Hey Bartender, Hit Me

Chapter 17

[i didn't make this, but it's beautiful]

***

Everyone's looking at me.

    Everyone's always looking at you. You're the lead in the show, and you're literally on stage right now.

    They're gonna know,

    How are they gonna know? It's not obvious.

    They're gonna know.

    That was the argument Luke was having with himself as he held his script in shaky hands and delivered his lines to Calum, the only other person on stage with him.

    "Yeah, let's cut for a minute," Evan yelled out in the middle of Luke fumbling over his lines. He was sitting in the middle of the auditorium at a small desk with Jeremy while they were going through one of the scenes in the play.

    Evan frowned, standing up from his seat and walking into the aisle.

    "Luke, what's going on, buddy? You seem nervous. Do you get stage fright?"

    "NO, no sir, that's not an issue. I-I'm sorry if I'm not doing great today, I just..."

    They're gonna know.

    "You are doing great, Luke, don't beat yourself up. I just have a couple notes..." Evan smiled sheepishly.

    "S-sure,"

    He tried to listen while Evan told him what he needed to fix, he really did. But his mind was torn between everyone finding out, or Michael finding out if he didn't listen to his instructions.

    "Luke, your character has to fidget, but not too much. We don't want you to do it so much that it becomes white noise to the audience. A light touch is all you need that way when you do something, they notice it."

    Luke nodded, bringing his left hand up to scratch his head and then quickly bringing it down and hiding it behind his back.

    "No jewelry allowed, Luke." Jeremy called from his seat. Evan looked back at him in confusion. Jeremy was sitting in the middle of the theater with his legs up over the backrest of the chair in front of him and his arms casually laid across the chair next to him. He looked calm and relaxed. "I saw something glint on his hand, and our rule is no jewelry allowed in rehearsal, except for--"

    "Engagement rings," Luke whispered quietly,  his voice carrying around the entire theater as he held his hand up.

    The auditorium was quiet for a moment while everyone processed the information.

    "SHUT THE FUCKING FRONT DOOR, LUCAS WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?" Calum screamed, rushing over to his best friend and hugging him. Niall popped out from behind stage and did the same thing, throwing his arms around his two best friends as they jumped and cheered.

    Luke smiled, the excitement they felt was slightly contagious and he found himself looking down at the thin silver band with the small diamonds embedded inside. It was pretty, Luke really liked the ring. They'd gone and looked at them last week, the day after the incident happened in the bar. Michael had given him this last night.

    "Luke, this is excellent news!" Evan walked on stage and congratulated him with a clap on the back. "We're all so happy for you."

    Luke smiled.

    "Do you have a date for the wedding?" Niall asked, holding Luke's hand so he could see the ring.

    Evan had allowed them a ten minute break so everyone could talk to Luke before they got back on with the reading.