"Lexi, why are you acting like you are scared of seeing my reaction to the play? I'm sure it will be great! And if not, I won't judge you." Y/N looked at Lexi properly, turning her whole body so they could face each other as they sat on the outside bench at the school gates on the school night before a big performance.
They've been friends since preschool and though they haven't had that much in common, it hasn't stopped them from becoming good friends. They talk about everything from music to their favourite Disney movies, even things as inconsequential as favourite animals.
They sit and listen to music, watching shows and reading books, sharing secrets or just hanging out when Y/N is working after school.
Lexi has been trying to come up with an excuse to tell her about the play as they've been sitting like this now for a good fifteen minutes and they have yet to get anywhere with their conversation.
Her mind seems to have frozen as soon as the words were spoken and she's stuck here now, giving her best friend an awkward smile, palms sweating slightly and she fidgets with her fingers.
The sky is dark, the moon has already set hours ago and there's no stars visible in this area. There isn't any light pollution either so the only source of illumination in this part of town is their street lights and a few dimmed streetlamps scattered throughout the city.
She can see the faint outlines of trees around the corner, casting shadows across the asphalt road, and there are people walking and laughing as they walk along the edge of the street towards the school.
It's one of those nights where there were many cars parked all around the parking lot for Lexi's play: Our Life.
The air is cool, a gentle breeze ruffling the hair of the two young girls, but neither girl notices.
Y/N, however, notices every little thing. From the way Lexi is twisting her hands together, fumbling around in an attempt to formulate an explanation, to the way her eyebrows raise ever so slightly as she watches the people walk past. To the small crease between her eyes when she thinks hard enough.
All these details that Y/N doesn't normally pay attention to, but which stand out to her now and then like this.
"You know, you don't have to tell me, obviously. You said it was going to be a surprise and I trust your judgement, whatever you choose to do." Y/N says reassuringly, breathing out before continuing.
"I mean, today is the day of the play! Honestly, I am quite excited to see it with Rue-Bear, she even said that she would be coming along to cheer you up." Y/N comforted her friend, rubbing circles into her arms to ground her in reality.
"I...I don't want you to think I'm crazy."
Lexi finally manages to choke out.
Her voice trembles as she says it and Y/N's hand drops back to her lap. She knows how nervous Lexi gets whenever she has to tell Y/N something big. Something she's never even told her friends about, something that could potentially ruin their friendship.
When Lexi looks up at her best friend, Y/N is unfazed but a soft smile plays on her lips.
This is one of those moments when you know someone really, really cares about you because their eyes are filled with fear and their body language tells you everything without needing to ask.
"Hey. Look at me." She says gently, her thumb strokes the top of Lexi's hand as she replies,"I would never. I swear to God Lexi, you aren't crazy, you know I wouldn't think that of you. Now go to your theatre. Be brave. I want you to get that bag, purrr. Do you understand me, purrr, purrr."
With that final word and the sound of Y/N's cat voice, Lexi breaks out into laughter and wraps her arms around her best friend. She buries her face against Y/N's neck as she laughs hysterically, tears forming in her eyes but they quickly disappear under her lashes.
Y/N tightens her grip around her as they stay like that for a while, just enjoying the moment, until Bobbi calls from behind them, calling for Lexi to hurry up because the play needs to start on schedule.
Laughing, Lexi reluctantly pulls away, tapping at her lower eyelids with her palm to avoid smudging her eye makeup. She takes a step toward the entrance, glancing at Y/N, who gives her one last smile and thumbs up.
Lexi smiles back and starts to jog toward the backstage of the theatre with Y/N trailing closely behind her as she goes her away to the seats, seeing Rue in her assigned spot already, waiting patiently.
"Rue-Bear! You made it!" Y/N greeted happily, taking a seat next to the brunette.
Rue laughs softly and shrugs, "I couldn't let myself miss the show. After all, this is an opportunity to see Lexi perform, right? So why not?"
