Tech Week- Jlaire Fanfiction

Day 1- Sunday

Jim and Claire walked to the auditorium together, laughing and flirting, hands brushing against each other until Claire finally got the courage to intertwine their pinkies. Upon entering the auditorium, they were hit by the smell of sub-par cafeteria coffee hit them and Claire let go of his pinky. It was about to be a long day.

Their director always tried to keep the cast and crew's spirits up on the first day of tech. He always supplied them with cheap coffee, sugar, and usually pizza. After dumping her bag in her usual seat, Claire made her way to get a cup of very weak coffee. After dumping what she would consider to be an adequate amount of both cream and sugar into the small styrofoam cup of coffee, she grabbed a donut and made her way over to Toby who was setting up cameras to test angles for the final recording.

"How goes it Tobes?" She offered him the pastry.

He took it saying, "Meh, I can't complain, I get to do homework and simultaneously make fun of Jimbo, so I can't complain." He shrugged, stuffing the donut into his mouth.

This made Claire giggle before she heard Mr. Roll loudly announcing instructions, "You are mine to control for the next week. When you are not on stage you are doing homework or feeding yourself, understand? Let's get started, Lake, Nunez, head down to costumes first."

"Duty calls, see ya Tobes."

Claire made her way to meet Jim and lead him to the basement, where the costume room was. When they entered the room, their costumer Shannon looked up from her work, "Hey, there's my Romeo and Juliet! Here, take your first costumes and try them on for me."

Without hesitation, Claire grabbed the costume given to her and made her way to a dressing room. She heard Shannon explain to Jim how costuming typically works before she began to explain her thoughts, "The concept we're going for with these costumes is modern. Montagues are sports jerks, so they wear tons of uniforms and varsity jackets. Capulets operate more like a biker gang, so it's leather jackets all the way."

"Claire quickly slipped into her first costume, which wasn't dissimilar to what she would wear on a daily basis consisting of a black tennis skirt, a purple top, and a short biker jacket. She was super grateful that Shannon knew how to make her comfortable in all of her costumes. She walked out, letting Shannon examine her in the costume, allowing the costumer to take notes for adjustments. Soon enough, Jim had appeared from his own dressing room, looking cute, a little disheveled, and a tad uncomfortable. Claire couldn't stop herself from giggling at his expression, which made him relax a little.

"Okay Claire, next outfit," a dress was unceremoniously shoved at her, and she was forcefully pushed into her dressing room. A blush appeared on her face as she thought about how cute Jim looked in his first costume.

Day 2- Monday

Sitting in the auditorium waiting for everyone else to show up wasn't really Claire's idea of fun, but at least she had coffee and homework to keep her busy. If she were honest, she was grateful for the extra study time, but her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Jim in his costume. That combined with the fact that he had been getting better at kissing made her stomach knot itself into a ball of anxiety.

"Hey Claire! How's it going?" She nearly jumped out of her skin. She had been so consumed with her work that she hadn't even noticed Jim come in.

She clutched her chest, as if that would help to slow the rapid beating of her heart. "Jeez Jim, give a girl some notice before trying to kill her!"

He laughed, 'god he's cute' was all she could think. "Sorry, I thought you heard me come in." She tried to go back to her work until she felt Jim leaning over her. She looked up at him as he said, "Whatcha workin' on?"

"Oh, just some stupid math homework," She shrugged. She tried to brush him off so he wouldn't see her face slowly becoming a strawberry.

"Really? Need some help?" She looked up into his eyes, which were gleaming in excitement. How could she say no to him?

"Uh, yeah sure." Her blush had grown to her ears at this point as Jim plopped himself next to her. Their thighs ended up pressing together, as were their shoulders so that Jim could clearly see the worksheet in front of her. She felt like she might die from how fast her heart was beating. She had to force herself to breathe.

She admired how he looked when he was excitingly explaining how to work through quadratic equations (which she already knew), but she let him think he was helping. She loved being close to him, she couldn't help but wonder when he would take the hint.

Day 3- Tuesday

Today began dress rehearsals with full costume changes and all that comes with it. In order to be ready for rehearsal, Claire went to makeup immediately. Well, first she got into costume, got her microphone on, and then went to get her makeup done. Walking into the dressing rooms always filled her with a very specific type of anxiety, dread, and sadness. This room meant that the show process was almost over and it upset her.

