The Final Curtain's Fall
Read the storyThere was a gloominess lingered in the packed room at the after party. Mixing beautifully with all the happiness, pride and adrenaline. The cast happy that they'd pulled it off, the show had been a roaring success - but still sad that all the months of hard work had come to an end. It was bittersweet, but all seemed to balance out. For most of them. Tommy was stood in a slight corner of the bright room, balloons and party decorations cluttering every unoccupied and reachable area, the gold and silver catching the light - making the entire room sparkle behind his tear-filled eyes. He blinked them away, quickly. This wasn’t the time to feel sad. Hed let himself feel it when he got back to the safe confines of his own apartment. He hugged the foot of the high glass he held and let his gaze travel across the crowd. Pride swelled in his chest as his eyes fell onto the members of the cast - his team and friends. They had really pulled it off. Two nights in a row, sold out venues, the laughter and awe still ringing in his ears. Yet something deep in his chest ached. And he didn’t know how to stop it. Tommy didn’t do well with endings, never had. It left an empty space in his heart and brain that nothing would seem to fill for a long time, ending up mourning the loss rather than celebrating what he’d won. He realized, even as he stood there that this went deeper than the show, beyond the long hours of rehearsals, days spent memorizing scripts, and nights spent cramped in his apartment writing songs with Chanse. Chanse It always came back to him. It never stopped. In the back of Tommys mind, the rational and perhaps cynical part that usually took the lead, he’d known from the start that this is how it would play out. Working so close together. Spending that much time. Outside of the usual structure, bleeding in to the personal and blurring the lines to something real. He knew they'd get close. Because they always did. And it always felt good like this. Natural and easy, but tense and unpredictable all the same. And then, it always ended. Chanse making him promise, bright and warm - his hazel eyes sparkling with something real - that they would keep this up. Keep close. Tommy agreeing, wanting nothing more. And then, as soon as the curtains closed, the cameras shut down, he pulled away. Didn’t call Didn’t make an effort. Created distance… Tommy had stopped believing it, didn’t even try anymore. Just smiled, swallowing the lump of the inevi