act eight:

i
There is something to be said for parting. Bittersweet sorrows that roll off of the tongue the way darling rolls off of Theodore's. The way Theo rolls off of Alexander's. Theodore puts down his beautiful mask in Alex's apartment and learns how to dance. There, they are Theo and Alexander. Perhaps Alex was right. One will always be average and one will always be extraordinary. There is nowhere on Earth where they will ever be equals. But the average and the extraordinary balance each other out. They have to. They have to. Maybe they don't. Theodore is leaving, after all. Perhaps Theo will stay here, though. Theo will stay here with the boy he has called extraordinary twenty-seven times. Theodore and his sequin-covered shirts and his stage-made smile and his eyeshadow will go off to Broadway. Theo, though, Alex's Theo, the Theo whose hands Alex falls apart in every night, will stay here. A ghost. A memory. A reminder of a great love once lost.

ii
Alex is crying. He is crying in his bedroom and in the club and in the bar that he took Theodore to where they shattered their beautiful masks. He is crying as he eats his bland eggs and drinks his cold coffee and touches his freezing countertop. He is crying as he makes his walk to the cafe and it begins to drizzle, it begins to rain. Darla has ordered him an Earl Grey tea. Alex stares into it. Theodore was gone this morning when he woke up. Theodore was gone, and Alex knows, deep down, that he will never be back. That he will never take off his beautiful mask ever again. Perhaps that should bring him joy. Perhaps it should bring Alex joy that he was the one to see Theo not Theodore. That he was the one that Theodore called extraordinary twenty-seven times. That he was the one that Theodore came back to, over and over again. Theodore is never coming back to Alex's apartment. Darla puts down her spoon and pushes back her chair. She goes to the back and kisses the barista in the corner. Her daydream eyes don't fix on Alex's the way they used to before. Alex is losing, losing, losing. Alex is lost. Alex has lost Theodore. He has lost the flavor to his eggs and the heat to his coffee. He has lost the warmth to his countertops. He has lost the key to his white picket fence and the ladder to his brick wall. He is trapped again in his mime's cage. Average Alex. He should've asked Theodore to stay.

iii
Theodore sweeps into Alex's dressing room the same way he had that night. He sweeps into Alex's dressing room and locks the door and turns around. His face is caked with highlighter. It doesn't mask the red of his eyes. Alex reaches out and brushes a finger over Theodore's cheekbone the same way he had before Theodore shattered his beautiful mask and became Theo. Theo, Alex whispers now. Reverently. Theodore's eyes flutter closed. Alex wants nothing more than for Theodore to call Alex Alexander. Alex wants nothing more than for Theodore to tell Alex that he is extraordinary. You weren't there when I woke up, Alex wants to say. Please stay. I'll do anything. Theodore steps back. He swallows once, then flashes that smile. That brilliant, beautiful smile. This has been such fun, Theodore says. But I have to go. Theodore steps onto the stage. The world is on fire. Alex burns.