Behind the Scenes

Chapter 28

KATE

I took my time, placing each item in the small box on the table methodically. It was a task that didn't need much attention or focus, but for some reason I treated it as thought it were vital to this entire experience. As if somehow packing up my little writing room was going to be something that I remembered from this crazy journey, beyond everything else.

It was officially the last day of filming, and you could feel it in the air no matter where you went on set. Like the sense of finality that hung over a senior class on the last day of school, culminating a significant time and life changing period for each person. This experience was one I never expected to get, and admittedly had its ups and downs, but now as it was coming to a close it was a bitter sweet ending. The friendships we had made, the memories we would always share, all took place on this stage, which in a few days would return to his empty, solitary state until the next show rolled in to create a whole new world.

I didn't sleep very well last night, my mind churning over everything that had happened, and how I would feel now that it was coming to a close. Mostly, the focus was on Harry, of course, even if every part of me didn't want to think about him at all. He had sauntered his way into my life with that charming smile and hypnotizing eyes from the moment we first faced off in the young adult romance aisle of the book store in Los Angeles, and no matter how hard I tried to keep him at arms length, he found a way to bury deeper into my soul. I had promised myself that I wouldn't let him get to me. That his arrogance and need to have every woman he met fall at his feet would not play a role in my experience here. And yet, he had become the biggest experience of all.

We had barely spoken since our stand off at my door nights before. In fact, the only time I really saw him was when he and Hunter were being pulled away from each other, bruise, bloodied and seething. I didn't have to ask what the fight was about. I knew in Harry's eyes the moment he turned to me, his fury fading and desperation clouding over. I kept my distance from him as I promised myself I would at the beginning of this venture; as I should have all along.

Now, as we were merely hours away from the final cut, I felt as though I couldn't get away fast enough. This was supposed to be something incredible. Something truly mine that had come from hard work and a little luck, and that I would cherish forever. But with the ulterior motives of a single boy, he managed to ruin it all.

A gentle knock at my door interrupted my wandering mind, as Ashley poked her head inside. She glanced around to the now bare walls, the empty desk. All the little things I had set out to make the space my own, to spark my creativity, were yet again locked away in this tiny cardboard box, ready to come home with me to North Carolina.

"Hey," she said, stepping into the room. "You didn't have to do this today. We don't actually have to pack anything up until tomorrow."

"I know," I nodded, turning back to place the last few little knick knacks in the box. A FunkoPop of Drogon from Game of Thrones. My favorite pen in the shape of Harry Potters wand. I was a nerd to the core, and this box only seemed to remind me just how different my reality was to Harry's "I wanted to get it done now so I didn't have to come back tomorrow."

I didn't miss the frown that overtook Ashley's face. I knew her well enough to know there were probably a million things she wanted to say, but she held back, her lips turned down. She watched me finish my task, before turning to her.

"They are about to shoot the last scene," she explained, her hand still lingering on the door. "The one where Madden opens up to Layke with all this shit. I figured you would want to come and watch."

I did. I really did. That scene, that chapter, was by far my favorite in the entire novel; the months of fighting, of hostility, of breaking down walls only to watch them rebuild around each other, was the turning point in the relationship of the two characters who had taken over my life for the last two years. It was that monologue from Madden that answered so many questions for readers, and gave Layke the truth she had been longing for.