Rehearsals- Jlaire Fanfiction

Claire sat on the floor in front of the stage, doing homework. Since rehearsals had started, Claire had been having more of a challenge getting work done. Although she had been getting to practice early, she had noticed that Jim almost always seems to show up late. Usually, she was able to cover for him, Mr. Roll doesn't seem to care, and Jim was always super apologetic. Claire usually didn't mind, but it was starting to get on her nerves a tad.

She decided she would text Toby, to see if he knew what was going on.

He responded with, Oh, guy stuff.

That response really made her angry, what was so important that they wouldn't tell her. It was getting on her final nerve. Suddenly, Jim flew into the auditorium, tossing his backpack into the seats, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry Claire!"

Their director cleared his throat before Jim paused in getting his script from his bag and responded, "Sorry Mr. Roll."

"Mr. Lake, we'll be going over the balcony scene today if that fits into your schedule." Roll was writing notes in his book. He barely looked up from what he was doing.

Jim and Claire both mounted the stage, making their way to the set. Claire was still a little annoyed at him. She felt worse when she saw his face, he looked panicky and nervous, aka totally uncomfortable. Her heart began to sink to her stomach. Poor Jim was overworking himself. Maybe she was starting to feel bad about pushing him to audition, "You okay?" she whispered.

He just nodded at her; eyes still full of panic as he tried to breathe calmly. "Fine Claire, I'm fine." He held up his script, adjusting it and trying to begin the scene, "He jests at scars that never felt a wound, But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and… and Juliet is… is the… the sun…" Jim was trailing off and Claire could feel his panic. It was palpable and clouded the air with anxiety. She saw his face drop, basically empty of blood, and his eyes begin to water as he booked it off the stage. She watched as he took the emergency exit outside.

Claire followed him, leaving Mr. Roll inside. "Jim! What is wrong?" He was pacing the area between the walls outside. How had he changed into a full suit of armor so quickly? Wait, they didn't have anything like that in the costume closet. What was going on?

"Claire… can't… breathe…" His hand was on his chest, holding something that was glowing.

"Okay, okay Jim, I'm gonna call Toby really quick." She pulled out her phone, quickly ringing Toby. "Tobes! Quick! Jim is in the middle of a panic attack and he's wearing some sort of armor! What do I do?... Alright, thanks Tobes. Yep… Great, we'll talk later…" She put her phone away before grabbing Jim's hands forcefully. "Jim, look at me." She then grabbed his face, forcing eye contact, "Jim I'm not mad at you. I'm not. This isn't about the play obviously, but here's a thought… let the panic take over, embrace it."

She saw the moment that he let the panic in and let himself sink in the feeling. Suddenly the panic left his face, he let out a deep breath, "How did that work?"

"Panic only works when it's cyclical and unwanted. What was that about?" she asked.

"I-I… I can't really tell you I think." His breathing was starting to even out finally.

She let go of his hands, "Oh, I get it. It's a guy thing, I guess the full suit of armor should have tipped me off." She was starting to get angry again.

"No… Claire… It's not- It's just-" He starts to get angry with himself. His fingers clench into a fist and he starts to blabber, "God, believe me, Claire if I could tell you I would, especially if you would believe me. But it's a really wild story and I think you'd just say I was crazy or losing my mind or something and I don't want that because you're Claire and you mean so much to me. I can't lose you."

"Jim, Jim, Jim… It's okay… You're okay. I don't know what the armor is, but it looks super cool. I get that there are some things you need to keep to yourself, but can you at least calm down enough to go back to rehearsal?"

He nodded, meeting her gaze before they head back into the auditorium. He took a moment to change back into his normal sweater. As they were beginning to climb the stairs to the stage once more their director called to them, "Ms. Nunez, Mr. Lake, I think that's enough for today. I need to meet with Mr. Palchuk and Mr. Pepperjack for their scene anyways. If you two would practice the scene together and come prepared next time, hmm?" He promptly left the auditorium, probably in search of their fight coordinator.

"Okay then…" Jim drawled before turning to Claire, "I don't have any more classes tonight… Do you maybe wanna practice in my room? Tobes is probably worried." He was nervously scratching at the back of his neck and no matter how frustrated she was with him, she still found him intensely cute.

