Chapter 17: The Tiring Tech Week

haha hey guys, sorry it's been like...years. i never knew i didn't finish this story. it was all written, i literally just forgot to post the rest. so here's this and the epilogue, if anyone even remembers! being on here is so nostalgic and good for the soul though. i'll always treasure my fanfic days, even the bad stories. this does not reflect my current writing, as mentioned it was pre-written a few years ago. anyway turns out i'm gay and now i write a bunch of lesbian fic and am about to graduate with a creative writing degree lol love u all

TOBIAS

Sunday, March 18th

"Is everyone decent?" he heard someone shout. It could only be Christina.

He shouted a "yeah" in response.

She walked into the men's dressing room and observed a few of the ones that looked fully ready. "Unbutton your top button. Tie it like this, not like that." She finally made it over to Tobias and smiled a little.

"You know, I'm glad you were willing to grow out your hair to look more like Flynn. All we need to do is straighten it since you've got some natural waves going on. I'll get Tris in here to do that real quick. Other than that, the costume looks great. Maybe unbuckle the top buckle of the vest—he wears it like that in the movie."

He smiled. "You told me if it didn't grow out my hair that you'd make me wear a wig."

She smirked and said on her way out, "At least you're not Tris, she's got about 15 feet of wig."

He laughed and suddenly felt grateful. Tris came in a few moments later with a straightener and a hell of a wig.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted as she plugged in the hair straightener.

She grinned. "Hey there. Ready to have some straight hair?"

He shrugged. "I'm actually kind of excited to see how it looks. I never really do anything stylistically with my hair."

Tris smiled as she tampered with the heat settings, then looked at him through the mirror. "I'm glad you're able to do things like this and not worry about being too feminine or something. So many theater guys are going to be pissed when they realize they have to wear makeup onstage."

"We have to what?" a few guys asked.

Tris began to straighten his hair after laughing a little, and he didn't complain when she tugged a little too hard or got the million-degree straightener a little too close to his scalp. Chris called everyone out, but Tris wasn't done with his hair, so they told a castmate to relay to message to Christina. The result was surprising to him; he didn't think it'd look bad, but he didn't think it'd look good, either. It turned out great though.

He stood and turned to face Tris and thank her, and finally realized how gorgeous she looked. "Thank you for doing my hair," he told her gratefully.

She smiled as she looked up at him and toyed with his hair a little more, attempting to part it properly. "My pleasure. Sorry if I was little rough or burned you or anything. I'm just so used to having mine pulled every which way for cheer hairdos," she told him with a little chuckle.

He shrugged. "It wasn't too bad."

She gave a him a look. "I saw you wince a few times."

He smiled. "Okay, yeah, but it's seriously fine. Beauty is pain, right?"

She grinned. "I suppose. Now, come on, we've got a rehearsal to do." She started to walk out, but he stopped her and made her do a little twirl before pulling him to her chest. Lust filled her eyes, he saw, and she bit her lip a little. He acted as thought he was going to go in for a kiss, but he only leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You look good, Tris." Because she did. The Rapunzel dress fit her well, and she wore the wig with all the grace in the world. He didn't know how she functioned with that thing weighing her down.

She grinned. "Remember when you said that when you drove me to Chris's party? After the basketball game at Fairmont?"

He nodded. "How could I forget? That was the first time I really said something even halfway flirtatious."

She grinned. "C'mon." She dragged him out, much to his chagrin. They both knew what he'd rather be doing.
"'Bout damn time!" Christina yelled when they walked out. "C'mon, places! 'When Will My Life Begin?'"

Tris took her place on the stage, attempting to adjust with the wig. It was her first day wearing the wig, and they opened with their first show in four short days. She grabbed the broom prop and began. She couldn't even get through the whole number without tripping over the wig and Christina stopping and yelling at her, and it hurt Tobias to watch. It didn't help that the rest of the cast was watching, since it was only her and Pascal in the scene. The little boy from the elementary school who played the part of Pascal was simply the cutest, and he saw he go up to a distressed Tris. He couldn't see for sure, but it looked like she was ready to break down from the stress of the wig and maneuvering with and around it. He would've gone up on the stage himself, but if he interrupted the scene in any way, Chris would've ripped him a new one. She smiled, and he felt a little better about the situation.

