𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ᵉˡᵃᵛᵃⁿ!

── 𝐮 𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞! ──

"I'm just...I think I need some air," Liz fibbed shyly as Ariana arched an eyebrow, shrugging defeatedly as Liz stood up, walking outside their dressing room. "I just need to be alone for a bit, maybe run my lines on my own," Liz murmured after hearing Ariana's footsteps behind her, grabbing her script off the table as she disappeared out the door, leaving Ariana dumbfounded as she sighed, shaking her head as she wondered what she would do with Liz and her secrecy.

ཻུ♡ ⋆ ༉‧₊˚

Liz wandered the set of Victorious curiously, not having the chance to check out much of the set. She walked up and down the various sets, in a trance of sorts as she imagined what it would be like to call this set her second home. It was so similar and yet so different to what working on Broadway was like, she was thankful that she got to share the experience with Ariana at least.

She'd never been one particularly good with change so having familiar people and things around helped her make the adjustment. Running her fingers gently through her brown hair, her eyes fell on the dyed streaks as she smiled, heart beating out of her chest as she anticipated filming. She'd gotten her hair and make-up done and was now left to wait around till Dan called them all to film. 

Curiously, she opened the next closed door she saw after seeing many crew members bustling about, not wanting to get in anyone's way as she stumbled into the set of what was meant to be Hollywood Arts' black box. She smiled to herself, reminded of what it was like to be in her own school's black box before she started acting professionally, remembering how she could spend hours cooped up in the black box and time would fly past without a warning.

She climbed onto the makeshift stage with a small smile on her lips, bringing her knees close to her chest as she rested her chin on her knees, breathing deeply as she closed her eyes for a while, trying to ground herself in reality rather than drift off into wonderland again. She was eerily silent, as was the rest of the room, only able to hear the sound of her own breathing when her head jolted upwards at the sound of footsteps approaching and the door hinges squeaking slightly, revealing a shadowy figure lurking in the doorway.

"Damn...I thought for sure I'd be the only one sneaking away for some peace and quiet." 

"Holy shit!" Liz exclaimed in surprise, nearly tumbling off the stage as her eyes fell on the boy lingering in the doorway. "Oh my God...I'm s-so sorry, I really didn't mean to explode at you like that," Liz apologized timidly, feeling so shy all of a sudden as the boy stared at her curiously, daunting brown eyes watching her as she realized just who it was.

"L-Liz...right?" He spoke up hesitantly, waving meekly at her as her lips parted into a smile before she could think twice. "It's A-Avan...from the audition...if you remember me. I mean...you have no reason to but like-"

"Y-yeah," Liz stammered, interrupting him breathlessly as they smiled stupidly at each other, Liz standing up from where she stayed seated as he too walked towards hers, the pair meeting halfway as Liz bit her bottom lip. "I remember you...from the audition, I do," Liz continued, speaking before she could second guess herself as he smiled, happy to have left an impression on the girl who left one on him as well. 

"Hi," he whispered softly, lips curling upwards in that signature boyish smile of his as she bit back a smile, nodding her head slightly in his direction. "Guess who's gonna be working together?" He offered with a half-hearted chuckle as she laughed quietly, suppressing a smile as he smirked at her, "come on, Liz...just smile, you know you want to."