7x23

It was honestly a shock that A-Troupe was actually going to be dancing in the finals at Dancemania. Piper was still trying to process it all as she followed Nick and Emily out to the green room. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been preparing herself to pack her bags and fly home in the morning. It wasn't that she hadn't had faith in Ozzy or Finn, but she had just been trying to be realistic. But Ozzy had outdone himself with his solo, and she was ecstatic to be staying another night.

"Wow, that was really something, wasn't it? I mean, Fredrico doesn't like anyone. Ozzy should be so proud of himself," Nick was enthusing to Emily as he turned around to face Piper and the rest of the team. His brows knit together, and he asked suddenly, "Where is everyone?"

Piper looked behind her to realize that her team wasn't following her like she thought. She was about to offer to go back and see what was going on when the doors to the studio suddenly opened, and Amy led the rest of the team out. All of them were grinning in their excitement about moving on to the finals tomorrow.

"Okay, you all need to be here bright and early in the morning. We have the stage at 9 to practice for the finals," Emily told them all, getting straight to business as usual. "Make sure to get plenty of rest tonight, okay?"

The team nodded, and Emily and Nick were about to lead the way back to the hotel when Henry suddenly spoke up. "Actually, we all wanna hang out here for a while. Celebrate as a team, you know."

Nick simply nodded and told them that was alright, and Emily left them all with the instructions to not stay too late and to walk back to the hotel as a group. Piper turned to Amy curiously. "Why are we staying here?" she asked. She had clearly missed some kind of team meeting when following Nick and Emily out of the studio. Personally, she was ready to go back to the hotel, change into pajamas, and go straight to sleep, but her teammates clearly had other plans.

"We're celebrating making it to the finals," Amy said with a shrug before moving to sit on one of the couches, Summer plopping down next to her. Both of them threw their feet up on the coffee table as the rest of their team spread out.

Piper glanced around, noting that Finn was absent for some reason. Had he slipped out to find the washroom or something?

She was proud of her boyfriend for taking initiative today. He'd really gone out of his way to help Ozzy. It was that caring attitude and thoughtfulness that had attracted Piper to Finn in the first place. She had been so fixated on his flaws recently that she had lost sight of all the qualities that she loved about him.

She had been avoiding him, at first because she was mad at him, and then because she was mad at herself, and now, she just didn't know how to make up with him. She'd brought all of this on herself, and she was tired of making herself and everyone around her miserable. She just wanted to pretend like none of this had ever happened and go back to normal.

Heaving a sigh, she squeezed onto the couch on Amy's other side and admitted, "I may have overreacted with Finn."

"Oh gee, you don't say?" Amy said sarcastically.

Piper gave a tight smile in response. "I'm sorry for being so difficult this week."

"It's okay. I still love you."

Smile growing less forced, Piper lay her head on Amy's shoulder, looping her arm through her best friend's. Amy smiled, resting her head on top of hers.

As their teammates chatted around them, Piper glanced around the green room. Finn had yet to make an appearance, and she was starting to worry about him. Where was he? Should she go look for him? Surely he wasn't still beating himself up for missing the flight. After tonight, no one was thinking about that anymore.

As Piper was debating whether they should send out a search party for Finn and Ozzy, who she had also realized was missing, Ozzy burst out of the studio doors. "Piper! You've got to come quick! There's an emergency in the studio!"

"What?" she asked in confusion, sitting up as Ozzy grabbed her hand and started to pull her up.

"Come on!"

"Wait, Ozzy, what are you talking about?" Piper asked as Ozzy dragged her into the studio. Her immediate thought was that something must have happened to Finn, and it felt like a block of lead had dropped into her stomach, but then they reached the stage, and Finn was standing there, looking perfectly fine.

She froze and hesitantly asked, "What's going on?"

"Have a seat," was Ozzy's response. He gestured to a chair sitting in front of the judges' table, and Piper reluctantly moved to sit down, shooting a curious look to her boyfriend as she went. What did they have planned?

A musical number as it turned out. Finn had written her a song and was dancing and singing, and there was a Big Fish, Little Fish cardboard box, and then all of A-Troupe was there, and Piper's heart felt like it was bursting. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much as Finn's song came to an end.

She didn't even notice their teammates surrounding them as she gazed up at him, so much affection and love surging through her as she held his hands. "So we're dancing in the finals tomorrow," she said softly.

He was trying to catch his breath as he nodded. "Yes, we are," he said, "Hotel call's at 7. Be at the studio at 8. Hair and make-up at 4."