-----
"Wait a minute? Is that supposed to be me? This can't be happening." Y/N said to herself in disbelief as she turned to look up at Lexi from her position on stage, watching the girl which Lexi was supposed to portray walk down the centre with the girl which she believed was supposed to be 'Y/N', herself.
In fact, this girl's character reminded her too much of herself, even the scene where she played 'Raven' reminded her of her own character.
The situation felt like déjà vu.
Y/N's burned at every corner of the stage, watching as her own character, Raven and Lexi spoke their lines, their bodies moving together perfectly as they performed the story together, acting like they were truly meant to be together but in a platonic way.
"Hallie, he's weird! He is like some sort of fuckin' creep. You know that through Marta!" Y/N's character, Raven, said with disdain towards Cassie's character, Hallie who was in front of her, daydreaming about her best friend's boyfriend 'Jake'.
"He doesn't seem so bad actually! You must be hearing those bullshit rumours!" Hallie mumbled under her breath as she absentmindedly fiddled with the hem of her really short skirt, trying to find a comfortable position.
"What?! No, he is! That boy has no concept of the meaning of boundaries and his on and off relationship with her isn't helping either!" Raven shouted, gesturing wildly in the direction of Hallie, "You know, sometimes I wish that you should stop following after these men for fuckin' validation or whatever you do when your in love. It's sickening! You have standards, girl!"
Cassie in the audience, looked visibly uncomfortable watching this scene unfold, feeling uncomfortable watching her best friend after Maddy, being treated poorly by
her character 'Hallie'. This was the second bedroom scene in the play and she's already feeling reparations from the people around her about her behaviour. She didn't want to see it, she didn't want anyone to see this.
She did regret it a lot. She'd done it for two reasons.
Number one: Because of how they had ended things and number two, because she wasn't in a good mood that day which was why her heart felt so heavy at the mere sight of this.
She sneaked a glance at Y/N, who gave her a look that could mean anything but in a negative way, which automatically made her want to leave the room but she stayed bolted to her seat, watching go further.
"I really wish you would stop being such a huge dick for no reason at all! Well, what if he does have some qualities? And if you're wrong?!" Hallie asked, making Raven roll her eyes in exasperation.
"Oh my God," Raven threw her hands up and groaned out loud in exasperation, "Do you even hear yourself?! Look at yourself; you look like an idiot. If only you'd grow the fuck up you'd realise you're going to r-"
"Oh, shut up!" Hallie cut in from her speech acting rambunctiously, throwing her hands in the air dramatically before walking out of the bedroom set through the door, which revealed Grace standing outside.
"G-Grace.." Raven stuttered nervously before Lexi came into focus. Her expression softened slightly upon noticing her standing by the door, still dressed acting as ''Grace'.
Grace raised her eyebrows, "Is there...anything going on here?" Her question caused Raven to turn her head to the audience, looking as though she'd seen a ghost.
Seeing as Raven did not answer Grace continued.
"There must be something because my sister would not storm off like that." Grace spoke, walking through the doors of the set.
"Gracie! What are you doing here? Are you spying on us?" Raven hissed in surprise.
Grace gave a small nod, "It would appear so. But honestly, I don't care anymore. My sister has been getting more aggressive lately and now she is putting it onto my best friend. I'm honestly starting to wonder if you've done anything wrong."
"Me? Have I done anything wrong? I'm not 'that one' trying to sabotage my best friend's relationship over some boy." Raven retorted angrily.
Grace rolled her eyes, "Of course not. You're always so perfect. Why does everyone else think otherwise?" Grace sat down next to Raven and rested her head against her shoulder.
"I just wanted to make sure that she wasn't stressing you out." Grace explained, looking up into her eyes.
Raven sighed softly, gently nudging Grace's arm as she nodded in understanding.
"I'm alright, Grace. Really. Don't worry." She gave her best friend a soft smile, earning another soft nudge from Grace back in return.
"Is it just me or is it getting harder to keep our friendship between us? We used to be inseparable...but lately I feel like we aren't on the same page anymore and I'm honestly terrified of losing you as one of my best friends. I can't bear not having you around anymore."
