Nova felt sick and this time, it wasn't her being dramatic. She was on a boat, about to film a scene when she realized her dilemma. She didn't like ledges or standing close to them, it made her anxiety go from zero to a million in a matter of seconds.
In this scene, she had to stand on the edge of a boat in a storm, she felt her hands tremble and her spine twisted, she felt like she was in a horror movie or a bad dream that wouldn't end.
"What's going on with Nova?" Austin asked Sarah as they watched the scene.
"Shit, she's afraid of ledges and leaning over them," Sarah stood up. Shawn was already tapping his foot as he watched his sister, scared for her.
Jonas yelled action and Nova was trembling. She knew it was all a mental game and she just had to shoot the scene and she would be done. She figured it was the mixture of the heavy storm they were in on top of the news she got last night that made her feel worse.
"Whenever you're ready, Nova," Jonas yelled.
"T-thanks," she stuttered.
Rudy looked up at her on the edge of the boat, she mentioned back when they shot their first scene that she didn't like ledges when she was on the ladder, but he understood why this would scare her more.
"Nova, are you okay?" Rudy yelled.
"Yeah, just give me a moment," she yelled down.
She stood on the edge for a few more minutes she knew that Jonas, her friends, and her brother wouldn't let anything happen to her. She shut her eyes tight and nodded, the fake storm came down harder and Jonas yelled action. They acted the scene out, it was very intense and very tiring, they shot it a few times and each time was a little easier for Nova. When Jonas finally yelled cut, she was ushered down quickly while Rudy was taken to makeup.
"Are you okay?" Bailey hugged Nova with a towel around them.
"Yeah, I was just scared. I don't know why, it's a stupid phobia," Nova explained, clenching her fists.
"It's not stupid," Drew defended. "You can be afraid of anything you want."
"Let's go watch Rudy's next scene," Morgan offered her hand to Nova.
Her heart rate had gone down since filming the boat scene, she still felt a little on edge. She had no idea that the next scene would send her over the edge.
"Dad!" JJ yelled.
His dad turned and started to beat JJ, screaming at him. "You little fuck up!"
Nova knew it was fake, she knew that they were acting, but something about her own anxieties from her own last scene, the current situation with Rudy, and what was going on in front of her made her panic. "I-I have to go," she said, picking her things up and rushing away to the nearest office that would be vacant.
Rudy noticed that she ran off, even if he was filming, he went through the rest of the scene with Luke all while their friends were scared for Nova. When Jonas yelled that the scene was done, Rudy approached his friends. He noticed that Evie was making a joke about Nova and he got upset.
"You know she went through this stuff too, just like you, right?" He snapped.
"Okay? You don't see me running and crying?" Evie asked.
"Well maybe because the things that happened just now in front of us happen to real people," Chase pointed out.
"And they don't lie about it," Sarah added, throwing as much attitude to Evie as possible.
"Are you insinuating something?" Evie gave a disgusted look to Sarah.
Rudy realized that Jack was probably working, Nova ran off alone and he wasn't in the mood to fight with Evie. He simply slipped away and went to find his friend, she was hurting and she needed someone.
Rudy approached the production office that they shared their first chemistry read months ago, he could hear her sobs as soon as he opened the door. Nova was in a chair, rocking back and forth, she looked like she was in a daze, crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath.
"Nova," Rudy rushed over to her. He leaned down in front of her, the look in her eyes was pleading, she was terrified. After her listening to him rant about Evie last night, being here for her was the least he could do.
"I- I can't stop it," she choked out.
"Shh," Rudy hushed her, he pulled her into him, they sat on the floor as her panic attack took over her every thought. He held her close and rubbed her hair, she mentioned that was something her mom would do to calm her down when she was a little girl.
"It's okay," he whispered and he repeated small statements like this until her breakdown turned into small cries.
"Talk to me if you can, Nova," he whispered to her.
"I'm just stressed," she whispered. "Today was a lot for me."
"I know," Rudy rested her head on his chest, holding her close to him.
"I know it was acting, but with the previous scene, I was losing it," she admitted.
"If it triggered you, you know you don't have to watch; you can always go," Rudy explained.
"I can handle this, I didn't mean to freak out," she wiped her face of the tears.
They sat there for a while while she talked it out and repeated things, she couldn't help it, but that was how she dealt with the panic attack. Rudy just sat there with her, offering kind words when they were appropriate.
"I'm sorry, I look like a giant baby, I know," her voice was finally normal and she could talk without shaking.
"No you don't, Nova. Everyone out there understands, we don't care and we won't judge you, you know that," Rudy assured her.
This felt like the right time to tell him, she looked up at Rudy with sad eyes, she was going to have to break his heart. "Rudy?"
"What is it, Nova?"
"I have to talk to you," she replied.
The look at her face made it seem serious, "What's wrong?"
