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End of November 2022 – Atlanta
Sebastian left the room right afterwards, because he was scheduled for a costume check on the other side of the corridor. Thankfully Bucky's current arm wasn't a real prosthetic - it was more like a sleeve (and a glove) made of latex rubber. Most of Bucky's arm was CGI in the final result anyways. But he heard that he got a new leather suit and was really excited to see if that one was comfortable or not. And if it still fits or not, because he just had six exhausting workout weeks with his personal trainer Don.
The room was filled with silence because of his absent - y/n was still standing at the exact spot as she was when Sebastian let her go from the hug. She was overwhelmed. AGAIN.
How can someone have such an effect on her?
She shook her hand and managed to drop on the couch next to her jacket. Her hand covered mostly her whole face while her brain was working in hard-mode.
„I flirted with Sebastian Stan. And I wasn't subtle. Neither was he. And then the hug... but he acted like nothing happened right afterwards before he left the room. Maybe Christina WAS right and he does this to / with a lot of girls", she thought.
She tried to stop thinking about the situation and picked her phone out of the pocket on her jacket. She had two unread messages: one from Christina and one from Susan:
Christina
Hope the boys are nice today. Don't be scared, you're doing an amazing job. They're going to love you. And please say hi to Anthony and Sebastian! xoxo
Susan
Bar and cocktails? Tonight?
I think we should celebrate the official start of our new movie. Michelle already said yes so you kind of don't have a choice. 8:30pm in our favorite bar. See you there!
Y/n smiled because of Susan's message. Celebrating the survival of their first day with the cast was a good reason for some cocktails. Maybe that would help her to forget THE situation that was going on here a few minutes ago.
~~~
End of November 2022 – Atlanta
The next days went by really fast as they started shooting the first scenes of the movie. Y/n main work was with Sebastian and Danny because Anthony's hair and beard were easy to handle every morning.
The crew created some huge sets in two halls at a film studio in Atlanta - 20 minutes south of the marvel headquarters. It was nearer to y/n's apartment so she only needed 15 minutes every morning to go there. Half of the movie was shot in Atlanta, another big part would be shot in Cleveland and they would also fly to Europe to shoot some scenes over there.
Originally they had planned to go to Prague (like they did in FATWS) or Budapest (because it is a beautiful city with ancient architecture) but both cities denied their request. Two years of covid were hard for a lot of countries and they wanted to focus on regrowing tourism. Hosting a big team like Marvel would lead to lot of blockages around the city - disturbing tourist to explore freely.
Sebastian suggested that they could go to Bucharest instead and after the team had reached out to the city they agreed on working with Marvel. It probably helped that Sebastian was Romania's most famous actor.
But they were going to stay in Atlanta until end of February what y/n really liked because she was just getting used to live in Atlanta – even enjoyed hanging out with Michelle and Susan. What was a big thing as she was always more of an introvert person.
Today they were shooting a 'meeting scene' in a set that should show a conference room in a military base. The scene included Sam, Bucky, Torres and Sharon discussing about how to stop their new enemy called 'New world order' that was leaded by Red Skull. All characters were going to wear casual clothes so their hair and make-up should be casual as well.
Anthony was the first one in y/n hair and make-up trailer – as usual. She combed his hair and beard, fixed everything with a bit of hairspray and he was good to go. He wanted to talk to Joe and Anthony Russo about the script because he had some changes in mind.
Sebastian was next and a few minutes before his scheduled time, y/n heard a knock on the door of the trailer.
"Come on in!" she shouted towards the door while she was preparing some hair gel next to the make-up stuff that was already laying on the desk.
Sebastian entered the trailer with a Starbucks tray in his hand that included two cups of coffee and two muffins.
"I brought some breakfast. I didn't know if you like coffee and how you would probably drink it, so I asked the Starbucks employee for the sweetest ingredients they have for coffee. Because I remember you like to drink your drinks very sweet. He suggested a caramel latte, so I got you one of those and a blueberry muffin. Just because I love muffins and as I tried to be not too selfish, I brought you one as well."
