Ruby sipped her coffee as she waited for her cast to show up. The past few rehearsals had been going well. Emma and Killian had set aside their differences. You could even say they're friends now. The choreographer walked in and set her bag down. "Morning, Ruby"
"Morning. Isn't it nice to have a rehearsals that don't end in a screaming match?"
"Don't jinx it," Ms. Bell warned, "Something could still happen."
"Have a little faith"
Ms. Bell scoffed. "I'll have faith when we get to opening night."
"Oh come on T," Ruby nudged her shoulder, "everything will be fine."
"Let's see how today goes first."
Emma was nervous. They were doing "By the Sea" today. It was the scene where Mrs. Lovett had to be the most visibly into Sweeney Todd. She and Killian may be getting along, but all the flirting was going to be a lot. She glanced over at Elsa, who gave her a reassuring nod before turning back to the techies.
Killian and Belle walked in. He was nervous too. He worried that the scene today would be awkward. An awkward rehearsal might mess with he and Emma's new friendship.
"Okay everyone," Ruby clapped her hands, "let's get started. Archie and Jefferson, you're going to run through Ladies in Their Sensitivities in the choir room with Granny. Emma and Killian, Ms. Bell's going to show you what she's been thinking for By the Sea. Everybody else, run through lines or help paint sets."
Killian looked at the stage. Belle rolled her eyes. "You'll be fine. It's just a musical number. Didn't you guys waltz a few weeks ago?"
"Fair point love."
Belle smiled. "I'm going to run lines with Will. See you at break." She walked to the back of the auditorium where her boyfriend was waiting. Killian looked back to the stage where Emma was currently sitting on the prop couch. She looked at him and folded her arms. Killian sighed. If Emma was going to be mature about this, then he could be too. He climbed up the stairs to the stage and sat next to Emma.
Ms. Bell approached them on stage. "Alright you two, let's do this. Killian, this is going to be easy for you. Most of the song you'll be sitting on this couch."
"I like the sound of that," Killian said with a grin.
"It's okay, I'm used to picking up his slack." Emma smirked. Killian gasped. Emma rolled her eyes. They may be getting along, but it was still fun to insult each other every once in a while.
"Emma, you're going to start off behind the couch." Ms. Bell instructed. Emma stood up with an exhale. "Now, every time there's a break in the music you're going to kiss Killian on the cheek. Oh Mr. Todd-kiss-I'm so happy-kiss-I could-kiss-eat you up I really could, and so on." Ms. Bell snapped on every kiss to help Emma get the rhythm. "Then you've got a few spoken lines. That's when you're going to come downstage. Let's try just that part." Emma winced. This was going to be weird.
Ms. Bell played the song. Emma began to sing, kissing Killian's cheek as instructed. On the last one, her braid swung over her shoulder and hit Killian in the face. Emma snorted, but continued with her blocking. Ms. Bell smiled and continued teaching Emma the rest of the number. Overall, it wasn't as embarrassing as she'd thought it'd be, but a few moments were awkward.
"Let's run through the first half." Ms. Bell instructed. Emma reset herself to behind the couch. Some cast members had decided to sit in the audience and watch.
"Hey, watch it with the hair this time" Killian whispered. Emma smiled.
"I make no promises." The music started up and she immediately got into character. Emma flawlessly performed the first few verses of the number. Then she made the mistake of looking back at Killian. He'd gotten up from the couch and started copying her. He was lip-synching the song too. Emma stopped dancing and started laughing hysterically. Killian continued dancing, giving her a wink. The kids in the audience started giggling. Ms. Bell rolled her eyes.
"Okay, stop the music. Enough of that you two," the choreographer said to the two laughing teenagers on the couch. Ms. Bell sighed. Emma and Killian took some deep breaths to get back to normal. "Are you done? Can we get back to work?"
"Sorry Ms. Bell," the two replied, holding back giggles.
"Let's take it from the top."
"How's this going guys?" Ruby approached the trio on stage.
"We're almost done," Emma responded.
"Do you want to see what we have so far?" Killian asked. Ruby nodded. Killian and Emma got into position as Ms. Bell queued up the song on her phone. When it started playing Emma and Killian ran through the number. When they'd gotten through everything they'd learned, Ms. Bell stopped the song.
Ruby applauded. "Looks great guys. Finish it up, and we'll block the scene right after. Speaking of which, I wanted to talk to you. There's a kiss in the script in that scene. I wanted to check in that you guys were ok with that."
Emma and Killian shared a look. They'd both assumed Ruby was going to cut that part out. Being friends was one thing, but kissing was another. A tense silence followed.
Killian took a deep breath. "I'll do it if Emma's okay with it."
Emma glanced at him. "Promise you'll use mouthwash before the show?" Killian laughed. Ruby and Ms. Bell exhaled in relief.
Ms. Bell continued choreographing the number. After running through it a few times, Ruby was ready to help them with the scene. She called for Will to come up since he entered halfway through the scene. Emma and Killian grabbed their scripts. "You guys aren't off book yet? That's slow for you two."
"Hey, we've got all the songs down," Emma protested.
"And there are a lot of songs" Killian added.
"Fair enough. So the number ends with Emma by the piano. After the song's over, you're going to get up and go to the couch where Killian is." Emma stood up and shuffled over. "Great, but next time can you look happy?" Ruby said. Emma nodded. "Ok then you sit down" Emma sat at the opposite edge of the couch from Killian. "Next to each other." They scooted closer. Ruby sighed. She knew this was going to be tough.
Killian inched closer to Emma. He really didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Next to him, Emma was getting antsy. Best to get it over with. Killian shifted nervously.
"Oh for god's sake," Emma huffed. She grabbed Killian's shirt and pulled her to him. He started kissing her back. After what seemed like forever, they broke apart.
"Bloody hell," Will muttered from the side of the stage. Belle watched in disbelief from the audience. Elsa's jaw dropped.
Ruby stared at them with wide eyes. "Okay, that was...that was good. Next time, Killian, don't look so into it. Remember, you're focused on your revenge."
Killian nodded. But damn, Emma knew how to kiss.
Emma shrugged. "Now that that's out of the way, can we finish blocking?"
Rehearsal passed quickly after that. At the end of it Elsa and Emma headed for the door while Killian waited for Belle.
"Hey Swan," Killian called. Emma turned around. "Was I better or worse than when Walsh kissed you at the cast party sophomore year?"
"We don't talk about that." Emma said with a laugh. Elsa snickered. "I'll see you tomorrow Jones."
Elsa and Emma entered the Nolan house after rehearsal. Mary Margaret looked up from her spot on the couch. "Hi girls! How was rehearsal?"
"Emma kissed Killian," Elsa blurted out. Mary Margaret's eyebrows show up.
"As part of a scene for the show," Emma said quickly.
Mary Margaret's eyebrow shot up. "Ok," she said, processing the information.
Mary Margaret gave her a small smile. Emma rolled her eyes. People were definitely reading too much into this.