BATIM Oneshots

A Voice to the Heart

Requested by HippieMoonWitch
[Romantic]
Sammy x Norman
Trigger Warning:
Mentions of past abuse

—

Sammy was never much of a talker. He usually kept to himself unless he had to conduct the band, hiding away from everyone else in his office. However, if there was one thing that would always draw him to another person, it was a beautiful singing voice.

He'd quickly gained feelings for Susie Campbell whenever she first came into the studio. He'd always feel as if he were being swept off his feet by the angel herself and carried away into heaven anytime he heard her lovely soprano voice. Sadly, though, whenever he had asked her to date him, she declined, having eyes for the pianist, Johnny, instead. Sammy was left heartbroken for about a week, shutting himself away in his office.

Next was his friend and assistant, Jack Fain. Sammy couldn't help it when his cheeks would glow a bright pink anytime he listened to the mans crisp tenor singing. Whenever he heard Jack's voice it felt like a pipe had just burst open onto him, but instead of the dastardly ink it was a cool, sleek water that he allowed to engulf him in its thrilling and fun clarity. Sadly, yet again, when Sammy asked him out he was rejected, Jack explaining to him that he was straight and had eyes for the violinist. Sammy was left heartbroken a second time, shutting himself away in his office for another week.

The third voice was Allison Pendle, yet another voice actress. Anytime Allison sang in her brilliant alto, Sammy felt as if the notes themselves were dancing around him in childlike wonder. Sadly, yet a third time, Sammy was rejected as Allison was already engaged to Thomas Connor by the time he'd gotten the courage to ask her out. Sammy was heartbroken a third time, shutting himself away yet again for another week.

Surprising even Sammy himself, the fourth voice that captured his ear was Wally Franks. Wally was usually known to whistle instead of sing, causing great distraction and annoyance in the music director, but one day Wally must've gotten one of the cartoon songs stuck in his head because he was singing loud and proud in a cheery tenor. It wasn't the same tenor as Jack, Sammy remembered, but instead was higher and happier sounding. Wally's voice sent Sammy on a joyful amusement park ride, one through a shiny field of colorful flowers. Sadly, as you'd probably expect, Wally rejected him because he had grown feelings for Shawn Flynn. Sammy's heart was basically shattered as he shut himself away for a fourth time. This was the moment he basically gave up on love all together.

That was, until one faithful day.

Sammy had stayed late to try and organize the band room a bit better, wiping down music stands and putting instruments back in their cases. That was when he heard it. A low, Southern, encapsulating baritone voice, singing an old country song from the projector booth.

Sammy's heart thudded powerfully in his chest as he stopped cleaning the music stand he was working on and looked up in surprise, his face glowing red. It was as if his broken heart was slowly being sewn back together, stitch by stitch, with every note that came from this new voice. He couldn't even begin to describe the overwhelming sensation he felt as he listened, couldn't speak and couldn't move for fear of the voice disappearing from him forever.

He looked up at the projector booth, only to find Norman Polk himself was the owner of that voice, a gentle smile lining his face. Sammy knew Norman, of course, and the two had always been friendly towards each other, but the musician would never had been able to suspect that such a usually quiet projectionist could have such a beautiful voice.

"Lawrence...?"

Sammy slowly smiled as he felt that he could almost feel Norman's voice speaking his name. He started to zone out, imagining what it'd be like to hear his name from the voice.

"Lawrence! You high or somethin'?! Why're yah starin' at me?!"

Sammy suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing that that really was Norman talking to him. He blushes brightly, quickly looking away from the booth. "O-Oh, uh, s-sorry, M-Mr. Polk!" He tugs the side of his sweater collar, sweating a little from embarrassment. "I-I guess I zoned out, didn't get much sleep last night..."

Norman just shrugged. "Whatever, weirdo..." he said as he went back to cleaning his projector's lenses.

Similar events continued on for about a month. Sammy would hear Norman humming or singing and stop to listen to him until Norman noticed, then he'd quickly make an excuse and leave the southern man alone. Eventually, Norman finally got tired of it.

Sammy was sitting and scribbling lyric ideas in his office when Norman burst through the door, causing him to flinch and turn around to him.

"Lawrence, listen." Norman takes a breath. "I don' know what's gotten into you, and I know this might sound a little hypocritical, but can yah please quit starin' at me so much? Why do yah do that anyway? It's kinda creepy..."

Sammy tenses under the larger man's gaze, muttering a quiet, "I-I'm sorry..." he was scared, though he couldn't pin point why. Norman had never given him any reason to be afraid of him before. Yet here Sammy was, practically trembling under his harsh gaze, tightly gripping the desk behind him.

Norman pauses, his expression softening. "Hey... what happened there?" Norman slowly reaches out, moving a piece of Sammy's bangs to reveal a small scar on his forehead. Sammy tensed up more, looking anywhere but where Norman stood in front of him.

"N-Nothing! I-It's... n-nothing..."

Norman gave a small sigh, pulling his hand back and crouching down by the music director. "Did... someone hurt you?"

Sammy could feel tears welling up in his eyes as memories flooded back to him. He squinted his eyes shut, his body trembling more. "I-I'm fine, okay? I-I won't stalk you like a creepy psychopath anymore!"

After a breath, Sammy could feel a pair of big, strong arms wrapping themselves around him. He felt a hand softly stroking his hair. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling his tears slowly trickle down his face and onto the other man's shoulder. The musician trembled in the projectionists arms, giving a quiet whimper, before he slowly started to allow himself to softly cry, hiding his face in the other man's shoulder and reaching up to grab his shirt, clinging to him softly.

"I-I'm s-sorry, M-Mr. P-Polk..." Sammy muttered.

Norman gently started to rub his back. "It's alright... call me Norman, we don't need to be formal. Now... tell me what caused that scar of yours... please?" He spoke quietly, not wanting to startle the other.

Sammy sniffled, speaking quietly. "M... M-My parents... w-were very traditional, s-So... th-they used to hurt me when I did something wrong... th-they would be so disappointed in me..."

Norman sighs, pulling away from Sammy, grabbing a handkerchief from his pocket and holding it out to him. "I... I understand... I'm sorry that happened to you, I didn't mean to scare you... is that why you were watching me? Does it have something to do with your past?"

Sammy softly shakes his head, taking the handkerchief and wiping his eyes. "N-No..." a blush comes to his cheeks. "W-When I heard you singing that day... I-I couldn't get your voice out of my head..." he softly smiles, "I-I loved it so much, and I've... grown a bit of a crush... b-but I was afraid you'd reject me..." Sammy sniffles, "L-Like everyone else I've asked has..."

Norman pauses, then slowly smiles. He gently cups Sammy's cheek, slowly pulling him in for a soft kiss on the lips, which Sammy returns after a moment of surprise. Norman pulls away with a smirk. "Does that answer your question?"

Sammy blushes deeply. "W-Wait... y-you really wanna be together? E-even though I was being weird?"

Norman laughs. "It was kinda cute... watching how red you'd get anytime I'd sing..." Norman stands, slowly lifting Sammy into his arms then sitting himself into the musician's desk chair, setting Sammy into his lap and making him blush even deeper.

Sammy hesitantly snuggled into the embrace, hiding his red face in Norman's big chest. Norman gently rocked him in his arms, quietly singing to him for the last couple of minutes they had until time to leave, then calmly carried him home.