The lights dimmed throughout the theater's lobby three consecutive times, leaving John standing in the marble hallway entirely on his own. Liam was too tried to follow him by the time they had unpacked and Mark had yet to show up after he had announced his arrival.

Dozens of people past by, playbills in hand, eagerly awaiting Kimberly's debut. From the look of the advertisements placed throughout the resort it was one of the more exciting events they had to offer. Dakota was bleeding her thin before the show had even began.

Somehow the realization only made him feel worse about himself for leaving her alone. And as fate would have it he was now the one left alone.

It would have hurt less if he could just find his way inside the theater to see her. The poster resting against the wall was a far cry from the original, the original wouldn't have stayed silent for so long. At this point he'd be happier even if she were only yelling at him. Anything was better than nothing.

"You actually showed up…" A voice from the back door startled John, causing him to lose his train of thought automatically.

"Mark... I don't… I'm not here to apologize for leaving," he said with less resolve than he had hoped.

His friend's face on the other hand was far cry from sympathetic. If he hadn't known him better he might have expected him to want to hurt him. John knew however, that the look was simply reserved for the few moments when he felt exceedingly disappointed with him.

Mark's current expression was the most disappointed he could ever remember his usually optimistic friend being.

"I don't care why you're back. I just need you to stay a little longer this time." Worry lines aged his friend greatly, his cheerful grin nowhere to be seen. "We can't go backstage until intermission, you think you can stick around that long?"

"She made me leave. Has she been telling you something else?"

"No you asshole. I'm not going to tell you what she needs to, but you can be damn sure she's never done a damn thing to hurt you if she could help it," he said, practically biting out his words.

John wanted to argue, say something in defense of himself, but was cut off by the lights dimming one final time. Mark didn't speak once the lobby went dark and instead gave him the single opportunity to follow him into the theater, flashing two tickets easily in order to get them through. Where he managed to get them from he couldn't be sure.

They were seated in the back of the mezzanine, looking down at the stage with ease. The velvet curtains opening slightly to allow Dakota to give a quick speech. She practically glowed under the spotlight. No one in the audience had even the slightest idea as to what she was willing to do to stand where she stood.

Mark's eyes automatically locked themselves onto the dancers as the curtain rose, scanning over certain people before fixing himself on Serena. The glance was not affectionate in the least but more of a look of worry. Something was going on with the two John wasn't being told.

But before he could think about it further she made her entrance and the world seemed to stop.

Even from so far away he doubted he had seen her more beautiful before. No. No he had. Waking up beside her in the morning, having her smile meant just for him. As beautiful as she was he could tell the smile she had one was far from the same one he had loved so much. This smile seemed almost forced.

He didn't need to think long before he realized he was one of the main causes.

The musical continued as he leaned forward to try for a better view. Kimberly sang, stealing the hearts of every single person in the audience before the second scene. Her character flitted around, starting a doomed romance with the owner of her club as they sang the song John had once hoped was meant for him.

Their romance built up until the gangster was introduced and unlike in the version he knew before he left, he managed to sweep Kimberly off her feet with incredible ease. The two male leads would face off, forcing Kimberly to choose. She spent her time with both, finding nothing appealing in the poorer man. Though the story tried to paint it as a noble action based off a deep romance there was no doubt in his mind that had been Luscious's doing. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach knowing he had left the two alone at all.

By the time he pushed himself back to watching the show Kimberly and the gangster had decided to run off together, sharing a new number having something to do with it being them against the world that seceded in making the feeling even worse. Curtains fell for intermission with her in his arms, the smile on her face fading ever so slightly before they disappeared from view.

People around them began to stand, talking amongst themselves about what they thought of the show. Mark, however, seemed to be pushing John out of their row as quickly as possible without so much as a word.

"What are you doing?" John hissed, going wherever he was instructed.

"You're only going to have a few minutes to talk to her. Make it count," he said, ushering him behind a small door at the side of the theater, leading him down a hallway barely big enough for the two of them. "Her dressing room is the first one on the right. If anyone knocks that you don't know hide. We could get in huge trouble for being back here."

He left no room for argument, pushing and shoving John down the hallway as if he was worried they were being followed. Dancers passed them without any acknowledgment of their intrusion, all too busy getting ready for the next act to care. Mark however, stayed on high alert before letting the larger man go, ushering him to the dressing room on his own.

For a moment he froze not knowing whether to knock or simply just walk in. He couldn't think of what he wanted to say or what to expect when he saw her. For the first time in ages the only thing he felt was afraid. Terribly afraid of being hurt again, but even more afraid of pushing her further away.

Without realizing what he was doing he opened the door, walking into the dressing room unannounced, closing the door behind him quietly. He seemed to move without thinking, walking over towards the vanity where he could see Kimberly sitting, her eyes closed as she swallowed something she had eaten before he walked in.

The black curls he loved so much were pulled to one side of her face, falling across her back and shoulder in elegant waves. The skimpy costume glittering under the vanity's lights, practically making her warm skin glow. All he had to do was step forward and reach out and he could have touched her bare shoulder yet he managed to at least hold himself back, waiting for acknowledgment before even bothering to speak.

"Did you bring that water I asked for? I already took them so it's kind of pointless but I'm still parched." She spoke before raising her head, her brown eyes going wide when she saw his reflection in her mirror. For a half of a second they seemed to spark before she regained composure. Of course it may have just been the lights. "What are you doing here?" her voice barely managed to come out.

She sounded so different from how he remembered her. She sounded colder, tired, and most of all she sounded broken. So much more broken than even he was. And he knew that.

Kimberly's really sick. He remembered Mark saying, his stomach sinking even further. How could he have left her?

Why did he ever think he could stop loving her?

"I needed to see you," he said plainly, finding it incredibly difficult to build a proper sentence.

"You shouldn't be here." She stood, holding onto her chair tight to balance herself. "You need to leave now."

"Not before you tell me why you made me go," he replied, not moving an inch.

The strain on her body became visible as her arm began to tremble before she straightened herself out. She stood before him regal despite her broken pride. Her makeup hiding her exhaustion better than anything else could have managed to.

"No. I told you all you needed to hear," she said with resolve, walking past him to finish putting on her costume. "Just go."

Her casual dismissal of him stung more than he wanted it to. He already had lost control of his actions. Having his mouth follow suit was regretfully too expectable.

"Then let me pay my bill." Kimberly froze for a moment before finishing preparing herself, heading out of the dressing room only to have him follow her. "You made me believed you loved me, so why shouldn't I pay my debt? Just like your investor right?"

Whether or not his words stung her he couldn't tell. He reached out to slow her, finding her resistance to be far weaker than when he had tried to stop her before. Though her withering away before his eyes wasn't exactly reassuring that the lack of an attempt to push him away was a sign that she wanted him back.

"Please, just go," she said, refusing to look him in the eyes as she tried to hurry out towards the stage entrance.

John followed suit, desperately trying to get a response from her. "Oh but you did your job so incredibly well. Why shouldn't I pay you like he has been?" He could hear his voice rising, unable to stop himself even as the other dancers began to spot them.

Kimberly continued to try and escape him, her body betraying her as she needed to slow to catch her breath multiple times, the black eyeliner beginning to smudge as she fought back tears. All the while refusing to look at him.

"Don't… don't there's no point," she muttered, holding onto the railing near the stage door tightly. "Just leave."

He moved closer and she began to run again, going through the doors to the space behind the curtain, attempting to lose him in the maze of props and finished set pieces. Finding it increasingly harder to keep up speed as she went.

John caught up to her easily, reaching out to her hand in order to pull her back; unaware of where they had stopped. She had lost all strength to pull away, turning to face him against her better judgment, the tears starting to fall despite her best efforts. She still refused to look him in the eyes.