He had memorized the schedule for tomorrow. A laugh escaped Piper's lips as she leaned up and cut him off with a kiss then hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder, and Piper found herself wishing she could just stay here in this moment with him forever. Nothing felt better than being in his arms after avoiding him and not talking to him for three whole days.

It wasn't until they broke apart from their hug that Piper remembered the rest of her teammates were still there. Immediately turning to Amy, she said, "You knew about all of this, didn't you?"

"Why else would we just hang out in the green room this late at night?" Amy asked. She was grinning as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and looked up at Finn. "Nice singing, Chai Guy."

"Hey, I wasn't the Fruity Moons kid for nothing," Finn said with a shrug and a grin.

They made their way back to their hotel as a team, and Piper clutched her cardboard box in one hand and Finn's hand in the other. She couldn't believe that he had gone as far as writing an entire song and choreographing a whole dance just for her. She was actually dating the sweetest guy in the entire world.

But glancing up at him as he enthused about Ozzy's solo with Kingston and Lily, she could only feel guilty for the way she had treated him throughout this entire trip. Finn had been trying to make things right between them from the moment he'd arrived in Los Angeles, and she had shut him down every time because she hadn't wanted to have to admit she was wrong. How selfish and stubborn could she be?

Finn had only ever been the most supportive boyfriend, and as soon as he made one mistake, Piper repaid him by being the worst girlfriend in the world.

Finn wasn't the one that needed to apologize. Piper was.

When they reached the hotel, the rest of the team made their way to the elevator together, enthusing about the finals tomorrow. Finn started to follow after them, but Piper tugged on his hand, stopping him. "Wait, Finn." He looked down at her with a soft smile, clearly happy just to be on good terms again, as she asked, "Can we talk?"

His smile slowly faded, and he nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

He let go of her hand as they sat on one of the couches together. Piper set her cardboard box in her lap, allowing herself momentarily to think back to that night at prom when he had taught her Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box. He had only just begun breaking down her walls back then. She never would have dreamed that she would actually fall in love with the boy with the goofy party moves who she had slow danced with on a whim.

And yet, somewhere along the line, she had.

Taking a deep breath, Piper opened her mouth to break the silence that had settled around them, but so did Finn. Together, they both said, "I'm sorry."

They glanced at each other, both smiling slightly, and Finn started to say, "Pipes—" but she cut him off.

"Let me go first. Please." He nodded, his arm stretching across the back of the couch as he gestured for her to go on. She took a deep breath, wondering where she should even start and deciding to do so at the beginning.

"I may have overreacted about... everything."

"I almost cost you the chance to perform on the show, Pipes. You had every right to be upset with me," Finn interjected, but she shook her head adamantly.

"Not for three days. It wasn't even your fault you missed the flight. It was mine, wasn't it?" Finn sighed, and she could see him biting the inside of his lip, glancing away from her. Continuing on, Piper reluctantly admitted, "I shouldn't have set all those alarms on your phone."

She almost expected Finn to try to assure her it wasn't her fault as he often did when she was feeling down about something, but he simply nodded his agreement. At her silence, he glanced up and must have noted the look she was giving him because he said, "If you're waiting for me to disagree, I'm not going to."

Piper bit her lip, knowing she deserved that. "I guess I was in a bad mood because you were late for our lunch date, and I was stressed about the competition, and I know that's not an excuse, but I thought I would at least have a peace of mind if I knew you weren't going to be late all the time." She sighed, shaking her head at herself. "But it clearly backfired on me."

Finn was quiet for a moment, his hand playing with the ends of her hair as she looked to him nervously, wondering what he was thinking. Finally, he said, "I mean, it wasn't a totally bad idea. I put my phone on silent once and look what happened. But a lot of those reminders were overkill, Pipes. I don't need three reminders to eat breakfast in the morning. I've already got a built-in reminder for that."

He absentmindedly rubbed his stomach as if proving his point, and the corners of Piper's lips twitched up at that. He gave her a meaningful look as he added, "But just so you know, being late for those dates, putting my phone on silent- none of that was personal against you. It was just me being a dumbass."

He ran a hand over her hair, his expression softening. "You mean the world to me, Piper. I hate that I ever made you feel like you didn't."

Piper sighed guiltily. "Amy told you what I said, didn't she?"

He shrugged and cryptically muttered, "Maybe," which Piper knew meant yes.

"I shouldn't have even said anything about that. I know it's not true," she admitted, "Honestly, Finn, you're not even the one I've really been mad at. You were trying, and I wouldn't give you the chance to apologize, and if I had, we might not have messed up the dance the other night."

