7x13

Every time Piper thought of confessing her feelings to Finn in the locker room, her flight instinct wanted to kick into overdrive. Even after multiple reassurances from Finn and asking him to forget about it completely, Piper still felt like a nervous wreck. And as if things weren't bad enough, she'd had to dance with Finn in front of the Dancemania cameras and their entire team while trying to pretend like everything was fine. She usually loved dancing with Finn, but doing so yesterday had only filled her with dread as it only reminded her of what she could have had if only she'd spoken up sooner.

Frankly, she wasn't convinced having feelings for her best friend was worth all this trouble.

Every part of Piper wanted to run away from this entirely, but it was the love she had for Finn and Amy that kept her from doing so. Regardless of anyone's feelings, they were still her best friends. She couldn't lose them- not right now, not in the middle of preparation for Dancemania, which was enough of a stressor on its own. The thought of performing on live national television both excited her and made her want to hide under the covers of her bed, never to emerge again.

Becoming a professional dancer would be a dream come true, but performing in front of millions of people watching from home?

Yeah, no pressure or anything. No pressure at all.

Despite her nerves and the restless energy that had been coursing through her over the last few days, Piper was desperate to attain some sense of normalcy when she arrived at the studio that afternoon. If she really didn't want her feelings for Finn to change anything between them, then she had to stop letting her nerves control her and start acting as if nothing had happened at all.

Unfortunately, that was much easier said than done.

In true Finn fashion, he strode into Studio A with Ozzy only a couple of minutes before rehearsal was due to start. Piper's heart sped up just at the sight of him and even more so when he started to approach her. She took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as she tried to focus her attention on stretching.

No need to be nervous. It's just Finn, she reminded herself. If he was weirded out by her feelings for him, he wasn't acting like it.

He was too good to be real sometimes.

"Hey Pipes." Finn grinned down at her as he began stretching next to her.

It's just Finn. Just be normal. You can do this.

Piper managed a small smile and told him, "You really should give yourself more time to stretch before rehearsals."

He grinned and rolled his eyes. "I've got plenty of time. Nick and Emily aren't even here yet."

"Does it really never bother you to cut it so close every day?"

"Nope."

"But what if you hit traffic or something goes wrong on your way here?"

"I give myself plenty of time to get here," Finn retorted, "Give me some credit, Pipes."

Their usual, easy banter still came so naturally, and Piper's smile grew genuine as she looked up at him. Maybe all hope for their friendship wasn't completely lost after all.

"Oh hey," Finn started to say. "I also have to tell you- me and Amy—"

He cut himself off abruptly, his attention caught on something just outside the doors of Studio A.

"What about you and Amy?" Piper asked, but Finn didn't seem to hear her. Curiously, she followed his shocked gaze to the door to see Nick and Emily entering the studio, Miss Angela right behind them.

Wait- Miss Angela?

Piper's breath caught in her throat, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. She was completely frozen in place as she gaped at the unwelcome visitor. What was Miss Angela doing here?

"Okay, A-Troupe, gather around," Emily called.

The other dancers were sharing confused glances as they gathered around their studio head. Piper stayed frozen on the floor, her mind racing. Had Miss Angela come to see Lily or something? Surely that had to be it. She was just here to see Lily, and then she would be gone.

"Piper."

Finn's voice pulled her out of her reverie long enough for her to realize that Emily was waiting for them. Shaking her head as if doing so could clear her racing mind, she pulled herself up from the floor. There was a look of concern on Finn's face that she ignored as they joined the rest of their teammates.

When all of her dancers were present, Emily cleared her throat, plastering a sickly-sweet smile on her face as she said, "I hope you all had fun with the cameras in the studio yesterday, but the time for playing around is over. If you all want to have a shot at doing well on Dancemania, it's time to get serious."

"But it is supposed to be fun, so don't get too serious," Nick interjected with a well-meaning smile.