"I don't want you to get mad," she breathed out.
"I promise I won't get mad at you," Rudy whispered, moving her hair from her face.
She was going to tell him about the night her mom died, but she decided not to, today was too much for her and she just wanted to get done. "Just scroll through these, please?"
She watched as his face distorted and ultimately fell, his features etched with hurt and confusion. He didn't say anything, he just handed Nova her phone and continued to stare at the floor. "Rudy?" Nova rested her hand on his arm.
"I knew it, I just had a feeling. The day I walked away from you guys I regretted it," he admitted.
Nova started silently crying again, she hated seeing people hurt, especially the people that she cared about. "What are you going to say?" Nova wiped off her tears for the millionth time today.
"Why are you crying?" His tone was softer.
"I know you're hurting," she replied. "It's just a bad day."
"It is," he leaned back against the table. He looked over at Nova, he was such an idiot.
She rested her head on his shoulder, "Everything sucks."
"I'm so sorry," Rudy apologized again.
"It's fine, it really is," she repeated. Her head was pounding from all of the things she had been feeling today, she just wanted to go home and go to bed. She shut her eyes and listened to their breathing, his was ragged.
"I'm here for you," Nova whispered.
"I don't really deserve your friendship," he admitted.
"Yes you do," Nova nodded. "No rain, no flowers."
"No rain, no flowers," he repeated.
Chase gently opened the door, looking at his friends, Nova looked like she was sleeping on Rudy's shoulder. Rudy looked hurt, Chase knew he knew. "Hey man," Chase sat beside Rudy.
"Hey," he whispered back.
"I'm really sorry," Chase said.
"Don't be, you already know I regretted what I did as soon as it happened," Rudy gave a sad smile.
"I know buddy, I know. How is she?" Chase motioned to Nova.
"She needs a day to just rest, today was a lot on her in multiple ways."
"You have a scene coming up, I can stay with her," Chase offered.
"She's a light sleeper, when I move she's going to wake up," Rudy replied. He just leaned over and woke her up.
"Hey, I have to go shoot, do you want to stay here?" Rudy asked gently.
She shook her head, "I'm going out there."
"I'll see you soon," Rudy stood up, running out.
"He knows?" Chase asked.
Nova just nodded, stretching her arms out. She was thinking of going home, but she wanted to stick around with her friends as well. She decided on the latter, she liked watching them film scenes.
Rudy was mad, he could feel it throughout his bones, he rushed past Evie when she tried to talk to him, Bailey and JD smiled to each other, he knew and he believed Nova.
"Alright, whenever you three are ready," Jonas said, queuing them to start filming.
"JJ, John B. is dead!" Kie yelled.
"Man, you have to stop, you're acting like he was with the gold," Pope grabbed JJ.
"No! You two have no idea what I'm going through without him!" JJ screamed. Bailey and JD looked at each other, they could tell his rage was coming from somewhere other than the scene.
"Big John took care of me when my dad was too drunk to open his eyes! John B. has been my best friend for a long time and he's the only one who understood me. Are you two even Pogues? We never leave a Pogue behind and you two left him behind to mack on each other!" JJ screamed, throwing things around the Chateau.
"JJ," Kie tried, but he ripped his arm from her grasp.
"No, you guys don't care, you gave up on them! Even though I haven't! I'll never give up!"
Nova stood up and covered her mouth, looking at Cline. She could tell his anger wasn't towards the scene, he was angry about Evie and then unfolding in the production office.
Nova looked at Jonas, he just gave her a simple nod. He pulled production away and let Rudy and Nova be after they filmed one of Rudy's best scenes.
"I'm sorry," Rudy rushed.
"Don't be," Nova whispered, looking up at him. His facial expression was pure pain, he looked like he could set fire to cities with one glance.
Nova grabbed his hand and squeezed, his facial expression softened. "She's not worth this."
Evie was confused as to why her boyfriend was freaking out, she was trying not to think about the fact it might just be her. When Bailey approached her, she knew she was in for it.
"What are you still doing here?" Bailey snapped.
"Wondering why the girl I asked him not to hang out with is the one comforting him," Evie responded.
"I know she didn't just say that," Sarah cracked her knuckles.
"Calm down there," Shawn held her shoulder.
"Listen bitch, we already know the truth about the original picture you showed us and where it came from. I already talked to your husband, Rudy knows everything and you're done. So if you don't want us to literally rip your head off, you should just get going without a fight," Bailey stated.
"To lie about being abused? That's disgusting and you aren't worth anyone's time here," Shawn added, that part really disrespected him.
Evie's face went pale, she was caught again and she didn't think there was any getting out of it this time. She didn't put up a fight, she just left without a word, which was not what the group was expecting.
"Now I know she didn't say she didn't want Rudy to hang out with Nova, is that why he was growing distant?" Jordyn asked.