Her face instead became glued at a point behind him as shock began to wash over her face. Her hands gripping John's shoulders tightly, attempting to move him out of the way.

Unbeknownst to him the commotion had alerted one of the dancers to tell Dakota about their visitor, who quickly sent out her right hand man to deal with the issue. While John desperately tried to get Kimberly to speak with him the man in charged with keeping everything in order now stood, gun in hand, mere feet behind the couple.

"No," she whispered, gripping his shoulders tighter, tears streaming down her face. "Get out of here please, go! Go!"

"Let me pay! Let me pay or tell me you don't love me!" Completely at a loss John gripped for the last gimmick he could think of. Unaware of the man behind him or of the rising curtain they stood behind.

Without any means of moving him Kimberly began to plead for him to leave, trying to move herself into Mogan's line of range. Her tears flowed to hard for her to speak properly, reduced to shoving and shaking her head. The light from the stage seeping across the floor along with Reed's voice cueing her entrance as both John and Morgan continued unaware.

"Then tell me you don't love me!" John nearly yelled, keeping Kimberly from moving away from him.

But before she could croak out a response the curtains had risen completely, leaving them both on stage in the midst of their argument.

The entire theater fell silent save to the sound of a wine glass falling to the floor. Unmistakably coming from the investor's table.

Satine Act 2

I will love you until my dying day


Not a word was spoken throughout the entire theater. Blank faces of confused audience members barely became visible when the stage lights shifted off the open platform down to Reed's equally confused face. Not a single member of the cast moved, stunned into silence by the stranger on their stage.

Kimberly's tears stained her cheeks, makeup trailing down in streams of black eyeliner and rouge. Her hands on John's wrists shook, her eyes locked onto Reed, pleading for him to do something. Just off stage she could see Morgan lowering his gun as even he couldn't handle a theater full of witnesses, yet the issue of how to get off stage in one piece still hung in the air.

A single cough from the audience pulled the remainder of the cast back to the performance as they all scrambled for a means of covering the new addition. Thankfully, with Paul standing offstage in a wing, there was one empty position that needed filling.

"You—you think this disguise fools me?" Reed spoke out to the audience, doing his best to remain in character. "A cheap wig and new shoes couldn't fool anyone!"

Slowly the audience seemed to accept the new circumstances, though silhouettes from the investors table seemed to squirm uncomfortably the longer John stood onstage.

"This woman is mine," Reed continued, sneaking a concerned glance to Kimberly as he headed up to the platform. To both his and Kimberly's surprise however, it was John who moved away first.

It was not their sudden appearance on stage that seemed to throw John. No his focus was on, and forever would be on, Kimberly. Her inability to answer his question had proved enough. He didn't have to hear her say she never loved him. As far as he was concerned the fact she couldn't admit to even having loved him in the past was an answer enough.

"Save your breath. She's yours now," he said coldly, digging around in his pocket for whatever cash he had, throwing at her feet before stepping off the platform. The pain in his eyes evident to the entire theater. "I've paid my LovePeddler…"

Kimberly's heartbeat froze, the words piercing her chest stronger than bullet could ever have managed. The second she was left alone on the platform her body gave way, allowing her to fall to her knees, covering her mouth in an attempt to hold back her sobs. Her eyes blurring John's familiar outline as he walked downstage.

"I owe you nothing," he continued, his voice dangerously calm. "And… and you are nothing to me anymore."

A sob escaped her clenched fist. Her body collapsing onto itself as much as her costume would allow. She wished the gun had gone off and given her some salvation from the torture on stage. She wished she could bring herself to look him in the eyes.

By the time she managed to raise her head John had already taken her delayed response as another reaffirmation of her lack of caring.

Blinded by his own pain he couldn't have seen hers even if he tried.

"John," she managed, her voice difficult to hear despite the microphones around the stage.

At the sound of his name his entire body visibly clenched, forcing himself to turn his back to the withered shell of the woman he loved. Tears staining his cheek despite himself.

"Thank you," he replied just as quietly. "Thank you for curing me of this damned obsession with loving you."

Neither could bring themselves to speak any longer as the spotlight began to follow John offstage. The entire cast shifted their positions, allowing him into the audience to make his exit.

The space left by Kimberly's side quickly filled by Reed, his hands grasping her shoulders in an attempt to pull her back onto her feet.

The path through the audience seemed even longer with the silence of the theater, all eyes glued to John as he passed table after table of guest. A satisfied nod even coming from Luscious to add insult to injury. He had lost.

He had lost Kimberly. He had lost any chance of happiness.

The sooner he could forget he had ever tried to return the better.

Without a word he continued his walk towards the stage doors, desperate to break down in the privacy of his suite. Or even better in a cab headed directly to the airport. Anything to keep him from looking back at Kimberly.

Yet he did.

He needed to prove to see her, to remember her as a woman with no love for him, weak and desperate for the slightest bit of attention. That was what he wanted to see when he glanced back.

The woman he saw however, was too broken to even seem capable of hurting anyone else. She stood hunched over in Reed's arms trembling. Her microphone barely picking up a hushed conversation between the two.

"Let him go, it's better this way Kimmie, let him go," Reed soothed, breaking character to keep every inch of honesty in his voice.

Kimberly shook her head weakly, her hands gripping his shirt in tight fists as she regained her own balance. Not once did she look back down to the audience. Instead her eyes seemed fixed at one of the crumpled bills on the floor below her.

She needed to convince herself the same of John as he was trying to convince himself of her. Both needed to hate the other before they could move on, yet neither could manage to continue on their own.

But John's body was already in motion, and though he would never forgive himself for his actions, he turned back to continue out the front door.

Backstage the cast stood just as stunned as those onstage. Morgan's gun hung down at his hip still cocked. Paul clenched the curtains near his entrance, begging for a chance to go comfort his leading lady. Mark stood in the center of it all, watching his friend leave for good.

He had to stop them. There was no chance of John ever getting over Kimberly and there was no guarantee Serena's escape plan would even succeed.

Frantically he ran around backstage to the cue master, tearing through the script in a last ditch effort to find something, anything, to save them.

As if by magic the original ending slipped out from underneath a stack of papers on the cue master's desk. Their last hope staring up to him in black and white.

Without wasting a single moment he ran to Paul's side, snatching the microphone from his costume, yelling the lyrics on the page as loud as he could manage.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love! And be loved," he called out. "In return!"

The cut song reverberated against the walls, shaking several cast members before being sent out into the audience with just as much strength.

Mark couldn't breath as he moved to look out onto stage, Kimberly's face unreadable when she seemed to step away from Reed. John's figure frozen in it's place mere feet from the door.

It wasn't enough for to just stall however, one of them had to make a move. He had given them a chance, but whether they could even bring themselves to take it was another matter.

Backstage the cast stood just as stunned as those onstage. Morgan's gun hung down at his hip still cocked. Paul clenched the curtains near his entrance, begging for a chance to go comfort his leading lady. Mark stood in the center of it all, watching his friend leave for good.

He had to stop them. There was no chance of John ever getting over Kimberly and there was no guarantee Serena's escape plan would even succeed.

Frantically he ran around backstage to the cue master, tearing through the script in a last ditch effort to find something, anything, to save them.

As if by magic the original ending slipped out from underneath a stack of papers on the cue master's desk. Their last hope staring up to him in black and white.

Without wasting a single moment he ran to Paul's side, snatching the microphone from his costume, yelling the lyrics on the page as loud as he could manage.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love! And be loved," he called out. "In return!"

The cut song reverberated against the walls, shaking several cast members before being sent out into the audience with just as much strength.

Mark couldn't breath as he moved to look out onto stage, Kimberly's face unreadable when she seemed to step away from Reed. John's figure frozen in it's place mere feet from the door.

