Vanessa had dealt with a lot of uncomfortable moments over her thirty-three years. She was, afterall, human. However, sitting in the audience watching her ex perform for the past hour while her daughter remained engrossed by the show may now be on the top of her list. She had never been more thankful for an intermission, immediately excusing herself to the restroom. Although she couldn't dodge the long line outside the ladies' room, she was at least away from her daughter to process her overwhelming feelings.

When tears started to run down her face during the titular song, the attorney who was typically very in control of her emotions knew the rest of the show would likely continue down the same path. She was, more than ever, thankful for Lia's fixation with the show. Her eyes never left the stage, completely enthralled by the performances. Vanessa was sure she hadn't even looked at her mother since they had arrived at the theatre, immediately taking her phone out when the curtain closed to no doubt post about the night on some social media app of hers.

When Vanessa finally entered the bathroom, she understood why she had received odd looks from the other audience members. The mascara smudged under her eyes was dramatically evident. She cringed at the thought of him being able to see her in such a state; hoping that all she had heard about blinding stage lights turned out to be true. She quickly fixed her makeup and headed back to the theatre, not at all surprised to see the smile still plastered on her daughter's face, nearly bouncing in her seat.

"Is this not the greatest night of your life?"

Vanessa mustered up a smile, "It's been something."

Lia couldn't understand how her mom could remain so calm. From the moment she heard Leslie Odom, Jr. open his mouth, she was hooked. Any negative emotions she had had prior to the show instantly disappeared. She knew she would enjoy it based off of her love of the cast album, but the performances were unlike anything she had seen before. She wasn't accustomed to going to Broadway shows, though. Her mother had never been too keen on musicals.

"I think my favorite character is a tie between Lafayette and Angelica. I mean, I pretty much figured that going into this.  And did you see that turntable? How someone can rap that well all while trying not to fall is unreal."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it so much." Vanessa gave her a genuine smile. Although she would rather be anywhere else, she always wanted Lia to be happy.

"And can you believe Lin- Manuel Miranda is not only the star, but wrote the entire thing? Only someone of pure genius could do that! And I just read on twitter that after the show the cast will usually come to the stagedoor to meet fans. Mom, we have to go."

Vanessa was still processing her daughter's admiration for her newfound idol, let alone the idea of her actually having to come face to face with him, when the lights of the theater dimmed down and claps of the audience led her daughter to turn away from her and glue her eyes back onto the stage. She was now going to sit in her thoughts for the next ninety minutes, deciding how she was going to convince her willful daughter why that would absolutely not be happening.

One hundred and twenty minutes later as the two were crammed against other excited audience members, Vanessa wanted to kick herself for every time she had encouraged Lia to be a strong-minded woman. It was great in any other time except for now which led to her standing in the New York cold waiting to potentially see her ex for the first time in nearly fifteen years.

"I meant what I said, we are only staying out here ten minutes max. You have school in the morning, and I have work. We're not camping out until the middle of the night so that you can get a selfie."

"Okay, okay," Lia brushed her mother off as she repeated the same thing for what felt like the tenth time. She had no doubt that her calves would be killing her the next morning as much as she was standing on her tiptoes, but she didn't care. She wanted to be the first one to spot if a cast member came out behind the metal doors.

Daveed Diggs and Anthony Ramos appeared, all smiles. They worked their way along the police barrier, security close by. Lia managed to make her way up front, Playbill in hand. It was pandemonium, almost like at a boy band concert, the way the girls were screaming.

Back inside, Lin-Manuel Miranda had changed back into his street clothes and freshened up a bit. It always felt good to get back into his t-shirt, jeans and hoodie. He was exhausted, pulling long days with all the new press requests, then performing 8 times a week. He knew there'd be a crowd outside, asking for autographs and selfies. Lin was always happy to do it, but he was also ready to be home.

Earlier, he swore he saw an old friend in the audience. The stage lights could be blinding, but a beautiful Latina woman sat in the fifth row. She looked remarkably like his high school crush and ex, Vanessa Nadal. However, he knew she hated musicals. No way would she come willingly. It was part of the reason they broke up. He'd had to devote so much time to In the Heights. She resented it and decided to move on.

