7x17

"The picture's not even crooked!"

"Yes it is! Are you blind? The right corner is at least five centimeters higher than the left."

Piper had been having fun on the group date- until Kingston and Lily started arguing an hour in. It had started when Kingston tried to throw a sock they'd found on their table at Heath's head and somehow launched it into Lily's tea instead. His girlfriend had been in a sour mood ever since, nitpicking every little detail she could find. First, it was the flowers in the center of the table. Now, it was a picture hanging on the wall across from her.

Piper pursed her lips at their arguing, sharing a disgruntled look with Richelle. Cleo and Jude had enough sense to escape as soon as Lily and Kingston started arguing about the color of the table, and Amy and Henry had enough sense to ditch the group date altogether. Even though Piper had been disappointed when she'd realized that her best friend and her boyfriend had disappeared without a word to anyone, she certainly envied their decision now. From the looks on the others' faces, they appeared to be as well.

Heath cleared his throat awkwardly, having pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. "Oh. Darn. I have to get home. It's my curfew already."

"It's only 8:30," Richelle replied dryly.

"Yeah, my parents are pretty strict. Do you think you can give me a ride home?" He had turned his back to Kingston and Lily and raised his eyebrows in a way that screamed, 'Get me out of here.'

Catching on, Richelle nodded and pushed her chair away from the table. "Yep, better get you home then," she said in a sweeter voice, clearly relieved to have an excuse to leave the King and Queen of Arguing behind. Heath followed her lead, and as they went, she told him, "But you've seriously got to get your license. I know we live in the same neighborhood, but this can't become a habit."

"But I don't turn sixteen for another six months."

"You're only fifteen?"

"How old did you think I was?"

Their conversation faded away as they exited The Next Steep. Lily and Kingston had paused in their argument to watch them leave, but once they were gone, Kingston immediately turned back to his girlfriend. "Who cares if the picture's a little crooked? What difference does it make?"

"Um, I care because it's distracting. Isn't it distracting?" Her gaze snapped to Piper and Finn, and they both looked in opposite directions.

"It's a little distracting, but it's not that big a deal, is it? It's a picture," Piper answered, gesturing awkwardly with her hands.

Simultaneously, Finn said, "I have no clue what picture you're talking about."

Lily glared at both of them as Kingston grinned triumphantly. "See? They're on my side!" he bragged.

"They're not on your side! Did you not hear Finn? He doesn't even know what we're talking about."

Piper heard Finn exhale next to her, and she could tell from the way his lips had formed a firm line that he was fed up with Kingston and Lily's arguing. She snaked an arm around his back and squeezed his shoulder. When he turned to her, she subtly nodded her head towards the door, and he nodded just as subtly, already reaching into his pocket to pull out his car keys. Piper stood first, followed by Finn, and Kingston paused in his long-winded explanation of why the art of hanging pictures on a wall was subjective to look up at them.

"You guys are leaving too?" he asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Yup," Finn told him simply, scratching at the back of his head awkwardly.

Feeling the need to justify their leaving, Piper quickly added, "I've got a big project I have to work on, so..." It was a lie, but they didn't need to know that.

"And I'm her ride, so..."

Without giving Kingston and Lily a chance to respond, they made a beeline for the door. When they were safely in the hallway, Finn immediately said, "We are never double dating with them."

"You don't have tell me twice," Piper grumbled.

"Kingston said they were in a good place, but if that's what good looks like for them, I don't want to know what bad is," Finn continued, shaking his head exasperatedly.

"Promise me we'll never be like that."

"I don't know. Do you think the table is baby blue or sky blue? That could be a real deal breaker."

"Do you even know what baby blue looks like?"

"I think blue is blue," Finn answered matter-of-factly. Piper chuckled at that. Finn was so straight forward about most things, and she liked that she never had to guess where he stood on something.

Once outside, Finn reached for her hand, interlocking their fingers, as they made their way to the parking lot. He swung their hands between them as they went, and Piper smiled softly to herself, looking up at him with a hint of wonder in her eyes. They had been dating for nearly a month now, but it still didn't seem real that Finn was her boyfriend. Everything still felt so new that despite how nervous the thought of being in a serious relationship made her, it was also exciting. It was the little things, like holding his hand as they walked down the street together or the way he kissed her on the cheek every time he greeted her now, that made her heart flutter.

"So are we even counting tonight as a date?" Piper asked him curiously, resting her head against his arm as they walked.

Finn pursed his lips for a moment as if seriously pondering her question. Finally, he said, "Nah. That was basically just hanging out with everyone. I mean, Richelle and Heath aren't even dating."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Piper admitted, "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised Henry and Amy invited us on their date at all."