"Babe, why are you speaking like Edward Cullen from Twilight? That's weird as hell." Raven scolded playfully, lightly poking Grace's cheek.
Grace pouted, "What do you mean? That is how I usually speak!"
The audience laughed slightly at the exchange between two of the lead actors of the scene as the lights suddenly started to dim before turning off and the curtain came closing.
Grace answered nonchalantly, not bothering to raise her head or move out of her cocoon of blankets.
-----
The curtain opened again after a few minutes to reveal the setting for the show's climax and Raven's voice was heard throughout the stage.
"My dreams always consisted of her, in my arms as we lay together on top of the world," Grace began, before suddenly pausing and turning to look at her fellow audience. "I didn't know if there would ever be an opportunity like this."
There were a few giggles from those sitting in the auditorium, but Lexi could see Maddy and Kat giving her thumbs up as encouragement. She'd never admit it aloud, but she felt proud and honoured that her friend would be sharing her experience with them, rather than having to do so herself. She continued with a quick nod she picked up where she left off:
"It's weird to be honest. Having a crush on my best friend? It feels wrong. It's different from having a romantic interest. I'm not supposed to feel some kind of way when she looks at me. Like how I might actually die right then and there. I have been crushing on her since third grade? I thought it was stupid dumb crush, until I finally realized that I just...couldn't get enough of her. And now, here I am, about to give her the biggest confession of my life." She glanced at the audience, who appeared completely mesmerised by her every word.
She went to lay down on the bed on the stage.
Raven was standing in the mirror, wearing an oversized green hoodie, sweatpants, and fluffy socks.
Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Grace looking at her through the mirror as well. But then they softened as she smiled softly, turning around to lean against the wall opposite.
She stood in silence for a while as Grace closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of lying in bed.
Her maladaptive daydreaming started trickling in as she imagined Y/N's hand moving up towards her face, cupping her around her cheekbone; closing her eyes, she allowed herself to imagine what would happen next. In her mind, Y/N would be smiling at her, her eyes shining with adoration and a small, shy smile playing on her lips. She would lean forward and place a soft kiss on the side of Lexi's mouth. Then, she would wrap one arm around her waist and pull Lexi closer to her body.
And then Y/N would say something sweet and sweet like: "You're adorable, Lexi."
"Grace, do you have a crush on someone?" Raven asked, breaking her train of thoughts and making Lexi jump a little bit before getting back into character.
"Why out of the blue all of a sudden?" Grace replied, her eyes trained on the Y/N's character in front of her as she watched her crawl on the bed to lay next to her.
"No reason...it just seemed like you were being more distant lately."
Grace looked at her with wide eyes, "Am I being distant? Er--"
Lexi rose from the bed, looking at the audience again before she spoke, "If Raven thinks I've been acting strange, then maybe I've been acting strange. I mean, It's true, I do have a crush on her. Why? Because she's beautiful, smart, caring and funny..." Lexi was automatically breaking her character as she rambled on about Y/N, looking at her from the seat, basically breaking the fourth wall.
She was brought back by the touch of Raven as she was brought back to the scene.
Grace felt heat rise to her cheeks and couldn't help but look down at her hand as she began playing with the hem of her shirt, "Well, I don't mind being her friend, but I thought it'd be nice if she felt the same way about me too. Maybe we could start dating?"
Y/N couldn't tell if it was Lexi confessing to her or if it was part of the play because she couldn't remember having this conversation in real life.
But, she was definitely flustered. She never imagined she'd hear those words leave Lexi's lips and it made her heart swell with pride and joy. It wasn't long till Raven's voice filled the air again and she couldn't help but listen intently as Raven continued her lines.
"But do you like her more than just that?" Raven questioned, smirking as she poked Grace's chest.
Grace looked to the side in thought, "I guess so...I mean, she's gorgeous and talented..."
"And?" She egged her on.
"And she has a lot of personality and she has a sense of humour that makes me laugh," Grace added before pausing slightly.
"I swear she is talking about you, right now." Rue whispered in Y/N's right ear causing her to jump a little bit at the sound of her voice.