"Probably, just like she did with me," Bailey scoffed.
As Evie went to leave, Jack pulled into the parking lot. "Hey," he smiled at her, but not before she could put in a few words.
"You need to watch Rudy and your girlfriend," she said to him.
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, he didn't really know this girl too well, but she looked fairly upset.
"He confesses his feelings for her so I'm just over trying. You can't trust them around each other," Evie warned.
Jack looked confused, but he did know they had a history, "What happened today?"
"She had some kind of panic attack and then he ran after her and then they were alone for over an hour, now they're going off to spend time together," Evie was playing into her lie.
"Thanks for letting me know," Jack was now pissed. Nova said that nothing would go on between her and Rudy, he wasn't about to get played by her. After last night and now, he was over it.
He approached the set, he saw Nova and Rudy down by the water, he was leaning on her while she played with his hair. Yeah, so much for nothing going on.
"Hey dude," Shawn greeted. Jack looked over at him and nearly screamed.
"Y'all think it's okay for this shit to go on?" Jack yelled, motioning towards Nova and Rudy.
"What?" Jordyn asked, genuinely confused.
"You realize she's my girlfriend and she's cuddled up with your friend," Jack replied in a harsh tone.
"She's comforting him, they both went through a lot today," Sarah answered. "If it were me, it would be fine, but since it's a guy, it's not?"
"She has a history with the guy!"
"I would barely call that a history, she's been with you longer than they had feelings for each other," Austin reasoned.
Nova and Rudy heard yelling, they thought Evie left, but Nova realized Jack was up there.
"Why do you think they're arguing?" She asked. Rudy looked back, Jack was in some kind of argument with all of their friends.
"You don't need to deal with fighting right now," Rudy shrugged.
She sighed, "I have to deal with him."
Rudy tried to tell her that she needed to ignore it, but she was already heading towards Jack.
"Jack!" She yelled. "What's wrong?"
"You're really going to ask me what's wrong?" He gave a humorless laugh. She was over the games, he was doing the same shit as last night.
Shawn and Drew stood up, this guy was not about to yell at her in front of them. Shawn was also getting really tired of today, and he felt bad for his sister.
"That's why I asked," she pointed out, she clenched her fists, Nova hated being yelled at.
"That's rich, why don't you go comfort the guy you actually want to be with? Evie just told me about you guys," Jack yelled at her.
"Really? You believe Evie? We've both had a bad day and you're going to come in here like this? We're friends," Nova was trying not to yell.
"I don't like it," Jack stated simply.
"Like what? Dude, I've told you before when you asked me how I felt about Nova and I told you the truth, she wouldn't cheat on someone, Jesus Christ," Rudy defended her.
"Yeah, but you see, you said she wouldn't cheat, you never said you didn't have feelings for her," Jack approached Rudy.
Morgan and Bailey exchanged looks, a fight was the last thing that needed to happen. Morgan grabbed Bailey's hand to comfort her.
"Guys, come on, we don't need fighting," Sarah stood up and went beside Nova.
"You realize you're asking me that while I'm in a relationship, what kind of dirtbag do you think I am?" Rudy felt slightly offended.
"Well then what's the answer dude, because I don't know if I can trust you around my girl," Jack asked.
"You're joking right? I'm right here," Nova practically screamed. Jack was acting really chauvinistic and she didn't like it.
"Oh yeah, and you, don't act like I don't see the way you look at him, he speaks and you practically melt into the floor," Jack yelled.
"Bro you're going to calm down," Shawn snapped.
"No, you know what, I'm out of here. And we're done, Nova, I don't need my shit back," Jack stormed off.
"Jack!" Nova yelled, Nova was about to have a full mental breakdown.
"Jack!" She yelled again, but he was in his car and sped off.
She was at her end, she had dealt with too much today and she did not expect to have her boyfriend leave her over Rudy. She knew they were fighting, but she didn't think that Jack would just leave her.
"Nova, are you okay?" Shawn asked.
"I'm going home," she whispered. "I need some space."
It was nearing midnight anyway and they were done filming, the car ride was fairly silent, nobody really knew what to say to each other, Rudy and Nova just went through breakups and Nova went through some mental hell.
She didn't say a word and just went straight to her room. She put in her mom's old Amsterdam sweater with her old joggers and climbed into bed, she just wished her mom was here so she could have someone to talk to about everything.
"Is she going to be okay?" Drew asked.
"She's strong," Sarah nodded.
"Tomorrow has a lot to do with it too, now that I think about it," Shawn just realized that tomorrow was the day their mom died.
"What's tomorrow?" Austin asked, throwing his arm behind the couch behind Sarah.
"The day our mom died," Shawn let out a breath.
"Oh fuck," Drew shook his head.
"Yeah, it's going to be a rough day tomorrow, she's probably going to spend her day in bed and I wouldn't expect much from me," Shawn sighed with a sad expression on his face.
