"I used to know every constellation. How did I forget them all?" she asks, gazing lazily into the night sky.
"You're drunk. You need to go home," I sigh with my hands on my hips.
"Fine. Let me find my car," she says. She stumbles as she gets up from the bleachers.
"You're joking, right?" I ask, and she starts to giggle.
"Uh-oh. It's the fun police. I thought that ripper Stefan was supposed to be, the life of the party?" she asks, throwing up her arms, questioning why I care.
I squint my eyes at her stubborness, but ignore the question and say, "Alright, c'mon. I'm driving you home."
As I turn around, she makes her way to the edge of the bleachers and climbs over them so she is hanging slightly.
"What, are you 5? Get down," I order, still trying to hide my worry.
"Why? Are you afraid I'm gonna-" she says as she slips a bit, causing me to jerk forward and gasp, anticipating her to plummet to the ground. "Oh, that was close. Klaus would not be happy with you," she snickers and points at me.
"You're hilarious," I banter back at her, using the same tone.
"Look, Stefan, no hands," she says, taking her hands off of the railing, and falling just a little. I jerk forward and gasp again. She giggles and grabs onto the railing.
"CUT!" yells the director, snapping me back into reality. "Great work, you two! Everyone take five! We'll shoot the fall next!" he yells again.
Nina climbs back over the bleachers, and hops down them towards me. "That was intense, Paul," she says, smiling.
"As usual," I smile wide and bump her with my elbow.
As we walk towards the craft service truck to get some food, Nina turns to me and asks, "So how's Torrey?"
"Torrey? Oh, she's fine. She's been busy with shooting-" I pause.
"Pretty Little Liars," Nina says, finishing my sentence.
"Right," I smile at her and laugh at how out of it I am.
"What?" she asks, returning the smile.
"Nothing. How's Ian?" I change the subject.
"What do you mean? You saw him today! Didn't you?" Nina laughs, bumping into me with her shoulder.
"Yeah, I just shot some scenes with him, but still. There are things you know about him that I don't. Personal things," I smile as I look over at her. She smiles, and our eyes meet.
We stop walking.
Then Nina says, "There are also things I know about you that he doesn't," I stare into her eyes and then it's all gone. The truth, the worries, the possibilities; they disappear. All of the things keeping me from going after what I want. The things keeping me from Nina.
"Hey guys! What's up?" Ian asks. He walks over to us and slings his arm around my neck. Nina and I don't answer him as we all walk into the truck.
I quickly grab an apple and a water, then turn to leave. I shut the door behind me, but Nina manages to squeeze through the small space, and catch up with me.
"Like what?" I ask. I wonder if she'll know what I mean.
She gives me a questioning look, before smiling and saying, "Like how you're such an intense person, but can make people laugh easier than you breathe."
"You don't think Ian knows that?" I ask.
She bites into an apple. "I mean, I think he gets that you're intense. Everyone knows that," she says, right before taking a drink from a water bottle.
"Ouch!" I shout. I nudge her with my elbow, so she spills some of the water on the ground.
Nina starts laughing and throws her head back as she says, "Hey!" We both smile at each other for a while, until she continues by saying, "But seriously. He may get that you're really intense about everything, yet funny at the same time, but it's deeper than that," I look at her as she pauses. "You've won people over just by looking at them."
At first I don't know how to answer.
She must be talking about Torrey. But I didn't win Torrey over by looking at her. "Like who?" I ask, secretly hoping she'll say what I'm thinking.
Only a few seconds pass, but it feels like forever until she answers, "Like me."
"Really?" I ask. My mind has suddenly gone blank. I'm numb to almost everything around me. All I hear is Nina.
"Yeah. I mean, when you came in for the audition, we had already seen a lot of guys. Julie and Kevin were just as tired as me, if not more. So many actors. So many guys that wanted the role. They weren't bad or anything. But none of them could do what you did," I give her a confused look. "None of them won me over like you did," she finishes, staring at me intently.
I'm numb again.
All I can think about is the pair of deep brown eyes staring back at me.
"Was it the goofiness?" I joke.
The serious look escapes her face, and her lips curve into a smile.
"What about the lack of style?" She starts to giggle as I continue, "Or how about the awkwardness that follows me-" Nina throws her head back and laughs.
She pushes lightly me with her arm and screams, "Stop!"
I can't help but laugh with her.
When she stops laughing, she turns to me and says, "No. No it was none of those things. It was your passion for acting, the fact that you were so talented yet so humble, and most of all, your genuine smile."
Before I can answer, Ian comes barreling towards us shouting, "Hey! Let's get you ready to fall off of some bleachers!"
This time he slings his arm around Nina's waist.
They walk quickly towards the set, so I walk by myself.
Her presence has disappeared, leaving me with so many things I still want to say.
Then, Nina turns and smiles at me.
I mouth, thank you, but she's already turned back around.
I walk to my trailer to get ready for the next scene. When I am almost inside, I remember that day.
The day that I won over the most amazing girl I have ever met.
The day I met Nina Dobrev.