Y/n smiled at him while he reached out the tray for her to grab her coffee and a muffin. "Caramel latte was a good choice Mr. Stan. Normally I prefer a vanilla latte, but caramel is fine as well. You are right: I like sweet drinks."
She took a big bite from her muffin and munched on it with a lot of pleasure. Sebastian laughed and took a sip from his coffee before he dropped down on the chair in front of y/n.
"You can finish that muffin before making my hair. I don't want to have any crumble in my style. I am not the cookie monster!" he said to her while looking in the mirror.
After she had swallowed the big bite she said: "Okay, but then you have to entertain me and tell me some stories about you. Like: What is Sebastian Stan typically doing after he leaves the set in the evening?"
He looked confused in the beginning but as she got another bite from her muffin and looked at him with expectations in her eyes he giggled and started to clear his throat.
„Marvel rented an apartment nearby for me so I usually get back to the apartment and take a shower first. Even if there were no action scenes on that day. I like to freshen up a bit." he took another sip of his coffee - which was black with just a little bit of oat milk in it.
„Right after the shower I usually take care of getting dinner. I mean having food is the best part of every day. But Don - he is my personal trainer and I work with him for more than 10 years now - prepared a meal plan for me so I literally just have to find a restaurant who serve a fitting dish. Makes my life a lot easier, but also very boring."
Y/n saw a little bit of sadness in his eyes as he said that. She knew how hard the actors work to get in shape for their roles but she never thought about how exactly they did it in detail. Eating only what your trainer told you, did sound very boring. She loved walking around the streets to get inspiration what she liked to have for dinner. Sometimes she even ended up in small restaurants with no one speaking English. These were the best experiences she ever had - regarding the fact that she was not able to communicate.
„What does Don think about blueberry muffins?" she giggled.
„Shhh!" he made and put his index finger in front of his lips. „Please, don't tell him!"
Both laughed before he took the biggest possible bite from his muffin. She looked at him in shock and curiosity how he would manage to munch on that amount of muffin. And she wasn't disappointed as he clearly had his problems to eat without choking to death. She clapped him on his right shoulder - showing him support with his challenge. Then she took a sip of her caramel latte.
Half of her muffin was still laying on the desk as she asked: „That's it? That's all you're doing? Taking a shower and having dinner?" He nodded in response.
„Sebastian Stan, you are a very boring person! No parties, no alcohol escapades, no dates or one-night-stands?" she never wanted to speak out loud the last part of the question, but her mouth was not following her commands. Their gazes met and she wasn't sure what he was thinking so she quickly added: „You know that this was just a joke, right? I know that you have a hard job doing all those scenes. I would prefer to have a relaxing evening as well!"
He smiled at her and she could see the relief in his eyes that he must not answer to her stupid question. „I just like to focus on my job and do everything, to be as good as possible!" he answered with a quiet voice.
„And I admire that, I real..." she started but he continued speaking so she quickly shut off.
„I was planning to do some karaoke on Friday with Anthony, Danny and my assistant Ann. Would you like to join us?" he turned around to look into her face directly instead of just looking into the mirror. His steel-blue eyes met her green ones and the world around them seemed to disappear. She could only hear her own heart beating like galloping horses. She was scared that she would lose everything in his blue eyes so she forced herself to blink - taking her back to reality.
„I would love to. Can I bring Michelle and Susan? They are my best friends in Atlanta!" she managed to answer.
„Of course! The more the better!" he winked at her and she gave his shoulder a squeeze in response. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Then he reached it to her and said: „Give me your number. So I can text you where and when we're gonna meet on Friday."
She tipped her number into his phone - her heart still beating fast but not galloping anymore. He realized that she was still looking at his phone while he saved her number under the nickname „Y/N - Massage Queen". They both giggled before she slapped him gentle on his upper arm and stopped observing his phone.
He then texted her, so that she had his number as well. She looked at her phone and saw that he had send her a white heart emoji. „That flirty little bastard!" she thought before she saved his number unter the nickname „Sebastian - the nice guy".
