#those magic changes

***

It wasn’t until the following year that Dex dug his own grave. He wanted to hate Ford, but, like Bitty, Dex couldn’t be angry at someone who barely hit his shoulder.

Pre-season training wasn’t the only reason Dex had come to Samwell almost two weeks early. Midway through the summer he had gotten a text from one of the stagehands with a picture of a junker they’d found in Boston and had asked Dex if there was a way to make it work for this semester’s play.

The production for the upcoming season was Grease, with, according to the director, a lot of the problematic bits written away. Of course, in doing Grease one needs a car.  He knew he was being too friendly when he agreed, but Dex couldn’t help it. He liked Ford, and a lot of the stagehands who he’d gotten to know. Plus, if he beat Nursey to Samwell he could do more with the room they had to share. His decision didn’t have anything to do with the fact that maybe his mother had played the movie Grease more times than he could count during his childhood and he had a soft spot for it.

Having actually beat Nursey to the Haus by two days, Dex was able to get their room set up and get the car up on cinderblocks in the Haus’ backyard.

Nursey knew none of this. He knew Dex had been helping Ford out last spring, but he had no clue that the help was extending to this year. Thus, he was more than a little surprised when he saw that his roommate and defense partner was shirtlessly removing the engine from a beater in their backyard on the day he came back to school. Clearly the lobster catching had kept Dex’s strength up over the summer.

He was still staring when Bitty came out to the porch with a batch of sweet tea and handed Nursey a glass. “You look thirsty,” he teased as he walked to Dex to hand him his own glass.

Sipping what could only be called diabetes in a cup, he had to agree as he looked at the ginger Adonis before him. Dex eventually saw him standing there and sent a wave his way.

Nursey flushed a bit as he waved back

***

It was while he was installing the car on its makeshift dolly on stage that Dex got to watch one of the initial rehearsals. During a break, Sam, the guy cast as Doody, was playing around with the guitar he had to use during one of the scenes. As he messed around, he overheard the director lamenting that Sam had to at least figure out how to look genuine as he pretended to play as it was obvious that he didn’t know how. Dex’s need to please perked up, and he offered to help Sam learn. After all he could play the guitar and the song was simple enough.

That night Dex got the sheet music from his bag and began to play, humming along to the tune as he went. The part Sam had wasn’t a big one, even if he was one of the main T-birds, but this song was a showstopper if done right. He was just about to start singing it out loud when Nursey opened the door to their room and Dex slammed his hands on the strings to make the music stop.

Hearing the odd twang, Nursey’s eyes were directed to the noise and just took in the scene.

“I didn’t know you played,” he blinked, as he put his bag down on his chair.

“Oh, I had to pick an instrument in junior high,” he explained, a bit embarrassed at being caught.

“Were you playing something?”

“Nah, just tuning it for a friend,” he lied, and fiddled with the tuning pegs.

“What do you know how to play?” Nursey asked, as he walked closer to his roommate.

“Just the dad rock you hate,” he chirped, glad that that, luckily, Nurse let his line of inquiry die.

***

When Dex found time to meet with Sam, he began to show him the basic holds and even showed him how the song looked being played. Singing along to it, Dex imagined standing on the stage, singing about asking someone to come back to him. He imagined the target of his affection to be someone that looked a lot like Nursey. It was always easier for Dex to picture who he should be singing to when he was learning a new song. Dex didn’t look up until he was done, and found both Sam, and the director, Sasha, staring at him from where she was working on the book.

“That was really good, Dex. I didn’t know you could sing!”

“I can’t really, Sasha, trust me,” he blushed, both from the praise and the image he had conjured in his mind.

“Well I just heard you do something. Maybe you ought to consider being Sam’s understudy,” she offered, exchanging excited glances with the actor next to her.

“I can’t. I’ve got school, plus, hockey, and I’m already helping you guys with the set when I can,” he explained, knowing that this wasn’t his thing. He was just doing this for fun and to help out his friends.

“Well you wouldn’t have to attend all the rehearsals. I asked Ford for your schedule so no one asked you to come in when you couldn’t. You don’t have any games on the three nights we’re performing. You just proved that you have a good voice, and if you can move on the ice I’m sure you can move on stage. It’s a small part, and Sam doesn’t have a backup. Just think about it,” she reiterated, and went back to making notes on the script.

***

At the Haus that night, Dex approached Bitty in the kitchen and asked him what he thought.

