A/N: This chapter is dedicated to littlestpanda92 for writing the nicest PM I have EVER received. It made me grin for hours. I've been writing for 11 years, multiple fictions, and I've never had one like this. Proving that Step Up fans are the best ones out there!

Chapter Ten;
The Little Things We Need

"Hey Grumpy-Bum." Holly glanced up from the floor as she heard Moose's voice. "What a lovely day for sitting in a dark corner of the school all alone and looking like your cat has just been run over by a semi-trailer."

"You fail at sarcasm Chewbacca." She pushed herself off the ground and ruffled his hair. "Plus a little birdie told me you walked out of your class this morning for no reason whatsoever." She waved her hands to usher him closer. "If there's a problem you can tell Aunty Holly."

"I got a call from my girlfriend's home phone." Holly shrugged not understanding why that warranted leaving a class. "You don't get it, she NEVER calls, doesn't even answer her phone when I call."

"Sounds like a perfectly normal relationship." He shrugged back. "So if she never calls, what was this then?"

"Her room-mate. Apparently she found a pair of my sneakers there and wanted to know what I wanted to do with them. They were packing for a holiday." He frowned. "My girlfriend told her to burn them but her friend was a little more reasonable."

"Wow, animosity." She narrowed her eyebrows. "What the hell did you do?"

"Coming here set her off, though I have a very strong feeling that wasn't the only reason, so now I'm stuck talking to her answering machine every time I call. It's been over a week." They fell into silence for a moment before Holly spoke again.

"And this is why I don't do relationships."

"I thought that was because no one was interested." Moose grinned.

She lowered an eyebrow at him. "Be quiet Mister. The man whose girlfriend won't answer his calls can't throw stones."

"Touché." He glanced around. "So this relationship drought has nothing to do with a certain boss of ours does it?" She glared again. "Okay, okay, I'll stop talking as soon as you tell me where he is."

She motioned towards his office. "I heard him on the phone in there not five minutes ago. He didn't sound happy though so tread careful."

"After your welcoming mood I could take on a T-Rex right now and still come out looking good." He brushed some imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Good luck with the whole 'old spinster with cats thing'."

"Same to you and your one-sided conversations with an answering machine." Moose grinned and walked off towards Chris' office. Frowning a little at his departing figure, Holly pursed her lips. "Remember what your mother said Holly Given – meddling only gets you burned." She smiled to herself. "Too bad mom forgot I was a secret pyromaniac." Shoving her hands in her pockets, Holly headed in the direction of the dorms.

…

Chris looked up from his files as three distinct taps came upon his door. "Come on in Moose." Moose pushed open the door a bit and grinned in.

"Busy?"

Chris shook his head. "Not with anything I want to be busy with. I'd love the excuse to ignore it so please, come give me one."

"It's about this girl…" Moose started, shutting the door.

"Oh right, one of those. Okay, well, though I thought you were past the relationships talk Moose…"

Moose cut over him. "Dude, really?" He noticed Chris grinning like an idiot and took a seat in the chair opposite his desk. "You're hilarious. Anyway, I met her at that park near Atherton, she's a student there."

"Oh yeah, them. Did I mention the rivalry when you first came here?" Moose shook his head. "It's not a nice story."

"Let me guess – you and the owner were once friends but you fell out?"

Chris scoffed. "Oh god no. In fact, I barely know the Moore family. Paul Moore, the owner, is the biggest jerk in Philadelphia, that's all I'm certain of. Apart from that, it's all academic. The history is simple: Eckhardt once had complete control of the dance academy scene in Philadelphia. We were the top of the game. Then my uncle got an offer, one he apparently couldn't refuse, from a man named Richard Moore. Can you see where this is going?"

"He refused so Richard set up Atherton as a direct rival?" Moose guessed.

"Give the man a gold star." He gave Moose a golf clap. "Anyway, they brought with them some big names for teachers, some of the best names in the business, put on shows and won awards. When Richard passed the business on to his children it didn't end there. Paul made sure we were disadvantaged at every available opportunity. When we went looking for new students, he followed. Followed us all the way to the first World Jam actually."

"You were there?" Moose asked.

Chris nodded. "Recruiting. That's where I saw you for the first time. Didn't expect to be your boss one day but that's life for you." He paused. "So who was this girl?"

"Erika something."

Chris nodded slowly, a look of comprehension dawning on his face. "Of course. About 5'7, long brown hair, nose turned up like something that smells really bad has nestled on her top lip?" Moose nodded. "Erika Moore, Paul's little sister. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing that one. Looks all sweet and angelic but one wrong move and you're a dead man."