Y/N turned her head towards Rue, whose lips formed a smirk as she winked at her.
"You can stop making eye contact with Lexi now. You're legit fawnin' over her. Just admit it. You like her." Rue giggled quietly.
Y/N tried to hide her flushed face behind her hands, though she could tell the other girl wasn't fooled. Y/N tried to mutter some sort of excuse before turning back to look at the scene ahead of her.
"Come on. If you liked her so much why didn't you say anything? Or ask her out properly instead of hangin' out? Or better yet, maybe go out on a badass date. I am kind off proud how you pretend to not have feelings for her. You should get an Emmy Award for that!" Rue grinned, leaning forward.
Y/N groaned internally, "Bitch, please. Just let me get through this damn scene."
Y/N quickly swatted her hand, whispering harshly for Rue to behave. But her best friend was having none of it.
"I'm serious! I really am impressed by your ability to pretend." Rue stated matter of factly.
Y/N gave her friend another swat on the leg which elicited a quiet wince from her.
After a moment of silence, Y/N started to relax once again, and allowed herself to actually enjoy the scene. After a while, Y/N found herself completely immersed in what was happening in front of her.
"Grace, do you think she will like you back? Do you think she feels the same way about you as you do for her?" Raven's question brought Y/N back to reality. Y/N took another look to the scene before turning back to Grace.
Once again, Y/N's brain felt like it stopped working momentarily when she saw Maddy looking at her from the other side of the theatre. Y/N felt her heart start to race just a little bit faster and the familiar feeling of butterflies erupting inside her stomach.
"I think so." Grace smiled softly, rising slightly from her spot to look straight in Y/N's eyes.
"I think she truly likes me, but I don't know. I mean, she hadn't confessed yet. And it might be wishful thinking of mine." Grace paused as Raven continued to pester her about something or another. However, Y/N noticed that her gaze drifted down for a split second to the floor after her answer.
"But if she does confess soon then..." Grace trailed off again, biting her bottom lip.
Y/N felt her cheeks grow warmer the longer she stared at Lexi.
"Lexi! Preach! I'm rooting for you bitch!" Maddy called out from across the rows, causing Rue to giggle.
A small smile found its way onto Y/N's lips when she realised that this scene must've been her doing to actually get things off her chest and get her together with Lexi.
"Lexi, I 100% accept your confession! I love you!" Y/N called out, her voice loud enough for the other occupants of the seats around her to hear her and suddenly, the entire auditorium erupted into loud cheers for Y/N as they clapped and whistled.
Lexi looked up to Y/N with wide eyes, obviously caught off guard.
She blushed brightly before looking down at the ground again, smiling, hearing the commotion she made, Lexi looked up again and gave Y/N a smile, giving her a thumbs up as she mouthed 'thank you' before the lights went off.
"You are gonna make me cry, ya' know." Rue said in a teasing tone, breaking Y/N away from the scene and her thoughts.
Y/N rolled her eyes before letting them wander over to Maddy, who was excited and throwing heart signs along the way.
The rest of the play seemed to pass in a blur. The play got rowdy and raunchy, causing Y/N to laugh constantly throughout the entire thing, even more than usual.
Until the chaos unfolded with Cassie marching down the steps, stepping up on the stage; embarrassing her sister in front of everyone.
Cassie stood up with her arms crossed, a proud smirk plastered upon her face as she spat insults and exposed everything wrong with the play to the whole audience.
The rest of the crowd began jeering at the blonde.
"Well, if that make me a villian, then so fuckin be it." Cassie scoffed, ranting while still maintaining an arrogant smirk on her lips. The crowd jeered loudly while pointing at her and calling her names, causing Y/N's eyes to narrow.
She had never seen Cassie act like that before and she'd have to admit that it was scary as if she was watching a psychopath. She was almost tempted to walk on stage herself and give Cassie a piece of her mind just to shut her up.
Then immediately, Cassie and Maddy started bickering about the relationship between Jake' and two girls between one another, causing Cassie to call Maddy a 'cunt'.