It wasn't enough for to just stall however, one of them had to make a move. He had given them a chance, but whether they could even bring themselves to take it was another matter.

Kimberly could barely breath, the sound of Mark's voice shaking her to the bone as it echoed through the theater. The tears staining her cheeks cracked as she slowly repeated the line under her breath. Memories of the original ending, hearing the cut song for the first time, spending an entire night by John's side without sleeping until the early morning all rushed back to before the numerous pills began to take affect.

She could barely make out his silhouette past the glare of the stage lights. She saw no sign of him turning around but he didn't seem to be continuing out the door either. And that was reassurance enough in her doped up mind to step downstage.

Her balance was shaky at best, and the multitude of pills began to kick in early, but she was determined to have a final word. She had to at least make sure he had no chance of forgetting her.

"Never knew, I could feel like this," she whispered, struggling to remember the old song.

"It's liked I've never seen the sky before."

For a moment the theater remained silent, John frozen in place, but just as she tentatively began the orchestra picked up their cue as well. Slowly the music began to play, softly at first, but with more strength as the players remembered their original melody.

" Want to vanish inside your kiss. Everyday I'm loving you more and more, " she sang as a small smile found it's way onto her lips. Carefully she began to make her way down stage. " Listen to your heart, can you hear it sing?"

John seemed to turn back, his profile barely visible.

" Come back to me." The smile grew, her voice finding it's strength as she continued. " And forgive everything!"

Her balance waivered, forcing her to catch herself as soon as the line had ended. A mixture of emotional distress and a chemically induced calm made her attempt more challenging than it would have been sober but she doubted she could have found the strength to try on her own.

The audience shifted in their seats, all turning to look towards John as a roving spotlight landed on him carefully. His face now aimed back to the stage. The faintest shimmer of tears still present under his eyes as he looked up to Kim.

" Seasons may change, winter to spring. " The orchestra paused, giving her a moment to regain her strength. Her voice dropping out of the song to speak directly to John the whispery quality of her words increasing as she found it harder to force any sound out. "But I love you. Until the end of time."

Her body grew weaker but she forced herself to stand tall. Not once did her gaze leave John's as she prayed to gods she never believed in for him to listen.

" Come what may…" his voice called out quietly, causing the audience to latch onto his every move while he began to walk back down the isle. " Come what may," he sang louder, his voice far from professional.

But Kimberly couldn't have cared less about what he sounded like. The fact of the matter was he heard her, and she heard him. Her smile had never been wider.

A smile broke out across John's face as he continued, his rough belting filling the theater as he moved closer to a stage mic. The audience ate up his return with gusto, all joining him in their overjoyed expressions. All except for those sitting at the investors table, who even out of the corner of his eye seemed utterly disgusted with the turn of events.

John, however, could focus on nothing else but getting to Kimberly's side.

From the edge of the stage Serena reached down to help John up, breaking character long enough to pull him back onto the main stage.

She too had broken out into a smile, her eyes darting offstage to catch Mark. A small nod of approval reaching him before she let John go.

The two found each other at center stage.

Kimberly's hands reaching out to press against the lapels of John's jacket as if to test if he was real. His hands caressing her waist before holding it tight. Both seemed cautious to hold one another again but found it impossible to go without touching the other.

The orchestra paused again, giving their entire attention to the pair.

"I will love you ," they sang in unison, fresh tears finding their way into their eyes. " Until my dying da—"

A loud crash came from backstage, startling the two from their vow. Without a moment's hesitation John pulled Kimberly into his arms as though he could protect her from whatever unseen danger had scared the crew. There was little doubt in her mind that he would have failed her either.

That is until the distinct click of a pistol being taken off safety was picked up by a stage mic.

Sophie's piercing scream alerting the cast to a presence they had managed to forget during the excitement.

"He's got a gun!"

The entire on stage cast broke down into hysterics. Sophie, along with a handful of younger dancers, ran offstage as quickly as they could manage. The remaining dancers scrambled to get out of the debt collectors path, causing more harm than good as people crashed into one another as they tried to run.

Only the seasoned members managed to stay relatively calm.

Relatively.

Serena stood stage left, having watched Mark's plan beat hers out. The sense of hope that had been absent since Morgan's return finally began to find it's way back into her heart. She may have even believed there was a chance even she could make it back into the real world in once piece.

It was Sophie's piercing scream that brought her back to reality. There was no breaking Dakota's rules without consequence.

Especially not when Morgan laid in wait only a few feet behind the curtain.

Frantically she ran forward, ushering John and Kimberly behind one of the raised set pieces to by them some time. Her eyes darted back to the source of the crash, used props scattering the floor around Morgan as if someone had tried to barricade him backstage.

With a glance to the left she had her suspicions confirmed, seeing Mark bent over himself, a trickle of blood from a broken lip staining his shirt slowly. His eyes were glued to Morgan's gun as the other man began to make his way onto stage, no longer caring about hiding his job.

As far as the audience was aware the entire situation had been planned. Claiming any death to be staged would have been far too easy.

Serena refused to move from between him and his target, her resolve completely ready to stare down the barrel of his gun if it meant defying Dakota one final time.

Thankfully she wasn't the only person ready to fight back. The countless times the company had been hurt for profit had given the two owners helped build a significant amount of enemies.

Both Reed and Paul moved out of their positions, urging the orchestra to continue playing to hide the threat as they attempted to take the man down. While Reed was significantly faster there was nothing to compete with Paul's size. As long as they kept the gun from being fired they had an equal chance at bringing the debt collector down.

The three began to wrestle for possession of the weapon. Paul's strong arms managed to dish out a good beating to the smaller man but he was too bulky to move quickly. Reed was significantly smaller than Paul and much quicker at avoiding blows, but his own strikes held much less power.

As long as the gun stayed in Morgan's control he held the upper hand. Even the two men couldn't risk standing in front of the barrel for more than a moment. All Morgan needed to do was land one blow with the butt of his gun against Reed's nose and he would be left dealing with the stronger man on his own.

A pained yelp came from the smaller man as exactly that played out. One blow to Reed's nose and he was beside himself in pain, clutching around the broken cartilage in an attempt to keep the damage from increasing.

Despite himself he was forced to leave Paul alone for just a moment. But the moment was more than enough time for Morgan to force the man away with the steadying of his pistol. He was going to win.

Without taking a moment to consider what she was about to do Serena ran over to the two as fast as she could manage. Her shoe finding it's way into her dominate hand before cracking down against the back of his head with all the force she could muster. The impact stunned Paul as they both watched the man fall to the ground.

The gun slipping out of his hands only to find itself sliding down stage onto the dance floor below.

One shot discharged from the force of its landing, blowing a hole into a speaker miraculously without injuring anyone. However many rounds were left was unknown but as long as the gun lay unmanned the potential for it to become dangerous remained too high for comfort.

Regaining control over her body Serena kicked her second shoe off, hurrying down to the dance floor as fast as she could manage. The distance from center stage and the dance floor however, was much longer than the distance between the dance floor and the investor's table. Serena ran but not fast enough.

All Luscious needed to do was stand and the gun found its way into his hands, silencing even the orchestra as he regarded the weapon carefully.

Halfway to the table Serena froze, her gaze cutting back up stage. Both John and Kimberly remained beside the raised set piece, his entire body working to shield her as they watched the investor terrified. Kimberly's grip on his arms shook visibly in pure terror.

Even Luscious had to have noticed.

Returning her gaze to Luscious she attempted to move into the line of fire, but he had already returned the gun to point at the ground. The cold expression on his face melting away into one of utter defeat slowly.

" You can't have her," Serena muttered, barely loud enough to be heard.

She didn't need to tell him what he already knew but she'd be damned if Dakota went without hearing it as well.

