Septiplier One Shots

The Phantom in my Mind

(Seán's P.O.V.)

I sigh, walking into the theater. As soon as I walk through the door I'm met with commotion and business. The stage is covered with theater kids making sets. More kids run to and from backstage holding props, equipment, supplies, and costumes. Other kids are running in between seats, going to the stage, talking to managers, getting to the rafters. 

I look up, at the rafters, to see the lighting crew working on getting the lights back in shape. One of them waves at me, I wave back. I turn my head and I see the sound booth, two kids working on audio and sound effects. They both wave at me and I smile back at them. I have to admit, I do kind of miss working behind the scenes. But I have my eyes on another prize right now.

"Tommy! Get light F2 in order! Set group A! Speed it up! Set group C! Split up! Half of you work on a new set!" I chuckle. There she is. I smile at Katie, who has yet to see me. Katie is the oldest theater kid here, only a few months older than me. But because she's the oldest, she's always director. It helps that she is incredibly talented at it. 

I walk over to her as another boy runs up to her. "Kat, these mics aren't working. What do I do?" He asks. Katie looks at the mics before looking back up at the boy.

"Peter, how about you work on them with A.J, see if you can fix them. If you can't, talk to Sparrow, she can order more." She says. Peter nods and runs off. This is when I walk over to Katie. I wave.

"Hi Katie." I say. She turns and smiles.

"Hey Seán. No clue why you're here, but can you make it quick please? I'm super busy." She says, turning and walking away. I walk behind her.

"Um... Uh... I wanted to ask you something." I say. 

"What is it?" She asks. I hesitate. I don't want to make a wrong move but I have to ask. I turn, watching as the interview screen lights up. Under the word "interview" is the famous mask and rose from the play. I sigh. I do love "Phantom of The Opera". It's always been a favorite. And I want to be a part of it. I turn back around and look at Katie, speaking without thinking. 

"I want you to reconsider casting me as Raoul." I say. She freezes and sighs, turning and looking at me.

"Look, Seán, you are talented. And I have loved working with you these past three years. But you do not fit the part. You don't fit the part, and you do not fit this play. I'm sorry." She says. I huff. I know I shouldn't get defensive, or annoyed, but I don't feel like that's an acceptable excuse.

"Well then who else are you going to cast?" I ask. She hesitates.

"I don't know yet, but we'll find someone." She says. I raise my arms.

"Me! Please Katie!" I'm practically begging. She's about to open her mouth to respond when a voice interrupts her. 

"Come on Kat. Let him in." I tense at the voice. A voice I know all to well. Katie scoffs.

"And what makes you say that Mark?" I turn as she says that, staring at the boy walking up to us. He smiles, but doesn't even look at me while I do nothing but stare at him.

"He used to help me practice. He's really talented, and I know he doesn't look it now, but he can do this part justice. More than anyone else in this school can." He says. I hear Katie sigh, but I don't look at her, not yet. I only do when she taps my shoulder. I snap my head around, eyes still wide. 

"Welcome to the cast." She says, handing me a binder. I take it gratefully, letting her walk away before I look at it. In big bold letters on the front I read "Raoul". I got the part. Mark helped me get the part. I turn and look at him again, watching as he still doesn't look at me.

Mark and I used to be best friends. Like he said, I helped him practice his lines and songs for performances, but we'd hang out at other times too. We'd play a lot of video games. But then I made a stupid mistake. I confessed. I told him I had a crush on him. All he did was leave the room. No calls, no texts, not even a glance in the hallway. Then I never saw him in the hallway at all.

I have to say, having not seen him in a year, he looks really good. He runs a hand through his hair, looking at me finally, a smile on his face. I've missed that smile. I notice what he's wearing. Part of his costume. He catches me looking at his outfit and chuckles.

"Yeah. Costume crew is doing fittings. I've been back there for a while now. Who knew the Phantom had so many costumes?" He chuckles. I nod.

"Yeah." I whisper. I've missed his voice. I've missed him. I look back up at his face, his eyes. His chocolate brown eyes. 

"Hey Seán." He says simply. I shake my head a bit.

"Why?" I ask softly. Mark tilts his head to the side. 

"Why what?" He asks. 

"Why did you help me get the part?" I ask a bit louder. He chuckles, a smile on his face yet again. 

"Because I want someone who can relate to me." He says. Now it's my turn to tilt my head.

"Relate? Relate about what?" I ask. I am incredibly confused. His smile softens and he stares into my eyes, the way he used to before saying something serious.

"Relate to the fact that they'd rather kiss the other male lead than the female lead." He says. My eyes widen and my cheeks heat up. Wait, what? Mark grabs my hand and pulls me into a back room, ignoring the fact that I am completely paralyzed by shock. He keeps his hand in mine. 

"What did you say?" I ask softly. I have to make sure I didn't mishear him. He chuckles.

"Listen. When I walked out like that a year ago... I only did it because I was scared. I didn't know my sexuality yet and I was scared to even think that I could like you back. But I can tell you now, walking out was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. Leaving you was the dumbest mistake I've ever made. And I'm so, so sorry." He finishes quietly, seeing as we've leaned in a bit, our noses an inch apart, our mouths only a few.

"I..." I stop. Do I forgive him? Am I okay with what he did? No, no I'm not. I am totally not okay with what he did. But... I can definitely work on getting there. I smile. "I love you." I say instead, not realizing what I said until after I said it. However instead of recoiling Mark smiles and makes the gap smaller.

"I love you too." And with that the gap closes and I know that this play is going to be the absolute best. 

A/N: Eh! Happy Halloween! Sorry this is so late. I was out late, then I had to watch YouTube, and then yeah. So, hope you enjoyed! The reason I did this is because I just finished watching Phantom yesterday and it was the first time I'd seen it in years so I got the idea to do this. It's short and simple and sweet, but I like it. Hope you guys did too! <3 Happy Halloween again! 

P.S: Jack and Mark went on to do an amazing job in the play, getting a standing ovation each, and afterwards did relate and complain about how they would much rather kiss the other male lead then the female lead. =)