Broadway Dreams

By: Marie

Summary: Lovino works at a cafe, but yearns for more, to become a big Broadway performer. When Antonio Carriedo, a musical talent agent, hears him singing, he offers him a job, and Lovino takes it, but as things start going right, he begins to feel the floor crumble out from under him, and he's left with a choice. But the answer isn't as simple as 'Yes' or 'No'. One Sided Spamano; Prumano; Minor AmeIta

Song One: "Broadway Dreaming/Useless Dreams"

A/N: The tune of the first song matches up to "What do You Do with a B.A. in English" from Avenue Q. The Tune to the second is "I Can Go the Distance" from Hercules. I wrote all the song lyrics myself.

[Silence echoed in the apartment, it's only human resident at the moment passed out on the couch, pointe shoes still tied onto his feet with care. The only sound in the apartment, was the purr of Gino, the lazy cat who did nothing but eat and get under his owner's feet. The alarm started buzzing, flashing the time as 6:30. The man on the couch groaned, hitting the button to turn it off, rolling onto the floor wit a dull thump. He blinked open tired, dark eyes and groaned, pulling himself up and stretching, tiredly making his way to the shower. After a brief shower and breakfast, as well as bushing his teeth, getting on his clothes, and shaving the little bit of facial hair that dared try to get past him, he pulled on his jacket and slipped on his shoes. He paused to grab his umbrella as he walked out the door of his apartment building, and popped it open as he got onto the street.]

[He walked for a bit, clearly unhappy. He hated this life. This boring, day in day out life. It was tiring...so farther then where he expected to be 5 years ago. He wanted to sing, to dance, to be a star on Broadway, but his dreams were getting washed further away from his grasp every day.]

LOVINO: Every single day,

Nothing ever changes,

Feels like I'm walking in place,

Never even moving,

Where am I going,

Further from my Broadway Dream...

I have the skills,

And even the will to

But nothing is working out...

But somehow I know that,

I'll reach it someday,

And reach for my Broadway dream...!

[With the last note of his internal song sung, a loud truck horn sounded and sprayed water up, drenching him and several other passer-bys. He shouted some Italian cuss words at it, angrily. As if he wasn't already fucking soaked. With a scowl, he jostles his way back into the crowd. He hoped he'd dry once he got to work. Or with any luck, Lars might have some clothes for him to change into.]

[He walked down the street slowly, pushed and jostled back and forth by the crowd, just like everyday, He paused before the store, staring up at the sign advertising for the Broadway performance of Pippin. He looked up, a look of longing in his eyes, before being moved along by the crowd again, he sat down at the bus stop, sighing quietly, waiting for his bus. Just like every other day. He glared out at the rain as it hit his umbrella, muttering angrily under his breath. The bus was late, as always and he found a place to stand away from too many people, but that was a pretty minute difference, due to the sheer amount of passengers using the New York City public bus system.]

[A man, not much older then him, stood beside him, offering a cheery grin, which the Italian did not reciprocate. Thankfully, he didn't try to make conversation, because like hell he wanted to deal with that. Instead, Lovino ignored him, staring out the window as the bus went through the streets, getting closer to his stop and finally it did. He and a few other's got off, but, thankfully, the man who had smiled at him didn't. He opened his umbrella, pretty much trying to run to work, and slid inside, making the girl working in the back of the cafe giggle,]

EMMA: Excellent time, as always, Lovino. 2 minutes to spare.

[She paused, studying the fact he was soaking wet]

EMMA: What happened to you?

LOVINO: Some fucking asshole soaked me with his truck. Got any spare clothes?

[She nods and goes to fetch them from upstairs. When she returns and throws them at him along with a towel, he goes and changes in the bathroom, quickly drying off. He walked out of the bathroom, ducking through to his place behind the register. They were Lars' old clothes, so they were a bit large, but he rolled them up, settling the sleeves above his elbows. She glanced at him from where she stood mixing dough a bit further down the back counter and laughed a bit,]

EMMA: Now you don't look like some kicked puppy who got left in the rain.

[He grinned at her, unable to help the small laugh. Emma seemed to be the only bright thing about this dull job. She and her brother, Lars (who mostly handled finances in the back room) ran the small cafe he worked at, and he ducked behind the counter, tossing on an apron advertising the business, called, 'Chocolate Tulips.']

[He liked Bella, and Lars was intimidating, but usually pretty nice, but working at a cafe wasn't exactly his dream job. No...he wanted to dance and sing on Broadway, perform for audiences, and when he was done, they'd applaud uproariously. He grinned at the though, but the picture faded as quick as it had come, reminding him who he was and where he was. He frowned, padding out to stand by the cash register, leaning on the counter. He yawned.]