~~~
As Sebastian didn't have a scene to shoot on Friday he was staying in his apartment. So he decided to send y/n a text in the morning:
Sebastian
Good Morning. Miss me?
Y/n
I miss my morning coffee, but I don't miss taming your stubborn romanian bunch of hair.
Sebastian
Ouch, that hurt!
Y/n
Don't be a baby, Sebastian. Why are you awake anyways? It's 7:00 am?!?!
Sebastian
I meditate in the morning. You should try it. Helps me calm down and survive another day with Anthony.
Y/n
I prefer to stay in my warm and comfortable bed.
Why are you texting me? You know that I need to work and don't want to lose my job.
Sebastian
I am sorry for disturbing your very important work. Just wanted to let you know that we meet at 8pm at a karaoke bar near my apartment. I'll send you the google maps location!
Y/n
Okay, thank you. See you tonight!
He sent a google maps location right after her response so she clicked on it to look where they were going tonight. It was a regular bar near her own apartment - what confused her. She didn't knew where Sebastian's apartment was, but it seemed to be near hers.
She texted Susan the location and asked her if she wanted to stay at hers tonight so that she shouldn't pay for a taxi. Michelle had a date, so she was not coming with them. Susan was happy that she asked and was looking forward to their night out. It was a 10-15 minutes walk from the bar back to her apartment - perfect to clean their heads. She didn't plan to get drunk, but she was excited for some drinks.
During their lunch break Susan and y/n discussed about what to wear as Anthony joined them at their table. „What are you talking about, girls?" he asked.
„What are we going to wear tonight. Have you already prepared your outfit, Mackie?" Susan asked him.
„It's a friends night out at a bar that is mostly know for karaoke. I'm gonna wear a jeans and a shirt. That's it!" he said. He looked with furrowed brows alternating between both of them.
„Oh come one, Mackie. You're not helping at all. So the dresscode is casual then?" y/n asked him.
„The dresscode is: wear whatever you like to wear. Be comfortable, enjoy the evening. That's my motto!"
Y/n admired him for his straight view on things. He was one of the most honest and transparent people in the industry. And he was also right. So she decided to try not to put so much pressure on herself. It was a friends night out. Wearing casual clothes shouldn't be that hard.
Susan could read her mind - like always - and said: „He is right. We're about to have a good evening with our colleagues. I am just gonna wear a plain shirt and jeans. What about you? Casual, too?" Y/n nodded in agreement.
~~~
Right after y/n returned home from work she took a little nap to refuel her energy. It was 5pm when she woke up, finding a text from Susan that she was was going to be there at 7:30 on her phone.
She stood in front of her closet and tried to figure out what to wear tonight. Trying not to put too much pressure on herself definitive looked different! She knew she wanted to wear her black jeans because they were very comfortable - along with her white Nike sneakers. But for the upper part of her body she wasn't sure if she should wear a t-shirt or a blouse. She took a Guns'n'Roses shirt out of the closet and put it on her bed before she placed a white blouse with some little floral embroideries at the upper part right next to the shirt.
Then she grabbed her phone, took a picture of them and send it to Susan with "Which one should I wear tonight?" in addition to the photo.
Afterwards she turned around to head into her kitchen to prepare some dinner. She wanted to have some solid food before drinking alcohol so she cooked herself Mexican wraps that were filled with minced meat, cheese, tomatoes, kidney beans, corn and guacamole. Right before she wanted to take her first bite she heard her phone buzzing inside of her pocket. She took it out and read the message she got:
Sebastian
I really like the blouse. It's pretty. Can't wait to see you in it tonight. See you later!
Wait a goddamn minute.
She scrolled through her chat with Sebastian as she realized that she accidently sent the picture of both shirts to Sebastian and not to Susan. Her wrap fell out of her hand onto the plate - spreading the ingredients all over the plate and table. How the hell did that happen. She was 100% sure that she had sent it to Susan, because she was the last one she texted with. But then she remembered that she clicked on the bar again, that Sebastian has sent her because she wanted to check what they offered for food. That's why she decided having dinner at home and not in the bar.
