Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Thoughtful Misconceptions ❯ First Rehearsal ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

Erin awoke suddenly the next morning. Her head felt achy and her mouth felt especially dry. She rolled over to see Ian still sleeping. She slipped out from under the covers quietly, not wanting to wake him. She didn't hear any movement so she assumed that Marcus and Sabrina were still sleeping. She slipped her shorts and tank top back on and walked out into the main area wanting to start a pot of coffee before she brushed her teeth.

She went through her morning motions quietly not wanting to wake everyone else. Once she brushed her teeth and poured her coffee, she slipped back out onto her patio to enjoy the quiet morning. She considered smoking a cigarette and decided she had too much of a hangover to do it. She actually felt all right about the night before. She hadn't been so drunk that she didn't know what she had been doing. It was weird though. She knew Ian better than she knew herself but yet, she didn't know what he liked in the bedroom. He joked and made bawdy comments but that was a subject that had never really come up for them. She found herself feeling self-conscious about their love making.

She heard footsteps inside and Ian joined her out on the patio looking tousled and grumpy. “Ugh, I forgot how bad tequila makes me feel.” He said in place of a greeting. He sat down in the chair opposite her. She kicked her foot up putting her bare feet in his lap. He idly brushed the sole of her foot with his thumb. “No cigarettes this morning?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, enjoying the easy affection that they still shared. If she had been worried about one consequence of their actions the night before, it was that Ian would overthink it and disconnect from her. “Didn't sound good first thing,” She grinned. “Maybe after a cup of coffee or two.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “You have such a commitment to your health.”

Erin poked him with her toe. “It must be so good to be on a pedestal above everyone else.”

Ian opened his mouth to retort but Marcus walked out onto the patio, yawning loudly. Ian looked irritated as Marcus joined Erin on the bench and rested his head on her lap without saying a word. “What do you think you are doing, pervert?” Ian seethed out.

Marcus shifted as if getting more comfortable and put his hand on Erin's knee. “Whatever do you mean, Ian?” Erin watched them both, shaking her head.

Ian reached forward, grabbing Marcus forcefully and pulling him off the bench where he crashed unceremoniously to the floor. “Ouch, Ian, what the hell?” Marcus demanded, sitting up and rubbing his offended elbow.

Ian snorted and crossed his arms. “Cut that perverted stuff out.” He said plainly.

Marcus looked to Erin for an explanation but she shrugged, bewildered. Marcus looked back to a surly Ian. “I was just kidding around with Erin. What's your deal? You didn't get that clingy the last time you slept with her.”

Erin mouth dropped open in surprise and she looked to Ian wondering when he could have possibly told Marcus. “Ian. Tell me you did not already tell Marcus?” She asked, feeling upset and a little hurt.”

“Keh, like I would tell that idiot anything.” He tried not to smile at Erin but he couldn't hide his amusement. “I'm thinking you just told him.”

Erin's face turned red. “Oh my gosh, I hate you, Marcus. God help me, I really do.”

Marcus grinned and took his seat back but refrained from getting too close to Erin. “That was almost too easy.” He scratched his head. “I was just guessing but I figured when Ian invited you into his room last night, he had other intentions than just sharing a warm bed.”

Ian looked disgusted. “So you were awake?”

“Oh yes, Ian, I heard you and all those terrible names you called me.” Marcus said innocently. “Cuddling with Erin was just meant to further antagonize you.”

Erin shook her head. “Marcus, I don't think Ian finds you funny.”

Marcus grinned. “Scouts honor, Ian. I had lain down next to Sabrina. She woke up and said I could sleep in there and that was it.” He recited solemnly.

Ian didn't look convinced but Erin was already tired of their argument. “Ian, it really doesn't matter.” He opened his mouth to argue. “Look,” She cut him off, “If Sabrina comes out and says that Marcus got too handsy then I give you full permission to beat the tar out of him.”

Ian crossed his arms looking mutinous but didn't respond. Erin rolled her eyes. “So, Marcus, Sabrina said she enjoyed your date the other night.” Marcus grinned, pleased with himself. Erin grinned back. “What made you finally grow a pair and ask her out?”

Ian snickered as Marcus' smile faded. “Harsh.”

Erin shrugged. “Well, it took you long enough. Sabrina has been hanging out with us for months and it definitely wasn't for all the girl talk her and I do.”

