"You can leave your hat on."

[likefatherlikeson]

Who: Justin Campbell and Sasha Stanford with the whole crew
What: The Full Monty... and so it begins!
Where: Rehearsal Hall, NYC
When: Day after this

The last couple of days had been a big deal for Justin and his fellow crew working for Caden's company, Drake Productions. A lot of changes were in the wind, a lot which Justin had known about in advance because it involved was three-pronged of what Caden was laying groundwork for: a Footloose on the road tour, Justin's simultaneous one-show-per-location solo tour, and the charity event where Caden's biggest male stars were going to be doing The Full Monty to raise money for a select group of charities important to to those who worked for him.

Along with that, Caden had just announced internally that the event would signal the start of a run on Broadway of his newly commissioned show, none other than The Full Monty: The Musical and his lead in the role of Jerry was the one and only Billy Willis, who had been the supporting in Footloose since almost the start. As a result, Justin's newly appointment sidekick stepping full-time into the role of Willard was Merlin (with Tori piggybacking primary understudy for both Ren and Willard's roles), who had already been jobsharing with Billy since Billy beat cancer, after winning a scholarship to work with Caden's company some time ago. Justin knew about this particular shuffle awhile ago when Caden was first in discussion with Billy about the role. Justin was over the moon for him, always happy to see his incredibly talented friends be offered lead roles. If anyone deserved it, it was Billy. Justin already had great chemistry with Merlin, who was a great Willard.

What that all meant was, not only were some of Justin's forever favourite people going on tour with him but they were all going to be working on a charity event with him to raise money for causes extremely dear to him. That meant there would be singing and dancing rehearsals and a lot of time being in each others company. He couldn't think of a better way to start the New Year after what turned out to be one of the worst years of his life.

He came bounding into the rehearsal hall hand-in-hand with Sasha, cheeks flushed and ready to go. "Okay, who's ready to go on a vocal warm-up? Wait, is everyone here?" His phone started to ring and he swore, trying to fish it out of the pocket of his skinny jeans to take the call. It ended a few minutes later and he gave a wave of his hand, going over to the piano to grab his microphone headset to put on. "Merlin's out for today, he's got a family emergency he's had to go out of town for. There's enough here to get started. We can all be in on this, even if you aren't a singer, because if you ain't see it yet, I'm going to cut you out of my life for good," he joked and sat down at the piano to start off the warm-up, Bohemian Rhapsody, adjusting his microphone at his mouth with a smirk.

Comments

tag - sash and cas!

[theateroflove]

Tori couldn't deny the fact he was nervous as all hell about taking part in this Full Monty thingo. Like seriously, what if he dropped the damn hat for that penultimate number?! But it was affording him a good distraction from this time of year. He hadn't been doing well in recent weeks as they passed the anniversary of Andi's death. It hit him hard and he found everything was a struggle and going back to Boston for a family Christmas was difficult. Everyone wanted to reminisce about Andi and Tori felt too choked up to talk about any of it. He ended up walking out around lunchtime on Christmas day and went to visit her at the cemetery, just sitting there in silence. He had no idea how long he had been there for. He was started to come through it now, little by little. Even if he was nervous, it was still exciting to be part of something incredible like this with so many amazing people dripping in musical talent.

He watched Justin and Sasha coming into the rehearsal hall and laughed when Sasha came over to where he was sitting with Cas to join them. "Where di you guys disappear to? Did you just..." He looked between Sasha and Justin, pretty sure Justin's red cheeks gave away the game. "He calls this song a vocal 'warm-up'? Bloody hell, I'm barely awake. Hang on, is he...?" He trailed off, not sure if it was offensive to assume anything from Justin's upbeat mood beyond the fact he seemed pretty pumped.

