?" Piper asked. The only competition she'd ever heard of taking place in a different country was Internationals, and seven-year-olds most definitely weren't competing there.

Finn shrugged, taking a bite of his pizza before answering. "My dad insisted if I was going to be a dancer that I had to dance at the best studio in Vancouver, so that's what I did- for a couple of years anyway."

"So you didn't stay there?" Piper asked though the answer was obviously yes, or he wouldn't be living in Toronto and dancing at The Next Step now.

"Nope. I think there was some kind of scandal with one of the studio heads, and my parents kept fighting about how expensive it was, which my mom always denies, but..." He raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side skeptically as he reached for his bottle of soda and took a sip.

"So what happened?" Piper asked, completely intrigued.

"We moved here."

She gaped at him in shock. "You moved completely across the country just because your dance studio was that bad?"

"No, we moved because my parents got divorced, and my mom has family in Ontario. But she would've pulled me out of that studio either way. Something about how adulterers would teach me how to dance over her dead body - whatever that means. And like I said, too expensive."

This was a lot of information to take in at once, and Piper slowly nodded as she tried to process it all. Clearing her throat, she reached for her juice and took a long sip, trying to decide on what part of this conversation she wanted to focus on most. The fact that his parents were divorced was news to her, but she didn't know how sensitive of a topic it was. He'd brought it up so casually that she was inclined to think it couldn't be that sensitive, but were they even good enough friends to discuss something that personal?

Of course, she had confided in him about all of the pressure she had been feeling since Miss Angela's short-lived reign at the studio when she had yet to discuss any of that with Amy, so maybe they were closer than she'd care to admit.

Regardless, she finally decided to ask, "So how many studios have you danced at then?"

He took a minute to think, staring at some spot above her head as he silently counted off on his fingers then said, "Four. My first one in Vancouver then I was at one here for a few years until Miss Angela came in to fix it. That's where I met Summer, and then she took us with her to the next studio, which is where she found Kenzie, but we weren't at that one for very long before she took over The Next Step."

"Do you miss your old studios?" Piper asked curiously. Part of her, for whatever reason, hoped he would say that he didn't. The thought that he might leave The Next Step to go back to his old studio crossed her mind, and just the thought made her heart plummet. The loss of Amy was still so fresh, and she couldn't stand the thought of losing another friend right now.

"Honestly..." Finn heaved a sigh then adamantly shook his head, much to her relief. "We didn't overthrow studio heads or have food fights at any of the other studios."

"And that's obviously the priority."

"Obviously." Piper giggled at his serious response, which brought a smile to his face. "What about you? Noah said you joined the studio last year."

"Yeah, I started out at another studio in town," Piper told him simply.

She had bittersweet memories of her old dance studio. It was where she had fallen in love with dance, but a certain group of girls who had bullied her relentlessly for years tainted her memories there. It hadn't been a difficult decision to go to The Next Step when the opportunity arose.

"What made you want to switch?" Finn asked curiously, crossing his arms on top of the table and pushing his pizza tray aside. Only a couple of pieces remained on it.

She glanced at him for a moment, debating how much to tell him. She didn't feel like revisiting terrible memories of her old dance team tonight, so she focused on the main reason she had learned to dance at a different studio instead.

"My brother's always been one of the best dancers at The Next Step, and I never wanted to dance in his shadow." She pursed her lips and shrugged. "When he left, I saw my chance, and I took it."

"Makes sense," Finn commented, nodding in understanding.

"Most people think it's weird that we both danced at different studios, but I wanted to be more than just James' little sister, you know?"

"Totally."

"It's just like, my whole life has been defined by my older siblings, and it's exhausting to be as perfect as Lauren or smart as Jules or charming as James. It's like everyone expects me to be just like them, and I want to be my own person. You know?"

Taking a deep breath, Piper tore her gaze from the napkin dispenser she'd been staring at while ranting and looked back to Finn, who was nodding along attentively. It dawned on her that she'd just dropped all of that on him when he'd never even asked, and panic suddenly surged through her. What was it about this guy that made her want to spill all of her deepest thoughts and insecurities to him?