Luscious's dark brown eyes returned to the gun as he turned it over in his hands. With a skilled ease he emptied it of the remaining rounds, dropping the bullet shells onto the floor between him and the stage. The empty weapon had a more significant place.

A place directly in front of Dakota's seat as his table before he took his leave. He had admitted defeat. There was no point in him killing the woman he had tried to buy, that wouldn't bring her back to him.

Dakota had lost.

Applause roared through the theater as Luscious took his leave, tailed quickly by Dakota's desperate attempt to save herself from the consequences of her actions. Serena considered stopping her but there was no need.

Even someone only partially related to the Grey's couldn't hide from the press for too long. She'd be back in handcuffs before Serena bruised herself chasing after her.

The orchestra began to play an improvised ending, doing their best to keep the audience's excitement going as the remaining cast members reveled in their victory. Bows were taking out of order but taken nonetheless. For a moment Serena forgot where she was, feeding on the audience's love as if it was more precious than air.

The applause dedicated to her however, was nothing compared to the audiences reaction of John and Kimberly sharing one final kiss, not even caring to give the theater a proper bow.

The sound was deafening, cheering and cat calls breaking out as John picked her up in his arms when leaning down became too much of a hassle.

And for the first time Serena didn't mind sharing the spotlight. In fact, even she joined in the applause.

The cheering continued even after the curtain fell, the audience practically begging for an encore as Serena moved back up to the main stage.

The cast poured out from their hiding places as Paul restrained the knocked out debt collector with ease. Reed's broken nose being tended to quickly by one of the female dancers before Mark took over, giving him a scrap of someone's costume to stop the bleeding before the two moved to congratulate Kimberly and John.

A smile broke out across Serena's face as she moved to join them before she noticed that Kim's shaking had yet to subside. In fact it seemed to have only gotten more violent.

The smile faded when Serena remembered their original plan, knowing all too well the shaking was much worse than just a fearful tremble.

Pure joy. The sight of both Luscious and Dakota leaving the theater inspired a multitude of emotions inside John, but pure joy was by far the strongest. He had been so close to giving up when Kimberly pulled him back. So close to losing her forever but there she stood, staring up to him with just as much adoration for him as he had for her.

It was almost too good to be true.

With the rest of company moving in around them he was forced to lower her feet back to the ground, stealing one hard kiss before resting his forehead against hers. His hands knotted themselves in her hair as he smiled, kissing anywhere he could reach before he became aware of her trembling beneath his hands.

Pulling back for a moment he smiled down to her, figuring the shock of everything had just proven too much.

"You're safe, we're both safe," he reassured, his smile fading when he saw the far away look in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

She smiled faintly before staring past his face entirely, her eyes unable to focus on whatever they were reaching for before she closed them entirely. Her grip on his shoulders slipped, her legs buckling underneath her before she fell to the floor.

Quickly he grabbed her lowering her down carefully, keeping her pressed against his chest as he knelt down as well. The smile on her face had gone out completely as she muttered incoherently, barely able to keep her body from slumping over.

Something was very, very wrong.

Around him he saw the company beginning to stop their celebration, all eyes pinned onto Kimberly as if they knew something he didn't.

Even Mark watched helplessly as he felt her body still beside him.

'She's really sick,' a voice echoed in John's head as he locked eyes with his friend for a moment.

Her body slowly began to lose heat as she stopped moving entirely, her head lulling back against his shoulder when she could no longer support it's weight.

"No…" Mark turned to order Paul out of the theater, his already pasty complexion loosing its color as he moved over to John's side. "Mark what's going on?" He asked urgently.

Mark didn't speak. A short shake of the head communicating far more than any explanation would have.

He got to stay with her, but he was still losing her.

Frantically he pushed her hair off her face, trying his hardest to wake her as his heart dropped to his stomach.

No.

She grew colder.

No.

He couldn't tell if she was breathing.

He may have already lost her.

"Kimberly!"

Song used: Come What May (reprise)- Moulin Rouge!

Beautiful story. Ride on, we are here to read.

The story is almost finished. So i want to hear/listen to you guys concerning this story so far. Am sorry if the spelling ain't correct just bare with me:harameed99, chumzypinky, iemfava, Gloria007, lankyannie, missrelly,creeza, prettymizqdot, ashatoda, sexyslimo, stephengee12,march123. i can go on and on but that's what i can remember. inasmuch you want to pen or write something down don't be discouraged by me not writing your name. Critics and criticism are allowed it won't stop from finishing the story i.e i would really love to be criticized based on this story, i really don't mind. y'all opinions are allowed and welcomed. All you ghostreaders OK na lemme mention the names of those i caught: ebusbaba, mobecs, prisomic etc i know you guys are much but as i wrote earlier these are the one i caught. lest i forget my former ghostreader evajael you can also drop a comment. let the comments,opinion, criticism start rolling in

Jsaviour:
Beautiful story. Ride on, we are here to read.

thanks dear would surely do. i would love to hear your opinion concerning the story

hardeyinkar24 please drop a comment

no doubt about it this is wow I was.initially wondering how the story will pan out but with this it's a classic. I was on the edge as you were describing the stage display. it's great . Nnenna I hope there will be more stories after this then concerning the former one that got people talking I read it over on the other site and found it has part 2 so I will like you to work on that

Nnenna must u mke me cry. It aint fair oooo. For the last six updates I ave just been shedding invisible tears.

Fantastic story dear. Keep it up.
Mention wen u post the next episode..

P.s; any body dat writes anything dat wud make the op stop ehn......it will nt be funny oooo.

No errors of which i can tell, the plot is classic and the scenes are realistic, i urge u to do more, more of what you are doing right now.

Writing should be fun, dont mind the size of your audience, love what you write and write what you love and trust me , readers will too.

Now pick that pen or that tab and start writing - or typing
check my signature if u still have doubts.

And thanks 4 the updates, havent read a few, was quite busy offline. #peace

Nice story dear,i fall in love with ur story coz it teaches moral just dont like 2 comment.sorry 4 not commenting ride on dear

okay now I'm like wow! took my time to read to the last scene and it was so absorbing. like whew! ! nnena will you stop pulling me into this world of yours? I just can't get out when I start seeing the pictures it's so real and when I mean real . I mean I saw everything in my head.

when John left the stage, now that was painful even to me.

Kimmie found true love in the end but I hope she doesn't die . please don't make her die.

Serena , Mhen I so love this girl, she was so brave to take out Morgan . Poor Reed . the small man


In this whole event I couldn't stop laughing at the crowd 's investment in the act. Oh my GOD! imagine them thinking it was just acting, now that's funny( even admist real gunshots? this can't happen in Nigeria . haha! oyibo too like drama ) and it really paid out in the end with the soft kiss of Jonnie and kimmie.

Luscious , you lost and Dakota is a bi*ch. I actually thought these two were the same character. but anyways ,

I sincerely hope that Kim doesn't die now, even if she does .. shit happens at times- , it should serve it's purpose at a prefect time not now.

nnena ,your descriptive skills were simply marvelous and it reminded me of the awesome Queen of description herself : Lleigh.

nice work dear . When is the last piece showing up?

Wow! Nne dis story is really a bomb bt sum chapters seems confusing nd hard 2 comprehend bt all i no is dat u are doing great nd make sure kimberly lives,john happy,mark satisfied,serena mission accomplished or u face shango

Finale

There are some born to shine who can't do it alone, so protect them and take special care


"Kimberly…"

No one spoke once the pair fell to their knees.

The smaller frame tucked against the larger's side as he clung to her, one hand knotted in her hair as the other clung to her shoulder in an attempt to keep her up-right. Deep black curls fell around his face as he hid the tears that were now falling from the rest of the company.

It wasn't until the paramedics arrived—led by Paul—that he could even be brought to release whatever was left. No one wanted to say that they had lost her and the paramedics refused to call anything so soon, but at the same time they knew what damage must have been done regardless.

