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cobaltperun · 10 months ago

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Eternal Flame (3) - Scream

Jenna Ortega x Female Reader

Summary: For her it’s a passion, for you it’s an accident. And as she continues shining brighter and brighter with each role you are left mesmerized, drawn to her flame and cherishing every time she lets herself be vulnerable with you.

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Word count: 11.4k

-Scream! When the fire burns me, when it's hard to break free-

The second day of filming the hospital scene began, the most physically demanding scene of the movie, and while you went over the different fight choreographies you still weren’t set on what exactly you all wanted to accomplish. Since you’d be filming taking Jenna to the elevator and the entire aftermath of the emotional scene later Melissa and David, as well as Jenna and the stunt doubles for Ghostfaces were there as well.

“You sure you don’t need a stunt double for these?” David asked you as you took a stretched a bit to warm up. You could see some concern on Jenna and Melissa’s faces and you gave them both a quick grin.

You nodded, dropping down to stretch your legs. “These are fun for me, and we’ve got wires for more dangerous stunts,” everything else was basically a simulated fight scene. When you thought about it, Logan was a lot more demanding, you had to slide, and jump, and be agile, as well as act feral. This was controlled, trained, precise, pretty much safe.

“We can always find a double, or tone it down if you’re not sure about something,” Matt assured you, making you nod again.

“Appreciate it,” you grinned and high-fived the Ghostfaces. “Let’s do this,” you got in the position with one of the stuntmen, you couldn’t really figure out which one was which now that they were masked.

“Take 1, action!”

You pushed the Ghostface into the wall, quickly going in with faking a couple of punches meant to take advantage of Amber being caught off guard and having air knocked out of her lungs. Your character was supposed to be angry, seeking revenge for what was done to Tara, so your hits were supposed to be brutal. You caught the stunt double’s wrist as he faked trying to stab you and pushed his arm up, before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down. You lifted your knee, making it look like you just kneed him in the guts.

You had to give it to the stunt doubles, they sure knew how to do their job. He made it easy for you to fake lifting him up and slamming him onto the floor, while at the same time avoiding actually getting hurt. The second stunt double joined in, jumping in from the shadowy corner and lunging forward, as Richie was meant to save Amber from C/N and try to stab her. You whipped your head toward the man and gritted your teeth in frustration. You were down on one knee, the position wasn’t the best for it, but you jumped to your feet, skidding back and quickly regaining your footing as you bounced back to put some distance between the two of them and you.

“Cowards,” you spat. “Which one of you was it? The one who hurt Tara?” you demanded, furious as they both got up and wiped their knives, even if your character was yet to be cut. Ghostfaces were supposed to remain silent, going for the intimidation tactic. “No, it doesn’t matter, you’re both going to pay anyway,” damn, that line was corny, but you still delivered it with utmost seriousness.

They rushed you, and the scene turned into the coordinated chaos, with you, at one point, kneeing one Ghostface, making him bend forward, only to jump over him and kick the other one into the wall. Impressive that you could do it, but entirely unnecessary and dangerous.

More importantly it made your character look too strong, too untouchable by not just one, but two Ghostfaces.

“Cut!” Matt yelled once the scene was over and the three of you stopped and took a moment to catch your breaths.

“Are you both okay?” you asked, seeing as they did have to take some pain. Sure, each hit was faked, barely even touching the costumes, but being pushed against the wall or falling to the floor still could have hurt them.

Both of them nodded before all three of you went back to the directors and the rest of the cast.

“Maybe tone it down?” Tyler considered and you genuinely agreed.

As he and Matt went over the footage you went to your chair next to Jenna. “We probably should tone it down,” you said mostly to your co-stars and grinned when Jenna patted you on the shoulder.

“You were amazing,” she lightly squeezed your shoulder.

“Jenna here couldn’t take her eyes off you,” Melissa just had to tease the younger actress.

And Jenna? She predictably got shy and averted her eyes, instead choosing to focus on the bandages put around her hand due to Tara’s injury.

“It is a cool fight scene, a bit over the top, but cool,” you came to her rescue, though you really were completely sure that was why Jenna got so invested. She loved movies, she loved all of this, the filming, the choreographies, the process of creating each and every scene and you weren’t sure how many fight scenes like this one she got to watch being filmed before.

Matt and Tyler came over. “Okay, we’re toning it down, making it more grounded and less flashy,” Tyler explained and brought the fight coordinators along. So, you all ended up coming up with a subtler, more realistic fight. With your character ducking instead of jumping around, with light nudges to redirect the hits instead of over-the-top movement and a quick fight scene, instead of drawing it out. It would save time for more character building moments and plot, so that worked as well.

“One more thing, the part after Amber runs out of bullets and C/N breaks her mask, do you think we can pull off a big finale? Like C/N jumping and grabbing the neck, pulling both of them to the floor and slamming the mask against the floor to crack it?” Matt asked, mostly the stunt coordinator.

“Not that flashy,” she moved to where that part of the scene was supposed to play out. “Jenna would be lying here, her wheelchair would be over here,” she pointed at each spot. “We don’t have the spot for Y/N to land without landing on Jenna or the wheelchair,” she turned to you. “Think you can crack the mask with a punch and make it look like a big ending of the fight?”

You thought it over for a few moments. “A haymaker will do the job,” you spoke confidently, but honestly, you weren’t entirely sure. You sure as hell could give it a try though.

Matt nodded. “We’ll use a mannequin for both the practice and the filming, give it a good punch Y/N,” he instructed, and you hopped to your feet as they got the mannequin ready. You went over the instructions one last time and got in the position on the floor, right after your character managed to push Richie off her back.

“Ready?” Matt asked and you nodded.

“Ready,” you ran forward, building up the momentum, and pulling your fist back. It might actually hurt to do this, it might actually leave a bruise, or a cut on your knuckles, but you were ready for that. You didn’t slow down, fully embracing the turmoil and adrenaline your character would be feeling and slammed a haymaker into the mask. A loud crack resounded through the hospital floor and you stumbled forward, your left foot skidding with a loud screech across the floor as you tried to stop yourself and continue with the scene, since you would need to immediately go to Jenna and pick her up. The mannequin fell onto the floor, bouncing once from the force of the impact, mask cracked, but not broken, and you grinned, satisfied with the results.

~X~

By the time you were done with the action scenes you were actually fairly tired, seeing as you had to go from simulating a fighting scene to carrying Jenna around, which wasn’t difficult, but your arms were starting to ache as you finally lowered her down in front of the hospital.

“Good job everyone! We’re wrapping up for today!” and you were, you and Jenna did lots of scenes today, as did Melissa and David. David even had his death scene so he would soon be leaving the set. You were going to miss him, he was always pleasant to hang out with, but that was the nature of this, actors would come and go according to how big their role was.

For example, the one actress that was going to join the cast for a very brief period, playing Susan, was none other than Emma Thompson. You raised an eyebrow when you read that, not really able to remember her ever doing a horror. Granted, Susan was about as removed from the horror elements as she could be in this movie. Regardless, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t looking forward to working with the British actress.

Jenna looked worried and you just realized you could feel the stinging sensation in your hand, you looked down and, frankly, you saw it coming, noticed there was a small bruise on your knuckle. “Hey, it’ll be fine, just need to ice it for a bit,” you winked, assuring her.

“Come on, I’ll help you,” you could hear the determination in her tone as she took your left hand and pulled you along, back to the hotel and her room.

~X~

Jenna trusted Matt and Tyler, trusted their vision for the movie, but she didn’t expect the fight scene, barely described in the script, to turn into what she saw earlier. She caught herself watching it closely, impressed by it all, it looked like a dangerous dance where one step out of line could have gotten someone hurt.

And you got hurt.

Not in the staged fight scene, but hitting the mannequin several times to get the desired outcome.

You were sitting in front of Jenna at her table, your knees touching as Jenna held an icepack on your knuckle. “You looked like you were having fun,” Jenna pointed out, choosing to look at your face instead of the bruise. While you were filming you had that serious, angry look in your eyes, flawlessly portraying the rage your character was meant to feel, but the moment the filming stopped you just snapped back to how you usually were, sweet, friendly, happy to be doing this, and it was clear you had fun filming today.

Even if Jenna was on the edge of her seat whenever you did a more demanding stunt. Even if she herself gave heart attacks to stunt coordinators. She understood why you loved doing it, she loved doing her stunts as well, but you sure could move. More importantly, she found herself drawn more and more to you, to the way you treated everyone, and the way you constantly made sure both of the stuntmen were fine after each take.

She watched you glancing to the side, lightly scratching your cheek. You were embarrassed, even a bit nervous. “It’s a safe release, I guess. Training, martial arts, action scenes,” you confessed something Jenna could have guessed, but seeing how nervous you were to say it made her appreciate it even more. Knowing you were comfortable enough to be open with her made her smile.

“Maybe try not to get bruises next time,” she teased, light-hearted, clearly joking, and you laughed, seeing the teasing for what it was, and accepting it completely.

“And miss out on you treating me? I’m not that dumb,” you teased right back, and Jenna rolled her eyes.

Even if the slight blush on her face annoyed her a lot more than she dared to admit. She put the icepack away and instead just placed her hand on top of your own. She looked at you, expecting you to either say something or pull your hand back, but you just grinned as she tried not to smile. “You’re just,” she huffed, smiling despite trying her best not to show how quickly all her defenses came down when it came to you.

“I’m just?” you asked, leaning in slightly as if she was about to tell you a secret.

“I’m not saying,” she shrugged, completely certain that she wouldn’t say it, wouldn’t give into your questioning.

You frowned, as if offended by her rejection and then just leaned back. Though you didn’t move your hand even the slightest bit. “Fine, I don’t want to know anyway,” the nonchalant tone of your voice actually annoyed her.

“Wha- oh come on, at least try harder,” she knew she was pouting like a child, playing a game with you, not taking this seriously, instead just having fun and acting more her age than she usually did.

You just grinned, that same cheeky grin she caught you having when you were having fun and for a moment, just for one moment, she slipped her fingers between yours, interlocking them for a brief moment before pulling away, ignoring how her heart hammered in her chest.

~X~

You could feel the frustration on set as all four of you left your positions once more. The two stuntmen once more wearing Ghostface costumes and you and Jenna, meant to wrap up the hospital scene with the emotional part of it all.

And you couldn’t get it right.

Either one of the Ghostface lines would get messed up, or someone would miss a cue. Then Jenna’s voice broke once, and you just couldn’t get into your character. So, you ended up taking a fifteen-minute break to hopefully get it right next time. You could see Jenna close to you, picking at the string of her hospital gown, clearly in her head, focusing entirely on the scene you were yet to get right while listening to music.

You let her, trusting her to get through whatever was blocking her on her own. And it wasn’t that there was one of you constantly failing, it just felt like there was always one thing missing, one moment to make everything else fit together and push the scene as high as it could possibly go.

You noticed your phone buzzing in your jacket hanging over your chair and pulled it out. You got a message and since you were on a break you figured you might as well read it now.

17:21 On-screen Dad: How are you doing?

You smiled and typed a quick reply, assuring Hugh you were fine and asking how he and his family were doing. More importantly, the message brought you back to filming Logan and you remembered watching Hugh act, going from broken, dying Logan back to himself in an instant. He looked the same physically, but the way he carried himself completely switched the feel of it. You learnt so much from him during those months, and you would use that now as well. You didn’t get the feel of ferocious anger from C/N, and the scene demanded it, but you were more than familiar with playing ferocious anger.

“Okay, break is over, let’s try again,” Tyler announced.

You caught Jenna glancing at you and you gave her a thumbs up and a grin, sure that this time you’d be closer to acting out the scene that would work.

You didn’t slip into C/N, you slipped into Laura, and then it just clicked as the scene began playing out.

“Fuck you,” Jenna gritted out when Ghostface was meant to taunt Tara that C/N didn’t protect her and you felt the prop knife touching the left side of your back, prompting you to gasp for breath but not scream. You widened your eyes, acting like you were in shock and pain.

The focus was on Jenna as she expertly delivered the pain, the despair Tara felt as Ghostface told her she would need to shoot your character.

When the gun was pointed at you and Jenna whimpered you followed the directors’ cue and gasped, and while the camera focused on Jenna you quickly tossed the shirt you had on aside in favor of the more damaged one. You all wanted to do this in one take, so this was the solution.

"I'll do anything else, whatever you ask, just please not this!" you were amazed at how hoarse Jenna could make her voice. Not to mention all the emotional range she was showing right now, and it was bringing more out of you as well. "Please, anything but this!"

The scene went on, uninterrupted, you felt like you had it, like this was the take you needed. "I don't know what you are screaming about, Tara. You got what you wanted right? You didn't kill Y/N," the words and the prop knife messing around Jenna’s bandaged hand were your signal.

Channeling Laura, as well as letting Jenna’s shouts pull something out of you worked. “Stop that!” you raged, akin to a wild wounded beast, so intense it almost frightened even you and nearly made Jenna herself break the character. It wasn’t meant to sound that raw, but the scene continued.

She recovered, as great as she was, acting like she was having an asthma attack, and you could see she researched it for days until she could get all the symptoms right.