[beautifulday]

Sasha dropped down onto the sofa, smirking. "Manic? Yep." He settled in, putting Justin's wallet and keys in the pocket of his hoodie for safekeeping and unhooked Dory's leash from her harness so she could wander around and socialise with everyone. "Don't worry, he'll have plenty of energy today for all you guys combined. It's nothing to worry about, though. It's not a severe episode, just on an upswing for him after the ketamine infusions have been so successful. It's just like an adrenaline rush for him. He'll probably have weed later after the rehearsing session to help him come down. He's pretty pumped for all this. Gotta admit, I am too. Because I'm not one of the ones who have to get up there and get my kit off," he laughed, giving Tori a teasing nudge with his shoulder.

[ifeelthelove]

Cassidy listened to Justin's side of the telephone conversation, which sounded like it could have been Merlin directly. Not just that, but it sounded like he might have also been told exactly what Merlin's 'family emergency' was. He had stepped away a little and she overheard him say something like 'It doesn't matter, some things are just more important' and then he asked 'How's he holding up anyway?' Cassidy was still reeling from the news that the new guy in Merlin's life was the Brandon Blake, one of the biggest TV stars in the business on one of the hottest TV shows currently running. She loved the show and Brandon's character, so of course she loved him as an actor too. It was just a lot to process. A lot that was still very much confidential and would remain so until when - or even if - Merlin revealed it to his other friends. "Sash, lovely, your fly's undone," she had to point out, laughing. "Looks like you were still getting in on the action anyway. Did Jus want you to leave your hat on? I take it his manic energy has its perks," she teased, giving the brim of his snapback a tug.

[theateroflove]

Tori laughed and waved his hand in Justin's direction. "I feel like I have no fucking talent compared to him. He's lucky he's such an awesome dude or I might have had to hate him in a fit of jealousy. Don't worry, Sash, Ands would've made sure someone kicked my ass for it," he joked. The reality was that he and Justin got along extremely well. Justin trusted him as his understudy and Tori felt that in everything they worked on together. Justin had given him so much time and extra help learning the role of Ren. Not just the words in the script or the choreography (he still didn't do the warehouse dance scene near as intricately as Justin, which had specialised choreography for every dance number when he was leading the production), but all those extra nuances and mannerisms he had put into Ren. He stopped talking for a bit and enthusiastically joined Justin in singing the classic lyrics along with others hanging out there today. But Cas pointing out Sash's fly, Tori burst out laughing. "Is that what a grey-ace calls an Ace up their sleeve? Ahhh man, I so needed all this," he added, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

tag reecy, justin, winston

[intothegroove]

Kyan had almost called Caden up and told him he couldn't make the rehearsal that day because Reecy was ill. They had already disclosed to Caden that Reecy was pregnant so he had plenty of time to bring in a replacement in the role of Baby while she was on maternity leave and he had been over the moon for both of them. They had told their family on Christmas Day, Reecy even making it extra special for Walker and Sawyer by wrapping up the sonogram picture with a speech bubble sticker that said CONGRATULATIONS, GRANDDAD & GRANDPA! It had been the best thing in the world to see them both bawling with happy tears, especially Walker, but it did inevitably lead to an emotional time for Reecy and Walker because his husband had passed away and wouldn't be there for it. That was something Kyan and Trey were still working on too, that their mom wasn't there to hear she was going to be a grandmother.

Reecy wanted to come today, though. She wanted to be 100% involved in this whole project. It was just who she was, supporting everyone unconditionally, especially Justin's projects. He was her little brother in every way but blood and she was so proud of him. She wanted Justin and Winston to know the good news before they officially made it public. Which is why she still wanted to be here today, despite battling morning sickness. They were just outside the rehearsal hall and when Reecy came out of the ladies room looking peaky, he went over and rubbed her arms with a little sympathetic laugh. "You okay? Sure you don't want to put this off for another day?" He kissed her forehead and brushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ears.

[headingforsomething]

Reecy had her finger to her lips, really not convinced she was okay yet with the nausea that kept surging in her gut. One thing was for sure, this little button growing inside her wasn't going to get the job done quietly. She was literally needing to take medication to stop her feeling sick so she could perform each night. None of this was isolated to morning. Thankfully, her dad had prescribed something she could take which was safe for baby. She took her trusty bottle of Pepto out of her bag and just took a swig of it directly from the bottle, scrunching her face up as it went down. "I'm okay... I think. Better than this morning. How are you? You okay?"