Instinctively John moved to follow her out regardless. He even managed to walk out to the ambulance before being turned away. He was not family. He was nothing as far as the crew was concerned. The most he was given to hold onto was an address to the hospital and the sliver of hope that something could be done.

While he watched the ambulance drive away with the one thing in the world he couldn't bare to lose the faint sound of police siren's could be heard from the entrance to the theater. Morgan was bound to be waking up soon, but there was at least the guarantee it would be behind bars.

Dakota had vacated the premises within minutes, but even she couldn't hide forever.

With the growing awareness of something gone wrong by the audience and the other resort members there would be no place any of them could run soon. As long as Kimberly was away from the chaos there was already a better chance of her returning to him. At least that was what he had to tell himself. He couldn't allow himself to picture what would happen if the went to find an empty hospital bed. He couldn't. Not so soon after he had just gotten her back.

He had so much he needed to apologize for. For the things he said, for how he wanted to hurt her, for how he acted, for leaving, for everything. He had acted blindly and only thought about whichever emotion held the most power over him at the time. If he lost her before getting to say any of that he would hate himself, he knew he would.

If she truly left without him getting out a proper 'I love you', he doubted he could ever manage one again.

Back inside the theater Mark watched as Morgan was dragged out barely conscious, Serena explaining to the police what had occurred without leaving out a single detail. She included their plans to fake an overdose, the gun, the fight in front of the audience, every detail. It no longer mattered what she was caught for. She was free from Dakota. She had nothing to fear any more. She was finally free.

Despite this fact, however, her constant glances back to the exit door proved to Mark that her freedom was no longer the only thing she was concerned for. Kimberly was stuck in limbo somewhere and that was where she wanted to be.

And if Mark was honest with himself it was where he wanted to be as well.

He could only imagine how John was taking having to leave her, so he allowed him time on his own. Someone needed to help clean up the mess. His job was no longer emotional support; someone had to appease the officers badgering Serena.

Giving her a chance to escape he took her place, answering whatever question he was posed with the utmost honesty.

The officers asked who Morgan was and Mark explained the business. He began to describe how Dakota would sell the girls without making it outright prostitution. How she'd win them over and turn on them once they could no longer back out. How the investors were told the girls agreed, how some of them did, how some of them were convinced to agree.

The only detail he didn't share was where Kimberly and John had gone. The last thing either of them needed was more harassment.

He'd protect them regardless of who was asking. Thankfully the police pushed no farther.

They had a case to build against Dakota once they had found her. If they needed testimony from the two they would be able to find them at a later date.

It wasn't as though having the Grey name made it easy to hide. A fact Collins Grey will no doubt hate the moment the story reached newsstands. He would try to cover it up, Mark knew John's father that well, and he would go through any expense to protect his company.

The theater full of newly shocked audience members however, would be far more talkative.

Poor Dakota wouldn't even have the chance to benefit from all the free publicity. None of the shows had ever managed to make national headlines before.

Hopefully none would ever do so again.

Once the theater began to calm down John returned. His somber expression fighting between one of anger about being left or one of morning the loss he refused to admit possible.

The only thing Mark could do was to stand beside his friend as they watched the audience empty.

Stagehands slowly began to reappear, cleaning off the finale sets, doing the only thing they knew to do in order to keep some sense of normalcy going. The show must go on even though it had ended. If they stopped they'd have to come to terms with what had happened. It was much simpler to just go back to work.

John said nothing as he watched them, his fist pressed lightly against his chin, no doubt smelling faintly off the perfume from Kimberly's hair. He had nothing to hold onto but the stage. She had nothing of her own to give him so he had to keep what he had.

His blue eyes burned red from the tears he would deny having cried if Mark had mentioned. His usual pout fixed in a stiff line, determined to reveal nothing as he waited in a limbo much like Kimberly's.

The only difference lay in the fact that Kimberly would be able to find peace if she never returned. She was free, she had John for a moment, and she belonged to no one. It wasn't much, but she was never one for needing much.

John was greedy. John needed his life; he needed what he had built for himself. He needed her. There was only one way he could come out of limbo in one peace and that was with Kimberly.

There was no doubt in Mark's mind that he would spend the rest of his life repaying Kimberly for how greedy he could be. If he were to need her he would do everything in his power to make sure she wanted to stay with him. There would be no man working harder to insure a woman's happiness.

He had the resources to make that happen, if he wanted to he could do nearly anything with his position and his money, but he still couldn't see Kimberly. He still couldn't ensure she would come back. He was useless without her.

All he could do was wait, watching the stage that had come to mean so much to him in so little time.

For the first night since the resort opened there was no curtain call.

MissRelly:
Wow! Nne dis story is really a bomb bt sum chapters seems confusing nd hard 2 comprehend bt all i no is dat u are doing great nd make sure kimberly lives,john happy,mark satisfied,serena mission accomplished or u face shango

lol would do so. am a lover of happy ending

So… Are you sure this is the right place?"

"How many Johnson's do you think are walking around the city, Mark?" John attempted his usual belittling, his voice too weak for any real sting to take place. "She's in one of those rooms and they wont tell me which until she's stable."

"I think I heard the nurse say 'if'," Mark muttered under his breath as he sat down beside John.

John knew what the nurse had said. He had been the one visiting the hospital every day for a week since the show closed. Every day he had to listen to the nurses try to cover whatever condition Kimberly was in. She wasn't gone, but by their refusal to tell him anything more he doubted it was something they expected to last.

They asked for any family, to which he could only give her brother's name and the fact he was in the military.

Kimberly was alone and they wouldn't even let him through the door. He knew very well what the nurses had to say about his constant visits.

It was always, " You should go home, Mr. Grey." Or " If anything changes we'll call the doctor first, Mr. Grey." Even one "Maybe you should see our grief counselor, Mr. Grey. "

He knew there was no change in Kimberly's condition; he had nothing to grieve as long as there was still the chance he hadn't lost her. As the days past, however, the chance seemed to grow smaller and smaller.

"Have you spoken to Serena recently?" he asked, desperate to distract himself as he began examining the speckled paint in the floor tiles for the fifth time that day.

Reclining back on the waiting room chair Mark tried his best to make himself comfortable.

Despite their frequent visits they had yet to find more comfortable seating than the rather stiff chairs covered in prints from a decade ago.

Mark was starting to believe the nurses were hiding the comfortable chairs just to make John go home.

"Not since they started going throughDakota's office. She's trying to find a place to stay with some of the other dancer's Dakota had been paying for since they weren't exactly renting rooms with legal money," he said, checking through the messages on his phone. "She did tell me to call her if anything happens over here. She's blaming herself for how long its taking for Kim to come out of this."

"Wasn't it her plan to take those damn pills in the first place?" John asked, a scowl slowly appearing on his face.

"She didn't plan for her to take so many. We didn't know if you were coming back, if Dakota thought she was dead we wouldn't have to worry about her winding up with Luscious." The defensive tone in Mark's voice didn't go unnoted. John knew better than to try and blame someone. "No one forced Kimberly to do anything. You never saw how destructive she had gotten."

"…But that much was my fault, wasn't it?"

"Well you certainly didn't help anything."

The pair grew quiet. Neither wanted to offend the other and frankly there were too many opportunities to hurt the other to continue talking for much longer. Their only safety zone seemed to be the flat where Liam had taken to staying after news of the story broke. He would at least slap some sense into the two when they began arguing.

Liam had decided to stay at the resort once the story reached national headlines. Traveling anywhere was far too much of a hassle with the press around so for the time being they were all stuck waiting on a sign to leave the area. Collins himself had extended paid leave to both John and Liam once he saw his son's face plastered across newsstands throughout their hometown.