This gave Bailey an idea, she wanted to do something for Shawn and Nova. They were both beyond amazing friends and they deserved to feel better on such a tragic day. She caught Rudy's eye, she wanted to talk to him anyway.
She motioned her head outside and Rudy caught onto what she was saying. They snuck outside and Bailey finally wasn't mad at him and it felt great.
"Hey," Rudy said awkwardly.
"Hey," Bailey gave him a closed-mouth smile.
"Hey," Rudy said again.
"Let's stop this right now," Bailey gave a small laugh. "I'm glad you left that snake and I'm sorry I was mad at you."
"I deserved that, trust me," Rudy nodded. "I'm sorry for everything, you don't know how bad I have felt the last couple months."
"I know. I've missed you so much," Bailey threw her arms around him.
"I've missed you so much," Rudy hugged her tightly.
"So I want to do something for them tomorrow," she ventured inside. "I don't know what though."
Rudy thought about all of the things that she said about her mom and he had an idea. "Her mom used to make this food that was her and Shawn's favorite. I'm not saying I'll be able to replicate it like her mom, but I can do my best. Maybe you can make a slideshow of videos and pictures of them with their mom?" Rudy suggested.
"Yes! I can go through their socials and look through the albums she has," Bailey was excited.
"Chase and Cline can go to the store and get what we need tomorrow, I'm sure they will be onboard to help," Rudy looked up at the sky, he recognized something that was connected to Icarus, it was a sad story and he didn't want to feel sad.
"This is a great plan," Bailey bounced on the balls of her feet. "I'll let everyone know, do you want to check on Nova?"
"That's what I planned on doing," Rudy looked up at the window that led to her room.
"Go get her, tiger," Bailey hit his arm.
"I hate you," he smiled, he was glad to have his friend back.
"Hey wait," Rudy stopped her. "Ask them to get those lame stars you stick to the walls that glow too."
"What for?" Bailey gave him a confused look.
"There are constellations that can only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere. I can't take her to Australia or anything, but I can try to replicate them," Rudy explained.
"I think my heart just exploded," Bailey put her hand over her heart.
"Yeah, yeah," Rudy rolled his eyes with a smile.
"Come on, it's getting late, go talk to Nova," Bailey suggested.
Rudy made his way up to Nova, he lightly knocked on the door, she didn't say anything, but a few seconds later, the door opened, she had clearly been crying. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah," her voice was raspy.
Rudy didn't say anything, he just pulled her into a hug. "It'll get better." Rudy whispered in her hair.
"I know," she replied. "Can you stay in here with me? I don't want to face everyone."
"Of course," Rudy nodded, climbing into bed with her.
He didn't know what to do, so he awkwardly sat beside her on her bed. Nova caught onto him being weird and just sighed. "Let's not be weird and skip the awkward stage," Nova sighed. "We both had a hard day."
"I just continue to feel bad for everything and I don't want to upset you," Rudy sighed, looking over at Nova.
"You always upset me," she joked.
"I'll push you off of your bed," Rudy said playfully.
"I'll push you off of my bed," Nova retorted.
"Do you honestly think you'd be able to? Also, if you try, don't think I won't go toss your ass in the ocean."
"You wouldn't," Nova scoffed.
"Oh really? I wouldn't?" Rudy rose his eyebrows, a playful smirk on his face.
"I mean, maybe. The look on your face has me questioning," she gave a nervous laugh.
He shrugged, "You'll find out I guess."
"I still don't think you would," she said, attempting to push him off of her bed.
"You asked for it," he smirked, picking her up and running out of her room.
"Rudy!" She screamed while laughing uncontrollably.
"Guys help me!" Nova looked at her friends in desperation.
"What's going on?" Cline laughed.
"I'm throwing her in the ocean," Rudy replied, running outside.
The group could hear their laughter and looked around, "They seem really heartbroken about their breakups," Shawn pointed out.
"I know I'm torn up about it," Chase joked, they all ran over to the sliding glass door to watch the scene unfold.
Bailey smiled, she knew this ship wasn't sunk, it was just a little stuck. She didn't think he would actually toss her in, but when she heard the splash, she was proven wrong.
They watched as Rudy laughed and tried to run away, but Nova jumped on him unexpectedly and he fell into the water.
Shawn and Drew looked at each other with a shrug, they also began running down the beach, "What are you idiots doing?" Jordyn yelled.
"Can't beat 'em, join 'em!" Shawn replied with a shrug.
"Ain't no way," Sarah shook her head.
"If you think I won't throw you in," Austin laughed.
"Okay, okay," Sarah held her hands up, she was not about to get submerged.
Chase scooped Cline up and he too threw her in the ocean and soon enough, the entire group of friends were in the ocean, fully clothed and laughing with each other and trying to low-key drown each other.