Behind the Curtains

+Four+

As soon as Jeff opened the doors to the theatre, the sounds of the mayhem hit them like a truck. Running lines, a hoard of people gathered together to sing, techs running around and attempting to get the set and lighting anywhere close to what they want it to be. Annabelle smiled as she took in all the noise.

She followed Jeff through the chaos, looking around for the friend that begged her to be there. As they got closer to the stage, Annabelle was able to pick out the sound of the piano playing under all of the voices.

"Wait right here, I'll find a way to drag him from the piano," Jeff said, earning a small chuckle from Annabelle. "Oh, and uh, odd question, but do you drink peppermint mochas? I mean like, year round."

"Uh, yea, I-I do actually."

"This was probably for you then. A.J. made me run and get this for him, and then said he doesn't like peppermint and that it wasn't actually for him, so I'm assuming it was for you," Jeff explained. He handed Annabelle the cup he had been holding and she took it carefully.

"Oh, I am gonna kick his ass. He said he had already gotten this for me and used that as bribery to get me here. I'll pay you back for this. You shouldn't have had to go out of your way," Annabelle explained, annoyed yet still somewhat amused. Jeff scoffed and shook his head.

"He must really want you here, huh? Alright, I'm gonna go pry him over here for you. One second." He turned away quickly and disappeared into the mess of people. Annabelle laughed to herself, thinking about A.J.'s little plot to get her to join him.

The piano music stopped playing, as did the singing. She heard Jeff give a loud "Alright!", and the music started up again. A second later, A.J. popped out of the crowd and ran over to her.

"Hey! Oh, I'm so happy you came. I really missed you. I know it's only been four days, but..." A.J. burst out excitedly, practically smothering her and almost making her spill the cup of coffee in her hand. She chuckled and hugged him back.

"Yea, well, I've missed you too. Oh, and I met Jeff, who, y'know, brought me the coffee that you said you already had for me," Annabelle smirked. A.J. bit his lip and made an awkward, nervous sound.

"At least it's hot," he chuckled nervously. Annabelle rolled her eyes and took a drink from the cup.

"So, educate me. What's going on here? What sort of absolute madness have I walked in on?"

"Right now we're kinda just screwing around, waiting for everyone to get here. Probably a good time for me to introduce you to people. Here, come on." He took her by hand and led her back over to the piano that he had just come from.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, guys, but I just wanted to make some quick introductions. Everybody, this is Annabelle. Annabelle, this is Joey Richter, Darren Criss, Lauren Lopez, Joe Walker, Dylan Saunders, Brian Rosenthal, and of course, you already met Jeff." As he listed off names, they all gave a small wave or nod when their own was mentioned.

"Despite how much you talk about her, you never once mentioned how pretty she is," Lauren flirted, followed by a small laugh from everyone else. Annabelle's cheeks quickly flushed from white to a deep pink.

"Ah, don't embarrass her, Lauren! Poor kid just got here," Dylan stepped in.

"I-It's really fine. Um, thank you, Lauren, but honestly, you're twice as pretty as I could ever hope to be," Annabelle stuttered, the blush on her cheeks growing more prominent.

"You play piano, Annabelle?" Jeff asked, sliding over on the bench he was sitting on.

"Oh, barely. I just learned like, 4 months ago," she replied shyly. Jeff patted the space on the bench next to him.

"Come here. Try this, it's pretty simple." He shuffled through the sheet music propped up in front of the piano and landed on a piece that didn't have too many notes on it. Annabelle slid onto the bench next to him and rolled her eyes when she read the paper.

"Ok, I'm not that much of a beginner. I pick things up pretty quickly."

She took her turn shuffling through the papers before landing on the most complicated notes she could find. She looked at Jeff smugly before playing the music with perfect rhythm almost effortlessly.

"Woah, woah, wait. Last weekend you could barely play Star Spangled Banner. Where the hell did this come from?" A.J. butted in after the shock wore off.

"You're not the only one who can act, Holmes. I've been waiting for the right time to surprise you, but now seemed as good a times as any," she replied, a grin on her face. She was about to say something else, but the doors to the theatre swung open before she could. Two men, who looked fairly similar to one another, stood with binders in each their arms.

"Alright, guys. Let's get this show on the road!"

"Matt and Nick Lang. Brothers. Pretty much the leaders of this whole thing," Jeff whispered to Annabelle. She gave an understanding nod.

"Should I leave?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, as long as you don't interrupt or anything."

"Ok, cool. I'm gonna just- I'll be over here." Annabelle quickly scooted off the piano bench and gave everyone a few small goodbyes, but taking the time to hug A.J. before she excused herself from the stage and made herself comfortable in a seat towards the back of the rows.

It had been about an hour. Everyone was running around under Nick's direction and trying to get everything just right. If Annabelle hadn't finished her coffee forty five minutes earlier, she probably would've dropped it when someone snuck up and sat next to her.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to introduce myself. Matt Lang," the man said, offering a hand. She sighed and shook it, trying to calm her heart rate.

"Annabelle Fishbach. I apologize for intruding on all of this. I just wanted to check everything out and see A.J."

"Oh, you're Annabelle! He talks about you all the time."

"Yea, so I've heard."

"Alright, it was really nice to meet you. I've got to run this whole mess but hopefully we're able to talk more sometime."

"Oh, absolutely. That'd be nice. It was nice to meet you too, Matt."

"Alright, can we run that again?"