His gratuity did not come without a price however; as the story printed did little to leave out Kimberly's position in the scandal or how John publicly attempted to pay her off during the show. Had Liam not been around to intercept the phone calls there may have been a second story released about a Grey disowning.

Though Dakota's name in the papers had already begun to be printed as Dakota Le Jun thanks to a few anonymous donations from a very influential person. The official name change was bound to happen the moment she was taken into custody.

For the second time since they had arrived at the hospital the waiting room television began to replay a news story about the resort. The reporter's chemically whitened smile doing whatever it could to paint Kimberly as a mindless starlet though the few clips of footage they had shot their story down before their words had time to sink in.

One clip came from a rehearsal before John had left. A greeting recorded shakily on someone's phone as they went throughout the cast. All Kimberly had to do was smile and the world would have fallen in love with her.

The second clip came from opening night, assumed to have been recorded by the same person. There was a pan of the preparations backstage before she came into view beside Serena. Her body had visibly weakened, her eyes appeared duller, when asked for a smile she could only manage a weak wave. It was just as easy for her to steal hearts as it was for her to break them.

"Mark," John finally spoke up. "Did she hate me?"

The question caught Mark off guard, distracting him from the broadcast the moment he heard it.

He looked to the larger man to see if he was joking but found nothing but large blue eyes looking back to him. John was large enough to rival any man save for Paul yet at that moment he seemed so weak. For once in his life, he seemed small.

"She never did. She made you leave because she wanted to save you," he said slowly, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I don't think she could hate anyone. I think she even believed Morgan to have some redeeming quality."

"Like what?"

"Well he was loyal to Dakota, and as far as I know he helped the show once you had left."

Mark shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore though, he's not getting out of jail anytime soon with Serena's testimony against him."

"But you're sure she never hated me?"

"John, you two hate yourselves more than you could ever hate each other. She never hated you."

The words did little to comfort John, but they did make the broadcast less painful to watch.

Before they new it the reporter had changed topics to a local woman finding something strange in her tap water and the waiting room around them had begun to filter out. Soon they would be asked to leave officially.

They'd take a taxi to the resort, avoid the press and wait until they were allowed back. That had been the routine for days and nothing short of a miracle would keep John from waiting as close to kimberly as he could.

Nothing short of a miracle or a tired nurse approaching them rather frazzled.

"Mr. Grey?" she asked.

John's head shot up faster than Mark had seen him move in days.

"The doctors haven't seen any change in the past twenty-four hours. You can at least see her before you leave."

Mark could have sworn he caught John ready to run after the nurse.

Miles of wires and tubes covered the room where Kimberly slept. The small bed underneath her still managed to seem large compared to her frail frame. Dozens of monitors had been stuck all across her body. An IV attached to her wrist dangled from the edge of the bed while her hand hung limp. Thankfully she seemed to be trusted to breath on her own, but the oxygen mask hung from the bed frame above her regardless.

If it wasn't for the constant beeping of the heart monitor she would barely have looked alive. It was terrifying.

"Visiting hours are almost over, I'll be back when it's time for you to leave." The nurse checked a few charts before heading out of the room.

John's knees became weak. His hands grasped the railing of her bed as he tried to figure out whether or not he could touch her. She was a petite woman from the day he met her, but she had never looked so breakable before. Without the layers of stage makeup the damage that had been done during their time apart became obvious.

Gingerly he picked her hand up from the side of the bed, holding it in his owns as tightly as he dared. His hands covered hers with ease that scared him. She shouldn't feel so small. She had never seemed so small before.

He remembered noting her hourglass shape, how the dancing sculpted her calves though she hated their size, she had always been petite but she had never seemed small. Seeing her as small more unsettling than any number of wires protruding from her body.

"This is all my fault…" he muttered, bringing her hand up to his lips as he spoke, clinging to it as if he could warm her up on his own. "I was such an ass. I never should have left, I should have known, I should have done something. I knew what was going on but I still didn't know enough to help you. God, I'm such an idiot."

Mark stayed in the back of the room, making sure to keep a close eye out for the nurse in order to give the two some privacy.

John's eyesight began to blur when Kimberly made no sign of waking up.

"Please, please come back. I need you," he whispered. "I need you here. I'm not strong on my own. I-I've always needed someone else.

Mark, work, my father, but they aren't you. I'll do anything. I just need you back."

For the first time since she had been taken away tears began to stain his cheeks. His grip on her hand shaking as he held tighter. He had come so close to losing her and was still waiting to hear the verdict. His world was frozen around one person and there was guarantee it could survive if she could not.

"I love you," he finally managed, kissing her hand hard. "I-I love you with all my heart.

Please don't leave me." His tears began to make speech difficult. All he could do was mutter the same sentence over and over again.

Please don't leave me.

Please.

The faint sound of the nurse heading down the hallway began to grow louder between the melodic beeps of the monitor. She'd have to pry his hands away just to get him up from the side of the bed.

I love you.

Please.

Mark left the room, attempting to delay the nurse.

With all my heart.

"John..?" a faint voice muttered.

His eyes shot up, his grip on her hand tightening. He couldn't even breath as he prayed that he hadn't begun to hallucinate.

"I love you," he said against her hand, watching her face intensely.

" Until my…dying day… " Her voice came out strained, in desperate need of a cup of water, but it was hers. She even attempted a smile.

"But that's not for a while," he said, tears blurring his vision as the largest smile he had ever known broke out across his face. "Not for a long, long time."

Her smile grew and as best as she could, she returned the grip on her hand.

"I promise."

Encore

Please say that you wont; I pray that you don't forget me


"Kim... Kim, wake up you're crushing me."

Light poured in through the wide bay windows of John's apartment. Days of little to no sleep at the hospital had taken their toll before a final release date stamped down on Kimberly's file.

As soon as the doctor agreed she was fit to travel tickets were bought and a plane flight was scheduled, there wasn't even a full night's sleep before they took off.

It was only fair that Kimberly took her revenge by using John as her own personal pillow until she had the opportunity to buy her own pillows.

She had no plans to go shopping any time soon.

"Don't wanna…" she muttered, her arms tightening around his neck as she kept the majority of her weight across his chest. "Go back to sleep."

Underneath Kimberly's slowly strengthening frame lay John, squirming to try and shift the constant weight away. Though his complaints and general discomfort would make it seem as though he was actually meant what he said.

The dopey smile across his half-sleeping face, however, could not belong to a man more content with his position.

Never before had he considered the job title "human pillow" to be one he could enjoy.

"Then just scoot over would you? I can't feel my arms."

A disgruntled groan came from his partner as she slowly maneuvered herself off his chest, tucking against his side expertly to keep from leaving in entirely. The sunlight pouring into the room danced off her caramel skin, the pink undertones finally returning after the hospital cleaned out the last of Dakota's influence over her. Dark brown curls spiraled down across her forehead, having escaped from the braid they had been tied in the night before.

For such an innocent face there was no hiding her dislike for mornings.

"Why don't you have curtains?" she asked, hiding her head against the crook of his neck.

"I don't exactly stay here often, and when I do I have to work." Kimberly scoffed. "Believe it or not I do have a real job."

"First time I've heard about it." She opened one eye to peer over to John with a smile. "You don't have to work now do you?"

"As far as they're concerned I'm sick," John said with a smile, adding an obviously fake cough.

Kim's laughter tickled against John:s neck, her tired scowl slowly melting into a smile. The remnants of her time in the theater had begun to fade. With any luck she'd fully recover by the end of the month.

It didn't matter to John how long it took her though. He'd be by her side until the world around them fell apart. He could handle a month's worth of early morning cuddles if that was what she needed.

There was even the possibility for Mark to bring them breakfast in bed as long as it wasn't John who asked.

