AN: This is my first time writing Smash, so the characters might be a bit OOC.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my ideas.

"Take ten minutes guys" called Tom as he turned around to talk with Julia.

Slightly out of breath Karen made her way over the side of the room where her bag was. She took out her water bottle and took a drink, instantly feeling a bit relieved. They had been working so much harder ever since the workshop, they were all working as hard as possible so that If it did make it to Broadway (Though no one had any doubts that it would) it would be phenomenal. Though all this extra work meant she would have less time to spend with her family and boyfriend she knew it would all be worth it in the end. It was finally her chance to do what she had been dreaming of her whole life, sure she wasn't the star of the show but it was still the most amazing opportunity she had ever had. Ever since she was younger she had dreamed of actually performing on Broadway, and now that dream was coming true. It was all how she had expected, she always knew it would be hard work and it was, but even the fulfilment she had always had when singing or dancing was still there, except expanded. For once she knew she was truly good enough, even if she hadn't landed the lead she was good enough to make it on Broadway,

Karen sat down on a bench against the wall and gazed around the room. What caught her eye was Ivy the star of the show and Derek their tyrant of a director in a corner of the room, they were fighting yet again, it seemed it was all they ever did nowadays. After they had stopped whatever shred of a relationship they had once had Ivy had been very hostile towards him. This time the fight was something about Ivy not showing enough emotion when she sang. Karen knew it was just another excuse for the two of them to argue, Ivy was amazing, even she couldn't say anything against her. Derek and Ivy fighting was a regular thing, they would be angry with one another for a short while (Though Derek was normally like that with everyone), and then one of them would snap, usually Ivy.

She watched as Ivy stormed away from Derek and over to her friend Sam, who was one of her closest friends and could always comfort her. She looked back over at Derek who didn't seem to be showing much emotion at all, though Karen could tell that he was still pissed off, most likely because he though Ivy wasn't taking all of this in a professional matter, because that's all everything ever was with him, just professional.

Suddenly a voice came from right beside her, making her jump slightly in fright, as she normally did when she was snuck up on.

"Spying are we." Jessica who was now sitting on the bench beside her said, she had a trace of a smirk on her face.

"What, no, I was just..." Karen started, but she didn't exactly have a cover up. It was true she had sort of been spying, well, who couldn't when they were that loud all the time. It was sort of hard to ignore them.

"Save it Iowa, we all do it, its human nature to want to know what's going on in others live. Though my advice would be to try and be a bit more discrete next time." Jessica laughed. "So tell me, did you see anything interesting. I've been gossip deprived for at least a week; it's been much too long." Jessica couldn't live without good gossip; she always had to know what was going on with others lives.

Bobby, who had been listening in came up and sat crossed legged on the ground in front of them. When he saw the girl's questioning looks he said "What, you didn't think you were going to get away with gossiping without me did you." Bobby was the same; if anything was going on he had to be in the center of it.

Karen sighed "I really didn't see or hear anything, just the same old thing. Ivy and Derek were arguing and then she stormed off, nothing new." She thought about what she had said for a moment, really it was true, there wasn't anything else she had seen.

"Hmm, yes but it could all mean something." Bobby said looking over at Ivy who was talking to by Sam; she had a look of longing on her face "You know I've got a feeling that she still has feelings for him, though I don't really understand how she could." For some reason Karen did understand, well, Derek was very attractive, and at times he did have a heart, he could be quite the catch if he let someone get to know him. Karen mentally slapped herself for thinking these things; Derek was a womanizing, power hungry tyrant. Not to mention the fact that she was with Dev.

Jessica's eyes lit up "You could be right, I mean it was him that broke things off, I heard Ivy telling another cast member about it the other day."

Karen frowned and looked over at Derek curiously; she had always thought it had been Ivy that had ended things. Since when did Derek Wills break off casual sex? "Why would he break it off though, we all know it wasn't a real relationship and that it was just sex."

"Who knows, maybe he's in love with someone." Bobby said jokingly.

Jessica scoffed, "Him in love, no way, though you may be somewhat right. There's always a possibility that he has slight feelings for someone else, or at least there could be someone he has his eye on." She smirked.

"It's quite possible." Bobby said quite mischievously. The two of them had matching smirks played across their faces.

Karen noticed this and raised her eyebrows "Don't tell me you're planning something." It wasn't unlike the two of them; they were always budding in on other people's personal lives, and whatever they were thinking this time didn't look good.

Jessica smirked again "Oh no, nothing at all." She locked eyes with Bobby "Well, maybe just a little snooping wouldn't hurt." That was it, they definitely had something up their sleeves. Though Karen couldn't tell what it was she had a bad feeling she would find out soon enough.

"Well you can count me out of all of it; I don't want to get caught up in his personal life." Karen said. It was true; in fact she didn't necessarily want anything to do with him. Sure it did interest her why he had ended things, but not enough to pry into his life. Even he deserved privacy, if he did want someone else it was none of her business.