“Oh, that sounds like such fun! I mean if you can still make practices and classes, I don’t see why not. I mean school comes first, but college is for trying new things after all!” he rambled, as he fed Dex some pie.

“I don’t know. I mean I feel bad since I didn’t audition and, well, I’m not sure it’s something I’d be good at.”

“Honey, I don’t think she would have asked you if she didn’t think you could do it, now would she?” Bitty pointed out.

“I guess. I mean it’s just the understudy, so why not. Just, um, don’t tell the guys. I don’t know what would be worse, being chirped, or having them all show up to watch me,” he laughed.

“Watch you what?” Nursey asked, as he walked into the kitchen following the smell of pie.

“Watch me kick your ass at pong next kegster,” he supplied quickly, frantically changing the subject.

“Well I’ll take that challenge Poindexter,” he chuckled, extending his hand at the bet.

Bitty just shook his head at the two of them. But he planned to keep his promise to Dex about not telling the team so he didn’t say anything.

Well, until Halloween that is.

***

The Haus Halloween Epikegster was a notorious affair on campus for a number of reasons. For Dex, the notoriety came from the mandatory costume policy. Before college, he could get away with being a hockey player or a fisherman, but from his first year on SMH, Ransom and Holster informed him that he had to try harder and he had to attend. This had always left Dex frustrated, but this year that was about to change.

This year he actually had a plan, and it involved begging Beckett, their costume designer, for their help by bribing them with one of Bitty’s pies and a dance at the Epikegster. In the end, Dex was had a T-Birds outfit for the night on the condition that no one vomited on it and that Texas, who was in charge of makeup, could do a test run on him.

The rest of the team was at the Haus already getting the place ready. Nursey, who had taken over tub juice duties once Shitty had graduated, was on the back porch mixing it when Bitty walked out to check on him.

“Going well?” he asked brightly in his Wonder Woman costume, already a bit tipsy from the jello shots Shitty had brought over from Harvard.

“Yeah all good, but have you seen Dex? He left a few hours ago and I thought he’d be back by now.” Nursey asked, concerned for his roommate. It wasn’t because he missed him, not at all.

“Oh he’s just getting his costume finished!”

“Wow I’m stunned.” Nursey said, relaxing back into the porch railing. “I figured he’d make a lame one like last year. He went as a zombie, and that was only because Lardo wanted a volunteer for special effects makeup.”

“No, this year our Dex is coming as T-Bird from Grease. Taking out his costume for a test run,” Bitty giggled, leaning next to Nursey on the railing.

“His costume?” he asked, frowning, unsure of what Bitty meant.

“Yes! He’s the understudy in the upcoming play,” his captain explained. His giggling slowly stopped as he realized what he had said. He smacked himself on his forehead and reached out to grab Nursey’s hand. “But you didn’t hear that from me! No, you heard that from Ford or a little birdy, but not me. Now excuse me, I have to go call my Clark Kent before we get the party really going.”

Bitty left the porch, humming to himself, unaware that he had left the underclassman there stunned. Nursey began to wonder how the hell he'd missed the fact that Dex was rehearsing for a play. He wondered if the guitar had anything to do with it, but his thoughts we interrupted by the first arrivals. Nursey decided there were more pressing matters and went back inside to show off his Black Panther costume.

And if it was to find the T-bird Bitty had talked about, no one could prove it.

***

It was about an hour into the party when Nursey finally saw Dex and his jaw dropped. His fellow D-man was leaning against the wall talking to someone, but what really stunned Derek was his outfit. Dex  was wearing tight, darkwash blue jeans, cuffed at the ankle to show off his boots, and a rather tightly fitted white cotton t-shirt under a black leather jacket. His hair was curled and gelled and he had on light make-up that made his eyes pop.

The superhero must have been staring a bit too long because soon Dex was pushing off the wall to be led to the dance floor by a guy Nursey didn't recognize. He was confused. Dex normally didn't dance, but there he was swaying his hips like a pro, and with a guy no less. He took in the sight for only a moment more before heading to the kitchen for more alcohol.

Sudden movement out of the corner of his eye made Dex look and catch Nursey’s back as he walked into the kitchen. Sighing, he went back to dancing and when the song ended Beckett led them back to the wall.

“You aren't​allowed to use I can’t dance as an excuse anymore, Ginger. I've seen you dance at rehearsal and now here,” Beckett teased, succeeding in making Dex blush.

