Seb's Journey- A Seblos Fanfic

Do You Ever Feel Like There's a Part of You Just Waiting to Come Out? (ep. 7-8)

November 27, 2019
    It was the day before Thanksgiving, and there was an air of excitement in the rehearsal room. Not only was the cast looking forward to the holiday, but it was their last rehearsal before tech week. They all felt the countdown to show night ticking closer and closer. Over the past few weeks, they had really focused to refine the show as much as they could.
They were running The Start of Something New, Seb accompanying Nini and Ricky on the piano, and it was going really smoothly until a bell sounded and cut them off.
    "Yes! Yes! Whoo!" EJ shouted, standing up and throwing his arms into the air. Looks of confusion rippled through the room. "Sorry, I really love Thanksgiving," he added. There were laughs and enthused chatter as people split off to head out.
    "Okay, hold on," Miss Jenn stopped them. She stood up from her chair and began to cross to the center of the room. Carlos followed her without hesitation. "I know everyone is excited for the holiday break, but I'm me, and I have notes," she said. Seb was only half-listening to her as he stepped away from the piano and went to sit with the others on the risers.
    "Your homework over this break, all of you, is to please go on vocal rest," she said to the room as he was zipping up his backpack. Seb turned away as she mumbled something about lines too. Mr. Mazzara came in then, causing a kerfuffle, but he started talking privately with Miss Jenn. Seb couldn't tell what they were talking about, but he was too busy talking with Gina to care. He felt kind of bad for Gina- it was just going to be her and her mom. He thought about inviting her over to his house, but decided against it. It was going to be chaotic enough, and he didn't want to add stress for his parents. Now that he thought about it, though, he hadn't had a friend over in a long time. He hung out with the cast all the time, even outside of rehearsal, but he never had them at his house. He would have to change that soon, especially at the rate his and Carlos's relationship was going. Well, maybe relationship was a strong word. He blushed and tried to shake off the feelings rolling around inside of him.
Ricky came over then and sat down next to Gina, joining in on their conversation. He was an only child just like Gina, so it was just going to be him and his dad. Seb remembered the conversation they had had at Big Red's over a month ago and felt guilty he hadn't been checking up on Ricky more. He had been killing it at rehearsals, acting like nothing was remiss, but Seb still felt bad his classmates were all going to have such lonely holidays. He wondered for a second if he should plan something for them all to get together, but it seemed Carlos had already read his mind.
"Party after Thanksgiving at Ashlyn's tomorrow!" Carlos shouted. "Everyone's invited!" There were cheers from the people left in the room. Seb stood up as Gina and Ricky said bye and faded out. He crossed over to the group at the piano in time to hear Carlos say, "Was that too much? I'm sorry, I got excited." Ashlyn laughed off her apprehension and shook her head.
"No, no, it's fine," she gulped. "This wouldn't be the first time one of us accidentally started an impromptu get together." They all laughed.
"True," Big Red butted in, remembering that last time Ashlyn had invited everyone over to his house. "I can help you host, Ashlyn," he offered with a grin. Ashlyn's eyes grew wide with gratitude.
"Really? You would do that?" she asked.
"Sure, why not," Big Red shrugged.
"That would be awesome!" she sighed. "I have a few ideas...." her voice trailed off as the two gingers strolled out of the room together. Carlos and Seb watched them retreat skeptically, trying to process what had just happened. Ashlyn teased them mercilessly, but it seemed like maybe she was hiding her own feelings. They made brief eye contact, both acknowledging the new development. Suddenly, though, Seb grew aware that they were the last ones in the room and he looked down at the floor. It wasn't the first time this had happened, but Seb was acutely aware of what might happen if they were alone in a room together because of where they had left off that day on the balcony.
"I, uh.. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked Carlos. The choreographer shuffled his feet awkwardly like he was debating whether to say something. He must have decided not to, because he just nodded.
"Yeah, I'll see you then," he said, turning to escape before it grew any more awkward. Seb slipped behind the piano, settling himself to play a song. He had been working on writing one to let out all of his feelings, but his piano at home was in the living room and his whole family used it. It was kind of hard to write a song when you had no privacy. So, while he had the chance and he was still waiting for his ride, he thought he would use the one here.
He started plucking the keys, but before he could get very far he heard someone shuffle back into the room. He looked up and stiffened to see Carlos standing there in the doorway.
"Please don't stop," Carlos said. "I want to hear you play." The look Carlos's eyes was so longing that Seb couldn't refuse.
Much more self-conscious than before, he started to string out the melody. Carlos's grew wide. He dropped his backpack right inside the door and crossed to stand next to Seb. Seb could feel his breath on his neck as he played. Even though Carlos didn't know this song was about him, it still felt like Seb was bearing his heart to him.
The song finished, and Seb gently lifted his hands from the keys.
"Woah," Carlos breathed when Seb looked up at him. Seb blushed at the look of pure astonishment on his face. "Seb, that was amazing," Carlos told him. Seb shook his head, brushing off the compliment.
"No, it was nothing-" he started, but Carlos broke him off with a disappointed look. The choreographer always called Seb out when he was too hard on himself. Before either of them could say another word, Seb's phone buzzed very loudly from his backpack. Sighing, he slid across the bench to retrieve it from the risers.
"My ride's here," Seb told Carlos apologetically once he had pulled his phone from the bag and read the message.
"Okay," Carlos grinned half-heartedly. He walked over to Seb as he flung his bag onto his back. "I'll walk out with you." Seb didn't refuse the offer, despite the fact, or maybe because of the fact, that he was still trying to process what had just happened.
They left the room shoulder to shoulder, only stopping for Carlos to grab his bag on the way out. They talked all the way out into the parking lot, but the energy they had shared over the song was gone.