Pretty Boy: Paul Lahote Love Story

Taking a Stance

Edited 7/4/22.

A/N: This chapter contains mild swearing and implied homophobia (during script rehearsal).

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​​​​A small pout is on Marshall's face. His gaze is down on the script and music booklet for Unity. He's sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, and a hand is keeping his head propped up. Socked feet are tapping to the instrumental song that he and Paul are working on.

Said male is also looking down at his music booklet to polish his skills in terms of reading note lengths. Although the last couple of weeks of rehearsals have been going well, he'll admit that reading sheet music is still a bit of a challenge. Marshall's been a good teacher to Paul; it's just something he needs to work on, so he can actually get better at it.

In the background, Emily is silently putting together some snacks for the rest of the pack for when everyone gets back. She has a small smile on her face.

The woman is rather excited to see the couple rehearse together. She loves watching behind-the-scenes clips when it comes to her favorite shows and movies. Seeing how actors gear up toward a final product has always been interesting to Mrs. Uley. Watching it happen in real time—with two of her family members as the shining stars—is absolutely magical.

Paul hums in concentration. "So what's happening here is I'm holding that note even though the orchestra's going to stop?"

"Yeah- you'll sing your part, get into this note, and then the band is going to back off. You're going to hold it for a few beats, and then they'll come back in to back you up. Then you're all going to stop. And then I'm going to come in, you'll back me up, and we hold the last note together with the orchestra playing with us. Make sense, Tiger?"

"Mhmm. Just hope I don't fuck it up."

"Well, if you want we could try right now." Marshall offers a smile. "It'll give us a chance to polish up the scene going into it too. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me, Marshmallow."

The vampire nods as his grin widens. He flips through some pages of his script, getting to the desired scene.

It's a point where their characters are sitting on a rooftop looking down at the crowded city streets at night. It's also more of a serious atmosphere as the couple just had to deal with Paul's character being kicked out of the house after getting into an argument with his parents. He's upset and unsure of what to do. Their words will end up shifting into a slow song that picks up in terms of musicality and instrumentation toward the latter section.

Marshall wants to start the scene rather than just starting the song because it'd be beneficial for Paul to get used to the transition. Before continuing with anything though, they make sure to rewind the soundtrack so it's ready when needed.

"I have to say- I didn't expect my folks to be so bothered." Paul's tone is somber and guarded. "You'd think after me being out for so many years- you'd think they'd accept me. Guess not."

"I'm sorry, Mat." Marshall lays a hand on his partner's shoulder. He looks away from the script as he's remembered most of these lines already. "I know it's not easy- not after everything was just okay- and now- it's all jumbled."

Paul sighs. "You're right- everything is jumbled. And not just for us. I've seen how terrible you and Letitia are treated just because you hang out. I'm tired of that. I'm tired of seeing her and Bianca getting treated like shit just because they're women. I'm tired of all these big ass corporations moving in and just fucking everything up. Life is just going to shit. Everyone is spiraling and spiraling and spiraling- until what happens?"