Cheeky ➻ Louis Partridge

27 | Shakespeare Said...

Y/N

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AND THUS WITH A KISS, I die.

That's what Louis said to me in the theater that day, and even though it seemed forever ago, I wanted to hear him say it again. As I flicked on the soundboard, I peered over the glass window in front of me to see what was going on.

Louis had just entered the stage, his sword in hand. He was about to discover Juliet in the Tomb.

Normally I was never around for these parts of rehearsals, but now that it was opening night, I got to watch the whole thing. I watched as he dropped his sword to the ground at the sight of Nora's body, running towards her with tears in his eyes.

Gosh, he was such a good actor, it was going to make me cry.

"O true Apothecary!" Louis yelled out, his hands clutched over his heart, "thy drugs are quick."

As he fell onto the ground, he tilted his head up towards the sound booth, his arm outstretched towards me. That was...new. It was subtle, but I swear I saw him throw a wink my way.

"And thus," he sighed, "with a kiss I die."

And then he died.

Before I had a chance to mourn the fictional death of my boyfriend, a loud beeping echoed into my ear, jolting me out of my chair.

"Hey," I heard Sadie say through my mic, the line beeping on, "you ready?"

I flinched in surprise, "for what?"

"Curtains, come down here."

"I'm not in charge of curtains, Sadie."

There was a slight pause, followed by a large huff. I squinted my eyes in confusion, wondering what she was on about. I was supposed to cue the closing music at the end of the show, not wrangle the curtains.

"Just get down here, now," the girl said, switching the line off.

Okay...weird.

Grabbing my backpack, I stumbled down the metal stairs till I reached the stage door. Swinging it open, I passed through the hallway, and into the wings.

Sadie and Caleb were already there, whispering to each other secretively.

"Okay, what's going on?" I said, scaring them slightly, "why am I here?"

Caleb smirked, "why are you where?"

"Here!" I said, my voice hushed to a whisper.

Before either of them had a chance to respond, the audience erupted into cheers, all standing on their feet to celebrate the end of the play. Dang it, I missed the final lines. Glancing onto the stage, I noticed Louis and Nora standing up to take their bows.

Watching as the rest of the actors ran onto stage as well, I went to motion for the bearers to bring the curtains down. Sadie slapped my hand away.

"Ow!" I yelled, "what the hell?"

Rolling her eyes, the girl nodded her head towards the stage in urgency. Turning my gaze, I let the blinding stage lights fade into the background as I realized what was happening.

Louis had his arm outstretched towards me, tilting his head as if to say 'come here'!

"What's going on?" I mumbled to Caleb, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"You'll figure it out," he said, pushing me out of the wings, "just go!"

Stumbling onto the stage, I realized everyone in the audience had turned their heads towards me in interest. They were still clapping. Giving them a nervous smile, I prepared to exit back off, until I felt someone grab my hand.

It was Louis.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and guests," he said, hoisting my arm into the air, "let's give a hand for our Stage Manager!"

The audience cheered, the volume almost shattering my ears.

 This felt unreal...all these people clapping for me. Usually they didn't even know I existed.

One by one, more techies began to enter the stage to take their bows, all receiving the same love from the crowd. I had never bowed before. I never had the chance to, and yet Louis was giving it to me.

He must have remembered what I said that day I told him why I hated actors. I said it was because they were the only ones to got to bow.

And yet here I was, on the stage, finally getting a chance to do that. As Louis grabbed my hand to bow again, and he pulled me closer and smiled. He had this sort of dreamy gaze on his face, one that made me feel all kinds of special.

"I love you," he mouthed, the sounds of the audience's roars drowning him out.

And that's when I realized I had been wrong my whole life.

I don't mean to be cheesy, or anything, but I think I have a right to be in this case. I said I hated Shakespeare for his horrible endings, or ruining a love story at the very end, and making me believe love never lasted. Yet here I was, on Shakespeare's stage, finding love at the end of a play.

And that meant everything to me.

Smiling, I squeezed my hand around Louis', mouthing four words back to him, "I love you too."