The next few months passed in quick yet blurry haze. Josh and Maya didn't think about the down time they'd have between making the top twenty, when the show would actually air, and preparing for the live shows to begin. After they made the top twenty all the big wigs came out to meet the cast for this season of the show. They were lectured on expectations, confidentiality, and of course the entertainment value of the show.

Approximately three months passed since Maya and Josh had last seen each other. None of the contestants were allowed to talk about the show, their time on the show, or have contact with other contestants until they began live show rehearsals. The show began to air the auditions and everything leading up to the live show in mid-June so by late July all the contestants flew out to Los Angeles to begin rehearsals for the first live show.

Josh and Maya decided to put their relationship on pause for those three months that they were apart. To obey the rules of the competition and everything, not because Maya had let Charlie's words plant a seed inside of her that she was doing her best to not nurture and let grow. So when Maya touched down in Los Angeles she was excited yet nervous to see Josh. She cared about him. That hadn't changed but she was admittedly nervous about how this experience will go with the cameras and everything. She just didn't want this competition to kill them before they got a chance to really be a them.

Maya barely had anytime at the hotel before she was whisked away to the studio for the day. There she saw all the other dancers. Her eyes quickly traced the room as she said her hellos to everyone else before finally making her way to Josh. His face had grown a little stubble and his hair was a little bit longer but not too long as she could tell he had still been trying to maintain himself a little. Josh locked eyes with her and smiled. "Hey there," he whispered. "Long time no see."

"I know," Maya whispered as Josh wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you, you know?"

Josh smirked. "Oh trust me I know." Josh's eyes darted upwards as he saw Zay enter the room. "Hey look." He pointed out Zay and the camera crew as he unwrapped his arms from around Maya and just placed his hand on her hip as Zay entered the room.

"Hello dancers," Zay began. "I'm pleased to see all of you again. Now is when the fun really begins. You guys are gonna go through a lot today. Today you're gonna get your partners for the season and then you guys are gonna dive straight into choreography. This week you all will be learning a group routine to introduce America to the top twenty and you'll be learning your partner routine for this week as well as a routine with the other dancers in your style. Good luck everyone."

All the dancers received their partner assignments. Josh paired off with a female dancer named Melanie and Maya paired off with a male dancer named Ricky. Then they all hit the ground running. They dove straight into hours and hours of choreography. They worked on their partner routines this week and it was honestly fun for all the dancers. Josh was a bit intimidated at first but he was having a genuine blast. The cameras were of course recording rehearsals and Josh and Melanie were having fun with it. "This week, Melanie and I are doing a Paso Doble with choreographer Sasha Martinez."

Melanie stood by his side as they talked to the cameras and continued. "Our dance is very sensual and strong. We are definitely being challenged here this first week but we are so up to this challenge."

Josh was surely up for this challenge but he was most definitely going to work for it. The Paso Doble was a very strong latin dance. In this routine he had intricate footwork to keep up with while maintaining a strong form in his upper body. They practiced for hours that day. Over and over again getting the steps cleaner and cleaner each time. Sasha was impressed by the pair and was excited with what they could accomplish in their time together. He threw in some complicated partner work that would surely threw them for a loop but he knew it wasn't anything they couldn't manage.

Josh nearly collapsed onto his bed when he got into his room. The duple meter of the song was playing over and over in his head as he still recounted the steps of the Paso Doble as he laid there. As soon as he began to melt into his bed, Josh heard a knock at his door. Groaning, he dragged himself over to the door and opened it. He smiled as he saw the beautiful blonde in front of him. "I see you're beat," Maya began.

Josh sleepily nodded as Maya walked into the room and laid down on his bed. "Yeah, me too." Josh laid down next to her and Maya scrunched her nose as she got a whiff of him. "Ew gross Josh. You can't lay down on this bed smelling the way you do right now."

Josh rolled his eyes and stood up. "Fine. I'll go shower but I'll have you know that I learned an incredibly hard Paso Doble today and I didn't die. Thank you very much. So my sweatiness has been earned."

Maya stuck her tongue out at him and sat by the bathroom door as she heard the shower water turn on. "My day was hard too. Ricky and I are doing a Mandy Moore contemporary routine. I honestly thought I'd have a better handle on it cause it was so close to jazz but boy was I wrong. She kicked my ass today."

Josh was lathering his body up with soap as he listened to Maya go on about her day. He meant to really listen and pay attention but he was just so tired. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself up with a towel before walking out into the room to grab some underwear to sleep in. As he walked out the bathroom, Maya's blue eyes traced his body before she began blushing and looked down at the floor in embarrassment. She cleared her throat and stood up nervously. Josh took note of her cough and turned around towards her. Realizing that he was just in his towel he laughed. "Sorry," he apologized. "Its just been so long and I wasn't really thinking. I just-"

"It's fine," Maya said as she cut him off. "Look I'm really tired anyways and I'm sure you are too so I should just head back to my room."

Maya turned on her heels to walk out of the room but Josh grabbed her arm. "Hey wait. I thought you were gonna stay tonight. It is the first time we've seen each other in months after all. I was hoping I could spend time with you before things get even more hectic."

Maya turned to look at him and leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "We'll spend time together I promise. I just think we should sleep in our own beds tonight. Besides we have to stay focused right? We just started. We can't lose momentum. Let's at least make it through week one alright? America has to love us if we want to stay. Which means we should get some rest before rehearsal tomorrow." Maya kissed him again once more before leaving the room.

Josh just stared at the door as he held the towel around his wait. He just couldn't shake this feeling that something was up with Maya. It had been three whole months since they've been able to talk. It was pure torture for him. Not being able to see her or talk to anyone about anything. Maybe Maya was right. They should just focus on this week and get adjusted and make it through to the next week before they dive right back in to their relationship.

Yeah that's exactly what she wants. At least that's what Josh tried to convince himself of as he tried to go to sleep that same night.