⌜𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 ~⌟

Chapter 3: Can You Imagine

Lin was curled up on the couch in his apartment, holding his head as if to block out thoughts as he waited for Vanessa to come home. Finally, he heard her key turn in the lock and the door opened. He ran up to her with tears in his eyes and started stammering incomprehensibly. "V, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I don't know what came over me, I—"

"Lin, what happened?" She guided him back over to the couch.

"I... I kissed Jonathan." He looked up at her, unsure.

Vanessa's expression was unfazed. "So? You kiss him all the time." She began to get up.

Lin grabbed her arm and pulled her back, shaking his head. "No, no, it was different this time. Renee had just yelled at me because Jon's in love with me and I don't let him be more than a friend and I don't cut him loose, either. And after she left, he came in, and it was just us, it wasn't for the Internet, I kissed him, and then I realized what I had done and I left."

Vanessa was regarding him with an amused expression, like that of a mother listening to her teen deal with their first crush. She wished she had popcorn. "Well, was it at least good?"

"I—What?"

"The kiss. Was it good?"

"It was p—Why aren't you angry with me? I kissed somebody else!"

"Lin, I'm not an idiot."

"I... didn't say you were."

"I see the way he looks at you. No duh, he's been in love with you for years. And you have too. I just assumed you would come to terms with your feelings and deal with it in a more... professional way, but it's okay. You can't help the way you feel."

"I still love you."

"I know. I love you too, so much. Look, there's this guy at work and we have really good chemistry together. To be fair, I've never kissed him, so I can't say, but..." she teased. "Why don't we take some time tonight and think about having an open marriage?"

"Really?"

She nodded. "I think it would be best for both of us." She kissed his cheek and got up to get a shower. He was left speechless. I'm so lucky to have a wife like her.

~ time skip: next morning, lin's apartment! | brought to you by john laurens' turtles ~

To: Groffsauce

LinnamonRoll: Groff

LinnamonRoll: I'm so sorry

LinnamonRoll: I wasn't thinking straight

LinnamonRoll: Literally

He winced at the bad joke as he sent it. Why am I like this?

LinnamonRoll: Please text me back I want to talk

LinnamonRoll: Jon?

He tried calling him instead. It went directly to voicemail.

"Hey there! This is Groffsauce. I am so sorry I missed your call but it's nothing personal, just leave your name and number and I'll get back to you soon!"

With a sigh, Lin gave up on his contact efforts and looked over at his wife sleeping next to him. He brushed her hair behind her ear gently, taking in the sight before he had to get up and head to the theater. The thought of seeing Jon today made him sweat nervously.

~ time skip: three hours, at the theater! | brought to you by john laurens' turtles ~

"Hey, Lin! Are you feeling better today? Groff said yesterday you couldn't do the show because you weren't feeling well," Anthony asked, grabbing a snack from the fridge.

Of course he covered for me, he's just that sweet, Lin thought. Pippa was already checking his temperature. Lin smiled and jokingly swatted her away. "Pippa, I'm fine. It was just a fluke thing."

"It's too bad you weren't here," Daveed said, as Oak collapsed into laughter next to him. "When Groff performed You'll Be Back, he started crying during the 'you say the price of my love's not a price that you're willing to pay' line and the audience found it hilarious seeing King George so broken up. It was good, honestly. We were teasing him about it but he didn't find it very funny... Neither did Renee." Daveed raised an eyebrow at Renee's stone cold expression. 

Lin's heart felt like it had been dropped in a bucket of ice cold water. It had been an hour since the rest of the cast filed in backstage and Groff still wasn't here. Lin checked his watch every two seconds but it didn't exactly help the matter. He didn't answer Daveed, instead asking, "Does anyone know if Groff's coming today?"

Renee shook her head. "He handed his role over to Thayne for today." She paused as they all looked at Thayne, who had his hand stuck in the cookie jar. He grinned, blushing embarrassedly.

"Something about needing a day off." Renee glared in Lin's direction but none of the others noticed.

Lin looked at his feet in shame. He knew exactly what he had to do after the show.

Word Count: 856 Words 

Aaah yay! Vanessa is so cool. I was sick of other fanfictions painting her as some sort of evil cruel person so I went with this! So much Sad Groff. :'( After writing that last line, my brain REALLY just went "or rather, who he had to do" 

WHY DOES MY MIND WORK LIKE THIS