It is closing night and Justin feels a sense of regret. 'I've really enjoyed my time here with the cast and crew. This is definitely a new hobby of mine! Who are you kidding? You enjoyed this past week the most because of Rebecca. She's been amazing to work with and hang out with. Who knew that girl who ran into me would end up being the girl of my imagination at the moment?'

He spots Joey in the backstage and runs over to him with a big smile. "Joey! You're here!"

"As promised J! What did you think? That JC, Chris, and I were going to let you end a show without seeing it? I don't think so!"

Justin laughs. "Where are the other two?"

"On their way. The show starts in two hours so we thought we would make use of that backstage list you put us on to see how you were doing before the show."

Justin spots the other two making their way over and smiles. "I am so glad that the three of you have made it! I think you'll really like the show!"

"We better if we came all the way here for you!" JC kids. "We really are proud of you. The reviews have been amazing."

"So how's this chick that you've been fighting with?" Chris asks.

"My leading lady? Actually, when I got lead, we called a truce and things have been a lot better. She actually listened to my advice and is singing and acting a lot better than she did a month ago. It's great to know I helped out a fellow actor like that," Justin replies. "Did you want to get a bite to eat?"

"Actually, we brought your favorite from the double arches for you. We figured it would remind you of our old concert days."

"Even better!"

"Joseph?" Justin hears a familiar voice call out. He raises his eyebrow as he watches Joey turn around and throw open his arms. Over his shoulder, Justin could just see a black-haired girl in his arms. "I can't believe you are here! Why didn't you tell me?"

Joey chuckles. "Because that would ruin the fun, now wouldn't it? I want you to meet my friends. Chris, JC, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, this is Chris and JC, my band mates."

"Nice to meet you," she says.

Joey turns to Justin and smiles. "I think you two already know each other."

Justin and Rebecca just stare at each other. "Are you kidding me?" Justin asks.

"How do you know Justin?" she asks.

"Well, Justin is the fourth member of our group. I thought you knew," Joey responds.

"Definitely not Joseph. I only knew you were in a band once but knew mostly about your movies and theater stuff."

"Well, I was in a pop group to be more exact, called 'NSync. We're still together but we're all on hiatus doing our own thing. Justin chose this show."

"This is crazy."

"Wait, she calls you Joseph?" Justin asks, suddenly putting two and two together.

"Yes. That's what the Rent cast calls me. I met her while I was auditioning. I'm glad to see she's done so well since last time!"

Rebecca blushes. "I haven't done all that well. I'm not on Broadway like you!"

"You soon will be Becca. I think it's funny that you two met like this. How did you two not realize I was the same person?"

"Huh?"

"Meaning, he calls me Joey and you call me Joseph but I figured that eventually, you would have it figured out that you were talking and complaining about each other to the same person."

"You mean you knew?" Justin asks. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"And spoil my fun? I think I really enjoyed hearing both of you complain about the other. It showed me sides of both of you that I never saw before. To be honest, I think you both need to get over your hostility towards each other and realize that you both have genuine feelings for one another. However, that is just my take on the situation. It is your closing night. Who knows when you will ever be together like this again?"

Both Justin and Rebecca look at Joey with shocked looks. "No way man. I think you totally misread us. Rebecca and I are just newly friends. That's all."

"Yeah," Rebecca echoes.

Joey looks at the two and smiles even bigger. "We'll have to see about that," he says.

Chris takes his chance and says, "You know J, you may actually have found your match. She's definitely got that independent thing going for her. Remember that first time we met her? Man did she hold her own."

'I can't believe I am hearing this,' Rebecca thinks to herself. 'This is so embarrassing.'

"Rebecca! We need you back here," David says, attempting to rescue his friend.

"I'll be right there!" Rebecca says. She turns to the guys and says, "I'll see you all later."

The guys watch as Rebecca rushes off, smiling. "Man J, what did you do to her? She's so skittish now," Joey remarks, earning a glare from Justin. "I'm serious. She's obviously affected by you in one way or another."

"Joey, she's just nervous about the last show, that's all. She'd never have real feelings like that for me."