"Sorry, I don't know where that all came from," she quickly apologized. She could only hope her cheeks weren't flushing from embarrassment.

Finn simply shrugged, unperturbed. "I get it. I've got older siblings too."

"You do?"

He nodded, telling her candidly, "I accepted a long time ago that I was never going to be like them."

"Yeah, well... That's easier said than done," Piper sighed. She finished off the piece of pizza she was eating then pushed the remaining half of hers away, figuring she would take the rest of it home as leftovers.

"But it can be done."

She glanced at him, and they stared at each other seriously for a moment before both averting their gazes. Piper cleared her throat then said, "Anyways, my old studio wasn't really a family like A-Troupe is, so it wasn't that hard of a decision to switch. Riley – my brother's girlfriend – She was running the studio, and I met Amy, Cassie, and Sloane on my first day, so..." She shrugged. "The rest is history."

"Who're Cassie and Sloane?" Finn asked in confusion. "Are they on B-Troupe?"

"Oh, no, they left after we lost Regionals." She huffed and slumped over the table, pursing her lips again. "The four of us were like a little club, but... Now they're all gone." The reminder that Amy had left hit her all over again, and she averted her gaze, biting down on the inside of her cheek.

"Well... I'd be happy to join your club," Finn told her seriously, "Henry and Noah will too."

Piper laughed in spite of herself at the thought of making Zero Percent Club bracelets with Finn, Henry, and Noah. Somehow, she didn't think they would be very good at it.

"Oh yeah?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah!"

"You'd even make friendship bracelets?" she challenged, sure he would say no, but his answer surprised her once again.

"Totally. I'm a pro."

She stifled another laugh, shaking her head at him in amusement. "You're serious?"

"Oh yeah," Finn said, nodding, "My little sisters are going through a phase. I spent all of last weekend making bracelets with them. They have this huge kit with all kinds of beads. I mean, any color and shape you want, we've got it. Just say the word."

The thought of Finn sitting around with several younger sisters making bracelets sent an extreme wave of fondness through Piper, and she smiled to herself. "How many siblings do you have?" she asked him curiously.

"Five – three older and then the twins, but they're way younger than the rest of us."

"How old are they?"

"London and Gracie? They're five. Do you wanna see pictures?"

"Uh, yeah!"

Finn pulled his phone out and showed Piper a few pictures of his family then she ended up showing him one of her own as well as her cousin Benni's new puppy, who had been the center of attention at the recent Monaldo family luncheon. After checking the time, they agreed that Finn should text his mom to come pick them up as they'd been at the pizza place for an hour and a half and both had homework to get done at home. While they waited, they discussed the upcoming Absolute Dance Wild Stylz Convention, and Piper tried not to think too hard about the fact that Amy would be competing with AcroNation for the chance to go to Regionals.

She hoped, for Amy's sake, that the outcome was worth leaving The Next Step for.

Finn's mom, a middle-aged woman dressed in workout clothes with her hair tossed into a messy ponytail of curls, picked them up in a minivan and spent the whole ride asking Piper questions about herself and her family. Meanwhile, Finn sat in the front seat, silently begging his mother with his eyes to not say anything that would embarrass him - not that that stopped her from telling Piper all about how he'd split his pants in his very first dance recital anyway.

"Mom," Finn groaned, hiding his face behind his hand and squeezing his eyes shut in horror.

"What? You were so cute! It was very endearing," his mom said with a wide grin as she turned into Piper's neighborhood. "I'm sure Ayla's got the pictures from that somewhere in one of her hundreds of scrapbooks." As an afterthought, she added to Piper, "Finn's sister is very into scrapbooking. She's the organizer of the family. Has Finn told you she's applying to law schools?"

Piper was still laughing at Finn's reaction to his mother's story, but she pulled herself together to say, "No, I didn't know that."

