Tying the Knot - Ch. 7 (Sunny Hill Extra Story, Patreon Exclusive) (Patreon)

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Chapter Seven – Somewhere in the Crowd

He had been in this position before, of course, but that didn’t mean that his current situation felt any less new. The stakes were higher, and he would be performing in front of an audience that was paying money to see him and hear him sing. It had been all fun and giggles when he had donned Rybalt’s cape and pranced around the campus of Sunny Hill. This was real life, and thinking about that made him understand that he was getting real, too, not only about his passion, but about life in general.

After some back and forth, the powers that be had decided that he deserved the main role in the little opera play an up-and-coming young artist had placed into the company’s able hands to bring to life for the first time. There was a lot hanging in the balance, and a lot more weighing on his shoulders personally, the way Rusty saw it. Either the way he played this character would set the bar for others who’d follow after, or he would crash and burn so spectacularly that no one else would want to put on the same play ever again.

Of course, Matty had assured him that he was overthinking it. The world wouldn’t end the moment he missed a note or bungled a line. Rusty had replied by telling him that thinking like that would only make him complacent and he’d end up committing blunder after blunder. Once the last word had left his mouth, Matty had been all over him, kissing him and telling him that it didn’t matter if Rusty were to become a failed artist overnight.

Deciding that he didn’t want Matty’s pity, although his fiancé’s little speech had been as endearing as it could be, he had read and re-read his lines far into the night, making sure that he didn’t disturb anyone else’s sleep. Dex and Zoey were sleeping soundly, and Matty was also in the land of dreams.

He knew the role by heart. This first true opportunity to perform on a stage in front of an audience that knew a thing or two about opera was filling his heart to the brim. Even after he turned off the phone screen with the intention of catching some shuteye, he still couldn’t sleep. His hands behind his head, he watched the ceiling as a late car now and then filled it with temporary light. It was so quiet and pleasant, the only sound close to him being Matty’s soft breathing.

He had come such a long way. The only thing that put a damper on his happiness was that he couldn’t share all of this with his parents. One of them would have to suffice, he had to convince himself, although he preferred to have had both of them by his side. His mom’s condition was unchanged, and Rusty was no longer sure whether that was a good or a bad thing. It was good as long as she wasn’t getting worse, right? A few times, he had felt the urge to call his dad, just to see how he was, but he had decided against it. Ever since he had let his dad know that he was going to marry Matty there had been nothing but brief texts between them, always related to his mom’s situation and nothing else.

In all honesty, he missed his half-siblings. They were growing so fast, or so people said. But Rusty, who hadn’t cared about such things before, worried a little that he might not remain the same awesome older brother to those two. He rolled onto his side and contemplated the opposite wall for a change, not that he was expecting any better answers from that part of the small apartment. After the wedding, he decided, he would go to see them. He didn’t want to hold his breath in anticipation of his dad attending the wedding. Matty was insisting that Roy should get an invitation. He agreed with his soon to be better half, but he still didn’t want to face that inevitable rejection. If an invitation was sent, and his dad didn’t come, it would just be another disappointment in a long line of similar experiences.

Rusty wanted to be done with that, for a while, at least. He wanted to enjoy getting on stage tomorrow, and he wanted to have a happy wedding, with no shadows to make it less than the awesome event it was supposed to be.

“What are you doing?” Matty whispered drowsily while wrapping an arm around him from behind. “Worried about tomorrow’s performance?”

“A bit, but not so much. I’m just doing some thinking.”

“About what? Don’t get dark circles under your eyes, or the people in your troupe might blame me for keeping you up all night.”

“I’ll make sure to let them know that I’m the only one to blame,” Rusty hurried to assure him with a smile Matty couldn’t see. He turned and faced the other. “I envy you that you can sleep so well at night. I might be a creature of the dark, after all.”

“Seriously, I doubt it. You’re a huge cat, and if I were to let you have your way, you’d sleep all the time.”

“As long as you pet me, I might.”

Matty caressed his head slowly. “If it’s not your big debut tomorrow troubling you, what else is on your mind?”

“You know, the usual. Family.”

Matty kissed him on the forehead. “I understand. And I know I have this blind trust that, eventually, your dad will come around, but you don’t have to force yourself to believe it.”

“Ah, so you’re not doing it for my sake, then?” Rusty joked.

Matty chuckled softly. “Rusty, it doesn’t matter what he thinks, in the end. I mean, let’s look at it this way. If he finally sees the light, we’ll all be happy. But if he doesn’t, we don’t have to cut our happiness in half for his sake. As they say, the ball is in his court now. He’s responsible for the answer he’s going to give you. I know that you want him to be there, at our wedding. Because that’s who you are, hopeful and generous and kind. Just know that you did your part. You’re doing your best, and the rest is up to other people. It’s how the world works.”