"She could if you gave her a chance!"

"In my dreams," Justin accidentally mutters aloud, much to the pleasure of his friends. Realizing his error, he looks at the guys and says, "Shut up, now. Things wouldn't work even if I wanted them to!"

"How do you know if you haven't tried?"

"Because I just do! I know this girl. I've worked with her for months."

"But you just started co-starring with her. Who knows what chemistry has brewed up because of that," Chris points out.

"Guys, enough, okay? Obviously, Justin is a bit uncomfortable with this. This is his last show. We should be supporting him, not teasing him," JC interrupts. "However, Justin, if you're not interested her, she may be snatched up by some other lucky guy."

"You threatening me?" Justin asks.

JC laughs. "No, but I think that reaction just told me what I wanted to know. Go after her. You know you want to."

Justin sighs. "Whatever. I'll see you guys after the show? I have to go prepare for the show."

"Sure thing. Break a leg!" Joey calls out, winking at the other guys as they head out to go find their seats.

'If only I could break your legs!' Justin thinks as he walks away, trying to convince himself that they weren't right at all.

Ten minutes before the show, Justin, finding that everything else is done, sits down, trying to calm his stomach. 'Imagine having nerves on the last night of this show. This is crazy. Justin, you know you can do this.'

He spots Rebecca across the stage in the other wing, prepping herself. 'Perhaps there could be something,' he catches himself thinking as he stares at the beauty that has been a pain and a pleasure to be around for the past few months.

Rebecca looks up and catches Justin staring back at her. 'If only things had been different,' she thinks, realizing that she had grown to care for him over the past few months. 'Although he can be pretty annoying, he really is a great guy.' She breaks their locked gazes as the orchestra starts playing and takes a deep breath trying to settle her nerves. 'Break a leg Becca,' she thinks as she heads out onto the stage.

Before either realizes, the final notes of the last song are played and Rebecca finds herself choking up after she finishes her last verse of singing.

Justin feels his co-star start trembling and looks over to see tears forming in her eyes that she tries to hold back. "Shh," he says, trying to comfort her, pulling Rebecca to his chest in a tight embrace. "I know it's the last show but things won't change."

"They will," she murmurs into his chest, calming herself down for their bows that were coming up in a minute. "Everything will change. So many months of happiness are now going out that window and into the dark abyss."

"No, it's not. Don't say that. You'll still see all those people you care about. You just won't see them everyday. Besides, you should be proud of how well you did this season! It was your first time in any principle role and you totally rocked it."

"Really?" she asks, looking up at him.

"Yes, you did. Since when did I lie to you?"

Rebecca laughs. "This is true. Up to this point, you've always been brutally honest with me, even when it bordered on cruel."

An unidentifiable look crosses his face, but it's gone before she could identify it. "Well I have to say I really am sorry for how cruel I've been to you. Granted, some of your words to me earned it, I shouldn't have cut so deep with you. I just wanted the best from you and well, all the other times you just were annoying."

Rebecca laughs. "Well the feeling is mutual."

Justin smiles, realizing that the war between them was finally called to an end with a truce. "I'm sure you'll keep in touch with Sara and David. You guys are so close I don't ever see you guys forgetting each other."

"True," she says.

"Rebecca, Justin, you're back on for bows in fifteen seconds!" the stagehand yells, startling both.

Justin lets her go and takes her hand in his. "Ready or not, here we go."

Rebecca puts on a smile that causes Justin to smile even bigger. The two head out as there is a deafening applause around them and take their bows together and then separately, and then together with the cast. As the crowd gets louder, flowers are tossed on stage, and the cast becomes rowdy on all the energy, Justin steps back behind the curtain line with Rebecca in hand, waiting until the curtain drops, to turn around and place the softest kiss he could on her. He pulls back to look at her.

"Was that okay?" he asks with caution, silently kicking himself for actually following his gut feeling.

Rebecca looks into his eyes and says, "No, it wasn't."

"Oh," he says, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"You should be," she returns.

