#but she's like oh I was cold Gil lent it to me isn't that sweet

[softquietsteadylove]

Thena. A movie premiere with Gil. Very intrusive Paparazzis. For the actor au 👀

It was a barrage of flashes as soon as they were out of the car. Of course they couldn't expect otherwise. The movie was a huge hit, and with them playing leads in a studio hit again, they were bound to have press at their heels.

But this was insane. Gil wasn't sure if he'd ever been swarmed by fans and paparazzi alike in such a way. There were cameras everywhere, people holding out things for signing, screams on all sides.

Gil reached back before Thena put her feet to the red carpet. His hand closed around hers. "Don't let go."

Thena had done some modelling work over the summer, and with a few other projects she'd done coming out, she was the hottest commodity of the year. She had always been a star, but it really seemed like she couldn't take a step outside without being photographed.

And that wasn't good. It meant he had a harder time seeing her outside of work.

Gil held his hand out. Security was already on either side of them, flanking their exit and direct route into the building for the screening. He kept Thena's hand in his, tight but not enough to hurt her.

"Thena! Thena, can you sign this? Thena, we love you!"

All the voices blended together into one monstrous hivemind. Thena did her best to sign a few things. She couldn't see from all the flashes in her face, and he could tell she couldn't.

Fighting through as best he could, he eventually made it to the doorway. He looked around. A few of his security guys were with him, but Thena's weren't. And Thena wasn't either.

"What the hell?" he glared at them.

They looked affronted. They were hired for his security, after all.

But Gil growled at them, "you just left her there?!"

They had no response. Gil pushed back into the crowd, which was a hellish mass of undulating bodies at this point. Thena was surrounded on all sides. He could barely see the top of her blonde head amidst the chaos.

"Please, back up, just-" Thena was trying to reason with them, but they were pushing and shoving and deafeningly loud. There were placards and books and magazines being shoved at her from all angles. "Back up!"

Gil shoved a few people out of his way. This was beyond out of control. "She said back up!"

"Hey!" the guy most in her personal space protested to being pushed. He had some big photo of her printed on a canvas, shoving it at her for it to be signed. "What's the-"

Gil tossed the thing aside, grasping the jackass by the front of his shirt. "You don't fucking crowd her like that."

The dirt bag was easy to toss, like the trash he was. The security guys around her were trying to keep people at bay, although he didn't know how hard they were trying, since they certainly weren't fucking succeeding at anything.

He took Thena's hand in both of his, refusing to let it slip away from again. He pulled her with him, closer, keeping people away by any means necessary, if it meant kneeing, elbowing, shoulder checking.

He didn't pause at the doorway, either. Only once they were inside and the door was closed did he lean away from her at all. He glared at her security, who were shaking out their jackets. "What the fuck were you doing out there?! Because it certainly wasn't your jobs!"

"Gil," Thena put her hand on his chest.

"How the hell did anyone get that close to her?!" he bellowed at them. Although, by the second time Thena called to him his eyes were on her. He smoothed down the odd hair of hers that had gotten tousled in it all. He tilted his head. "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt, did you? Did anyone put their hands on you?"

His hands would be laid on anyone who did, was his point. But Thena shook her head, straightening herself out after the anarchy. He could see on her pale skin where people had pushed and shoved and grabbed.

Thena looked up at him as he slipped the fallen strap of her dress back onto her shoulder. Finally, she managed a small smile for him. "Thanks for the save."

He was happy to save her. But he had never considered it saving her before because there hadn't been any peril quite like that. He looked at the security again. "I'm serious, how was anyone able to just come up and get that close to her? Isn't your job to keep people away from her?"

"Look, it's crazy out there," one made a pitiful attempt at defending their poor performance. "We did what we could."

"Really?" Gil's face darkened. He put his hands on Thena's arms. He could feel her shaking. "Because I seemed to do a lot better than you guys at keeping those animals off of her, so tell me right now why I shouldn't ask each and every one of you to be replaced?"

No one had an answer to that.

He could try to beat it into their skulls how useless they were all night. But he had more important priorities. He pulled his jacket off, leaving himself in the mockneck sweater he had worn underneath. Once it was on Thena's shoulders - completely dwarfing her tiny frame - he put his hand at the small of her back.

"You'll get a reputation," she said, either chiding him or amused by him. "Acting like a beast while you're ushering me away from people."

"I think 'people' is being kind of generous in this situation," he scoffed, letting his disgust ring out loud and clear. "That's no way to behave."

Thena sighed. "It is the craziest I've seen it in some time. I may have to stop signings again, just until people can calm down. Unless the studio can arrange barricaded carpets."

They were going to work out something, Gil was certain of it. Because he wasn't going to watch Thena's bodily safety come into question like it just did. He leaned closer. "Are you sure you're okay? It was pretty scary in there."

She smiled, and he could tell she was trying to put on a brave front. But he knew he had felt her trembling when he'd touched her arm. "I admit, when they came over me like a tidal wave I didn't quite know what to do with myself. The others were there with me, but in one instant--I don't know, I lost sight of everyone."

How it was possible for her security to allow her to lose sight of them, he didn't know. But Gil swallowed that feeling. It wasn't constructive and it wasn't what Thena needed now.

"So, when I say thanks for saving me," she continued, putting her hand on his arm as they started climbing the stairs. "I mean it, now more than ever."

He put his hand over hers, letting her hold onto his arm properly while her other hand pulled her dress just enough to allow her to walk up each step. "I'll always be here to save you, Thena."

She let out a fluttery kind of laugh, although he couldn't see when she was looking away from him. "Don't say things like that."

"It's true," he protested. He could feel some of the tension leave her the further away from the screaming they got. "Those security guards may not be worth shit but I'd like to see anyone try what they tried tonight if they know I'm there."

He thought he was making her laugh; putting on a front, flexing for her like some dumb, macho tough guy. But she eyed his bicep in the half sleeve of the sweater, then looked up at him. And then she was blushing, out of nowhere.

He cleared his throat, finding himself flustered as well. Once at the top of the stairs, Thena didn't really need to hold onto him anymore. He paused, letting them catch their breath. "Are you ready?--to go in there, I mean."

She sighed, smaller than the last one, though. She nodded, her expression solidifying into more of the fearless Thena he had come to know. She looked at his jacket swaying around her like a cloak. "Won't you need this back? I'm sure your stylist will have something to say about me stealing it."

He kept imagining that creep's hands, how they had come so close to grasping her pristine ivory skin. He shook his head, helping her fan her hair out. "The oversized blazer look is a thing, and everything looks good on you."

Gil blushed again; he really had to stop saying these things to his very trusted and respected colleague.

Thena gave him a more sheepish smile as she adjusted her hold on his arm. "It's my armour, to protect me from the wilderness outside."