AN: Hello everyone! How are you? I'm fantastic, I just got caught up on Once Upon a Time. Anyone else a Once fan? I've got this idea for a possible story that could take place after season six, but that's neither here nor there because you're here for Sing. I will say the musical is coming together very slowly, but surely. I've got basically the entire plot, it's just the songs. I've got two finished songs, I'm working on a third, which you'll see a small bit of it in this. I don't know how many songs I'm going to put in it. I'm kind of making it up as I go when inspiration strikes. I don't want to force any of the lyrics. If anyone would like to help. just message me. I'd be happy to hear your ideas.
This chapter is titled after the song Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton.
I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Happy Reading.
Chapter Twenty – Four: Here You Come Again
Layla's POV
"Okay, let's put some type of short scene there." I told myself as I marked the spot in my notes and then continued with the next short bit that I had, which was much more up-tempo and, at the rate this was going, kind of sarcastic as well. I was pretty proud of my accomplishments this afternoon. I had finished the villager/footman number and started the first song for the female lead.
"They call me Cinderella
As if that's what my name really is.
I've tried not responding,
But they never get the hint.
You'd think after all this time,
They'd learn to question it."
"That's not bad." I heard someone comment. The sound of the voice surprised me since the only one who I had been expecting was Johnny, who had just left to go pick us up food. I turned to see who it what thinking I had misheard the voice, I turned to see who it was. "Mr. Maddox…" I gasped in surprised, "How-"
"My bail was paid by Miss Greyson in exchange for working for the theatre." He answered before I could ask.
"Does Johnny know?" I asked.
"Not yet." He responded.
I didn't ask why he hadn't told him, some things were best left said in the moment than before it happens. Although with everything they've gone through, I would have thought he would have said something to him. Although who am I to judge, I don't think Johnny's told him about me or us and I certainly wasn't going to tell him. That was Johnny's job, not mine. I already told my Uncle Joey and Buster, I took care of telling the ones that I needed to tell.
"The song for the musical you've been workin' on with Johnny?" He asked after a few moments, noting that I didn't respond.
"Yeah." I answered, "Did Johnny-"
"No, Miss Greyson told me." He cut me off before I could ask him, "You seem to spend a lot of time with my son."
"What can I say?" I responded anxiously, wishing Johnny had at least mentioned something to his dad, "We enjoy each other's company."
What was I supposed to say? I know you barely know me, but I'm dating your son and we moved into the theatre because we started writing a musical together and we were too distracted by each other to really get any work done. I'm aware he hasn't told you about our relationship yet, but we're in love with each other and we've basically had something going since we were in the singing competition, possibly shortly before. Am I supposed to tell him that his son is absolutely wonderful? That he's the best guy I've ever met? That if I believed in a deity, I'd swear he was heaven sent? That he often makes me forget that I ever dated anyone before him and I never want to date anyone else? The way he speaks in that beautiful Welsh accent of his makes me fall in love with him over and over again, and that's without going into when he recites Shakespeare? Or that I love how he can keep up with my mind and how much I talk, that I can have an actual conversation with him without having to reiterate myself over and over? That he listens to what I say, and not only listens, but actually participates and furthers the conversation? That I love how much of a gentleman he is while never tainting his image of being a tough guy and how expressive and kind his eyes are? Or that I love how ungentlemanly he can be physically too at times? That if he asked, I'd marry him tomorrow? That he makes every dream, or even idea, I've ever had when it came to my love life come true? That I've waited for a guy like him for so long that I started to doubt he actually existed?
No, I couldn't tell Mr. Maddox any of those things. I couldn't even tell Johnny all of those things, he knew I loved him. That's really all he needed to know, the rest of it wasn't as important.
"Dad?" I could hear Johnny ask in confusion and surprise from behind his dad. He must have went to the sandwich place around the corner.
"I'll let you guys talk." I told them, standing from the piano bench and walking over to Johnny. He handed me the food, squeezing my hand as he did so in reassurance. He was finally going to tell his dad about the two of us. "I'll put them in the fridge for now. Take your time. We're not going anywhere." I assured referring to myself and the sandwiches. I left the two of them to talk.
Johnny's POV
"How did you get out?" I asked my dad confused.
He ignored my question and changed the subject, "Your friend's nice, very pretty, how long you been seeing her?"
"Did Layla tell you?" I asked, my confusion only growing more. I didn't think she would have, we had both agreed that I would tell my dad when I was ready. I wasn't fond of the idea of telling him while he was in jail. He wasn't supposed to be there longer than a year or two, if I couldn't make bail before then.
"No, she didn't have to." He answered, "The look on her face when I mentioned you was enough. Yours would have confirmed when I asked, if I hadn't put it together when you came in. Were you going to tell me?"
