A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews!

Good news-I found a beta! She'll be working her way through when she has time, but between the two of us, hopefully there are very few errors. If you find any, they're mine.

Disclaimer: angst ahead. Nothing too bad, but a disagreement that isn't resolved.

Enjoy!

Barnum burst into the office and Phillip looked up from his desk to see his partner throw his hat on his desk and himself on the couch, dramatically putting his arm over his face with a groan.

"Something wrong?" Phillip asked casually, setting aside the accounts for a moment.

"Have you looked at the books?" he asked and Phillip sighed. It wasn't good-attendance was down, rent and insurance were up, and contract renegotiation was around the corner.

"It's not as bad as you think," Phillip pulled a book from the bottom of the pile and turned it around to show Barnum even though his current position prevented him from seeing it. "Attendance has always dropped during winter but," he turned back several pages, "it's up almost thirty percent from last year. With a combined rent and insurance increase of only five percent, we'll get by."

"So these weren't too much of an engagement present?" Barnum looked up and grinned at his younger associate. It took Phillip a moment to absorb the statement and recognize what PT held, he gaped as Barnum walked over and took the seat across from him. "It was Charity's idea," he said, placing the tickets on Phillip's desk.

"Phinn, these are to a private box," Phillip protested, "for a season. This is too much."

"You just said the numbers aren't as bad as they appear," Barnum tapped the books Phillip had stacked around his desk. "You and Anne deserve a night on the town," he gave a small wink and Phillip smiled and nodded.

"Right, boss," Phillip acknowledged, slipping the tickets into his jacket pocket. Barnum picked up his hat and sat it on his head with a flourish.

"Try to stay for the entire thing this time, will you?" Barnum called as he left the office for the stadium and Phillip rolled his eyes before opening the books again to complete inventory and financing.

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Anne couldn't help the gasp of awe she gave as she saw The Victoria Theatre outside the carriage doors. She rarely travelled north of 23rd Street and never ventured past 34th Street, but tonight she set foot in Upper Manhattan.

"It's magnificent," she breathed. Before the doorman helped her down, she bustled her dress quickly and moved in line. Phillip stood next to her and she took his offered arm.

"Wait until you see the inside," he promised and she felt as though she couldn't contain her excitement-she was vibrating and if not tethered, she could fly in a thousand directions. It was a wonderful feeling and she didn't want it to end.

"Have you been here before?" Anne asked and Phillip nodded.

"I produced two plays down the street," he nodded his head bayside and gave a little shake of his head. "Pretentious things which barely lasted a season. I came in here a handful of times for meetings." He pulled the tickets from his breast pocket once again, checking to ensure he didn't misplace them, and Anne sobered for a moment, looking her fiance with concern.

"Do you miss it?" she asked quietly and Phillip looked at her quizzically. "Miss this?" she asked, gesturing around her.

"Miss the theater?" he clarified and when she nodded for the first time since she knew him, he snorted in a most undignified manner. It made her grin. "I have work I love with people I love," he pulled her closer. "How could I have time to miss it?"

They approached the ticket office and he presented their tickets. The ticket taker punched them and handed them back, directing them to the doors. As she stepped inside, Anne believed she was transported to another world. This wasn't the small theater Barnum had gifted her earlier, or the stadium she performed in. This was a theatre, where magic existed and great things happened.

"Are you ready?" Phillip asked, offering his arm and she took it; allowing him to lead her to their private box while she took in the sweeping expanse of the foyer, the statues, the ushers, and the grandness of it all.

They found their seats relatively easily and he took her coat, placing it outside the box with his, before rejoining her. Charity couldn't have picked better seats-they were the third box from the stage, close enough to see and enjoy the performance while maintaining privacy from the harsh lights. The performance tonight was said to be one of the best from vaudeville and she couldn't wait.

"Excuse me," an usher entered their box and Phillip and Anne turned around. "I need to see your tickets, please."

"Of course," Phillip said, taking them from his pocket and handing them to the usher. The older man looked them over and then looked Anne up and down with a critical eye.

"I will be back in a moment," he returned the tickets to Phillip before leaving the box.

"That's strange," Phillip remarked, holding the tickets in his hand thinking it would save time if he had to hand them over again. Anne's stomach started sinking, it's happening again, and she bit her lip nervously. "Hey, hey, hey," he soothed, noticing her worry, "it's a simple misunderstanding."

