Ashley stood behind the curtains, frowning to herself.

The lead girl just messed up her lines, and couldn't recover from it. How grand.

If that were HER up there, she'd have recited each line perfectly. She knew all of the female's lines..

Stupid ditzy blonds always get the parts. It's idiotic.

Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Ash lifted her eyes from the lead girl to a boy across the stage from her.

Aidan.

Just the thought of him made her heart race.

He was perfect, in his own geeky way. He had amazing dark blue eyes that she could feel staring at her... No, not at her. Through her. To her very core. It both frightened and excited her.

His eyes were often obscured by his thick rimmed black glasses and shaggy black hair, but that made him all the more attractive. He had that... pale geeky god look to him. His skin was smooth alabaster, and it was gorgeous.

No one seemed to be interested in him, which caught Ash off-guard any time she remembered why she liked him so much.

Not only was he handsome, he had a great personality. He used large words to say simple things. He was respectful. He had a great sense of humor...

All in all, Ash thought he was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

She blushed when she realized she was staring at him again. She could see him smirk from across the stage, but he stepped back into the darker shadows and disappeared. She frowned in her disappointment and looked back to the lead girl.

Ash didn't feel him until he was right behind her. She jumped right out of her skin when he touched her elbow to turn her around. Instead of screaming, she hissed lightly, turning to look at whoever it was that startled her so. Her hiss halted as she stopped breathing.

There he was, the object of her affection and midnight dreams.

Aidan smiled down at her and pressed his forefinger to his lips. “Shh.”

“Well no duh,” she whispered softly, narrowing her eyes playfully, “No, I'm just gonna scream during the performance that we all worked on so hard...”

“Well, not everyone,” he responded quietly, having to be much quieter due to the rich deep sound that was constantly his voice. “You would have been better up on that stage, not her.”

She blushed at the compliment and ducked her head, “I guess... Yea, the blond bimbo didn't rehearse her lines very well. She's not an actress.”

“She has no talent.”

Ash looked at the lead girl, mouthing the words along with her, “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet!”

Aidan blinked in surprise, smirking as he whispered the lead male's lines into her ear, “Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?”

She jumped slightly, smiling as she became their own Juliet, “'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name Belonging to a man. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name; and for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself.”

Aidan didn't hesitate. He pulled her back into the darkest shadows and pinned her against the wall, his lips still at her ear, “I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo...”

She gasped softly, but continued her lines. She wouldn't want to disappoint the audience by halting her performance, “What man art thou, that, thus bescreened in night, so stumblest on my counsel?”

He smiled, kissing her neck softly before continuing. “By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself because it is an enemy to thee. Had I it written, I would tear the word...”

She shuddered as she ushered her words, “My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?”

He growled faintly, growing almost impatient with how slow their own play was going. “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.”

Ash's eyes slid closed as she murmured the continuing lines that never seemed to end. She was growing impatient herself... “How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here,” her voice sounded almost panicked, in a way. It was as if she were concerned that it really might happen to them.

“With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me!”

“If they do see thee, they will murder thee..”

“Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet, and I am proof against their enmity.”

“I would not for the world they saw thee here.”

“I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes; and but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate than death prorogued, wanting of thy love,” Aidan seemed to be getting into the play, which was perfectly fine by her.

Her eyes fluttered open as her favorite part of the play came up, “By whose direction found'st thou out this place?”

He smiled, and whispered two simple words against her neck, “By Love...”

Her eyes flew open wide when he nipped at her neck. She turned to butter in his strong hands as he kissed his way to her mouth. His lips brushed against hers softly at first, but picked up in passion as the audience on the other side of the stage howled.

It was the end of the second installment of their school's play, Romeo and Juliet, but it was the beginning of a beautiful and passionate relationship.