Robert Manion x Reader

|| 18 ||

We walk into the theatre and chatter echoes throughout. The stage is completely set up, making me even more anxious.

"Let's check out backstage!" Mariah squeals pulling us to the side. There are instruments set up just next to the wing surrounded by more lights. It's honestly beautiful. It's dark and enigmatic, I love it. We check out all of the costumes. We've had a few dress rehearsals before so we know what we're up against, but it feels so surreal seeing everything in person.

"Hey, guys, you're early," Nick says greeting us. It's currently 2:30.

"Better than late, right?" I reply smiling.

"Of course. You guys can go chill out in the back room, the crew's still trying to set a few things up, then we can warm up"

"Cool, thanks," Lauren says.

"How are we feeling?" He asks grinning. We all sigh smiling.

"Stressed but excited," I say shaking my head.

"I believe in you all, you'll all do great," He tells us before walking away. We all cram in the back room sitting wherever possible. I end up sitting on the small couch next to Mariah and Robert, while Lauren sits on the floor. Slowly, the rest of the cast arrive, making the space even more crowded. I wore a tank top and shorts, without realising how freezing it was going to be. I shiver, both because of nerves and how cold I am.

"Are you ok?" Robert says turning to me while everyone's talking.

"Yeah, just freezing," I say laughing. He takes off his jumper, so that he's just wearing a t-shirt, and hands it to me.

"No, no, it's ok," I say handing it back to him, but he doesn't take it. Accepting defeat, I sigh and pull on the sweatshirt. It's way warmer, especially since he's been wearing it.

"Thanks," I murmur.

"Of course. You look better in it than me anyway," he chuckles.

"Wow oh my gosh look at the cute couple," Jeff says in a gossipy voice, earning dramatic gasps from everyone else. I guess this is what I get for dating someone in the cast. It was inevitable (hehe) for this to happen. We talk for a bit longer before Nick comes in to grab us.

"Alright guys, we're gonna go do warmups," he says and we all walk out onto the stage. We stand in a circle and go through a few vocal warm ups, and then stretch for a bit.

"It's currently 4, so if I could have everyone back here at 5. Go do your makeup, get on your first costume and meet me back here," Nick instructs we all all nod. We file into the room where all of the costumes and mirrors are. I sit in front of one of the mirrors and grab my bag, sitting it in front of me. I empty out all of the stuff I need. Throughout the process I take a few photos and videos just so I can have it documented for the future, I guess. It'd be fun to look over. It takes me about 45 minutes to get my makeup done, especially since I never do it, so I suck at it.

Everyone's already in costume by the time I'm finished so I rush into my first costume, pinning a few things to adjust it correctly. I look into the mirror. My makeup's a bit rough, but it's ok. I fix up my hair, adding another pin to the back before walking towards the stage where everyone is.

"Alright, we're all here, we're gonna go over some of the dances in our full costumes," James, one of the choreographers, tells us. It's difficult to dance in a full costume, but I manage to hold up.

We finish the dance and panting a take a sip of water. We go through some more things before getting told we only have an hour left, meaning that people are going to start showing up soon. The lights are dimmed and we go backstage into the back room where we're left to freak out.

"An hour?" I shriek, my heart pounding.

"Hey, hey, you'll be ok," Joey says putting his hand on my shoulder. I take a deep breath, calming myself down.

"How confident are we all? Does anyone desperately need to go over anything?" Corey suggests. Nobody replies. Everyone's either too stressed or confident.

"Cool," Corey says laughing.

"Can we have a group hug?" I ask out of no where. "I'm gonna get all sappy now, but I've only known some of you guys for a few months and I love you all so much. All of our hard work has come to this and I'm so proud of us. I'm sure we're all gonna do great. No matter what happens, we've worked so hard, just have fun, you know. I promise you I'll be making faces from backstage. I dare you not to break," I say laughing softly.

"Group hug!" Jaime yells, and we all clump together into a huddle, squished up together. Laughing, we pull away and sit back down.

We get called to go backstage as the show's about to start. My breathing quickens and my heart starts pounding again. Robert pulls me aside.

"You're going to kill this, ok?" He tells me making me smile. "I love you regardless, remember that," He tells me, kissing my cheek (so that he doesn't get lipstick on him)

"You're the cutest professor I've ever seen" I whisper. He doesn't reply, just blushes. I laugh almost silently and walk to the other side of the stage. The lights dim, and music starts playing. I close my eyes, before stepping onto stage.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

We walk offstage with Lauren in our hands as we almost collapse offstage. We did it. We really did it. It was surreal, and I honestly think I blacked out for most of it.

I think we all did extremely well. No major mess ups, it was almost perfect. I stop myself from crying. It's only the first of many shows. We literally have another one tomorrow. I just have to get used to it now. We walk back into the dressing room, to change back into our regular clothes. Once I'm changed, I basically pull out my hair and rub off my face.

Lauren, Mariah, Rob and I walk out of the theatre to our cars and spot a few fans who waited after the show, which is really sweet. We give them a hug and take a photo with them. It's things like this that I love about being on Starkid. The fans. It's just so cool seeing people so nice to us. Once we get back home, Mariah and Lauren go their seperate ways back home, leaving Rob and I.

"You did awesome today," He tells me.

"So did you," I reply.

"Not as good as you," He argues.

"Hey, stop it. We can be equally as good," I compromise.

"Fine," He huffs. I walk to my room and check the time. It's past midnight.

"Goodnight Rob,"

"Goodnight gorgeous,"

A/N Important question. Would you rather have an endless story with a crap ton of chapters with no real storyline, or have a distinct story line and reach an end? Comment your answer! I'd really like to see what everyone thinks!

Written
16th October 2019
WC: 1213