Before they had time to protest Derek yelled out "Alright breaks over. 'Let's be bad' from the top everyone." He was clearly in a bad mood, and by that I mean a worse mood than he normally is. Karen sighed and put down her water bottle, she had a feeling that this was going to be a long day.

Every hurried up to their places, not want to add to his temper. They ran through the number three times before moving on to the next number, which was the 20th century fox trot, a number that the group was particularly good at, they knew all the steps and had the vocals harmonized perfectly. Yet for some reason Derek still made them run through it many times, much more than usual, it wasn't like him to overwork them this much. It wasn't until eight thirty that they had finally finished rehearsing, everyone packed up quickly, all wanting to get home or at least get out of the studio as soon as possible .

Karen was one of the last ones in the studio; she had just finished packing up her things when Derek approached her, he had seemed to calm down a bit since the break.

"Great job today, you're really picking up on the new numbers." He grabbed a plastic chair that was folded up against the wall and opened it, spinning it around so that when he sat in it he was facing Karen.

Karen looked at him confused; it wasn't like him to compliment anyone, especially her, well that wasn't exactly true, he had always taken a liking to her but him complimenting people was still a rare occurrence. "Thanks," she said, almost stuttering as she spoke. She was almost certain she saw a trace of a smile on Derek's face at her reaction.

"Don't act so surprised, I'm not that cold-hearted that I can't even compliment someone." He seemed truthful enough as he said this, and Karen knew it was true, really everyone did, it was just hard to remember that when he was consistently yelling at everyone.

"Sorry," Karen said "I guess I'm just not used to it." She met his eyes for a few short seconds before she was pulled back into reality. Dev was probably going to be mad at her for rehearsing so late, as he usually was. "I should go; Dev wouldn't want me to stay this late." She then realized how that must have sounded, now Derek must think that Dev was some "Do what I say or else" kind of boyfriend that didn't let her do anything with his okay. Really he wasn't like that; she knew he just got a bit frustrated when she spent so much of her time at rehearsals when he never got to see her anymore.

But Derek didn't seem to take it that way; he could obviously tell what she had meant. "Ah yes him, Goodnight then and good luck." Derek said simply.

"Thanks, goodnight." She said as she got up and started to leave. When she got to the door she glanced back and saw that Derek had not yet moved. He was still sitting there watching her leave. She continued to leave the room, bringing her thoughts back to Dev.

~o~

It was quarter after nine when Karen got back to her apartment, she sighed as she turned the key inside the lock of her door, not knowing what was going to be awaiting her. As she had earlier suspected Dev was not happy. When she walked in she saw him sitting on the couch, a distant mad expression on his face. For a second she thought he hadn't noticed her coming in so she started to put her stuff inside the closet near the door where she kept her rehearsal bag.

As she was closing the closet door Dev called out "Your late, I thought you were going to be home by seven tonight." The tone of his voice was a mixture of emotions, at first it just sounded empty, but Karen could hear the resentment and a trace of sadness in what he said.

Karen walked over to the couch he was sitting on nervously; she could tell he was angry with her. "Rehearsal ran late." She said timidly, she knew he was not going to like hearing that.

Dev stood up quickly, he was now standing right in front of her, "You say that every time, three times this week in fact." He was almost yelling now "At first it was ok; I mean it was a rare occurrence, but now it's almost every night. How do you expect us to have a relationship if we never see each other?"

Karen felt as if she wanted to cry "It's not my fault, Derek wanted us to run..." She shouldn't have brought up Derek; this was just going to make things worse.

"Again with Derek, Doesn't he understand that people can't spend all of their time rehearsing, don't you understand that?"

"He just wants the show to be amazing, we all do." Karen defended.

"So your defending him, I thought you hated the man, you used to complain about him constantly. What do you care about more, me or your stupid musical" Dev yelled. He didn't mean it though; Dev often said things like this without thinking.

Karen cringed; he had never been like this before. Sure they have had many fights but none like this. A tear rolled down her face "Please Dev, I'm tired, and I don't want to fight."

"No I want you to answer right now." He was still yelling.

Karen finally cracked, she couldn't answer that question. She wouldn't. "I CAN'T!" She yelled before running into their bedroom and slamming the door.

She leaned against the door and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. She put her head in her hands and started to cry. Why couldn't she answer the question, she should be able to. If she truly loved Dev it would be him, right? But what if she didn't love him, what if she did love acting more than him. Maybe he wasn't right for her.

A few minutes later she heard Dev's voice calling through the door "Karen, Karen I'm sorry" his voice was different now; he had calmed down and seen what he had done "I didn't mean anything, I love you." Karen stood up slowly and opened the door, not saying anything. As soon as it was open Dev pulled her into a hug, and kissed her on the forehead. Karen felt as if this was just one big mask to get her to trust him again, and she knew that the issue was far from being resided.

AN: Ok I know Dev is really OOC, but I just always saw him differently than most. While watching the show I keep waiting for him to snap and for him and Karen to break up. Also in this Derek might be a bit nicer, I always thought that somewhere deep down he was different, and that all he really wants is to have the show be a success, and believes it can be something amazing, which is why he pushes his cast so much. Also he just likes having power and acting the way he does.