“Alright, alright. It's just like I told you, the team thinks of me a certain way and it's easier to keep that up, you know?”

“I guess, but you can’t be afraid if they know you're queer,” they pointed out. Dex’s eyes grew wide in fear, causing the costume designer to simply shake their head.

“Yes, I know, and no I won’t say a word. Be around theatre kids long enough and you start to tell whose eyes wander to more than just one gender.” Beckett teased, patting their friend on the arm. “Plus when you danced with me right now your hands were a bit too low on my hips.”

“Sorry, I didn’t…” Dex began to stammer, but was cut off.

“Don’t worry. It was fun, but you aren’t my type.” Beckett smiled, patronizingly. They were enjoying helping the puppy in front of them. “That isn’t the point though. You, Ginger, need to relax and stop compartmentalizing yourself. Now I’m going to go find whomever was dressed as the 10th Doctor earlier and introduce myself.”

They gave Dex a kiss on the cheek and left the hockey player alone with his thoughts. Dex didn’t like him and his thoughts being alone together, so he went in search of tub juice. He walked to the deck only to find Nursey flirting with a guy on the back porch. He quickly turned back into the house, opting for a beer instead of seeing his d-man succeed at pulling for the night.

And if he didn’t want to see his D-man succeed at getting a hookup for the night, well no one could prove it.

***

The morning after the kegster, Dex woke up with a splitting headache. He started to groan, but stopped himself when he remembered seeing Nursey with that guy earlier in the night. He looked down to the bottom bunk to make sure he hadn’t slept through his roommate having drunk sex in his own inebriated state.

Seeing only one body in the bed below him, Dex let himself relax. He slowly made his way down the ladder to find some painkillers and water. He downed a glass in the kitchen, and thought that it was the polite thing to do to bring Nursey a remedy of his own. Walking back to the room, Dex opened the door and placed a glass and pills within reach of the other man, just as he began to stir.

“Morning. I didn’t see much of you last night, but if you drank like I did, you’ll need this,” he laughed, passing him the glass.

Taking it gratefully, Nursey chugged it along with the pills and sat against the wall, his eyes closed to keep out the light

“Yeah, I only caught a glimpse of you last night and you were dancing.”

“Oh yeah.” Dex said, moving to sit at the foot of the bed. “I promised Beckett I’d dance with them at least once. They leant me the costume.”

“Beckett? Is he friends with Foxtrot?”

“They. And yes, they’re friends with Ford.”

“That’s cool. Your costume looked good,” he mumbled, his head beating a tattoo on his temples.

“Yeah, yours did too.” Dex said a bit awkwardly as he tried to compliment Nursey without letting it slip that he thought his roommate was smoking hot. “I mean I only saw a part of it while you were chatting up some soccer bro in the backyard.”

“Ugh don’t remind me…”

“Alright. I’ll leave it at that.”

Blinking his eyes open finally, he stared at Dex. “Really? No comment that I was chatting up a dude.”

“Unless that dude was a lax bro I don’t care, Nurse.”

“Huh…”

“Yes, congrats on realizing I don’t actually care who you put your dick in.” Dex said rather forcefully. He actually did care quite a lot about who Nursey put his dick in, but not in the way Nurse thought.

“Didn’t put my dick in him. Just flirted. My dick only goes in particular places,” he winked, which earned him an eye roll from the red-head.

“Stop there.” Dex said, holding his hands up as he stood. “I’m going downstairs to help with breakfast. Make sure you come downstairs with clothing.” He added once he got to the door.

It was only then that Nursey realized he was nude under the sheets.

“You know you like it!” Nursey yelled at his disappearing roommate as he smirked to himself

***

The week leading up to the show Dex was barely sleeping. Between practice, a roadie, classes, homework, and rehearsal he was exhausted.

He came home late one night and just crashed on the toxic couch. He wasn't sure the exhaustion was worth everything since he was just the replacement.

As Dex laid there contemplating his life, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and just stared at it. It was Sam. If he asked him again for another guitar lesson he was going to throw his phone.

“Yeah?” he answered, his face muffled by the pillow.

“Will? Did I wake you up?” a very frantic Sam asked from the other end of the line.

“No, but I can’t get anywhere right now,” he grumbled, hedging his bets.

“No, I don’t need you right now, but I need you Sunday night. I need to drive out to Boston for a callback,” he squealed through the phone.

“What?” he asked, in disbelief.

