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〖epilogue⋆curtain call 〗
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Garrett's life had changed since October. The month turned to November - he placed applications into colleges he actually wanted to go to, Columbia's never finished - and he auditioned for The Music Man with the help of Laurel and Tatiana, who had been preparing for much longer than him but that didn't matter.
Tatiana got the leading role of Marian, not that it surprised him seeing as she was very talented and had an amazing voice. And, surprisingly, he got the role of Charlie Cowell. The only terrible thing about it was the fact that he and Tatiana had to share a kiss on stage. Obviously, both were disgusted to be kissing their friend and even more than that Garrett really did like kissing a girl. Especially with his own boyfriend in the audience.
Peter still snuck into his room, mostly to laugh at old times. He can over for movie nights with Ned and they would chill in his living room. Laurel started coming to them as well, complaining about Star Wars which led to disgusted gasps and debates between her and Ned, Peter sometimes giving his own arguments. All the while Garrett would be rolling his eyes and trying to plan an escape (it never worked).
His relationships with his parents had changed. Greg had practically disowned his son, never talking about him or to him, but his mother was always there. She was distant at first, taking in the news, but then became very apparent in his life. She even invited Peter over for dinner one night while his dad was out of town, something that warmed his heart.
Clayton rehearsed lines with him and often laughed at him for his lines and imitated him. It was out of good fun, so Garrett laughed along with him. The two started going to Patty's after school every day to annoy Tatiana together, which caused the girl to always bring a bottle of Advil with her. They snickered at that but did tone it down a little so she wouldn't murder them.
Closing night for the play came quicker than Garrett wanted. It was in January, near the end where it was too damn cold and he cursed New York for its climate and location. He smiled on stage when came for the curtain call, bowing and raising his hand up to do it again with Tatiana. He could dimly see his mother in the audience, Peter and Clayton sitting beside them.
Rushing out after, whooping as they went through the halls to get to the lobby, Garrett laughed beside Tatiana. The two got out there and stood waiting before Clayton came barreling at them with hugs. "You guys are so good!" he gushed, then moving to give Laurel a hug of her own which had the girl blushing. She had gotten an ensemble role as a teenager and loved it more than anything. "Damn, who knew you were so talented, Garrett?"
He rolled his eyes, lightly punched Clayton in the shoulder, to which the boy laughed. "Shut up, West," he smiled, seeing his mom and boyfriend coming out, talking to each other.
"Yeah, Garrett just keeps surprising all of us," Tatiana agreed.
"Hey, mom," Laurel greeted when the two got over to them, giving her hug as the woman squeezed her daughter tightly.
"Oh, you both did so good," she gushed to the both of her children before looking at Tatiana, "And you did wonderful, dear. I am so proud of all of you."
Garrett laughed. "Thanks, mom," he said in return before turning to Peter, "Enjoy the show."
The boy nodded. "I enjoyed it the first three times, too," he said and Garrett grinned at him, swooping in to kiss the boy sweetly and pulling away a second later.
"Ugh," Laurel complained, "PDA is so not appreciated, Gar."
"Oh, shut up, Laurel," he said back.
"We should probably get changed," Tatiana suggested, pulling the Lockwood siblings with her to the back so they could get out of their costumes.
Garrett got out of costume quickly - he had never been a fan of suits, especially ones that didn't exactly fit. He waited outside for Tatiana and Laurel, seeing the two girls depart.
"Hey, Gar," Tatiana said as they began walking back out to the lobby, "You wanna head with Clayton and I to get some ice cream."
He smiled at the girl and nodded, "Sure."
And when they got back outside, Laurel went with their mother and Peter kissed him goodbye. "You can come with us if you want, Peter," Clayton invited him as he was about to leave, but the Parker boy just shook his head.
"Nah, I'm just gonna go home," he said, which Garrett really knew meant that he was going to start patrolling for a couple hours before actually going home.
"Alright, be safe," Garrett told his boyfriend, to which the boy nodded. He kissed Peter one last time and watched the boy walk out the doors.
"You are so gone for him it makes me sick," Tatiana groaned, though all of them knew she didn't really mean it, "Really, I think I'm gonna barf."
Garrett rolled his eyes and elbowed the girl lightly, "Oh, shut up. You're just jealous that you don't have someone of your own."
Tatiana hummed in consideration to that answer, "I'm sure that has to be it."
Clayton just cackled at them. "Come on, I want some ice cream now," and the three of them left the theatre.
They went to the subway, taking seats on the train once the doors opened for them. Tatiana rested her head on Clayton's shoulder, tired after the performance, and the West boy played on his phone. Garrett, however, looked at the people.
He just observed. Many had their eyes closed with exhaustion written on their faces. There was a woman holding her child and trying to smile and play quietly with them, though it was apparent that the woman just wanted to get home. Three business men were sitting together and one was on the phone, rather loudly complaining probably to their secretary to cancel a meeting the next day.
Garrett didn't say anything as he moved his head to watch the left side of the cart. There was nothing particularly interesting happening on that side and yet he still watched. It was what he loved; just observing and never partaking.
He didn't notice how long he was staring, just letting himself go, until Tatiana shook him, bringing him back into the conscience world and breaking him from his trance.
"Still being creepy and watching people, Lockwood?" she teased him with a smile.
He rolled his eyes, "I prefer the term people watching."
The three of them stood up and moved out of the cart, heading to Patty's. They laughed together, eating their delicious treats, and Garrett didn't think about the perfect thing to say that would make them happy; he was just himself in the conversation. He was letting go, and he didn't care. He wasn't just fine or okay, sorry excuses and lies for how he actually was; he was happy. And what a wonderful feeling that was.
