#((and i agree; alw may not be my favorite person either; but i appreciate him trying to keep 'phantom' on broadway))

[theheadlessgroom]

https://www.tumblr.com/beatingheart-bride/716100665025445888/theheadlessgroom-beatingheart-bride

@beatingheart-bride

“Oh...”

The look on her face said it all, and Randall found himself faltering in response: A part of him was afraid that that would be her answer, and her expression only confirmed it. She was ultimately alone in the world-no family, no friends, no one. 

In a way, he could relate: Outside of his parents, he didn’t have any friends...the one he’d had as a boy he’d lost contact with when his parents sent him away to boarding school, and it wasn’t like he was all that chummy with his coworkers, who tended to ignore him and keep to themselves, and his boss was no better. He didn’t have any friends outside of work either; his life just consisted of getting up, going to work, and going home. Again, he was fortunate to have his parents in his life, and was grateful for them, but even so...

Swallowing hard, Randall still managed to put a smile on for her (understanding how she felt, in a way, and wanting to remedy that feeling for the both of them; in a way, he supposed, they already were, given the time they’d been spending together, however brief, and he was grateful for it), suggesting in a hopeful tone, “Maybe...we could be friends? You and I?” 

He gestured between the two of them to underscore this, before adding, his tone as gentle as his gaze as he said, hoping she would understand and accept, “I...I would like to be your friend, Emily.”