Nochelle - Our Stories

L A T E N I G H T

~Season 4~

Noah sighed as he blinked against the harsh studio lights. Running a hand through his already mussed hair, he reclined further back against the wall. His back cracked with relief at the movement; he'd become stiff so quickly after they'd finished rehearsal. He had endured this for four hours already, which would normally be fine, but he was beginning to run out of the water he'd brought with him and it was too late to get anything from downstairs. His back cracking was the most movement he could muster at this point. His duet partner visibly winced at the sound of the crack ringing through the air, cutting through smirk wide on his face, even as his bleary eyes struggled to focus on her in the harsh lights.

"Did that turn you on, Richie?" She rolled her eyes in response, just the reaction he had been hoping for. "I can do it again...with other body parts too." His eyebrows wiggled up and down suggestively as he stared her down.

Richelle was having none of it; she'd heard better, even from him. The extra rehearsals were taking a lot out of both of them. They'd had to wait longer than everyone else to start on their routine because of Noah's back and they'd both had to give up Saturday night plans for the next month. Noah had whined about it for the first hour they'd been sequestered in Studio A. Time had trickled by slowly and Richelle was reaching the end of her Noah patience quota for the day.

"I will never understand why girls willingly choose to go out with you." she said with disdain, her eyes darting from the windshield back to him. "You have the maturity of a golden retriever puppy."

Noah gasped, his eyes twinkling with delight. He only teased her because he knew she'd give it right back to him. He had never met a worthier adversary than Richelle, even if he did think she was a giant dance nerd.

"That hurts, Richie!" She rolled her eyes again. "But the joke's on you because golden retrievers are the best dogs – everyone agrees! Besides, the ladies love Noah."

Richelle chose to ignore him, grabbing a hair tie from her bag so she could keep her hands busy. She pulled her hair back, going once again over her turning sequence, trying to nail the double speed so this godforsaken rehearsal could come to a close and she could get home to her sweatpants and a hot chocolate.

Noah took the opportunity to stare at her surreptitiously from the corner of his eye, something he had gotten pretty good at in his years being her friend. He had been having the hardest time reading Richelle since Internationals and it frustrated him to no end; he wasn't sure if it was because it made him question his skills as a friend or if he truly wanted to know what was going on in Richelle's brain for another reason entirely. He wasn't sure which was worse.

Since Richelle had rejoined A-Troupe six months ago, she and Noah had picked up their friendly rivalry just as they had left it off before Miami. Working on the duet had actually brought out the best in them and somewhat renewed their friendship after the past year of being separated.

Noah was lost in thought, getting up and mindlessly blowing raspberries as he marked through the dance. After a few runs, he reached for his bottle to take his last sip of water. He was mid-swallow when Richelle cleared her throat.

"Speaking of ladies..." Noah nearly spit out his drink, swallowing quickly and trying to ignore the burning in his throat as he turned to look at his duet partner.

She was just staring through the mirrors, still moving through the dance, but her face was unreadable. Noah and Richelle never talked about their personal relationships, especially at dance. They worked that out last year.

They knew a lot about each other's families and friends, of course (they were Best Friends), and she would occasionally mention a detail about a date when they were all down at the Juice bar, but Richelle was a true professional and refused to talk about romance with her teammates.