Kasey's POV

June 20, 2019

Ben and I smiled at each other, and then looked back at the poster.

"Wow," Ben finally said.

"It's you," I stated the obvious. We'd been staring at the giant West Side Story broadway poster for a few minutes now. There was Ben featured among with others in the cast, with text in the middle. He'd already started doing commercials and photoshoots for the upcoming production, and now we were staring at one of the promotions. It was incredible to see Ben on here like this. Riff was a huge role, and he was going to get a lot well-deserved attention. I'm so proud of him.

"This is... weird," Ben stared at himself in disbelief.

"It's incredible! Come on, go pose next to yourself!" I urged him to stand next to the poster, and he sheepishly obliged. I took pictures of him, laughing as he made silly faces. We then took a picture of the poster by itself before moving on. We walked hand in hand as we made our way to the cafe we were going to have lunch at, enjoying the sights of summer in NYC. 

So far, my time back in NYC had been amazing. I loved getting to spend time with Ben everyday, after so much time was lost to long-distance. It was hard to believe that earlier this year all we had was texts and phone calls, and now I get to fall asleep next to him every night. I was enjoying every little thing about us. Sticky maple syrup kisses after breakfast pancakes. Snuggles in bed before falling asleep. Sitting on the bathroom counter and talking while he shaves his face. Brushing our teeth together and laughing in the mirror. Leaning against his chest and feeling his heartbeat. Ben stroking my hair as I wake up. Taking Hammer on walks and watching him explore the world. The feeling of his soft skin against mine. I loved the world we shared together, and I knew it would keep building and getting better. When you're in a relationship for a long time, not everything is butterflies and that's okay. There definitely are butterfly moments and there always will be. But there are also moments filled with a calm feeling, the feeling that you are home. The love we had was warm and comforting and it was the greatest thing I'd ever experienced.

 I smiled at Ben as I was brought back to reality. He squinted.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just love our life."

"I love our life too," Ben smiled back and kissed my cheek before we took our seats just outside the cafe. We let the waitress take our orders and then we started talking about this upcoming month. Filming was set to start next week, and we'd already had rehearsals and read-throughs these past couple of weeks. Pre-production was always the most work, so we'd been super busy this month. It was a lot of work but it didn't even feel like work. It felt good to dance like this again, it felt good to create. I am creating a movie with these people. I'm going to be in a real movie. It was still unreal. It was all so exciting, and I couldn't believe I got to be a part of it. Ballet had a structure to it, and this was so different and more like broadway. I'd missed choreography like this so much. 

 Everyone in the cast was so nice and we were already bonding. We even met Steven Spielberg, and I definitely felt starstruck. But he was just like any other human, really. He was so down to earth and liked joking around with everyone. 

"You look like a true movie star with those glasses on right now," I joked. 

"Oh yeah? These Ray-Bans are real, people!" Ben smirked, and I giggled. I took a picture of him to post on Instagram. 

"You ready for the big screen again?" 

"Yeah, no biggie," Ben pretended to shrug it off. "A little tired, though," he said before starting to yawn. Ben was right, it was a little tiring. It was all worth it, though. After we ate lunch, we walked down to a park in Brooklyn, where a bunch of local artists were selling their art. We slowly went around looking at all the tables and admiring everything. After making our way through all of it, we bought a small rectangular painting of the NYC skyline. We continued on to the rest of the park where we were meeting all our friends for an afternoon hang-out. As Ben and I set a blanket down, Mike, Dan, and Josh all came with a picnic basket. 

"How's our two favorite movie stars?" Dan sat down in between us and put one arm around both of us. We both laughed, and told him about the upcoming filming schedule. Casey showed up, and then DeMarius shortly after, and then a few more people like Melissa and Jeff. Mike made us all Mimosas, and we were chatting and enjoying the summer air. The past month being back with them had been great, I'd missed spending time with them. We'd been going out almost every weekend, and I was really enjoying it now that I wasn't the only sober friend. Drinking was a new change for me, it still didn't feel right sometimes. But nothing bad had happened, like I'd for some reason imagined would happen all these years. If anything, it just contributed to the fun I had. 

