THIRD PERSON'S POV.

East North was one hundred percent late for her afternoon rehearsal. Losing track of time was something she was familiar with and unfortunately, it struck her today. She could already imagine the scoldings Emily and Michelle were going to give her as she rushed down the staircase of her house, her dance shoes tucked under her arm, her dance bag slung on her body, and her phone in her hand.

She hurried into the kitchen, ignoring the presence of her four siblings, and instead headed for the fridge. Upon opening it, a frown grew on East's face and she dropped her shoes to the floor. She shut the fridge close and turned to her siblings, eyeing each one of them. None of them looked her way as they were all busy with their activities. West was watching a video on his iPad and by the looks of the movements he was doing, it was most probably dance-related. The second oldest North boy, Atlas, was busy making a sandwich. East's younger sister, Geo,  was typing away on her phone and the youngest North boy, Easton Junior or EJ, had been making paper planes and was on his third one.

"Okay, who took my water bottle?" East questioned her siblings.

After a beat, all heads simultaneously shot to EJ. The boy had been sitting quietly, unaware of the eyes on him as his concentration was more on the third paper plane he was crafting. Upon finishing his paper plane, EJ finally became aware of the stares and pulled a confused face.

"What?" EJ inquired.

"Where's my water bottle, EJ?"

"Why do you always assume I did something?"

"Because it's always you," Geo accused, ignoring EJ's flabbergasted expression.

"Bro, just accept defeat and confess," Atlas informed the youngest.

"It's hard to confess to a crime I didn't commit," EJ said.

"Oh, please!" Geo scoffed. "I can name countless times where something of mine went missing and it always lead back to not-so-innocent Easton Junior."

"Oh, yeah? Name one."

Thus began the start of another North volcano. One after the other, each North sibling raised their arguments, their voices piling over each other while EJ, the victim in question, only fought back with more fire. Usually, when arguments arose between a big family like the Norths, it was either the parents who managed to stop it or, in today's case, the oldest sibling which was West. However, as the argument unfolded, West had to step out of the kitchen to take an urgent call. When he came back a few minutes later, the argument continued, only this time it was much louder than before. With a sigh, West let out a loud whistle, bringing everyone's attention back as well as silence.

"Alright, fine! I took your stupid bottle, East!" EJ confessed.

East shot her little brother a glare. "You're dead." As the siblings stepped away from EJ, East attempted to lunge toward him with her arms shot out. Unfortunately, her plans were put to a stop when West made a quick move to hold East from her waist. The younger girl struggled to get out of her brother's arms and she tried smacking his hands to free herself. "Release, West."

"You can kill EJ later," West informed her.

EJ held a look of disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Mom just called. We have to go to the hospital," West continued, finally catching everyone's attention. East stopped squirming in West's grip who let go of her. Concern flooded her mind as she and her siblings looked to the eldest North who held a troublesome expression. "Something happened to Dad."

. . .

Hospitals were never East's cup of tea. The last time she remembered being at one was when Noah had to go for surgery for his back and she and Richelle visited him. Despite his operation going well, East still felt uneasy. She hated the thoughts raving through her mind around that time, about what if Noah's surgery went array or what if something worse would happen to him.

And now, as she occupied one of the hospital chairs with her siblings and mom around her, those same thoughts were racing through her mind. She and her dad weren't close, but East didn't want to lose him. She couldn't lose him. Many people experienced heart attacks and they all managed to pull through in the end, so why would it be any different with her dad.

The sound of a phone ringing caused East to jump slightly with a grimace while everyone in the hall, from her family to doctors, nurses, and strangers, glanced her way. She held a sheepish smile as she pulled out her phone. She didn't see who was calling it, but she quickly answered it and put it by her ear, finally putting a stop to the ringing.

"Hello?" East answered quietly.

"East, where are you?" An urgent voice from the other side of the call responded. Removing the background noise of chatter, the caller sounded a lot like Emily.

"Emily?"

"Yes! You're late to rehearsals."

"Crap," muttered East.

Her rehearsals which she was already late for slipped her mind amidst the chaos. A nurse approached the North clan and began speaking to South North. Unfortunately, East couldn't pay attention to what her mom and the nurse were talking about, because Emily spoke again.