Some of the cast had already exited the stage door. He could hear the yells and cheers from his dressing room. Lin took a deep breath and opened the door, trotting down to the exit. A stagehand handed him a Sharpie for autographs.

Loud cheers erupted when he finally made his appearance. He was glad to have security nearby with the size of the crowd. He began greeting his fans and quickly scribbling his signature on Playbills. Along the police line he moved, drawing on the energy of the crowd.

He finally reached a young lady, in her early teens. She was Latina and her eyes lit up as he greeted her.

"You were amazing!" she gushed as she held out her Playbill. "The lyrics are genius!"

"Ahhh, thank you sweetheart," he told her genuinely. "I'm glad you liked it."

He didn't think much more as he moved down the line. The girl disappeared into the crowd. It was getting late and he needed to make a dash. He'd had to start getting a driver so he could get away. The subway wasn't really an option. He signaled to security he was ready and they began to help him to the waiting Escalade.

As he neared it, his eye caught sight of the beautiful Latina from the fifth row. He stopped and took a hard look. It was Vanessa. It was definitely Vanessa. The teenager from earlier was with her, showing off her Playbill excitedly.

"Vanessa!" He yelled across the crowd. The woman furrowed her eyebrows and looked his way. Her mouth opened in surprise. The girl, presumably her daughter, looked in the direction of her mother's gaze. Lin waved.

Vanessa began to turn to leave, trying to usher her daughter along, but the fourteen year old would have none of it. Lin-Manuel Miranda had just called out to her mother! And she was just trying to leave?

"Moooom!!" Emilia whined incredulously. "He waved at you! Let's go say hi!"

"No, Emilia," she told her daughter firmly. "It's almost midnight. We need to get home."

"No!" She tugged on her mother's wrist. "Come on!"

Vanessa turned to face her child, her patience gone. "Emilia Marie Nadal," she steeled her voice. "When I-"

They were cut off by the man of the hour himself. "Vanessa? Is that you?"

Vanessa's heart dropped, the sound of his smooth, kind voice meeting her ears. She and Emilia turned to look at him. He didn't think the girl's mouth could possibly open any wider.

Vanessa took a moment to compose herself, brushing some hair away from her face. Why had she agreed to let them stay? She should have dragged Emilia home as soon as the curtain dropped.

"Lin," she said uneasily, her eyes darting around. "Uhh...great performance tonight. Really great."

He chuckled and looked down momentarily. "Thanks, thanks for coming," he responded. "I see you brought a date."

Emilia lit up at the acknowledgment she was there.

"Yes," she said. "This is my daughter Emilia."

Lin held out his hand and Emilia happily took it. "Nice to meet you, Emilia. You were in the autograph line earlier weren't you?"

"Yes I was!" She was thrilled he remembered her. Lin noticed how strikingly similar the two were. If he could time warp back to 1996, Emilia could have been her double.

"Did you get anyone good?" He asked.

Lia grinned. "I got everyone! Daveed and Anthony and Renee and-"

"Look," Vanessa interrupted. "It was great to see you but we really do need to go. School tomorrow for this one."

"I go to Hunter just like you did," she told him.

"Oh, awesome!  Do you guys need a ride or anything? I have a car."

"We live in Brooklyn," she told him, knowing he almost definitely still lived in Washington Heights. It was the opposite part of the city.

"Oh," he said. "Well, great to see you Vanessa. And nice to meet you, Emilia."

Lin could hear the girl arguing in hushed tones with her mother as he walked away. He got into the car and it pulled away. He turned and looked out the back window, looking one last time at his ex.

"Mom!!" Emilia practically yelled at her mother. "You just turned down a ride from the King of Broadway himself?"

Vanessa sighed, "Emilia I don't have time for this," she explained, grasping her daughter's elbow to get her walking. "I have to be at work at 7 because we came to this and stayed way too late for that matter."

