Requested by @Thotty_actin_naughty
That username is just gold btw.
Final Duet is a song but I'm not sure who it's originally by I just listened to or3o's version, go check it out it's great!
Music is quite the popular sound within the human race, it inspired people, and moved them to feel strong emotions simply from words said in a different way than talking, simply sounds with rhythm.
Sure, many people love just listening to it, letting it flow through their minds like a sort of soothing therapist to rid them of their thoughts. Then there were people like Sammy Lawrence.
For Sammy, music was his everything. His career, his support, his only reason to live. He hadn't grown fond of any person he'd known to exist, mainly due to his poor attachment to his family when he was a child.
Abuse and hate pierced the heart of a small child, and the hole it made only grew as they grew with it. Sure he was an adult now, but it still hurt. He didn't want to feel the pain, and music made him forget.
He promised himself to never trust again, never rely on another person, or love another person. He promised himself this, but some promises were meant to be broken.
He never doubted people would only use him and leave him, just like his parents had. He was mean to everyone, snapped at them and yelled if they do much as looked at him the wrong way.
His coworkers soon found out it was just easier to avoid him, to leave him alone to wallow in his self hatred and pity. That was, until a new projectionist had been hired. The old one quit, probably because she had to work near Sammy and got frightened.
Norman Polk was this man's name. He was tall and kind hearted, this only further causing Sammy to repeat the promise he made to himself in his mind.
When he first met Norman it surely was awkward. Sammy recalled that the projectionist must've thought him as a cruel and stuck up dickhead after what he'd said to him.
It was early one morning and Sammy had finished writing a song, getting out of his chair to deliver it to Joey, then Jack if it was approved. He accidentally left on his desk the print of another song he had in progress, but this wasn't for work, it was just for fun.
While grabbing his work song, he also accidentally grabbed his made up song, and as he was walking along had dropped it in the hall without noticing.
On his way back to his office, he stopped in the doorway of the music department and saw a new man standing there. He'd never seen him before, so was slightly curious as to what he was doing in the studio.
"Hello." The tall man greeted with a smile. "I'm Norman, the new projectionist here. I found this in the hall, I'm pretty sure it's yours since it's a music sheet." Norman held out Sammy's song to him.
Sammy became embarrassed for some odd reason, something he wasn't used to being all that much, and snatched the song from Norman's hand. He flinched back a bit at Sammy's sudden aggression.
The short blonde marched into his office and slammed the paper on his desk. "Are you alright?" Norman asked, having had followed him. He stopped just outside of Sammy's office door, worried he'd get yelled at if he stepped any further.
Sammy just gave him a glare before turning away to stuff the song paper into his bag. "Okay...hey what's your name?" Norman asked, changing the subject to hopefully get Sammy less angry.
"None of your business, get lost." Sammy growled, slamming the door in Norman's face. Yep, that was their fist encounter. Not too great. Sammy had thought for sure after that Norman would stay away. Boy, was he wrong.
Norman would constantly keep trying and trying to talk to the unwilling musician, failing each time and only getting Sammy to yell harder with each try. Only getting him to force that promise deeper into his broken mind.
But the deeper that promise went, the more it was forgotten. Soon Sammy found himself to stop yelling and just go quite when Norman talked, the man obviously noticing.
He didn't talk back, not yet at least. Despite never having any good interactions with anyone before, Norman was so much different. He cared? But why? Why would he care for a man he didn't know anything about, didn't even know his name because the past few months all he did was yell at him to leave.
But now he was just quiet. He gave up because Norman was persistent. Norman kept asking his name but Sammy never gave him the answer, always walked away or shut doors in the poor man's face.
Despite his constant anger, Sammy was always feeling warm and fuzzy inside whenever around the man, but ignored his feelings until they showed in a bright blush on his face, then always hid his face from Norman.
Norman would notice however, and he understood what Sammy was trying to hide, but was waiting for the right time to talk to him about it.
The musician would often play on the piano after work when he was sure nobody was there to listen, but Norman was there, every single time he listened. Sammy was unknowingly telling everything to Norman.
