Together

Closing

Alright, one more closing chapter before we get on with this book, hm? It's my last summer evening, as tomorrow is a 'school night' for me :( Anyway, another bittersweet chap, but I hope you all enjoy. Leave a comment and vote if you wish!
-ab

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November 28, 2026

Patrick

As the show nears an end, I can tell that Harper is fighting back tears. Most people in the audience are, as well. Many of the people here tonight are friends and family of the cast, and many more of the others are quite die-hard fans who have seen the show numerous times previously.

During the finale of the show, I can't help but notice that nearly every single person on that stage has tears falling down their cheeks. During bows, every single one of the cast members is fully sobbing. All around me, people are taking pictures of their loved ones, filming the bows, cheering and clapping, and crying.

I pull out my phone and take a few quick shots of Harper, knowing that she'll want them later. I get a very sweet one of her and Toby, as well as some great pictures of her taking her final solo bow. Everyone screams so loudly when she comes out for that. In spite of her tears, she can't stop smiling.

Before the curtain closes, for the final time, on Anastasia on the West End, I catch a picture of Harper and Katherine sharing a hug as they both cry onto each other's shoulders. Then, I see Harper reach down and pick up little Cassie in her arms. Just as Harper is saying something to the young girl, the curtain closes.

I'll never know what happened between that moment, and Harper coming out to the stage door. I have a feeling that there were lots of tears, and lots of hugs.

When Harper comes out, she's wearing a gorgeous purple cocktail dress, with a sparkly bodice and flowing skirt. She seems to have composed herself quite well.

"Love," I say, throwing my arms around her, "you were amazing."

"Thank you," she smiles. "I can't believe that it's really over."

"You had such a great run. You should be happy for that, instead of sad that it's over."

I hear footsteps behind me and turn around to see just who I was suspecting the footsteps belonged to: Taylor and Joe. Both of them are wearing sunglasses and brunette wigs, but it's most certainly them, to anybody who knows that they were coming.

"Harper, sweetie, that was such a beautiful performance," Taylor says, running up to my wife.

"Tay!" she exclaims. "I didn't know that you guys were coming..."

"Shh," Taylor says, grabbing a chunk of brown hair from her wig and holding it to show Harper. "We are trying to slip unnoticed. The little one is with Joe's mum. We just wanted a nice night out."

"Thank you so much for coming," Harper smiles. "Are you guys coming to the party?"

"We may pop in for a few minutes," Joe nods. "The production was truly beautiful, Harper. It's a shame that it had to end."

"All shows do, eventually," she shrugs. "It was just time for this one to be over."

"That's a great way of looking at it," Taylor tells my wife.

"Well, that's how I'm trying to look at it," she replies with a sad smile.

"Come on, Harper," I say. "Let's get heading over to the party."

"You three can go. I'm going to sign autographs and take pictures first."

"I'll wait with you. I don't want you walking over alone."

"Oh boy," she rolls her eyes at me. "Okay, I'll see you guys over there, then," she turns to Taylor and Joe, who nod before walking off to the party.

Harper takes quite a long time signing autographs today. She wants to really make sure that she gets to everyone, which I admire. Eventually, she's finished, so I slip my hand into hers and we walk the short distance to the party.

The rest of the evening consists of cookies, drinks, and reminiscing on the great times that all of the cast members, from original to closing night, have had with the show. Taylor and Joe don't stay for too long- only enough to take some sweet pictures with Harper and eat a bit of food. She thanks them, again, for coming, then they leave to get back home to Audrie.

Great friendships are reunited, and new ones are formed. Harper hits it off quite well with the two Anyas prior to her. She had met one before, for a little bit, but one she had not. The three of them promise to hang out together on another occasion. Harper and I even get to meet Colin, Katherine's new boyfriend. They haven't been dating for very long at all, but seem quite smitten with each other.

"What now?" I ask her, once we have been at the closing party for nearly two hours. I can tell that she's getting tired, as she sits down next to me and rests her head on my shoulder.

"I don't know," she says.

"How about we go home and get some rest? You've had a big day, and you need to get packing for New York in the morning. We can go cuddle."

"That sounds absolutely perfect," she replies.

As she says a final goodbye to her cast mates, I notice that she does shed a few more tears, but she pulls herself together before the two of us walk back outside, where an Uber that I called is waiting for us.

"I can't believe that it's really over," Harper whispers to me as we are sitting in the back seat of the car.

"What are you going to do with yourself now?" I tease.

"I don't know!" she laughs. "I'll probably just work on my craft... take some voice lessons and such, you know? I can never practice too much."

"I think that you can practice too much, but that sounds like a great idea," I tell her. "Stay in good shape for when you do what to start auditioning again."

"Exactly," she smiles.

Back home, it doesn't take us too long to get ready for bed. We are both tired, so we hurry in getting changed. Harper's dress gets thrown on the floor. She doesn't even bother to hang it up.

"I'll deal with it in the morning," she mumbles as she crawls under the duvet.

"That's alright. Goodnight, Lovie. You were amazing tonight."

"Thanks," she replies. "Goodnight."

At that, she closes her eyes and snuggles in closer to me. I wrap my arms around her, and soon, both of us are asleep.