Falling for a Star (Complete)

Chapter 18 - Talking for Hours

After dancing for a while, we went back over to the table and finished our food, before eventually heading home. When we got back to the house, the first thing I did was take off the disguise, pulling the latex nose and ears off and then the wig. I jumped in the shower to wash off all the glue and makeup.

When I got out, I finally felt like my old self again. I put on some pajama pants and ran a towel through my hair to dry it, draping it over my shoulders as I stepped out onto the balcony.

I looked over and saw that Brenley was out on her balcony too, sitting on the deck chair and scrolling through her phone. She had changed into pajamas and had her hair pulled up into a messy bun.

"We've really gotta stop meeting like this," I yelled out and she looked over and saw me and smiled.

"I see you're back to being your old self again. That's a shame. I kind of thought you made a cute old man. I'm gonna miss old Ned."

That made me laugh and smile. "Ahhh, so THAT must be why you said yes to dancing with me, you have a thing for old men. I knew there had to be a reason."

She laughed. "Yep you've got me figured out. You better hide your Dad and Grandpa, or I might steal them away."

"Looking for a sugar daddy huh? I see Hollywood's changing you already," I said with a playful smile, shaking my head.

"Yep, you know it," she teased, nodding.

There was an awkward silence between us for a minute as I looked out at the ocean.

"Hey," I said, looking down and running a hand up through my hair as my smile slowly faded away. "You ummmm. You feel like having some company? I could bring over some wine and we could just hang out and talk for a bit?"

She hesitated, looking at me like she was considering my offer. I was mentally preparing myself to be rejected again, which made it that much more surprising when she said, "Ummm, yeah. Okay. You can come over."

I tried to play it cool and hide my excitement.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll ummm, I'll put on a shirt and be over in a minute," I told her, before heading inside where I silently started doing a little celebration dance for a few seconds because I was so excited. I couldn't believe she actually said yes this time. I felt like the luckiest man in the world in that moment.

I pulled on a tight, dark blue t-shirt and hung up my wet towel before heading downstairs where I  grabbed a bottle of wine from the wine cooler and two wine glasses.

I had a huge smile on my face as I approached her door and I stopped for a minute doing lip and cheek exercises trying to get the smile to go away and I made a straight face as I knocked. It was no use. As soon as the door swung open and I saw her face my smile slowly started to creep back in.

She smiled at me too and said, "Hey. There you are. I had gotten so used to the wrinkles, I almost forgot what you really looked like."

I walked inside as she shut the door behind me. "Well I could have my friend come over and do my disguise again tomorrow if you miss my wrinkles that much."

She grinned and said, "No, I think I can suffer through looking at that hideous face of yours. It'll be tough though."

"Are you sure you aren't looking in the mirror?" I teased, raising an eyebrow at her with a smirk and she gasped, jabbing me hard in the side with her fingers and I laughed. She laughed too and we both stood there smiling for a few seconds. I really liked how playful she was.

She looked over at me, examining my face for a few seconds and said, "It's not really that I liked you as an old man, but when you were wearing that disguise, I almost forgot I was hanging out with 'The Famous Dylan Chase'," she said, using air quotes. "It was kind of nice actually," she exhaled, looking down. "It felt like the real you."