Y/N's eyes widened as she was baffled by what was happening, why would Cassie ever say something so rude about her like that?
Sure, she heard all about Maddy's on and off relationship and Cassie's being a 'two-faced, cheating bitch' when it came to Nate but this was... This was new.
Y/N shook her head before turning around to face Rue, who was equally baffled as her. They both looked at each other in concern for the same reasons, because Cassie sounded genuinely hateful.
Suddenly, a scream echoed as she saw Cassie trying to assault the actress off the solo horse carousel that 'Hallie' was riding on.
Y/N got up and ran to see Lexi, she could see Maddy jumping off her seat with a scowl and her fist clenched as she stormed up to the stage, grabbing her hands tightly to pull her away from Hallie before the loud slap sounded from the stage, causing people to pull the phones out, recording the carnage.
As Y/N reached the backstage, she saw Lexi standing there, tears staining her eyes as Bobbi tried comforting her, but her efforts were clearly failing as she continued crying.
"Lexi, come on. Come with me. We're going to go out for some air." Y/N said, gently placing her hand on Lexi's cheek as she continued to sob into her shoulder.
Y/N guided Lexi to the door leading to outside, which was thankfully unlocked. She gently pulled Lexi outside where the door closed behind them. She held Lexi close as she cried against her neck.
She ran her fingers through Lexi's hair in an attempt to calm her.
Eventually, Lexi calmed down and took a deep breath, wiping the last of her tears away. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.
Alex nodded as she rested her head on Y/N's shoulder, "I knew the play was a bad idea. I knew Cassie was going to act out. I knew I shouldn't have done this in the first place. But I was too afraid to speak up. I knew it!" She said, sniffing.
"Oh, honey. I shouldn't say this but I'm kinda glad you did. I'm pretty sure that Maddy is happy that you brought justice to the situation because Cassie went so low to say those things, and do those things because of Nate. Justice served, case closed." Y/N said calmly, stroking Lexi's hair and rocking her side to side slowly.
Lexi giggled slightly. "Yeah, guess so," she muttered as she moved to look at Y/N, her cheeks were red and blotchy from crying.
After a moment of silence, she decided to ask, "Did you enjoy it?" She asked timidly.
Y/N looked at Lexi, tilting her head to the side, "I didn't think it was possible for you to do that. That's really brave of you. I saw you as a shy person but you managed to pop off." Y/N grinned.
Lexi flushed at the comment. She bit her lip and shrugged.
"It's not that big of a deal, honestly."
"No no no," Y/N shook her head, chuckling. "That was a big deal! You know that right? People don't normally do that! You really popped the fuck off. You got that bill! Purrr."
"Oh my god!" Lexi groaned, shoving Y/N lightly, making her laugh.
They stood in silence after that for a few moments, Y/N kept running her fingers through Lexi's dark hair as she played with a strand that poked out from her forehead.
Y/N leaned forward slightly and pressed a soft kiss to Lexi's temple.
"Thank you, I really needed this," Lexi whispered before kissing Y/N on the lips.
Y/N smiled and wrapped her arms tighter around Lexi's waist, pulling her closer towards her.
They kissed for a long while, enjoying every moment and feeling their heart race. Y/N eventually broke apart from Lexi, resting their foreheads together.
They stayed like that, simply taking each other in and basking in their feelings. Neither of them wanted the moment to end. They both loved how the other felt in their arms and just wanted to bask in it, they had all the time in the world now but something isn't done yet.
After several minutes of silence, Lexi spoke again.
"Can we make out again later? The play is not over yet. There's still more." Lexi asked quietly, still leaning into Y/N.
"Definitely, the show must go on." Y/N replied, nuzzling her nose against Lexi's cheek.
She turned Lexi's face towards hers and planted another chaste kiss on her lips. She then picked up Lexi's hand and intertwined their fingers.
Lexi squeezed her hand tightly, smiling into Y/N's mouth, pressing one last quick kiss to her lips.
"Ready?" Y/N murmured, looking Lexi in the eye.
Lexi nodded.
"Yeah."