What if...

Chapter 2

AN: still overwhelmed with your feedback on this story. I never expected that, and you have no idea how much you motivate me with this. A shoutout to all silent readers for basically every fanfiction platform: we put a lot of effort in this, and the only reward we ever get is a vote or a comment. So if you love a story and want the chapters to keep coming there is nothing better to motivate your favorite writers than showing then some LOVEEEEE (insert Ross' voice here). Thank you!!!!❤

On the next morning, David was thinking about what happened on the previous day when he drove to set. Jen had looked thoroughly confused when he had kissed her goodbye like that. Which had kind of been his intention.

Over the past months, when he did not have the chance to see her or to spend time with her. And it seemed that, even with this crazy project and the crazy hours it came with, he only was missing her more each passing day. He missed their flirty banter, their deep talks, he missed her heavenly laughter. He missed everything about her. And then in occured to him: this was way more than the fleeting crush you might develop on a co-star. Whenever he asked himself what his future looked like, what he wanted in life... somehow, it turned out that she inevitably was a crucial part of the life he dreamed up for himself. And not as his best friend. When he pictured his family the he wanted to have, somehow the woman by his side was always her.

And while he had agreed with Jimmy when he warned him pretty early on about starting something with her after he - Jimmy - realized there was something cooking, that it could not lead to anything good to randomly hook up with your co-star, he had come to realize that this was not what was happening between him and Jen. He was pretty sure by now, even if it sounded cheesy, that this woman was the love of his life. This would not pass. And even if she still tagged that guy along, his gut feeling was telling him it was the same for her.

So who, Jimmy or some Warner Brothers executive or whoever, had the right to tell him to stay away from that? Deny him to find love? And what would they do? Fire the 2 people that made the TV couple everyone obsessed about because of this when they got together? That would never happen.

What he decided to do instead was fight for this love. Slowly, but steadily make her see that this was real. And that it could happen. He would take it one step at a time, try and let her come to that realization herself. A touch here and there, maybe a kiss... even if it took a while, he knew it would happen. He knew this sounded like a weird kind of courtship, but he himself found it very romantic.

Speaking of courtship... when he saw a florist right across the next traffic light, he decided to pull over and buy her a single white rose. He did not even know why he remembered it now, but he had heard somewhere that a white rose was a symbol of affection to give in a blooming relationship... like when you are not quite "red rose passion level" yet... how fitting was that? Plus, he simply liked the plain beauty of that flower.

When he got to the set, he could see her car was not in its usual spot yet, so he snuk into her dressing room, grabbed a small vase she had on a rack and put the rose in it in some water, placing it in the middle of her dressing table.

He was already busy rehearsing a scene with Matthew talking about sexual fantasies and Chandlers mother (don't ask), when he saw Jen walk in, rose in hand, looking at him while sniffing it. He winked at her as a silent confirmation, before she smiled and walked back off the set, probably to put the rose back into the water. He felt a warm flutter arise in his stomach...

Later the same day, it was time to rehearse a scene in which Rachel was supposed to pry a sexual fantasy about princess Leia in a golden bikini out of Ross, while her and Ross were lying in bed together. Inhaling the scent of her sweet perfume, David felt all nerves in his body tingling already.

While they were waiting for everyone to be ready for the test shots, Jen looked at him from under her eyelashes.

"Thanks for the rose, by the way. That was very sweet of you...", she said.

Trying to play it cool, he replied, saying "I happened to come by this florist this morning, saw those and I thought that you might like it..."

"I did... wanna charm me, Schwimmy?", she asked, only half joking, while she blushed cutely.

"Is it working?", he asked, feeling his face getting warm himself.

Before she could answer again, someone yelled instructions at them, interrupting the conversation. They tried different variations of this scene, then moved on to some other scenes until the end of the day.

When they were finished, he was determined to catch her to continue their conversation. But when he left his dressing room, about to head to hers, he ran into Tate in the hallway.

"Hey, David. How is it going? Jen said you have a movie with Tommy Lee Jones coming out soon? Congratulations!"

He tried to play it nice, because the guy really had done nothing wrong, apart from being with the - from David's point of view - wrong woman.

"Thank you. Yes, but that will take a while, as post production for that thing is quite extensive, a lot of CGI stuff...", he explained.

In that moment, Jen exited her own dressing room, the white rose in her hand. She was startled to see the two of them standing together.

"Oh, hi Tate! What are you doing here?"

"Hey Honey. I wanted to surprise you and pick you up for dinner. Where did you get that?", Tate asked pointing to the rose.

Jen looked at the flower in her hand, slightly confused.

"Oh, I thought I show my female colleagues some appreciation and brought them some flowers...", David stepped in, making it sound like the others got flowers, too, on purpose.

"Well... I guess that is very nice of you...", Tate said.

When the 3 of them stood together, Jen cleared her throat to lift the awkward silence, adressing her boyfriend:

"So, where do you wanna go for dinner?"

"I was thinking about that Italian place...", Tate said. Relieved to get out of this situation, he put his arm around Jen's shoulder in a slightly possessive way, already turning around to leave.

David remained put, watching them walk away, when Jen looked back at him over Tates shoulder, sniffing the rose again. On her face, he saw a shy smile.

He winked at her, forming a kiss with his lips, earning a wider smile and a small wave from her that made his heart skip a beat.