"Hey Claire-bear!" Mary's greeting rang through the dressing room, "How's it going with our fair Romeo?" She sent Claire a wink through the mirrors. This made the girl begin to blush furiously.

"Whatever could you mean, Mary? Jim and I are simply friends," she shrugged. Claire went back to doing her makeup in the mirror, knowing that her friend would simply deconstruct the argument in a heartbeat.

"Oh come ON, Claire! You want this boy to jump your bones! Just tell him already!" Mary was exasperated with her response. She flailed wildly with the brush in her hand. She pointed it directly at Claire, who simply took the questioning.

All the other girls were relatively silent as they awaited Claire's response. Said girl took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Well," she sighed, "What? It's not like I can just come out and tell him, tell him what? That I think he's incredibly cute? And his smirk makes me melt, and his kisses make my knees weak every single time?! I can't do that! He'd think I'm some crazy stalker or something!"

What Claire had failed to see during her ramblings was the boy who had come in search of her. (He needed help with his makeup and was too embarrassed to ask anyone else for help). Upon hearing this, his entire face got red and he backed out of the room, intending to knock before re-entering.

Day 4- Wednesday

"I will kiss thy lips; Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, to make me die with a restorative." Claire leaned down as she kneeled next to Jim. She grabbed his face, holding it gently as she kissed him. "Thy lips are warm!"

"Lead, boy; which way?" Came a cry from offstage.

"Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief-" She grabbed the dagger from the sheath at Jim's waist, "O happy dagger! This is thy sheath." She dramatically stabs the knife into her chest, "there rest, and let me die."

She gently 'flopped' so that her head rested on top of Jim's chest. This was her favorite part of the show. She got to gently kiss her crush and then cuddle with him while the show ended around them.

Typically, Jim had his head turned away from the audience, chin down so Claire could hear if he said anything. He tried to get her to break most days, as her face was toward the crowd. To her surprise, the most that came from him today was a long exhale from his nose. She briefly wondered why.

Soon after, the curtains closed in front of them and the run-through was complete. Claire removed herself carefully from Jim, helping him up before they walked offstage, "You okay?" She asked quietly.

"Mostly," he replied, sending her that smile that made her weak in the knees. She squeezed his hand in response. They didn't have time to go into it at the moment, but they would talk later.

During the curtain call, they only let go of each other for their individual bows. Mr. Roll declares that no notes are needed since this was the last rehearsal before opening night and Jim wraps her in a hug. She allows herself to relax into the embrace, relishing in the pressure he provides as he squeezes her. They stayed that way for as long as they dared.

Once they let go, he caught her eye for a moment as a promise to talk later. Her cheeks began to heat up as she turned to find Mary waiting for her with a smug look on her face. Claire brushed her off, eyes rolling as she pushed through the crowd of actors to make her way to the dressing rooms. The sooner she got out of her costume, the sooner she could have an actual conversation with Jim.

She was the first one into the dressing room, the first to return her costume, and the first to return to the auditorium with her things to wait to be dismissed by their director. This gave her time to think over the performance, to think over the day, to think about the homework she needs to do, and of course to think about the boy she was possibly obsessed with.

Said boy soon joined her in the seats of the auditorium, running a makeup wipe over his face. When he was done, he looked at her with a goofy grin spreading across his face. She loved just how effortlessly he made her giggle. He placed a hand on her leg in a sign of comfort, making her blush.

Once they had been dismissed by Mr. Roll, Jim grabbed her hand and led her out of the auditorium. Having him take charge of their interaction made her stomach fill with butterflies. He pulled her toward a small seating area closed off from the rest of the world. He let out a breath he'd been holding. He held her hands between them as he looked down at them shyly, beginning to speak, "I'm sorry, I'm just… I'm really nervous about tomorrow."

She began to giggle, "Is that all? Performance anxiety?"

"Come on Claire, I'm not a seasoned performer like you, I've never done this before."

She gripped his hands tighter, pulling them close to her chest, "I know, I know… I guess it just seems a little silly to me. You're the freaking trollhunter! You fight problems every day, a few little performances are going to be fine."

She saw his shoulders visibly relax. He pulled her into a hug once more, "Thanks Claire."