29

                                    

                                          
I hope you guys are ready for a long chapter full of fluff
                          
~*~ 
                          
*One month later* 
                          
Anthony's POV 
"and as I stand here today, I would like to thank-" Lin was currently writing a speech to thank everyone. We open up on Broadway in two months. We close in two weeks, meaning we get a whole month and a half off. 
"Lin, it sounds like you're doing a graduation speech, like you've just been given valedictorian. It's stupid." Renee said. Myself, Phillipa, Oak, Jason, Javi, Oskar, Kail, Lac and Lin were all sitting in the green room helping him start on his two speeches. Lin sighed. I've never seen him so stress out. Between this and Moana, his never been so busy. 
"Please, I need to speak to them. On behalf of Lin-Manuel-" Amy said walking into the room. "Fuck! They just hung up on me!" Amy groaned and sat next to Renee. "I hope you're not going anywhere." Lin said. "This is huge Amy. You need to spend all your time and effort on this event. This could change your career." Lin said. "Don't give up." 
"Lin. You don't understand!" Amy groaned. "Everyone at Uni knows that I'm doing this. A Uni student has never organised an event like this before." Amy said to him. I looked at her and smiled. She just needed some reassurance. "Oh hang on. They're calling again." Amy said and got up to answer the phone call and left the room. I went back to my change room and got an empty box and start to pack the unnecessary items from my change room so I could take them back home. The change room has been my second home for the last couple of months. I could hear Amy walk past my office, "August Ninth. Yes. Oh wonderful. That's amazing." She said on the phone also looking at her laptop. "You are amazing." Amy smiled and hung up. She closed her laptop and walked into my room. "Whatcha doing?" 
"Packing." I said and sat down on a chair. 
"Oh I should probably do that as well." 
"You don't have anything here at the Theatre though."
"I meant for New Zealand." Amy mumbled. "I haven't told Lin yet. His going to be pissed." 
"Amy. He'll understand. It's your family tradition. It's part of your culture. It's part of you. If he can't understand that you going to New Zealand to be blessed by an elder and getting a traditional tattoo by them isn't a good enough excuse to leave for a couple of days, then I'm going to punch him in the face." Amy laughed. 
"Don't do that!" She smiled. There we go. Now she seems relaxed. She came over and lay on the couch.
"Okay, tell me what your problem is." Amy smiled at me. 
"You're not my therapist." She rolled her eyes. 
"Code Red." Jasmine said walked past my dressing room. I still can't believe we've gone all this way without Lin noticing that we're together. At one point I think he was suspicious but I think he just ignored it. 
"Anthony. We need to practise Aaron Burr, Sir and My Shot." Lin walked in with Thomas Kail. 
"I'll be there in a second." I said and the two left. Amy sighed and opened up her phone again. Because I've been so busy with rehearsals and she's been busy with university and trying to organise this opening night, it's hard to actually talk to each other during the day. Even when we get home, either she crashes at mine, which I don't mind but because we're so exhausted, we don't speak we get go straight to bed, or Jasmine wants to stay up and chat. If Amy doesn't come to mine, then she goes home. I can't wait for our time off. I want to spend every minute with her. Even if that means travelling to New Zealand for a couple of days. I got up and left Amy to do some work. 
                          
