"Hey, you doing anything next weekend?" You've been thoroughly enjoying a lazy day laying around your apartment, mainly catching up on reading, when you get a phone call from Sebastian.
"I have no idea. What's today?"
"Day off, huh?" He laughs, in three weeks you've actually gotten to know each other surprisingly well. He was busy working most of the time, but any spare moment he had on set that wasn't spent falling asleep in odd places, he was usually texting you. He knew when Marcus was being tough on you or you were generally having a rough time with something. You could hear in his tone when he'd had a particularly tough day on set, or when he could quite let his character go when he'd finished for the day. At this point you were so used to hearing from him throughout the day that when he was silent you would sincerely worry that something happened to him.
"Been cloning people and researching an ancient manuscript all day." You sigh happily,
"I will never understand how you can read two books at once."
"It's not literally at once, I just read a few chapters in one and then switch to the other."
"And you don't confuse the stories."
"Oh of course I do. Not always, but when it happens it's funny. And sometimes a little disappointing at the same time." You can imagine the look he's giving you as he shakes his head, because of course he's shaking his head,
"Well, it's Saturday, are you doing anything next weekend?"
"When?"
"Basically all day next Saturday, but essentially from about 5:00 in the evening on."
"You mean aside from managing my clones?"
"Oh please, you'll be done with that book by the end of the day and you know it."
"What about my manuscript?"
"I wouldn't put it past you to stay up all night and end up finishing it by breakfast. Are you covertly telling me no? Or are you just trying to be a pain?" You hear him chuckling, so you know he means it as a tease,
"Depends."
"On what?"
"Why do you want to know what I'm doing?"
"Because I need a date."
You nearly fall off the couch as soon as the word leaves his mouth,
"A date? I thought we talked about this..."
"Not a date date. There is a premiere next Saturday of a movie I shot last summer, I thought you'd like it, and I'd like someone to be there with me."
"A premiere?"
"Yeah."
"Like a real movie premiere? Like with movie stars and directors..."
"Yeah..."
"...And paparazzi?" Your voice gets quiet,
"Oh right, the picture thing." He has seemed to understand in other situations when you two met with some friends for lunch, or had another movie night. You meant it when you reprimanded Amy for taking pictures of you at that party. You didn't like any of the pictures of yourself and refused to let people take any of you without putting up a fight. "Are you really going to let that get in the way of you meeting Chris Evans?"
You nearly choke, and actually do fall off the couch, when his question registers.
"Are you serious?"
"Maybe."
"You're serious..."
"Might be."
Suddenly you have to be there but don't want to be anywhere near the event at the same time.
"...hello?"
You're quiet for so long that Sebastian checks to see if you're still there,
"A week to find a movie premiere dress?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, I'll take care of it." You snort at the idea of him shopping for you,
"Right, sure. Not sure I trust what you call your fashion sense."
"No, really. I, uh... Kinda already have a dress for you." You're equal parts wary and flattered,
"How are you so sure it will fit?"
"Just trust me." He answers vaguely,
"And why do you already have one? What if I had said no?"
"Then I would have had to search NYC for a young woman that looks like you."
"Don't limit yourself, I'm sure there are plenty of Cougars who'd love to get their hands on you."
He barks out a laugh so loud you jerk your phone away from your ear,
"Have you said yes yet?" He whines, "I actually have to get back to interviews in a minute."
You hesitate again. As much as an evening with Sebastian sounds like fun, your aversion to photographs has become a bit of a complex.
"Chris, help me out here, man." You hear Sebastian hand the phone over to someone,
"Hey, is this Y/N?"
"Um... Yeah?" You answer. You know that voice. Your fangirl heart is giddy when you hear that voice. You can't believe the man attached to that voice just said your name.
"I gotta tell you, Sebastian has told us all a lot about you, he's been singing your praises for weeks now. I've gotta meet this woman he won't shut up about, so while you're likely way out of his league, would you please sink to his level long enough to be his date to this premiere?"
It takes you a while to even find your voice again, but now that Chris Evans is talking about how much he wants to meet you, how are you supposed to say no?
"I guess I'll have to be there, then."
.
.
.
