“How does roses sound?” Axel asked, his voice filled with honest curiosity.
I lifted my eyes from my script and rolled my eyes playfully, “Most girls like it, some don’t.”
“You?”
I tapped my chin and smiled, “I’m a sap, so yeah, I like roses.”
He nodded, turning his attention back to the script he was trying to memorize. A few weeks and Axel claimed that he hasn’t told this mystery girl his feelings yet. He comes to me for advice and those are the only times we actually acted decent with each other.
It’s kind of nice, not fighting every single second.
George suddenly came behind as and dropped his arms on our shoulders, “Big day!”
We both jumped in surprise before turning to look at him, “And why is it?”
Turning to the set, everything looked the same. Everybody was looking like they were bored with another day of work, except for George – he was bouncing like a kid finally getting his candy.
He switched his gaze from me to Axel before his grin became bigger than ever. Axel and I shared a suspecting look before our wonderful producer started retreating away from us, chuckling like a proud Santa Claus.
Weird.
“So where’ the bloke?” Axel sat back down on his chair, referring to Adam.
“Having a date with sleep,” I mumbled, leaning against the armrest. I swear, that boy loves sleep more than he likes me. When I told him that I was needed for set earlier than usual, he simply rolled back into his bed, telling that he’ll stay at home for the day.
Oh dear, it was too early in the morning to argue.
Axel nodded beside my before shooting me with another girl inquiry, “What if I give her chocolates?”
“Damn it, boy, you sure are whipped,” I let out a giggle. He stared at me for a moment with an expression I couldn’t quite identify.
Please don’t tell me I just hurt him.
Well, that proves my speculation – he was extremely whipped.
Sighing, I stared up at the ceiling, “Trust me, if she likes you the way you want to, anything you will give her, she will like.”
“That’s the problem,” I heard him mutter from beside me, “She doesn’t like me.”
He was as scared when it comes to relationships as me. He looked so down next to me and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.
He really likes this girl.
I tore piece of paper from my script and crumpled it into a little ball, I threw it at him and it him square on his left cheek.
Axel switched his gaze to me and I smiled, “Don’t say that until she tells you herself.”
He let out a scoff and crossed his arms, “She already told me, plus she likes another guy.”
Ouch.
Before I could speak, a woman holding a clipboard approached as looked at the paper in her hands, “We’re shooting scene nineteen to scene twenty-one this morning,” she relayed, giving us a brief explanation on where we’ll start.
Axel kept nodding as I started to flip the pages of my script, looking at the scene she was talking about.
When I reached the page of scene nineteen, my eyes scanned the page as I kept nodding, refreshing my head with the lines I was supposed to recite.
That was when my eyes landed on the one thing I was dreading for ever since the start of this movie.
Collin and Ellie kiss.
My brain was just trying to process that one single line, my hands starting to get clammy.
There was no way in hell am I kissing Axel Brooks.
“Do you understand?” the woman asked and I lifted my head to look at her before giving her a soft nod.
She smiled appreciatively, tucking her pen at the back of her ear before walking to talk to another member of the crew.
“Now what were you saying, Valentine?” Axel inquired, turning his attention back to me.
I blinked at him, standing up from my seat. He looked at me, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion about my sudden flip of personality.
Well, my lips are about touch a person I despise, I question how you can be so calm about it.
“Do you know what scene we’re going to do today?” I demanded.
He opened his script and started looking for the ones we were supposed to act. His eyes finally landed on the page that has gotten me so cold.
The way he acted, it was obvious he knew about it. He wasn’t as shocked as I was, it was like he was mentally preparing himself the whole time.
“Don’t be like that, Valentine,” he scoffed, his voice strained, “It’s as if I want to kiss you.”
Alright, the feeling is mutual.
Plopping back on the chair, I sighed, “Make sure you have a bucket ready for me.”
“Make that two,” he quipped.
Massaging my temples, I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath and counted in my head to help soothe myself. This is going to be a piece of cake, I have done a lot of kiss scenes before, some with actors who is as arrogant as Axel, I should be just fine.
“Never mind,” I huffed, as entertaining it was to argue with him, I much prefer when we aren’t pulling each other’s head off.
“So while we’re on the topic of kisses,” I managed to cough out, “Let’s talk about our first kiss.”
He raised a brow at me, asking if I was really serious. I shrugged at him, matching his look with a one of my own.
“Alright then,” he said, closing his script and turning his body to me, “Who was your first kiss.”
A small blush and a gentle smile came to my face as I reminisced the memory of innocence, “Adam.”
He scoffed instantly at the new piece of information, “Should have known.”
I ignored his negative reaction and closed my eyes. It was when we were kids, one of those little things we did as a joke. It was in the middle of the playground during primary school, it was a challenge to tell our classmates that we cannot get infected by simply kissing the opposite gender.
It didn’t mean much if you think about it, but for me, it was.
When I cracked my eyes open, he was staring at me with new fascination. I reached out and slapped him lightly on the shoulder, “Don’t look at me like that.”
His lips was pressed into a tight line as he shook his head, “You really like him, don’t you?”
I looked down on the floor before nodding at his question, “Yes, yes I do.”
“In theory,” he cleared his throat, “A guy confessed that he likes you yet you’re still head over heels for that bloke, does the guy have a chance?”
Staring at my hands that was gripping the script, I managed to give him another small nod, “He has a chance as long as he thinks that he does.”