The amusing thing was that Kyan seemed to have taken to going out in sympathy for her some mornings. All this started with them both thinking they caught a stomach flu off each other. Somme days when she woke up, it was to her adorably sympathetic husband looking green and trying to get a cup of ginger tea down. Much to the amusement of her dad and Sawyer, not to mention Finn and Trey both getting in on the action - teasing and pulling the piss out of Kyan for it. Reecy, on the other hand, thought it was adorable and she knew if anyone was going to get hit with sympathetic pregnancy issues, it would be the ever-sensitive Kyan. "Wow, I'm nervous. I'm so conscious everyone knows I gave up on this as an option, you know? Eesh, your little one is giving us a workout," she said with a smirk, giving Kyan's belly an affectionate pat.

[likefatherlikeson]

Justin was distracted with everything that was going on but it was one of those days where he literally could focus on multiple things at once, know everyone who was expected to roll up today, and have a potential set-list memorized not just by title, but also genre and pace. His vocal coach was at-the-ready with a clipboard and once he was finished the fun Queen warm-up, he got up from the piano, taking the headset microphone off and let it drape over his shoulder to go over to her. And as expected, he couldn't stand still but she was more than used to that with him. "I want to move away from a full set of traditional covers. I want some that change it up a bit." He took the clipboard to have a look at the tracks they had recordings for. He pointed to his next selection. "I think Sia's good. Go Elastic Heart. I need to get more of that strength back and she has good range shifts."

He went over to where the case with his handheld mic was sitting on a stool. His microphone pretty much had a fan-following itself. He refused to use any other, no matter where he was playing. It was bedazzaled with rainbow crystals and had his name engraved on it. It was one of the most expensive mics you could get and he didn't share it with anyone. It wasn't so much about being particular but had certain things he needed which helped him do the best performance as possible and a reliable microphone was something he wouldn't sway on. He took it out and pointed to the clipboard his coach was holding with the mic. "Actually, have we got the rock cover by Written By Wolves? I need to do some work on that," he said, pacing back and forth, stretching out his arms and legs to try to get ready to warm up for choreography. He took a quick headcount of those he could see, shielding his eyes from the spotlights. "Who's missing? I can't see y'all beyond these lights."

tag will!

[playingtowin]

The only reason Zeke was here today was because he had been going stir-crazy cooped up inside in an attempt to avoid catching colds or flus while he was on chemo and Shannon would be going on tour with Justin because their band, Violet Rainbows, was his supporting act. He wanted to come along and watch the rehearsals and invited Will to come along with him. He learned on the trip into the city that this Full Monty idea had been something Caden had been cooking up even as far back as when Justin and Will were still dating but it had apparently been shelved when Justin disclosed he had survived childhood sexual abuse and they weren't sure he would want to be involved in anything where he had to get his full kit off like that. But Justin was Justin and he made his own rules when it came to performing. He had already done Frank-n-Further in another charity Rocky Horror thing so this was hardly stretching the limits.

On the way over, Will outright asked him if he was okay with him watching what was effectively a strip show where his ex was leading the pack. For Zeke, that just made it more hilarious and had pointed out that it wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before. He knew Will and Justin had been sexually active together, so it really didn't bother him. He was sitting with Will on one of the sofas and Will had his arm looped around Zeke's shoulders while they shared a bag of Doritos. He listened to Justin picking up another song for his vocal warm-up (as if Bohemian Rhapsody didn't already nail that), a cover of Sia's Elastic Heart. "Do you think when he sings songs like this that he's aiming them at you?"

[musthavebeenlove]

"Not anymore," Will laughed. He enjoyed Zeke's honesty and it meant they have talked a lot of these harder sides of their budding relationship through. No matter how it all felt, they did need to address the fact Will used to date Justin and it had been serious at the time, filled with many emotions. He believed back then that he and Justin could be together forever but he dropped the ball. There were no hard feelings anywhere but stuff like this probably did make people curious. "At first, I thought every breakup song or song about shitty relationships he sung were about me. I know for a fact, though, that his vocal training and rehearsals, he chooses songs targeted at what he needs strengthening from a catalogue that works his voice. He doesn't sing anything aimed at me anymore but this probably would've fit when we split. Feels like an eternity ago."