It was a few months after they'd met that Sammy had finished that song he was working on. It took that long due to rarely any time available to work on it. He called it Final Duet.
After waiting about five minutes after work, he began playing it on the piano, singing to the lyrics he made. Norman always saved a projector to deal with after work so he could listen to Sammy sing. He loved his voice.
He listened as Sammy sung, quietly walking down the steps of the projectionist booth and crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the music department's doorframe.
As Sammy came slowly to a stop, Norman gave a small round of applause, causing Sammy to jump a foot in the air, startled. He saw Norman and his face flushed a dark red, quickly standing with his back to the piano.
"N-Norman! How long have you been there?!" Sammy demanded, mentally cursing at himself for stuttering. Norman just smiled as politely as ever, walking closer so he stood merely a foot from Sammy.
"I was just doing a bit of work before heading home. You have an amazing voice by the way." Norman smirked and looked at Sammy affectionately as the blondes face flared up.
"I-! Y-you...I already told you countless times before to leave me alone, never mind watching me without my knowing!" Sammy growled, face burning so hot he felt he might blow up.
Norman let out a small chuckle at his adorable display of anger. "I told you I was just working. Also I'm gunna stop bugging you for your name, Wally told me." Norman dropped his smirk and gave Sammy a serious look.
He stepped a bit closer, testing his limits at now half a foot. Sammy, to his shock, stayed put. Norman took a breath and asked the question he'd been meaning to ask. "Sammy, who hurt you?" He said cautiously.
Sammy was obviously taken aback at the question, the surprise of it quickly subsiding into anger. "What the hell kinda question is that?!" He snapped.
"By no means is any of my personal life your business! You can't just-" Sammy started ranting about Norman 'minding his damn business'.
Norman huffed and stepped closer, grabbing Sammy's shoulders and staring dead into his eyes. Sammy froze and shut his mouth, staring back in confusion.
"Sammy, you can't keep doing this to yourself, you can't isolate yourself from everyone and live all alone in your own little world, it's not healthy, it's not okay." Norman said, worry etched into his face.
Sammy wasn't sure how to respond to that. It was the most forward anyone had been to him about him avoiding humanity. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake away the feelings of safety and trust he felt towards Norman.
He wanted to tell him everything, but at the same time didn't. Sammy's throat tightened as he felt the sudden urge to cry. Norman pulled Sammy's shoulders down so they were both sitting on the piano's bench.
He looked at Sammy's distressed face and pulled him into a hug. Sammy stopped breathing for a second. Was this what it felt like to have someone care? Did Norman really care that much?
The tall man was warm and had his arms wrapped around Sammy so the short man felt protected and cozy at the same time. It was the most lovely thing he'd ever felt in his life.
He very slowly hugged Norman back, his lip quivering as he held in as best as he could the tears that wanted free. He was sure he was able to hold it down until Norman began to stroke his hair. It was too much for Sammy and he suddenly burst out crying, not able to stop.
Norman just hugged him tighter as the short blonde sobbed his heart out into the tall man's shoulder. He whispered comforting things in Sammy's ear as he cried, continuing to pet his hair.
After a while, Sammy had gone silent but Norman still hugged him. "I-I'm sorry." Sammy muttered. Norman gently put his hands on the musician's shoulders and pulled him back to look into his eyes.
"Don't be sorry about things you can't control." Norman said. "And keep in mind even if whatever happened to you influenced your ways of being able to trust, I'm always here for you whether you trust me or not." Norman said.
He gave a small smile to Sammy, who returned it. It was the first real smile he'd had in so long. Years. Many years. Their eyes were locked and none of them looked away. For some reason, Sammy didn't feel awkward about it.
Norman suddenly leaned forwards and kissed Sammy. He pulled away after a few moments, face flustered. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to-" he was cut off as Sammy grabbed his tie and yanked him down into another kiss.
It surely wasn't at all how he thought his day would end up, but hey, he couldn't complain.