“What does that mean?”
“Because if someone thinks that they still have a chance, they won’t give up,” I told him.
Take that as an advice, my dear Axel Brooks.
“And if they don’t give up,” I continued on, “Then there’s always the possibility that their hard work might pay off.”
“You’re sometimes wise, Valentine,” he suddenly said. Again, not sure if it’s a compliment or not – but that’s Axel for you.
“And you’re sometimes clueless, Brooks,” I said to him, mimicking his own words to me.
I leaned against the arm rest of my chair and turned to him, “Now tell me yours.”
He stared at me, contemplating whether if it’s really safe to say.
“My ex-girlfriend,” he admitted quietly, “First and only real kiss, the rest was just staged.”
If he had a girlfriend before, how the hell can he be so clueless when it comes to girls?
“Now isn’t that sweet?” I cooed, teasingly pinching his cheek.
His hand flew up and swatted mine away, he turned his head to the other direction. Everything happened so fast and I had to blink a few times before finally registering what happened into my head.
He’s embarrassed.
I hopped off my chair and rounded his. I caught his face in between my hands and took a good look at him. To my complete and absolute surprise, a tinge of pink was decorating his cheeks and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t from the blush the makeup crew put on him.
“W-what are you doing, Valentine?”
Did he just stutter?
God, this is too entertaining.
“You’re pretty cute like that,” I bursts into laughter, inching my face closer to his. His breathing hitched and I smirked, this is too much fun to stop.
“What did she look like?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
I can’t believe just the thought of his ex-girlfriend was enough to make him into this gooey mess.
“Who?”
Well, he can surely forget fast.
“Your girlfriend,” I reminded him, pulling his face closer to mine, he froze completely as his mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally let out a word.
“Who?” he repeated and I had to roll my eyes.
To end his torture, I released his face and placed a good distance between us, once I got a good look at him, I can see that his whole face was now sporting a full-on blush.
Now this isn’t a sight you see often, an embarrassed, stuttering, and blushing Axel Brooks.
It’s nice to be with him when his ego is not in the way.
“Axel, Heart!” George called out, gesturing to the middle of the set.
I took a look at Axel before strutting my way to my place. We all looked at Axel who was still glued to his position on his chair.
“We don’t have all day, Brooks!” I yelled after him. He snapped himself out of his trance before his eyes focused on all of us. He scrambled up before sprinting to my side.
Focus, we’re trying to meet deadlines and today we’re going to shoot a very important scene.
“The big smooch, kids,” the director said, climbing up to his chair next to the camera man, “Get those lips ready.”
I had to scrunch my face at disgust with what he just said. My hands balled up into fists as I took a deep breath, relaying my lines inside my head.
He asked us if we were ready and we both gave our signals of affirmation. I shook my nerves off as I turned to Axel.
“Be professional, Brooks,” I gritted out and he nodded.
“Maybe you’ll fall for me, Valentine,” he managed to joke with a smirk and I rolled my eyes at his statement.
“In your wildest dreams,” I scoffed.
A guy held up a clapperboard in front of the camera and recited the usual words he was assigned to. When he stepped away, the director cleared his throat before yelling, “Action!”
“Can’t you see?” Axel said, turning to me as he morphed his face into the emotions this scene required, “I really do love you!”
I called for some tears to form in my eyes, thinking of sad thoughts to help me with my acting, “Stop it!”
He reached out and held my wrist as I pretended to struggle in his hold, “Believe me.”
I shook my head, blinking quickly so the tears can finally fall down from my eyes, “How can I when the only thing we’ve been doing is fighting?”
Axel pulled me to him, grasping my waist with his hands as he looked at me with such intensity and passion, I gulped as I knew we were finally approaching the kiss.
“Trust me,” he inched his face closer to mine, leaning down until his lips were just a few centimeters from mine.
“I can’t,” I managed to squeak out before I finally felt his lips touch mine.
It confused me, because I’ve done a lot of on-screen kisses in my time but something in this one felt different. His hands flew from waist to cup my cheeks, holding my face glued to his as his lips moved in sync with mine.
My hands gripped his shoulders as I closed my eyes, trying to decode whatever this intimate action was trying to convey.
When we pulled back, I stared into his eyes and something in them scared me.
Pure and intense adoration.
He pulled me into another kiss, something that was not in our script and that was when it hit me – it hit me like a ton of bricks.
That girl, those inquiries, the way he looked so clueless, that camping trip, the way he started to look frozen earlier, everything lead up to this.
I don’t want it to be true, I want him to deny it, but as his lips was pressed up against mine, I knew what I was thing of had a big chance of being true.
Please don’t let me be correct.
When our lips separated, I managed to let out in whisper; it was so low and I knew he was the only one who was able to hear it.
“It’s me.”
Those two words were enough to change the emotions that was previously in his eyes into something of fear and anxiousness.
-----------------------------
And cut!
Sorry guys, but a little cliffhanger won't hurt anybody... except maybe me. Don't come after me just yet, people!
Told you we're going full speed ahead, and that means that we're getting rid of how dense Sophia is, now wait for the next chapter for their confrontation!
Dedicated to @monteiths for the cover on the side. By the way, got back the old cover, did you miss it?
Question: How will Axel react now that Sophia knows?
Love you guys, my exams are next week so wish me luck! Comment, vote and follow if you're kind enough!