The entire cast arrived at the red carpet to get their pictures taken.

"You all look fantastic!" Kasey exclaimed when she saw all her fellow cast members in their colorful dresses, and the guys in their suits.

"Look who's talking," Jess laughed. "You're gorgeous, Kasey." Maura, Lily, Rebecca, and Emma all looked like deer-in-the-headlights when they started to walk the carpet and get their pictures taken.

Kasey decided to help them through it, coaching them every time that there was a photographer, giving them tips on how to stand, where to look, and where to go.

Emma's hair was in her eyes at one point, so Kasey tucked the wayward strand behind Emma's ear before stepping away to let the girls get their pictures taken without her in it.

"Are you okay by yourselves?" Kasey asked them after a while of her coaching them through the press line-up.

"Yeah, thanks," Maura said earnestly. "You should get your pictures taken now."

Kasey hugged the four girls goodbye and then hurried away to restart her trip down the carpet, this time by herself. She was right after Jess.

After they'd all gotten some shots taken, they were ushered into the Radio City Music Hall to get ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasey and Jess were sharing a dressing room, for which she was grateful. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to keep her nerves in check if she'd been left alone to her own thoughts.

"Want to play some music?" Jess asked, looking up from her phone.

"Sure, you pick," Kasey said as she carefully pinned up her hair into pin curls. "Whatever you decide is fine."

After a minute, the Newsies soundtrack began. "This okay?"

"Yeah, it's perfect," Kasey reassured her friend. She checked the clock. "We have about an hour before we perform."

Jess glanced at the clock, too. "That's weird to think about, but that's good. I don't think I could sit here waiting much longer than that, to be honest."

They sat there in silence, just listening to the Newsies soundtrack as they prepared for their performance.

Kasey was first to finish getting ready- she'd carefully slid the Radio City mic into her hair, to replace the Lunt Fontanne mic, and then she flopped into the comfy chair to watch Jess.

"We've never actually gotten ready together," Jess mused.

"No time like the present," Kasey laughed. "It's like a sister-bonding thing."

"True, I didn't think about it that way."

"Attention, opening number, this is your twenty-minute call. Spongebob, this is your thirty-minute call, and Frozen, this is your forty-minute call. Opening number, to places."

Kasey swallowed. Suddenly, the awards seemed all-too real- the crowds of people watching, the consequences of winning or losing... everything.

Everyone in the theatre world knew that some shows who flopped at the Tonys would close only months later. Kasey prayed that Frozen wouldn't join the list of shows that had a premature closing. The show deserved so much more than an early closing.

"It'll be okay," Jess said softly. Kasey jerked back to reality. "And hey, if you win, know that I'm not mad. You deserve so much credit for what you do. I really, truly want you to win. I don't care if I don't, but you, Kasey, you are what holds this show together. I know it, and everyone else does, too."

Kasey shook her head. "Come on, Jess, we all know that a show is a group effort."

"That may be true, but even so- you step the game up every night. You make me want to be a better actor, a better person. I admire you so much, and your talent is unbelievable. I fully expect to hear your name. You need to stop underrating yourself."

"Jess," Kasey protested, giving her friend a look. "I could say the same thing. I really, really want you to win. And I'm not just saying that to be nice. You've changed my life in so many ways. I can't imagine doing this show without you."

They were both teary-eyed at that point. "Let's just hug it out and stop crying," Jess said finally, with a little laugh. 

They both stopped by the ensemble dressing rooms, before the announcements finally turned on again.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, the awards have started. Spongebob, this is your places call, and Frozen, this is your ten minute call."

Kasey took a deep breath, casting a quick glance at the ceiling above.

Please let Jace do well, she pleaded, before returning to the conversation she'd been having with Emma, Maura, Rebecca, and Lily.