“Tara!” and carried by the intensity of the previous scream you yelled, desperation clear in your voice. It was a harrowing cry, of someone fearing the loss of their loved one, of the only person they had in the world. "You won! I can't fight back! Just let her go!"

And then, when it came the time to top even that, to escalate it even further, to have Jenna show Tara’s dedication to your character despite the asthma, she delivered. Jenna pleaded, her voice sounding like she was choking, drowning, unable to draw breath, yet just as desperate as you were. For a moment you even believed she was having an asthma attack, that was how good she was. The scene felt easy after that as you skipped the action part of the scene and picked Jenna up, while faking that it was difficult and stepped back into the hospital room.

“Cut!” Tyler yelled and you dropped down onto the floor, emotionally drained from all the takes. Luckily you really did everything out of order, so the following part of the scene between you and Jenna was already filmed. It was over, you were done with what was likely the most difficult scene of the movie. “Great job! Jenna, Y/N, that was incredible. We’ll continue tomorrow, you both deserve to rest,” he said, before congratulating the rest of the crew present on the long day of work.

“Y/N?!” Jenna jumped to her feet the moment she noticed you were slumped on the floor, and you just gave her a thumbs up. You just had to take a moment to breathe, sure Logan was intense at times, but you were a kid, and it was a lot different filming the emotional scenes in Logan than it was here.

“I’m okay, that was just intense,” you gave her a slightly tired, but still reassuring smile and she relaxed, sitting back down on the bed, the exhaustion now present in her eyes as well. “And you’ve been doing intense scenes for years, damn, you’re amazing,” you thought about the scene she had in You, and from what you knew her upcoming movie was filled with scenes like that. Frankly, you admired her talent. You got up and sat down next to her, before falling back onto the bed.

“I’m anything but amazing,” she dared to say and you abruptly sat up, in fact you sat up so quickly she turned and looked at you, her eyes wide as you watched her intensely.

“You are, and I’ll keep saying that until I get it into your head,” you promised, the tips of your fingers touching hers.

Jenna opened her mouth and then closed it, before finally regaining her composure. “Thanks, Y/N,” she muttered. “You’ll sleep really well tonight, you’ll see. Scenes like this are draining,” she promised, and you nodded, trusting her entirely.

~X~

Jenna was right, you just barely managed to get ready for bed. Hell, you were surprised you didn’t fall asleep on your feet. Your phone buzzed as you crawled under the covers and you nearly ignored it, but for some reason you reluctantly took it and saw it was a message on Instagram from Jenna.

23:46 Jenna Ortega: Hey, are you asleep?

23:46 Y/N L/N: Barely hanging on

23:47 Jenna Ortega: Oh, sorry, sleep well, Y/N.

That woke you up and you pressed the call button. It rang a few times and then she picked up. “Please go to sleep,” she opened with that and despite still being a bit sleepy you chuckled.

“Tell me what’s up?” you asked, sitting up so you wouldn’t fall asleep in the middle of the call.

“I just wanted to wish you good night,” for an actress she sucked at lying, and you just grinned.

“Jen, tell me what’s really going on?” you asked as you got comfortable.

She remained silent for a bit, before sighing. “I, I think I’m suffering from insomnia, I can’t fall asleep and I wasn’t sure who else to call. I don’t want to worry my family, and I just, I don’t know, I,” she huffed, frustrated, and you just gave her time, letting her sort her thoughts out. “We filmed so many scenes together, and I know you are tired, but I just impulsively sent that message. I was hoping you were already asleep,” she told you.

You nodded, too late realizing she couldn’t see you. “Do you want to talk? Maybe you’ll have easier time falling asleep like that?” you suggested, not really sure what would help with insomnia. You’d have to search that up tomorrow.

“You don’t mind?” she asked, prompting you to reassure her and tell her you definitely didn’t mind. “Tell me a bit about yourself? Something I don’t know? Like how did you get into cooking and martial arts? Or the role you did before C/N?” so she was curious about those things.

“Hm, let’s see. I spent a lot of my time at my neighbor’s house, playing with the siblings living there. Their mother was a great cook and would always make us snacks, either pastries or cookies, or cake, I never saw some of those recipes in my life. Well, it was natural, they emigrated from the Balkans decades ago, when she was a child if I remember correctly,” you began the tale of your childhood. Those were happy times. You’d hang out with them, your parents spent time with their parents, and somewhere along the way Barbara came into the picture as well. It was just the four of you, making your own little friend group.

Jenna hummed, sounding a lot more interested than sleepy.

“I fell in love with the recipes, and she was willing to teach me. So, when I wasn’t playing with her children I’d learn how to cook from her, starting with easier things and gradually moving onto the various cakes and pastries. It was freeing, I needed to focus, I needed to be precise, to keep practicing so I could improve, and I guess I needed that at that age,” you were a bit of a hyperactive kid, never really latching on to something long enough to get really good at it, but you were drawn to cooking. It was fun, making something and being able to eat it, or share it.

“You got really good at it, I still haven’t seen you being lazy about it either,” Jenna pointed out, causing you to laugh.

“Oh, trust me, I had plenty of days where I went for low-effort meals,” and you did it kinda regularly. In fact, you were surprised it hasn’t happened since you came here to film Scream. No matter how tired you were if you chose to cook you didn’t settle for a quick meal.

“Yeah? Could it have something to do with your co-star that would never, ever, steal something off your plate?” Jenna laughed, and your silence only made her laugh harder.

“Never, yes, that co-star would never, ever do that,” you replied dryly and heard her slapping her pillow as she tried to muffle her laughter. You couldn’t help but crack a smile at that, even if it really wasn’t helping with her insomnia. Unless it was relaxing her, and that helped, in which case you were glad you could get her to laugh, but again, you had no idea how to deal with someone’s insomnia.

Jenna’s been eating most of her meals with you, and while you always made a plate for her, she’d sometimes just go and trade something from her plate for the very same thing on your plate before you even started eating.

“Okay, okay, what about martial arts?” she asked as she calmed down.

“It was fun, and I was active as a child. It was pretty much the only thing that consistently kept me interested, well somewhat. I could never focus on just one, so I ended up going with mixed martial arts, you know, jack of all trades master of none type of deal. Feel like that kinda fits me,” you had to train and prepare for Logan, and then you just continued, and it was probably one of the better decisions you made. With time you became good enough to work at a local gym in Denver, so, maybe master of none wasn’t exactly right, but it took a lot of time to get to that point.

“You know how they continue that saying. Though oftentimes better than master of one. You look like you really know what you’re doing,” Jenna, as she usually did, found any excuse to compliment people around her, you included. That’s just how she was, wanting to brighten people’s days, make them feel good, while still being completely honest about her compliments.

“Thanks, Jen,” you could tell she was slowly getting sleepy and considered just talking about nothing in particular until she fell asleep, but she had other ideas.

“What about your previous role?” she asked and you hummed.

You feared saying you were in Logan would stir her awake and prolong the conversation instead of helping her fall asleep. “So, I was thirteen, and frankly, I didn’t have that many lines,” not a single lie there, you didn’t speak for over ninety minutes, instead only screaming and glaring. “But it was the most fun I probably ever had and I’m still in touch with Hugh and Patrick, Hugh especially,” hell, you were talking with Hugh on your phone just an hour earlier.

“That sounds-“ Jenna tried to reply, but instead she yawned and you didn’t push her to try again. Eventually, you caught the sound of Jenna’s breathing evening out.

“Sweet dreams, Jen,” you smiled and closed your eyes, letting the long-awaited sleep overtake your exhausted body.

~X~

The sound of the alarm going off woke her up and Jenna blinked, slightly dazed and confused. How many days has it been since she slept all the way to her alarm? And she actually fell asleep around midnight, so almost full eight hours of sleep. It was no wonder she felt refreshed and well-rested.

She turned the alarm off and stretched with a smile on her face, she would mostly be filming with Melissa today, so it was going to be fun to tackle that side of Tara’s character as well. She had several emotional scenes with Melissa, and one of the bigger ones was scheduled for today, the one where Sam tells Tara the truth. She was looking forward to working with Melissa more, as the older actress absolutely took on the older sister role in real life as well and Jenna honestly felt like this was one of the better filming experiences she had.

The whole cast just clicked, and the already made group chat was already filled with messages, from funny behind the scenes bits to memes and videos from different social media. Jenna had to admit she didn’t go through every message, mostly missing out on the social media shares, but she definitely saved a bunch of behind the scenes photos.

Just as she thought that she noticed a notification from late hours of the last night, it was a couple of photos from the past few days of shooting. Melissa took a few photos, David walking around with the fake blood all over him and chatting with the stuntmen that just ‘killed’ him, you stretching and getting ready for your action scene, as well as a video of herself on the floor holding back a laugh when you stumbled a bit too far after punching the mannequin, and she wouldn’t have found it funny if you didn’t get super annoyed. It was the best take yet and you, in your own words, stumbled like a fucking newbie so far you were surprised you were still in the shot. It was a glorious speech of dramatically letting out the frustration over a perfect punch being wasted on an awful ending, only spurred on by Jenna desperately trying to stifle her laugh.

She smiled at that memory, now realizing that, while the initial complaint was genuine, the rest of it was so ridiculous the only explanation that could have worked was that you simply wanted to make her laugh. And she was thankful for it. The video didn’t capture the failed take, or the initial sentence, but it did have most of the speech, as well as Jenna’s reaction, so she went and sent the video to her mom.

~X~

Melissa was absolutely sure you could have been a cook with how good the small bite sized snacks you made were. Mikey and Jasmin brought two bowls of and a plate of different flavored and shaped snacks, some that were pastries, some that were balls made up of different ingredients, some that were held together by toothpicks. And each and every one she tried was tasty. Pretty much everyone was there as Jack and Mason once again took on the role of getting setting up everything so they could watch a movie.

The only people missing were you, still in the kitchen, wrapping up serving the sweet snacks, and Jenna, who was still in her room on the call with her family. Melissa glanced toward the door, hoping to see the younger actress walking through the door. “Jenna misses her family, doesn’t she?” Melissa asked Courtney who was sitting next to her.

“This is the first time she’s filming this far from home, right?” they pretty much all knew it. Sure, Jenna was fiercely independent, but independence had nothing to do with missing your loved ones, and she was missing them. Melissa kind of hoped Jenna would use the weekend off to go and see them, but things didn’t work out in the end.

“I’m sure it is,” she answered, about 90% sure of her answer. “I think I should go and see if she wants to join us,” she got up when Courtney nodded.

“Melissa we’re about to start!” Jack called after her.

“Just getting Jenna, wait for ten minutes,” she requested and smiled when he gave her a thumbs up. When she walked out into the hall she saw you coming from the kitchen, carrying two plates filled with wonderful, sweet snacks.

“What’s up?” you asked, tilting your head.

“Oh, just figured I could try and get Jenna to come and join us,” you got serious the moment she replied, and Melissa found herself taking more and more notice of how you reacted to Jenna. “I’ve got this, you go and sit, you’ve done more than enough,” she patted you on the back and made her way toward Jenna’s room. For whatever reason you didn’t put up a fight and actually did as you were told, whether because you trusted Melissa to take care of it, or because you didn’t want to be too obvious, or for some other reason, she didn’t know, but you let it be.

She knocked on Jenna’s door and waited for a bit for Jenna to open them. “Hey, I thought you guys were watching a movie?” Jenna said, clearly puzzled when she opened the door.

Melissa shrugged. “It’s not the same without you, are you still talking to your parents?”

Jenna shook her head, but there was definitely a tiny blush on her face.

“Come on, Y/N made a bunch of snacks, and I think we’re watching the original Scream tonight,” Melissa offered her hand to Jenna and smiled when Jenna nodded.

“Can’t miss that,” Jenna figured and so the two of them went back to the break room.

When they joined everyone, they saw Jack was ready to play the movie and so they quickly went to their usual seats. Melissa went back to sit down next to Courtney and Jenna went to the sofa a bit further back where you were sitting. She took her slippers off and sat down, leaning slightly against you as you took a blanket that was next to you and gave it to Jenna.

And the strangest thing about it? It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Well, not her going to get Jenna, but the rest. Jenna sitting right next to you, with your arms touching while you made sure she was warm and comfortable. You didn’t know each other before the chemistry test, that much Melissa knew, but she still raised an eyebrow. Were the two of you closer than she guessed? Like, together? Or considering a relationship at the very least? A need to be protective over Jenna overcame her, you were a good person, kind, pleasant, but you still only knew each other for less than three weeks and she was worried if you were rushing.

Either way, when she saw Jenna grinning at something you whispered in her ear, Melissa figured she might be worried over nothing. Jenna looked happy, and besides, she had no proof something was going on between you. She did glance back a few times, though, as subtly as she could. She couldn’t hear you, but she saw Jenna leaning her head down on your shoulder and quickly pulling away, as if caught by surprise by her own action.

She could read an apology from Jenna’s lips, but you just gave her a quick one-armed hug and reassured her it was fine. Probably not together then.

