Just a few days after receiving the script for the reworked version of Cinderella, Theresa announced that the very first rehearsal would be held after school that day. When the announcement was made, you found yourself being a bit nervous about it. However, you were extremely confident compared to how nervous Mark was. While you expected him to be nervous due to his personality, you didn't expect him to be that nervous.
"Mark, everything's going to be okay." You said to the pretty boy as both of you stood outside the auditorium. You were holding his trembling hands tightly and looking directly into his brown eyes. "You're not the only one who's nervous right now. I've seen the expressions of all of the people that have walked in and they've been nervous too.
Mark looked down as he slowly let go of your hands. I... I'm just scared that I'm going to mess up.
You sighed softly as you grabbed ahold of his hands again and ran your thumbs over them. "You're more than likely going to mess up. This is the first rehearsal that we've been to, after all. You're always so afraid of messing up, and I really don't understand why. It's okay to mess up, you know. Mistakes are how we learn and grow as people."
Mark simply smiled in response and immediately took off running into the auditorium.You laughed as the now excited boy dragged you behind him. However, your smile quickly faded away when you saw Theresa turn to face you and Mark once the two of you were close enough to her. Ever since she had told you of her inner struggles and you figured out who she was talking about when she referenced her son, you couldn't look at her the same way. All you could think about was how it was very possible for an encounter between her and her son to happen, especially since they were much closer to each other than they realized.

"Oh, hi there, Mark and (Y/N)!" Theresa greeted you and Mark with a bright smile that actually seemed to be genuine, which was very surprising to you. She then turned her attention back towards the principal, who you didn't even notice until she did so. "And these two right over here are the two that will be playing the lead roles!"
The principal's expression turned from one of sheer boredom to one of pure confusion, especially when he realized that Theresa had meant that Mark was taking up one of the lead roles.
"You can't be serious." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "There's no way on Earth that you're telling me that the other lead role is being filled up by... him."
"Why, yes, of course!" Theresa stated proudly. "You clearly don't see it now, but that young man has quite a lot of potential. I can see it in him. That's why I'm giving him the chance to shine by allowing him to take up a lead role."
The principal sighed and shook his head, making it clear that he thought Theresa was out of her mind. "The boy doesn't even speak! How the hell is he supposed to play a lead role? One of the things that makes a lead role a lead role is the fact that those kinds of roles have a fair amount of lines. Speaking lines."
"You clearly haven't read the script that we're using." Theresa replied as she held up one of the copies. "This one was rewritten and reworked just for us so that we can have a mute lead role without running into any issues."
The principal huffed and shook his head in disappointment as he rubbed his forehead. "This is completely and utterly ridiculous. Before we even know it, we're going to have monkeys or some shit taking on the lead roles."
"Are you really comparing a mute boy getting a lead role to monkeys acting out a play?" Theresa asked, raising an eyebrow as a look of disbelief fell on her face. "I honestly don't think that those two things have any correlation whatsoever."
"I really do think that having a mute as one of the lead roles is a bad idea." The principal replied as he ignored Theresa's statement. "Also, I don't think that other people would be too keen on it either."
"And how exactly do you know that?" Theresa questioned as she crossed her arms, clearly frustrated. "You're the only person outside of the drama club that knows that Mark is playing one of the lead roles."
"Yeah, well, that's because I'm the reason that your stupid club is running." The principal replied as he crossed his arms as well. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be putting together this completely and utterly ridiculous play of yours, and that's because I'm the one who allows you to have funding in the first place."
Theresa let out a long drawn out sigh of frustration as she shook her head. "Can we not talk about this right now? I have a rehearsal to conduct, and you're wasting the precious time that I have."
"Whatever." The principal rolled his eyes. "You know, you're not going to have any time whatsoever if you keep him as one of the leads." He pointed to Mark as he said this.
"I told you that we are not discussing this right now." Theresa's tone was bitter and it was evident that she had to use all of her willpower to not continue the argument for right now and just walk away to take care of the task that was currently at hand, which was the rehearsal. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I do not want to keep my wonderfully patient cast waiting any longer."
Finally, the principal walked off and left the auditorium, but not without slamming the door behind him to let everyone know just how upset he was.