[playingtowin]

"Don't worry, no judgment here. I actually believed once I would lose my virginity way before Sash. Actually, no... I more fantasised about losing it to him. Which I think totally negates any potential weirdness that he's now in love with your ex. Did you ever think he would end up on tour like this? I think it's so fucking epic and cool that he's cool with us hanging out at his rehearsals where we get to listen to cool music and just hang out." Zeke ruffled Will's hair then pulled him into a kiss. "I've been a bit stressed things with us might not take off. Me being so sick and in and out of hospital, it probably dredging up memories of the time you were sick. It's not usual teenage dating shit, is it? I know you don't really worry about that stuff but I've been thinking about it. Worried that you might not talk to me about it if you were."

tag haz!

[groovykindoflove]

Ainsley was just excited to be involved in anything his friends did but it was supercool to be behind-the-scenes with this whole thing. And even better, his incredibly sexy boyfriend was going to be joining Justin's tour as a backup dancer. Ainsley wasn't a performer beyond the fun stuff he did with the kids at The Rainbow Room. He pretty much sucked at dancing but had the goofy dancing thing down and he loved karaoke but really couldn't hold much of a tune. But so many of his friends were going to do awesome things with this and he wanted to be involved. Which is why he was dancing around with Harry, having a laugh at the rehearsal while Justin did his thing with warm-ups. Harry was excited too and would be working closely with Logan to help with the choreography. He was in his element and Ainsley loved watching Harry in his element, especially when his ass always looked incredible in his training gear. "You're totally making me horny, hot stuff. I hope you get tonight off. I have plans."

[amareladanza]

"Get tonight off, or get off tonight?" Harry asked, laughing. He stopped dancing and pulled Ainsley close, rubbing their noses together before giving him a kiss. Since they reunited and decided to start dating again, things had picked up where they left off. Or not really where they left off, because that was shitty and didn't want to go through that again, but from where it was still good and they knew how to have fun. He had been working really hard at school but in his spare time, he was all-consumed with getting back on track with Ainsley. They had fun dates and slept over each other's places. This whole tour thing was a complete surprise but it would be incredible for Harry's career. He just felt bad because Brody would have been ideal on Justin's backup dancing team but now he was out of action after his accident. "I've missed you this week. Our schedules have been fucked up. I wanted to ask you something. I'm flying home next week for Dad's birthday and our family's going to Disneyworld. Family tradition. You wanna come? Mom has totally been asking about you since we got back together."

[groovykindoflove]

"Well, both, obviously," Ainsley said with a grin, planting a huge kiss on Harry's lips. "Oh my god, really?! Your family would be okay with me coming along to a huge family thing like that? Of course I wanna come! Like, Disneyworld is awesome enough but your family are so totally cool, I love them to bits. Are all your brothers and sisters going to be there? Do you know how fucking lucky I am that I get a second chance with you? And that we could just kinda go back to how we were. You didn't have to give me another go, I wouldn't have blamed you at all. But, oh man, I never stopped being head-over for you. Never stopped having wet dreams about you either," he added, snickering when he dropped his hands to cup Harry's glorious dancer's ass.

tag anyone who wants to bug him!

[thosethreewords]

This whole project should have been right up Skylar's avenue but his heart wasn't in it. It had been a month since he and Cooper decided to call it quits when Cooper wanted to move back to Australia with his mom. They did think about long-distance but Skylar knew he couldn't manage that, especially not considering Cooper's move was permanent. He wasn't just going back to live with his mom, he was accepted into a music program with Australia's most prestigious music school, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on a scholarship. He couldn't turn it down and didn't want to. But now Skylar was single in a room full of happy couples. He adored his friends but this breakup was hitting him hard. Not even getting the awesome opportunity to do The Full Monty was helping. Mostly, he wanted to stay in bed and wallow in his own misery.

