13 days later...
Alyssa got to the studio sooner than the usual and got shocked to see Crawford's car parked right next to her parking spot. It was the third time within two weeks that he had arrived early; there was something very wrong about that. The producer had thanked her, imagining she had something to do with it. Not that it mattered, because at least those days had been pretty peaceful. They even had fun on set, all the paparazzi and the media seemed to be starting to let them go for a while and she was starting to feel like a person again.
Except for the fact that two days from that day she would get in a flight to Tennessee to face her whole family, especially her father, and Crawford hadn't said absolutely nothing else about it. She decided not to provoke another fight and to let the approach closer to the day, but the tickets had already been bought and there was nothing else to do, besides facing the inevitable. Her parents would kill her, for sure, if she showed up there without him. An on the other hand, he had promised, dammit! There was nothing to argue about.
She marched to Matthew's dressing room, which was with the door half opened, and bumped into him lying on the couch, almost asleep.
"You're early." She simply said, and he took his headphone off.
"I was out, there was no time to go home." The actor answered, yawning, and Alyssa suppressed the will to let great news out, but that wasn't going to be a good start for their conversation.
"I see." She responded and Matthew glanced at her in a funny way. "Matthew, I bought our plane tickets for the holidays."
Aly said all at once, making him rub his eyes one more time and then laugh.
"Have I ever said I would go anywhere, by any chance?" He answered, yawning, and Aly rubbed her temples, sitting in front of him.
"Oh, my love, like you love to say... It's not like you had much choice." She smiled. "You remember your promise, don't you?"
Crawford looked at the girl, who seemed oddly secured of herself, and couldn't hold the laugh, thinking where the hell was that attitude on Donna or on any other situation. She only smiled back.
"I remember it very well, love, and I said I'd deal with your father... Although, I don't know if you remember it, I've already had a little chat with him over the phone, which ends my responsibilities in this case."
It didn't take long for him to see her expression change completely, but it was not like he wasn't expecting it.
"That's not fair, Crawford! You have no idea who you're messing with!" Aly blustered.
"Oh really? Show me what I'm messing with then, girlfriend. I'd love to see it." Matt teased, ironic and malicious.
"You're a jerk, an idiot!" She was saying childishly, making him laugh, and then got even more furious. "Stop laughing! Wait and see. Either you make what I'm telling you to do, or I'll make your life a living hell and destroy your much dreamed new image!" She yelled, making him stop. "Douchbag!" She declared, before closing the door with anger, letting the tickets on the table.
"What the hell were you thinking, fuck!" Matthew said loudly and to himself, closing the apartment's door.
Alyssa wasn't kidding. The freaking bitch had simply faked a faint and said behind the scenes to the makeup artists it was his fault, because they had an argument, and of course he got scold by the producer, who said how insensitive he was and and that he needed to grow up a lot before turning into a father. Since the actress was very incapable, she could go home early, meanwhile he stayed there shooting a bunch of extra scenes, like a fool.
With everybody judging him.
She wouldn't answer her phone anymore, obviously. Smart move, otherwise she would listen a lot.
As soon as he bumped into an empty living room, he frowned.
"Lexi?" He yelled. "Luke?"
No answer.
Who Alyssa thought she was, anyway? Alright that the brilliant idea of a fake midiatic relationship was his, but she was taking all the advantages, not him.
"You know what? Screw it!" He said aloud, as he grabbed the car's key again.
***
Alyssa woke up with the sound of her phone falling on the floor, and almost jumped out of the bed with the noise. She stared at the radio clock, which pointed a little more than seven a.m.
Seven A.M?
She only had to shoot a scene late in the afternoon – one that Crawford wasn't in, thank God – and she couldn't recall having any appointment with anyone, at least not thinking on the top of her head. Suddenly she had the certainty something very serious had happened, so she grabbed her phone quickly, her heart beating fast.
Two missed calls and six texts from... Lexi?
She opened her conversation.
Lexi Reed (3:45 A.M)
I need your help with Matthew.
With Matthew? Alyssa rubbed her eyes so she could read better.
Lexi Reed (4:17 A.M)
I'm almost here! R u still sleeping?
Lexi Reed (4:21 A.M)
Answeeeeeeeeeeeer
Lexi Reed (4:28 A.M)
Ok, I've heard about pregnant women being sleepy, but answer the fucking phone, please!!!
Lexi Reed (4:39 A.M)
I did what I could... Next time I'll grab you by your hair.
Aly barely noticed, but she already was with the phone extremely close to her face. When she swiped to read the last message, she tightened her eyes, trying to erase in advance what would probably come next.
Miss America, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but u really need to see it.
