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The crowd erupted into applause, though Green could barely hear it.
As he tried to push his way out from under the noteblocks, his aching arms hardly enough to hold him up, the sound hit him. The clapping, the cheering, the standing ovation that Green yearned for. But they weren’t cheering for him.
He felt a lump in his throat, and the familiar sting of tears. The applause he usually basked in was piercing through his head like a bullet. It was loud - too loud. A screaming reminder that nothing he ever did went according to plan. Green wanted to yell out and scream for someone, anyone to just notice him already, but he was too preoccupied with trying to keep himself composed.
Green had built this place with his bare hands. He had put this whole damn show together. And his friends were the ones being applauded? Them?!
The pressure of the noteblocks pinning him down, and the weight of his misfortune, were both equally crushing.
Green finally managed to break free, and he took off towards the wings, not even looking back at his friends who he knew would be celebrating without him. He leaned back against the wall, blinking, blinking again, yet his tears fell anyway. Green slid down the wall, hugging his knees and trying to drown out the sound of his failure. It seemed to drag on forever, the cheers comparable to laughter, mocking him. Green’s silent, desperate pleas of ‘shut up, just shut up already’ , still couldn’t silence them.
Then, just as Green was ready to scream at the top of his lungs, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Just piss off, alright?!” Green snapped, before looking up and realising who he had just yelled at.
It was just Purple. Shit.
“I’m sorry.” Purple said. after getting over their initial shock. They crouched down to Green’s level. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Green groaned, and ran a hand through his hair. The crowd had quietened down and were starting to disperse, thank cursors.
“I’m fine. Just overwhelmed.” Green said, not wanting to elaborate any further than that.
Purple sat down beside Green, looking ahead at the stage. Some parts of it were still on fire, but a few sticks were working to put it out. Purple shook his head and chuckled at the sight.
“I’d say it could’ve been worse, but I’d be lying.” Purple said, trying, and failing, to lighten the mood. The silence afterwards told him all he needed to know - Green was genuinely upset over tonight.
Purple took a deep breath and shuffled closer to the other stick, placing a gentle hand on Green’s arm. They decided to say nothing, and let Green fill the silence in his own time. He would’ve been willing to wait hours for Green to speak, but that wasn’t necessary.
“They made me look like a joke.” Green muttered, keeping his chin resting on his arms. “Those damn bugs…”
Purple smiled softly. “I think you did well.”
“Yeah, right—”
“Really.” Purple said with conviction. “I mean, you handled it like a champ. You were the star of that show, and you owned it.”
The other stick, however, wasn’t convinced. He stayed silent, while Purple continued.
“Everything that happened tonight was out of your control.” Purple reassured him, their thumb tracing circles on Green’s arm. “It’s okay to feel angry, or upset, or whatever you might feel. But don’t doubt your worth for a second, okay?”
Green wiped away his leftover tears, lifting his head to look at Purple. Damn it, they always knew what to say. Then again, Purple had their fair share of failures and regrets in their life, so they were probably saying what they always needed to hear.
“My friends are such jerks.” Green said, gritting his teeth as he looked across the stage, at the others who were laughing amongst themselves in the opposite wings. Purple shrugged, as if they wanted to agree, but didn’t know if they had the right.
“They’re definitely… something.” Purple said slowly. “Hopefully they’ll come around eventually.”
Green sighed. “I’m still gonna kill them.”
“Hah. That’s fair.” Purple leaned over and gave Green a gentle kiss on his cheek. “You’ve earned it.”