~X~

One of the most ironic things about acting was just how easy it was for Jenna to remove herself from the scene. She wasn’t Jenna Ortega, she was Tara Carpenter, and Tara had no issues with sleeping in C/N’s arms, so she, as Tara, spent hours with you lying next to her and she had no issues with it. But the moment she wasn’t acting she ended up being embarrassed over accidentally leaning her head on your shoulder.

You didn’t mind. Of course you didn’t, you just made sure she was comfortable once more. You and Jenna were in the kitchen at the moment, preparing a quick snack. Jenna was cutting various fruits into small cubes for the fruit salad while you were whipping the cream.

“I think this’ll do,” she said, proud of the large bowl of fruit she got ready just as you turned the hand-held mixer off.

You nodded, glancing at the fruit with unconcealed approval. “It’s perfect, thanks for helping me out,” you grinned at her and Jenna just rolled her eyes, brushing the compliment off. Of course she was going to help you, you were friends. Very good friends at this point, and Jenna wasn’t afraid to admit she cared about you, a lot. So, no, you didn’t need to thank her, she was actually glad to spend time with you like this.

She accidentally pushed a knife off the table and without thinking you tried to catch it. Her eyes widened and she reached out, grabbing your hand before you got the chance to even touch the knife with the tips of your fingers, keeping it away from the falling knife and letting it drop onto the tiles. “Are you okay?” she asked and was genuinely surprised by the shocked expression on her face.

A falling knife has no handle. Jenna knew that, and she knew you must have known that as well, but something must have distracted you to make you try and catch it. “Shit, that was dumb,” you shook your head in disbelief. “Thanks for stopping me, Jen,” you smiled at her, and she didn’t move; neither did you, instead you just stood like that, with her hand holding your own. “Just reflex,” she nodded when you said that, frankly surprised she was quick enough to stop you.

“It’s okay, nothing happened,” she tried to ignore her anxiety that you could have been cut, gotten hurt. She ignored her fear and just tried to ground herself in the moment by repeating that nothing happened in her head.

“Still, thanks,” you squeezed her hand lightly and then let go so you could pick up the knife and Jenna tried her best to get the image of your hand bleeding, of the worst case scenario, out of her head before it consumed her. Your eyes met for a moment and she could have sworn she saw concern in your eyes. “Hey, stay with me in the moment, okay?” you reached up, rubbing her shoulder and pulling her a bit closer. “Everything is okay, neither of us got hurt,” your words did little to make her get out of her head, but they helped enough, and she nodded, trying her best to focus on the actual outcome instead of what could have been.

~X~

Jenna couldn’t remember the last time she was carried as much as she was while filming Scream. Here she was, being lifted out of a car by you for yet another scene. She got carried during the hospital action scene, then as the trio was leaving the hospital, then now, and she would be carried once more before the movie ends. She had to admit it was a bit awkward to act while being carried, and she actually felt sorry for you every time they had to repeat a take where you were carrying her.

“Better hope she’s not the straw to break your back,” Emma chimed in exactly when you went to lift Jenna up for the fourth time that day and you just broke, bursting into laughter with your arms still under Jenna’s knees and back.

“Respectfully, can you not make me laugh for ten minutes?” you cried out, reigning the laughter in and shaking your head in disbelief.

Jenna just patted you on the back. “There, there,” at least all the takes were ruined right at the start. It wasn’t some kind of blockade like during the emotional part of the hospital scene, it was more the absurdity of seeing Emma Thompson doing horror that just made it difficult to get it together. And it wasn’t just you, or Mellisa, or Jenna, or hell, even Emma herself, half the takes were ruined by Matt and Tyler not being entirely sure how big of a role Emma would have.

Eventually, you managed to get the two of the three scenes Emma would be in done, all that was left were the two scenes no one was sure were going to make it into the movie. Both were between you and Emma, first being the conversation about your character’s education, and the second being going after Sam.

Matt and Tyler gave all of you a bit of a break before you and Emma would act out your last scenes together. You all sat together on the chairs and Jenna wasn’t sure how to start a conversation; she wanted to, but Emma had only been on the set for a couple of days, and it wasn’t long enough for her to be comfortable with starting a more meaningful conversation. Emma was nice, and funny, and it was easy to act with her, but Jenna just wasn’t as extroverted as she used to be as a kid.

“Say, Mrs. Thompson,” you insisted on not calling her by her first name, no matter how many times the woman told you you could just call her Emma. ‘I don’t know her, and I won’t get the chance to know her,’ you explained to Jenna over the phone last night. “Do you have any advice for us?” you asked so casually, without a hint of worry or fear of rejection, or stepping out of line really, but it was just a front and Jenna knew it.

By now she got to know you well enough to notice the little details, like the way you slightly gripped your chair, or how you averted your eyes away from Emma near the end of the question, struggling to maintain eye contact when you were nervous, or the slightest tremble in your voice. She knew it all by now, and she was impressed that you could push it aside enough to ask what you wanted, regardless of who you were asking.

Emma seemed to give it a long thought. “You’re all already talented, good actresses, so as cliché as it is all I can tell you is that you’ll never make everyone happy, and that no matter what you say or do someone will always dislike you, so don’t waste your time worrying about that as well,” it was an advice of a woman that already reached a certain age where she was old enough not to give a damn about pleasing everyone, and despite agreeing with the idea Jenna found it difficult to follow that advice.

She was too much of a people pleaser.

Once the break was over Jenna stayed behind, though her scenes for the day were done. If anyone asked she wanted to watch Emma Thompson acting, and that was a huge part of it, another part was, well, she wanted to walk back to the hotel with you.

So, she watched from behind the camera as you rushed down the stairs to look for the key, only for Emma to turn the lights on.

“You’re here, good,” you frantically looked around the living room, checking if the car keys were anywhere to be seen. “I need to borrow your car, Sam, she-“ you finally noticed the key next to the TV remote.

"C/N," Emma's voice alone in that one word was enough to sell the entire scene. You could hear it all, the exhaustion, the longing, the motherly love, as well as grief. It was all there. And it made you freeze and look at her like a deer in the headlights. "Do you have to-" Emma's breath hitched and she paused in the middle of the sentence, as if finishing it would make the circumstances even more dire.

"I need to go," you whispered, watching her and Jenna found it hard to believe you actually only did one movie as a child. You could match the emotion, your voice, your posture, conveying an unspoken apology and a promise to come back.

The experience and the immense talent Emma had shone through as she let her lip quiver just enough for it to be noticeable if someone paid closer attention to her, but not going over the top with it. The sigh she let out was filled with resignation, acceptance of the situation, and she looked you in the eyes, a silent plea remaining unspoken. “Tara needs to have her bandages changed in the morning, keep that in mind,” and Emma delivered her final line flawlessly.

You nodded, ending the scene and taking the car keys. There wasn’t going to be a hug, or a goodbye. “Cut!” and there was the scene, first take, and it was done.

~X~

A few days later you were once again filming way out of order, going all the way to the end of the movie, or well, near the end. Right now, you and Jenna were sitting in hair and makeup. Considering what the characters were going through makeup was mostly there to make both of you look more exhausted. Frankly, you were worried about the scene, the kiss scene, for more than one reason. Between being your first on-screen kiss to how comfortable Jenna would be. Sure, you’ve gotten pretty close, and you considered her a close friend already, but you weren’t sure if that made things easier or more difficult.

Especially since Jenna’s been mostly silent the entire morning, and not just with you, with everyone. You’ve caught her getting distracted and lost in her thought even during a conversation with Matt, and that was telling something. She was more worried than she was willing to let you see, and you could already see a lot. You couldn’t even start to imagine what was going through her head.

“Jen?” you called her, but she didn’t seem to hear you, instead biting her nail and staring at the book she brought along. She didn’t turn the page in an hour you’ve spent here. “Jen,” you said a bit louder.

Her eyes widened and she abruptly turned to you, clearly startled. “Sorry, I was just reading,” she really sucked at lying, and you raised an eyebrow and she looked down at the book, at the unturned page. And it was the prologue, so, yeah. That excuse really wasn’t holding up. “I was thinking,” she admitted as she looked away.

“About the kiss scene?” you didn’t beat around the bush and asked her directly, you figured she appreciated when someone was being direct with her.

Jenna paused, looking like she was caught red-handed and slowly nodded. “Mhm.”

So, it really was that. She was undoubtedly more worried about it than you were, and it didn’t matter what the reason was, all you cared about was that it was clear she wasn’t comfortable doing the scene. “Jenna-“ you began, ready to tell her what you intended to do, but she chose that exact moment to start talking.

“It’s ridiculous, you know? I mean, we filmed so many scenes in the same bed, and sure, nothing happened, but I don’t think anyone could look at those scenes and say Tara and C/N are just friends, and now I’m worried about a kiss,” she blurted it all out. “And you’re wonderful! It’s got nothing to do with you, and I think you’ll be a wonderful partner for the scene!” she blushed when she said that, crimson red, and buried her face in her hands as she groaned and you could only watch her, wide-eyed and taken aback. “I-I’m comfortable with you, I’m just worried and I don’t want you to get uncomfortable because I’m sure you haven’t kissed anyone on camera before, and maybe you’ll find it weird to kiss a girl,” ah, right, you never explicitly told her you were into girls, the topic of past relationships somehow never came up. “And it’s a job, but we got really close, so what if that makes it difficult for you? I black out, I don’t know what’s going on, I’m not worried about me, but this whole thing just- shit, I’m rambling, and I can’t shut up, and I’m surprised what I’m saying even makes sense at this point!”

“Jenna,” you reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. She raised her head up and looked at you. “First of all,” you pointed at yourself. “Into girls, so nothing weird there,” her mouth opened slightly in an adorable way as if she wasn’t sure whether to be surprised, relieved, or if she should have figured it out a lot sooner. “Second of all, don’t worry about me, tell me if you’re comfortable with doing this scene?” that was a lot more important to you. You were comfortable with the kiss scene, you cared about Jenna, you liked her a lot, and you absolutely didn’t mind kissing her.

She nodded slowly. “I’m comfortable with you, I promise,” even with as much confidence as she put behind her words you could still hear a bit of uncertainty in her tone, like there was something she couldn’t tell you.

You still figured you couldn’t push her too far, couldn’t risk making her self-conscious right before the scene. So, you accepted her answer. You raised your fist up toward her and grinned, choosing to instead offer her reassurance once more and then do everything in your power to make sure she really was comfortable. “If you feel uncomfortable at any moment, just tell me and I’ll get them to scrap it, say I don’t want to do it,” and you were completely serious.

Her eyes widened slightly as she looked you in the eyes. “You can’t do that, you’ll sound unprofessional,” she sounded more worried now, and it was not what you wanted to do. And she didn’t bump your fist, so you pulled it back, not noticing that she bit her lower lip a bit as you moved your fist away.

You shrugged. “I’d rather be unprofessional than have you feel uncomfortable,” there was no hesitation in your tone, no doubt, no wavering of your conviction. No matter what, you felt like your priority was to have your co-stars be comfortable, especially if Jenna was the co-star in question. And it wasn’t just because Hugh really set an example for you; you genuinely thought that was the right way to approach filming.

You watched as Jenna looked down, a hint of a blush appearing on her cheeks as she refused to meet your eyes, and you were left completely puzzled by her reaction. Somehow you felt like you actually made things worse for her, but before you could fix whatever you did hair stylist came in and you were left hoping Jenna would sort things out on her own.

~X~

You did make it worse.

No. That wasn’t fair.

You didn’t do anything unusual, you were just being you.

She recently became a bit self-conscious about kiss scenes in general, but she technically didn’t lie. Jenna was truly comfortable with you, felt a connection she couldn’t deny, so strong and fast she almost didn’t want the shooting to wrap as soon as it would. No, it wasn’t about being comfortable with you, it was about how she felt, about the feelings she was starting to have for you.

Jenna swallowed the lump in her throat, watching as the scene was being set up for the two of you. She never believed in love at first sight, that was ridiculous, at least to her. Love took time, took getting to know someone. She did believe in infatuation at first sight, and it hit her like a truck when she met you, and especially when the two of you hung out for the first time.

She pushed it aside, considering it as nothing more than physical attraction, or better yet simply taking notice of the fact that she found you attractive. And then she got to know you, and you spent so much time together, on set or during your time off.

When she first read the script, she figured she’d act the same way she did when it came to The Fallout and kissing Maddie, and that kiss scene demanded more from her than the one written in the script did. She would black out, kiss a friend, and that would be it. That was her original plan, but you just…

She wasn’t sure she could black out.

And it frightened her.

She leaned her head back against the wall, suppressing a groan. Could she just sweep this under the rug? Ignore the way her heart would beat faster whenever you would accidentally touch? Or how comfortable she felt around you? Or how she got so used to having late night talks with you, ending her day while listening to you, and then damn near starting the next day with you at breakfast?

She would have to, because this was a job, and as sweet as you were you didn’t exactly flirt with her. Or show interest beyond friendship, even if you were, as she found out a bit over an hour ago, into girls.

