I blame the matching outfits. But luckily Reid returns, and we all stand so he can squeeze by, ending the conversation with Glam Necklace. Reid’s arm brushes against mine when he takes his seat. He doesn’t shift, just stays like that, like it’s normal for our arms to touch. I don’t pull away. If I do, that’ll mean I think this is a thing. It is not a thing.

Glam Necklace is making me overthink everything.

Reid holds the M&Ms out to me as the lights dim. I shake my head because Glam Necklace is throwing some major side-eye in my peripheral vision. Reid dumps the contents of the M&M’s box into his palm, so his arm is no longer pressed against mine and I can relax again.

Except The Lion King is based on a goddamn tragedy!

Reid repeatedly tears up during act two. So do I. It’s ridiculous. I have seen this movie countless times! (The animated version, of course. In my house, we pretend the live action one doesn’t exist.) And Hamlet is one of the most heavily adapted Shakespeare plays of all time. Both the movie and the musical require suspension of disbelief, but in the theater the stakes somehow feel higher. The moment when Simba reunites with Mufasa’s spirit just hits different onstage.

It reminds me of the power in live theater that I love so much. Why I love Melted so much.

The show ends with a standing ovation and we both leap to our feet.

This might’ve been the best birthday present ever.

Reid is, like, full-out cheeky smiling as we exit the theater and walk around the corner to Thinking Cup, home of the best hot chocolate in the city. It’s Reid’s idea—our train is in an hour and the November air has fully transitioned from fall to winter.

I sip on my hot chocolate while we babble on about the show.

“What was your favorite part?” Reid asks.

I wrap my hands around the paper cup. The heat warms my freezing fingers. “Everything?”

Reid laughs. “That’s a nonanswer.”

“Okay. Well, the overture made me cry.”

“It’s a great overture.” Reid smiles. “The narrative changes, the choices in direction, they’re all so good! Like the scene when Timon almost drowns? How scared Simba is in this moment. It’s so powerful. I’m also such a sucker for ‘Hakuna Matata’—the transition from young Simba to adult Simba? I love that.”

“Totally.” I smile back.

Reid’s sip of hot chocolate leaves foam above his lip. “You know, I’ve been so focused on the music. But it’s more than the music—it’s performances, costumes, the set. The direction. We need to think about everything that comes next while we’re writing.”