[musthavebeenlove]

Will grabbed a couple of Cokes and went over to where Skylar had been sitting looking, well, exactly like how Will felt when Justin broke up with him. He flopped into the spot beside Sky and offered him a Coke. "Hey, mate. I could probably shower you with a pile of piss-arse platitudes but I know it'll probably just shit you off and make you want to punch me. I know you and I haven't really spoken much since I came back but I just wanted to let you know I'm here if you wanna talk and I get it. I know how you're feeling and I wish I had something that could help you. Are you okay? Okay-ish?"

[thosethreewords]

Skylar took the Coke and looked at Will, surprised to find him joining him in his wallowing. He held the can up. "Cheers." He cracked it open but didn't take a drink, instead toying with the ring with a slight laugh that had no real humour behind it. "Yeah, I know you get it, dude. I appreciate the whole misery loves company shit. Feel free to pass on any tips you might have about getting over the dude you thought was the love of your life. I could use all the help I can get. All this? This. Getting my kit off for the hell of it in the name of charity? Me. And I'm not even feeling it. I fucking miss him."

tag - autumn

[bornforbroadway]

Scott had a big night after work last night and hit a club with some friends. So, he had a hangover and he was running late, but his only job was to strip and know some dance moves. He was good to go. Mostly, he just told Caden to give him times and places and he would show up. His mate had a birthday so he couldn't turn down the offer to celebrate. He had even been going to call Autumn and see if she wanted to come along but he wasn't sure if what they did was just a one-nighter or they should pursue more. He arrived just in time to see the celebration up on the stage and realised what it was. He came up beside Autumn, who looked like she was just arriving herself. "Ouch," he commented, glancing at her to see how she was taking the news. He cracked open his can of Red Bull. "That's gotta hurt. You okay?"

[autumnkisses]

It was the last thing Autumn expected, so it hit like a sucker-punch. Both Kyan and Reecy had told her they were pursuing adoption to start a family because Reecy was terrified of carrying another pregnancy. And Autumn knew they were both genuine when they said that so they didn't know Reecy was pregnant when she spoke to them both. The news must've come in the last few weeks and they talked it out like married couples should and decided they were over the moon by the surprise. As over the moon as Justin was, which was so totally adorable but still hurt. It was like that final nail in the coffin of Autumn's past. She never had any thoughts her and Kyan would reunite as a couple because she saw for herself how much he and Reecy were in love and happily married now and they looked freaking joyous with their news. But emotions were never as rational as the brain. "Yep. Yep, that hurts," she conceded quietly. She gave Scott a faint smile. "I'm okay. Or I will be once the sting wears off."

[bornforbroadway]

Scott draped his arm around her shoulders and steered her over to where there were drinks and food for the session. "Well, I'd offer to take you home for a shag, love, but I'm contractually obligated to a charity to be here so I can't ditch it. Wouldn't do that to JC anyway or he'd hunt me down and have some scary Aussie blokes kick my arse for not taking shit seriously. I know you, though. Even if this feels like a kick in the nads right now, you'll be happy for them." He picked up a Diet Coke, cracked it open for her, and offered it to her. "What about you? Ever wanted kids of your own? Fuck, I came close and never felt the urge. Not seeing those ultrasound pictures, not feeling the belly. Never felt like mine. Probably why she believes I put some voodoo hex on it or some bollocks."

tag tori!

[ifeelthelove]

As soon as Justin assured her Sash would be okay, Cassidy took off after Tori. To her benefit, as awful as it sounded, Tori was still wearing a leg brace from when he broke it in Vermont. He finally got out of the cast and was having physiotherapy. He would be in the brace a little longer, so he wouldn't have gotten as far as he could have without a broken foot. Turns out, he didn't run too far anyway. He had exited the back of the building and was sitting on the back steps that led down into an alley which was otherwise deserted. He was hunched over, arms wrapped around his head, crying. She sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm here for you, sweetie. I don't know how I can help, but I'm here."

