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He had been in Glenbridge as he’d fallen to his knees. The scent of the sodden earth mingled with the coppery notes of what he thought was his makeup still lingered at the back of his nose.

His finger ran under his thumbnail, sure that it would come away streaked with mud.

Mud and Arlo’s blood.

“Get a grip, lad.”

30

The wall of noise on closing night set A.J.’s marrow rattling as they stood together in an unbroken line at the edge of the stage. He squeezed Bren’s hand harder as thirty sets of arms rose together towards the blazing stage lights, then dropped in a bow to the audience that showed no signs of becoming silent any time soon.

They clapped along with the crowd as the orchestra played them out, their clowder melting into the shadowy stage behind. When the last trace of light from the catwalk was smothered by the grand drape, the cast exploded.

A.J. tried to wrap his arms around Bren, but a knot of people pressed in from all sides, jumping so enthusiastically that he had no choice but to hop along.

“We did it!”

“Fuck yeah!”

“Oh my god, I’m gonna cry!”

He couldn’t tell which voice belonged to which body as they celebrated in as a unified, amorphous blob, but he thought it very likely that the seniors were responsible for the bulk of the emotional outpouring. After months of hard work, this was the last time they’d make music together on this stage.

As his own cry of joy and wistful longing for one more year faded, Bren took his hand. It was just possible to make out the shadows of lacking sleep under Bren’s bright eyes in the dim light. He thought he recognized that look. Had his boyfriend been bitten by the theater bug after all?

They hugged for all of two seconds before Nat and Yu collided with them. The bulk of the cast was leaving the stage.

“You guys were amazing!”

Yu didn’t share Nat’s unhinged enthusiasm, but he did nod.

Though his usual instinct would be to parry the complement, A.J. had to agree. Tonight’s dance fight had been their best by far, even if the throw had been more of an assisted jump straight up and down.

The thought pulled A.J. from his bliss.

Bren had been adamant that the incident on opening night was a one off. He’d been tired, dehydrated and had lost his balance. Yu had even confirmed that he’d perked up after sitting for a while and taking some electrolytes.

But the look A.J. had caught in those hazel eyes—hadn’t he been there before?

He shook the thought from his head.

Why bring everybody down?

Think less. Smile more.

“You and Loren killed it, too! Seriously, I got chills,” A.J. said.

Nat flushed with pride but stopped the display from going terminal by rolling her eyes.

“Only ’cause I was singing about your boyfriend.”

“There’s no one like Bren-cavity,” Yu sang, and they laughed at the stupid in-joke.

“You lot said there was gonna be pizza after this? I’m starvin’,” Bren said.

“Yes!” Nat cheered. “No more worrying about looking good in spandex.”

“Will there be beer, too? I need a pint,” Bren said as they left the stage.