Piper missed the scathing look Emily gave Nick, her attention solely focused on Miss Angela, who was glancing around at them all with an unnerving smile on her face.

"Anyways," Emily continued with a forced smile. "There have been some changes to the leadership of A-Troupe." Here she directed another unsubtle look to Nick. "You all know Lily's mother Angela. She will be acting as a coach as you prepare for Dancemania."

It felt like ice had been injected into Piper, nervous chills shooting throughout her body at this new revelation.

No. No, no, no. Miss Angela could not be a coach for A-Troupe. Had Emily completely forgotten about what she had done to the studio last year? About what she had done to Piper?

She completely missed the rest of Emily's instructions, a lump growing in her throat as her mind raced to keep up with what was happening. Suddenly, all of her teammates were dispersing, and Nick and Emily were returning to the office, and Angela was saying something that Piper couldn't hear over the blood pounding through her ears.

A hand suddenly appeared on her back, and Piper nearly jumped out of her skin as her head whipped around to find Finn next to her, his brows knit together in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked seriously.

Piper gulped, glancing back to Miss Angela and nodding. "Fine," she managed to get out in a blatant lie.

"Piper, Finn, is there a problem?" Miss Angela asked.

Piper's shoulders tensed as the woman addressed her, and she wordlessly shook her head, joining the rest of the team in the middle of the room on shaky legs. Finn stuck close to her side as the team began throwing around ideas for their first Dancemania routine. Someone suggested an Alice in Wonderland dance, and Richelle jumped on the idea, throwing out choreo ideas like she had been planning such a dance for years.

Slowly but surely, the dance started to come together. Miss Angela offered suggestions and corrections as she observed the team working. They were running through the first group section, trying to get the choreo down, but Piper felt like she had to be at least five steps behind everyone else. She could practically feel Miss Angela's eyes on her, judging and waiting for her to make a mistake so she could berate her in front of everyone.

Sure enough, Miss Angela called for them all to stop, and Piper tripped over her own feet, nearly crashing into Richelle, who gave her a bewildered look. Miss Angela held her hands out exasperatedly as she said, "Piper, you're several beats behind everyone else. What's going on?"

Piper could practically feel the eyes of her teammates on her as blood suddenly rushed to her cheeks. Had it just gotten a lot hotter in Studio A, or was it just her? She scratched at a spot on her neck uncomfortably, but as her eyes met Miss Angela's exasperated gaze, she found that she could barely speak and tried to take a deep breath that she couldn't manage to reach. Had it always been this hard to breathe?

She was completely freezing up. What was happening to her?

"I-I need, um..." Words wouldn't come to her no matter how hard she tried to finish the sentence, and she didn't even know what she needed. She just wanted out of Studio A and away from Miss Angela.

Her trembling legs carried her out of the studio before she could fully process what was happening, and then she was suddenly in the locker room, collapsing on the bench in front of her locker, chest heaving as she tried and failed to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding so fast, she was afraid it might burst out of her chest as frantic sobs escaped her throat of their own accord.

It felt like everything was closing in around her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, hands grasping at her hair tightly as she internally begged for everything to stop.

Miss Angela. Finn and Amy. Dancemania.

It was all too much.

"Woah, hey, Pipes."

Something touched her leg, and she immediately jerked away from it, wanting desperately to close in on herself, but she couldn't do that without falling off of the bench that was the only thing keeping her anchored to reality.

"Piper, breathe. You have to breathe."

Finn was kneeling in front of her, his eyes wide as he looked up at her. She shook her head, crying, "I can't," over and over again.

"Yes, you can. You're okay. I'm right here. Just take a deep breath. In and out. Breathe in and out."

He was taking deep breaths himself, muttering to her calmly, and she peeked through her eyelids just enough to try to match her breathing with his, holding on to the sound of Finn's voice like it was her lifeline. She finally managed to take a deep breath, and then another one, and her heart rate gradually began to return to normal.