He couldn't have imagined a more pleasing situation to wake up to.

"And what about when I'm okay, how am I going to keep you in bed? I don't want to lose my pillow to your stupid job," Kim pouted.

John couldn't help himself. "There are a lot of ways to convince me to stay in bed, Kimberly."

He barely got a chance to laugh before having a real pillow shoved against his face.

"You're an idiot," she giggled, kissing his shoulder happily.

Pushing the pillow off his face John turned over towards Kimberly, wrapping his arms around her lightly to keep her close to his side.

His lips doting all over her forehead, her cheeks, pointedly going over anywhere but her mouth.

Laughter peeled from her full lips as she attempted to pull out from under John's arm.

Since they had returned this was all their mornings had consisted of. One of them, usually Kim, would fall asleep on the other.

Punishment for the person on top normally consisted of tight cuddles, kisses, and on one particularly energetic occasion nonstop tickling until they had fallen off the bed entirely. The end of each small fight always ended the same though.

Thankfully Mark had given up on coming in the room before noon entirely to avoid walking in on anything he didn't want to see.

Some days he didn't even bother calling until two just in case.

They had no intentions of returning to the real world any faster than need be, and frankly they had more than their fair share of it for quite a long time. The only reason either could think to leave the comfort of their bedroom was to go out to eat or to see if anything significantly different had occurred in Dakota's case. So far the most they had heard was that she had been located somewhere in the Midwest.

As long as she was far away from their bed as possible they could have cared less.

They were together. They were safe. That was all they needed.

"Did you read the front page today?" Mark asked over the breakfast he had brought in.

Kimberly freshly showered hair filled the room with the scent of lavenders and John pleasantly satisfied smile already answered his question. He knew better than to ask if they had done anything productive while he had been busy working. He had made that mistake before only to receive a rather snarky remark about how much time John had to make up for wasting which, along with a rather embarrassed giggle from Kim, put an image in his head that took days to get out.

The only safe topics were casual news, John's father, and errands Kimberly felt guilty about asking Mark to run.

"We had a late start." Mark held back a laugh.

"Why?"

"Just news about Dakota's case, nothing too important. She managed to sell out that Chris man as one of her partners so the list of people angry with her keeps growing. Her trial's supposed to be in a few months."

"Good," Kimberly spoke up, swirling her cup of coffee around while waiting for it to cool. "Has anyone gotten a hold of Luscious?"

"Not that I've heard of. Last Serena heard about him he had fled to South America. It's not like he could do anything besides testify against her anyway. You haven't changed your mind about that by the way, have you?" Mark asked.

"No. The last thing I want is to have to speak to her again even if it's just in court." John draped an arm across her shoulders in support.

"Serena has much more to convict her with than I do. I'll watch the trial on television."

Mark nodded, not wanting to push the issue any more than necessary. As far as prosecuting the old theater went John and Serena were the biggest aggressors. Kimberly and several of the other dancers, however, wanted nothing more than to put their old lives behind them. No one would push them to fight something they had just escaped.

It was simply the fact Serena had lost so much of her life because of Dakota and the fact that so much of John's had been put at risk of being lost that they found it so imperative to fight against. John would be lying if he said he didn't want to put her behind bars for Kimberly's sake and Serena would be lying if she denied wanting payback for the years lost.

Either way they both refused to give up until every person responsible for what had gone wrong with the theater had paid their dues.

"Speaking of Serena, did she tell you two the news?" Mark perked up, feeling the need to change the topic.

"We've been busy," John said with a smile, earning himself a nudge in the ribs from Kimberly

"What happened, Mark?" Kim chuckled.

"Well with all the press you guys have been getting some other people have started to take interest and the people who made it to the opening show really loved it and have been talking about it non-stop." Mark smiled.

"There's even this one really funny video of when Serena hit Morgan with her shoe mixed to some stupid music and everyone at work has been sharing it around—"

"Mark! Get to the point would you?" John held back a chuckle.

"Right, sorry. Anyway the show and her face have been going around and some guy out in New York got a hold of it and found her through the papers so she's heading out there in a few weeks to talk to them about setting up a new show without needing any skeevy investors!"

Mark's smile lit up the room with a childlike innocence.

The fact the show had been picked up surprised Kimberly more than she had expected any news from the theater might. There had always been the talk about moving it to a bigger audience but that was back with Dakota's drive and Luscious's money. She had never considered there would be any support coming in from legitimate sources.

She felt as though she should have found the news exciting, but in all honesty the idea of returning to stage made her physically ill.

The trauma from what she had been pushed into was too strong for her to just go back to that much stress so soon. Recovery would take time away from the theater. The last thing she wanted was to have to go back so soon. "Is she excited?" she managed.

"Thrilled! She's always wanted a chance on a real stage like that," Mark chimed. "You two should come see it when it's up!"

Kimberly perked up. "So you mean she doesn't need me?"

"Well I mean she wants the lead for herself, you don't mind do you?"

The small woman began to laugh, relief softening her features into one of the loveliest smiles Mark had seen in quite some time.

Recovery was working. Or John was. Or both. Probably both.

"Not at all! When would they have it?"

"Probably near Christmas time, we could go stay and all have a little Christmas together!" Mark's eyes widened in excitement "We could make John dress up as Santa!"

With a tilt of the head Kim tried to picture her strong partner in a fat man's suit much to his displeasure. She broke down into hysterics within the first thirty seconds.

"Oh very funny," John said, watching his two friends laugh at his expense. "The last thing I'd do is up in some stupid red suit."

"No but a red superman cape for Halloween is much better," Mark retorted through his laughter.

A slight pink tint began to spread across John's cheeks in embarrassment. Kimberly's laughter only grew louder.

"It was a superman's cape you idiot." His argument did little to stop the ridicule. "At least I can come up with something better than dressing up like an old man every year."

Now it was Mark's turn to become embarrassed, the tips of his rather large ears turning pink as he attempted to slow his laughter.

"It's a wizard! Everyone loves a wizard!"

"And everyone loves superman!"

The two began to harp on one another like they had before Dakota complicated their lives. The verbal abuse thrown back and forth began to grow increasingly incoherent as they struggled to think of something while holding back laughter at their own jokes. For two grown men they argued very much like children.

Their efforts were rewarded, not by a winner, but by Kimberly slipping from her position at John's side to the ground. Her hands clutched her sides as she gasped for air, her laughter making it difficult to do anything besides admit defeat.

Soon the two men joined her, finding her predicament just as hilarious as she had found theirs.

That was how she would manage recovery, she realized. She had John and she had Mark, and somewhere not too far to reach by phone she had Serena. She had found herself a family from the hardest of situations.

That alone was more comfort than any amount of sedative.

Months past as the world began to move on from London's old scandal. New people caused new problems in new places and the media refocused its attention. Dakota and her partners had been arrested, each receiving significant time behind bars though some bargained their way into more comfortable stays. Money was still money, even from tainted hands. But none of that mattered. Dakota could no longer hurt any of the dancers and that was the only concern those who still remembered what happened had.

Mark had begun to spend a significant amount of time in New York with the new cast, traveling between the two cities to keep up with both his old friends and the new people from the theater he had truly begun to enjoy. As a result Kimberly and John's lives slowly began to calm down into a peaceful domesticity that neither had experienced before. The earlier laughter remained in the apartment but on a much smaller scale.

There was not the constant need to speak, and by the time John returned to work Kimberly even found herself in need of a few moments to herself every now and again. Never once did they forget what each other meant to them.

Their relationship simply grew from lovesick youths to partners in every sense of the word.

Kimberly had even become a well-known figure at the office, which thankfully had nothing to do with the occasional visit she would have during his lunch hour that never really involved their going out to eat.