“Okay, Confucius dear,” Rusty said and rubbed his forehead against Matty’s.

“Hmm, I’m not sure Confucius would say anything like that. Also, do I look like an old Chinese philosopher to you?”

“In the right light, maybe,” Rusty teased him. “Why does it always feel so good to talk to you? Not that I’m complaining,” he added quickly. “I’m just mesmerized by it all.”

“It must be love,” Matty said in a playful tone. “That, and most likely, the fact that you have finally met your match.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean? My match? Aren’t you pretty full of yourself right now?”

“Well, my dear future husband, let me point out the obvious to you. I made you want to cheat on me with me.”

“Hey, hey, it wasn’t cheating. I was working both your versions for a threesome. I so wanted you to blow my mind, I guess.”

“Regardless of how you want to phrase it, let’s be clear. You had no idea it was me.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s only because you didn’t let me get close to you at all. I barely touched those plums and, I must admit, they were pretty slick but barely gave me any hint regarding your true identity. You are a master of disguise, and more than that, you are good at being sly. People who see you for the first time in their lives surely don’t realize what a naughty person you are. I mean, you looked me in the eye while I was gushing on about Slicky. How did it make you feel?”

“Hmm, sort of jealous.”

It was Rusty’s turn to snicker. “Jealous of yourself?”

“Hey, you were making me reconsider all my life’s goals with how much you were into Slicky. I mean, what could have been my future from that moment onward? Selecting whisker implants?”

“Your whiskers weren’t what drew me to you, you know,” Rusty said. “But that hot tail, oh, momma. And the way you wiggled your butt, you were really doing it for me. You nailed that cat personality to a tee.”

“I’m the sort of guy that never does things by half, so you can expect things like that from me.”

“Then I’m counting on you to do the same in the future. Do you solemnly swear that you’re going to continue to surprise me with your naughty acts? However, since we’re going to be married, I suggest that you don’t just spring some new cosplay act on me without some prior warning.”

“And why is that? A surprise is no longer a surprise if I tell you about it first, right?”

“Don’t split hairs now, Matty. I will be forced to prepare a counterattack if that’s the case. I can’t let you make a fool of yourself all by your lonesome.”

“Funny you should use such words. Because I’m not lonesome at all, and I’ll never be, now that I have you.”

They giggled in the dark like two schoolboys and wrapped their arms around each other.

“Now, seriously, Rusty, get some sleep. You’re pretty enough, but you’re singing in a comedy play, right? Let’s not drive people’s expectations in the wrong direction.”

“Okay, okay, you little nagger. I’ll do it. See? I’m closing my eyes.”

“You’re not fooling me. I’ll watch over you for a bit until I hear you start snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

“So you like to think. Come on, sweet dreams, my prince.”

Ah, well, that was nice. Especially since it was coming from Matty, and Rusty had to admit that it felt amazing to be one person’s prince, even if he was without a crown or a kingdom. Yet.

“Did you just demote me from king to prince?”

“Sleep, Rusty. The crown is earned. Or something like that.”

“Did you read that in A Kingdom to Plunder?”

“I don’t recall exactly. Could be.” Matty kissed him and then pressed his eyelids down, gently, brushing the tips of his fingers over them.

Rusty cuddled against his fiancé slash cat boy slash nagger. Matty was very versatile that way, and their little conversation had helped get rid of the weight on his chest already.

***

Intimate Arias didn’t have a huge building at its disposal, but now it was so packed that Rusty felt like he was about to perform in front of fifty thousand people at least. His nerves had eventually come back to plague him, but they were fading as he launched into his role. The opera featured a failed pirate, down on his luck – that was him – searching for a part-time job in the big city. Leaving aside the culture shock, since his character had also traveled through time, he was completely inept at doing anything, as he tried being a courier by bicycle, a barista, a dog walker, and ended up as some sort of bodyguard for a runaway bride.

He had loved the play from the moment he had read the libretto, and soon enough, the dozens of eyes focused on him faded into the background. Without the pressure of knowing that this was his debut performance, he was becoming one with his unfortunate character, and his voice grew stronger and stronger. Laughter at his blunders – no, not his, really, but his character’s – reached him from time to time, as a confirmation that he was on the right track.

The others performing in the play were also young performers, just like him, but they still had more experience under their belts than he did, so he was the newbie, anyway. Nonetheless, they were getting drawn into his vortex and he could feel that was happening, without indulging in any sort of false modesty.

That meant that they were working together like a charm. The audience’s reaction was the cherry on top, because he already loved to work with these people and they appeared to love it just as much back.

