~《A Love for the Ages》~

Chapter 3: Crush

So... what was once 'Okay, he's cute and charming. But we're just friends.' Was now progressing very quickly into 'Oh geez, I like him. Who gave him permission to make me like him?!'

"Ren. Ren. REN! Hello? Earth to Ren?" Chris snapped his fingers. Serenity jolted back to attention and remembered that they were filming still.

"Hm?" She blinked. "Oh! Sorry 'bout that Evans," Serenity grinned, covering up her blushing face.

"You're going to get fired if you don't pay attention."

"Please, they can't fire me," Serenity bragged, exaggeratingly puffing out her chest. "They have too much footage of me as Alijade already, you can't delete a whole hour of film when a horde of furious Marvel fans are awaiting the movie to release in three months."

"If I didn't have a crush on you, I'd have slapped you already," Chris muttered.

Serenity froze.

"Sorry?"

Chris appeared to realize what he'd said, turning first scarlet, then bright enough to light Santa's way.

"I said if you were made of mush then I'd have slipped already," Chris snapped, turning around. Serenity hesitated, certain that he didn't say that but not wanting to push him on anything.

"If ya say so. Although if I really was made of mush, I'd be like, what, that gooey spider thing from Spiderman?" Serenity joked. Chris seemed to relax a bit, continuing the conversation while subtly (not very subtly actually, he kept saying random bits such as: 'Lovely weather, eh?' or 'Let me tell you a story about Scott...' while Serenity was talking about a new TV show she had watched) swerving the topic away from romance-related subjects.

Chris pounded his pillow with his fist, groaning before collapsing onto his bed.

"Stupid! Why did you nearly tell her?!" He shouted at himself.

"Mate, what are you doing?" Sebastian had just walked into the bedroom, recording this scene because, hey, blackmail works brilliantly sometimes.

"I nearly told Serenity about my crush on her!" Chris mumbled. "She probably thinks I'm a weirdo, and she won't want to be friends, and- and-"

"Evans, everybody can see the chemistry between you and Serene. Plus, why would she think you're a weirdo for liking her? Are you saying it's weird to like her?" Sebastian smirked at seeing Chris stutter and eventually let out a loud "argh".

"Serenity is the most understanding, caring person ever," Sebastian continued. "I'm sure she likes you too. Plus, it'll get the media to trip over themselves trying to find a story."

Chris glared at Sebastian. "Wow. Really? But anyways, she doesn't like me. I've seen the guys that she films with-"

"Which you happen to belong in that category," Sebastian muttered.

"-And they're basically ninety percent muscle," Chris ranted, ignoring Sebastian, "While I had a growth spurt of five inches."

"You really think Serenity's the type to judge by looks, mate? If you don't think she likes you then okay, but don't belittle yourself because of it," Sebastian snapped. Chris was shocked at Sebastian's outburst. He opened his mouth to shoot back a response, but at the look on Sebastian's face he shut up and mulled over what he had said. A few minutes of silence passed before a sigh came from Sebastian.

"I'm going to leave now and tell Serenity you. If she stays, then she definitely cares about you enough to see that ugly face of yours," Sebastian smirked, walking out of the door. Chris thought Sebastian was joking, but not a minute later Serenity burst into the room, frantically looking around. Her eyes landed on a shocked Chris laying on the bed. Before he could say anything,

"CHRISTOPHER EVANS, YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO GIVE ME A DETAILED REPORT ON WHY YOU'RE SAD AND WHO I SHOULD PUNCH IN THE FACE BEFORE I HIRE YOU A THERAPIST," Serenity roared, her eyes blazing with a mixture of concern and fury. The volume of her voice caused Chris to leap up. Sebastian casually strolled in behind her, whistling innocently, still recording.

"Nothing's wrong Ren," Chris assured, glaring daggers at Sebastian for making Serenity worried for nothing.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Evans. Is it your anxiety? Panic attack? It better not be self-confidence issues because you're the most amazing, talented, loyal, wholesome, and caring person I know," Serenity snapped. Before Chris could repeat to her that he was fine, she went full doctor mode, examining his pulse and wrist. Chris silently mouthed 'screw you' to Sebastian, who was smirking smugly at his blushing face.

"You seem fine," Serenity frowned, still slightly suspicious. Chris gave her a warm smile, gently putting her hand down. The anger had dissipated from her eyes, leaving only concern. Chris didn't look away, trying to memorize the pale-blue eyes in front of him. A loud cough interrupted them, startling them out of their trance.

"While you two lovebirds are staring into each other's souls, I'm gonna go see if Hayley has any snacks," Sebastian announced, slamming the door shut.

"Well, if you're definitely fine..." Serenity was blushing from her neck to her ears. She got up to leave before Chris grabbed her arm.

"Sebastian... said y-you liked me," Chris muttered. Serenity froze in place, a million things going through her brain. Her mind kicked into panic mode and yanked her arm away in instinct. A flash of fear shot across Chris's cerulean eyes, almost as if he was worried he had hurt her.

"I..." Serenity gulped, wondering how things had escalated so quickly. "I don't like you that way," Serenity lied, the back of her neck prickling. Her heart was pacing faster than she had ever remembered, legs shaking and her eyes darting back and forth between Chris and the door. Sure, she had a crush on Chris, but was it big enough to jeopardize their friendship?

Chris's heart plummeted at her words. He nervously chewed on his bottom lip, carefully picking out his next words.

"Yeah, okay. I figured," Chris joked, ignoring the pounding in his head, the ringing in his ears. His heart refused to slow, instead tugging as if it was shriveling into a raisin. "I don't either."

Serenity nodded, giving a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Guess I'll see you at the next filming."

"See ya then."

AN: NO, SERENITY, CHRIS YOU DAFT IDIOTS. Wait no, I wrote that. Haha, you THOUGHT that she'd confess. Nope :) More drama to come!

~Val