Just a couple of moments after the door had slammed, Theresa hopped onto the stage and cleared her throat before she spoke.
"Alright everyone, first things first, I apologize for keeping you waiting for so long." She stated, easily easing the tension that had arisen while she and the principal were bickering. "Secondly, I would like to personally thank you for your interest and willingness to make this musical happen. If it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't even be standing here right now. I'm going to be completely honest when I say that this was the last time that I was going to attempt to put on a musical at this school. As some of you may or may not know, I've been trying to gather enough people in order to make that a reality for three years now. While I'm not exactly sure what suddenly sparked people's interest, I'm very thankful for it regardless. Words cannot express just how grateful I am for you guys, and I wholeheartedly promise that you won't be disappointed with the results that your hard work will bring." She paused for a very brief moment. "Now, with all of that being said, let's not waste any more time and get this rehearsal started."
Loud cheering and clapping erupted after Theresa finished her speech. You and Mark joined in on it, bright smiles forming on both of your faces when you did so.

*****

The next thing you knew, you were up on stage reciting your lines, which, unsurprisingly, you didn't know very well yet, and slowly but surely getting into character. Mark seemed to be in the same boat as you. However, his nervousness seemed like it was coming back, and he was having trouble fully immersing himself into the role he was playing because of it. Even with the tiny extra push from the person who was playing the narrator via reading out his lines as he recited them in sign language so that the people who didn't understand it (which was almost everyone in the cast) knew what he was saying (the same went for the audience when the time to perform the musical inevitably came around,) Mark still seemed like he wasn't really enjoying what he was doing and was instead rushing through it in order to get it done quicker.

When the moment finally arose (and when everyone was instructed by Theresa to take a small break,) you seized the opportunity to motion for Mark to come backstage with you so that you could talk to him more privately. But just as you were about to say something, you were greeted by Mary, who was sitting at a table that had a sewing machine and various other supplies on it.
"Mary?" You were so surprised to see her here since you had absolutely no idea that she was going to be involved with the musical. "You're in on this?"
Mary nodded excitedly as she gave you a bright smile. "I've been appointed to be both the costume designer and makeup artist! Oh, and the hair stylist too!"
"Really?" You were pretty shocked to hear this. But, then again, you didn't really know much about her interests and hobbies to begin with.
"Yep!" She proclaimed proudly, making it glaringly obvious that she was both honored and excited about the opportunities that she had been given. "Also, while you're here, I have to get everyone's measurements before I can start making the costumes, so would you be a dear and let me get both you and Mark's measurements?"
"Yeah, sure." You replied, a bit annoyed that she asked this since you had really wanted to talk to Mark and try to give him the motivation that he needed for the musical and his role.
"Great!" She motioned for you to come closer to her as she grabbed the tape measure that was around her neck. Once you were close enough to her, she quickly got to work on retrieving your measurements. In fact, she was done so fast that you barely had time to think.
"How the hell did you manage to do that so fast?" You asked, amazed that someone was actually capable of obtaining measurements as quickly as Mary had.
"I've been sewing and making outfits since I was little." She explained as she motioned for Mark to come over to her so that she could get his measurements as well once she was done writing yours down on a piece of paper. "It was my mom, my real mom's, favorite hobby and I always used to watch her do it because I was always fascinated with the process. Once she deemed me to be old enough, she started teaching me how to do it. I ended up picking it up pretty quickly. Well, according to her, at least. Honestly, even though I've been doing it for pretty much my entire life, I don't think that I'm super great at it."
"Wait, your real mom?" You echoed. "Are you-?"
"Adopted?" Mary cut you off before you could finish what you were saying as she wrote down Mark's measurements on the same piece of paper that she had written your measurements on. "Yeah, I am. My real mom died after she gave birth to my little sister. Understandably, I was devastated, but my real dad..." She trailed off for a moment. "To say that he was devastated is a serious understatement. He wasn't the same person after she died. He became a cruel and heartless person who was devoid of any emotion. He regularly drowned his sorrows in several bottles of alcohol and also regularly abused me. The constant abuse caused me not only to develop personal issues I still have to this day that I'd rather not talk about, but..." She trailed off again. "Well, let's just say that Troy's not the only one who ran away after they got tired of dealing with their family's shit. Thankfully, unlike him, I was only one state away from Ohio at the time, good ol' Fort Wayne, Indiana, to be exact, so I didn't have to spend as much time battling my demons while sitting on a plane as he did."
Before you could even think of a proper way to respond to everything that Mary had just revealed to you, you heard Theresa's loud and booming calling out that break time was over and it was time to return to rehearsal. You let out a heavy sigh as you looked over at Mark, who you had truly forgotten was even there to begin with since you had become completely immersed into Mary's story and he had provided absolutely no input whatsoever. You weren't surprised by this, of course, since he more than likely found it awkward to be around her given the fact that his own mother forced him to fake a relationship with her so that people wouldn't grow suspicious of the fact that she was receiving money from her family.
"Let's get going, Mark." You said to the noticeably uncomfortable boy.
He nodded in response and quickly went back on stage, leaving you in the dust.
"Excited for rehearsal, I'm guessing?" Mary questioned, seeming amazed about just how quickly Mark had left after you had told him that the two of you should return from the break that had been given.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." You mumbled as you promptly went after him, not wanting to get yelled at by Theresa for just standing backstage rather than rehearsing.