"East, where are you?" Emily repeated her question. East stood up and walked a few feet away from her family, while her worried eyes still strayed on them and the nurse. "Wait, am I hearing an IV machine? Are you at the hospital? East, what did you do?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm fine," East quickly assured the blonde woman, knowing that any small injury would make Emily freak out. "I'm at the hospital. My dad had an accident and I forgot about rehearsals when we were rushing over here. I'm sorry."

"East, you don't have to apologize. Next time just message me or Michelle. Is your dad going to be okay?"

"Uhm..." East's eyes landed on her mom who wore a relieved smile followed by her siblings, which brought a bit of hope to her. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. By any chance, do you know where Noah is?"

"Is he not at the studio?"

"No, he's not answering his phone."

"Oh, that's weird," the curly-haired girl commented. She furrowed her brows in confusion, wondering where Noah was. He ate, slept, and breathed dance so if he wasn't at the studio, where would he be? It wasn't like him to miss rehearsals without informing anyone, especially his co-captain. "I'll try to give him a call and see what's up, but maybe Jacquie knows."

"Jacquie? Perfect, thanks East. Just let us know when you're ready to come back to rehearsals."

"I'll be there tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm one of the dance captains. I can't miss two days of rehearsals, so I'll be there."

"Okay, bye."

The call hung up and East's attention went back to her family. They were all getting up and following the nurse to one of the hospital rooms where their dad was in. West remained behind, deciding to go over to East to update her on what was happening.

"Hey, so dad's up and we're gonna see him," West explained to his sister. "You ready?"

"Yeah, just give me five minutes. I need to call Noah," East informed him.

"Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure. He's not at rehearsals and he's not answering Emily or Michelle's calls." East clicked on Noah's number and as it rang, she put her phone by her ear. The phone stopped ringing and it was answered, bringing a bit of relief to East. "Noah, hey, where are you?"

"What do you mean where am I? I'm at Studio A. I just walked past you," Noah answered with a nervous chuckle. Okay, now East knew something was up.

"I'm not at The Next Step."

Noah released an anxious chuckle. "East, now is not the time for games."

"Noah, tell me where you are. Because you're not at home or The Next Step and you have no other friends outside A-Troupe."

"Rude. True, but rude."

"Hey, are you new to this?" Another voice perked East's ears from the background of Noah's call. The voice sounded familiar and she had a person, but she couldn't imagine Noah being with them. "No phones allowed at an audition."

"Is that Elliot?"

"What's Noah doing with Elliot?" West questioned in perplexity.

"What? No! Why would I..." Noah began stammering. "East you're breaking—I can't he—I think we lo—"

Noah hung up on the call and East stared at her phone with an annoyed frown.

"Okay, he's acting weird," East concluded.

"Like Noah weird, me weird, or Eldon weird?" West asked.

"Eldon weird."

"Yikes."

. . .

Stepping into Studio A the next day, the first person East found was the person she'd been hoping to speak to. Noah sat on one of the benches in the studio, his earphones plugged in as he watched a video on his phone. His back was toward East, but she decided to approach him from behind. She lightly shoved his shoulder, but the boy still got a fright as he turned around and faced her with wide eyes.

"Don't scare me like that, E!" Noah said, releasing a sigh.

"What happened to you yesterday?" East asked as she made her way to sit beside Noah.

"What do you mean what happened to me yesterday?" Noah repeated the question with a chuckle. The dark-haired girl beside him remained unamused, causing him to stop and clear his throat. "Remember that Robin Hood audition Chloe told me about?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I kinda went to it."

"You did?" East responded with wide eyes. She knew Noah had been thinking of the audition but she never expected him to act on it. "So how did it go? Did you get a part? Did you get the lead? Wait, is that why Elliot was there? Oh, crap, does this mean you're leaving TNS? Regionals is in a couple of weeks, Noah, you can't just—"

"East!" Noah put a stop to the girl's ramble. "Breathe." Nodding, East followed Noah's instructions and took small breaths in and out to calm herself down. Eventually, it worked, prompting Noah to continue. "I'm not sure if I even got a part because I haven't gotten a callback, but trust me, I'm not leaving The Next Step."

"Oh. Okay, great. I just wished you told me before I went spiraling yesterday."

"I'm sorry. I promise next time I'll text you. But what happened to you yesterday? Why weren't you at rehearsals?"

