For Fake and For Real

20. The Premiere

After so many mornings turning over to find the other side of his bed empty, a welcome surge of joy rushed through Tim as he saw Lucy sleeping peacefully beside him. Just because he could, he littered her face with light kisses until she woke up smiling.

"That tickles," she chuckled as she felt his stubble gently scratch her everywhere his lips traveled to.

"Good morning," he replied with a still sleepy voice.

"Good morning."

"What do you wanna do today until we have to get ready for the premiere tonight?"

"Breakfast and maybe we could drive around for a bit? I've missed being in a car with you."

He swept hair away from her face gently and grinned. "That sounds perfect." He leaned down to kiss her but was interrupted by a voice booming from the first floor.

"TIMOTHY BRADFORD WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Tim sprang from the bed and Lucy followed suit. They bounded down the stairs together to find a VERY angry Angela Lopez tapping her foot impatiently with a wild look in her eyes.

"Ang? What's going on?" He asked.

"I've been trying to call you all night, but you weren't answering, so I just decided to use that key you gave me for emergencies, because this IS a HUGE EMERGENCY!"

"Emergency? What happened?" Tim questioned still waking up, and he felt Lucy hold onto his hand.

"Fletcher Films wants to talk to you right now!" Angela's face was severe.

"About what?"

The agent looked between her client and the other woman. "You two got busted."

Lucy only gasped and felt Tim grip her hand tighter.

"The studio knew I had a girlfriend when I signed the contract to fake date Ashley."

"No, Tim, you got caught by the whole world! Everyone knows," Angela swallowed hard and held out her phone with a shaky hand to show an article speculating Chenford got back together along with pictures of Tim and Lucy getting into his truck together.

Lucy shut her eyes to stop looking at the photos, and she was kicking herself for being so reckless.

"Baby, I'll take care of this, okay?" He said softly, even though he was more than a little freaked out.

"What if they want to take the role away from you?" Lucy wondered, her voice breaking.

"They won't!"

"Tim..."

"Don't worry. Just relax. Read one of your favorite books, and I'll be back as soon as I can," he directed with a comforting kiss on her forehead. Then, he disappeared upstairs to get ready quickly.

"Lucy..." Angela started.

"It's bad, isn't it?"

"It's not ideal. Look, Fletcher Films paid off half the media outlets in America to stop publishing Chenford married rumors to help make it seem more plausible for Tim to move on with his new costar so quickly, and even with the outings and all the Brady pictures, most people still prefer Chenford, so this fake relationship isn't working the way they wanted it to. Still, they've invested a lot of time and money into creating something believable, and you two unraveled all of that in 3 pictures."

Lucy bit her lip, feeling guilty.

"If Tim weren't so happy, I would tell him to break up with you. I mean, that's exactly what those executives are going to tell him to do," Angela continued.