"Of course, Dad." I responded quickly, "Of course, I was going to tell you. With everything going on, I didn't know how to tell you."
"It would have been nice to know." He said bluntly.
"I'm sorry." I apologized, "I should have told you sooner."
"I like her, Johnny." He told me, "She's got spunk. Try not to let her get away."
"I don't plan on it." I managed to choke out.
"So, what's this I hear about you co-writing a musical?" He asked.
I smiled and started to tell him all about the musical. Something I never thought I'd ever talk to him about or that he'd show any interest at all.
Heather's POV
"Welcome to the team, Stevie." I congratulated her after we finished our interview. As far as I was concerned, I didn't need to see any more chefs for concessions. I had my chef. I just needed a bartender. "We have a concert next Friday, so if you'd like to start then, we can discuss all the details on Monday. We'll have the kitchen stocked with everything you need at least by the day before we'll just need a list from you of the supplies and ingredients you'll need. At the moment, unless you have any interests in other theatre departments, we'll only need you when we have a show or concert playing."
"I don't know if this helps you any, but I do have a bachelor's degree in art." She said unsure, "I could help with the sets or something."
"Could you tell me more about that art degree?" I asked her interested, "What was your concentration?"
Miles' POV
"So how was that date with that girl?" Ash asked after the waitress left with our drink order.
"Which one?" I asked confused.
"The one you met at the concert, the persistent one." She clarified, "Was there more than one?"
"Oh, the rabbit girl..." I nodded in understanding, and then answered, "An absolute nightmare."
"What?" She asked surprised, "What happened?"
"So in the middle of dinner, she brushes her foot against my leg while I was adding pepper to my potatoes." I told her, "It surprised me so much that I jumped and it caused the pepper to go into her eyes."
"That must have been painful."
"Probably just about as painful having your pants set on fire." I replied bluntly.
"She set your pants on fire?" Ash asked incredulously.
"It was by accident." I explained, "When the pepper flew into her eyes, she jumped in shock, managing to shift the table and knock over one of the candlesticks into the other and then both fell onto the table in the process. The candlesticks caught the table on fire. I didn't move in time and I got caught on fire too."
"Are you okay?" She asked concerned, I could tell there was a hint of amusement in her voice as well. It was easy to tell she felt to conflicted and guilty to laugh at the incident."
"It's okay to laugh, I did too once it stopped hurting." I told her earnestly, "The burns were minor and it mostly just singed my fur. Ruined my jeans, but I'm okay."
"Probably think twice before having candles with dinner."
"No, that's one of my signature moves- well, PG moves." I smirked, "What I should have rethought was the dinner; I changed up the menu, therefore causing everything else to happen. I didn't know what else to do though, she didn't eat pasta, pizza, or any other type of carb. Salads aren't romantic, or at least in the sense that I wanted, and I wasn't going to put in the effort I'd need to make one of my signature dinners for her."
"You've really thought this whole thing out, haven't you?"
"You know my stories and the type of guy I used to be." I scoffed, "Of course, I have. It used to be my game."
"So what are these 'signature dinners' of yours?"
"Artichoke and spinach lasagna, quiche, French onion soup, gnocchi, spinach ravioli, enchiladas, and ratatouille."
"Why didn't you make her ratatouille?"
"Because unless the girl's the most desirable girl in the galaxy or a close friend who happens to be in my apartment when I making it, they'll never see it."
"I've had your ratatouille." She replied unimpressed, "You make it without mushrooms, it's not that spectacular."
"I do that for two reasons." I told her, "I can't stand them and Layla was having dinner with us and she's allergic."
"Either way, it's not that great."
"That's because you had it by itself." I pointed out as the waitress finally came back with our drinks. We gave her our food orders, and then she took our menus and left. "There is a difference between eating it as a meal and have it being used as one of the dishes for a romantic dinner."
"Do you know how ridiculous you sound?"
"But it always works." I shrugged.
"No way, that shit can't work."
"It does." I affirmed.
"So what would you do for a girl like me?"
"Like you?" I asked before mulling it over, "Gnocchi with a tomato and basil sauce topped with mozzarella. The sides would be garlic bread with a Parmesan crust, grilled vegetable skewers, and stuffed peppers. The appetizer would be fried spinach ravioli with a pesto sauce on the side. Or at least that's what I'd do if I was still fully in the game."
"That's simpler than I thought it would be." She replied after a few moments.
"Well, I'm not looking to impress a girl like you with food." I told her simply, "There's no point, that isn't your niche. No, where I'd get a girl like you is through music and conversation."
She scoffed, "What would you do? Play the drums?"
"No, I'd show you my vinyl collection."
"You collect vinyl?"
