overture | newsies imagines

ben fankhauser || to kiss a girl

i sat up in my seat as the waitress walked towards our table. andrew laughed at me as i clapped my hands in excitement. the waitress set down our trays of food and left us to eat and enjoy the show, which would not start for another five minutes or so.

i danced around in my seat slightly as i tasted the first part of my food. andrew, once again, laughed at me. i reached across the table and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. scott, who was pretending to come to his defense, tossed my hand away. i gave him an angry look and opened my mouth to speak when the hostess stood up on the stage and introduced ben.

i settled back in my seat beside ryan and continued to eat my dinner plate. when ben was introduced and he walked on stage, the four of us stood up and cheered as loudly as we possibly could. bens eyes looked out across the crowd of people and lingered on our table with a growing smile. he winked at me before beginning his first song.

halfway through the show, i finished my food and slid back in my seat to delve into his performance. throughout the entire thing, ben had a difficult time detaching his eyes from mine. for the very last song, ben paused to explain it to the audience.

"this, uh, last song," he spoke, adjusting the microphone stand for the hundredth time, "was written for this workshop i did a few years ago right before newsies happened. a month prior to this workshop, i went on a date."

the audience awed and ryan bumped his shoulder into mine. i blushed deeply and pressed the backs of my hands to my cheeks. andrew looked back at me with a cheeky grin and wiggled his eyebrows.

"it wasn't a very good date, on my end. see, i was late and it was raining and my entire outfit was sloppy, to say the least. but she, the girl i was going to be on this date with, still waited for me to arrive. she was a little feisty at first, considering the circumstances, but stayed." his eyes ended back on mine again. he gripped the microphone and smiled. "and we spent four hours in that little cafe, drinking too many teas and talking till her throat was, quite literally, sore. when we decided we should end the date, i gave her my coat because she didn't bring one. and then it ended up with me walking her home because it was dark and i insisted on it."

the scene rolled out in my head, almost like it was yesterday that this had happened. my fingers immediately tugged on the ring as my chest filled itself with heat.

"and, um, at her, uh, door, i said goodbye and turned to leave when she sighed heavily and shut her door. it snapped into my head, at this moment, that i was the biggest idiot i ever knew."

the audience laughed at his words and he continued, "because i hadn't kissed her. it was stupid because there was so much chemistry between us and i knew we could both see us going somewhere and i hadn't done so much as kiss her. and to this day i regret that moment that i walked away."

i bit down on my lip, attempting to hush the hiccups that wanted to escape as i attempted to silently sob.

"but then i called her the next day and we went on so many more dates and i kissed her twice as much to make up for that one time i didn't. and, eventually, i proposed and she—"

everyone booted and hollered. ryan tugged on my arm, leaning his head against my own.

"she sadly said no." the audience hushed quickly and an awkward laugh rolled over it. "nah, i'm just kidding!"

more laughter, more blushing, more butterflies.

"she said yes." ben pumped his fist into the air. "anyways, backtrack a bit. to the workshop. what made me kiss her for the first time was this song at the workshop because it goes as follows."

the piano refrain began and ben breathed deeply into the mic. he opened his mouth and, like always, sweet music poured from his lips. when he was finished, the audience screamed and clapped for forever. i gently made my way through the crowd of bustling people leaving the club and found ben exiting the stage. he opened his arms for me and held me tightly in his embrace.