Nine days later it was finally time. Hamilton was opening on Broadway! Or well, the previews started. Denise was going to see it with Vanessa and Odessa, while Sebastian stayed at Lin's parents' home. Besides it being Hamilton's first preview, it was also Denise and Odessa's first date. That's why Denise was maybe even more excited.

"I can't believe I'm actually going to see Hamilton!" Odessa said excitedly. Denise laughed. She was wearing Pippa's blue dress again. "Why? It's just Lin and a bunch of friends messing around on stage!"

"Why?" Odessa exclaimed, "Maybe because it's the Lin-Manuel Miranda and 'a bunch of' very famous people performing Hamilton, the hottest show in New York! Hell, even the hottest show in America and maybe even the world!'

Denise laughed and kissed Odessa on the cheek: "You're adorable when you get so excited."

Odessa blushed: "Why- No- You're too adorable!"

Denise laughed even wider now: "Just when I thought you couldn't get any cuter..."

"Girls!" Vanessa called, "It's time to go!"

"I can't believe Hamilton is already opening," Lin said nervously, "I'm not ready."

"Of course you are," Tommy tried to calm him down, "You've written the thing! You've done this a million times before! And even if you make mistakes, it doesn't matter! It's just a preview!"

Lin nodded, not fully convinced.

"You'll be amazing!" Jonathan practically jumped on Lin's lap.

Lin smiled at his crazy friend: "I guess."

"No need to guess!" Groff yelled, "It's a fact!"

After the show ended, Denise and Vanessa stood up, but Odessa stayed in her seat, frozen. Her eyes were still focused on the stage.

"Odessa?" Denise asked worried, "Are you okay?"

Odessa shook her head: "That was... magical!"

Denise nodded: "Every trip to the theatre is. Do you want to go backstage now?"

Backstage, Odessa walked up to Lin: "Thank you."

Lin looked up, confused: "For what?"

"For everything. For the tickets. For the show itself." Odessa looked over her shoulder and smiled: "And for letting me date the most beautiful girl in the world. For letting me call her my girlfriend."

"Aw," Lin laughed, "Don't thank me! Thank Denise!"

"I will," Odessa said. She turned to Denise, and softly kissed her on the lips. "Thank you."

"You two should stop being so cute!" Renée yelled, "My old heart can't handle it!"

Everyone in the green room laughed, and Odessa pulled her arms around Denise. "Never!" she yelled dramatically.

"Was this the first Broadway show you saw, Odessa?" Arianna asked.

Odessa nodded.

"Wait, really?" Denise asked, "I would have thought a musical nerd like you would have seen more shows!"

Odessa shook her head: "We don't have the money for it."

"Well neither had I," Lin said, "That's why cast albums exist! Don't let a stupid thing like money come in the way of your dreams!"

Odessa smiled shortly: "Thank you."

"Well, that makes a lot of firsts!" Pippa pointed out, "Hamilton's first preview, Denise and Odessa's first date, and now also Odessa's first Broadway show!"

"And Thayne's first cookie!" Thayne yelled.

"Thayne..." Tommy said, "You've had at least a million cookies before."

"Yeah!" Thayne said, "But not this cookie!"

Everyone laughed, and Denise facepalmed: "Why do I call these people my friends again?"

"Because you love them," Odessa answered, hugging Denise from behind.

"Not as much as I love you though."

"Wait wait wait-" Lin interrupted them, "Denise. I'm perfectly fine with you having a girlfriend. Truly. No problem. But she cannot take my place as the person you love most!"

"But Lin," Denise answered calmly, "You've never been the person I love most anyway."

Everyone burst out in laughter, except Lin. Daveed high-fived Denise: "That was the sickest burn I ever heard!"

"No but seriously," Lin said, "if it's not me, who is the person you love most?"

Denise looked over her shoulder, and said: "Sorry Dessa, but I've got to say my father."

Lin looked down. "I understand. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Denise burst out crying, and ran away.

"Denise!" Odessa called after her.

Ten minutes later, Lin found Denise in his dressing room.

"Honey?" he asked, "I'm sorry, can I come in?"

Denise was sitting on his bed, hugging her knees. Her face was wet from the tears. She nodded, and made some room for him. Lin sat down beside her, and they sat in silence for a while. It was a comfortable silence. Lin knew that by talking he would only make Denise more upset. She just needed his presence. Eventually, Denise broke the silence: "He was an amazing person. He worked ten times harder than the average dancer, and you can tell, a dancer works hard. He was so desperate to prove himself. An immigrant abandoned by his parents, he wanted to show that he was worth more than that. Just like Hamilton. I was more like Burr, sit down and wait for the right opportunity. Not he. He was always fighting to prove his parents wrong. He used to take me to rehearsal each day. He taught me to dance. He brought me to all my endless auditions and supported me each time. He used to sit me down beside him, and he'd say: 'You look different than the people want you to look. So you have to prove that you're better than the others. Work hard, that's how you reach your dreams.' My mother was just as hard-working. She didn't share his passion for the arts, but she worked her but off to get him and me the money we needed to live and fulfil our dreams. She wanted to be a politician, but she couldn't get in college. Yet, she kept trying and trying. They loved each other so much. And they loved me. I never thought someone would love me again... All this time, I've never mourned them properly. Up until today, I hadn't let a single tear for their deaths. I tried to push away the pain, refused to think about it. I even made rules about it, and hit myself if I didn't keep to those rules. Yet, I carried a picture of them and a picture of my Sound Of Music siblings from foster home to foster home. Those pictures are still at the top shelf of my closet."

Lin had tears in his eyes: "I'm so sorry... I didn't realise... You hit yourself?!"

Denise nodded, and curled up to Lin: "I'm so sorry."

Lin hugged her, and said: "Don't be sorry. No one ever gave you the right help to deal with a loss this big, and you were just a little girl. How were you supposed to know what to do?"

"I got help from a psychiatrist at first," Denise said, "but he was an asshole so that didn't really help."

Lin laughed: "Well, a good first step would be to get those photos down that shelf and give them the honorary place they deserve. What do you think?"

"Perfect," Denise laughed.

"Well, maybe we should get back," Lin pointed out, "A very worried wife and girlfriend are waiting for us."

"And, Lin?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me cry."