"What can I say?" I replied, "I'm a bit of a purist; and if I was the guy I used to be, I make you dinner, start a conversation, making sure it led to something revolving around music, and then would show you my rock albums. Depending on how the night went and your level of interest in the collection, I'd put one on and ask you to dance."
"Very smooth." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Which one would you choose?"
"For you?" I asked smugly, "I could go with a few different artists, most likely, Yazoo, Whitesnake, or Meatloaf. Classic artists with some edge to them. I'd either pick Yazoo's album Upstairs at Eric's from '82, Whitesnake's self-titled album from '87, or Meatloaf's third Bat out of Hell album, The Monster is Loose, from 2006. Nothing that would be anyone's first choice or thought as romantic, but each one has that one song."
"You're good."
"I was the best."
"You didn't do anything like that with the rabbit girl though."
"Nope, just dinner."
"Why?"
"Because I hate who I used to be." I answered as the waitress came with our food.
Heather's POV
A pastry chef and a set designer and painter in one hiree, this was fantastic. Probably the best news that I've had all day. I invited her to the screening on Saturday night for our girls' night. We were going to screen the last four episodes of season six Once Upon a Time. Most of us were fans of the show, we thought it would be nice watch the episodes in an auditorium and test out the new projector and film screen we had put in. Originally it was going to be just the musical episode, but then the two part finale came out and we decided why not just screen the final four episodes. Sasha and Layla were putting together the drinks, Meena was bringing dessert, and I was ordering the pizzas. If all of us actually liked karaoke, we would have done that, but half of the group kind of hates it and the bar scene, not that Ash and Meena were really old enough to be admitted into most of the bars around us. The ones they would be were kind of dull for the rest of us.
"I see the interview went well." Layla commented as I came into the green room. She was sitting on the couch with her laptop in her lap typing away.
"It did." I affirmed, and then asked, "Where's Johnny?"
Unless they were working, they were hardly apart, especially now since they were working on the musical together. The only time they were actually apart now as far as I knew was when one of them went to get food.
"Talking to his dad." She answered simply, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I wanted to make sure everything was set." I replied, "I wasn't expecting for you two to move in. Try not christen any of the rooms."
"Even if we did, you wouldn't know." She smirked.
"You know his dad's gonna be living here too." I pointed out.
"Two floors below us." She replied, "I noticed the room was locked when Johnny and I were looking for a room."
"Of course, you did." I said, before changing the subject, "You still on for this weekend?"
"Yeah." She nodded, "I've got the episodes set up on my laptop. Speaking of Saturday, I heard the weirdest thing from Sean when I ran into him. You know the guys think we're bar hopping and doing karaoke?"
"Where'd they get that idea?"
She shrugged, "Mike decided not to listen to Sasha when she told him about it."
"How do you even know that?"
"Mostly a guess." She responded, "Mike's the one who told Sean and the rest of the guys about the girls night and he sucks at listening to anyone who isn't himself."
"I hope you two aren't talking about me." Buster commented as came into the green room.
"No, but the description isn't too far off." I retorted. Not wanting to deal with his bullshit at the moment, I left. I was having too good of a day to let an argument with him ruin it.
Layla's POV
I suppressed a laugh, "You are really off your game with her. You two ever going to bury the hatchet?"
"If she can stand to be in a room long enough for me to apologize, then I hope so." He responded, "Maybe we can rebuild a friendship or at least a good working relationship."
"But Buster, you-" I started, but he stopped me.
"Too much has happened, too many things have been said, too many arguments have broken out" He sighed, "We'll see where things go when I get a chance to apologize."
"Can I give you some advice?" I asked, closing my laptop.
"Sure." He replied softly.
"Don't wait too long." I stood, "You'll regret it. Maybe not now, maybe not soon after, but eventually you will."
"When'd you get so wise?"
"I'm not." I replied, "That's just something I had to learn the hard way."
I shifted my laptop and then headed upstairs to my room.
Ash's POV
I sighed as I watched Miles walk away with that stupidly oblivious smile on his face, the one I can't help but stare when I see it. I don't know what it was about that grin, but that's all he had to do anymore for my defenses to go down. It was only for a moment, but they still did. I enjoyed being around him, I'll admit it. I wasn't going to fawn all over him though, what would be the point? I wasn't that type of girl and from the looks of it, he didn't think much of the ones who did either. Hearing about the dates he's had was hilarious though, I enjoyed his stories and how he would tell them. It was always entertaining to watch and listen to him tell a story, I've never seen anyone talk so much with their paws. He was always so animated and happy to tell a story. It felt really good to be around him, much better than it did to be around Lance when we were dating towards the end. Miles was a nice change of pace, very different than what I was used to. I knew we weren't dating, but I don't think I'd mind giving it a try if he asked.