"My dad had an accident and went to the hospital, so the whole family rushed over there as soon as we heard," East nonchalantly explained, earning a look of worry from Noah. "Don't worry, he's fine. It was just a heart attack."

"That still sounds pretty bad, East. Is he okay? Are you okay?" Noah asked, concern laced in his tone.

"I'm..." East trailed off on her words, considering whether or not she should lie. She didn't know how she felt at this point. Her dad survived a heart attack 24 hours ago. She should be crying or sticking to her dad's side for the next week. Instead, she felt... normal. Was that so bad? It was clear Noah was concerned for her and East appreciated that, but she didn't want to talk about this. Thankfully, a distraction came when East noticed a familiar blonde her and Noah., and she sent her a smile. "Hey, Richelle."

"Hey, guys," Richelle greeted Noah and East, the boy amongst the group eventually taking note of her presence. The blonde's eye was on the curly-haired dancer. "East, can we talk for a second?"

"Yeah, sure." East nodded. Anything to get her away from a conversation about her dad. She stood up from the bench and she and Richelle moved over toward the cubbies. They were far enough from Noah so w he wouldn't accidentally eavesdrop, but he seemed to be preoccupied with resuming the video he was watching on his phone. East turned to Richelle, giving her all of her attention. "What's up?"

"Look, I need to clear the air about this..."  Richelle began, fiddling with her fingers. She was nervous. Why? East had no clue, but it was worrying her a bit. Richelle was never nervous. "I'm with Elliot."

The curly-haired girl furrowed her brows in confusion. "...Okay?"

"So whatever stunt you were trying to pull the other day, don't do it again, okay?"

"I don't mean to sound egotistical or anything but a lot has happened in my life the past couple of days so you're gonna have to refresh my memory because I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Letting out an annoyed huff, Richelle whispered, "Remember when you almost kissed me?"

Oh, East thought, that's what she was talking about. If she had to be honest, East forgot about that small mishap that occurred during the week, so she didn't expect to talk about it again.

"Wait, this is all my fault?" East questioned, sounding in disbelief.

"Yeah, kinda. You initiated the almost kiss. You leaned in. You were about to kiss me."

"Yet it was you who didn't step back or who didn't tell me to stop if I remember correctly. It takes two to tango, Richelle."

"I was in shock," Richelle insisted while East chuckled lightly in an incredulous manner. "I wasn't about to go cheat on my boyfriend with my ex."

"Look, Richelle, I'm well aware you're in a relationship," East began, noticing that a few of her teammates began filling up the studio. "I wasn't going to kiss you—"

"Then why did you lean?"

"Because I... Look, it doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. Just answer the question."

"Why do you even care?"

"East," Richelle spoke in a firm tone, causing East's chocolate brown eyes to meet her emerald green ones. As their eyes lingered, both girls could tell that the topic of conversation was exasperating for them, but the blonde was too stubborn to stop it. "Why did you try to kiss me?"

"You know why," East answered after a moment of silence, her eyes failing to break away from Richelle's who softened a bit. "But it doesn't matter. As you said, you're happily in love with Elliot."

"I never said I was in—" Richelle stopped herself midsentence and shook her head, being the first to break the stare she and East had been holding. "Maybe it'd be best if we put some distance between us."

"Whatever you say."

The two stood in silence for a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity before Richelle stepped away from East. The curly-haired girl watched her head over to the rest of A-Troupe, a solemn sigh escaping her lips. She figured it'd be best to join the team before anyone started wondering if something was up. East plastered on a smile and headed over to the group of dancers huddle together, who all began catching her and Noah up on the events of yesterday. Everyone had pitched in with helping Kingston study for a big exam and today, he'd be getting his test results which would determine his future on A-Troupe and in response, A-Troupe's future at Regionals.

"Okay, everyone!" Michelle's voice gained the teenager's attention as she and Emily approached the group, wearing smiles on their faces. "Listen up. We have some exciting news for all of you."

"Kingston passed all of his tests," Emily revealed and on cue, the boy in question walked into the studio and joined his teammates. "Some of them with flying colors and because of all his hard work, he's officially reinstated back on A-Troupe!"

Cheers of congratulations for Kingston and relief for the team spread around the room. East wished she could have been here to help Kingston, but she was glad the team band together and helped him through this patch. Now with that sorted, A-Troupe needed to keep their eye on the prize — Regionals.

. . .

a long awaited update is finally here :)

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