Finn was quiet for a moment before finally uttering, "But everything worked out in the end."

Piper pursed her lips, still feeling guilty for ruining their trip. "I've been mad at myself, and I've just been taking it out on you and Amy. I didn't want to admit I was wrong, and that was stupid, and I'm sorry."

Finn gave a wry smile as he muttered, "You never have liked admitting you're wrong."

The corners of her lips twitched at that. She stared down at her lap, her hands fidgeting nervously as her thoughts unwittingly turned back to the other morning when she had been pacing the airport and worrying that something terrible might have happened to her boyfriend.

Reluctantly, she told him, "When you didn't show up at the airport and you weren't answering your phone, I had no idea where you were or if you were okay." She slowly lifted her gaze from her hands to meet his eye. "It really freaked me out."

Finn was frowning at that and started to say, "But I was fine," but Piper shook her head.

"But I didn't know that for two hours. I was afraid something happened to you or something. And then you were so casual about it all, and I guess that's part of why I was mad too because I spent hours worrying about you, and you didn't even seem to care at all."

Understanding seemed to flash in his eyes, and he immediately pulled her into a hug. Piper let him, resting her chin on his shoulder and squeezing her eyes shut as she breathed in the familiar smell of his aftershave. "I'm so sorry I put you through that," he muttered into her ear.

Her eyes watered as she murmured, "I love you too. I don't want to lose you."

He seemed to stiffen in surprise at her words, but then he simply hugged her tighter, and Piper hid her face in the crook of his neck.

She had always thought falling in love was supposed to be some kind of grand gesture or show, but love wasn't just Finn planning a big performance for her, complete with lighting, props, and backing music. Love was trusting Finn with her heart after Josh had broken it, and Finn talking her through her anxiety attack, and supporting each other through mental health disorders and complicated family dynamics, and knowing each other's orders at The Next Steep, and stolen kisses in his car when he dropped her off at home, and choosing to forgive when they both made mistakes and were at their most unlovable.

It wasn't a cheesy, over the top declaration. It was something that Piper just knew to be true in her heart. She loved Finn. She always had, and she always would.

Neither of them seemed to want to pull away from their hug, but they couldn't stay there forever. When Finn finally sat back, his hands still resting on her waist, he had a soft look in his eye as he asked in the softest voice she'd ever heard from him, "You really love me?"

"You really love me?" Piper questioned, raising her eyebrows slightly. He had said it (twice) earlier that evening before he'd sung her his song, but she wanted to hear it from him now- when he wasn't caught up in the excitement of his performance, when no one else was around and listening in on their conversation.

He nodded, tongue poking out between his lips before saying, "Yeah, I do. I love you, Pipes."

He sounded more sure than he ever had about anything, and it sent a fresh wave of butterflies that only he gave her to her stomach. Grinning, Piper threw her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely as if doing so could communicate how much she loved him and how sorry she was for her behavior over the last few days. He kissed her back eagerly, and it only dawned on her that they were in a public area when she pulled away to catch her breath.

She rested her forehead against his, her hands caressing his face and thumbs brushing lightly across his cheeks as she murmured, "I missed you."

And she really had. Not talking to Finn for three days had been terrible, and she'd inflicted it on herself. She never wanted to go that long without talking to him ever again.

One of Finn's hands had come up to rest on top of hers, and he muttered, "I missed you too."

Piper leaned forward to kiss him again, softer and more gently this time, before pulling away and lowering her hands from his face. Finn's hand still grasped hers, and he looked down to where she had intertwined their fingers together.

They were quiet for a moment, but Finn broke the silence, sounding serious again. "Next time you're mad at me though..." He gave her hand a small squeeze before looking up to meet her eyes. "Will you just talk to me instead of shutting me out for three days?"

Piper gave a rueful smile and nodded. "Yeah." Her thumb brushed across the back of his hand as she asked quietly, "Are we good?"

He gave a small smile in return and nodded. "Yeah. We're good." With another squeeze of her hand, he stood, tugging her up with him. "We should get to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow."

Piper agreed, and they moved to the elevator together, hand-in-hand.

Even though their futures depended on the outcome of the finals tomorrow, Piper felt at peace for the first time since they had arrived at Dancemania. Win or lose, she didn't care what happened tomorrow now that all was well with Finn again.

(Okay, who was she kidding? She absolutely cared. She wanted to win and go on a world tour and begin her professional dance career with her best friends. But only time would tell what the next day would hold for them.)