“I need you to cover the Sunday night show. Sasha already approved it and you’ve been great in rehearsals. I’ve got to go now, but we’ll talk tomorrow!”

The line was dead.

Staring at his phone Dex began to panic. No, this was a mistake. He was the understudy. They never went on. Pacing first the living room and then the hallway, he eventually caught the attention of Bitty who came over with a worried look.

“Dex, is something the matter?” he started, the panic clear on his face that he hoped it wasn’t something too serious.

“...I’m the understudy, there is no way I can go on Sunday…” the D-man garbled, clearly mid thought.

“Oh honey, that’s great! You’ve been working so hard!” Bitty beamed, patting his back.

“No, no, this is not great. People are going to see me dance, and sing, and I need to find Ford before she tells the team,” Dex’s mind was in a million places as he process what was happening. He was about to run out the door when Bitty dragged him into the kitchen and sat him down, placing a pie and cocoa from out of nowhere in front of him.

“You can text Ford,” Bitty said as he cut a slice of pie for himself. “There is nothing wrong with the team knowing that their friend is going to be acting in a play that he’s been working hard for.”

“First, there are a lot of things wrong with it.” Dex said nervously, stabbing his fork into his pie for emphasis. “Second, the lead playing Danny, Tristan, he hates you all. Seriously wanted to murder Sasha after the incident during South Pacific last year. Third, I can’t sing knowing you all are in the audience.”

“And why not?” Bitty asked, clearly offended.

“It has nothing to do with you. It’s just, I’m singing a love song of sorts and well, it’s really easy to act like I’m wooing someone on stage when I imagine it happening…” Dex sighed, placing his head on the counter.

“Well, aside from the fact that Jack owes me fifty dollars,” Bitty smiled, putting his hand on his friend’s arm to stop him from murdering the pie slice. “I think you’ll be fine. I can make sure the team, especially a particular boy, sit far back enough that you can’t see him.”

Blushing brightly, Dex looked at Bitty, resigned. “Am I that obvious?”

“No, but I happen to know what pining after a teammate looks like,” Bitty giggled. 

“I’m not pining,” he mumbled under his breath, pushing the pie around on the plate some more.

“You’re pining. Now eat.”

***

It was Sunday.

Dex had spent the whole weekend working on the set making sure things worked, going through dress rehearsal, and watching the way Sam did his performance.

He hadn’t been told if the team was coming or not, having left the decision to Bitty.

Before going onstage, Dex got one last pep talk from Sasha before seeing Ford backstage. Walking towards him, she gave him a hug and adjusted his jacket a bit.

“You’re going to do great,” she reassured him, patting him on the back. “Besides, Sam can’t play the guitar at all. I saw you in rehearsal actually playing it and it sounded great. Break a leg.”

***

Bitty and Ford had coordinated all week over the ideal spot for the team to sit. Far enough away that Dex couldn’t spot them from the stage, but close enough that they could still easily see their friend. Jack, Shitty, Lardo, Ransom, and Holster had even come down for the event, much to everyone’s regrets. Holster was quick to gripe about the no showtunes rule from last year, and wondered why he hadn’t thought about auditioning before.

Once the lights dimmed and the show started, the team was impressed. It was clear that despite being the understudy, Dex had made every effort to actually learn to act. Ford had warned everyone to not yell and scream during the show this time - fearing a repeat of the last musical they had attended - but wondered if her warning would hold for Dex’s solo.

On stage Dex was pretending to fumble through simple guitar chords, producing an awful twanging sound. The team looked a little worried, wondering if Dex was going to pull through after all, but as soon as the lights dimmed on the stage and the music picked up, his off key singing turned into something else.

***

Dex hated the scene change. He knew that the entire crowd would watch him and think that he couldn’t sing. But then he stood up, and the stage went dark leaving just a spotlight on him. A mic was placed in front of him as he awkwardly waved to the girl who placed it for him, as then another came and put a scarf around his neck.

It was supposed to be a dream sequence - Doody imagining what it would be like to be a good singer as the girls from the chorus fawned around him. It wasn’t a hard song, but it always made him feel something. He could picture nights like this at kegsters when the perfect song was playing and Nursey would be chatting to him in his ear above the music. He would be so close, but Dex never made a move.