Within twenty minutes, Phillip and Anne were standing outside their box with the original usher, the usher's manager and the theatre's manager. The tickets were passed around, each man trying to prove them a forgery while Phillip politely explained they were a gift.

"A gift?" the theatre manager grumbled, "for what?"

"They are an engagement present," Phillip said, "from my business partner and his wife." The three men looked up and Anne shied away, turning from their stares as much as she could.

"You two are engaged?" the usher manager choked and Phillip beamed proudly with a nod. "How cou-"

"What's your business?" the theatre manager interrupted.

"My business partner is P.T. Barnum, we run the circus dockside," Phillip offered and all three men looked at each other, having a silent conversation. Anne knew what was coming, could feel it in her bones-it was the same thing that happened uncountable times before but this time, her heart broke for Phillip. It was his first time.

"I need you to leave," the theatre manager demanded, throwing the tickets at Phillip as though they were worthless.

"Wha-why?" Phillip asked, clearly confused.

"We don't want spooks here," he said, pointing to Anne, "and we certainly don't want anyone who is around those freaks here either!"

"But I-" Phillip began protesting but Anne pulled his hand, stopping his argument before it began. She grabbed their coats and hurried off, allowing Phillip to catch up with her outside. She wasn't going to cry-they weren't worth her tears...but he was. Once Phillip was behind her, the tears spilled from her eyes and she pulled him close.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"What are you sorry for?" he asked, gently rubbing her back as he held her. "It's their fault. I'll talk with P.T. tomorrow and it will be straightened out-we'll go again and we'll have a great time, I promise. I'm sorry your night was ruined."

"This is what happens," she said, and he pulled away, puzzled at the words. "You...we can be 'us' at the circus, at home, but out here?" she gestured to the streets of New York, "We're a spectacle, and we always will be. There will always be things we won't be able to do because we're together."

"It's going to take some time but-" Phillip started to soothe but Anne shook her head.

"Phillip, they don't want to take the time," she interrupted. "They don't want to know me, or you, or us."

"Then it's their loss!" he replied, raising his voice slightly. She let go of their embrace and took a step back-anger slowly welling inside.

"This is the first time this happened to you," she pointed out, "but this has happened to me my entire life. I know it's their loss, but I can't convince them of that."

"So we continue living our life, being happy and loving each other despite them," Phillip said, stepping in and taking her head but Anne shook her head.

"You don't understand, do you?" she closed her eyes and wished she didn't have to explain this to the man she loved, but she did. "People will always judge us because of who I am-what I am. We can't escape that."

"You've written it off as though you haven't tried," Phillip cajoled and Anne laughed.

"I've tried my entire life! Why do you think W.D. and I resigned ourselves to the shadows? It wasn't because we fit in," the anger inside rearing its ugly head bit at him, trying to make him see the world as it was, not as he thought it should be.

Phillip opened his mouth to speak but took a breath instead and let it out slowly. She wanted him to fight back, to run away, to hold her, to scream, to do something instead of stand on the sidewalk outside the loveliest theatre she had seen and look beaten by the game he used to play.

"I'll call you a carriage," he said mechanically, walking over to the depot and talking with the clerk to ring for a carriage. This was worse, she decided as she watched him pay for a ride that would take them to Lower Manhattan; this beaten boy who played along because there was no way to win.

She learned long ago not to care what others thought of her or her abilities, but Phillip...poor Phillip was bred with the constant reminder that what others thought mattered. Recently, he threw that mantle off and it was freeing to see his elation at the ease he now conducted life, but people still mattered whether she, or he, didn't care about them.

"The carriage will drop you off at home," he interrupted her thoughts as he came up beside her, opened the door, and helped her up and into the awaiting carriage.

"You're not coming?" she asked once she was seated and he shook his head.

"I-I need some air. I'm going to walk home." It would take all night but Anne just nodded. Phillip shut the door and pulled himself to stand on the foot rail, leaning into the open window. "I love you," he said and she leaned forward and kissed him soundly.

"I love you, too," she replied. It wasn't his normal grin, but a small smile appeared and he stepped off and waved to the driver, who hitched the horses and she took off, watching Phillip disappear as she turned the corner and headed home.

Maybe some walls were too big for them to break through alone.

A/N 2: I have a few more ideas for one-shots so if you guys have any plot bunnies, drop me a line!

If you feel the need to flame, please flame responsibly :)