He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I'm not sure why. I guess I kept thinking you two would drive her away with your vulgarity. I didn't want to get attached and have you frighten her away.”

“Oh, Ian,” Erin said in mock sincerity, “Can you believe it?”

Ian rolled his eyes. “Believe what?”

“Can you believe that Marcus only wanted to date someone if they could also be friends with us?” She said sweetly, hands clasped in pseudo admiration. “Do you care about us so much?”

Marcus ignored her. Ian chuckled as Erin batted her eyes at Marcus. “I will not be ignored.” She said plainly, playfully punching Marcus' arm. Marcus continued ignoring her.

Erin looked to Ian for help and he shrugged looking bored. “Marcus.” She said loudly poking him, repeatedly. Marcus refused to look at her.

“What are you doing?” A soft voice interrupted.

Erin glanced up to see Sabrina, looking tired with her hair a mess. “Nothing.” She said innocently enough.

Ian snorted. She grinned at him and jumped up from her seat next to Marcus. “Would anyone like coffee?” She asked as she gestured to Sabrina to take the spot she was just occupying. Sabrina smiled at Marcus.

“I would, please.” She said, her voice still sleepy.

“Me too.” Marcus answered as Sabrina sat next to him and wiggled up against his side.

“Disgusting.” Ian said bluntly looking at them. After receiving no response, he shook his head in distaste and followed Erin into the kitchen.

Erin sat on the counter. “I think it's cute.”

Ian looked out the porch. Marcus had settled his arm around Sabrina. “Nothing cute about it.” He eyed Erin. “I thought you were getting coffee for everyone.”

Erin looked unconcerned. “I'm sure they wouldn't mind a few minutes of no one out there being disgusted by them.”

Ian chuckled low, stopping in front of Erin to rest his hands on her thighs. On the counter she was almost face to face with him. “That the only thing you're trying to do?”

Erin bit her lip. “Who's the perverted one now?”

Ian kissed her gently in response. She kissed him back tentatively, her mind half on the fact that Marcus and Sabrina were only 20 feet away. Ian's hands moved up her thighs and wrapped around her hips, rubbing his thumb along her hip bone. She shuddered. “Ian.”

“Yes?” He asked in between kisses down her neck.

She took a deep breath and pulled away from him a little. “What is this, Ian?”

He pulled his hands from grasping her hips and rested them in a neutral position on her knees. He sighed, “What do you mean?”

She sighed back, teasing him. “You know what I mean, Ian. Last night was great.”

He grinned. “Well, duh.”

“Shut up.” She laughed, “Seriously, though, it was good. I feel good about it but that was it.”

“Forever?” He said in a tone that was half mocking, half serious.

“Not if you want to go all out into a relationship.” She said seriously.

Ian relinquished her knees and hopped up onto the counter, sitting up with her. “Do you want to?”

“What a romantic way to ask a girl.” She jumped off the counter irritated.

“Oh, don't start being bitchy just because I'm not saying what you want me to.” She glared at him. “Don't get me that look either. I ain't a mind reader.” He said surly. “I'm serious, Erin. Sex is one thing but if we go all out with this that means it could go wrong.”

Erin cracked her fingers, angry, and not able to look Ian in the eye. “Sex is not just a thing.”

Ian growled in frustration. “You know what I mean. I'm not saying it didn't mean anything. I'm saying that as much as I want to be with you, I don't know if it's worth taking the chance of losing you.”

“That sounds dramatic and kind of lame.” She responded, waspishly, turning to leave the room. Ian followed after her grabbing her arm and stopping her retreat.

“Stop it,” His voice lowered and less angry. “Erin.”

She turned to stare at him furious. “What?”

“If we decide to start a relationship, we have to consider what that could mean. That means we would start building a real future together. That would mean that the decisions each of us made on a daily basis would affect each other on a level that we haven't even thought of.” He rubbed his face in frustration. “Right now, I don't care how you spend your money. If we were together, I'd have to care.”

“I'm better with money than you are.”

Ian growled. “Not what I meant. I mean those little things that aren't a big deal now would be if we were trying to build a life together like that. And those little things could turn into huge things and huge things break people up. I don't talk to any of my exes. I'm not sure I want to take the chance of you being one of them.”

Erin blinked back tears, unwilling to let Ian see how much he was hurting her feelings. “Maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe but maybe all the same.” He kissed her forehead, pretending he didn't see how close she was to crying. “I don't want to lose you. I need you.”

