A/N – Wow! Just wow! I discovered about ten minutes before I started writing this that I had gotten past 2,500 viewers of this story. Can I just say that was my target for next week?! I am kind of nervous as to how everyone will react to this next chapter because … well you'll find out when you read it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smash otherwise it would still be continuing past a second season, unless another station picks it up in which case I thank you!
There was a knock at the door to Derek's apartment, Derek was still asleep so Karen swung her legs and stood up. Tiptoeing, carefully attempting not to wake her boyfriend, she quickly went to the door unlocked it and opened it. She was shocked to say the least to see one of her best friends from Iowa, Amy, at the door of Derek's apartment. She had tears in her eyes and she had hold of the hand of a little girl's hand.
"Amy, what are you doing here?" Karen asked surprised at her friend's arrival in such a state.
"Harry cheated on me and for some reason you were the only person I felt I could turn to," she said in between sobs as Karen led her over to the couch. Karen couldn't quite believe the blow she'd been dealt, Amy's marriage to Harry had been one of the strongest she'd ever known, the two had been together since high school but before that they'd had been friends since before Karen could remember.
The little girl that Amy had come with had crawled up on her mother's knee, hoping to stop the tears that were flowing. It wasn't until Karen saw this that it clicked as to who the little girl was, her goddaughter Lily had grown up an awful lot since she'd last seen her. Karen stood up and walked towards the kitchen "Do you want a cup of tea?" she asked, remembering that a cup of tea was the only thing that had ever calmed Amy down.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," she said before proceeding to weep again. Karen returned with two cups of tea and a cup of milk for her goddaughter.
Karen heard her boyfriend's footsteps as he came down the stairs. At that point Amy suddenly wiped away her tears just before Derek walked into the lounge. Karen stood up and walked towards Derek and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"I'm guessing that you're Karen's new boyfriend and director, Derek?" Amy said suddenly stopping her crying fit.
"That's right, now let me get this right, you're Amy and this must be your daughter Lily," he replied remembering the time he'd met Karen's Iowan friends from the first preview in Boston.
"Well, you've got an extremely good memory, I'll give you that," she said laughing.
Lily ran towards her godmother who instinctively lifted her up. "Have you guys had breakfast yet?" he asked the three girls who shook their heads. "I'll get right on that then shall I?" He said as he turned towards the kitchen.
"Well, he's lovely Karen, you officially have my stamp of approval," Amy told her friend who'd sat on the couch again, holding Lily in her arms. Karen laughed as her friend continued "I'll admit he's an awful lot nicer than the last Brit you dated," Karen giggled remembering Amy's instant hatred of Dev and she had to admit after previews she really did wish she'd listened to her best friend's opinion of him.
Once breakfast was made the four all sat around the dinner table and ate. "Where are you staying Amy?" Derek asked, having just heard the entire story of how Harry had cheated on her with the secretary at his office and how she'd grabbed Lily and left, stopping off at Karen's parents place wondering where Karen was staying.
"Umm I don't quite know, my plan was to stay in a hotel for a few days until I found somewhere a bit more permanent," she said, fighting back tears.
"Well, the guest room upstairs is free if you wanted to stay there until you get back up on your feet," he told her kindly.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, looked at her friend and mouthed 'keep him!'
'I will,' Karen mouthed back. "Now we're all sorted I think we should show Amy and Lily New York, at its best, what do you guys say?" she said aloud.
Lily's face lit up at the idea, her singing dreams were just beginning at the age of five similar to her godmother. "Please, mummy, please?" she said with pleading eyes.
"So long as it doesn't mess up what Aunt Karen and Derek were planning to do today," she said.
"I've cancelled rehearsals for the next week anyway so we don't have anything on today," he told her.
"Okay, well now that's sorted what does Lily want to do, shall we go to the Central Park Zoo or the Empire State Building?" Karen asked.
"I want to see Broadway!" Lily told her godmother; obviously Amy had been training her daughter in such terms for a while. It made Karen think to when she was a child of Lily's ages, the thing that had tied Amy to Karen, other than the fact that Elizabeth was Amy's godmother, was the fact that both Karen and Amy had big dreams of Broadway. Karen wanted to perform and Amy wanted to write. The difference was that Amy ended up staying in Iowa after marrying Harry and Karen had gone to New York.
"Okay, Broadway it is! I think if we ask our friend Eileen, we may be able to get you into the Lily Hayes theatre so we can see you sing on the stage," Karen told the little blonde girl with clearly big dreams.
"Or I could see you sing?" Lily requested
"I tell you what! If I sing, then you sing and then we can sing together! Does that sound like a good idea?" Karen asked and watched as her goddaughter's eyes grew to the size of saucers.
A few hours later and Karen had grabbed Ana before she, Derek, Lily and Amy went down to the Lily Hayes theatre. Eileen had been kind enough to allow the group to go to the Lily Hayes Theatre and had even told Ivy to meet them there.
When they reached the theatre and all of the introductions had been made Karen and Ivy took to the stage and placed Derek in a chair and performed their version of Smash from Bombshell. Amy had thought the song's significance rather hilarious .Then after Derek had left the stage, followed shortly by Karen; Ivy went on to sing Who Says by Selena Gomez, which Lily loved. Then it was Karen's solo: Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
When you're weary, feelin' small
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all.
I'm on your side, Oh, when times get rough
And friends just can't be found.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
When you're down and out, when you're on the street
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you.
I'll take your part, Oh when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Sail on children, sail on by
Your time has come to shine, all their dreams are on their way
See how they shine, Oh when you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled wates,
I will ease your mind.
I'll ease your mind.
After that Karen brought Lily up onto the stage and they began to sing a version of Christina Aguilera's Beautiful. The song brought a smile to Derek's eyes and Amy told him "We used to sing this one all the time when we were teenagers," a few tears in her eyes.
"It's the song that she sung for her Bombshell audition, it's the song that made me fall in love with her," he said sentimentally as he looked back on that first audition and he beamed at his amazing girlfriend.
After that Derek took everyone out for dinner at one of his favourite little diners, just down the road from the theatre. When they arrived they discovered that Tom, Julia and Eileen were there and the group got larger.
At the end of the dinner Julia had given Amy a job as her personal assistant and as part of the conditions Amy was allowed to bring Lily to work, which meant that Lily would be able to see her godmother work on an almost daily basis.
A/N – Just another little note from me to explain this one, I felt like some of Karen's life from Iowa should come into New York and Amy seemed like the perfect character to use for that purpose. The other thing I wanted to explain was Bridge over Troubled Water, I suppose you guys know I used it the song in this chapter because it's what this fanfic is named after but it's also a song that my grandparents call their song so that's why the story was given the name it has, just in case anyone was wondering.