Quiet Backstage: A Series of Lippa Oneshots

Comfort

savedaturtlesk I hope you enjoy it!

Pippa had been quiet the entire morning. She was warming up, singing and talking when necessary,  but not otherwise.

"Is Pippa acting strange?" Kail whispered, leaning over to Lin.

Lin, not taking his eyes off of the warming up cast, and still continuing to softly warm up himself, leaned back into Kail. "I kind of noticed that. I'm going to pull her aside after warmups...make sure she's okay."

Kail nodded and returned to the warmup with the entire cast. When it wrapped, everyone clapped and dispersed, headed to their proper dressing rooms to start getting ready for the show.

"Hey, Pippa, could I grab you for just a second?"

"Sure, what's up?" She wondered, no distinct inflection in her voice. Her fingers tapped anxiously against her water bottle.

Lin smiled softly as to ease the tension he felt was building. "I just wanted to check in. You seemed a little quiet during rehearsals."

Pippa's shoulders immediately tensed. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't be letting this get to me and my work like that." She mumbled, shaking her head.

Lin's eyebrows knitted together in concern. "Hey, has something happened?" He gingerly touched her shoulder.

Pippa bit down on her lip and nodded, her eyes jumping to the other side of the theater. They stared off to nowhere before slowly returning to meet Lin's worried gaze.

"Um..." She stammered. "My brother...he and his wife lost their baby. I-I got the news this morning, and--" Pippa broke down into tears and Lin whipped her into a hug.

"Come here." He coaxed. He knew how close Pippa was to her brother. When her brother married his wife, Emma, she and Pippa basically became sisters. They were instantly inseparable.

Lin whispered something, but Pippa couldn't hear it over her own tears. Without even hearing, she followed along as Lin pulled her into his quiet dressing room.

"Take a seat. Here." He handed her a bottle of water.

"Thank you, Lin." Pippa cracked a small smile. "Like I said, I'm sorry that it's bothering me so bad, I'll get my shit together before the show tonight."

Now Lin was anxiously chewing on his lip. "Do you want to call in your understudy? I can't help but imagine you'd want to perform tonight, you know with the second act and all. And it's completely fine, I have her on standby."

Pippa shook her head. "No, I have to do this tonight. If I don't, I'll sit by myself at home, cry, and drink an entire bottle of wine. The show'll be a good distraction, maybe even..." She took in a deep breath and followed it with a loud exhale. "Cathartic."

Lin nodded, understandingly. "Alright. But if you change your mind, just let me know." He kissed the top of her head softly and let her on her way to go start getting ready.

~~~~~

Lin was worried about Pippa the rest of the afternoon. He didn't say anything, but even the dressers who were helping him get into costume could sense that he wasn't completely there. It was as if his mind was somewhere else.

"Let's go out there and give them the best show!" Lin called to the whole cast before Leslie did a quick prayer over the stage and the show for the night.

Act One went surprisingly smoothly. Pippa was absolutely shining on that stage. Well, she never failed to.

During intermission, Lin popped over into her dressing room, still catching his breath from their final number in Act One.

"Are you doing okay?" He asked in a soft whisper as to not draw attention to the situation.

"Yeah, perfect." Pippa smiled a smile that puzzled Lin. Something small in that smile was ingenuine, but he couldn't quite place what it was. "I promise." She smiled and blew him a kiss.

Lin nodded as he sipped from his bottle of water. "Okay. I trust you, Pips."

"Good." Pippa giggled softly. "You should."

~~~~~

Lin knew that shit had hit the fan when it came to Stay Alive's reprise. Pippa's scream was all too blood curdling. It echoed through the theater and was full of emotions even stronger than usual.

Lin knew it probably took the audience's breath away, but it absolutely stopped Lin's heart.

As Hamilton was blocked to do, he cradled his grieving wife, but this time, tightly, closely. It wasn't just blocking this time, it was for real.

Pippa cried real, heavy tears against Anthony's torso, and even Anthony started to pick up on the energy on that stage. Everything was suddenly heightened and vulnerable.

Lin was quick to hurry offstage with Pippa. Even though he knew she would finish this show if it killed her, he wanted to make sure she wasn't just going to fling herself into these heavy emotions for the last half hour.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Pippa rambled into Lin's chest.

"No, no, no, don't be sorry. Don't be sorry. Breathe and get some water okay? You have a bit of a break." Lin pulled her into a secure hug.

Pippa nodded, fanning at her face as her eyes scanned the immediate area around her for makeup wipes. She'd have to run back to her dressing room.

"Now, I have to go cheat on you real quick, but I'll be back soon, okay?" Lin joked.

Pippa choked out a broken laugh, but nodded again. "Thank you, Lin, for everything tonight."

"Of course." Lin smiled softly. "Anything for you."