When the time for them to hold hands and take their bows came, no one in the audience remained sitting. Standing ovations weren’t just a myth after all, he thought, as he felt his cheeks stretching into a smile so big that it had to go completely around his head, turning it into a cloud, and lifting him off the ground.

He barely had time to react as a huge bouquet hit him in the chest. “Thank you, thank you!” he called out, and only then realized that his support group was making a ruckus in the back. There was even a huge sign with the words ‘We Love Rusty’ on it. When had they even had the time to come up with all of that? He squinted and tried to see who was there. His eyebrows shot up the moment he realized that Matty, Zoey, and Dex had company in no others than Maddox and Jonathan. Now that was a surprise, and he was so happy he didn’t think his chest would be able to hold it all in.

His fellow performers in the play patted him on the back and congratulated him. He gallantly offered the large bouquet to Daphne, the young woman who had played the runaway bride and when the curtain fell, they all cheered at the same time.

“Going for drinks after, Rusty?”

“I’d love to, but I have some friends over. I’ll try to drop by later, just so you don’t think I’ve forgotten you or I’m some snotty ass.”

One of the guys laughed. “You’re on your way to becoming a huge star, it looks like. I don’t think we’ve ever had this kind of full house before, at least not since I started here. You were awesome.”

“You were awesome, man,” Rusty replied and returned the brief hug.

He was in a hurry to find out what Maddie and Hamilton thought they were up to by crashing his debut party, so to speak. Not that he minded it, quite the opposite.

He was barely out of his costume and makeup when a quick knock on the door stopped him as he was about to grab his last things. Yes, even that was nice. He had a very cramped closet for a dressing room all to himself, although he didn’t have his name in shiny letters on the door.

“Come in,” he said. His jaw dropped when he saw who it was. “I am so going to kill those two,” he said, but his words were cut short as Francine pulled him into a hug and then pushed him back to get a good look at him.

“Oh, they don’t know,” she said and waved her gloved hand, always a stickler for elegance, regardless of the season. “And I’m counting on you not to tell them that I was here. Did you delude yourself into believing that I would even think of missing your debut?”

“But where were you? Even with the house full, I think I’d have noticed you being here,” he expressed his amazement.

“Oh, I was just somewhere in the crowd,” she said with an enigmatic smile.

“I’m not buying it, but I suppose that a good witch like you is allowed a few magic tricks.”

“And secrets,” she said and touched her nose gently.

“Mum’s the word,” he confirmed. “So, I suppose you’re not going to stay for the celebrations.”

“I’ve seen what I came here to see and I’ll leave you children to it. Since the sort of rowdy activities you call partying is not – how do you say it today? – my vibe.”

“As always, you nail everything, even the hippest lingo,” he offered graciously with an on-point smile.

“Emile was right to pick you for this role. It fits you like a glove.”

He frowned slightly. “Emile? Do you know him? Don’t tell me you talked to him--”

Francine put one hand up. “Give me some credit. I haven’t even met him face to face before today. But if he had dared to reject you, I would have stormed this place with daggers drawn.”

“Phew, we all dodged a bullet, then,” Rusty said with unhidden relief.

Francine gestured for him to give her another hug. “Come here. I’ll be on my way now, but know that I will be watching you closely. It looks like I don’t have to push you anymore since you’re pulling yourself along well enough. I’m glad for you, Rusty. You were made for this.”

“A poor pirate traveling through time only to discover the realities of part-time jobs?” he joked.

She patted him on the cheek. “You know what I mean, you little joker. Remember not to tell the boys I was here. They thought themselves so sly, planning their trip here to witness your first official performance. I wouldn’t want their little happiness spoiled for any reason.”

“You can count on me. And thank you so much, Francine. I wouldn’t have come this far without you.”

“That’s nonsense,” she said. “You might have found it harder and taken a longer path. But the passion you have for performing and singing, that’s not something you can put a lid on. It would have compelled you and thrown you into this world sooner or later, regardless of what your silly self might have had to tell you. Of course, I helped a little. But that is nothing compared to the force of nature you truly are when you put your mind to it.”

“Can I at least see you to the car? Mr. Simmons must have gotten bored waiting.”

“Oh, he watched the performance as well. Regardless of what you might think, I don’t treat him like a dog. Do you want a treat?” she asked and took a small shiny package out of her purse. “It’s a vitamin bar. Healthy for you.”

He accepted the small gift with a smile. This made his debut experience truly complete. No regrets lingered in his mind, and he didn’t even think about any such thing anymore as he said goodbye to Francine.

TBC

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Author's note: I hope you're enjoying the boys' adventures even after leaving Sunny Hill. I use this space to wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, since this is my last post for 2023. I have many things planned for the start of the following year. I wish I had them ready for this holidays season, but real life got in the way. All that said, thank you for much for your support, and I hope your celebrations will be amazing!