Hello, everyone! For those of you who have read some of my work in the past, you'll know that this is SLIGHTLY out of my element since I'm not the biggest Spoby shipper, but this idea came to me randomly and I wanted to try it out! So read on and see how you like it, and ALSO: keep an eye out for my current project, Coming Around, a Sparia fic that I hold dearly to my heart. Enough of my talking, though. Enjoy!
~.~.~.~.~
It was a gorgeous autumn day in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, with a gentle breeze gracing the crisp air and the sun peaking through the changing leaves on the trees. Since it was later in the afternoon, school was just getting out, so the city was overflowing with kids of all ages filling the sidewalks as they strolled home from school, either excitedly engaging in conversation about the day's classes or trudging along in reluctance to start their homework. Some of younger ages were even riding their bikes and playing at the park, tightening their scarves around their necks so that they could bask in the sunshine and enjoy the chilly, yet beautiful, Tuesday.
Not that Toby Cavanaugh would know any of this, of course, because he had to hole up in the back room in the Rosewood County Art Center, sawing wood to build the set for the Philadelphia Players' upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet.
He certainly didn't mind sawing wood or building sets; in fact, as a fan of architecture and aspiring carpenter, it was one of his favorite pastimes. And it wasn't that he hated being away from the sun, either, for his smooth, pale skin was a firm indicator that he tended to stay away from it, anyway. Plus, he wouldn't have taken this job at the community theater if he didn't enjoy it, or need the money, but there was something tugging at the back of his brain that told him he wanted the play to be over as soon as possible.
Trying his hardest to break free from his pressing thoughts, Toby fastened the straps on his goggles so that they fit his chiseled facial structure and drew himself nearer to the block of wood, making sure he cut it at the perfect ninety degree angle. As much as he kept telling himself that he didn't even want to be at this rehearsal, he still wanted to do a good job on the set, and the money he would receive was just a bonus. Building and designing things was something he'd loved doing since he was little, and he wasn't going to let something as silly as this get in the way of making something that he was proud of.
The piece of wood hit the ground with a thwack, and when Toby knelt down and further examined it, he felt satisfied with his work. Wiping sweat from his brow and removing his goggles, Toby stood up from the ground, stretching out his long, jean-clad legs in front of him as he let out a yawn and twisted his torso so that he could loosen the tension in his back. He had been chopping and sawing since eight this morning, and he was ready for a much-needed break. If only there was a way to get his demanding stage manager, Mona Vanderwaal, to allow him to have one.
Toby turned around, combing his shaggy, sandy brown hair back with his fingers as he scanned the room. He saw most of the other tech members working on sorting their piles of wood, while others were examining the sizes of metal rods that they would hold up the wooden platforms and planks with. They were working on building a scaffolding for the stage, one that could function as a balcony for the two leads, as well as provide levels for the party guests in a particular scene. The show was in a couple of weeks, and they were a little behind schedule, so they were trying to make up for lost time by crunching in as many hours in a single day as they could manage. Toby was actually alright with this, because it wasn't like he had any plans outside of working here, and he genuinely enjoyed the company of majority of the people at the rehearsals, and had even made friends with some of the actors.
Since his friends in the show were on the stage at the time, Toby had been working rigorously, but after counting 34 yard-length planks of wood and 7 sanded platforms, he allowed himself to set his saw down and walk over to a couple of his friends, Lucas Gottesman and Holden Strauss. Lucas was studying a blueprint intently, while Holden was sprawled out on top of the table that Lucas was working on, hands behind his head and eyes closed.
Toby rolled his eyes at the sight. "Hi, guys."
Holden lazily blinked as he rolled up into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes as he took in the sight of Toby. "Hey, champ," he said with a loud yawn. "We were wondering when you were going to come up for air."
Toby chuckled as he averted his eyes over to his pile of wood, neatly stacked and evenly chopped. "Guess I just needed a distraction," he said with a shrug.
Upon hearing this, Lucas joined Holden in looking up at Toby with a somber expression. They knew about his little... problem. In fact, as far as he could tell, everyone in the crew and cast knew about his little problem.
Everyone except the person that it concerned.
"Sorry, buddy," Lucas said sympathetically. "But hey, only a couple of weeks! Hang in there!"
"I will hang you by your throat if you keep dilly-dallying."
The curt voice made the boys nearly leap out of their now prickled skin, and Toby whipped around to meet face to face with the source of it.