His mom nodded. "That girl can run circles around anyone in any argument. She'll make a great lawyer. We're very proud of her. What's your house number, sweetie?"

"It's the one with the red car in front of it," Piper told her, pointing ahead to where James' car was parked in front of their family's home.

Finn's mom pulled up to the curb behind it, and Piper thanked her for the ride as she crawled out of the backseat and onto the sidewalk. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said to Finn as she did so.

"See ya, Pipes," he said with a grin and a wave.

Finn's mom waited until Piper was safely inside her house to drive away, and Piper gave a short wave to them before closing the front door behind her. The voices of her father and brother wafted down the hallway, and she made her way to the living room to say hello to her family. James and Riley were lounging on the couch with their father watching a football game while their mother sat on the adjacent loveseat, reading an eBook on her iPad.

"Hi," Piper said, announcing her presence as she kicked off her shoes in the archway then walked into the room.

James held up a hand in greeting, eyes glued to the television, while Riley looked up from where she was nestled against his side and smiled at her. "Hi Piper." No sooner had the words left Riley's mouth did an apparently important sports play go down on the TV, and she, James, and their father all burst into a loud commotion, all three yelling at the quarterback as if he could hear any of them.

Unfazed by the commotion, Piper plopped down next to her mother and lay her head on her shoulder. "How was your dinner?" her mom asked.

"It was good. We went to that pizza place a few blocks from the studio."

"And you went with Finn?"

As Piper nodded, James suddenly turned his gaze toward her, his attention piqued at the mention of a boy. "What? You went to dinner with Finn? Isn't that the guy who kept asking you out?"

"There's a boy asking you out?" their father asked, his gaze snapping from the television to Piper, who shot a glare at her older brother. The way he spat out Finn's name like it was nothing rubbed her the wrong way. She'd never intended to tell him about Finn asking her out, but he must have overheard her telling Riley about it at family dinner last week.

"We got dinner as friends. It's not a big deal."

"But it was just the two of you?" James questioned suspiciously. Riley glanced at him, frowning as she placed a hand on his arm in warning.

"It wasn't a date," Piper repeated adamantly.

James chuckled humorlessly, rubbing his face with his hands then gesturing dramatically as he said, "Pipes, you went to dinner with a boy who keeps asking you out. That's a date."

"I don't know that you're old enough to be dating," their father said, frowning at her seriously.

"I completely agree," James said, shaking his head at her in disapproval.

"Oh, you two, let it go," her mother piped up, "If Piper's old enough to ride the bus on her own, she's old enough to decide who she dates."

Piper threw her head back against the couch, squeezing the bridge of her nose and willing for patience to come to her. "Amy left the studio," she blurted out, and James fell silent in the middle of his rant about how he never should have trusted Eldon's report from prom.

Looking around at her family, Piper continued with, "I was upset, and Finn suggested we get pizza to take my mind off of it. That's it, okay?"

"Wait, why did Amy leave the studio?" Riley asked, her voice laced with concern.

"She went to AcroNation because they were giving her better opportunities than Emily and Michelle."

"AcroNation?" James interjected, shaking his head cluelessly.

"Thalia's new studio," Riley muttered to him.

He looked at her, his brows furrowing. "Thalia started a studio? How do you know that?"

"Emily. Do you not listen to anything Eldon tells you?"

"You try listening to him go on and on about Thalia 24/7, and tell me you wouldn't zone out too."

Riley thumped him on the shoulder, and Piper tuned them out, staring blankly at the football game on TV. Her mom put a hand on her back and scratched it gently. "That's too bad about Amy," she murmured.

"It's okay. She's doing what's best for her," Piper muttered. Dinner with Finn had succeeded in taking her mind off of Amy for a couple of hours, but talking about it with her family was only bringing her spirits down again.

"Well, I don't understand why Emily and Michelle aren't giving her better opportunities. Or you for that matter," her mother continued, shooting a subtle look to Riley as she spoke.