"Oh god. Please tell me no one still has that video," Dan groaned.

"Oh yes we do," I grinned, and quickly pulled out my phone to search for it. It was a video of Ben yelling "His name is John Cena", Sky hitting Dan with a "Wet Floor" sign, and Dan collapsing. 

"Surprised I didn't get a concussion from that," Dan shook his head after we showed him the video.

"My voice crack," Ben grimaced, and we all laughed. We'd been talking about Newsies memories and laughing at all the stupid things we used to do. It was hard to believe all those memories were already a few years old. And here we are now, still together. No amount of words could express how thankful I was to be friends with these amazing people. There was goofiness, drunk nights, serious moments, random singing, crude jokes, and affectionate bear hugs. It was my favorite thing, and we had Newsies to thank for bringing us all together. I smiled at them all, watching them laugh at another memory. They have no idea how much they've changed my life. The afternoon ended with the guys fake wrestling, and Casey and I watching them while we drank our Mimosas. 

"Men," Casey shook her head and took a sip of her drink. I laughed and nodded. I looked around at the park, and saw more people sitting and enjoying the park. There were 2 teenagers flying a kite, and kids feeding ducks at the pond. It made New York feel less small, to observe people like this. In a city with a giant population, I liked to be reminded that they're all just like us. Everyone has their own story and life, and it's beautiful. 

 After they stopped and we started to pack up to leave, one of the artists from the makeshift exhibition came over to us. He told us he'd been doing some quick paintings all day, and that he'd painted us. It was a beautiful painting, even if it was just a quick one to him. He'd perfectly captured all the vivid colors of a summer day in the park, and there we were on a blanket together. The people weren't super detailed, but we could still distinguish who was supposed to be who. 

"Wow, this is incredible! Thank you!" Dan smiled at him. 

"Take it," the artist insisted. "It's your memory, not mine." We insisted on paying him, but he refused to accept any money. We thanked him endlessly, and we carefully took the painting that was still wet with us. We planned on hanging it somewhere in our apartment. Everyday felt like a movie with them, like we were the friends in a coming of age movie slowly growing up and living life without a care. After we got back to our apartment, we made dinner and then decided to go live on Instagram. 

"Hey guys!" I smiled and waved to the camera. 

"Heyyyy!!" Ben and Josh yelled. 

"Sorry about them, guys. They've been drunk off mimosas since 2 o clock," I rolled my eyes. 

"So have you!" Josh accused.

"I am not drunk!" I protested. 

"She's not but I am," Jeff came into frame. I giggled and shook my head at the chaos that was happening. We monitored the comments and answered questions people had.

"Most embarrassing drunk moments? Oh god, these people have so many," I gestured to them and winked. "About a year ago Ben was singing 'I Dreamed a Dream' from Les Mis out on the streets for everyone to hear."

"Hey!" Ben protested. I laughed and let other people tell their stories. Josh wasn't too happy that we told him about his horrible karaoke at the bar.

"You know what? Kasey isn't the 'girl boss' you all think she is. Might I remind you about the time you almost fell off a table you stood on at the bar? Like, a couple weeks ago?" I was laughing as he told the story, but I whined at him for spilling. 

"Favorite tour moments?" I read off the screen. "When Ben, Josh and Sky put on dresses for our benefit show and sang ' The Schuyler Sisters'. I'll never forget it."