*****

You did a really great job today, (Y/N). Mark said to you once rehearsal had ended and you had walked out of the auditorium with him. When the time to officially perform the musical comes around, your performance is going to blow the audience right out of the water.
"Thank you, but Mark, we really need to talk." You replied, taking this opportunity that you had at this very moment to say what you had wanted to say to him during the five minute break, but couldn't since Mary had distracted you by taking your measurements and opening up about her past a little bit.
What do we need to talk about?
You sighed as you slowly grabbed ahold of his hands and looked directly into his eyes, the eyes of the boy that you proudly called your best friend, the eyes of the boy that you had had serious ups and downs with, and the eyes of the boy that you held such strong and passionate feelings for.
"God, I just really-" You cut yourself off when you realized what you were about to say. "I-I mean..." You winced as you quickly tried to play it off and bring up what you originally wanted to talk about. "You just don't really seem invested into the musical." You paused as you realized that there was a very real possibility of Mark agreeing to take part just to make you happy. "Do you... Do you even want to do it?"
Yeah, of course I do. He replied as he nodded. That's why I told you that I wanted to do it when you asked me. It's just... He paused for a moment. This whole being on stage and having everyone's attention directed right at me is a completely new thing for me. I'm so used to perfectly blending into a crowd and no one noticing me or even knowing that I was there to begin with.
"I still think that you do this." You reassured him, inadvertently squeezing his hands tighter than you already were. "Especially since our own principal doesn't think that you can. I thoroughly believe that you can prove him and any and everyone else that also thinks that you can pull it off wrong."
Mark didn't respond right away. Instead, he just stared at the ground with a blank expression on his face, seeming like he was contemplating what you had just said. After a few moments had gone by, the blank expression turned into a small smile as he looked back up at you.
Yeah, you're right. He replied as his smile grew. Right now, I may be nervous as hell having all these people focusing on me right now, but I know with all the hard work that I'm going to be putting towards this musical for the next few months, I'll get to the point where getting up on stage and performing will be a walk in the park.
"I like that kind of attitude." You gave him a proud smile. You then began walking away and motioned for him to follow. "Let's get out of here."

