So my friend recently got me into The Next Step and these two need more fanfic. I mean, seriously. Did you see them in S1EP6? All the smiles and giggles (especially on Daniel's part!)? Of course, my gushing over their chemistry led to a friend daring me to write this. And tbh I had half an idea of a cutesy fic for them anyway, so here you go. This is set after S1EP6. Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own The Next Step or anyone or anything you recognise from it. I'm merely here to write fanfic for a ship that will never happen onscreen unless we suddenly get super lucky. I also don't own McDonalds.
If you'd told him that morning that he was going to develop a crush on a hip-hop dancer, Daniel would've laughed at you. They just sort of... threw themselves around. It wasn't graceful, it wasn't elegant. Sometimes they might manage to pull of something that looks halfway decent, but mostly? Mostly, they just looked like idiots.
Now, though, it was different. Now, Daniel wasn't sure what he'd do. Probably look down at his feet and blush, hope you couldn't tell. He shifted in his bed to reach for his phone, blinking for a few seconds as blue light flooded his face before checking the time. It was just past midnight. Would Giselle still be awake?
He texted her: hey u awake?
His phone lit up a few seconds later with her response: I am now. Whats up?
Daniel hesitated before he hit send on his reply, afraid that if he told someone else it would make his feelings more real. He bit his lip and did it anyway: I think I like someone.
Her reply was practically instant: OMG WHO?
Then, a few seconds later: PLEASE NOT EMILY. SHE ALREADY HAS ELDON OBSESSED WITH HER.
Daniel held back a laugh, grinning broadly at his phone instead: No not Emily.
MICHELLE?
No!
ELDON?
No
RILEY?
No
JAMES?
Daniel groaned into his pillow. She was going to work her way through everyone in A Troupe, wasn't she? Which of course meant at some point she'd reach:
WEST?
Yep, Daniel thought to himself. Called it!
Yes
CHLOE?
Wait what?
Unsure how to reply, Daniel turned his phone off. It was late; he needed to sleep anyway.
Giselle grabbed his arm in the hall on the way to rehearsals the next morning.
"We need to talk," she told him. "Like, now."
"I can't be late to dance, Giselle," he tried to look sympathetic. Honestly he did.
Giselle squeezed his shoulder, "I'll catch you later. I can buy you a drink."
"But I-"
"No way, Daniel!" she cut him off, "I need details!"
Everyone was at dance rehearsals that day (of course), including West. Daniel tried his best to avoid him, standing on the opposite side of the room to warm up and immediately grabbing Riley when told to get into pairs.
"I was gonna go with James," Riley admitted, looking around the room, her face falling when she realised that James had already paired up with, as it turned out, West. Daniel mused over how ironic that was. Here were he and Riley, pining together in silence over two guys who just so happened to be dancing together. "You're a good dancer too, though. You're cool."
"You're really good, too," he promised her, tearing his eyes away from West and the way he had his arm slung around James' shoulders. Riley, to his relief, also seemed to be having trouble looking away from them.
She waited until James was looking at her before grabbing Daniel's wrist and dragging him to an empty space. "We can practice here. There's more room." He didn't miss the way she glanced over her shoulder, checking to see his reaction. James had already turned away from her and was busy discussing something with West, whose eyes were most definitely not on his dance partner.
Daniel felt his cheeks heat up. He looked down at the floor and hoped no-one noticed.
Lunch with Giselle was awkward. After all, there weren't many "details" to share. They'd just danced together. But god, West had been so adorable when he was trying to learn ballet. And when it came to Daniel's hip-hop lesson! He was just so passionate about his dance style, and it was so mesmerising watching him demonstrate. Listening to his voice, his laugh... urgh.
"You've got it bad," Giselle concluded, taking a sip through her straw. "You two should hook up."
"No!" Daniel found himself blurting out immediately. "No, no. I don't even think he's into guys, and if he was I doubt he'd go for someone like me, I mean I'm nowhere near as cool as he is, he'd just-"
"Woah," Giselle held her hands up, signalling for him to stop talking, "calm down. Have some chips," she pushed the Happy Meal they'd bought to share across the table towards him. "You're super cool. If you're too shy to talk to him, I'm sure me and some of the others could set you up."
"No, it's okay, I just..." he sighed, "it's just a silly crush, Giselle."
Giselle said nothing, just smiled secretively and took another sip through her straw. Daniel felt his stomach plummet through his feet; that look of hers was never a good sign.
Daniel arrived in Studio A to find the place empty. This wasn't odd; he was quite often the first one there. He began to go through his usual warm-up stretches, starting first with his arms. He was just about to start on his legs when West entered the studio.
"Hey, where is everyone?" he said. Daniel ignored him. Maybe if he pretended to be really, really interested in touching his toes, West would get the message and leave him alone. "Daniel, hey, buddy," he came over and tapped Daniel's shoulder. Daniel could swear he felt sparks. Like, literal sparks. "You okay? You've been kinda quiet."
"Oh, I, um," he seemed to have forgotten how to speak English. Oh god, this was embarrassing. "I'm, uh, I'm good."
"Did you know Giselle's hanging out behind the lockers out there," he nodded over his shoulder.
Daniel felt dread settling in the pit of his stomach. "Uh, no. I didn't. What's she doing?"
"Grabbing people as they go past. She only had Michelle and Eldon with her when I came here but I'm guessing the rest of A Troupe is with her."
"Why didn't she make you stay?" Daniel knew exactly why. Urgh, he was going to kill her.
"I thought she was going to," West admitted, his voice dropping so it was scarcely above a whisper. He moved forward and Daniel found he could no longer stare at the floor- West's feet were in his line of vision. He looked up to find the other boy stood much closer than he'd been anticipating. His throat went dry. "She pulled me over but then she just whispered something in my ear and let me pass."
"Weird," Daniel forced out. His voice sounded strange and squeaky; he winced inwardly.
"I know, right?" West agreed. "Can you guess what she said?"
Yes. "No," he lied.
"She said you liked me," somehow he managed to say it without making it taunting. He just stated it, like it was a fact. "Do you?"
By this point, Daniel was amazed his cheeks hadn't actually combusted into flame. "Of course not."
West leaned closer. Daniel could feel his breath on his face. If he turned his head a fraction of an inch they would probably bump noses. "Liar," West whispered.
Daniel was the one to initiate the kiss. He wasn't sure why; maybe he just couldn't stand the tension any longer. At any rate, West didn't seem too surprised. His fingers were in Daniel's hair almost immediately. They pulled away eventually, if only because they needed to breathe. Daniel's cheeks felt like they were literally on fire.
The pair jumped apart at the sound of clapping. Giselle entered Studio A, followed by the members of A Troupe she'd cajoled into waiting with her a while. They were all clapping.
"Oh, don't stop just because we're here," James teased.
Great. Great, great, great. Daniel was officially dubbing today the worst, most embarrassing day of his entire life.
West grabbed his hand, interlocking their fingers.
"We didn't want you to get jealous," he joked back.
Okay, Daniel thought. So maybe not the worst day.