AN: I did not write, nor do I own Romeo and Juliet.
His palms were sweaty, his heart was pumping, and he was relaying the lines in his head. His parents thought it was strange when he told them he wanted to try out for Juliet in the play. He was, after all, a male. But what they thought about it didn't matter to him. He had been set on this and was determined to get the part of his choice.
He suddenly felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He whirled quickly around. "You nervous, too?" He suddenly was staring into a face so far above his own he had to crane his neck painfully to see him. His flawless face was framed by shoulder length brown hair and his eyes reminded him of his puppy, Hershey, at home. He smirked. "Me?" he said looking around, "Nervous? Please."
The stranger giggled. "What's your name?" he inquired.
"Gabriel, you?"
"Sam."
Gabriel suddenly felt awkward. He rubbed the back of his neck and felt beads of sweat beginning to accumulate. It's probably just nerves, he thought. He smiled at Sam. "Nice to meet you," he replied, regaining his usual swagger. "You too."
"NEXT!" Rang out from the room in front of them. It took Gabriel a moment to realize he was next. As he scampered quickly off, he thought he heard Sam mumble a fleeting "Good luck." He crossed the threshold with new found confidence. He stood resolute in center stage.
Two men where before him staring at scripts. Everyone in the school knew who they were. Castiel and Dean. They were the power couple. Dean glanced at him for a brief moment and then returned his gaze back to the script. "What character would you like to try out for?" came Castiel's gruff voice. He sounded almost bored at this point.
This fact, however, didn't discourage Gabriel the smallest bit, and he said with pride, "Juliet," and he inclined his head slightly out of respect. You didn't want to piss these two off. When Gabriel stated his preferred role, their heads snapped up to see him better. Their eyebrows rose slowly, and their heads turned to meet the other's gaze.
This sort of thing was unheard of, but Dean Winchester wasn't one to stick to the ordinary. "Could you recite a few lines please?"
"May I have a Romeo to say the dialogue? It's the scene I've worked hardest on.." Gabriel suddenly felt singled out, like a deer in headlights. Dean smiled at him, which made Gabriel abruptly taken aback. "You're in luck," Dean said, standing up and putting the script in his seat as if it was saving it for him, "I'm pretty sure that's the exact part my brother's trying out for."
Gabriel quickly became anxious, but manage to stutter out his thanks as Dean disappeared to his right. Castiel went back to reading the literature of Shakespeare again. What if Gabriel hadn't even met the man before? He wasn't sure if it would alter his performance. He could see it now, him being stiff and emotionless, as if the words on the page held almost as little meaning as a McDonald's coupon.
He already was doubting if he could convey the emotion of the deep layers of thought put into all of Shakespeare's works. He was, truly, a genius in Gabriel's eyes. The curtains to the right suddenly ruffled and it caused Gabe to turn. In front of him was, yet again, the giant from before. Gabe waved with a small smile, barely noticing Dean take his seat again. "Okay, are you ready yet?" Dean drawled, sounding slightly bemused.
Gabe smirked at him. "As I'll ever be," he retorted rather boldly. Dean merely chuckled. Castiel hadn't stirred from his position for quite some time. Dean nudged him lightly in the shoulder jerking him suddenly back to reality. "Pay attention," he whispered. Cas smiled somewhat apologetically. "Go on," he muttered, apparently embarrassed.
Gabriel turned to Sam, ready to give his lines.
"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Wouldthrough the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!"
Sam spoke with confidence, letting all the emotion flow through him.
Now it was Gabriel's turn. "Ay, me," he cried to him. It wasn't exactly a moving dialogue like Romeo's, but he'd get his chance in due time.
Sam smiled at Gabriel fleetingly before resuming his significant role.
"She speaks:
O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air."
He stated it poetically, once again moving Gabriel to act to his utmost potential. He took a deep breath, no longer needing to go through the speech. He had absorbed it. He felt it coursing through him like the blood pumping through his veins, and when he spoke he didn't stutter nor shy away from the rather daunting prospect of playing Juliet.
"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
Gabriel understood the feeling of desperation. He could almost taste the yearning. Juliet was him, she wasn't just a character trapped in the dusty old pages of a book that was long since forgotten in a musty corner of the local library.
Sam, really starting to have fun, was eager to hear Juliet's transcript through Gabriel. He almost rushed through his next part, but caught himself and continued with consistently believable acting.
"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"
Gabriel smiled daintily. It was his moment. There was no way he could mess up now.
"'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself."