*****

Once you got back home, you walked in and saw something that you never thought that you would see in a million years.
You saw Mary painting Troy's nails.
"What the-?"
"You promised that you'd be done before (Y/N) got home!" Troy whined as he looked up at Mary.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't moved your hands so much, I would've been done before (Y/N) got home." Mary replied with a smug smile on her face.
"Okay, I just have one and only one question." You put your hands up and looked directly at the two of them. You would've questioned how she had managed to make it home before you did had it not been for the fact that you spent more time than you were willing to admit in the parking lot hanging out with Mark before he left to visit his dad at the hospital. "Mary, how the hell did you manage to convince Troy to do this?"
Mary simply pointed to a plate of brownies that was sitting on the table. When she did so, Troy smirked and winked at you.
"Oh, I see." You shrugged slightly. "Can I have one?"
Troy and Mary looked at each other and snickered before they nodded in response.
"Um, okay." You were confused as to why they were laughing. Nonetheless, you went over to the plate and picked up two of the brownies. "I'm going to take one to give to Mark. Is that cool?"
"Yeah, definitely." Troy replied as he and Mary bursted into full on laughter.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" You asked as you looked over at them. "Why are you guys laughing so much over brownies? They're literally just brownies. Nothing more and nothing less."
"They're my special brownies." Mary replied as she shifted her attention back to painting Troy's nails, which had been a little messed up due to her laughing so much. "They're..." She let out a small snicker. "They're an old family recipe. It's been in my family for generations."
Troy laughed and nodded in response.
"Alright then." You were contemplating whether or not she was telling the truth as you opened up one of the cupboards and grabbed a plastic baggie. You then proceeded to put the two brownies that you had grabbed from the plate into the baggie, but not before you sniffed and thoroughly inspected the brownies. They looked and smelled just like normal brownies, but, somehow, they seemed different. Perhaps it was Troy and Mary's strange behavior that prompted this, but you couldn't help but think that there was something special about the brownies. However, whether that something was good or bad was up for serious debate.
"Oh my God, there's nothing to worry about, (Y/N)." Mary let out a small laugh as she looked over you. "The brownies are completely fine."
"Then why are you and Troy acting so weird?"
"Weird? We're not acting weird." She had the faintest smile on her face as she said this.
You sighed and shook your head in defeat, deciding that it wasn't worth pushing the matter further. After reaching this decision, you went upstairs and into your room, holding the bag of brownies as you did so.

*****

Much later that night, you found that, no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn't fall asleep. You couldn't even pinpoint a reason as to why this was the case since currently, there wasn't anything in your life that was stressing you out and would cause you to be unable to sleep as a result.

Eventually, you grew tired of constantly tossing and turning and came to the conclusion that you probably weren't going to get any sleep tonight. Upon coming to this realization, you reached over and grabbed your phone, which was sitting on your bedside table. You then grabbed it, unplugged the charger, and winced at the sudden bright light it created when you pressed the home button. You blinked a few times in order to adjust to the light and once you did, you tapped on the messages app and tapped on Mark's name before you began texting him.
This a serious long shot, but are you awake? I can't sleep for some reason and I've come to accept the fact that I'm probably not getting any sleep tonight after spending the last few hours tossing and turning.
Much to your surprise, you actually got a response. Not only that, but it came fairly quickly.
Yeah, I'm awake. I can't sleep either.
As you were typing your response, you noticed that he was typing as well. Curious as to what he was going to say, you deleted your response and waited for him to send what he wanted to say.
This is a serious long shot as well, but can you come over? I got into a really bad fight with my mom over stupid shit because she came home drunk and literally bursted into my room and started yelling at me for no reason. She's not home anymore since I told her to get out and for once, she actually listened. If she was home, I wouldn't ask you to come over because she's extremely violent when she's drunk and I wouldn't want her hurting you.
I'll be over as soon as possible. You replied without a second thought.

You got up, turned on the lamp that was on your bedside table, and grabbed your car keys once the message was sent. You also grabbed the brownies that Mary had made earlier after staring at them for a couple of moments and wondering if you should take them with you.

*****

After you pulled into Mark's driveway and turned your car off, you reached over and grabbed your phone. You then texted Mark and told him that you were here. He responded a few seconds later and told you that he was on his way downstairs so that he could unlock the front door and let you in.