“Come on, just focus,” she whispered to herself and took several deep breaths. They would start soon, and she needed to get her shit together. The last thing she needed was to give away her growing feelings and end up making working with you difficult. Sure, you were comfortable with kissing her, your friend, but would you be comfortable kissing someone who had a rapidly developing crush on you?

If she, in any way, showed you how she felt, she was just going to end up making things weird between you and ruin a friendship that already meant a lot to her. And she couldn’t have that. She wanted to stay in touch, to hang out with you, to have you meet her family, and to meet your family as well. She wanted to go to your movie premieres with you, and preferably avoid going to her own because she hated watching herself on screen. She didn’t want to just see you in passing like she did with so many people she worked with over the years, she wanted to keep building this connection into something bigger, something consistent and constant, or as constant as your jobs allowed.

She didn’t want this to end, and the more scenes got filmed the closer the end got. She glanced at you as you walked over to your designated spots, and you caught her glance. Of course you did, you’ve been ridiculously attentive to her, to even the smallest signs, or movements. She could still feel the warm touch of your hand, she could still envision the look in your eyes, soft, gentle, as you looked at her, or hear the sound of your laugh and voice.

She wouldn’t risk any of that.

She was going to black out and do her job!

~X~

You glanced at Jenna every now and then. She was nervous, hell, anxious even, and you were getting more worried by the second. You could see the tension in the way she stood, the tremble of her fingers as she stood there, her hands crossed and fingers clutching at the soft fabric of her clothes. If it wasn’t for the bandage Tara was supposed to have you were sure Jenna would have been gripping her arm a lot tighter.

Whatever was going on you felt like you really had to step in, to figure out what the issue was and get rid of it. If it meant getting rid of the kiss scene, or hell, the relationship between C/N and Tara entirely, then so be it, as long as Jenna wasn’t this anxious over filming with you. You could feel your heart aching at the mere thought that the following scene could cause the younger actress so much turmoil.

You were just about to approach her, but you ran out of time, Matt and Tyler were ready.

“Okay, Jenna, Y/N, get in positions,” Tyler instructed, and you bit your tongue, resisting the urge to ask for another five minutes, but you feared that would only make things worse for Jenna.

~X~

Her heart was beating so loudly in her chest she barely listened to the instructions. Why couldn’t she black out? And worse of all she could see you were getting tense as well. She could see the way you clenched your jaw, struggling not to point out what you were clearly noticing. How much did you notice? Just her anxiety, or her feelings as well? Either way she could tell her own nervousness was affecting you as well.

That would probably cause this to take several takes. She would need to kiss you several times, and she wanted to kick herself for, deep down, feeling a bit excited over the idea. “Fuck,” she hissed, berating herself for letting her crush get the better of her. She needed to be a professional, to get in character.

But her character was madly in love with your own! So, technically speaking, she really got into her character. ‘Great job, Jenna, that’s exactly what you should have done,’ she thought bitterly.

“We can stop this,” you whispered, and since you were this close, merely a step from one another, only she heard you, but your words sounded louder than thunder to her.

She caused this. She was making a scene because she couldn’t separate job from personal feelings. And the worst thing about it? It was with you, the last person she wanted to make work difficult for.

So, Jenna forced a smile and nudged you slightly. The worry in your eyes remained, but there was that softness again. You were silently pleading with her to just focus on her own comfort, to say one word and she was sure you’d have her back and remove this scene.

‘Just black out already! Don’t be a burden!’ her mind truly was her harshest critic. “I’m fine,” she lied, thinking she could fake it until it became real. You nodded, even though she could see you weren’t buying it.

“Take 1, action!”

She slumped into your arms, like Tara was supposed to. She didn’t black out, she was aware of everything, of your arms holding her, of her own arms around you and she desperately tried to imagine that she was Tara, and you were C/N. She looked up into your eyes, like the script instructed, and saw the look in your eyes. Tender, filled with love and gentle, showing that Tara was the only one who could get C/N to act like that.

Jenna nearly pushed away from you right then and there. The look in your eyes overlapped with the way you would sometimes look at her off camera. Worst of all, Jenna found herself blurring the lines between what Tara was supposed to feel and what she was feeling. Too intense, it was too intense. Too fast. She couldn’t get her heartbeat under control and she was sure you were actually holding her up with how much the realization that she couldn’t do the one thing she always did while filming affected her.

She could not black out, even slightly.

No one stopped the scene and she resisted the urge to stop it herself. In the back of her head her overthinking brain figured this was actually selling the scene better. She felt self-conscious, uncertain, and that was close to what Tara was supposed to be feeling right now.

Her anxiety only increased as she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Mere seconds separated her from the kiss. She was to take the lead, your character not wanting to push Tara into anything. Funny how you took that approach with her as well, outside of your characters, outside of the movie, outside of being co-stars, and she did something unprofessional. She wasn’t reaching up with her right hand and touching C/N, she was touching your cheek.

You leaned into her touch, parting your lips slightly. “Tara,” you whispered, soft, protective, your voice filled with relief and love, exactly what was needed from you as you gently wrapped your arms around her shoulders and upper back, avoiding the injuries Tara was meant to have. You were being professional, you were doing your job and here Jenna was, driven by her emotions.

She still continued, she hugged you, her right palm resting on the nape of your neck, tugging you lower as she placed her bandaged left hand on your back. The question in your eyes, the one last chance for her to tell you she wasn’t comfortable, to back away, to quit being unprofessional was presented to her, yet she, against the script, ran her fingers through your hair, gently scratching the back of your head and raising her head. She swallowed hard, completely aware that she wasn’t acting, that she was about to kiss you.

And that wasn’t the right thing to do.

Just as your lips were about to touch Jenna pulled away, gasping and taking a step back. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized, knowing full-well how this, all of this looked. The sudden rejection, the gasp, the way she pushed against you, and the way you froze. Everyone froze, Matt and Tyler, the camera crew, everyone, and she swore she could hear the pin drop. “I-“ what could she even say.

“What just happened?” Tyler asked, looking between you and Jenna, and she couldn’t blame him. “Y/N? Jenna? What’s wrong?” he sounded confused and concerned and Jenna looked at him, only now realizing he was looking at you for answers.

And her heart sank.

The way she reacted made it seem like you caused it. Like you did something before the shoot to make her uncomfortable. “I panicked, I just, I don’t know what happened,” she quickly said, but it all sounded less convincing than she was hoping for. “Y/N didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, hating how her emotions were getting all over the place and completely out of her control.

“Okay, what do you need? Five minutes?” he asked. Everything was set up with the intention of finishing the kiss scene and it needed to be done today, or the production would risk falling behind.

You had other ideas though. “We reschedule, call Mikey and we can finish the chase scene instead,” you said and Jenna snapped her head toward you. You didn’t look angry, at all, but she could see you were shaken by what just happened. By how Jenna stopped the scene.

“That’s a temporary solution. What if this happens again?” Tyler demanded, and Jenna knew his concerns were valid, even if he didn’t know what caused her reaction.

It would only get worse from this point onward. She reacted like that, she disrupted the chemistry between you, created a tension that couldn’t be fixed that easily. And she was certain it would be felt across the rest of the scenes you two had together. Not to mention she genuinely believed the kiss scene was now absolutely impossible.

“We’ll figure it out just give us a couple of days!” you snapped, for the first time since Jenna met you, you snapped.

Tyler raised his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine, we’ll leave it to the two of you. Jenna, you should go and rest, someone call Mikey to come here!” he instructed, wanting everything to be done as quickly as possible, since enough time was already lost on setting the scene for the failed kiss.

She fucked up.

“Jen,” you turned to her, worried and she just couldn’t take it.

Jenna shook her head, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “Sorry, I’m going back to the hotel,” she whispered and as quickly as the cast around her leg allowed, ran out. She just needed to quickly get the costume off and she would go back to the hotel. She closed the door behind her and leaned her back against it, and though it was muffled she heard you cursing.

Why couldn’t she just black out?

~X~

It felt like everyone knew. It felt like every time someone looked at her she could see their confusion, their curiosity about the failed kiss scene. Maybe even some judgment? Toward either or both of you? Everyone knew, after all, Courtney, who had nothing to do with the scene came up to her and assured her it happened to everyone.

She truly made a mess of things.

So, she escaped into her room, trying her best not to think of the poorly hidden glances, or the occasional whispers, mainly among those that were there when it happened. She was yet to see you, and that made everything even worse. You just came back from the set and went to your own room.

Jenna didn’t dare to go and knock, she couldn’t. What could she tell you? ‘I’m sorry, I have a crush on you, and I couldn’t get into character?’ yeah, that would be a perfect, acceptable explanation.

Were you still angry at her? Were Matt and Tyler angry at her? It was the only reasonable answer. After all, why wouldn’t you be angry? You said you and Jenna would figure it out, yet you didn’t come to see her. You were just going to approach her and tell her to get it together and do her job, weren’t you? To forget about the friendship because of the scene she caused?

She needed to lie down, to try and fall asleep, and hope things would be better after sleeping. She got up and stumbled, unsteady. It felt like the whole room was spinning, like her heart was going to burst out of her chest as she leaned on her table, her trembling hands clenching around the edges of it. She knew what was happening, but she couldn't stop it, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't stand, but she found it hard to move.

"Jenna?" Melissa's voice and knocking only made her panic more. Melissa couldn't see her like this. No one could. After everything that happened this was the last thing she could allow. "I'm coming in!"

No! She tried to yell, to stop Melissa, but she couldn't speak, she couldn't stop it, she couldn't stop anything. She couldn’t black out and do her job, she couldn’t do a fucking kiss with someone she had a crush on. And now a co-star was about to see her like this, having a panic attack. Everyone will know then. Just like they found out about what she did. It’ll spread like wildfire and consume her entirely. They'll know about her anxiety. You'll know about it, about how little control she had. What will you think of her then, now that you were angry at her. Your friendship would end and it was all, entirely, her fault.

"Jenna!" she came in. She saw her. It was over. Jenna crumbled to her knees, just barely noticing when Melissa ran up to her. "What's wrong?! What happened?!" the frantic tone, the uncertain touch, Melissa didn't know what to do, and all it did was make things worse.

Jenna felt sick, nauseous. Too weak to get up, to stop this. "Do you need a doctor? Shit, what do I do?!" Melissa was panicking, but it was nothing compared to the disaster in Jenna’s head. Everything was going to crumble around her!

"No! No!" it was getting worse. This couldn't be happening, this had to end. It was all her fault for being like this.

"Okay, okay, just please calm down!" Melissa still pulled out her phone, typing something and sighing in relief and Jenna had no idea why, but she felt intense fear all of a sudden. "Just a bit more," just a bit more what? What did she do? And then her doors opened, and she pieced it all together when you rushed in.

"Y/N, I don't know what to do," Melissa leaned back, but none of it mattered. You were here, you knew now.

"Jen," you approached her slowly, calm, steady. "Can you take a deep breath for me?" you knelt down in front of her as Melissa pulled away and Jenna felt your hand, firm, on top of her own. She saw no panic in your eyes, she felt no judgment. There wasn’t any anger, just concern. She managed a slightly deeper breath, leaning closer to you. "That's it, good," you slowly pushed a strand of her hair back, wiping sweat off her forehead.

Why? Why were you having this much of an effect on her? Calming her down like this. It didn't matter, she just closed the distance between you and took a deep breath as you hugged her, letting her lean her head on your shoulder. "You're safe," you whispered, slowly wrapping her up in a hug, like earlier disaster never even happened and she grabbed onto the hem of your shirt hoping you would pull her closer to you.

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house-of-lovin · 2 years ago

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legally binded - 8

Jenna Ortega x F!Reader

masterlist | series mast. | prev. part | next part

Chapter 8: Beetlejuice and London Blues

Summary: After getting caught in some hot waters with the press, you are forced into an unexpected agreement with America's sweetheart, Jenna Ortega to save your career.

Warnings/Tags: dual!pov, famous!reader, actress!reader, mentions of substances, intoxication, mature language, real people. (do not read if any of these make you uncomfortable)

(this is all fiction!)

Note: hey y’all. I’m gonna be taking a break from this series for a bit after I post this. I’m gonna be real busy this summer, so LB updates probably won’t be weekly for a while. thanks for understanding!

Word Count: 8.2k+ (these are getting longer)

“Fuck me.”

A mistake.

You made a mistake.

Was your first thought when you woke up with the sun shining directly into your eyelids; the throbbing pain deep in your skull was the first symptom of your grave oversight.

“Fuck you is right…” A loud voice pierces through the silence in the room and the pounding in your head worsened immediately.

Turning over at a snails pace, you find Link leaning against the doorframe, with a bitter frown on his face.

“What did I do?” You moaned, holding your head in your hands.

“Other than be a massive asshole? Drink yourself stupid.” He says bluntly, walking into the room and placing a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin on the bedside table.

Pushing yourself up, you continue to loudly groan despite the pounding in your skull and desperately reached for the medicine bottle. After popping two in and washing it down it some water, you leaned against the headboard with a heavy sigh.

Being ran over by an 18-wheeler and somehow managing to survive would be a fair comparison to your current condition.

“I don’t remember how I got back.”