As her sobs subsided, Finn slumped against the lockers behind him, his arms resting on his knees as he glanced around the locker room. Silence lingered around them as Piper focused on breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. Her thoughts felt foggy, but at least she could breathe again.

"Did you hear they're making a prequel to Hotel Dystopia? It's supposed to be about the origins of the hotel," Finn said, breaking the silence, and Piper sniffled, rubbing at her nose as she turned her gaze to him. He was distracting her.

Finn met her eye and continued with, "I still think the hotel's all an illusion, but it could have potential if they do it right."

Piper wiped at her puffy eyes and nodded. "Yeah, maybe," she muttered, her voice thick from crying.

He held her gaze, biting the inside of his lip before asking in a soft voice, "What happened, Pipes?"

She blinked rapidly and shrugged weakly. "I don't know."

Finn hesitated for a moment before climbing off of the floor to sit next to her. "Is it Miss Angela?" She sniffled again before nodding, and he sighed. "We can go talk to Emily- tell her you're not comfortable with her being here. I'll go with you. She'll understand, Pipes. She has to."

Piper quickly shook her head, twisting her hands together in her lap. "I don't want to be a burden."

"Hey, Piper, look at me." Finn sounded more serious than she had ever heard him, and she reluctantly lifted her gaze to meet his. His eyes bore into hers as he told her, "You are not a burden. You could never be a burden."

Tears sprang to her eyes again, and she simply nodded, whispering a pitiful, "Okay," before laying her head on his shoulder. He didn't pull away from her- just rested his head on top of hers. At some point, he wrapped an arm around her and, when she didn't pull away from him, started rubbing her back in soothing motions.

Piper had taken to resting her eyes, breathing in the familiar, comforting smell of Finn and clinging to it like her life depended on it. She didn't care about her feelings or the fact that he was dating Amy in that moment. She just allowed herself to be grateful that Finn was there when she needed him to be, that he always had been.

They sat in the silence for a long time, Piper focusing on her breathing, Finn scratching her back. Finally, he broke the silence to ask, "You want me to take you home?"

Going home would mean being bombarded with questions by her mother, and Piper wasn't ready for that yet. She just wanted to stay with Finn, so she shook her head against his shoulder.

"But I can't go back in there," she muttered to him.

He was quiet for a moment then suggested, "Let's go to The Next Steep. I'll buy you whatever you want."

She reluctantly lifted her head from his shoulder as he stood and said, "You don't have to do that."

"This isn't up for debate today. You're having a hard day." He held out a hand to her, giving her the charming grin that she suspected had been a factor in her falling for him long before she ever admitted it to herself. "Come on."

Lips twitching up into the smallest half-smile, Piper took his hand, and he pulled her up, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they made their way to the café. Piper let herself lean into him because he was right. She was having a hard day, and something about Finn being next to her had always calmed her in ways that she couldn't explain and didn't understand.

The Next Steep was fairly empty in the late afternoon hour, and Piper claimed the couch while Finn ordered at the counter. She pulled her legs up underneath her, twirling her ring around on her finger and biting her lip as she glanced around.

It dawned on her that she had never lost it like that in front of Finn before. She'd been on the verge of tears around him plenty of times, sure, but never... whatever had just happened in the locker room.

What if he thought she was pathetic now?

Finn would never think that, she reminded herself with a deep breath.

She certainly hoped he wouldn't anyway...

He joined her on the couch a few minutes later, handing her mug of tea to her and setting a raspberry scone on the coffee table as he sat. "Feeling any better?" he asked.

She shrugged, gripping the mug in her hands tightly and taking a sip of her tea before staring down at the dark liquid. "Maybe a little." She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before adding in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"I've had anxiety episodes before, but it's never been that bad. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Piper, you had an anxiety attack. There's nothing wrong with you."

Her eyes rolled up at that, and she shook her head exasperatedly. "Well, obviously there is because nobody else reacted to Miss Angela like that. You didn't."

