She's 24 when she's offered the opportunity of a lifetime, to be a part of the Broadway adaptation of Moulin Rouge. There's workshopping (of course) and she's scheduled to spend a few weeks debuting the show Off-Broadway, to judge how people will react to the show and allow the cast to get a feel for everything in front of a smaller audience, but it's still Broadway and it's a part that she's been dreaming of since she fell in love with musicals and music at the prime age of five.
That being said, she's reluctant to take the part once it's offered to her. Kristen encourages her, reminding her that the director specifically asked her to apply for the exclusive part, that he praised her work in The Last Five Years and insisted that he would attempt to work around her schedule, though she still isn't sold when her manager tells her that she's landed the leading role. Moulin Rouge would mean leaving Kristen and London, two things she's become pretty attached to; secretly, she's scared that going back to New York will bring back old memories of not being good enough and desperately trying to be what everyone wants her to be, but she doesn't voice her concerns out loud (she doesn't need to, Kristen somehow knows about her fears and assures her that everything will be alright). She doesn't officially take the part until Kristen starts packing up her things from their flat, telling her that she called her manager and accepted on Massie's behalf and that Kemp will be taking her place in London (the two of them finally worked things out). Kristen gives the brunette a long speech about how sad she will be that they'll be separated by an ocean, but that their friendship will thrive thanks to video chat and phone calls and surprise visits (it's scripted and there is a slideshow presentation of pictures of the duo flashing behind her, which make Massie more emotional than she had expected to be).
The two girls spend their last month together going to all of their favorite places and traveling as much as possible (Kristen uses all of her vacation days and even some of her sick days, claiming that 'heartache' is a perfectly good excuse). They make new memories and act like crazy tourists, taking enough pictures to fill more than two scrapbooks and laughing so much that it eventually hurts to move. As they pack Massie's belongings into boxes and ship them to Derrick (Massie's new roommate in the city), the girls revisit memories they had forgotten about and tell crazy anecdotes about the old belongings that had been in the flat when they arrived (a pair of old binoculars that Kristen swears must've been from Christopher Columbus, a pair of pants that have inappropriate cuts in them, some toothbrushes). Massie insists that Kristen keep any sort of appliances that the two have, as well as all of the nice white leather furniture William had bought them when they first moved ("furniture is hard to move and I know from past experience that Derr is way too messy for white leather"). Kristen gives her a journal that she'd been keeping since they moved to London on their last night together ("so that you can never forget how much fun we had together, our memories are forever written in this book") and Massie hands her a DVD of compiled footage she'd taken on her phone from during their adventures.
They spend their last night together crying and watching Moulin Rouge while singing along with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman and talking about Massie's new leading man (Aaron Tveit!). They sleep on the hardwood floor in their living room, bundled in the sheets off Kristen's bed, and pretending as if they won't be separated for as long as they both know they will be.
When Josh arrives in the morning to help her make sure everything is properly taken care of, Massie breaks down again and has to be physically removed from Kristen, who is crying just as hard.
While she's in London, tying up loose ends and crying as she packs her belongings into boxes, she doesn't know that Cameron Fisher is uprooting his life from Seattle ("it's beautiful, but I miss my friends and it's time to come home"). Kemp flies out to Seattle to help him pack all of his boxes and to make sure his transition goes smoothly, while Josh flies to London to help Massie do the same. Cam's nostalgic about leaving Seattle, but he's ready to be in New York, with a clean slate and some friends he's loved since junior high. Massie hardly wants to leave London, contemplating daily if she should withdrawal from her newest role (Satine in Moulin Rouge) and just move into an apartment down the hall from the happy couple (Josh insists she needs to keep moving forward, while Kristen picks up an application from their landlord just in case).
Moulin Rouge is opening on Broadway on her 25th birthday, which Josh insists is memorable (he also insists that all their friends be there to watch her make her official Broadway debut) (even Cam is in attendance, though she doesn't know this at the time). Massie tells him that he's "insane" and that they didn't need to all come, but they do anyways ("it's what friends are for"). Derrick is her date to the cast party afterward (because Dylan and Plovert have to rush home to their crying baby, while Alicia and Josh are in charge of entertaining all of the family Josh had insisted (guilted) into coming to her debut). Standing next to the blonde, making small talk with some of her co-stars and their significant others, she finds herself wondering if this is what she would've wanted back when she was younger, if this is what her life would've been like had she and Derrick gotten together in junior high (she finds herself thinking about this a lot more than she wants to). As the duo makes their way home from the party, Massie ignores the whispers about "how cute" they are and laughs when she sees people on the subway taking their picture.