"I liked when Jeff left. Best moment on tour," Dan joked, which caused Jeff to shove him. We answered more questions, and somehow the topic of musicals came up and we started discussing our favorite ones and our favorite scenes. This prompted someone to turn on "What You Want" by Legally Blonde, and we put on our own personal rendition of this song. Ben was Elle, of course. Casey provided the camerawork and angles, and we couldn't stop laughing as Ben lip synced and did the choreography. He recreated the Harvard admissions scene, doing Elle's presentation perfectly. We all pretended to be the supporting characters, and we cheered when Ben as Elle got into Harvard. The song ended, and we were all laughing and breathing hard. Everyone in the live stream was laughing at us in the comments. 

"And on that note, I think it's time to go. Sorry you had to see that," I laughed and shook my head. 

"Are you kidding? They were lucky to see that," Melissa flaunted. I giggled. 

"Bye guys!" Ben wrapped his arm around me, and Dan messed with my hair as the rest of everyone waved in the background as I ended the live. Another great night with the best people. 

-

Ben's POV

July 11, 2019

I yawned, dearly wishing I could be drinking a coffee right now. Instead, I was getting ready for a long day of filming. Ugh. Early call times. I ran my hands through my hair in attempt to fix the mess, but I only made it worse. I chuckled, and took a picture of myself to send to Kasey. 

I laughed once again as she sent me a picture of herself back, her hair in a messy knot. I finally set my phone down and let the stylists begin their job. The filming for West Side Story had started, we were doing all the scenes that were set in NYC. Everyday was tiring, but rewarding. I was working with an incredible group of people who were all very talented. I loved that this film was giving these talented dancers and performers a chance to shine, instead of just casting a bunch of celebrities. Even better, I got to work with Kasey. Unlike Newsies, we actually had scenes together which was so fun. Having her back this summer after so many months of being separated was the greatest gift. She made me the happiest person in the world and I was falling in love with every little thing about us. Sharing looks only we would understand across a room full of people. Humming to oldies while doing the dishes. Hearing her infectious laugh. The vanilla perfume she wore. Her sleepy morning voice. Drinking coffee on the balcony together. Everything with Kasey was a dream come true. I sighed, and then was brought back to the reality of makeup and costume. I sat and let my face get covered in foundation while I slowly started to wake.

-

After filming all day, we were finally done, and I'd never felt more relief hearing the words "That's a wrap". We'd filmed some of the more dance-heavy scenes today, which had obviously left me exhausted. 

"Tomorrow we'll be getting pictures and B-roll shots, so be prepared for that!" the director called out, and then was finally done speaking for the day. I mentally celebrated, glad that tomorrow would be more of a relaxed day. Everyone started to head off their separate ways, and I quickly found Kasey in the crowd and grabbed her hand. We walked back to the trailers together. 

"My legs are so sore," Kasey complained.

"Me too," I agreed and put my arm around her. 

"What are a Jet and a Shark doing mingling together?" Mike popped his head in between us, and we both laughed. 

"They're like Tony and Maria. But normal," Rachel winked, joining us in our walk. 

"Promise me you won't get shot by a rival gang and die in my arms?" Kasey joked.

"I promise."

"Good. I think we're normal then," Kasey confirmed and we all laughed. 

"Dinner later?" Rachel raised her eyebrows, referring to the invitation from someone else in our cast group chat. 

"Of course! If I can even still walk by then," Kasey groaned. We said goodbye to Rachel and Mike, and continued walking. I love my friends. I love my job. 

-

does anyone else remember that one livestream where they actually did recreate the song from legally blonde? iconic :,)

also hey guys !! :) part of the reason i haven't been updating as frequently is bc I was working on rewriting some earlier chapters !! so as of today (feb 26 2021) chapters 1-15 is edited/rewritten. just wanted to throw that out there in case anyone wanted to reread those or whatever !! obviously you are not obligated to reread at all and you won't really miss anything important, but i just wanted to let y'all know :) nothing significant changed plot wise, i just kinda added a lot more details/character development/improved my writing style. this wasn't rlly necessary ig but im a bit of a perfectionist when i do anything LOL so i felt the need to rewrite, since my writing style has changed a lot since when i first started this. anyways that's it ily all !! <3