Justin steps back, letting his arms fall down to his side only to have Rebecca step back into his embrace and push her lips to his in the most intense kiss he had ever experienced. This time, she pulls back and smiles up at him. "Was that okay?"

He chuckles. "That was more than okay. That was perfect."

Rebecca's smile grows even bigger. "Good, because that first real kiss just didn't satisfy me."

"Ouch," he says, laughing with her. "So maybe there could be a future for us after this show?"

"There just may be," she returns. "Who would have thought that mortal enemies would end up being so interested in each other after only a few months and sharing music from the heart?"

"Just goes to show you that you just never know what life has in store for you, now do you?"

"No, because I never did expect that my dream come true of being a principle on a show like this would include finding one of those rare guys I thought I only dreamt of."

"Ditto," he says, smiling down at her, using his right hand to brush back a piece of her hair behind her ear. Seeing the genuine care for him in her eyes that reflected his for her, Justin couldn't resist it any longer. He bends his head and slants his mouth over hers, deepening it and allowing all the emotions that have been hidden and suppressed until that moment to be expressed. Rebecca happily returns it, wrapping her hands around his neck, allowing for actions to take place of words.

Both pull away suddenly though as even louder applause is echoed throughout the theater, startling both but not breaking their embrace. Rebecca turns a slight red color as she realizes that the curtain had been raised one more time and their little intimate moment had been observed by all of the audience and cast. "Oh my God," she manages to whisper out.

Justin chuckles. "Don't worry about it Becca. From the sounds of it, they're all fans of this."

She buries her head in his shoulder making him laugh even louder.

"It's about time!" yells Joey from the audience, making Rebecca even laugh.

"Yeah! Took you guys only a few months," David's voice chimes in.

The curtain drops and Rebecca finally raises her head from his shoulder. "Wow that was embarrassing."

"Really? I couldn't have thought of a better ending for this show," he returns.

"Oh, is that so?" she asks. "You like having me embarrassed in front of hundreds of people huh?"

"Not necessarily. I like having you here in my arms though with no more pretenses to hide things."

"Mmm, I'd have to agree," Rebecca says, pulling away from another kiss to look at him. "Things really couldn't get any better."

Justin looks down at this girl of wonder in his arms and smiles. 'Yup, things are definitely looking a lot better now.' He leans down to kiss her again, ignoring all the catcalls from the cast members and only caring that Rebecca was finally in his arms. When he pulls back, he grins as he sees that blissful look on her face.

"Hey Becca, one thing. If we're going to get involved I have to ask something of you."

"What is it?"

"Promise me you'll never drive my car. I don't fancy having to go to court because my girlfriend ran some other poor guy down in the parking lot."

Rebecca is silent for a minute and then swats at him. "I can't believe you!" she exclaims with a laugh.

He chuckles in returns and kisses her one last time before breaking away. "After all, I don't exactly want you to meet another guy using the same method you used on me. Wouldn't be all that original."

Rebecca rolls her eyes. "Come on Justin, let's go. I think the rest of the cast is expecting us at the cast party soon."

"All right," he says.

"Oh and Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever find your friend or cell phone too interesting to look in front of you while you're walking on a street, don't fault the girl for almost running you over. It's not her fault that guys can't multitask and actually look out for any dangers coming their way while they are walking and talking."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes," she says, sticking her tongue at him before running away as he begins to chase her.

"That's it!" he yells, chasing her down the hall, avoiding all the people in the hall that served as obstacles. "You're going to get it!"

Eventually, they end up in her dressing room laughing together on her couch, and in each other's arms. "Justin?"

"Yes?" he asks.

"Is this really real?"

Justin chuckles. "Rebecca, this is as real as it is going to feel."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, why?"

"It just seems too perfect. A bit cliché if you ask me."

"Well, like I said, things in life happen for mysterious reasons. But I must say I am quite pleased with life for bringing us together and giving us enough time to really recognize that we truly do care a lot about each other."

"Me too," Rebecca murmurs into his neck. "Hold me?"

"Gladly," he says, wrapping his arms around her even tighter. Both stayed liked that for a while until they had to go to the cast party, savoring the feeling of finally listening to their hearts.