Unspoken (Prequel to "Letting Him Go" and "Behind the Curtain")

RANDOM ONE SHOT - The Reveal

**HI ALL!! Surprise! Here is a one shot that spilled out of me one day from the perspective of MONTANA EFAW— a longtime Haus dancer and friend of Gaga's. I wanted to do a little story exploring what it would be like when the Haus finally finds out about Bradley and Stefani dating. Just for context: this is all set backstage of an Enigma show this year (in case it isn't clear) and I hope you enjoy! I will be continuing the Bradley story— don't worry— just wanted to give you guys a little something while you were waiting! Xoxo**

—
Montana's POV

I slouch in my seat in front of the vanity, carefully sipping out of the straw in my plastic water bottle to keep my lipstick intact. Ryan begins to work on my hair, aggressively untangling my unruly blond waves with a comb. I sigh, pressing a now-warm ice pack firmly down against my ankle— it's our last Enigma show of the month and I can feel my muscles slowly breaking down.

I look over at her standing in the corner of the dressing room— all five feet and two inches of beauty, energy, and passion...endless, infectious passion that keeps me dancing my heart out under the bright blue lights. Every night, I step out onto that stage and all the pain in my body suddenly disappears— I'm absolutely fearless beside her, protected by her brilliance. And I know that for her, I can be nothing short of perfection.

She laughs quietly with Freddie as he adjusts her glittering hairpiece, her green eyes burning with familiar excitement under a thick tangle of lashes. He sprays her blue curls one last time and fans the fumes away from her face with his hand. She touches his cheek with her fingers, thanking him, and I notice something different— something new in her expression as she turns her head back towards the full-length mirror. Huh. Her face is flushed and her eyes are hooded with...no— not distraction, but perhaps what one would describe as bliss. There's something or someone on her mind that unmistakably brightens her glow tonight.

"Hi sweetheart," Sarah's voice breaks my concentration as she appears in front of my chair.

"Hi," I whisper, smiling widely back at her.

"You ready?" She asks excitedly, positioning her pinky under my chin. I tilt my head up instinctively as she lifts her hand to reveal a wand of lip gloss and begins to swiftly brush a fresh coat of red across my bottom lip.

"I was born ready," I say playfully, winking at her as she releases me. She laughs heartily in response, her face glistening with traces of sweat— it's been another busy night for her backstage.

"Good luck out there, Tana." She squeezes my shoulder  lightly before breezing away to fix up the next dancer. I set down my water bottle on the dresser as Ryan secures a bobby pin at the base of my high ponytail. He taps my temple and I give my head a little test shake. He nods in approval when my ponytail barely moves. Perfect.

"All done," he says.

"Thanks Ry," I sing as I hop out of my chair, discarding my melted ice pack in the garbage and making my way towards the rack of costumes.

"Troops!" Richy's shrill voice echoes through the dressing room, stopping me in my tracks. I trace the sound to the dressing room entrance, where he stands with his hands pressed together at his chest.

"Get your faces on and come meet me in front of the mirror. Bobby wants to talk to y'all quickly, and we need to run through Applause one more time to nail those changes!" He claps his hands along to his words in sharp emphasis. "Let's get going!"

Sure enough, all of us immediately begin scrambling towards him. I abandon my mission to grab my costume and walk briskly toward the front of the room where I'm joined by Richy the rest of the dancers. The lighthearted chatter between us suddenly drops to silence as Bobby's tall figure appears behind us in the large mirror. We all whip around to face him.