-------------------------------------------------------
I sit in an almost empty room in a blue chair, studying my lines.
Every now and then, people come out of the infamous door, disappointed because they didn't get the part.
A man standing by the door shouts, "Next!"
Am I next?
I get up from my chair and walk over to the door.
"Paul Wesley?" the man asks, as if he already knows the answer.
I nod silently.
"Go on inside. Good luck." he says in a bored tone, seeming as though he's been saying that all day.
As I walk into the room, I see three people sitting at a long brown table. The blonde woman at the right of the table smiles at me, and the man at the left of the table gives me a questioning look.
Then I see her.
The girl in the middle is looking down, studying her lines. Her long brown hair is curly and drapes over her shoulders like a blanket.
All I want is for her to look up. Every muscle in my body is anticipating the moment when she will notice I'm in the room.
And then she does.
Suddenly, I'm surrounded by brown. I stare into her eyes and nothing else matters.
She smiles at me, then looks away.
What is she doing here? This is the audition room for the part of Stefan.
Unless..
"You must be," the blonde woman pauses as she looks down at her clipboard. "Paul Wesley?"
I nod silently again, still looking at the girl in the middle.
"This is Nina Dobrev. She'll be reading for the part of Elena," the blonde woman motions to the girl next to her.
All this time, Nina's eyes have been wandering around the room, never actually looking into mine.
Until they do.
Our eyes meet and I see nobody else. I have to know her.
"Oh. Pardon me. Is this the men's room?" I ask.
I gaze into her brown orbs.
"Yes. Um..I was just..um..I was just..um.. It's a long story," Nina stutters, looking back into mine.
I flip through my script as the blonde woman, apparently speaking to the man at the other end of the table, asks, "Should we do another scene? What do you think, Kevin?"
I look up slightly to see Nina reading over her lines.
"I think we're okay. Thank you, Paul. We'll let you know," Kevin says.
I nod and quietly say, "Thank you."
As I walk to the door I look once more at Nina, and don't drop my gaze until I'm completely gone.
I close the door behind me and walk towards the exit.
My phone starts to vibrate against my leg and I see that Torrey is calling me.
"Hey! How'd the audition go?" asks the voice on the other line.
"Great. I really knocked 'em dead," I hope that I don't sound distant.
"I'll see you when you get home! You can tell me all about it then. Love you, bye," she says, waiting for me to answer before hanging up.
"Love you too," I answer.
After I hang up, I put my phone back into my pocket and get into my car.
I haven't stopped thinking about Nina since I walked into the audition room.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Paul! Paul, are you alive in there?" I hear her voice just outside my trailer.
She asked Ian to help her with the fall scene, why would she be looking for me?
I open the door of my trailer and smile at her back.
"I'm here," I say as I stand on the top step.
She turns around and smiles up at me.
"And alive," I add.
I look into her eyes and ask, "What's up?"
Suddenly, her bright smile changes into a look I haven't seen in quite a while.
Disappointment?
Regret?
Worry?
"Will you help me with the fall scene?" she asks, with a hopeful look on her face.
"I thought-" I start to say, but she interrupts me.
"I would rather have you help me."
Somehow, she knew I was going to say that, and I try to lighten the dreary mood.
"Well, of course I'll help you," I say. I walk down the steps to the ground smile at her.
Her demeanor instantly changes to one of pure happiness.
I want to ask her to expand on why she would rather me help her than Ian, but I don't.
Nobody likes to be pressured.
We walk to set smiling.
When we get to set, people swarm Nina and start to set her up for the fall.
Most actors are too stuck up to do their own stunts.
I've always admired that about her. No matter what, she begs them to do stunts.
She's fearless.
I take my spot at the edge of the bleachers and reread my lines as the director walks over and says, "Hey! Good. You're both here! We're going to start from when Nina says, 'why are you afraid I'm gonna fall' got it?" he says, looking from me to Nina and back again.
We both nod at the same time, and then take our places.
I close my eyes to brush off all of the outside distractions.
The director yells action just as I open my eyes.
"Why, are you afraid that I'm gonna-" Nina says as she nearly slips off the edge of the bleachers.
I flinch just as she does, but do my best to give her an annoyed look instead of a concerned one.
She regains her balance and giggles, pointing in my direction as she says, "That was close. Klaus would not be happy with you."
I laugh quietly as I shout back at her, "You're hilarious."
I cross my arms over my chest, trying to hide how worried I am.
"Look, Stefan, no hands!" she says, letting go of the bleachers, then grabbing hold of them at the last second.
She giggles as I jerk forward once again, but this time she doesn't regain her balance and she falls.
She screams, and I rush to catch her.
She falls safety in my arms and we look into each other's eyes.
I don't realize how heavily we're both breathing until she chokes out, "I knew you'd catch me."
I have my arms protectively around her and don't let go when the director yells cut.
My arms are still gripping her waist, and her arms are still tight around my shoulders.
I look at the girl in my arms and realize that lying and pretending isn't going to change the truth.
I'm in love with Nina Dobrev.