Tonight was Henry and Amy's one-month anniversary, and from what Amy had said, it sounded like Henry had been planning a romantic night for the two of them. Piper had never imagined they would ask her and Finn to join them, but she had been so excited at the prospect of going on her first double date with her best friends that she hadn't wanted to question it.

As she was about to learn, however, she really should have questioned it.

"Oh, yeah! I mean, technically I was the one to bring up the double date, but they were totally on board with it," Finn said, perhaps too enthusiastically.

"Wait, you did what?" Piper froze in her steps, gaping up at him. Finn had initiated the double date? Why would he do that? What was he thinking?

Answer: he hadn't been.

Finn paused when he realized she was no longer moving and turned back to her. She had dropped his hand to cross her arms instead. "I thought a double date would be fun," he started to say, but he frowned as he noted the look of disbelief she was giving him. "What? Do you not think so?"

"No! Not if it's their one-month anniversary," Piper snapped. She huffed and shook her head at him, pushing past him as she stalked to his car.

Finn followed after her, sounding wary as he said, "I don't see what the big deal is."

Piper ignored him, continuing her frustrated rant. "It's no wonder they ditched us all as soon as we got to The Next Steep. We all crashed their date. They probably didn't want us there in the first place, but they were too nice to say no."

Finn seemed to be picking up on the fact that she was mad at him. His lips had formed a firm line again, and he wordlessly unlocked the car. Piper climbed inside and buckled her seatbelt much more aggressively than she normally would as she snapped, "Did you even ask if they wanted to double date in the first place?"

"No, but—"

"You can't just make those kinds of assumptions, Finn!"

"I just thought it would be fun, okay?" he repeated defensively.

Piper huffed, crossing her arms again as he shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the parking space. A tense silence settled over the two of them, and Piper shot a frustrated glare at him. His jaw was clenched, and she could practically see the tension that had settled in his shoulders.

In the silence, Piper couldn't help thinking about how Finn had practically followed Amy around all afternoon. She had blown it off earlier, sure it didn't mean anything, but now that she was annoyed at him, she was second-guessing herself. Finn and Amy were both adamant that they were better off as friends, but they had seemed really close today. At one point, Finn had even put his arm around Amy's shoulders during rehearsal. That didn't sit right with her.

"What's going on with you and Amy?" Piper bit her tongue as soon as the question was out of her mouth. She shouldn't have said anything about that. She really shouldn't have.

"What?" Finn asked warily. He didn't look at her, choosing to keep his gaze on the road as he turned out of the parking lot and onto the street (which, for safety purposes, was probably best).

Having already dug her hole with this one, Piper sighed and pointed out, "You spent more time with her than me today."

"Because I was in her group, Piper." He sounded like he was giving all of his strength to staying patient with her.

"You really liked her song?" she asked doubtfully, and Finn sighed.

"Yes."

"Really? Because I've ridden in your car enough times to know that Henry's song was much more your style."

"I liked both of the songs," Finn told her exasperatedly, but she had a hard time believing that he would actually choose Amy's song. It would be much more suited to a contemporary routine, and he was primarily a hip-hop dancer. When given the choice, he always chose hip hop over contemporary.

What if he was starting to have second thoughts about breaking up with Amy to be with her? What if his feelings for Amy weren't really gone at all, and that was the real reason he had chosen Amy's song over Henry's?

She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, crossing her arms as she stared out the window. The thought that Finn was going to have second thoughts about her was enough in and of itself to break her heart, and she suddenly found herself blinking back tears.

God, why did she have to get emotional over everything?

Finn had been quiet while Piper internally moped, but he finally sighed and told her in a softer voice, "Pipes, me and Amy are just friends. That's all we're ever going to be. You know that." His eyes widened when he glanced over at her, and he asked in alarm, "Babe, are you crying?"

"No," Piper said with a huff, wiping at her watery eyes and internally cursing her mother for passing on the ability to cry at the drop of a hat to her.

Finn still seemed concerned as he asked, "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Piper snapped. He reached across the console for her hand, and she let him hold it even though they were technically in the middle of an argument. Reluctantly, she asked in a quiet voice, "Why did you have your arm around her earlier?"

"What?"

"In rehearsal. You put your arm around Amy. Do you still have feelings for her?"

"No, Pipes, you're the only one I have feelings for." He heaved a sigh, staring out the windshield as he slowed the car to a stop at a red light. "I don't know why I had my arm around her earlier, okay? I don't even remember when that happened, but I promise you it didn't mean anything."

Piper chewed on her bottom lip, pulling her hand away from his to twirl her ring around her finger. He sighed, his now empty hand resting on her thigh as he told her, "I put my arm around the bros all the time, and it doesn't mean anything if that makes you feel any better."

