Maladaptive Daydream

I'm nothing special.

8.16.24 cont.

The stage manager called all the performers to the stage so that the rehearsal could officially start.

(Joseph's POV)

Jamie, Keery, and Joseph all fins seats towards the front to watch the rehearsal. "So, Joseph, you finally met her. What do you think?" Keery asked. "Honestly, I'm just as infatuated with her as I was before, maybe more. Did you see her piercing y/e/c eyes? I feel like got lost in them." Joseph said while staring at y/n.

You watched as the performers blocked choreography and worked out the flow of the show, which was a mix of all of these popular Broadway shows biggest songs. You couldn't help but watch her, the way she danced was graceful and effortless, her voice was strong and powerful, and the way her head falls back and her nose crinkles when she laughs was enough to make you melt. Every once in a while she would look your way and smile, maybe it was at you, or maybe it wasn't but each time in made you blush!

Keery must have noticed because out of seemingly nowhere he elbowed your arm, "you know you are staring at her right?" "I can't help it, you might have been right, I think I have a crush on her." You replied. Jamie laughed and said, "mate it's obvious, you are head over heels for a woman you just met. You should shoot your shot with her. You've been single the whole time I've known you, and I've never seen you this into a woman before."

You sat in the theater for a few hours while they figured out the show and you tried to think of a way to take a shot with her, without scaring her off.

The time was now 3:00pm and the stage manager ended the rehearsal since most of it was figured out.

After turning in his mic and saying goodbye to his cast mates, Gaten comes up to you guys, poor kid looks exhausted after having just sang and danced for 4 hours straight. "Gentleman, y/n and Skyler have invited us to the Heathers wrap party tonight. Thoughts?" He asked. Almost in unison, all of us said "yes!"

(Y/n POV)
6:00pm

You had gotten back to the hotel about two hours ago and had taken a shower and gotten ready for the wrap party. You decided to wear your hair down in loose curls and do simple makeup, a Smokey eye and some pink lip gloss. You are wearing a long black dress with slits that go up almost to your hips but still keep everything covered, this dress shows off just enough, but still makes you comfortable with the fit. You wore some simple black heels and a black clutch to complete the outfit. The whole cast and invited guests were going to a nice Italian place for dinner and then to a City Walk Club for dancing and karaoke.

Skyler had told you on the car ride back that she had invited the Stranger Things guys and you were instantly nervous. You noticed during rehearsal that Joseph kept looking at you which only made you more nervous. It caused you to blush and smile each time you caught him looking. You've had a crush on him for years and meeting him was everything you thought it was going to be. "But why was he watching me? I'm nothing special." You thought to yourself.

Time skip to 7:40pm.

You arrive at the restaurant about 5 minutes early, which is surprising because you are almost always a little late to everything. You see some of your cast mates in a back corner and walk back to join them. Everyone is mingling and introducing their guests to the cast and vice versa. You really did get close with everyone while touring in this show.

Everyone has started getting hungry, so you all go to find your seats, the event planners had put out table assignments to keep everything more organized. You finally find your table and look around to see who you will be sat with and before you could read the names on the place cards you hear a voice from behind you.

"Hello again darling, looks like you are stuck with us!" You turn around to see Jamie and Keery smiling at you. You give them each a friendly hello and go to pull out your chair but then another set of hands beats you to it. You look up and make eye contact with Joesph and he says, "M'lady." He gives you a nodding gesture for you to have a seat, as he helps you into your chair.
"Awe, what a gentleman!" you exclaim as you take your seat. Jamie sits down on your left and Joesph sits down at your right. You are sandwiched between two beautiful men with even more beautiful accents.

As the night goes on your whole table, which consists of you, Joseph, Jamie, Gaten, Keery, and Skyler, makes small talk about the Heathers, and other projects you have all worked on and what upcoming projects everyone has. The Stranger Things guys mention that they are in town to shoot the Halloween Horror Nights promotions which catches your attention as you will be working on that project too. Halfway through the meal you realized you were no longer nervous around them, well most of them. Any kind of eye contact with Joseph, and the sound of his voice have your butterflies.

Once the meal was over it was time to head to the clubs for dancing and karaoke. Once in the club, Skyler orders a round of shots for the group and everyone starts to loosen up and get out on the dance floor. You and Gaten have been dancing to some weird techno music for a while when the DJ gets on the mic announcing that you all are in the club tonight which makes the crowd start to cheer and people start to stare and take photos and videos. This makes you uncomfortable, so you excuse yourself to go outside and take a drag off of your medi pen. You only need it when your anxiety is bad, and all this extra attention makes it spike.

(Josephs POV)

Gaten comes back to the table and tells the group that the whole club now knows that we are here because the DJ announced it to them. Most of the group decided that it was time to calling it a night. You look around and notice Y/n is nowhere to be seen, you ask around, and a few people say that they think they saw her go outside. You step outside to look for her and see her sitting on a bench blowing smoke out of her nose. "Mind if I join you?" You ask her. "Not at all," she says, "It was getting a little too crowded in there for me. I just needed a break." You sat down beside her and light a cigarette.

"Yea I know what you mean, I wish I could just enjoy a night out with my friends like I used to." You say. She nods in agreement, and you can see her give a little shiver as the temperature has dropped a little and the wind picked up. "I think everyone is headed back to their hotels for the night." you tell her. She nods and says, "I figured the night would be ending soon when the whole place realized we were here." You both sit there for a little while longer in comfortable silence until Keery comes outside and asks, "Hey guys, were headed back to the hotel now, did you both want to join us or were you going to stay a while longer?" You look over at Y/n waiting to hear her response. "I think I'm going to walk back, it's not too far and I could use the fresh air." You hear her say. Before even thinking about it you ask, "Would you like some company?" She turns her head to you and answers, "I would love some."

You both say goodnight to Keery as he heads back to the club to catch up with everyone else and you and Y/n stand up and start your walk back to the hotel together.