“We don’t know either, you just opened the door…”

“Right.” Hazy memories of last night’s escapades we’re starting to come back.

“What the hell, Y/N, we were looking for your ass for almost four hours.” He crossed his arms, staring you down as his nose flared in anger.

“Sorry…” You mumbled, closing your eyes. The familiar feeling of guilt rumbled in your chest the longer you met his judging eyes.

After sneaking off to the bathroom, you knew you had to take the opportunity to escape that after-party. You thought drinking your problems away and partying would help distract you from your argument with Jenna. But your efforts proved fruitless. The longer you stood in that loud room, the more suffocating it felt; Jenna’s words echoing mercilessly in your head.

So you slipped out without letting anyone know. Dumb idea, I know.

You had full intentions of going for a walk to clear your head, thinking of what to say to Jenna and then making your way back to the hotel to wait for her so you could talk, but before that could happen…

“Well, well, well… look who it is.”

Dropping your hand that was holding your phone limply by your side, you perk up. All thoughts of calling an Uber back to the hotel were forgotten as you turned; feeling your blood run cold immediately at the familiar voice.

“Damon.” You greet flatly.

“Aw, come on, that’s how you greet an old friend?” He held a hand to his chest, walking forward. “Vegas was so long ago, don’t you miss my company?”

“Not particularly no.” You cross your arms, standing your ground.

“You don’t mean that, baby…” He stood in your space, leaning into you. You held your head up, not intimidated by his presence.

“What are you even doing here? Last time I checked, you weren’t invited to the Met.” You grit. There’s no way his C-list ass was invited to one of the biggest social events of the year.

“I was someone’s plus one.” He answered, shrugging.

You roll your eyes because of course he wasn't even invited. He was always sliming his way into events.

“Come on, we used to have so much fun…” He leaned closer.

“Get out of my face.” You grit, standing your ground.

“You don’t really blame me for Vegas, do you?” He stepped back, annoyance growing as his brows furrowed.

You bit back a laugh, spatting out. “Of course I do! You had coke on you – snorting that shit in a fucking strip club with me beside you. The hell were you thinking?”

He crossed his arms, anger steadily masking over his features. “You weren’t complaining about wanting to get fucked up before that. Actually, you were the one that begged me to leave L.A.”

You glare at him as you’re reminded of that weekend three months ago. “Clearly that was a mistake. The press thinks it was mine, Damon.”

He shrugged, smirking. “Beats me.”

Your glare hardens as you clenched your jaw. “You’re an asshole.”

“Oh baby, you just found out?” His smug smile widens and you wanted nothing more than to punch it clean off his face.

“Stay the fuck away from me if you know what's good for you.” You bark, eyes never leaving his.

His gaze twinkled in amusement at the challenge, paying no heed to it. Then he leans in close to your ear, whispering. “You’ll be back soon when you realize no one wants you.”

Your heart drops as his words ring in your ears. You keep your face impassive, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing his words affect you.

“Your little PR relationship with Jenna is cute. You guys almost have everyone convinced, but I know the truth. You’ll be back when Jenna realizes that you’re too broken to love.” He taunts, smiling widely.

Your heart thrums so loudly against your chest that it makes your entire body throb in tandem.

“Fuck you.” You shove his chest firmly as he stumbled back a couple steps from the sheer force.

You don’t wait for a response as you leg it down the sidewalk, ignoring people’s questioning looks. You weren’t sure if they recognized you or if they were questioning why you were in a fancy suit on the streets of New York City but you didn’t care either way; just stomping off in no particular direction. Not giving anyone who may have recognized you, time to stop you.

You kept walking even as your legs begged for reprieve, taking sidestreets and alleyways to hide from prying eyes, hiding in the shadows. You lived in the Big Apple for a year for a role and in that time, you had gotten to know the city well; preferring to walk to familiarize yourself with new locations.

“Where the hell were you?” Link questioned. You can hear the agitated tone in his words even as your eyes were closed.

“I went for a walk.”

“You came back drunk.”

“I stopped by the liquor store.”

“You were gone for three hours.”

“It was a big bottle.”

He huffed.

You crack an eyelid open, already noting his firmly-set jaw. “Okay, I’m sorry, truce?”

Even you know when you’re being an asshole. You note the dark circles and heavy bags under his eyes and it reminded you of the first time you came home after meeting Jenna. The moment Link opened the front door, he had the same expression on his face.

His jaw tightly clenched but his brows pulled in a way that showed his concern.

Before you could spew any apology you had saved, he pulled you in for a hug, muttering on about how worried he was about your arrest. It made your throat close up and tears build in your eyes at how distressed he sounded. Even when you’ve fucked up, he was still worried about you.

That familiar pang of guilt comes crawling back the longer he stared at you now with that same look.

Instead, he sighed, dropping his head in surrender and muttering, “truce.”

That makes you open your eyes fully, nodding. “Okay.”

He sat on the foot of the bed, posture more relaxed. “Seriously though, what were you thinking?”

Picking at the loose thread of the duvet, you couldn’t meet his inquiring gaze. “I really did just need some air at first. Then I was gonna go back to the hotel to wait for Jenna, to apologize… but then I saw Damon.”

His sharp intake of breath reaches your ears. “Did you–”

“No!” You were quick to answer. “No… but he was an asshole, said something that pissed me off and I just couldn’t go back to that party or see Jenna. So I kept walking, I think I ended up in Central Park.”

“What did he say?” His nostrils flared.

“Nothing important, I walked away.” You omit.

He conceded but you could see his reluctance anyway.

“And then what — you were walking around, drinking in the middle of Central Park?” He asked bewildered, like you were stupid. Which, hearing it out loud now, is a very stupid decision. It was a miracle you made it back safely.

“Yes…” You muttered, ashamed. “I know I fucked up.”

His laugh is loud and taunting. “Fucked up? We’re way past that. Jenna’s pissed at you and Jake and Sarah found out you two didn’t go to the same after-party. They’re expecting it to be a headline.”

You bang your head against the headboard, ignoring the worsening ache. You deserved it, anyway. “Shit, Jenna… where is she?”

He scoffed, “gone.”

You whipped your head to find his eyes, ignoring the queasiness it caused in your stomach or maybe it was news of Jenna’s departure. “What?”

“She got out of New York first thing in the morning.” He explained.

“Fuck…” You close your eyes again, sliding down the bed. Flashes of your anger bubbling over, reaching a boiling point and exploding on Jenna. You remember your harsh words and the hurt expression that takes over the other actress’ face as you spoke with unabated hatred. “What did I do?”

“Don’t know, I left the room – but whatever you said, it must’ve been pretty bad 'cause it looked like she was about to cry when she came out of your room.” He recounted; not bothering to sugar-coat it. There seems to be nothing and no one that can get to you other than Jenna.

Maybe realizing that you’ve hurt her, will be the wake-up call that you needed.

“I fucked up.” You repeated, staring at the ceiling.

“I know, buddy.” He sighed, patting your leg. “But you’ll fix it. You always do…”

“I don’t know about this one man.”

Telling Jenna that you wanted to end this PR relationship with her? You just wanted to be mean and hurt her back and that makes Jenna right, you are an asshole.

“What did you even say?”

You recounted the anger-filled words that you spewed through your drunken stupor, avoiding Link’s angry expression when you finished.

“Are you fucking serious? How could you say that?”

“It was a mistake… I didn’t mean it.”

“You need to get your head out of your ass and apologize to that girl.” He huffed, getting off the bed. “Get up, our flight leaves in an hour… stupid idiot.” He muttered, walking off as he shook his head in disappointment.

This time, you couldn’t even blame him. You are an idiot.

***

“Where’s Jenna?”

“She’s busy but she’s been briefed, we can start now..” Liv pursed her lips, leaning back in her seat.

The tips of your hands start sweating at her words, not knowing what they could mean.

As soon as you landed back in Los Angeles, you had the day to yourself to recuperate after a long week in New York. You sent the other actress a text before the plane took off, asking if she made it back to L.A. safely but you never got a message back.

You might’ve deserved that one.

There was no other proof of life from the actress other than when you asked if you could pick up your dog from her since she was looking after the pup before the Met. The only response you received was a text from her assistant saying Jenna’s driver would drop him off at your house later in the day.

Again, you might’ve deserved that one.

As promised, her driver pulled up in a sleek blacked-out SUV with a dog cage in hand. Upon releasing the pup, you noted the new toy he refused to let go of.

Other than her team obviously playing the middleman between you and her, the only other sign that she was well was the Instagram post on her account of her night at the Met Gala; a variety by herself, showing off her Thom Browne gown, some at the after-party with Enrique and other celebrities.

You'd be lying if you said you didn’t feel the slight emptiness in your chest that she didn’t post you. In the late hours of your stalking, you failed to realize that she did in fact, post the two of you, just a couple of hours later.

As a solo picture, was the two of you kissing on the red carpet. You don’t know why the black heart emoji captioning the photo sends your own heart to a frenzy. If you stared at the photo long enough, it was almost like you can feel phantom sensations of her lips pressed against your own again.

You’re ashamed to admit how long it took for you to decide on a response before eventually settling on a white heart to comment back.

You thank the heavens that Liv barely sleeps because you got a message from her at that exact moment about a meeting the following morning; distracting you from Jenna and that stupid black heart.

So that’s where you found yourself, in the dark, clutching the armrests of the stiff office chair in nervousness, the longer Liv and Jake waited to explain why you’re here.

“It’s an update about Vegas,” Jake explained, leaning on the desk, and staring down at you.

“What about Vegas?” Your brows furrowed in confusion.

“Sarah found out who leaked the coke…” Liv chimed in. “The source comes from a Twitter account, claims she’s one of the girls in the club, and said she saw you taking a bump, as well. Gossip sites got a hold of it and spread it like wildfire.”

“That’s a lie, I was passed out.” Not the best argument, but it’s the truth.

“She claimed that it came from you.”

“Bullshit!”

“Of course, it’s bullshit. But we’re in damage control now... The police still hasn’t made a comment about pursuing a possible case against you ‘cause there’s nothing there. We’re just dealing with rumours, at this point but I don’t want you to worry about that.” Liv reassured, holding a hand out. She could see the frustration etched on your face.

You rolled your eyes, slumping against the seat. “So, what do we do?”

“The PR with Jenna is going well. It did a good job at covering up headlines about your initial arrest – but now that Vegas headlines are back, we need to work on overtime.”

Immediately, you shake your head, brows furrowing. “I thought the relationship was only meant to last three months?”

It’ll be three months by the end of this week and Jenna has yet to talk to you since your drunken night after the Met Gala.

“Yes… and I also said less the faster people forget your night at the county jail, clearly, they haven’t forgotten.” She raised a brow in challenge, and you opted to bite your tongue 'cause she did say that.

“Even then, how would you get Jenna to agree? She’s not exactly my biggest fan, right now.” You muttered, looking down at your hands. Jenna’s probably rejoicing at the fact that this agreement was almost over. After the disaster that was the Met, she’s probably laughing at the proposition of extending this agreement longer.

“Is that why you two didn’t go to the same after-party?” Jake flicked a brow, more so curious. You’re surprised he doesn’t too mad about it.

“You don’t even wanna know.” You closed your eyes in exhaustion at the thought of that night, missing Liv and Jake’s silent conversation, debating if it was time for a parently intervention. But you caught on to their silence.

“Please don’t lecture me on my dating life,” you grumbled, “it’s the last thing I want to hear.”

“Dating life?” Jake piped up, eyes lighting up.

“Did you and Jenna actually catch feelings?” Liv asked, a small smile on her lips.

“I literally said don’t.” You glared and the bite in your tone seemed to get them to relent; dropping the conversation. “And don‘t say catch feelings, it sounds wrong coming from you.”

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that, for your sake.” Liv glares before looking at her business partner.

You don’t comment on the weighted glances they keep sending each other.

“Anyways…” Jake cleared his throat, “Lucky for you, Jenna already signed the updated contract—we just need your signature, that’s why you’re here.”

You to sit up straight, unsure if you heard your manager correctly. “What? She did?”

Maybe she wasn’t laughing at the proposition of extending this agreement. But why would she sign it? After what you said to her in New York, you figured she’d be on her merry way out the door and your life.

Liv reached over to the side, cracking open a thick document, and flipped to a page before sliding it over to you; a pen on top.

Beside Jenna’s ink-printed name on the paper, is the same neat handwritten signature that you noticed all those months ago. Your sight flickers down; the empty line with your name just below waiting to be signed seemed menacing this time. As you continue to scan the page and you settle on a certain line causing your heart to stop momentarily.

“A year?”

Liv nodded, lips thinly pressed. “People are invested. Your names are selling headlines and getting clicks, it’s working. But not well enough to cover Vegas. We need to build you two as a brand, together.”

Suddenly the decision felt weighted.

“A brand?” You drawl, the words feeling wrong on your lips.

Liv sighed, “I know how it sounds… but we need Vegas to go away. After your guys’ appearance at the Met Gala, brands have been calling Jake and Sarah about potential deals featuring you two. You and Jenna sell.”

You don’t answer, electing to look away to ignore their probing eyes.