"But none of them are your ex-girlfriends," Piper mumbled, picking at loose nail polish on one of her fingernails.

Although now that she thought about it, Finn had always been a touchy guy. He had put his arm around her plenty of times before when they were just friends. Maybe it really hadn't meant anything, and she was just overreacting.

Her boyfriend had gone quiet, and Piper sighed, throwing her head back against the headrest and muttering, "Forget it. It doesn't matter."

"No, you're right," Finn admitted, "Amy's my ex. I crossed a line I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

He sounded so sincere that Piper chose to take him at his word and let it go. If she kept allowing herself to doubt herself and their relationship every time Finn so much as glanced in Amy's direction, she was going to drive herself crazy. Finn and Amy were her best friends. They weren't the kind of people who would go behind her back with something like that, and if she couldn't trust Finn and Amy, then she couldn't trust anyone.

She wordlessly intertwined her hand with his once more, and he glanced over at her with a small smile, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. They drifted into a less tense silence until Finn broke it a couple of minutes later.

"I wasn't thinking about tonight being their anniversary."

Piper sighed and shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe I overreacted a little," she admitted guiltily.

"I wouldn't have wanted everyone to come on our anniversary date either, so I get why they ditched us," he added, "I guess I got too ahead of myself."

Piper simply nodded, glancing at him then watching through the windshield as he pulled into her neighborhood. Finn had always been good at listening to her concerns and making her feel heard. She appreciated that he could admit when he was wrong, something he never enjoyed doing but never shied away from either.

"Maybe next time you want to go on a double date with someone, we can talk about it first," she suggested lightly.

He nodded in agreement, smiling slightly. "Yeah, okay."

Her thumb brushed back and forth across the back of his hand as she noted casually, "You know, our anniversary is coming up too."

Finn's smile grew at that. "Oh, I know. I've already been thinking about it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! I'm thinking reservations at that fancy Italian place- you know, the one Riley told you about."

"Giuseppe's?"

"Yeah, that one! And then frozen yogurt and a walk in the park, like on our first date, but without the rain this time because we don't need you getting sick again this close to Dancemania."

Piper smiled slightly, thinking back to their first date. Finn hadn't gotten sick after their dance in the rain, but Piper had ended up with an obnoxious cold that had lasted a week afterwards.

"That sounds really nice," she told him softly, "But..."

Finn's smile faltered as he parked the car in front of her house and turned to her. "Do you not like that plan?"

"I do," Piper assured him quickly, "We've just been so busy with Dancemania rehearsals lately that I was kind of hoping to just have a chill night in instead. Maybe we could do a movie night at your place?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Piper leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips then said, "But next month when we're done with Dancemania, we can go to the Italian restaurant?"

"Who says we have to wait a month?" Finn asked cheekily. "Let's just celebrate twice."

Piper giggled and kissed him again before agreeing. "Okay, when we're done with Dancemania, it's a date."

"Deal."

They snuck in another kiss, and as Piper started to unbuckle her seatbelt, Finn murmured, "You're the only one I want to be with," against her lips, his hands still cradling her face.

"Okay," she accepted, telling herself to hold onto the reminder for the next time her insecurities started to tell her otherwise.

Piper didn't want to have to leave her boyfriend, but homework awaited her inside. Finally forcing herself to pull away from him, she uttered, "I should go."

Finn sighed but agreed, sitting back in his seat and watching as she climbed out of the car. "You want a ride tomorrow?" he asked before she shut the door.

"Well, you have been on punctual streak recently, so sure."

"It's your influence on me. You're turning me into a brand new person. My mom doesn't even recognize me anymore," Finn responded jokingly.

Piper laughed at him and told him she would see him tomorrow before shutting the door and walking up to her house. She immediately took a shower and changed into pajamas before settling down at her desk to work on her homework. As her laptop warmed up, however, she couldn't help it as she thought back on the night, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

She and Finn had never fought before. They'd had disagreements before, sure, but never an actual argument. What if it happened again? What if they started arguing all the time like Kingston and Lily? The other couple almost seemed to enjoy arguing with each other and claimed that they danced best together while fighting. But however much Kingston and Lily thrived on arguing, Piper did not. She didn't want to fight with Finn all the time.

They had vowed to never be like Kingston and Lily, but then they had fought practically the whole ride to Piper's house. Piper didn't know that she had ever seen her parents argue about anything in her entire life. James and Riley argued occasionally, and while their relationship was now the strongest it had ever been, they had certainly had a lot of ups and downs to get to that point.

Should she be concerned about her relationship falling apart? What if tonight's argument was a bad omen for her future with Finn?

She gulped nervously, telling herself that she was being ridiculous. Even still, the thought stayed at the forefront of her mind, keeping her awake for hours that night.