~*~ 
                          
Amy's POV
The next morning I was sitting in my room working on the Broadway Opening Night. I was in the middle of writing an email to a band called 'The Roots'. Vanessa told me that Lin really liked that band and I thought it would be a good idea for them to come to the opening. I also sent them two tickets for Questlove and Tarrik to come to a show whilst it's still at the Public Theatre. I also had to organise and get the word around so some journalists would come and do interviews. 
"Amy?" Charlie asked opening my door. 
"Yes, love?" I asked her and moved my laptop off my lap and onto the space next to me. 
"C-can you read to me?" She asked and showed me the book she was holding in her hands. Green Eggs and Ham. 
"Sure honey." I smiled. I needed a break from all my work. She jumped into my bed and sat on my lap and opened up the book. On occasion I would change the language to Maori just to confuse her and she would laugh and tell me off. "Amy! That's not the right words." Mom always wanted us to learn the language. Charlie thinks it's quite hard to learn a new one. She is only three, she can just understand English. "Amy. I'm going to miss you when you go to New Zealand." 
"I know. I'm going to miss you too. I'll get you a present." I smiled and continued to read the book to her. Charlie's curly ringlets in her hair would bounce up and down. 
"Amy?" She questioned me. 
"Yeah honey?" I smiled and she closed the book and turned around. 
"Can you teach me the language you and Grandma and Grandpa speak?" She asked me. 
"You want me to teach you Maori?" I asked a little confused and little excited. What made her ask this?  She nodded her head excitedly. 
"I want to be like you." She smiled. "And Anthony, he can speak Spanish, so can Lin. And Daveed, Anthony and Phillipa can speak French-" 
"Well-" I stopped. I couldn't tell her that it was only his character that did. 
"Morgan knows Japanese. I wanna learn what you know." 
"No worries." I smiled and looked at her. "Shall I teach you how to count one to ten?" I smiled and she nodded.
"I know one to ten in English, and French and Lin taught me how to in Spanish but I forgot already." She giggled and I smiled. She was just too cute. I ripped off a piece of paper from one of my notebooks and got a pen and wrote down One to Ten in English and then the translation of the numbers in Maori. 
"How about I read them out loud and you follow?" I smiled at her. She nodded. 
"Im ready."
"Kotahi" I said and she repeated the word. "Rua." Charlie giggled. "That's Jon's last name." 
"Charlie. Focus." I rolled my eyes. 
"Sorry." She whimpered. 
"Toru. Wha. Rima. Ono. Whitu. Waru. Iwa. Tekau." I said listing off all the numbers. 
"Whitu. Waru." Charlie frowned. "What was next?" She asked embarrassed. 
"Iwa. Tekau." I smiled encouraging her to continue. 
"Iwa. Tekau." She smiled and hugged me. "I did! I can count one to ten." I hugged her back. 
"If you keep practising you'll be amazing at it." I smiled and kissed her head. 
"Teach me more." 
"You know it's gets harder. I'm still learning some." 
"Pleeeeease." She begged and gave me those classic puppy dog eyes that you can't resist. "Okay then." Charlie jumped on my bed and smiled. 
"How do you say hello?" 
"Hello." I said pronouncing it way the Maori would pronounce it. 
"That's easy to remember." 
"How about, poroporoaki pai." 
"I'm sorry, what?" She giggled. God she hangs around Lin and the Hamilton cast way to much. 
"It means goodbye." I smiled. She waved. "Pehea e koe means how are you." I said and she nodded. She wasn't going to remember any of this. I made sure that I wrote it all down on her sheet of paper. "This is my favourite one, Ko toku tuahine iti koe." 
"Why is that your favourite?" She asked me intrigued. 
"It means, you are my little sister." I smiled and she gasped. "What is, you are my big sister?" 
"Ko toku tuahine nui koutou." Charlie repeated it. "That's my favourite one too. But big sister, because you're my big sister, not little sister. You're big because you're old." Charlie told me. How dare she think I'm old. I reached out and tickled her. 
"I'm not old." I laughed and she hit my hand and I stopped. 
"Yes you are. You're 20, and I'm 3. That's a whole-" she suddenly paused. 
"Seventeen." 
"Yeah, seventeen years older that me." 
"That's true." I laughed and kissed her head. 
"One day you'll be my age." I said and she gasped shocked. 
"I won't be three forever?" She asked confused. 
"No, you'll then be four, then five, then six and so on." I told her. 
"Whoa. I can't wait." She laughed and I nodded. I took her hand and took her into the kitchen. I was cutting up some apple for her when I noticed a huge spider crawl across the table. Oh no. I can't deal with spiders. I looked at Charlie and we shared the same panicked expression. She jumped off the chair and hid behind my legs. The spider suddenly ran off. No, not cool spider. I hate spiders if you can't tell already. I grabbed my phone from my pyjama pockets and called Anthony. 
"Hey! What's up?" He asked clearly in a better mood than I am. 
"There's a crisis situation, in my apartment. Can you come deal with it?" I asked him. 
"A what?" He asked. 
"Just come, please." I asked and hung up the phone. I didn't care if he was busy doing something, but I needed to know that this spider was out of the apartment or dead before I could carry on my day. I heard a knock at the door. "Amy. It's me." Oh thank god. It's Anthony. I opened the door and pulled him inside. I shut the door and he looked around the room. I placed my hands on his cheeks and kissed him. He returned the favour by smiling into the kiss. 
"Ew! Stop it!" Charlie groaned. 
"Yo. C!" Anthony said using the nickname he gave her. 
"Anthony! There's a spider in the kitchen." Charlie said and hugged his legs. 
"That's what you called me over for? You want me to get rid of a spider that's in your kitchen?" I bit on my finger and nodded. "Do you have any spray? Like insect repellent?" Anthony asked me. 
"Uhm, we might under the sink." I gulped and he kissed my forehead and walked toward the kitchen. "Be careful, you might get hurt." I said and Anthony chuckled at me. 
"Amy. It's a spider. I don't understand why you're so scared of them." Anthony said bending down to get the spray. 
"I just don't like them, okay?" I said crossing my arms.
"Alright. Where is this spider?" He asked me. 
"Under the bench." I pointed and he sprayed all around the kitchen. He then picked up the cut apple and threw it in the bin. 
"But I wanted that." Charlie said and Anthony washed his hands and wiped them on a towel. 
"It's all gross. I sprayed the insect repellent on it and it would probably taste gross and make you sick." Anthony said walked over. "Why don't we go out for lunch?" Anthony offered and Charlie's face lit up. I knew I shouldn't really go out. I had so much work to do. 
"Babe? You blanked out. You alright?" Anthony asked taking my hand in his. 
"I'll take Charlie out-" 
"No no. I want to come." I smiled and pecked his lips. 
"Good." He smiled and placed his hands my on waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. 
"Amy! You're still in your pyjamas." Charlie giggled and I pulled away from Anthony. 
"I-I'll go get changed." I smiled and ran into my room. I found a denim skirt and my canvas shoes. I put on a shirt walked out and grabbed Charlie's backpack and put my phone and purse in there. 
                          