"How could I be so stupid?" she thought while she aggressively picked up the scattered wrap ingredients with her fork.
She finished her dinner – still ashamed about the whole pictures-sent-to-the-wrong-person-thing – and went to her bathroom to take a shower. The warm water helped her to clear her mind and when she started to get dressed around 7pm she was able to laugh about the mistake. Of course she would wear the blouse tonight but she was not going to tell Sebastian, that she originally meant to send the picture to Susan instead of him.
Susan arrived at her apartment with a big duffle bag.
"You know that you are just staying for one night, don't you?" y/n asked her while Susan put the bag on the couch.
"I need all that stuff. Stop judging me!" she hissed back before both of them started to laugh.
Y/n offered Susan to do her make-up before she applied some natural make-up on her own face. Her hair were in a loose ballerina bun – a few strands falling out of it and framed her face naturally. She looked in the mirror one last time before the girls grabbed their phones and purses and headed towards the bar.
~~~
Sebastian
7:54pm We are already inside. We were scared that we meet too many fans when we wait outside.
7:54pm Not that I don't like meeting my fans. But tonight should be a friends night. With lots of karaoke and drinks.
Y/n read Sebastian's first text out loud so that Susan knew about it, but she kept the second one a secret – not knowing why. As they head around the corner and arrived at the bar she saw that it was already really crowded in- and outside the bar. She sighed because she was still an introverted person who didn't like to be around that much people frequently.
Susan looked at her from the side and said: "It's gonna be a good night. They are famous actors, they probably have a table outside of the crowd anyways."
She hadn't thought about that but it made sense.
They entered the bar and glanced around to see where their colleagues are. Susan saw Anthony waving at them from the other side of the room, so she nudged y/n with her elbow and pointed at Anthony. They made their way through the crowd at the bar and y/n was happy that their table was indeed far away from the main 'trouble'. As they arrived y/n saw Anthony and Sebastian sitting next to an unknown brown-haired woman.
She hugged Anthony and took a step in Sebastians direction to do the same with him as he waved his hand to welcome them – making clear that he didn't want to hug her. He put one hand on the shoulder of the mysterious woman and said: "Y/n, Susan, this is Ann. She is my assistant and I invited her as well."
"Hi Ann, I'm y/n." she said and smiled at her. It wasn't an honest smile because she was uncomfortable seeing Sebastian's hand on her shoulder. They looked intimate with each other.
Ann was wearing an almost floor-length light red vintage dress with white dots on it. It reminded y/n of the 50s. "Wearing a dress in November is ridiculous" y/n thought but before she could dig even deeper in that rabbit hole, Susan exclaimed: "Where is Danny? I though he wanted to come as well?"
"He has a date. He preferred a hot lady over his guys. He should be ashamed! Where is Michelle by the way?" Anthony asked.
"She has a date as well", y/n said.
"Wait a minute. Don't you think the same?" Anthony laughed.
"There is no way! She would have told us about that, wouldn't she?" Susan said – looking at y/n with a raised eyebrow. Y/n nodded although she wasn't 100% sure, because Michelle indeed never told them where she met the guy she was dating tonight. Nor a name.
"Dating a colleague is never a good idea!", Ann snickered and patted on Sebastian's hand that was still on her shoulder.
He smiled ashamed (y/n knew that he was dating a lot of his co-stars in the past), put his hand off her shoulder and pointed on three drinks on their table.
"I already ordered cocktails for you girls. Two cosmopolitan and a peach-y cocktail for you y/n. That's the sweetest cocktail they have on the menu but I can get you some more sugar if it's not enough." He winked at her. Susan grabbed both cosmopolitans – happy that she could drink Michelle's drink as well.
"Thank you, Sebastian. Very kind!" y/n answered while she took a sip with an orange straw. Her face brightened as the drink was delicious. He seemed to notice that because he was dropping back in his seat – releasing the tension with a deep exhalation. His arm was laying on the back rest of Ann's seat.