She nodded, feeling defeated. She hadn't been sure she wanted to have this conversation. She just felt like she should. Not only did Ian shoot her down but he did it in a way that made absolute sense to her. Either he was right about neither of them being in a place where they should try to have a relationship or she was a fool.

“I'm going to go wash my face.” She said softly. He looked like he wanted to say more but he let her go without comment. She locked the bathroom, staring into the mirror. She didn't look as close to tears as she felt. She had not been ready for that conversation. She had not been ready for how much his rejection had hurt her. She thought she was going to be the one who was going to gently let him down and yet, it was her pride stinging.

She laughed derisively. So what was it? Did she want to be in a relationship with Ian? Did she want to take that chance that they could break up? They fought as roommates but somehow that was different than fighting when you were dating.

She groaned and sat on the edge of the bath tub putting her face in her hands, forcing herself to think about the most hurtful part. The last time they slept together, he used her to get over Heather. She didn't hold that against him but even though she had never really considered Ian as a boyfriend, she realized how much it stung her pride that he had wanted to date Heather but he wasn't sure how much he wanted to date her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Erin drove herself to rehearsal alone. After Ian had explained all the reasons she wasn't worth risking their friendship for, she had been forced to hang out with Marcus and Sabrina fawning over each other all morning and although, she was happy for her friends, she was feeling fed up with their happiness. She would see him at rehearsal but their conversation would be limited. She knew that he would also want to talk about whether or not things would change with Ian. She was angry with Ian but at the same time, she didn't think he was entirely wrong. But how did she explain that to Marcus especially when he was acting like he finally found true love.

Tonight they would be reading lines together and likely start some blocking. The first few rehearsals were incredibly important because they set the precedent for what the whole play was going to look like but it was boring. After the show gets moving along, it always gets more interesting. People start developing their characters and people start to get to really know each other.

She pulled into the parking lot of the theatre building. There were only a few cars there because she was fairly early. She wanted to make a fresh pot of coffee and just sit and relax before they start. She also felt like it gave her a chance to get to know the director a little better which made her feel more comfortable asking questions and understanding the vision.

Henry was sitting in the audience when she entered, concentrating completely on the script in front of him. He didn't look up when she entered so she didn't draw attention to herself. She slipped into the kitchen instead to hunt down the coffee. She had done plays here before so she knew there was some somewhere but it was anyone's guess where it had ended up. She found the coffee maker in the one of the cupboards and was just hitting the brew button when Aidan walked into the kitchen, tucking a script under his arm.

He nodded at Erin, "Making coffee?" He asked sounding bored and as if it didn't matter.

Erin looked at him, slightly confused. This was the same Aidan who was at auditions the other night but definitely not the one that flirted with her in front of the cast list. "Yeah, waitressing has me on an evening schedule but I still like a little pick me up."

"You're a waitress?" Aidan asked, sounding slightly surprised.

Erin pretended not to hear the surprise or the slightly judging tone. "Yep." She answered flatly. Enough coffee had been brewed that she could pour a cup for herself. She quickly poured one and left the kitchen saying nothing else to Aidan. She realized that waitressing is not everyone's dream job. It wasn't her dream job either but it was a job and it paid the bills and she didn't need some pretty boy whose parents probably paid for his college to be making a judgment about what she currently did for a living.

Henry was passing out scripts to everyone and she grabbed hers and found a seat farther back from everyone else in the audience. She knew Marcus would hunt her down when he got there but his company was different. Annoying about his new girlfriend or not, he never made her feel bad about herself.

She watched Aidan come out of the kitchen, a mug in his hand as well. His eyes swept the audience and met hers momentarily. She considered looking away but kept his line of sight instead. She didn't want him to think she was embarrassed. He looked away after a moment and found a seat near the front. His look was indiscernible. If he was sorry that he was kind of rude, he didn't look it.

She noticed Marcus making his way toward her. "Hey, babe." He said with a grin as he sat next to her. "Why do you look so pissed?"

Erin bared her teeth in a grimace smile. "I don't know what you mean."

Marcus laughed. "Seriously though, you look really mad."

Erin rubbed her eyes. "Oh, it's nothing. That Aidan guys annoys me."

"Already?"

"Already."

Marcus nodded slowly, "Huh. That must be a new record for you."