And there it was a gorgeous and sparkling link to a TMZ page.
The title made the actress jump out of the bed, completely furious.
"Hidden Springs' Star leaves a night club dragged after an all-night long party alongside some Playboy bunnies".
That was it.
She was about to kill Matthew Crawford.
***
"I am going to KILL YOU!" Aly yelled, running through the apartment's corridor going straight to the bedroom.
She never did something that fast in her whole life. She managed to arrive in Crawford's apartment in some sort of record time; not without making a nasty pit stop in a newsstand that only made her more pissed. And there was Luke, with his green eyes completely widened, trying to interfere in the bloody denouement she had pictured.
"Fuck." Luke mumbled, running right behind her. "Aly, get back in here. You don't have to-"
"Get off me, Luke, or you'll will get some too!"
"But-"
"GET OFF!" She shouted, slamming the door against the wall in the most noisy way she possibly could, and then she faced Matthew, unconscious on the bed, facing the pillow with his naked butt uncovered; sleeping like a baby.
That son of a bitch.
She wrapped the newspaper she was holding to use as a weapon and ran towards the actor to start beating him with it, like that could possibly kill him, but he didn't even turned around.
Oh no. He couldn't be dead before she could kill him.
Outraged, she held a vintage alarm clock he had on his nightstand.
"No, for the love of God!" Luke took the piece out of her hand, but the clock slipped directly to the floor, triggering the alarm, making and absurdly loud noise.
Matt jumped sitting in the bed, scared to death and swearing in seven different languages, a second before Aly hit him on the face with the newspaper.
"WHAT?" He asked, his voice in a high pitch tone but he looked completely groggy, while the actress were hitting him repeatedly.
"I HATE YOU! I. HATE. YOU!" Aly threw the newspaper on the bed, but his costar did not seem to follow her reasoning.
"What did I do?" Matt asked, with a feebly voice and a vodka breath that could knock down an elephant.
"You broke the freaking contract AGAIN!" Alyssa screamed, and then realized he had nothing covering himself. "What the hell! Can you please cover that... Penis?"
"Say cock!" Matthew looked slightly sober, then he exploded into laughing like a little kid. "Dick? Bazooka?"
When the actress gave him a hysterical scream in response, he covered his ears, cursing under his breath, and then he threw himself back to the bed.
That would be an endless battle, definitely. Knowing Crawford for years, Aly had never seen him that wasted, which only made her more and more angry. She pulled him by the hand, almost making him fall off the bed, and dragged him until the bathroom, throwing him in the bathtub without even care if he could fall and smack his head, since he totally deserved that.
"If you wanted me to shower, why you wanted me to put on clothes?" Matt asked dragging his voice and narrowing his eyes. Aly did not bother to reply. She opened the cold shower above his head, making him jump.
"FUCK!" He finally screamed. "You're a freaking bitch!"
"WHAT? Go call your mother that!" The girl shouted back, indignant, and then he squeezed his eyes, looking at her.
"Do you always look that gorgeous when you're mad?" He asked, looking dead serious, getting even closer to her.
Shit! He did look super hot right there, under the water and completely... Naked. That wasn't bad to look at.
Dammit, Alyssa, focus.
"You are blushing." He let out a crooked smile, in a way that could only be defined as maliciously-drunk, and Aly squinted.
"No, I did not!" She quickly replied, and Matthew giggled.
"That is kinda cute, too. And you look hot in that top." He proceeded, still smiling, and Aly pushed him back, making him almost slip. "Hey!"
"I'm still pissed with you and no drunken compliment will change that." She stated.
"By the way you were looking at me, I don't think that sentence is completely true." Matt replied, ironic, but without losing that feebly smile.
"Argh, Crawford! You are too sober already!" Alyssa growled, stomping on the floor. "Get out of that shower fast because my intentions still are killing you."
"Of pleasure?"
"Go fuck yourself, and get out!" She said in return and listened to his laugh before leaving the room.
***
Matthew looked at his reflection on the mirror and started to look desperately for an Aspirin or something that could end that bloody headache. Just to think that he would have to face Alyssa pissed at his living room, he almost locked himself in the bathroom like an eleven year old. Not because he was afraid of her, but because he knew she would explode his eardrums screaming. And his head.
And now that he was thinking, how come she got there so fast and so damn early?
The images he had from the night before were completely blurred, almost disconnected. He could only remember he went to a club with one of the supporting actors of the show, and later they found out that on the opposite VIP Area a Bunny (yes, from Playboy) was celebrating her birthday with her other bunny friends.
From that moment on, he just could remember a whole lot of vodka.
And a lot of women. And, in some point, Lexi appeared. After that, he could not remember anything.