They were talking about a few topics while drinking more cocktails when Sebastian suddenly stood up and exclaimed: "You should all have enough alcohol now. Grab your drinks, I reserved a karaoke room for us!"
All of them were whining – but he forced them into a small hallway to their right and into a large karaoke room. At least they had their privacy in there and none of the other bar attendants were forced to hear their terrible singing voices.
Anthony teased Sebastian with choosing a song from Mötley Crüe for him to sing.
"You portrayed Tommy Lee, man. So show us your skills!" he said to him.
Sebastian wasn't able to keep a straight face as this wasn't exactly the song he would have chosen but he forced himself through the whole song and earned applause for his braveness.
A slightly-drunk Susan volunteered to be next and decided to sing "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé:
All the single ladies, all the single ladies
All the single ladies, all the single ladies
All the single ladies, all the single ladies
All the single ladies
Now put your hands up
Up in the club, we just broke up
I'm doing my own little thing
Decided to dip and now you wanna trip
Cause another brother noticed me
Sebastian noticed that both Susan and y/n put their hands up in the air, while Susan was literally screaming into the microphone. He turned his head to y/n and still saw the ring on her left hand. Maybe she was just into the song. That didn't mean anything.
Right after Susan was finished, they ordered another round of cocktails and Sebastian asked the others if they wanted to perform a song as well.
Anthony – who played Papa Doc in 8Mile – ironically chose a song from Eminem to show off his rap skills. But as he had maybe a few drinks too much he wasn't able to keep with the pace of Eminem. He earned some big boos from Sebastian and Susan for his performance. So he decided to just sit down and have another cocktail.
Sebastian gave the microphone to y/n and said: "Come on, it's your time to shine!" but y/n immediately shook her head as a wave of anxiety flooded her body. She looked at her shoes and hoped he would just let go and don't force her to sing. Sebastian seemed to notice her changed expression and put his hand on the side of her upper arm to comfort her.
"It's okay. No one will laugh." He said but she still shook her head – her gaze fixing the floor and her shoes.
"What a bout a duet? You and me? Then we disgrace ourselves together!" he suggested and she finally raised her head to look into his blue-eyes. He was smiling and she felt the comfortable vibes that came with looking into them.
"Okay. But I am going to chose the song!", y/n said with a shaky voice. She was sitting on the couch while he was standing in front of her. His hand moved from her upper arm in front of her chest like a demand. She grabbed his hand, stood up and went to the karaoke machine to search for the song she wanted to sing: "Wonderwall" by Oasis.
The song started with a soft guitar melody as y/n tightened the grip on her microphone. The karaoke machine was set on the mode "duet" what meant that they were singing alternatingly.
Sebastian
Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you
And by now, you should've somehow realised what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
Y/n
And backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before, but you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
She didn't need the lyrics because she knew this song by heart. It was one of her favorite songs. But she put her gaze on the monitor in front of her – she didn't want to face Sebastian.
Sebastian & y/n
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall
As they were both screaming the lines into their microphones she finally didn't care anymore if her voice was cracky and bad. She just enjoyed singing this song – like she was used to while taking a shower. Sebastian was singing the next part and she looked at him from the corner of her eye.
Sebastian
Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you
And by now, you should've somehow realised what you're not to do
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now
And before they headed into the next chorus she turned her head to him and saw that he didn't need the lyrics, too. He was facing her and she was finally facing him. Their gazes met and she felt like there was a firework in her stomach. Those steel-blue eyes really let you know where home is. She felt comfortable and safe around him and all her insecurities were buried deep inside of her body.
They didn't notice their colleagues around them sitting on the couches or the waitress that came into the room to bring more cocktails. They focused on each while passionately singing the next part of the song.
Sebastian & y/n
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don't know how
Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall
When they were finished they heard applause – leading them back to reality.
"That was hell of a duet!" Anthony said smiling. Y/n looked at Susan who had a very knowing expression on her face. That girl could read her mind like an open book. Y/n was sure Susan knew that this was more than a karaoke duet for her. And that she had realized the sparkles in both Sebastian and y/n's eyes.