They're friends, not even friends with feelings, and she can honestly say that the past year has done wonders for their friendship. They're still roommates (and probably the best roommate duo out of all their friends) and they have a system that involves support and encouragement, mixed with a large dose of honesty and a little sympathy. It works well for them, and they find themselves able to discuss everything with one another (from Derrick's broken relationship with Claire to Massie's secret crush on Cam) (Derrick laughs when she calls it a secret and tells her that everyone knew about it in college, which earns him a pillow to the face).
From time to time, people mistake them for a couple and fawn over how adorable they are; Derrick is always waiting by the stage door to walk her home and Massie's always on his arm at company functions and baking desserts for the various office parties they have. They understand why people would think their relationship is more than platonic, and always rush to admit that there's truly nothing romantic between them (it's not awkward like it was when people thought Massie and Cam were a couple because there are truly no lingering romantic feelings or secretive glances). Sometimes, while Derrick's cooking dinner on Massie's night off or while Massie's baking brownies at midnight and he's sitting at the counter keeping her company, she finds herself thinking that their relationship has come full circle; they've been friends, almost more than friends, strangers, slow friends, and back to friends again.
One night, as she's sitting awake in her pajamas, with Derrick licking the cookie dough off of the mixer's whisk, she finds herself thinking that she's glad to have a friend like him.
Her friendship with Alicia is one in which they share secrets and gossip and go shopping, something she values a lot. With Josh, the two of them explore the city and try all of the weirdest new places; it's more about 'expanding horizons' and really testing their own limits. Time spent with Dylan is usually spent in their Zumba class or around one of Dylan's children (she and Plovert have two now), which makes her feel more mature and older than she's used to. Her friendships with Kristen and Kemp are still strong, she trusts them as much as ever and misses them more than she thought possible. Things with Olivia are based around fashion and drawings and everything art; Massie and Derrick have a variety of her failed pottery pieces on display around their living room. She and James often find themselves meeting in coffee shops and parks to discuss the books they're reading (they've started a two-person book club, in which they take turns suggesting what to read). Even she and Plovert spend time together sometimes, going to Yankees games together (apparently Kemp used to go with him, and she was more than happy to take the other brunette's place in the duo's traditions).
In comparison to her other friendships, it would seem as if Massie and Derrick fall somewhat short; they don't go new places or have long-standing traditions (they don't even have a specific place that they can refer to as their own, besides their apartment). When Alicia asked during one of their shopping trips what she and Derrick do together, the brunette didn't have an adequate answer; they don't really do anything.
And there's magic in that.
Being able to just be around someone, without having any sort of external forces acting on them. They're comfortable with one another, they're totally in sync. It's the kind of friendship she once thought she shared with Cam, though things are way easier with Derrick. And she likes it.
She's 26 when she calls Cam for the first time in years; her breath is shaky, her vision is blurry, and she feels as if the earth is swallowing her whole. Tears are streaming down her face as she dials the number she knows by heart (even after years of not using it, it's still permanently tattooed in her brain) and desperately prays that the darker haired boy will pick up (he does). In between sobs, Massie attempts to explain the situation to her former friend, though she isn't sure how much he truly understands about what's happening (though he must understand her location, because he insists that he's on the way to the hospital, but that she should keep talking to him so that he knows she's still doing alright).
He arrives five minutes later (one of the nurses tells her this later, she doesn't have any concept of time when everything is happening around her). His dark curls are matted to his head and longer than she's ever remembered them being, a detail she finds herself hung upon, and there are tears brimming in his multi-colored eyes that he's desperately trying to blink away. He sweeps her into his arms as soon as he sees her, trying to reassure her that everything will be okay ("you don't know that") and that he'll stay with her for as long as she needs.
They spend their first night together in five years, clinging to one another in the uncomfortable blue plastic chairs in the hospital waiting room, but neither is willing to leave and the nursing staff has enough sympathy for them that they're allowed to stay (Cam's sure that if they had been asked to leave, they would've simply booked a hotel room next door or slept in the parking garage attached to the hospital). Suddenly it doesn't matter that they have unresolved feelings for one another or that they haven't spoken in years, all that matters is that they're together.
Oh, well that and the fact that Derrick's been shot.
Okay, so I was trying to write part five when I realized that I didn't really like the way part four went, so I decided on a total re-write. What do you think? Thanks again for all of your support and for reading!