But Aly was in his living room after all, so that was never a good sign.
He decided to face her once for all, and after taking two Advil, he left the bathroom to the living room, when he found her and Luke.
"Good morning." He dared to say, and Luke made a face.
"You listen to me, Crawford!"
"Here we go..." He complained. "Can you speak lower, please?"
"I want your neurons to explode, I don't care!" Aly rampaged. "Look at this!"
The girl threw a newspaper on the table in front of him. The tabloid had a pixeled picture of him leaving the club with Lexi and Tony, the other actor. He looked honestly wasted, he was almost being dragged by them, but that was not the point. The headline said "Hidden Springs It-Couple: reality or marketing ploy?".
"It is in the freaking TMZ aswell! EVERYBODY saw you with a bunch of Playboy Bunnies, for the love of God!" Ally yelled. "What kind of idiot would do that? You are ruining your own plan, I can't take this anymore!"
"You can't take this anymore?" This time Matthew grinned.
"Guys, calm down-" Luke tried to interrupt, but no one cared, so he silently left the room.
"What are the advantages I'm taking on that story, Alyssa? The only thing I did until now was covering for YOUR SHIT!"
"You said that being with me would clean your image, than please, what else do you want?"
"Ah, please!" He shouted, not giving a damn that his head felt like it would fall off his neck. "You could do a million things if you wanted to, but the only thing you do is complaining of this fucking contract and to want me as your shitty boyfriend 24/7!"
"Is that what you think?" Aly replied, lower this time, but she did not waited for him to answer. "OK then, Crawford. I'll give you some space."
"What?" He said automatically, not believing in what he heard. He was never able to get something he wanted from her, not like that, not at all that easy.
That was weird.
"You heard me. You don't want to travel with me, that's alright, I'll find a way to fix it myself." Aly simply stated, and almost let out a victorious smile when she saw her costar's astonished expression.
"Pregnant ladies are not supposed to drink, Hayes. At least not supposedly." Matthew said, suspicious, but Alyssa only shrugged.
"I can't force you to do anything, Crawford." She said. "I gotta go, I have a shooting on the late afternoon."
"O...OK." He replied, a little confused, and watched the girl turn around.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Aly added, turning back to him. "Your doorman asked me to give you your mail." She said, throwing an envelope over the table, that had a big red stamp on the top of it that said Court Order. "See you later, Matthew."
***
Passengers of the flight 2540 to Memphis. Immediate boarding through Gate 12.
"Shit. Shit. Shit!" Aly squeezed the phone with her hand, after another failed attempt to call Matthew.
She was so sure that the court order would work on him. She never thought in anything so fast in her life. When he started his tantrum, she knew that the intimation letter of the case of the paparazzi aggression would be a gold mine. And she had let him the tickets couple days before, too.
However, they had announced that damn flight a thousand times and she was feeling sick already. She would be completely screwed if she got to Tennessee without Matt. That was not an option.
Last call for the passengers of 2540 flight to Memphis. Immediate boarding through the gate 12.
"Damn, Crawford, pick up!" She mumbled, walking from one side to the other of the VIP Lounge. "Pick up!"
"Trying to speak to somebody?" Matt whispered in the girl's free ear, making her jump, scared.
She gazed at him, holding her chest.
"You scared me, hell!" Aly said, but she couldn't even contain that little smile that was dancing in her lips. "So you decided to come?" She asked, this time with a crooked smile that showed her victory.
Matthew approached to a quick smack on her lips, and then he whispered in her ear.
"You are a manipulating bitch."
She giggled.
"Only the best to the love of my life." Aly replied, laughing, and he did the same, interlacing their fingers, going to the gate.
"Are you ready, girlfriend?" He asked, then laughed aloud of the girl's panic expression. "Tennessee, here we go."
********************************
Oh hello, everyone! :)
I'm back and we are freaking going to celebrate the 4th of July in Tennessee with Aly and Matt #cantwaitreally. The next chapter is one of my favorites without a doubt! And it's funny because we are actually approaching the Holiday (not here in Brazil, but...).
Anyway, I'm a little behind with my schedule and so are the girls that are helping me to translate the story, so until we have the time updates will be weekly again (probably on weekends). Thank you for all the lovely support!
Last but not least, Behind The Scenes is one of the contestants of a competition here on Wattpad so if anyone wants to go there and leave a vote (is just a comment - "Behind The Scenes - Teen Fiction"), that would make me crazy happy :D You can also vote in specific categories such as best male character, best female character and so on. Take a look: http://www.wattpad.com/139403302-best-fiction-competition-2015-round-4-june-17th-to
Don't forget to vote and to leave a comment :) See you soon! xx