Chapter Text
Ultimately, the problem is that Octavia is in love and doesn't know what to do about it.
Octavia Blake is a hopeless romantic, as most people figure out within ten minutes of meeting her. She happily goes to see rom-coms on her own, she cries during Disney movies, she loves weddings even though she basically never goes to them because her friends suck at relationships even more than she does (and far be it from her to judge but sometimes that's their own damn fault), and… at twenty-two, she has never been in a serious relationship. For the most part, she has accepted this. Her Person is out there somewhere, and she is not quite one of those girls. Just an avid daydreamer who likes the idea of attention and Grand Romantic Gestures is all.
At least, she was. And then last summer happened.
She's mostly blocked out the events of said summer because a lot of them featured her yelling at people she is normally friends with. She's been involved in community theatre since she was nine, and the big summer musical is the highlight of her year, especially since she got moved to stage crew during an awkward summer a few years ago and never looked back. Last year, she made assistant stage manager and it was great… for the five minutes between learning her new position and learning what that year's production was.
Sufficient to say, Les Miserables is made way more interesting when everyone involved in the production has personal drama. There were some interesting casting choices. There were some really interesting costuming choices, and if Octavia hears the word "anachronism" ever again she is going to stab someone. Jasper, who has been exiled to the tech booth since high school because in theory he can't get into trouble there, somehow acquired an actual cannon and "donated" it to the production. Raven managed to make it work, and thank goodness Monroe is pretty chill and has good insurance because anyone else would've been livid about what happened to her car. During the final performance, one of the big revolutionary flags actually caught fire and Octavia is ninety percent sure nobody noticed the girl in a black tank top and skinny jeans running onstage with a fire extinguisher because there was too much else going on. It was simultaneously a disaster and the best summer she's ever had.
There was just one tiny problem. Or one very not tiny problem, depending on how one looks at the situation.
On the second day of rehearsals, before all of the casting had even been nailed down, someone totally new showed up. Normally, new people come because they have a friend (or occasionally family member) who's either in the group or used to be. This one had neither. This one, it turned out, had just moved to the area and had no one. But he was nice and he wanted to do sets, so he was welcomed with open arms and made Octavia's problem because of course he was.
Lincoln was… well, honestly, the man was perfect. Compared to everyone else behind the scenes, he was quiet, and Octavia could've fallen for him based on that alone. The fact that he was really pretty helped. So did the fact that he was very intentionally nice to her. And the fact that he yelled at Murphy for her. (There was a history there, the short version of which is that Murphy is equal parts asshole and musical prodigy and neither one of those parts has a verbal filter and one of the best things about Octavia having a clipboard is that she has something nice to hit him with.) And… from the looks of it, Lincoln was falling for her too. It was perfect. They were adorable. She tried to help with his projects because it looked like he needed it. He held her when she needed to calm down. And then final dress rehearsal happened.
Final dress rehearsal, in the history of the group, is normally when all the bad shit happens. Things break. People get the flu. People have sex in places they shouldn't. Y'know, the usual. This particular year was comparatively not bad. The Griffin ladies got into a fight before curtain, but that was a normal enough event that half the group didn't even notice. Maya's mic decided not to work during her big solo, but that was not a world-ending event. Compared to previous years, things went well. Too well, enough that a few questionable life choices were made. During the final number, all tasks having been completed, Lincoln wrapped his arms around Octavia and kissed her. Hard. It was perfect. Apart from the bit where they forgot that approximately twenty people were about to walk into their wing. Small problem.
Octavia remembers nothing else of that night other than running. She showed up for performances and did her job as usual, but she did not speak to her friend. She did not attend the party a week after the show ended. She shut off.
The problem is that Octavia is in love and doesn't know what to do about it.
Nine months. Nine months should be enough time to move on. It isn't.
She shows up ten minutes late to the first meeting of the year - she had to rescue a turtle, it was really cute and she's not sure her car would've survived running it over anyways - and of course the only remaining seat is next to him and she decides she doesn't care anymore. She sits down and it's so easy to reach out and thread her fingers with his for strength and she can already see how much of a disaster the next three months will be and it distracts her from everything else and-
"Octavia?"
She looks up, makes eye contact with Jaha Senior. "Yeah?"
"We were just saying that since Jackson's wife is pregnant and due two weeks after the performance dates… could you handle actually being stage manager this year?"
"Give me a minion who'll actually listen to me and yeah, sure. I'd love to."
Lincoln gives her a sympathetic look. She replies by rolling her eyes. She can already see what everyone else in the group thinks, that they're doing what bunnies do on a very regular basis, and she wants to scream how wrong they are but she knows no one will listen. He's not her boyfriend. That one really epic kiss was their only kiss. They're friends, and he's probably the best person she knows and definitely the only person in the room (including her brother) who can unconditionally put up with her shit, but they're not together. They probably never will be.
They're just… them, and maybe that's their great tragedy.
"Well, this is going to be an interesting summer," he says once the meeting is over. Everyone else has formed their usual groups, and somehow it's just them again because the universe is weird like that.
"Sound Of Music," Octavia mutters. "I know Julie Andrews is a goddess, but… I hate that movie so much. And we're going to have random people's kids running around and good lord one of them is going to get traumatized for life from this place…"
"You grew up around this and you turned out fine."
"You're sweet. And wrong."
"It'll be okay, Octavia."
"No, it will not be okay. My brother will take over costumes again because World War Two is his thing and therefore everything has to be accurate, and god help us all if Team Puppy decides the goatherd song requires actual goats, and-"
"Octavia." Lincoln puts his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. "You worry too much, and you have no faith in anyone."
"I have known most of these people for over a decade. You've known them for roughly a year. I feel like I win here."
"Can you at least try not to hit anyone with your clipboard unless they genuinely have it coming?"
"Exactly how much effort do I have to put into that?"
"Think about it. Please."
"Okay, fine. But if anyone brings live animals or real weapons in here, they're dead…"
The problem is that Octavia is in love and she knows exactly what she wants to do about it. She's just not sure how.