Even If I Break In Two

....And a Match

Spring 2017, con't

After that day, for the most part Carino seemed to stay quiet—publicly, at least. And, aside from allowing himself a laugh over a couple of private comments from Sam Elliott about "Firecracker's Freakshow"—the former being the older actor's term of endearment for Stefani, the latter making no secret of his thought of her partner—Bradley steered clear of Christian. But, inwardly he continued to worry, suspicious that Carino's negative energy had just been re-focused, causing additional stress for Stefani while they were not on set.

Weeks passed, and production was winding down. The last couple of days had been a whirlwind, but everything seemed to be going very well....almost too well, all things considered. With a few notable exceptions, all of the most important sequences were finished. The crew had spent the last couple of days shooting filler while Bradley and the executives finalized details for those that still remained.

Nevertheless, it came as a surprise to Bradley when Natali knocked on his trailer door. They were supposed to be filming the first bathtub scene that morning, and Stefani was due to finish makeup in about an hour. Bradley had put off doing any of the love scenes up to that point. In part, it was because he wanted her to be as comfortable as possible with him and everyone else before going to that level of intimacy. Admittedly, though, he'd also been nervous about his own mindset once they finally went there.

"Natali, hey. What's up?"

"Brad, I know you're trying not to get overly involved, but for her sake, I think we need to take a little bit of extra time this morning."

Bradley was out of his chair and heading out the door before she had finished. "Just don't tell her it was me that came to get you," Natali implored.

On his way over to Stefani's trailer, he passed Christian, who looked livid. Sizing up the situation quickly, Christian snapped, "Of course Cooper's swooping in for the rescue. Careful dude, or your lady's going to realize that she's just become sloppy seconds." If Bradley hadn't had somewhere more important to be immediately, the remark would have been enough to put Carino on the ground. But for the moment, he kept walking. She was more important.

Any residual resolve, or doubt about how he felt, melted when he entered the trailer and saw her, curled into a ball in the corner. Sarah was crouched down, rubbing her back and trying her best to soothe her friend while blotting Stefani's eyes with a cold compress to undo the obvious puffiness from her tears. When she saw Bradley, she whispered to Stefani and quickly rose to leave. On her way out, she patted his shoulder and gave him a grateful look before shaking her head in frustration.

Without saying a word, Bradley walked over and sat down next to her, folding her into his arms. By that point, physical contact between them had become as natural as breathing, and almost the default when they were alone on set. For a few minutes, he just held her, radiating peace and willing her to calm down. To feel that he was there, and that everything was ok. As her breathing slowly evened and she stopped crying, he slowly turned her to face him.

"What did he say to you?," he asked, taking care to keep his voice calm and even.

"He didn't know what scenes we were starting today," she softly explained. "When I told him it was a closed set, and that he couldn't be there, he lost it. Sarah and Natali did their best to referee, but there was no point, B."

Bradley had started to lightly stroke her face and shoulders as she talked, but noticed her slight grimace once he reached her upper arm. It was too late for her to hide it, and she saw his eyes go wide. Slowly, he peeled back the robe, and noticing the finger marks. 

 "He put his hands on you." It was not a question, and the steel in his voice as he asked was not lost on Stefani. She looked at him for a long moment, but didn't respond. "I'm going to kill him."

"No, you're not," she said, taking his face in her hands before he could get up to leave. "You're going to stay here with me. And we're going to finish this amazing story. He's not going to ruin this. Today is for Jackson and Ally and..."

She didn't get to finish. His lips crashed into hers, cutting off the last part of the thought before she had a chance to finish it. Before she knew what was happening, he had hauled her into his lap, forcing his tongue into her mouth as his entire body wrapped around her in a protective, emotion-fueled embrace. He caressed her everywhere as she relaxed into the kiss, as much driven by the need to make sure she was ok as by the feelings that had crashed through his carefully constructed layers of control.

Sensing the need closest to the surface, she gently pulled away, kissing his neck and then wrapping him in a hug. "I'm ok," she reassured him, "I promise. I want to be here- with you, not with him." They sat there for several more minutes, neither wanting to let go yet despite the line that had just been crossed. Eventually, however, knowing Sarah and Natali were outside, Stefani slowly started to lean back. "We're doing the scene today. Do you understand?"

Seeing the look on her face, beseeching, yet confident....and with an underlying heat, Bradley literally couldn't say no to her. It wasn't possible anymore. It didn't mean he was happy about it though. "I'll see you in an hour. But Stefani, we are not done talking about this."

Her reaction was quiet, but audible as he exited, allowed Natali and Sarah back in to take over. "I hope not."

*Author's Note*

Taking a poll—anyone want to see a fight scene? Or, is that beneath Bradley? I have a general framework for the plot on this, but am finding myself adding a lot more backstory than initially anticipated. Open to suggestions!