"Oh, uh yeah. Sure"

Their stroll to Jim's dorm was quiet, the tension was thick between them and very embarrassing. He fumbled getting the door unlocked but eventually opened it. Claire didn't even care to wait for an invitation and took up her usual space on Jim's bed, throwing her bag on the floor.

"Yo, what's up Claire?" Toby said. She could tell he meant it as a casual greeting but came out as a genuine query as to why she was there.

"Oh, nothing much, just rehearsal was cut short today." Was all she gave him. She was really trying not to be short with him, but it made her upset that he knew Jim's secret and she didn't.

"Uh Toby, can I talk to you quickly?" Jim had the door still open, inferring that they would talk outside.

"Oh, uh… yeah."

Claire was very tempted to listen in through the door but instead decided to make herself comfortable on Jim's bed. It took a little while anyway, so she began to mindlessly scroll through social media. 'God what was so important that she couldn't know?'

When the boys finally returned, she did her best to act normal, nonchalant even. Toby made his way to sit next to her on Jim's bed, which was strange. Jim was left standing in front of them, holding something circular in his hand. Claire sat up quickly, Jim looked very serious.

"Claire, what I'm about to show you is going to look crazy. What I tell you might sound totally insane… but I assure you, this is all totally real." He looked her straight in the eye before holding up whatever it was that was in his hand and proclaiming, "For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command." Suddenly he was surrounded by bright blue light and then he was standing in front of them again in the full suit of armor, holding a sword.

She took a moment to really take it in before saying, "Okay, so it wasn't a costume then."

Toby placed a hand on her arm, trying to comfort her, "Believe me, Claire, there is so much more."

She gulped nervously. "Okay… how to start?" Jim walked towards her on the bed as if she were a wild animal needing to be calmed down. He gently took her hands; his armor was cold and smooth against her skin. "I'm the Trollhunter."

She took a second to glance at Toby before turning her gaze back to Jim, "That's it? That doesn't explain anything!"

"Yeah… Right… Sorry, I thought you would be freaking out more… Well, there is a whole world beneath our feet," He let go of her hands instead beginning to wring his own and pace. "That is the world of the trolls and I protect those trolls from other evil trolls called gum-gums and eventually I have to kill their king in order to save the world." He stopped in front of her once again, meeting her gaze timidly.

"…I'm sorry, I think I just hallucinated… You what?"

"I uhhh…have to save the world?"

"Okay, that's what I thought you said… WHAT?" She kept glancing back and forth between the boys as she worked through what Jim had said.

"Oh no… Jimbo, Blinky said this would happen if we told her, she's totally freaking out here man."

"Wait, who's Blinky?"

"He's, my Trainer. He's also a Troll."

"Okay then… This is officially the weirdest thing to ever happen to me… Did I take too much Lexapro this morning or is this just my ADHD running away with my conscious brain again? No, wait! This is for sure one of my maladaptive daydreams… Why wouldn't it? Make the sweet, sensitive boy that you have a crush on into the perfect hero in a suit of armor so that you can play the damsel in distress, and you need him to save you… Yeah… that's got to be what it is… just a daydream." She had started to rock back and forth as a self-soothing comfort and calm herself.

"Oh god, Tobes, what do we do?!"

"I don't know Jimbo, I'm not a doctor!"

"No wait, this has to be a prank, right? Something for your production class, right Toby?"

"Sorry, Claire." Toby shook his head, "It's not a prank."

"Okay…" She took a deep breath, "Okay… so trollhunter huh?" Toby slipped off the bed, Jim taking his place quickly, back in his regular blue sweater.

"Yeah, I'm a trollhunter." Jim placed his arm around Claire to give her support as she reconciled this fact in her head. Her brain just kept turning, working this concept around in a constant circle.

She took his support and placed her head on his shoulder. He was surprisingly comfortable. So much so that he lulled her into a state of near-sleep. She took a moment to let out a deep breath, "I think it's gonna take a while to get used to, but I like it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, makes me feel safer around you. Not that I didn't feel that before, this just reinforces it I think." She had grabbed the hand that wasn't holding her waist and began to fumble around with his fingers before settling on placing her fingers between his.