Erin opened her mouth to explain why exactly Aidan deserved her contempt but Henry took the stage to start the rehearsal. "All right everyone, this is going to be a longer rehearsal tonight. I'd like to get all the blocking done tonight which is going to take some time." He paused. "I guess I should explain in case of theatre newbies. Blocking means that we will go through the script and make marks through your script of where you need to enter, to stand, move through the scene, and then exit the scene. Please make sure you use pencils when writing notes because blocking often changes as we actually act out the scene and find out something doesn't work."

"If everyone will open to the first page, we'll begin." He scanned the crowd of people. "Ah, Aidan, first scene is just you." Aidan stood up and walked to the stage following Henry's points and directions. Henry paused with Aidan, "I realize not every scene will involve every person. Please, please be respectful and quiet while we are working on other scenes." He said seriously.

Marcus yawned hugely, elbowing Erin. "Yeah, Erin, be respectful."

"Pffft, I'm always professional."

"But not always respectful?"

"Nope, just professional."

Marcus chuckled. "So why do you hate Aidan?"

"Meh, I don't hate him. I just think he's rude." Erin said, keeping her voice at a whisper.

"You're rude a lot." Marcus said plainly.

Erin rolled her eyes. "I just mentioned being a server and his tone was all judgmental. Like 'oh, you're a server, that must mean you are stupid'."

"Well, you're not stupid so what does it matter?" Marcus asked.

Erin sighed. "It just does."

Marcus shrugged, "It seems like you are overreacting."

"Shut up."

"See." Marcus paused. "Overreaction."

Erin rolled her eye but refrained from responding. Aidan was being guided around the stage by Henry who was explaining the scene to him. Having seen the musical a few times and listened to it many more, Erin knew what Henry was trying to do.

Jekyll and Hyde was a musical about a tormented soul. Although, it occasionally made you think it was a love story or even a story about the development of science, that was wrong. It was about a man who had a darkness inside of him that he let out. Not even the woman he loved could save him from it.

Aidan left the stage and Henry called multiple members of the audience down to stage a large ensemble scene. Aidan smiled at her as she walked down to the stage. She rolled her eyes and his smile shifted to a smirk.

"So many obnoxious men in my life." She mumbled to herself as she took the stage.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You want to go get a drink with people tonight?"

Erin glanced up from her script to see Marcus standing in front of her with his jacket in one hand and his phone in the other. "What people?"

Marcus shrugged. "People." He kept his eyes on his phone.

"Specifically what people?"

Sighing, Marcus slipped his phone into his pocket. "People who are in this play with us. I have no idea. The girl playing Emma asked me if I wanted to join them for drinks and I thought I should let you know."

"Kaylee."

"What?"

"Her name is Kaylee." Erin said, throwing her script into her canvas bag. "The girl who plays Emma is named Kaylee."

"Oh." Marcus said, looking at her oddly. "So is that a yes or a no?"

"I'll go but you should drive me. And then take me home."

"Oh yeah?" Marcus slipped his jacket on. "Why do I need to drive you and take you home?"

Erin grabbed her bag, dragging Marcus out with her. "Because I am getting a shot. Or three."

Marcus laughed, following her out the door. "Why is that?"

Erin didn't answer as she got into Marcus' car. "Do you think Kaylee is cute?" She asked instead.

"She's all right. Pretty enough, I suppose."

"Hm."

"Why?"

Erin paused. "Do you think she's prettier than me?"

Marcus glanced at her, surprised. "Since when do you care about that sort of thing?"

Erin tried to shrug nonchalantly but she could feel her face getting warm with embarrassment. "I don't. I was just wondering."

Marcus scratched his chin as if thinking deeply. "I don't know. She's pretty but you have this exotic thing going on..."

"You're an ass."

"Well, you asked and this is a very important question." He paused still looking serious. "But the real question is who would be more willing to put out."

Erin hit him on the arm. "You're a pig and forget I asked."

Marcus laughed heartily rubbing his arm. "I'm not sure I'll be able to. I've got all these thoughts in my head now."

"I hate you." Erin said, plainly. She did know why she asked the question. Aidan had posed it to her the other day. It usually didn't matter to her. She was who she was. Some people were bound to think she was pretty and others weren't and there were always going to be prettier girls around. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. For some really odd reason, she found herself caring who Aidan thought was cuter.