Thank you so much for coming. Mark genuinely looked happy when he opened the door and saw you. You have no idea how grateful I am for the fact that I'm not alone right now.
"Oh, it's no problem really." You told him as you stepped into his house. "I... I'm actually really glad that you invited me over. I was feeling a little lonely, even though we literally saw each other not that long ago."
Mark nodded in agreement as he carefully pulled you into a hug. It was a bit of an awkward hug since it seemed like he was trying to prevent his arms from touching you. Because of this, you pulled away sooner than you normally would've. You then grabbed his hand and dragged him into the kitchen. Upon doing so, you put the brownies and your car keys down onto the kitchen table and turned on the light. The light allowed you to see the two medium sized cuts Mark had on each of his arms. You could tell that they were fairly new since the blood that was seeping from them was fresh and not dried.
"What happened?" You asked him gently as you ran your thumb over the top of his hand, the one you had grabbed in order to lead him into the kitchen and the one you were still holding onto. "Please don't tell me you..."
My mom threw one of her beer bottles at me while we were fighting and I put my hands up in order to prevent it from hitting my head. You felt Mark's hand leave your grasp as he explained what had happened to you. And don't worry. I didn't... hurt myself. I could never do that because I'm too scared of going too far.
"Where's the medicine cabinet?" You simply asked. "And please don't ever intentionally hurt yourself. I don't like seeing you in pain."
Mark pointed to where it was. When he did so, you went over to it, grabbed what you needed, and went back over to him after shutting the cabinet door. You immediately started cleaning the cuts and stopping the bleeding. Mark winced in pain and clenched his fists as you did so.
"It's okay." You whispered as you finished cleaning his cuts and started wrapping them up in medical tape. "They're all better now. You just have to leave this on for a few days so that they can heal."
Mark slowly looked down at his arms after you said this. When he did so, the tears that were forming in his eyes as you were tending to his wounds finally spilled. They ran down his face as he gently ran his thumb over the medical tape on his left arm.
You sighed softly as you saw this happen. Not because you were annoyed by the fact that he was crying, but because you were angry at his mom for hurting him.
"Come here." You murmured as you gently grabbed ahold of his hands and pulled him into a tight hug. Thankfully, this time around, he wrapped his arms around you and allowed them to touch you. You sighed quietly as you rested your head on his shoulder, not wanting to ever let go of him. You really wished that you could just stay the way you were with Mark right now forever, especially since you were being extra overprotective of him right now because of what his mother had done to him.

*****

When you and Mark finally managed to pull away from each other, he walked over to the staircase and motioned for you to follow. You promptly did so, but not before you grabbed the brownies from the kitchen table.

Once you entered Mark's room, you held up the bag of brownies and said, "Hey, so, I brought these-"
Mark cut you off by gently removing the bag from your hand and setting it down on the floor. We can eat those later. Right now, there's only one thing that I want.
"Which is...?"
Mark looked down at the floor as a blush formed on his face. I want to cuddle with you. I really enjoyed that long hug we shared downstairs, and... I'm not ready to let go yet.
"You don't have to let go." You whispered as you began blushing as well. You then grabbed his hand and sat down on his bed. "You don't ever have to let go. I'm always going to be there for you."
Mark shook his head as he sat down next to you. No, I'm going to have to let you go one day. And that one day is going much sooner than I would like it to.
"What do you mean?" You asked worriedly. "Mark, what the hell is going on?"
Mark shook his head again. He then laid down on his pillow and motioned for you to come and lay next to him. Don't worry about it. Let's just enjoy the present and the time that we get to spend together.
"Fine." You let out a sigh as you gave in to his request and as you laid down next to him. You couldn't help but smile as you felt Mark put his comforter over the two of you and you smiled even more when you felt the warmth of his touch as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to him. At this very moment in time, you had never felt closer to Mark not just physically, but emotionally as well.
"I don't want this night to ever end." You whispered as you rested his head on his chest so that you could listen to his heartbeat. "I just want to stay like forever."
Mark nodded in agreement and started running his fingers through your hair. You closed your eyes and your smile widened when he did so.
"Maybe I'll actually get some sleep after all." You said as you yawned.

Then, after a while of muttering incoherent things tiredly and listening to Mark's heartbeat, you finally starting drifting off to sleep.
"Good night, Mark." You mumbled tiredly. "I hope you have very sweet dreams."