"Are you okay?" Sebastian asks for the hundredth time already tonight
The car is slowing to a stop at the end of what looks like an endless carpet
"Of course, why do you keep asking?"
By way of answering, he rests his hand firmly on your leg, halting your bouncing knee.
"Oh. Sorry."
"You're sure you're okay with this?"
"Sebastian, how many times do I have to tell you? Yes, I'm okay. I won't freak out. I'll even try to have fun."
You stare at him for a few seconds as he looks at the size of the crowd that's accumulated, all watching the cars expectantly. Something finally occurs to you, "Sebastian, are YOU okay with this?"
"Yeah, sure. Just another premiere." He shrugs it off, but you can hear his hesitation. Taking his hand from where it's still sitting on your knee, you can feel how much he's shaking. You take his chin in your hand, making him look at you.
"Let's go to a movie."
His lips quirk into a smile, and you see his gaze flicker down to your lips. It's just a moment, and he quickly checks himself, but keeps a hold on your hand.
The door is opened for the both of you, he slides out, giving a quick wave to the crowd calling for him, then turns back to you, offering his hand. The first thing that hits you is the noise; the deafening roar of fans and interviewers screaming names, desperately vying for the attention of their favorite stars. Then the endless, blinding glitter of flashes from hundreds of photographers and thousands of fans.
The two of you have only made it a few yards down the carpet when he stops you with a gentle hand on your waist, turning you toward a mass of photographers. You know you're looking like a deer in the headlights, but Sebastian leans in close, speaking right into your ear,
"Don't think about it."
"Easy for you to say mister movie star." You retort, making him laugh,
"Think about how many ways you could criticize their technique, then." You snort, but are already critiquing them unintentionally. That one, for instance, doesn't seem to know how to frame his shots correctly; the guy next to him keeps getting jostled, he'll be lucky to get any usable photos; even the folks in the front of the line look amateur to you with their hasty, even pushy, style.
You finally feel the hand on your waist pulling you farther down the line.
"See? Not so bad." You shoot him a withering glance as he directs you through three more photo ops before pulling you forward to an interviewer.
"Sebastian Stan, it's so wonderful to see you tonight," the woman gushes,
"We heard rumors you wouldn't be able to make it because you're currently filming on another project."
"Oh, yeah. Coming close to the finish line on that one, but I got the weekend off, figured I should use it wisely and come see the amazing fans here." He turns and waves to the crowd behind him, the screaming becoming even louder,
"And you didn't come alone, I noticed."
"I did not, this is Y/N, a very good friend of mine." The interviewer surprises you by actually shaking your hand. You were expecting, and on some level actually hoping, that you would essentially be ignored tonight,
"Just a friend, huh?" She says in a suggestive tone,
"Yes. Just a friend." You insist, trying to keep up a pleasant smile.
You can see this suggestion becoming a trend when the two of you stop for a third interview,
"The Winter Soldier himself is here tonight," the man speaks into his camera as an introduction before turning to Sebastian, "It's only been, what, a month since you split with Levieva? And you're already stepping out with a new lady friend."
You can feel his arm tense around your back,
"About two months, actually. And there's nothing wrong with bringing a friend to a premiere, right?"
While the guy seems to sense he crossed a line somewhere, he also doesn't look like he's planning on changing the subject,
"So it's officially over for you two, huh? Or will we see some on-again off-again action?"
"Hey, We've gotta get going, but you have a great night, pal." His easy smile looks genuine, but he's just short of crushing you into his side with his pent up annoyance.
"Sorry about that. You never know what they're gonna ask." You try to offer a sympathetic smile, but he doesn't seem to want to make eye contact.
"Don't worry about it. Really." You cross your arm under his, wrapping around his back, returning the side-hug he has maintained since the first photo-op. You notice that you've nearly come to the end of the carpet, and he finally looks at you with his customary easy smile,
"Let's go to a movie." He says.
You are about to respond, but never get the chance.
"Sea bass!" Sebastian's head whips around until he finds the source of the voice, soon you're surrounded by men hugging out their greetings and clapping each other on the shoulders.
"Guys!" Sebastian beams, "This is Y/N." You take a closer look at the few men who bombarded him and finally realize that you recognize them all.
"Y/N, these are the guys."
