Meet Us at the Barre: A Series of SAB Oneshots

television appearance

Ben's POV

I woke up early the day we were supposed to have a shoot with a local news station. Something about "the new generation of ballet" or whatever the media had stirred up now.

Local New York news loved to talk about the School of American Ballet. I guess they thought it was more lighthearted than all the scandals that usually are floating about the Company.

I sat up in my bed, running my fingers through my messy bedhead hair. All of my friends at SAB are always try to tell me I need a haircut, but if anyone needs a haircut, it's Mark.

I decided to keep my hair like this until I have to head to the School. I had every intention to go visit Emmie this morning, since I didn't get to see her much last night.

~~~~~

In fifteen minutes, I was changed from my pyjamas and out the door. I decided to stop at a grocery store on the way there, picking up a box of her favorite chocolates.

I took a deep breath and knocked on her apartment door.

Much to my surprise, Katherine opened the door. "Good morning, Ben." She smiled, though she looked quite tired. "What brings you?" She leaned, quite unprofessionally, against the doorframe.

"Um, is Emmie around?" I rubbed the back of my neck. "She ducked out of dinner pretty early last night, and I brought her some chocolate."

As I raised the cardboard box, Katherine bit her lip gently, but when we re-established eye contact, she quickly put her bright smile back on.

"Yeah." Katherine spoke. "Come in, she's right upstairs. Why don't you go get her?"

"Thanks." I smiled, entering the apartment. I took another deep breath as I turned the corner and went down the hall, knowing exactly which room Emmie's was.

"What's up, Kath?!" Emmie called when I knocked on the door.

"Hey, it's not Kath. May I come in?" I responded.

"Sure!" She called back.

I opened the door and shut it behind me. "Hey, Love! You left dinner too early last night, I couldn't see you!" I enveloped her in a big hug, kissing the top of her head.

She was shivering. It wasn't that cold in here or outside, was it?

"I got you something." I smiled, handing her the chocolates.

She took the white box from my hands, holding it on either side. Emmie simply stared at the top of the box for a while.

I got nervous. Did she not like chocolate? No, because her favorite is that chocolate cake from that bakery off 8th. Did I get the wrong kind? Did I get a kind with almonds accidentally? She's allergic to almonds.

"Are they alright?" I asked, timidly.

She looked up at me, her eyes now slowly filling with tears. "I'm not gonna eat a box of chocolates, Ben." Emmie pushed the box back towards me.

"W-What?" I asked in almost disbelief. She never acted like this.

"Why do you think I left dinner so early?! Why do you think I leave the table immediately after I eat?!" Emmie exclaimed. She turned back around and faced her vanity, starting to run a hairbrush through her tangled locks.

"Emmie?" I asked in the same timid way. I gingerly touched her shoulder before she swatted my hand away.

"Don't touch me." She whispered.

I frowned. "Alright, I'm sorry, Honey." I slowly exited her room, knowing all she wanted was for me to leave.

I left the room and walked back to the living room. "Katherine?"

"Yeah?" Katherine looked up from the magazine she was flipping through.

"Has Emmie been acting weird?" I asked, sitting on an adjacent chair from the sofa.

Katherine dog-eared the page she was reading and sat the magazine on the table. "If I'm honest with you, you'll be upset with the both of us. And with our television appearance today, I'd rather you not hate both of us."

"Katherine, what did you do?"

The brunette girl rubbed her eyes before looking back at her best friend's boyfriend. "I gave her some advice."