Spotlights

"Fight me." Evan said, pulling away and smiling. Connor just hummed in response before turning to look out to the stage, where Evan would soon be standing.  

"Alright, break it up!" 

Evan turned to see Jared standing there, grinning like a mad man. 

"H-hey, Jared." Evan said, wondering what insults he was going to throw out about Evan's costume. This must have been evident on Evan's face because Jared's smile fell the smallest bit before disappearing entirely. 

"Hey, um, I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry." Jared inhaled a breath, eyes trained on the ground. "I'm sorry for all the times I- I made fun of you or joked about shit I shouldn't have, I don't know, and this isn't a worthy explanation, I know know there isn't one, but I guess it was just my way of trying to show that I care. That I see you and your struggles and I'm so sorry I made it seem as if I didn't give a fuck. Because I do, Evan. I give a lot of fucks, wait shit that sounded wrong, I-"                           

Evan effectively cut him off by placing a hand on Jared's shoulder, gently smiling.    

"It's okay. You don't need to apologize, I understand what you mean." Evan waited until Jared returned his smile before wrapping him in a hug, "I love you, dude. As family friends." Evan smirked, bringing up Jared's old saying. 

"I love you, too. As friends." Jared pulled back and grinned before winking at him and Connor. "Now, if you two could wait until you get home to try and get in each other's pants that would be great. And you're gonna do awesome out there, Evan. Knock em' dead." 

Jared gave a final smile, a genuine one, before walking off to go claim his seat. 

"I hate him just a little bit less now." Connor mumbled, mouth twitching up into a smirk.  

"Hey, Ev!" A familiar voice called, and Evan turned to see Michael and Jeremy walking towards them, hand in hand. 

"Michael!" Evan yelled, embracing the boy in a hug. Michael was significantly taller than Evan, though so was Jeremy, and Connor. Maybe Evan was just short. 

"You're gonna kill it out there, got it?" Michael said, pulling back from the hug and grinning. 

"Yeah..." Evan smiled back, "I-I just wanted to say thank you, by the way. To both of you."             

"What for?" Jeremy asked, the first words he'd spoken. 

"F-for being there for me. You two are like, I guess are like my older brothers in a way." Well, Jeremy technically would be his older brother soon, as their parents had actually gotten engaged after a solid few years of dating. But that wasn't what Evan meant. 

This statement earned him huge smiles from both boys, followed by more embraces. 

"Hey, Connor! Come on get in here, dude!" Michael called, pulling the spectating boy into the hug. Connor, instead of shoving Michael off like he would any other person, just playfully rolled his eyes and joined. 

They all spoke for a little while longer, before Evan insisted Michael and Jeremy return to their seats. He didn't hear Connor walk up behind him, didn't even know he was there until Evan felt a hand slip into his own. 

They stood like that, no words needing to be passed between them. They stayed silent until Christine came rushing in from the other room, carrying a clip board and a box of props. 

"Evan! There you are! You're on in five, c'mon let's go!" 

"W-what-" Evan didn't have time to ask any more questions before he was being dragged by the arm and into another room. 

"O-okay! Connor, I - uh, I love you!" Evan called, stumbling over his own feet. He vaguely heard Connor's response before Christine was in front of him again, making last minute adjustments. It was several minutes of standing in awkward silence while she tugged and folded and pinned. 

Finally Christine was finished, and Evan shifted nervously, wanting to go back to Connor. 

"Are you ready?" Christine asked him, setting two hands on Evan's shoulders in an attempt to steady him both emotionally and physically. Evan didn't exactly know the answer, the burning anxiety was still there, a feeling he hadn't missed in the least, but buried underneath it was something resembling confidence and excitement. 

"I-I think so?" 

"Alright then," Christine flashed Evan a smile and motioned for him to follow her out the door. Evan's heart was thumping as he neared the edge of the curtain, the blinding lights shining in his eyes as he slightly pulled open the curtain to look at the audience. Evan relaxed as he realized there weren't as many people as he thought, though the amount was still nerve racking. 

Evan's eyes moved to look at Connor, who was seated next to Zoe, who was currently fending off Jared from trying to eat her food. Evan smiled slightly as he saw Alana come into view, lightly shoving Jared out of her seat next to Zoe, grabbing onto Zoe's hand tightly. 

A row behind them was Michael and Jeremy, and the sight of his familiar friends, all of them, calmed him. Evan let the curtain fall back into place, looking over at Christine who was now motioning for him to walk onto the stage.                                

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Evan moved to step out from behind the safety of the curtain. His heart was pounding and his hands were most definitely sweaty, though this time it had nothing to with a certain Murphy sibling. But Evan collected himself, thinking of all his amazing friends and his even more amazing boyfriend who were waiting out there for him. So Evan took a deep breath and stepped into the spotlight. 

                                                          ANNDDD.... WE'RE DONE! 

I cannot express my gratitude to those of you have stuck it out this far, writing this fanfiction has been incredibly fun for me and I'm so glad to know there are other people who enjoy it. It hurts me to say it's over but at the same time it's amazing to go and look back on this thing that I made and see the progress. Anyway, thank you all so much I love each and everyone of you, you all are so awesome! 

ALSO: DONT FREAK OUT JUST YET IM WRITING A BONUS CHAPTER- 

IT'S BASED OFF A SONG THAT BEN PLATT SINGS-

OKAY IM DONE GOODBYE!