"It's simple, Tris, come on! You only have to do it until you get to the 'Kingdom Dance' scene." Tris only rolled her eyes, then continued to run the scene from the top. He hoped Tris and Chris discussed how difficult this tech week would be, physically, emotionally, and mentally. He didn't want there to be any hard feelings between the best friends. He knew Chris hadn't meant anything by the attitude, especially since she probably hadn't even realized she was giving off a rude tone. He also knew Tris was sensitive and didn't take things very well if there wasn't an especially positive tone.

He decided to take a risk. He stood, then walked over to Christina while Tris was in the middle of her number.

"Hey," he greeted in a low voice, "you seem stressed."

She huffed and didn't copy his low volume. "Yeah. I'm stressed. I have a show in four days and my lead can't function in the wig that makes the whole show."

Luckily Tris didn't hear since she was in her own world, but other cast members did.

Tobias kept his cool. "Listen, it's her first day with it. I'm sure she'll adjust."

Christina kept her eyes on her friend. "She better."

He braced himself for her reaction to what he was about to say. "She might be more receptive if you used a more positive tone with her. I know both of you are under a lot of pressure and stress, but you're her best friend and I'm sure you know that she doesn't respond well to negativity."

She huffed, then finally looked at him. "Are you trying to tell me how to do my job?"

He sighed, then defensively said, "No, Christina, I promise you I'm not. I just don't want either of you to do something you regret, and I was just trying to help. I'm telling you she'll do better with positive reinforcement."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to snap. You're right. I will try it. Thank you."

He gave a slight nod to her, then took his place in a seat a row or two back.

Tris finished the song, and Christina clapped. Tris awaited in anticipation for Chris's judgement.

"That was better, Tris," she said reassuringly. "You only stumbled once, and I'm sure you'll get used to the wig and the routine. Would you like to move on? We can break this down again tomorrow."

Tris smiled, then gave Tobias a grateful glance. "Yes, that'd be great. Thank you. I promise I'll get it down."

Christina smiled as much as she could, then called for the next scene, which occurred at the Ugly Duckling, so there were more cast members involved. The rest of the rehearsal went fairly well, and Christina mostly kept up her semi-positive attitude.

It was after nine o'clock when they were released, so everyone was exhausted. Luckily, Tobias drove the two of them to school that day, and even though it was less than ten minutes to her house, she fell asleep on the way, hugging his right arm and lying her head on it. He made sure to avoid every pothole and bump and turned with care so she wouldn't move around too much. He slowed down when approaching her driveway, then eventually put the car in park, reaching across his body with his left hand around to change gears. He couldn't help but steal a few moments to admire her. A lock of hair fell from her bun and he slowly swept it to the side and behind her ear. Her cheek was pressed up against his arm, contorting her face all cute-like. He knew he had to wake her eventually, but didn't want her to have to go.

"Tris," he said softly. He placed a palm on her cheek and swirled his index finger a little, gently brushing her skin.

She inhaled sharply and groaned a little. Her eyes fluttered open, and when she saw they were in front of her house, she groaned and fell back into his arm.

He laughed a little. "You're awfully cute."

She gave a tired groan again.

"I love you and all, but I kind of need to go home, and you need to get some sleep."

She shot up, and he flinched. "What?" she asked, suddenly awake.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"What'd you just say?" she asked with a little nervous laugh.

His stomach dropped, realizing what he said and the weight of it. He hadn't meant to tell her for a while. They'd only been dating for a month and a half, even though they'd been flirting long before that. Either way, he didn't want to scare her off. He scratched the back of his head, then faced her. He had to own up to it, he decided.

Then, with a little laugh, he said, "I said I love you, and that I needed to go ho—"

She laughed, giddy. "I don't care about the rest." Tris dove in to kiss him, but they were both smiling too much. He pulled her tight, letting it be known that his love was true. When she pulled back, she looked alive.

"I love you too, Tobias Eaton."

He leaned forward and laid his cheek on her breastbone with his arms wrapped around her waist. She cradled his head, and he felt so peaceful. He had everything he could ever want.

He pulled away eventually. "Thank you," he said softly, looking her in her beautiful eyes.

She looked puzzled. "For what?"

"Showing me how."

She must've received his message without him having to say what he really meant: Thank you for teaching me how to love. She laughed a little. "Tobias, I never had to show or teach you. I just had to pull that part of you out from deep inside. It was always in you."

He pulled her in for another kiss. He had no other response for her other than that.