[Lovino had stayed up to the very early hours of the morning working on dancing, which was probably not the smartest thing to do, but no one said he was the smartest person. The first few customers began to trickle in and he helped them with a attempted cheerful smile, taking orders for coffees and putting doughnuts and croissants and muffins and other pastries into bags, handing each one to the customer that ordered it. 5 months on the job, meant he'd gotten used to all the different orders and pastries and this was easy and almost boring, but he loved the sound the clink of change made in the tip jar and finally the breakfast rush slowed and he allowed himself a break to clean the counter. He leaned over, flicking on the radio, like he always did this time, turning it to his favorite station, the upbeat pop-type music made him hum to himself, turning and swaying as he fixed the people's orders. He knew many of the songs they played by heart. A lot of what the station played was purely show tunes.]

[Emma didn't mind the show tunes, she'd told him, when he'd asked if he could listen to them on the raido, a few weeks after he'd first begun to work there, and now that the customers had trickled out, most as fast as they had come in, he began to sing the song they were playing, a happy smile on his face as he twirled and cleaned and the tap of the metal bell and a obnoxious laugh made him groan and stop, turning to face Gilbert, long time regular and the only person who knew every single way to make Lovino angry. And one of those was his very presence.]

GILBERT: You're getting better. Maybe you can clean on Broadway soon?

[He remarked, smirking at his own joke, catching the rag chucked at his head by Lovino. He drops it on the floor with a roll of his eyes, colored red by contacts. Lovino thinks they looks stupid. Gilbert claims it adds to his awesome look.]

LOVINO: Just order, dammit.

[He snapped, scowling. Gilbert laughed once more]

GILBERT: Tch, terrible service as always. Smile and you'll get more tips.

[He remarks, rolling his eyes]

GILBERT: Anyway, same order as always, birdy.

[He ordered, making the Italian scowl at the nickname. He prepared the order though, music still playing from the stereo, making him tap his foot and sway as he fixed Gilbert's usual order of 3 coffees, 1 muffin, 1 filled powdered doughnut, and one plain glazed doughnut. Putting the bag on the counter, and setting the carrier with the three coffees in it beside them. He accepted the twenty, giving him back the change, which Gilbert contemplated, before dropping a bit into the tip jar.

GILBERT: See you tomorrow, my little birdy!

[He called as he left, and Lovino glared, grabbing the rag off the floor. In the back, Emma tried to stifle her giggles. Once Gilbert was out the door though, she burst into a fit of giggles, making him groan.

[He pouted,]

LOVINO: Stop laughing.

[But, he couldn't stop a small laugh. The day passed slowly, occasionally big rushes of people came in, and at the end of the night, Lovino emptied out the tip jar, counting the money carefully. The total for today was $36.78. He scribbled the number down, working through the math on the paper. Dividing it by three meant Lovino got twelve dollars and twenty-six cents. He smiled and separated out the money, dumping the leftover amount into the jar, handing it to Emma along with the paper.]

LOVINO: I'm heading out for the night.

[He pockets the money, taking off his apron and tossing on his jacket, and, since it was still raining, opened his umbrella. He waved goodnight to the siblings and left, heading down the street, pausing, glancing up at the bright neon light of the sign for the bar and shook his head, keeping going, slowly in the faint rain, closing his eyes.]

[Maybe his dream was too far away. Too far out of reach...Too far from his grasp to achieve it. He paused once more, closing his eyes as he turned his head to the sky, silently praying for some kind of miracle. But, he'd prayed for the same thing for 6 years. Nothing ever happened. Was God even listening to him anymore. The Italian glared, kicking a puddle as he continued on his way. The street lamps' light was diffused by the rain and cast shadows on things as he walked towards the bus stop. He should just accept the fact he'd never actually get any sort of chance at being on Broadway or anywhere for the matter.]

[The words of his father rang in his ears and he tightened his firsts, nails digging into his palms as he tried to control his anger. Was this all there is anymore. Day in and day out, working at a stupid cafe, pretending to sing show tunes on Broadway, staying up til 3 in the morning practicing dance for an audition he'd never get? Where had everything gone wrong?]

[Glancing at the bus schedule, he scowled. he'd missed the last bus by 15 minutes. Dammit. Huffing, he stood, heading off down the street. This was just great. Just fucking great. He paused, looking at a flyer hanging on a window, advertising for "Annie" this time. He sighed, turning and walking off]

LOVINO: I sometimes stop and wonder,

Am I reaching too far?

Is my head in the clouds,

Am I trying too hard?

I don't know why I bother.

My dreaming is useless...

Who even cares,

About my Broadway Dreams,

I want someday,

to follow my heart,

I pray everyday,

It won't change much,

I know my heart,

Yearns and yearns some more,

but my dreams...

forever will merely be dreams..."

[He sighed, keeping walking, glad the depressing drizzle was mostly over with. As he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked inside, leaning the umbrella on the wall and slipping off his shoes and coat, he couldn't help but feel like...something big was going to happen soon. Very, very soon. And it was with that thought he stripped for bed and curled up in his bed, shifting many times, unable to sleep, he stared at the red numbers that slowly faded and blurred.]

[As the clock read 12:00, he finally fell asleep, greeted with dreams of Broadway and fame...]