The next day at practice, Lukas made sure to scan the theatre before entering, especially the orchestra area. Realizing it was just another practice, he sighed in relief. The musicians never showed up to normal rehearsals. Only dress rehearsals. Lukas didn't know if he had the confidence to see Mathias again after their awkward encounter.

After greeting the director, Lukas made his way to the dressing room with the other ballerinos. He was greeted with warm smiles as he walked through the large room to his changing space. Being the principal had its perks, and a special changing area was one of them. Before stepping behind his curtain, Lukas felt someone tug on his arm. Turning around, he locked eyes with his roommate, Tino Väinämöinen.

Tino was another dancer who had been accepted to the ballet at the same time Lukas had. When Tino found out Lukas had been accepted, he immediately contacted him so that they could be roommates. Both of them were foreign to the city, so Tino proposed that they share an apartment. Lukas reluctantly accepted, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the Fin was a pretty good roommate. He wasn't too messy and sometimes even made waffles in the morning.

"Hey Lukas do you mind if I have some friends over tonight? Nothing too crazy. Just a few people coming over for snacks and drinks" Tino asked, jutting out his lower lip as he hit Lukas with the puppy dog eyes. Lukas internally groaned. Lukas hated parties, but Tino was so sweet that he felt like he couldn't let new friend down.

"Sounds cool. Are you inviting anyone I know?" Lukas questioned, hoping he knew at least some of the people Tino was inviting.

"I invited some of the other dancers, some cool people from the orchestra, and that cute barista I met the other day." Tino responded, his cheeks flushing pink as he mentioned the barista. Lukas had heard Tino rant about the "tall, strong, and blond" barista for two whole hours when he got home from work a few days ago. His name was Berwald or something. All Lukas knew was that the Fin was absolutely smitten.

"What time will they be coming over? Rehearsal doesn't end until five." Lukas asked, suddenly feeling anxious. He needed a lot of time to mentally prepare for parties. There was no possible way for the Norwegian to go straight from rehearsal to a party. It was way too overwhelming.

"They'll be over a few hours after rehearsal so we both have time to shower and get changed. I know you have little panic attacks when things happen in succession too quickly, so I made sure we had some time to relax." Tino explained, placing a comforting hand on Lukas's shoulder.

"Oh- thanks." Lukas stuttered, not realizing that Tino knew about his anxiety. Lukas didn't know it was so obvious that he had trouble socializing. Lukas knew he was a bit strange. He could perform in front of thousands of people as his occupation, yet would completely panic in front of three people at a party.

"Rehearsal starts in a few. I'll see you on stage." Tino spoke, sensing the awkwardness. Turning back around, the Norwegian watched as Tino slipped out of the dressing room. Lukas sighed at his own awkwardness and slid into his changing area, where he quickly pulled on his tights and ballets shoes.

–––

After rehearsal was over, Lukas met Tino back in the changing room so that they could walk home together. The theatre was only a couple blocks from their apartment so they walked every day. On their way back home, Lukas listened as Tino rambled on about how much he loved his part in the ballet, but wished he had more technically challenging dances. Not wanting to sound like he was bragging, Lukas stayed silent about his lead role. He found it much easier to listen anyway. He wasn't always the best at making conversation.

As soon as they arrived at the apartment, Tino headed for the fridge and Lukas headed into his room, flopping onto the bed with a quiet groan. Wanting to shower as soon as possible, the Norwegian unclipped the Nordic cross from his hair and set it down on his white bureau before walking into his bathroom and turning the water on.

Stepping into the shower, the Norwegian moaned softly as the burning water touched his skin. He preferred steaming hot showers because they relaxed his muscles after a long rehearsal. Anything lower than burning was too cold. After exfoliating his callused feet, he turned the water off and headed back into his room with a towel wrapped around him.

Lying down on the bed with no desire to get up, Lukas slightly groaned when he heard a knock on his door. "Lukas, what kind of pizza do you like?" Lukas heard a muffled voice say from behind his closed door. Tino was always knocking on his door when he was trying to relax.

"I don't really care, just get whatever you want." Lukas responded, trying to sound cheerful. He wasn't going to eat any pizza anyway. A principal dancer had to keep a perfect physique. There was no way he was letting any junk food into his body right before the tour began.

"Okay. I hope you don't mind pepper and onion." Tino spoke, his voice becoming softer as he walked away from Lukas's door. Lukas sighed in relief as Tino moved further away from his door and closed his eyes in an attempt to relax himself. Taking a quick nap before the party couldn't be that bad of an idea.

Second Chapter = Finished... yay... I'm so tired it's like 2am so I'm sorry if this sucks. Anyway, I'm really excited for this story. Thank you for all the lovely comments on the first chapter. <3