[theateroflove]

Tori lifted his head and quickly wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands. He tried to sniffle back the tears but they were coming pretty hard and fast once he let them. He thought he was getting back on top of things but he couldn't go any longer keeping it a secret from Sasha. He had battled himself back and forth for ages now but there was this little voice that kept telling him he had to make sure Sash knew. Now he was starting to wonder if that voice was Andi herself. But if it was, why didn't she tell Sash herself when she was still alive, that this was how she wanted to go? This sort of thing, people thought about it as merciful for older people but rarely for someone as young as Andi. She probably wouldn't have been thought of as old enough to even make that call, which is why she probably kept it quiet. He wished every fucking day he had the chance to say goodbye to her and now he was just aching inside that she chose to go before he did. And it fucking hurt. "Is Sash okay? I didn't mean to freak him out like that. Does he need your help?"

[ifeelthelove]

"Justin's taking care of him. He's got plenty of back-up too. You need my help. I don't want you to hide things from me, sweetie. Let me help." Cassidy kept cuddling Tori, rubbing his back and sweeping her hand over his hair. Both Tori and Sasha's reactions to this soul-shattering revelation showed just how much Andi meant to everyone around her. But they were both dealing with the grief in very different ways. Sasha talked about Andi a lot. If he was having a tough time, he would share memories and reminisce about his friendship with her. Tori just closed up. He rarely mentioned his sister save for saying he missed her and didn't want to talk about it. Cassidy respected that so much. She understood what it was like to feel so much, you didn't know how to talk about it. He would have so much knotted up inside and she wished so much she could help. She fumbled around in her handbag and found her little pack of tissues. "Do you want to talk about it? Not even everything, just this part? I know you had to have told Sash because it was tearing you up inside. I know you've been struggling."

tag tori

[intothegroove]

There was inevitable commotion when poor Sasha had the bad panic attack. Everyone wanted to help but there wasn't a lot they could do but give him space and Justin take the reigns. Justin had obviously been schooled in how to help someone out of a panic attack, especially Sasha. He knew what would happen and they disappeared for awhile when Justin helped him to the bathroom. No one knew what caused it until Justin came back a little while later and explained, even if only the bare minimum of information. Sasha was going home to lie down while Justin, ever the professional, picked up the rehearsal where he left off. Kyan knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he had to reach out to Tori who had disappeared too. He had a look around the venue and found Tori sitting at the bottom of some steps near the back entrance. He leaned over and kissed Cassidy's cheek. "Okay if I have a little chat with Tori, love? I promise I'll take care of him for you."

[theateroflove]

Cassidy gave Kyan a hug, which looked sweet before Kyan was over a foot taller than her. She then kissed the top of Tori's head and left him and Kyan to it. Tori had no idea what this might be about. He didn't know Kyan very well. Mostly just professionally, both being actors on Caden's productions and working with Shades of Violet/Rainbow. He was in complete awe of the guy, though. Kyan was a shy introvert and one of the nicest guys on the planet, yet through acting, he morphed into one of the most sexiest sex god characters of all time. Cas loved Dirty Dancing, so they had seen the show many times on dates. He watched Kyan sit down on the step beside him. "Sorry, I accidentally hijacked your's and Reecy's amazing news. Congratulations. Your baby is going to be beautiful."

[intothegroove]

Kyan patted Tori's back, shaking his head. "Hey, that's not why I want to talk to you. We have plenty of time to celebrate. Justin told us what happened and he mentioned it because he knows I have first-hand experience with a similar situation." He knew he wouldn't be here if these kids didn't mean the world to him. Justin was a little brother to Reecy, that made him and Sash both family. He might have sworn to himself he would never speak of this but he had to. Tori was upset, Sash got such a shock, he ended up in a panic attack. Kyan understood that depth of crippling emotion. He still had days his grief over his mom tore him down, even made it difficult to get out of bed. He would get up, come to work and perform, then go home to bed away without eating or showering. Grief was something you couldn't just switch off when it hit. "My mom passed away from breast cancer. I nursed her through her final days."