“There’s talk that they want to exclude you from the Dune 2 press run,” Jake admitted after a beat, his heavy-set eyes staring at you unapologetically.

A knife to the gut is equivalent to how you feel. “What?”

Jake nodded, propping one hand on his desk to hold him up as leaned on it. “I’ve been going back and forth with the producers – reassuring them that you’re not what the press have saying. But like we said, we’re in damage control. SNL, Coachella, the Met Gala, those were good attempts at covering things up to get good press, but it’s not enough.”

Glancing down at the document again, a part of you still hesitates to pick up the pen.

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Jake asked.

“I–I need some time, to think about it.”

“What’s there to think about?” Liv asked, equally confused. “Jenna already signed it.”

“It’s another year, Liv.” You raised your head to meet her eyes, in shock. Ignoring her reassurances. It doesn’t matter if Jenna signed it. There’s no way you’re letting this go on any longer. “That’s a long time.”

Flicking a brow, she answered, “Yes, it’s a long time, but we need to do this. There’s no other way..” She glanced at Jake, standing beside her, sending him a look.

You shake your head. Mind already made up the moment you saw just how much longer this needed to continue.

“Well, find another way. I’m not dragging Jenna into my mess any longer.”

“What?” Jake dropped his crossed arms, watching as you frantically stood from the seat. “You wanna throw away the last three months?”

“Yes.” You stood your ground, crossing your arms.

Liv rolled her eyes, uncrossing her legs as she stands. You track her confusedly before you realize she’s walking off to Jake’s alcohol collection.

“That was a gift, Olivia.” Jake chided, as he watched the woman pour a hefty shot of the brown liquid from an expensive-looking bottle.

You roll your eyes at her dramatics.

“Are we dealing with the same thing right now?” She hissed in pain, placing the shot glass on the table as she gestured to you.

You shake your head, regaining their attention. “I have a career — movies and events lined up. I can’t play someone’s girlfriend for a year on top of that.”

“Y/N, there’s no other way… we’ll find a way to make it work with both your schedules but right now, we need to capitalize on the all of the attention.”

You huffed, annoyed that they were ignoring you. “I don’t care. Find another way. I’m not signing this.” Then you smack a firm hand on the document before turning to walk out of the office.

This has gone on long enough. You refuse to drag Jenna down any more than you already have. She’s better off without you anyway.

***

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Can you wait?!”

With haste, you stumble on your flip-flops when they tangle on your feet as you walked toward your front gate. The buzzing kept ringing out in the dark, quiet air. You desperately wished you bought a house with see-through gates so you could tell off whoever was repeatedly banging on your buzzer.

You lived in a gated neighbourhood, so you weren’t too worried about a random stranger roaming around. You assumed it was just one of your neighbours ringing the bell.

“What?” You yank the door open, stepping out. The street lamps on the sidewalk don’t do well to light the figure standing across from you. But even in the dark, you instantly recognize her smaller stature.

She stepped back as you close the door behind you, now standing on the sidewalk. Your house was situated on a cul-de-sac and rarely anyone roamed the streets at this time.

“What are you doing here?” You squint, walking closer.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Was her answer, words practically dripping in anger.

You stand straighter at her tone, brows knotting together. “What?”

“Who the hell do you think you are, trying to make decisions for me.” She bit back, face contorting in fury. Glancing down, you note her white-knuckled grip on a manila folder.

“We shouldn’t talk about this here.” You sighed, scanning the street. It was empty and quiet but you never know who was lurking around.

Walking over to the gate, you held it open, “let’s talk inside.”

She stood her ground, feet firmly planted on the concrete. You can see the sharp edges from her jaw clenching even in the poorly-lit street.

“Jenna.” You said knowingly, titling your head to the side.

You hear her huff loudly before stomping past you and walking up the path to your front door. Choosing not to comment on the fact that she’s never been to your house but she’s walking like she has been. Following closely behind, you can’t help but let your eyes wander down, taking note of her outfit.

As always, no matter what she wore, it hung off her expertly, like it was made just for her. You were so distracted looking at her… outfit, that you failed to realize you made it to the front door.

“Are you gonna open the door or what?’ She raised a brow, not commenting on how quickly you averted your eyes as soon as she turned around.

“Yeah…” You muttered, sliding past her to open the double doors.

When you make it to the foyer, Jenna is already confronting you before the door even closes. “Sign the contract.”

“Demanding much?” You raised a brow, shutting the door.

“Sign the damn contract, Y/N.” She said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

“What are you doing, Jenna? This is your chance to get out of this.” You wave a hand, gesturing between you and her.

She laughed unamused, “Get out of this? If you think I can leave this PR relationship in the middle of rumours of your arrest and there’s a way I won’t be painted like the bad guy, then you’re really dumber than I thought.”

You clenched your jaw, not answering.

“Sign the contract.” She repeated, taking your silence as a win.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not dragging you into this mess.”

She laughed again, this time it was plainly mocking. “I’m already in this mess. I’m deep in it if you haven’t noticed. Maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass every once in a while you’d realize everything we do is attached to each other, now. There isn’t anywhere I can go without being asked about you or our relationship. So no, I’m not letting you make this decision for me. ‘Cause I’m making it for us.”

You stared at her. The fury in her eyes and tension in her shoulders were noticeable even from where you stood; it didn’t aid in easing the mellowing guilt in your chest.

“It’s all from a business standpoint, don’t look into it.” She glared.

This time, you were certain you deserved that.

Jenna walked up to you, pushing the manila folder against your chest aggressively. You meet her narrowed eyes staring up at you. “Sign it.”

Then she walked off, slamming the door shut behind her.

***

“How’s the missus?”

“How’s yours?” Tom joked back, handing over a steaming coffee cup. Graciously grabbing it with both hands, you eagerly sip on the bitter drink as the London native settles on the patio chair across you.

Although it was considered a warm day in London, there was a cool breeze that wafted through the air penetrating through your jacket.

“Very funny.” You muttered, ignoring the heat rising up your neck.

“I’m just fuckin with ya.” He chuckled, cheeks crinkling in amusement.

“She actually has day off from filming, right now.” You placed the paper cup on the table, fiddling with the cover. “So, at home.”

“Beetlejuice 2, right? Insane gig, you must be proud of her.” He smiled, gauging your reaction.

The smile that creeps up on your face is genuine, “Yeah, I am. They just started filming last week, I know she’s killing it.”

“Have you visited her on set?”

You blushed, not even considering that a possibility. “No uh– not yet.”

“Either way, it’s great. I’m happy for you guys.” He said sincerely, but he sees through you. “But, what’s with the long face?”

You sighed, leaning back. Taking a moment to glance around at the quiet street, it was still early morning and the hustle of the Brit actor’s town was still non-existent.

You’ve known Tom for a long time, meeting him during your stint in the MCU. He’s become a brother of sorts, as you two navigated the Marvel fame throughout all those years. As soon as you landed in England, he was the first person you texted.

“It’s complicated– with Jenna.”

“How so?” He flicked a brow, sipping on his drink.

That prompted a long retelling of how you met the other actress (definitely breaching your contract, but hey, you’ll send over an NDA) the events of SNL, Coachella, the Met, and recently, how you’ve been forced to follow her to London as she films Beetlejuice 2 to support her as she films the follow-up to the iconic horror-classic.

“Wow…” His brows raised in shock, mouth hanging wide open.

You raise an expectant brow. “Well? What should I do?”

“You asking me?” He pointed to himself and if he wasn’t one of your closest friends and Hollywood’s biggest faces, you’d punched him straight.

You huffed, brows knitting together. “Yes, I’m asking you. You and Z are the epitome of a healthy relationship. Tell me what to do.”

Tom rubbed his stubbled jaw, relaxing in his seat as he thought of what to say. “It’s not that easy. Z and I actually want to make it work.”

“What does that mean?” You sat up straighter, a bit defensive.

“Mate, throughout that whole story, you kept talking about this relationship like it was the worst thing in the world. Making up excuses for your actions as to why you can’t open up to Jenna— running away. You guys haven’t talked about anything. She doesn’t know about Vegas, or how you felt about Coachella… You also have yet to apologize for how you disappeared for hours and then acted like an asshole in New York. You just followed her to London, expecting to live under one roof like everything’s alright. It’s a bomb waiting to explode.”

You… couldn’t say anything to that.

He bit back a laugh at your wide-eyed reaction, “Listen, I’m no expert on relationships – I’m still trying to find my way. But one thing I’ve learned, is that when two people want to make it work they will, but that only happens with honest communication. She doesn’t even know how you feel about her… maybe start there.”

“What if it’s too late? What if too much has happened for us to fix things?” You questioned, meeting his kind eyes and allowing him to see the vulnerability in yours.

“Then you start over, build from the ground up.”

You knew his relationship has also seen its fair share of rocky moments. Noting his slew of ex-girlfriends before eventually finding his way back to the Euphoria actress. That made you feel a bit better about your situation.

“Let me ask you this,” He piques up, leaning his elbows on the table, fingers cupping his chin, “what are you so scared of?”

You already know your answer. “I don't want to break her heart.”

He hums, pondering your response, “It sounds like you don’t want her to break yours, mate.”

This time, you’re the one humming as a response, unsure of what to say because he’s right. There’s never been anyone you’ve allowed to get close enough to even break your heart.

The thought that someone could take your heart and stomp on it whenever they wanted is terrifying concept.

“Look,” he speaks up when you don’t answer, “it sounds like you really care about Jenna. I’ve seen pictures of you two, even if you say it’s just for the cameras. I’ve never seen you look so smitten. Talk to her, you never know what could happen if you stop getting in your own way.”

You flushed, choosing not to comment on his words. “Ho-how you’d see the pictures?”

“You two are everywhere and Z sent me that picture of the two of you with her niece. Very cute,” He winked cheekily.

You rolled your eyes. “Alright, I get it. I’ll talk to her.”

“Finally, Link owes me a drink.” He settled back into his seat, sipping on his drink.

You rolled your eyes, shooting the Brit a glare. “You two are annoying.”

But he just chuckled, trying to hide it with a sip of coffee before speaking up again. “Hey, once you get settled here in London, why don’t you come to Monaco with me for the F1 Grand Prix?”

Your gaped at the offer, “You serious?”

“Yeah, it’ll do you some good. Forget about Vegas, the press and Jenna, for a bit?” He leaned in, raising his brows at the proposition, a grin smacked on his teeth. “Me, you, a couple of friends and some cars. What’d ya say?”

You’d take a moment to think over your options but you were already sold.

“I’m in.” You grinned.

***

It’s been three days since you landed in London, following Jenna across the Atlantic Ocean as she filmed Beetlejuice 2. You're still trying to adjust to the time zone difference but that’s really the least of your worries because it’s been terribly awkward living under the same roof as Jenna.

You were seriously considering paying for a hotel during your time here but maybe spending thousands of dollars, or pounds… on a hotel room every night in London for a month straight isn’t the best business decision.

Clearly Jake and Sarah agreed because when you called Jake he said and I quote ‘there’s no other way for you to live anywhere other than with Jenna’ — yeah right.

At least she’s speaking to you — which is a step. Jenna had to fly over to the UK a week earlier and in that time it seems the tensions between you have simmered down. But, her responses are restrained, overly polite, like she didn’t know how to talk to you anymore.

You ignored how your heart clenched at her snipped, cold responses.

“Hi,” She greeted, as soon as you made it down the hallway then living room. Eyes tracking your every move as you shuffled to the kitchen, placing a paper bag atop the counter.

“Hey, how was your day off?” You greeted, glancing up at her momentarily.

“It was alright, I just walked around; got to know the neighbourhood. What about you? You were gone by the time I woke up...” Jenna asked, hating how you averted your gaze from her so quickly these days.

“I met up with a friend over at Kingston.” You replied, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Tom Holland?”

Turning, surprised she knew that but she answered before you could even ask. “I saw some pictures on Instagram.”

You purse your lips, nodding; not really surprised the paparazzi discovered your outing with the Brit actor. The press never sleeps, even when you’re in another continent. “Oh, I see… well, he says hello, by the way.”

Jenna perked up surprised. “He did?”

You nodded but said nothing else.

“You were gone for a while, though.” She added.

“We also grabbed dinner.” You’d usually make an annoyed quip about the sudden interrogation but at this point, you were just glad she’s talking to you.

“Did you have fun?” She asked. You don’t miss the slow, drawled tone that accompanied the question like she was unsure if she should keep the conversation afloat or let it fizzle out.

“Yes, I did actually.” You find yourself saying. A day away from the tenseness in this apartment was a nice change.

Jenna wanted to interject and ask why you looked peeved in the photos and videos she saw. She’s familiar with the tightly wound brows and flared nostrils that you create when you’ve gone off on a rant.

She couldn’t help but wonder what you two were talking about. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and nodded. “That’s nice...”

Sighing under your breath, you try not to make a reaction and set off an argument with the other actress but the awkward responses were getting old and it’s only your third day here. There’s no way you can handle walking on eggshells around her for another minute.