"We would've been home faster if you'd accepted his offer," she retorted with a bit of sass.

"Emilia, enough!" She raised her voice a bit, feeling a headache coming on. She was exhausted after a full day and the emotional toll of seeing her ex. Her ex, who looked amazing and was obviously a genius. She'd known that for years but it seemed to have gotten in their way. All his time went to his craft, not to her.

Emilia knew enough not to push it any farther. She'd gotten to go to Hamilton, after all, and she'd gotten to meet Lin!

The mother and daughter made their way to the station, both with drastically different thoughts going through their minds.

"Why didn't you tell me that you're friends with Lin-Manuel Miranda?" Emilia asked once they got on the A train, her voice at a lower tone due to the handful of people that also accompanied them.

"We're not friends," Vanessa replied adamantly.

"You're friendly enough that he spotted you out of crowd of a hundred people and knew your name."

"You know he went to Hunter. We were classmates, that's all." She reminded her daughter of the same information that she had insisted was a 'pro' when they had first started the Hunter application process.

The teen gave her mom a pointed look, "A lot of people go to Hunter, mom. That doesn't mean a celebrity remembers their name twenty years later."

"God, when you say it like that you make me sound so old." Vanessa fished her phone out of her purse to mindlessly look at her calendar for the next day, hoping Lia would follow suit.

"Mom. You and Lin-Manuel Miranda are on a first name basis." Lia emphasized each word. Her mind was racing with all of the possibilities this could lead to. Could her mom get her tickets to another show? Backstage passes, even?

"Me and Lin- Mr. Miranda," She corrected as to not prove her daughter's point, "are not on a first name basis. It would be the same way as if you saw Lauren Mayfield from Kindergarten at the store. You hated her, but you'd still recognize her."

"Lin hates you?"

"No," Although she couldn't say that as definitively. He didn't seem like he hated her, a stark contrast to their last conversation that had ended in an argument. She was almost positive though he would if he knew the entire truth behind why they hadn't spoken since their break up. "He probably feels nothing towards me other than some nostalgia at seeing an old classmate."

"Is that why you didn't want to go to the show? You didn't want to see him?"

Vanessa shook her head, lifting her eyes from her phone "I just didn't think I'd enjoy the musical, but I did. More importantly than that, I enjoyed the night out with you."

"I did, too." And she meant that. Of course her mom could annoy her at times, but she also didn't know many who hated musicals and would still agree to stay out until nearly midnight on a school night just so that their daughter could get autographs from the cast of her favorite show. She also wasn't going to let go of her new found connection to the leading man go, "So, did you and Lin ever-"

"Emilia," The raise of Vanessa's hand halted the inquiry, "I know you didn't have a ton of time between school and the show, so why don't you use the time now to study off that flashcard app on your phone? You're going to bed as soon as we get home."

Lia sighed, pulling her phone out begrudgingly. She knew her mom was right; she had already set a 5:00 a.m. alarm to catch up on the reading she may have implied was already finished before they had left for the show. Before she went to the deck of vocabulary, she couldn't help but type into Google a search for anything related to the keywords, 'Lin-Manuel Miranda' and 'Hunter College High School'.

She was completely clueless to the fact that at the very same moment, her mother had received a notification that the same man had sent her a friend request on Facebook. Vanessa's eyes peered up towards her daughter to make sure she was still looking at her phone. She logically knew her daughter couldn't see anything on her phone, but she still felt as if she was under a microscope. She didn't accept the request, but rather took to what she had heard Lia describe as Facebook  stalking. Nearly all of his settings were set to private except for one sole picture.

It was a picture of him, which Vanessa was somewhat shocked that he wasn't more discreet with his growing fame. She would be lying to herself though if she didn't admit that she couldn't help but stare at his eyes. They had always been one of her favorite attributes about him; they never went unnoticed. Immediately, she clicked out of the browser and shoved her phone back into her purse. Her plan was to handle the situation the same way she had done over the years: act like he didn't exist.