Even Collins Grey appreciated having Kim around. Try as hard as he might to find a fault with his son's partner by the time the story had died down there was nothing for him to hold against her. She was a part of the family and he would simply have to come to terms with that development.

Their lives progressed slowly, with John working during the week while Kimberly began to take up real dance classes when she found herself starting to miss certain aspects of the theater. Some nights she would even call Serena to talk about the progress of the Broadway show, her voice almost envious. The difference between what Serena had begun to do and what Kimberly had entered with was the amount of training needed. Being pretty could only get someone so far.

With John's help she began to entertain the idea of going back to school for something in the arts. A feat she never could have afforded on her own.

She could only imagine how pleased her parents would have been to meet the man who loved her enough to support her in whatever she wanted to do. Nothing could match her appreciation for him, but theirs would have come damn close.

As time went on and seasons changed Mark's visits began to be replaced with the occasional phone call as a small group of actors in New York began to take interest in him closer to the opening of the show. All he could really relay was that he had begun to understand what was so bewitching about the theater and that he couldn't wait for the pair to come visit.

And after what seemed like ages, they finally managed to snag a flight over in time for the opening, intentionally picking a hotel separate from one of London's chains. The last thing they needed was a reminder of the past.

"I don't understand how come Mark could just tell us what to wear, its such a bother trying to find out one our own," John complained, fiddling with one of his silk ties.

"He's not in charge of dressing you, darling.

Besides it's the opening night, of course you're supposed to get dressed up." Kimberly's voice carried over from the open bathroom. "All you have to do is put on a suit anyway, once you have to curl your hair then you can come complain to me about getting ready."

"You don't have to do your hair though," John mused, walking to the bathroom, wrapping his arms around Kimberly waist as she worked on her makeup. "I love it when it's down all loose and messy."

"Because you make it messy," she chuckled.

"I'm not going to deny that." He kissed her neck playfully, pulling her close as soon as she had finished getting ready for the most part.

Kimberly could only chuckle. "Stop being an ass and zip of my dress for me. I don't want to be late."

Holding back a comment about how much more he would enjoy unzipping the dress John obliged. The cascading layers of tight violet silk hung snug against Kimberly's hips, pooling at the ground despite the tall heels she had bought just for the occasion. At John's request she had found a dress with sleeves that hung down from her shoulders, flashing bare skin from the top of its bodice to the deep scoop of it's back.

The sleeves on her forearms acted more as a decoration than anything else as the boning of the bodice was more than strong enough to hold her ample cleavage.

Though she had no need to find a dress for anyone but herself, she couldn't resist finding one with just enough skin showing to give John a hard time focusing if he lost interest in the musical. He was always much more fun in bed if he had felt as though he had been holding himself back in public. And besides, she really enjoyed the color of the dress.

As soon as they had managed to pull themselves away from each other's side long enough to check the time they began the quick trip to the theater, having a car waiting at the entrance to their hotel. Mark and the others had promised to meet them at the theater so they had no one to wait on. The quiet before the show was something they savored more than either of them realized at first.

The last time they were preparing for an opening night they had both almost lost everything, even if the circumstances were vastly different there was no way to erase what had happened from their minds. The most they could do was hold onto one another tightly as they made their way into the theater.

Camera's flashed the moment they stepped out of the car. The flutter of excited paparazzi attempted to slow their walk into the lobby but over the months with the story plaster to every major news network in the country they had grown quite accustomed to how to avoid such distractions. The most they gave was a smile and a quick kiss between the two before finding their tickets.

Kimberly had purposefully asked to avoid any booth seating. The last thing she wanted was memories of her old show resurfacing.

"What have they changed the title to?" John asked, looking through the playbill absentmindedly.

"If you actually read the thing you'd know," Kim laughed, looking over her own with much more care.

Above a glossy photo of Serena turning away from a man presenting her with an expensive array of jewels was a bright yellow bar, filled with the name of the theater and in bold lettering the words "COME WHAT MAY". With a small smile on her face Kim opened the playbill to the first page, finding the smiling face's of the cast looking back up to her.

The words "For John and Kimberly, until our closing day," printed across the bottom of the photo shined up through the glossy sheen.

"They didn't change much," she said with a smile, small tears starting to form out of appreciation. "They just got rid of what Dakota and Luscious wanted."

"That's good," John mused, watching as the lights began to dim.

Kimberly's hand found it's way to his, pulling it up to kiss his knuckles happily, not caring when her lipstick smudges.

"They've dedicated it to us."

The show went off without any complications.


Small features changed the first act, fitting it
better into a real theater without losing the
story. Serena, completely free from any bit of
Dakota's influence, shone brighter than they
had ever seen her before. By the end of the
first act even John found himself emotionally
attached to the story even though he had
Kimberly in his arms beside him.


By the end of the second act each member of
the audience sat at the edge of their seat,
watching in shock as the two male leads came
to a head over who Serena would leave with.


The fight mimicked that of the old show except
when the gun came into play it wasn't
deflected. Serena's character fell in the line of
fire to protect the man she loved, and in a
heart-wrenching duet she died. There wasn't a
dry eye in the theater.


The grip on John's hands tightened as
Kimberly pulled his hand close to her chest,
her head resting against his shoulder as they
watched the storyline wrap itself up. With one
final assurance of his love the club owner
promised to never forget what had happened, to
never forget what he had lost.


And with that assurance the finale music began
to play.


The sets moved away, leaving Serena standing
alone in a crisp white gown in the center of an
empty stage. With a small sigh she began her
final number. Tears blatantly visible to the
entire theater as she sang. And for just a
moment Kimberly could have sworn she smiled
to her.


"…Forget every man who I ever met, 'cause they
only live to control. For a kiss they paid a
thousand yet, they paid fifty cents for my soul.


They took their piece! The price of fame that no
one can repay, but they didn't buy me when they
bought my name and that is why I pray…"


Serena's face lit up, her feet rooted to the
ground, as she found she no longer had the
need to move around.


All she needed was her voice and she had the
entire audience transfixed.


" When you see someone's hurt and in need of a
hand, don't forget me, " her voice belted through
the theater. " Please say that you won't; I pray
that you don't forget me… "


Kimberly's eyes began to water, Serena's plea
finding it's way into her heart not only because
of the story but because of how much she
knew Serena believed what she was saying.


She had sung about loving John and she meant
every word. Serena sung about being
remembered, and the devotion was the same.


" When you look to the heavens with someone you
love, and a light's shining bright from afar, " she
sang out, tears beginning to stream down her
porcelain cheeks. " Hope you see my face there,
and then offer a prayer. And please let me be.


"Let me be that star!"


When the curtains went down, no one applauded
louder than Kimberly.




THE END

Thanks to everyone who made this story a success i really appreciate. And to those who commented your comments gave me more morale to write. And to those who didn't i still appreciate. God bless y'all.

Nne,dis Is great,more ink 2 ur pen,u really made my day

MissRelly:
Nne,dis Is great,more ink 2 ur pen,u really made my day

You are welcome dear.

am already drafting out a new story is already outlined but not yet perfect so anyone who is interested should write up now in order for me to mention when its up

Nnnena:
am already drafting out a new story is already outlined but not yet perfect so anyone who is interested should write up now in order for me to mention when its up

..

Nnenna. Weldone with this story.it was actually terrifying to the last four chapters. Was really scared kim was gonna die. Great ending,nice storyline.

Mention me when the new one starts

Nnnena:
am already drafting out a new story is already outlined but not yet perfect so anyone who is interested should write up now in order for me to mention when its up

..

Nnenna. Weldone with this story.it was actually terrifying to the last four chapters. Was really scared kim was gonna die. Great ending,nice storyline.

Mention me when the new one starts

URNUMBERONEFAN

Sweedy, pls mention me in ur new story... God bless u nd the works o ur hands. I love you!!!