Shufflling closer to the couch where Jenna sat; gaze still tracking you. You send her a timid smile, placing a paper cup atop the table across from her.

A peace offering, of sorts.

“The coffee shop I was at this morning is known for their hot chocolate, so I got you one on the way back.”

She blinked, evidently surprised at the gesture. You take her silence as a chance to sit on the armchair just across.

“Call it a truce?” You added, sending a sheepish smile.

Other than the episode of Breaking Bad playing in the background, it’s dead silent in the apartment.

You didn’t comment on how she rewatching an episode that the two of you had already seen.

Jenna stayed mute, just watching you but reached out for the hot chocolate on the coffee table then leaned back on the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest.

You considered it as an olive branch.

“I’m sorry for how I acted in New York — I know I worried you.” You gauged her reaction but she averted her gaze to the coffee table, on the cup she was fiddling with — anywhere but your own eyes. “You’re right, I am an asshole and I am so, so sorry Jenna. How can I make it up to you?”

Your question finally has her meeting your eyes, voice cold. “You can’t.”

You sighed, “come on, Jen. There has to be something.”

“You can’t because I’m not ready to forgive you yet.” She reiterated and you slumped back against the cushion, defeated.

“Okay…” You accepted. With a slow nod, you stood up about to walk off to your bedroom and lock yourself inside for the remainder of the night.

Maybe you can try again tomorrow.

Jenna huffed, “where are you going?”

Spinning around, confused; you pointed to the closed door down the hall, “my room? I’m giving you space.”

She stands up, agitation etched on her face and placed the paper cup on the wooden table with force. “No, Y/N, that’s not what I want.”

You flick a brow up, still bemused at her sudden hostility. “So, then what do you want, Jenna?”

Probably like her, you were growing tired of the constant fighting and miscommunication that seems to occur every time a serious talk needed to happen.

Her forehead created lines as she raised both brows, “to talk! I want you to talk to me. Open up to me — I never know what you’re actually thinking. You say I’m leading you on but do you even realize that you're doing the same to me?!”

She finished off with a sharp breath and widened eyes like she didn’t expect to reveal all of that.

You take a deep breath, forcing yourself to remember the countless advice you’ve been receiving from everyone. Reminding yourself of the unpleasantness that took home in your chest from being away and fighting with the other actress. You didn’t enjoy receiving the cold shoulder from her.

“That’s not what I was trying to do, I swear.” You tried to say calmly despite your heart hammering widly in your chest; fight or flight instincts begging for you to flee.

She studied you with a cautious gaze, you don’t blame her for not believing you. “I like you, a lot – more than I ever expected.”

Your confession has her brows raising in surprise. Not expecting you to say that. You take her stunned silence as a chance to keep talking.

“I think we both can say that the way we came into each other’s life was less than… conventional.” You chuckled to fill the tense silence, “I’m not exactly sure when or where, but along the way that I started to fall for you.”

You sit back down on the armchair prompting Jenna to perch on the couch, across from you. The space in between you and the other actress feels like a million miles away. Feeling like your nerves are shot from her indecipherable look, alone.

“I really care about you, Jenna and you’re right. I haven’t been honest with you, about anything but especially over Vegas and that’s not fair… so I guess I should start there.”

Jenna can’t even hide her surprise that you’re actually opening up. Never mind confessing how you feel about her. Instead, she keeps her mouth shut and allows you to speak.

“Vegas was just a bad decision. I think I was overwhelmed— I had a busy year last year and nothing was letting up. I begged this… friend that I had to skip town, go to Vegas and fuck shit up. Well, we did. When the cops got to the strip club, I was passed out drunk and Damon—uh the friend, was doing coke beside me. Uh, I'm not really sure what happened next but they took me to jail and next thing I knew I was waking up to someone telling me I’d been bailed out… Jake said they tried to pick us both up for drug charges but when they realized it wasn’t mine, they charged me with a drunken disorderly, instead.”

Somewhere along the way, your gaze dropped in shame, unable to match Jenna’s intense stare. You felt mortified as you recounted the tales of your criminal escapade. It’s not a night you choose to relive or retell for a reason, and definitely not a story that you want Jenna knowing.

But she’s right, she is as deep in this mess as you are. She deserves to know the whole story if you two had to keep this PR stunt going for another year. And if this relationship had any real chance of surviving.

“I heard about it… when it first happened. Sarah was the one to tell me about the coke, that’s why I called you a drug user when we first met…” Jenna admitted, “she said it wasn’t yours but then that headline claimed it was dropped before the Met and you didn’t say anything—“

“I know, I know and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to say something.” You hesitated. You’ve never done well at being confronted with the repercussions of your bad decisions, much less having to explain them. “I was scared—“

Your voice cracked, cursing inwardly you fought through the unpleasant thickness in your throat. That makes Jenna meet your eyes, watching as you blinked away the tears beginning to cloud your vision.

Her gaze softens… never seeing you so vulnerable. Continuing to observe you for a few seconds before giving in, “come here.”

You look up at her extended hand and how she patted the open space next to her. Your legs work against you, already standing to walk over and sit.

When you do, she’s turning her whole body to find your eyes. This time her body language is open and inviting rather than the reserved, tense stature you’ve grown accustomed to.

“Sorry…” You wiped the corner of your eyes.

She shakes her head, “don’t be.”

You clear your throat, forcing yourself to meet her kind eyes. She waits for you to patiently speak.

“I was scared.” You repeated.

“I was scared of my feelings for you. That week at your parents' house… was the first time I felt welcomed in a long time. It’s just been me and Link and L.A. for so long, I-I forgot what it was like to have a village around you. I’m sorry if your family sees me differently now.”

You felt a pang of shame wash over you. But Jenna’s shaking her head, scooting closer — knees touching. “They don’t. My dad and sisters are a little mad but they actually pushed me to talk to you — even when I was mad. They know how the media loves to twist things, they’ve seen it with me, so they try to not pay attention to it.”

She doesn’t know how you did it but you have somehow won her overprotective family over.

Jenna’s week away from you was needed yet miserable at the same time. After your drunken rant, Jenna was the one who found herself running away. Knowing that this time, she was the one who couldn’t be around you.

Your words hurt, for lack of a better explanation. The way you spewed them so easily, so surely, was a memory that she replayed over and over again while she was giving you the cold shoulder.

It almost made her give in… to cut the tie with you. Give you what you want — be left alone. But then she remembers her conversation with Hailee, with her mom, with her sisters, with everybody who’s been around you.

It’s comical how everyone can see it but you two.

As if it were written in the stars, a divine intervention seems to always save you two just before the brink of no return. When Jenna found out you were being forced to live with her in London for a month while she films Beetlejuice 2 and you — well she doesn’t know what work you’re doing here yet because she can’t get herself to say more than two words to you — she didn’t know if she should be happy or dreading it.

But then you landed and it’s been a tense weekend since your arrival. You and her seem to share the sentiment of not knowing how to act or speak around the other. Jenna started leaning on dreading it the longer the awkward conversations occurred.

But now you’re here, opening up.

“Are you sure?” You asked a bit croaky; throat a bit tight.

You stare into the other actress’ dark orbs and for the first time ever, it feels like you can finally read her. Hesitantly, she reached out to grasp your hand, firmly clasping it. “I’m sure.”

Clenching your jaw, you try to keep the clouding in your vision at a minimum. Inhaling a sharp stuttered breath, you nodded, “g-good.”

“I’m sorry for how I’ve handled everything since meeting you. It was a lot… dealing with the hate, the arrest and then suddenly realizing how I feel about you. So I ran — like I always do, and that makes me an asshole ‘cause I hurt you. I can deal with everyone being angry with me, I'm used to it. But I can’t stand it coming from you… So you can be mad, but I won’t stop trying to make it up to you.”

Jenna sees nothing but honesty in your fierce, unblinking gaze. It has her heart thudding rudely in her rib cage. She blinked, trying to control her wavering voice, “You’re right… you never talked about Vegas until the last minute and that wasn’t fair of you. But I also never asked you about it either, even though I knew some of the story. I thought we’d do this PR stunt and then go on with our lives….”

You sniffled, eyes feeling scratchy as you listened to her side. You couldn’t keep the stray tear that ran down your cheek at bay. Looking down, you missed Jenna’s softening eyes.

Moving to wipe away the tear, embarrassment ran through you instantly. You tried to pull away from Jenna’s grasp to wipe it but she grabbed it back, tightening her grip. Then she bring her free hand up, swiping the wetness away with a gentle touch that you didn’t feel deserving of.

She squeezed your hand, as she feels you freeze at her ministrations. Your cheek burns against her soft palm. “But, then you met my family and spent time with us and… suddenly you weren’t so bad. Y/N, I like you too.”

This felt like a breakthrough or a light at the very end of a long, dark tunnel in your relationship.

“So do I.” You repeated timidly, allowing your cheek to rest against her steady hand. Granting the grounding touch despite your racing nerves.

“I’m sorry about what I said in New York,” she swipes her thumb across your cheek, averting her eyes to glance at her actions. You watch her as she does so.

“You're not an asshole. You’re actually one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met… when you want to be.” Her eyes flicker back to you, a hint of a smile playing on her lips as she gauges your reaction. You couldn’t help the laugh that escapes; easing the slight tension that’s built in the room. “I was just so angry about being left out that I decided to lash out at you. I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean any of it.”

“I forgive you.” You decided to be brave and placed a reassuring hand on her knee. Jenna watches your eyes, not saying anything. Only removing her hand from your cheek to brush some hair away from your sight. Then she drops her palm to rest atop your still-conjoined hands.

“I really, really like you.” She confesses just above a whisper.

“So do I.” You chimed in quickly. She sends you an amused smile before clearing her throat. That’s when you realized it, “but I’m sensing a but...”

You watch as her grin contorts sadly, as she sighed heavily, “it’s not the right time.”

Feeling a pang of disappointment, you nodded nevertheless, averting your eyes. “Oh.”

If somehow there was space between the two of you, there certainly isn’t any, now, as she moved closer, feeling like skin pressing against one another is the only thing that can ground the younger actress.

“I feel like we went from hating each other to being thrown in New York – SNL.” Jenna tilts her head down, hoping to meet your gaze again, it proves fruitful when she grabs your glance. “Us.. in that dressing room, I know you felt it too.”

Breathing out carefully, you confessed. “I did.”

Jenna sent you a pleased smile, “Then you left for Coachella and I was mad at you again… I even made your driver take you to my parents just so I could see you again cause even when I was mad – I couldn’t stop thinking about almost kissing you.”

Your heart thumped as she confessed everything.

“My mom set us up with the single bed thing, though.” Jenna laughed as joined. The thought of her family secretly rooting for you two had your stomach in a twist. “The way you were with my family that week… I don’t know. I started seeing you differently and I couldn’t help but kiss you before your performance…”

“I wasn’t complaining.” You shook your head.

“Shut up.” She smacked your arm, making you smile. “We skipped so many steps and just jumped into the relationship part.”

“Yeah… we did.”

“I want to make this work but I think—“

“I got a lot of shit to figure out.” You chuckled, cutting her off.

“We got a lot of shit to figure out.” She corrected. “And in between filming Beetlejuice–”

“I understand, Jen.” You squeezed her hand.

“I need some time, to figure all of this out because I wanna do it right – with you.” Her voice drops to a whisper. You try to disregard how her gaze fell lower, finding your lips.

Mentally wishing the other actress can’t hear how loudly your heart is thumping.

“I’ll be here waiting.”

It wasn’t the conclusion you expected but it felt like a step in the right decision. She’s right, there is a lot that you two need to figure out. Separately and together. Her eyes snap back to you, looking relieved, like it was exactly what she needed to hear.

“I’m not saying I’m not open to never, possibly– you know.” Jenna blushed, as she stumbled over her words. “But I’d like us to be friends first, get to know each other before we pursue that. I-Is that okay?”

You felt bolder at her confession, finally knowing how she feels about you. Bringing your entwined hands up, you place a delicate kiss on her the top of her hands. “That’s okay, I’ll be here when you’re ready for me.”

“You’re already breaking the rules…” She jokes but her tone sounded wispy as she stared down at the way your lips ghosted over her hand.

You flick a brow, “we have rules?”

She sends you a pointed look, calling your name flatly.

Rolling your eyes, you lean back, dropping her hands. “Right, sorry… friends definitely don’t do that.”

“You’re an idiot.” You didn’t know an insult could sound better than any piece of music you’ve ever listened to. She hasn’t called you that since Coachella. You think, the term of endearment is starting to grow on you, having missed her reciprocated banter more than anything.

“Yeah… I am.” You respond, fondly memorizing every speckle in her kind, dark orbs staring back into yours. It sends a shiver down your spine.

How could you ever think of letting her go?