Finn sighed, looking away for a moment as if carefully considering his next words. Finally, he muttered, "My sister used to get them sometimes when she was in high school."

Piper glanced up curiously at that. Finn had never mentioned his older sister having anxiety before. "Did she have them a lot?" she asked nervously, terrified that what had happened today was about to become a regular part of her life.

Finn shook his head. "Just a few times- usually when she was under a lot of pressure." He paused then added, "She started seeing a therapist for it when she went to college."

"Did it help?"

"Yeah, I think so." Finn paused before glancing at her seriously. "Have you ever thought about it? Talking to someone?"

Piper sighed and shook her head. "My mom thinks I should, but..." She'd been blowing her mother off since Regionals, claiming that she had her anxiety under control now that she'd mastered her aerial.

Evidently, it wasn't that simple after all.

"Maybe you should think about it," Finn suggested gently. He shrugged at the frown she gave him, frowning back at her. "It couldn't hurt."

Talking to someone she didn't know about something so personal made Piper uneasy, but she didn't want to have to admit that out loud. Instead, she asked lightly, "Why do I need to pay someone when I can talk to you for free?"

Finn chuckled, smiling slightly as he shook his head. "I'm not exactly a professional, Pipes," he said, growing serious again as he added, "But I am always here when you need me."

"I know."

She mustered up a small smile at him before taking another sip of her tea. He dropped the subject of seeing a therapist, and she was thankful that he wasn't going to push her on it. She didn't have the energy to fight the suggestion today. All of her energy, in fact, had been sucked out of her the moment Miss Angela had walked into Studio A.

Piper wasn't used to sitting in the quiet with Finn, but today, it seemed fitting. They simply drank their tea together, and Finn didn't try to keep the conversation flowing like he might have done when they'd first begun to be friends. The silence was comfortable, and Piper was simply content to be next to him.

A-Troupe rehearsal must have come to an end nearly half an hour after they arrived at The Next Steep, or at least, Piper assumed as much when Kingston, Lily, and Kenzie entered the café, their heads close together as they discussed something seriously. Piper couldn't help wondering what they were talking about, and Finn must have noticed them too because he looked curious as he said, "Wonder what they're up to."

Piper shrugged, lifting her mug to her lips to take a final sip of her tea. As she did so, however, Miss Angela sauntered into The Next Steep. Piper froze at the sight of her, but not before the sip of tea she had just taken went down the wrong windpipe. Sputtering, she began coughing, clutching a hand over her chest as she moved to set her mug on the coffee table. Finn immediately began patting her firmly on the back in an attempt to help her out, and after a few moments, she finally managed to catch her breath, holding out a hand as she muttered, "I'm good. I'm good."

They might have been able to keep out of Miss Angela's line of sight if not for the commotion Piper had just caused. Her heart rate sped up again when she noticed the ex-studio head making her way over to them, and she was questioning if she still had time to run away when Miss Angela called out, "Piper, do you have a moment?"

Piper sent a panicked look to Finn, who had sat up straighter, his gaze on the older woman and his mouth set in a deep frown. He stretched his arm across the back of the couch, and his hand grasped Piper's shoulder as Miss Angela sat in the armchair next to them without waiting for a response. Finn gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze- a gentle reminder that he was there- and Piper took a deep breath before reluctantly turning to Miss Angela.

"I was hoping for the chance to talk to you today," Miss Angela started, "I wanted to apologize for my behavior last season."

Piper simply gaped at her in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting Miss Angela to say, that was not it.

"I realize that I was very hard on you last year, and it was unprofessional of me. I hope you can accept my apology." Miss Angela smiled, leaning forward conspiratorially as she added, "Word on the street is you can do an aerial now. We can certainly use that to our advantage at Dancemania."

She continued smiling at her, and Piper shook her head, trying to pull herself out of her shocked stupor. "Uh, thank you," she finally managed to utter lamely.