All For Show

Couple's Interview

Things with Joe and Evelyn were going great. They had slowly become friends and actually enjoyed their time together. Joe's fans believed everything which made his reputation almost instantly improve.

A couple of weeks after the premiere, Joe and Evelyn had tried to go to lunch but got surrounded by paparazzi. He pulled her into a bank, making sure they couldn't see her as they ran past.

"You okay?" He asked, looking down at her.

"I'm fine," she said, letting out a sigh of relief. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, Joe."

"I thought things would calm down," Joe said, clearing his throat to get rid of the sudden tightness. "But it seems like things have only gotten crazier."

"Welcome to dating Evelyn Jones," she sighed sarcastically. She was about to walk away, but Joe grabbed her hand.

"A price worth paying."

The tension thickened between the two of them as they stared at each other.

"Ms. Evelyn?!"

And just like that, the tension evaporated. They turned around to see Henry running into the bank.

"Are you alright?" He asked, glancing between the two.

"We're fine," Evelyn soothed him. Joe noticed her shift back to her Hollywood persona. "Joe got me out of there."

"Oh," Henry said, glancing at Joe. "Thank you, Mr. Joe."

"Of course," Joe said, turning his attention back to Evelyn.

Henry cleared his throat before going back to being formal. "Ms. Evelyn, you and Mr. Joe have an interview across town in an hour. We should get going."

"I forgot about that," Evelyn sighed.

"Maybe we could reschedule," Joe offered.

"It's fine," she cleared her throat. "You're right, Henry. Let's go."

They left the bank without any further discussion. As soon as they stepped outside, they were swarmed by the paparazzi they thought they lost. Joe instinctively reached out, grabbed Evelyn's hand, and pulled her closer to him. When they got to the car, Henry opened the door and Joe let Evelyn go in first.

Joe got in and sat next to her. He looked over and saw her playing with her fingers. He leaned over and whispered, "Remind me again why I agreed to do this."

Evelyn giggled as she leaned over and replied, "Because people need to see us together, Joe. Especially if we want them to believe that we're an us."

"Right," he elongated as he leaned back. Evelyn looked away, struggling to get rid of the sudden butterflies. Joe, however, was enjoying the lighthearted, playful mood between the two of them.

* * * * *

"First task," the interviewer said a little too cheerfully, "is easy. A staring contest."

"What?" Joe and Evelyn said in sync, both chuckling.

"You stare into each other's eyes and the first to break loses. Best out of five rounds."

"What do we win?" Joe asked, sending Evelyn a teasing wink.

"Bragging rights," the interviewer laughed with a small shrug. Evelyn and Joe shared a look.

"Is it too late to pass?" Evelyn asked.

"Come on, Eve," Joe said, jumping up and down, making her giggle. "We can do this."

"Without laughing," the interviewer added with a smirk towards Evelyn. "I'm pretty sure you'll win."

"Hey!" Joe said, trying to be hurt. He ended up laughing.

"Well," the guy chuckled, "one, she's Evelyn Jones. And two, you already lost."

"This is going to be easy," Evelyn laughed. "Let's do this."

"Alright. Staring contest, no laughing. And go!"

Evelyn instantly put on her RBF. It only took Joe two seconds before he broke.

"That was almost too easy," Evelyn smirked at the interviewer.

"Wait!" Joe said, still laughing. "Let's try it again."

"Alright," the interviewer shrugged. "Go."

Joe broke. Again.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Joe chuckled. He cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. "I swear I can do this."

"Go," the interviewer started again.

"I'm sorry," Joe laughed the second he broke again. "I can't stop."

"Am I that ugly?" Evelyn asked, trying to be funny but Joe saw a little bit of worry in her eyes.

"Of course not!" Joe said quickly as he grabbed her hands, closing the gap between them. "You're not ugly, Evelyn. You're beautiful. I'm just awkward."

Evelyn's face burned as Joe reassuringly squeezed her hands.

"Let's do this one more time. I swear, I can do this," he said a little too seriously, making her laugh.

"Bring it on, Steve Harrington," Evelyn smirked.

Joe broke again making Evelyn break too. "That's on you!" He laughed, pointing his finger at Evelyn.

"What?" She asked, putting her hands up in defense. She shrieked when Joe playfully charged her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around. As the couple teased each other, the crew laughed.

"When you guys are ready," the interviewer interrupted with a small chuckle, "we still have another exercise."

"Sorry," they said in sync as Joe finally let Evelyn go and they returned to their spots.

"Exercise two," the interviewer began to explain, "give each other compliments. Joe, you're first."

"Okay," he said, finally calming down. "Evelyn, I think you are the most down-to-earth, kind-hearted, sweet woman I have ever met. I still can't believe that you agreed to go out with me. I think every day about how I am the luckiest guy in Hollywood that the Evelyn Jones would look my way. You've truly changed me, Evelyn. In a good way."

The entire room was silent after Joe's compliment. His heart jumped into his throat when he saw the slight tears building in Evelyn's eyes.

"Evelyn? Are you okay? What's wrong?" He glanced around to see everyone staring at him. "Okay, seriously. What's going on?"

"We're just. . ." The interviewer started but didn't finish.

"Surprised," Evelyn finished for them. Joe opened his mouth to say something but Evelyn closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her waist.

Evelyn cleared her throat, slowly letting him go.

"Okay," the interviewer hesitated to interrupt. "Evelyn, you're turn."

Evelyn looked back at Joe, her heart instantly jumping into her throat. Her throat tightened around her neck when he gently grabbed her hands.

"Joe," she started slowly, "you continually surprise me. To be honest, a lot of people questioned us when we first started going out. But they didn't see the real you. I've been lucky enough to see that version of you. I think you should show more people. You're a wonderful guy, Joe. You shouldn't hide him. Let other people see how truly amazing you are."

The tension was thick as the interview wrapped up and they left. As they headed to Henry and the car waiting, Joe reached over and took her hand. He felt himself relax when she intertwined their fingers. The car ride home was silent. Joe looked over to see Evelyn staring out the window.

"You okay?" He asked under his breath. Evelyn looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"I'm great," she whispered. "I think the interview went well."

"Me too," Joe smiled. "It couldn't have gone better."