***

it only took eight fucking chapters but I did say slow burn…😭

***

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#legally binded #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega x fem!reader #jenna ortega x you #jenna ortega #wednesday netflix

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classypauli · 1 year ago

Text

She’s the Man

Pairing: Jenna Ortega x fem Reader

A/N: Heyy so we are getting closer to an end, probably chapter 6 will be the last, I´m still trying to figure out the epilogue and how to end it so if you have some recommendations I´m all ears hah biggest thank you for the support you are giving me! Appreciate it so much <3

Warning: spelling errors, grammar mistakes, curse words

Word count: 2.9k

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Jenna cried. She couldn´t understand why would you do that. After she rushed out of the coffee shop, she went to her dorm room. Not long after Emma was calling her asking where she was. The brown-eyed girl couldn´t even say what happened because of how hard she was sobbing.

The worst part about it was that she didn´t expect it from you. You were the last person who was like that, you would never behave like this. She also thought that maybe it wasn´t you. That was just someone who looked like you, she didn´t even see you from the front after all. But the girl called your name. That was you. Kissing another girl.

No, you didn´t cheat, technically you and Jenna weren´t together. But it hurts like a bitch. Like someone stabbed right into her heart. Your glarings, and touchings were fake, your kiss was fake. Now when she is thinking about it and how you acted so good, looking like someone so innocent and shy, she came to the idea that she didn´t even know you. She didn´t know the true you.

Yet, she fell in love with the pretender.

Y/N was running, she wanted to catch Jenna while she still had confidence in her. The rain got pretty bad and she didn´t have an umbrella. That was to be honest the last thing on her mind. She went straight to the girl's dorms and ran to Jenna´s room. She finally made it there, her heart was beating from the adrenaline she was feeling. She knocked hard on the door and kept waiting for Jenna to open it. Y/N was thinking about all the things she wanted to say and about the possibilities of how to start. She knew Jenna would understand, she would get it. The girl knocked again a little harder this time, took a short step back, and waited.

The door opened and Emma walked out, a surprised look on her face as she saw you. Her eyes traveled around your body and your wet clothes. She then shot you a disappointed look. What? You didn´t understand? Was it about how you look? Did you look that bad?

Emma was also shocked at your behavior, almost didn´t believe her friend because how could someone as sweet as you do something like this? But why would Jenna lie? She knew her friend and knew when she was crying, it was something serious.

„What are you doing here?“ Emma asked you with a bitter voice. Like she didn´t want to speak with you.

„Uhm- Can I- I ne- C-Could you please call Jenna? I need to talk to her.“ You said in a rushed voice looking behind her shoulder if you caught the girl you were so desperately looking for.

„No, I don´t think she can talk to you right now.“

What? What was she talking about? Maybe she was busy or not feeling good. But you need to talk to her, you need to tell her about everything!

„Please Emma can you call her-“

„Charlie, I don´t think she wants to talk to you anymore, can you just go?“

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. She doesn´t want to talk to you? Suddenly another person walked beside Emma, looking for the intruder. Gideon looked at you with so much anger in her eyes.

„You can´t be serious right now.“ Venom in her voice was heard and you got chills down your spine. What was happening? „You got that much impudence in you? To walk here after what you have done?!“

„What?“ you asked in a quiet voice, not understanding „I don´t kno-“

„You don´t know?!“ Gideon was now mad, not only did you have some much confidence to walk there but you were even acting like you didn´t know what you had done.

„Get the fuck away!“ The girls must admin, your acting skills are amazing, they would maybe believe you if Jenna wasn´t their friend. Looking like a lost puppy with innocent eyes and hands grabbing onto your wet hoodie.

„P-Please guys I really do-“ You wanted to ask what was going on. You were afraid something happened to Jenna. Both girls were pushed aside and between them stood Jenna, looking small as ever, hair down, arms folded.

„Jenna I was looking for you! I need to say something to you-“

„Oh you don´t have to anymore.“ She laughed dryly looking at you now, her eyes were red from crying „I already know.“

What? No, that can´t be. But who told her? How did she find out? Your nerves were now on the top and it was harder for you to breathe. The palms of your hands were now sweaty and your throat felt like someone put stones in there. She knew. She knew about it. She knew now you weren´t Charlie, but only Y/N.

„Jenna I-I wanted to say it to you I swear but I-“

„So now you wanted to tell me? After everything? I think you had enough time to say it to me…“ She was looking at you with broken eyes, lip trembling.

,,I-I thought that after that w-we could be-“

Jenna’s eyes darkered ,,What? That we could be something more?” She laughed at you but her smile didn’t match her eyes. ,,I’d never be with someone like you.” Jenna said in low tone looking at you with no emotion, lip trembling. „I-I don´t want to see you anymore…cause when I look at you… I can only think of that.“

Jenna regretted her words as soon as it left her mouth. She had never seen you like this, your vulnerable eyes were immersed in hers and as the words were leaving her lips, she could see the lights fading away. The girl wanted to take it back, say that she didn´t mean it and she wanted you. But why does it feels like she´s the one who´s making the mistake? She just wanted to protect her heart so why you are the one who´s looking more affected?

Tears started to form in your eyes. You disgusted the only girl that made you feel something. You disgusted the girl you fell in love with. Now she hated you she hated you for who you truly are. A girl. You quickly turned around and started walking away as fast as you could with your head down. Away from everyone. You wanted to curl somewhere and be there for the rest of your life.

Sitting in a bathtub, looking up at the ceiling. Y/N doesn´t know how long it has been, her tears already run up and her eyelids are barely up. She was just lying there, doing nothing. This was the only room she would have some privacy, it would look strange if she was like this in front of her roommate. She didn´t want him to see her in this state. Broken. Uninterested. Numb. Is this what a broken heart feels like?

A knock on the door was heard again. Since Percy noticed that the bathroom doors were locked he knew you could be the only one there. He let you be there but after almost 20 minutes without any sound, he became a little worried, so he started asking if you were okay and if you needed help with something.

He became different. After the incident, he entered his conscience and knew that he was the wrong one. Hunter and Georgie knew what happened, you don´t like to talk about other people's business but this was quite serious, they needed to know what their friend did. After that, they told him what they thought about it and how disappointed they were in him, even stopped talking to him. That´s when he knew he was wrong.

He liked Jenna… but not only his feelings were important. You can´t just change your heart. He tried to apologize but every time she saw him, she turned around to walk away or started talking to someone by her side. He let her be, didn´t want to add to her fear. Percy started to focus on himself more and now he felt a lot better. He wasn´t in his obsessed bubble anymore. He wanted to be better and find his way to his best friends again.

„Charlie if you don´t open the door I´m going to break them.“ He was giving his roommate an ultimatum right now. Y/N closed her eyes, that name, wasn´t her name. Before she could drown in her thoughts again Percy started to count. The girl sighed and stood up from the bathtub, supporting herself with her arms, and walking slowly to the door. She didn´t want him to hurt himself or break the door. That would be another pointless explanation to the people.

She opened the door and he looked at her. Tired eyes met him and now he knew something happened.

„Are you okay?“ he asked still his eyes wandering around her body carefully. The girl only looked at him, slowly walking to her bed. Y/N knew this was almost a big finale. And now she had nothing to lose.

The next day Y/N woke up around 9am, and she started to get ready, Percy asked her if she wanted to go somewhere and spend time together. She was glad cause he truly meant it and he wanted her to get better. If she wasn´t going to meet her brother she would say yes.

„Y/N!“ the girl looked up from her spot and saw Charlie. She immediately stood up from her spot and ran to him. She felt like crying, finally seeing her twin after a long time. He hugged her strongly, Y/N doesn´t hug her brother a lot, only on special occasions. How tight her arms held him he almost wasn´t sure this was his sister. They stepped back and started laughing at each other.

„I missed you.“

„No, I missed you!“ Charlie smiled and put his arm around her shoulder, walking into the small restaurant. Back then, before this chaos, they used to go to all of these small restaurants and try food. It didn´t matter what kind of food it was, they were big eaters.

„How have you been? Tell me everything“ Y/N asked her brother sitting opposite her. She wanted to forget about the past weeks, so it was safe to start with him, with something more fun. But she truly wanted to know how it went and if he enjoyed his tour.

„Oh my God Y/N… I don´t even know where to start it was too good!“ his voice went higher and his pupils expanded. „the atmosphere and the people… it was something I wished everyone to happen…“ he smiled „I can´t put it in the right words!“

So they talked and talked, there was so much to talk about. Y/N felt truly happy after such a long period she was feeling relaxed. Like she was her again.

„Charlie I-… there´s something I need to tell you.“ Y/N stopped eating and sighed, waiting for her brother´s full attention. They both felt the vibe switch, he raised an eyebrow at his sister, also stopped eating and now looking at her.

„When you were gone… I got close to someone and…“ she started to play with her hands under the table, head down almost as if she felt shame. Charlie straightened his back, trying to find something more in her words, looking for some hint.

„Oh God, it´s all my fault.“ She put her head into her hands, biting her lip as she didn´t even know where to start. Charlie stood up from his spot, sitting beside his sister pulling her a little closer to him. Seeing her like this hurts him, it was the first time he could see her in this state.

„Hey, hey, Y/N, it´s okay, I´m sure whatever it is, it will gonna be oka-“

„No, it won´t Charlie! I literally ruined everything! The person I cared about the most now hates me and I can´t even fix it!“ Y/N started breathing heavily barely catching her breath.

It was hard to get something out of you. But somehow you found your voice again and told him everything. How you met with Jenna, got her as a lab partner, about your late-night movies, how you were almost every day hanging out and texting, spending time together. Even your kiss. You didn´t forget to tell him how you wanted to tell her about you not being him, but before you could tell her, she already knew. And how she didn´t want to see you again, how she looked at you as if she was disgusted by your presence. Charlie was now confused, how would she know? Maybe she saw you? Or did someone hear your call? He didn´t want to play detective, now he wanted to be here for his sister. He held her shaking shoulders strongly, trying to calm her down. Charlie didn´t know how to help or if there was something that could help you.

„I love her Charlie…“ you sniffed softly leaning into his shoulder „It hurts so much.“

Her brother's eyes started to burn a little, he bit inside of his cheek to hold him against falling tears. He kissed his sister's forehead and held her tight.

„It´s gonna be okay…“ he whispered looking up from his sister at the ceiling.

Y/N was walking back to her dorm, headphones playing her favorite song, slowly taking step by step, trying to focus on the world around her. She needed to put herself together for the game, it started in a couple of hours and she barely ate anything. Charlie noticed that his sister almost didn´t even touch her plate, but he let it be even though he was worried. The sun was shining through the clouds today, which created a pleasant feeling inside of her, despite what happened yesterday. The girl tried so badly to hold it inside of her, all the feelings and thoughts. It physically hurted her. She didn´t choose this, her whole life it was so difficult to let someone close to her, Y/N barely liked someone. Of course, there were people she found likable but none of them created inside of her a feeling of love. No one except her.

She made it to the dorm building and saw her. Jenna was walking out, probably going somewhere, looking beautiful as always, yet somehow different. Y/N saw her eyes finding hers and the taller girl immediately looked down. Feeling guilty must be something she felt a lot these past weeks. Being afraid that Jenna would say something to her so she started walking faster. She saw you and stopped for a millisecond, her head moving with your body. Jenna´s chest burned, from the feelings of madness, anger, sadness, and disappointment. But also from love. She knew her heart would be able to forgive you, it screamed for you. And every step you took away from her, felt like a stab straight to her chest. Yet, she didn’t move.

Today she will have her last football match. As her brother. Charlie will also come. At this point they don´t care someone could see him. Preparing herself, putting her clothes into the bag… she wanted to enjoy every bit of it.

Y/N came into the changing room, the coach wasn´t there yet, so she still had some time. Mason waved at her, saving her spot beside him. He could tell something was off with you. You were like this over a week already but today was much worse. He didn´t want to say anything but he was only hoping you could focus on today´s game.

„Okay, gentlemen! This will be short, this last weeks we trained hard for them, we know their game, and there´s nothing they can make us surprised with! I want you to play like we are in practice! Play fast and smart! Now go!“ he tapped each player on the back and stood beside the line in his significant position.

Y/N looked around the tribune, there were a lot of people today. Students were wearing their university hoodies, chanting, and clapping with their hands to make the atmosphere better. On the top row of chairs was Charlie, he got his arms up for her to see and shot her thumbs up. The girl didn´t forget to look around if she saw the brown-eyed girl, it became a habit of hers. She was sitting there every time Y/N was on the football field. But not this time. The girl sighed and turned around to look at her teammates. They were helping themselves warm up. Y/N needed to concentrate, this was her probably last game. Everybody got to their positions and the whistle was heard. Just like that, the game started.

Throughout the match you managed to score one goal, it was balanced. Their players were quick and even their communication was amazing. Now the score was 3:3 and you were almost at the end, you got to think fast. Your coach was walking back and forth frustrated, the tribune got somehow louder and everybody was yelling.

Now you were standing almost in the middle of the field, running around, making yourself free from the opponents. They got a bit touchy as it was nearly the end and were now trying to defend themselves with their bodies. You finally got the ball and ran, they couldn´t stop you, everything got quiet and you could only hear your breath. Your mouth was dry your throat was trying to catch every oxygen around, legs were running burning with weariness. Your vision became narrow and you could now barely see the ball. Suddenly you felt sharp pain in your knee and someone´s weight on you. Whistle was heard and that was one of the last things you managed to get.

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