"I'm not interested in her, I have a girlfriend, I think." Moose paused. "Anyway, she said some stuff about Eckhardt."

"She's also a compulsive liar."

"So it's not true Eckhardt's in financial trouble?"

Chris paused. "Oh, right," he shook his head. "No that, that is, completely true." He ruffled through a file and pulled out a sheet of paper. "This is how much we owe the bank." Moose read the letter and noted it was a little under $35,000. "There's been a serious downturn of students lately, they're all headed to Atherton it seems, so we can't keep up with the bills. Had to take out a second mortgage on the place. Even then we're not keeping on top. You may have noticed that this place is falling down around us."

"They're going to take the school?"

Chris shook his head. "It'll take a lot to do that, I do keep up with the payments barely, but if something big happens; it's only a matter of time before the roof in the cafeteria caves in or a window falls out, and then we're behind. When that happens, then we're gone. We're teetering on the edge here, that's for sure."

"Are our jobs safe?"

Chris sighed. "I can't assure my own job so no, I can't assure yours, but while I'm here, you and all the other staff will be too." Moose looked at the floor. "I wish the news were better."

"I'll just make sure to tread a little more carefully around the place now, to ensure I don't knock anything else off the walls, break anything." Chris grinned at Moose's response. "That's all the secrets right?"

"The other secret is – the mashed potato in the cafeteria is packet mashed potato, not real potatoes."

"It's not a secret if everyone knows." He grinned and stood up. "I'll leave you to your work."

"Thanks." Chris held up a finger. "Oh if you see Holly, tell her I need to see her, about one of her classes."

"Yeah, she'll love that." Chris frowned. "She's at the end of the hall right now but I think she's avoiding you. What did you do?"

Chris shrugged. "Wish I knew. Women eh?"

"Don't ask me to explain them to you." Moose pulled open the office door before he glanced up quickly. "Oh, another thing, Erika mentioned something called the Elite dance competition. What is it?" Chris shrugged. "Well, she said there was prize money. $50,000."

Chris smiled slowly. "Really?" He gave Moose a quick nod. "I'll find out more about this and get back to you. Nice work Afroman." Pushing at his hair with a grin, Moose left Chris' office as Chris turned to his computer and started the search.

…

Holly glanced around the corner doing her very best Mission Impossible impersonation, practically humming the theme under her breath, grinning stupidly as she did it. She knew perfectly well she could've just walked down the hallway like a normal person, her room was right across the hall from his after all and no one would think any different, but it was more fun this way. Reaching his door she tried the handle and almost cheered when it slid open. Typical Moose. With a slight chuckle she pushed it open a little wider and slid inside. What greeted her was nothing less than a mess and she crinkled her nose in disgust. How he'd managed to make the place look like a bomb site after only a few days she couldn't believe but trod carefully nonetheless, making her way over to his study desk. She found what she was looking for under two notebooks and a sketchpad. Contact sheets.

Chris had asked them to fill in contact sheets a few days before, emergency contacts in case anything happened, and Moose had yet to hand his in. It was this inability to tell the time and date that Holly was banking on when she went in search of the elusive phone number. She found it third on the list behind his parents and his father's work number.

His girlfriend.

With another grin, Holly copied the number into her phone and put the contact sheet back where she'd found it, slipping out of his room and into her own. As she took a seat on her nice, clean bed, she made the call.

On the third ring it picked up.

"Constance Hardgraves."

"Hi Constance. You don't know me but my name's Holly Given and I work with Moose Alexander. Could I talk to his girlfriend please?"

A/N: We're at the halfway point ladies and jellyspoons! Coming up in the second half will be a few more complicated dance scenes, plenty of music, a reunion, more Atherton drama, a dance competition and many more hair jokes for Moose to enjoy! Hope you're liking it. If you have anything to say then do it now since there's only ten more chapters for me to throw in what you want. So, if you haven't reviewed yet, or have but have been too scared to tell me what you really think, fire away now. I promise I won't set Holly on you if it's constructive criticism! ;)

BTW, how awesome was Alyson Stoner in the new episode of House? Totally didn't buy her as a fourteen-year-old but still, she made coughing up blood look totally classy! Having a very Alyson week this week since Camp Rock 2 airs Saturday. Can't wait. Hopefully gives me some inspiration for the upcoming return of Camille… whoops, did I just give something away? lol. I think not…