"Amy! Are you ready yet?" Charlie pouted. 
"Whoa. Where did this attitude come from?" I asked her and she shrugged. I looked at Anthony who was leaning against the door frame. 
"It wasn't me." He said defensively. I took Anthony's hand and we walked down the stairs to reach the bottom of the apartment building and made our way to a cafe. 
"Amy. Can I go play on the playground." Charlie pulled on my hand. 
"Of course." I smiled and she ran off to the playground. Anthony and I sat down on at a table, we got a booth. Anthony wrapped his arm around my shoulders. 
"How have you been feeling?" Anthony asked. "Are you still stressed?" 
"I'm alright." I shrugged. 
"If you can't do something, just tell me and I'll talk to Lin." 
"No no. It's fine. It's just all happening at the same time. I can't manage my time well." 
"Yes you can." Anthony smiled and looked into my eyes. "You are the most strongest girl I've ever met. You're extremely organised and you're a perfectionist. There's so many reasons why I love you, and you know that. I'm here if you ever need me." Anthony said and kissed my temple. I blushed. 
"What can I get you?" The young waitress asked. 
"I'll just get the ribs with fresh coleslaw, and the kids nuggets meal." I said to the waitress and passed her my menu. 
"I'll get the chicken burger with fries and salad." Anthony said and waitress walked off. Charlie came back crying. 
"Oh sweetheart. What happened?" I asked and picked her up and placed her on my lap. 
"A b-boy did a bite on my arm." She showed me her arm. 
"Oh sweetheart. It's going to be okay." I said and kissed her head. 
"Who was this boy?" Anthony asked and examined her arm as well. 
"He-he was wearing a blue striped top." Charlie cried. Anthony got up and walked outside to find the boy. 
"I don't want Anthony to hurt him." Charlie whimpered.
"His not going to. I promise." I said and the waitress came over with our food. I pulled out a colouring book and some crayons for her to colour in, and get her distracted from the incident. Anthony came back and sat down next to me. 
"The mother was convinced that her son likes Charlie. But violence isn't the answer. She was so rude, and the she started to pull moves on me. What a bitch." Charlie gasped. 
"Anthony said a bad word." I laughed. 
"He sure did." I said and kissed his cheek. We dug into our meals and we got up, paid and found a park for Charlie to play in. Anthony and I sat on a park bench. 
"I uhh, I got you something." Anthony said and pulled out a small light aqua blue box. Tiffany & Co. was written on the box. 
"Y-you got me a present?" I blushed. 
"Of course. You're my girlfriend. Go on. Open it up. Phillipa helped me choose it." Anthony said proudly. I opened up the box and gasped at the silver bracelet with the aqua coloured heart dangling off it. 
"Anthony. It's gorgeous!" I said, wrapping my arms around his neck, hugging him in a tight embrace. "You're amazing." I knew saying that probably wasn't enough. He wanted me to say 'I love you'. I could feel that in his body language. 
"Amy. Can we go home?" Charlie asked me and tugged on my arm. 
"Sure." I said and took her hand. I'm so glad she came at the right time. 
"Anthony. Do you want to come back?" 
"Actually, Charlie. Do you want to have another attempt at the-" 
"Yeah. I'll come." Anthony said and walked over snuck is arm around my waist. "Say it when you're ready." He whispered and kissed my cheek. "I'll wait." He smiled and I nodded.