Sam had just opened his mouth to deliver his next line when suddenly Cas shouted, "That's enough! There's really no point in carrying on anymore, is there?" Cas turned to Dean who shook his head wonderingly from side to side. Gabriel, thinking he'd done badly, began to become jittery once more. Dean suddenly eased his fears, "You've both gotten your parts! Congrats!"
Gabriel stood in shock for a moment before exclaiming embarrassingly loud, "Oh, thank you!" He quickly realized what he'd done and covered his mouth with his hand. Dean and Cas laughed and Dean said, "Don't mention it, kid."
_-Time skip to last dress rehearsal-_
It had been four long, grueling months of practice and it was finally time for the final rehearsal. Dean and Cas rushed backstage to the rest of the cast looking huffy and annoyed. "Romeo! Juliet! Come over here please!" Cas barked at them. Both Sam and Gabe became slightly alarmed. Castiel never yelled unless he was seriously annoyed.
They hurried over to them already in costume. "Yes?" they both asked quickly at the same time. "Look," Dean explained, "they're cleaning out the dressing room you," he pointed at Gabriel, "had. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with an idiotic bomb threat. Anyway.. The point is, you two are going to need to share dressing rooms whether you like it or not. Sorry 'bout your luck." Cas and Dean left just as quickly as they'd come, Dean rambling to Cas about the 'damn school board' and 'not getting any leverage'.
Sam and Gabe stood in shock. Gabe turned to Sam, shrugged, and then went back to pinning his dress up. Sam shook his head at his now long gone brother. The truth was, he was kind of excited. The short, sweet toothed prankster had gotten his attention the moment they met. Little did Sam know that he was just as interesting to Gabriel. Suddenly it hit Sam. He was going to kiss Gabriel in front of the whole school.
Shockingly, the fact didn't seem to disgruntle him at all. It didn't seem as mortifying as other people would make it out to be. In all truth, it seemed kind of.. Nice. This had also crossed Gabriel's mind, and he was slightly anxious. He knew he liked the Moose, but he didn't know how to tell him. He was gorgeous, and funny, and kind, and he could act. What more could Gabriel want? He was perfect to him.
All he could do was sit on the edge of his bed, absentmindedly rubbing Hershey's stomach with his fingertips, and anticipate the rapidly approaching performance.
_-Another time skip to the kiss scene!-_
Gabriel's voice rang across the packed auditorium. It was just him and Sam. He was staring into his beautiful eyes and holding his hand. "Yes, pilgrim—they have lips that they're supposed to pray with." He replied to Sam; his Romeo.
Sam smiled at Gabriel. He was prepared, but he couldn't help the fluttery feeling of butterflies creep up through his stomach and intrude into his throat. "Well then, saint, let lips do what hands do. I'm praying for you to kiss me. Please grant my prayer so my faith doesn't turn to despair." Sam's brow furrowed as if genuinely pleading for Gabriel to love him.
Gabriel stepped forward. "Saints don't move, even when they grant prayers." Gabe responded defiantly, yet he felt his face turned crimson as he blushed hotly. Sam smirked at him.
"Then don't move while I act out my prayer." He leaned down to Gabriel, who mentally braced himself. He tensed slightly. All at once if appeared as though the auditorium disappeared. The people seemed to evaporate. It was only them. It took Gabriel a moment of uninterrupted bliss to realize he was kissing back just as passionately. Sam pulled back, his cheeks now also dusted with the color of rose.
"Now my sin has been taken from my lips by yours." Sam- no, Romeo- said with a sheepish grin.
Gabriel cocked his eyebrow. "Then do my lips now have the sin they took from yours?" he replied with a slightly teasing nature.
Sam had to repress a chuckle, but he let his emotion show with a smile. "Sin from my lips? You encourage crime with your sweetness. Give me my sin back."
Abruptly he was kissing his Juliet once more. There was no way he could live without Gabriel. There was only love in the second kiss, not even a moment of hesitance, and nothing in real life, nor in any storybook, not even in any of Shakespeare's writings could break it. It was a love that was compassionate, and pure, and true, just as Romeo and Juliet's had been.
Except, in this story, there is no dying at the end. Their loves goes on, and it lives and breathes with them still. And to think, none of this would have happened if the specific roles had not been chosen by Romeo's older brother. He saw life in them both, but he overlooked the love.
Thank God that Romeo and Juliet kept on living their roles even after the curtain dropped, and the voice spoke with an air of finality two words that have ended so many love stories and daring tales:
The End