“Those magic changes

my heart arranges

a melody that’s never the same

a melody that’s calling your name

and begs you, please

come back to me

please return to me

don’t go away again

oh, make them play again

the music i wanna hear

as once again you

whisper in my ear

oh my darlin’ uh-huh”

During the second part of the song, Dex handed his guitar to one of his “fans,” and began to move about more, gesturing along with the song and swaying his hips. It was hard to do, knowing hundreds of people were watching him, but he just had to imagine serenading Derek, and Derek alone, and he calmed down a bit. It was fun having the girls look at him adoringly, but he gripped the microphone and crooned into the crowd, pointing out to the audience.

“C C C how much I want

A A A a millions ways

F F F effortlessly love you

G G G I’m in a hurry”

The last note of the song was the hardest for Dex, considering how this was so not what he was trained in, but as soon as the song finished he caught his breath and was surprised by the sound of the applause.

***

Ford was right, there was no way she was controlling the team once Dex finished. She was now next to a row of hockey players all standing and cheering, whooping far too loudly for a theatre. Looking down the row, she saw that Nursey wasn’t standing. Instead he looked dumbstruck and was gaping at the stage.

***

Nursey knew he should be cheering and clapping, but all he could think about was the way Dex looked so earnest caressing the mic and singing. He has clearly putting a lot of emotion into the performance, but it almost felt like he was singing to someone. Maybe Dex was just that secretly good of an actor, or maybe he was just reading too much into it. Either way, Derek knew he needed to figure out how to get a private solo in their bedroom as soon as possible.

***

After the show ended Dex was backstage packing up, hoping to escape the chaos that was the post-show. He was in the middle of leaving when he was informed that he had no choice, but to go to the cast party at the theatre house. He was in a good enough mood that he said yes without too much hesitation, but he still insisted that he needed to drop his stuff off at the Haus beforehand.

Walking out of the auditorium side door, Dex was hoping for a quick escape. This was thwarted when he was met with the sight of all of his friends, including three former captains, Shitty, and Lardo. Dumbstruck, Dex just stood there staring until Holster broke the group formation and hugged him, praising his performance and how had he known they could have totally done karaoke nights at the Haus.

“I was just the understudy guys,” Dex insisted. “None of you had to come to this.” Holster pulled back, and was met with various statements of protest that none of them would have missed this.

“Bitty told us last week and we cleared our schedules,” Lardo explained looking pleased. “As if we’d miss our friend performing. You were stunning,” Shitty agreed, and began to discuss how proud he was that Dex was breaking the chains of masculinity that had bound him.

“Thank you everyone, really. It does mean a lot that you came,” Dex blushed and made to run a hand through his hair, forgetting that it was gelled. “I actually have to run to the Haus to put stuff down before the cast party...if any of you want to come?” He offered, not expecting anything. Instead, Chowder, Tango, Whiskey, and Nursey decided to join him, while the graduates, plus Bitty, lamented having to adhere to normal schedules.

After a round or two of goodbyes, Dex walked with the frogs and tadpoles back to the Haus so he could change. Once in his room, he began to strip out of his costume, needing to return it tomorrow, when Nursey walked in.

“Not keeping it on for the party?” he asked, sounding disappointed.

“No,” Dex frowned, confused by his roommate’s tone. “I mean I want to be comfortable and the costume is a bit tight.”

“Well yeah that’s what makes it look good,” Nursey pointed out shrugging.

“You think I look good?” Dex asked, surprised. He tried not to let himself get hopeful, no matter what his heart was saying.

“Yeah, I mean so do a lot of people.” Nursey said, eyes all smolder. “I heard many girls cooing over you when you performed.”

Blushing, Dex tried to hide his face. “They just like a performance, not me,” he tried to explain away.

“But what about people who knew you before the performance? Does that mean they like you?” Nursey replied, taking a step closer to Dex.

“I guess...but no one thinks of me like that. I mean even if they did, and it was one of these girls, I’m not interested in them...like that” he rambled, trying to come up with another excuse, but turned around to find himself face to face with Derek.

“I wasn’t talking about the girls.” the brunet said, taking another step closer to his roommate. “I was talking about who you thought of as you sang the song.”

“Oh he doesn’t like me like that,” Dex breathed, watching a slow smirk spread across Nursey’s face.

“How do you know that?” Nursey asked, taking the final step forward into the ginger’s space. “You never asked him. But if you did, I think you’d be pleased.”

Dex leaned forward, deciding to play Nursey’s game. “I mean I could, or I could ask him if he wanted to kiss me with or without the jacket on.”

In reply Nursey handed Dex the jacket back and pinned him to the wall as soon as it was on.

***