Mona was currently sporting a cropped blazer, a floral top, tight leather pants, and a pair of heels to heighten her and make her appear more intimidating. Even without the height boost, though, the way her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail made her ethnic features incredibly more pointed and scary, as though she was preparing to leap at her prey at any given second.
Holden groaned as he hopped off of the table. "C'mon, Mona," he whined, "we've been working for hours! Don't you think we deserve a little break?"
"The show is in two weeks and the set isn't even nearly done!" Mona scowled, and Toby could feel her eyes on him as she said it. In truth, it was partly his fault that they were so behind on building the set since he took such a long time to get the design and blueprints ready, but that was only because he wanted it all to be perfect!
"Five minutes isn't going to make a difference," Lucas pleaded as he crossed his arms over his navy hoodie. "Please?"
Mona pondered this for a minute, taking a pen out of her clipboard and tapping it to her chin for emphasis. Toby knew her well enough to know that she had already made up her mind, but was pretending to take so long to come up with a decision for suspense... and torture.
Finally, she sighed as she lowered her arms. "Fine," she complied. "But as soon as you're finished, you report right back here and get back to work. And don't touch the lemonade in the breakroom, that belongs to me. Are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am," they all groaned as they set down their things. Lucas took a pen out of his hair, and Holden removed his goggles as he roughly shook his head to remove his long, dark curls from his eyes. Once his face was free of hair, his lips curled into a large, cheeky grin.
"So, we're totally stealing the lemonade from the breakroom, right?"
Lucas eagerly nodded his head as he just about skipped forward to join Holden in his excursion. "Definitely! I'm parched!"
Toby laughed as he started to walk alongside the other two, but before he could join them, his ears perked up with the sound of voices coming from the stage. He halted in his steps as he looked over to his right, and saw a strip of light push its way through a bundle of curtains thrown to the side of the stage. In order to get to the breakroom, they would have to cut backstage, and right now the actors were in the middle of a large scene that included nearly the entire cast. It was the Capulet party scene, and throughout the hum of whispers from various cast members, he could make out a familiar sweet, sultry voice that rang through the commotion like a bell.
"Toby! You coming?"
Toby jolted as he turned to face Holden and Lucas, who were looking at him questioningly. Toby gave the boys an unsure smile as he nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Umm... I'd rather not have Mona strangle me, so I'll pass."
Lucas furrowed his eyebrow. "You sure? Some refreshments will cool you off."
"Really, I'm sure," Toby politely declined, his eyes wandering over to the light shining through the curtain. It was calling out to him, and the voice on the other side of it was drawing him in like a siren. Some lemonade and Mona's fists at his stomach could wait.
Lucas still looked unsure, but Holden pulled him along, giving Toby a look that showed he understood. Toby ducked his head as he felt a blush creeping on. Why did he have to be so obvious?
Once Holden and Lucas were out of sight, Toby gained the courage to leave his spot and step forward. There was a small hole in the curtain at his eye level, and he stood back enough that he could look through it without being seen. Onstage, Romeo and Juliet had just spotted each other at the party, and were having a starry-eyed conversation underneath the too-bright spotlight.
Noel Kahn, who had the role of Romeo and whose back was currently facing Toby, held his script up with one hand as he took Juliet's hand with the other. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand," he said softly as he held Juliet's hand higher, squeezing it tenderly, "this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."
The actress playing Juliet giggled lightly as Noel planted a gentle kiss on the surface of her hand, and Toby felt as though he'd never seen such a beautiful sight. The way her fair face lit up, the way her white smile reached her auburn, expressive eyes, and even the way she bit her lip and broke eye contact to read her next line was perfect. She scanned the page quickly, eyes dancing back and forth, before looking up, gazing into her partner's eyes lovingly. "Good pilgrim," she spoke, line delivery and articulation on point as always, "you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this. For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."
Toby continued to watch as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms across his black t-shirt, watching as the two interacted and wishing more than ever that he could be the one she was gazing adoringly at as he charmingly kissed her hand. The scene progressed, and the conversation got continually more heated, until it ended with a passionate kiss. And with that, Toby hopped off of the wall and sulked away, not wanting to see the rest of it.
Because the more he dreamed about it, the more he realized that he would never get the chance to kiss Spencer Hastings, no matter how in love with her he was.
~.~.~.~.~
What did you think? Reviews mean the next chapter gets uploaded sooner ;)
