starving [hailee steinfeld one-shots]

the sweetest torture one could bear [H.Steinfeld]

summary: when you and hailee are flown out on vacation to promote your growing 'relationship', you find out there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the actress...and your feelings for her.

warnings: enemies-to-lovers type vibe with a semi-happy ending; PR relationship + stunts; like two JA mentions; R being a jerk to hailee and vice versa; so many petty arguments and hidden feelings; R is technically also famous but it never gets expanded upon whoops; 110% got carried away because of lacy by olivia rodrigo

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: this was a half-formed request from an anon on tumblr but i took their idea and RAN with it. i just needed someplace to put all the emotions hailee's been bringing out of me lately with the stupid JA situation so i can continue to write fics for her. that's why the NY stunt is still a thing that happens in this fic. hope you enjoy despite how scathing some of my comments can be in this <3

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Dating a famous celebrity is supposed to be fun. At least that's what you imagine things would be like if you were dating anyone but Hailee freaking Steinfeld.

Although, to be fair, the word dating technically doesn't apply to your situation.

Even calling it a PR relationship is incredibly generous. You're pretty much just damage control after whatever mess happened in New York with her and that quarterback.

Of course, it was a mess she created and once it blew up in her face she was forced to retreat and avoid looking like a bigger asshole...which is where you come in. You don't know how or why but somehow you got roped into things and now you're being forced to help the brunette clean up her image.

Maybe forced is being dramatic but your team didn't even let you attempt to talk them out of the idea and instead shoved you onto a private plane headed to Mexico City for a Fourth of July mini-vacation with the one and only Hailee Steinfeld.

Also known as the one person you'd never willingly go out with. Much less on a mini-vacation that only has one goal: get as many paparazzi as possible to take pictures of the two of you so speculation will run wild and distract Hailee's fans from the New York stunt.

You have no doubt the plan will work which just pisses you off even more.

You're not new to this life of hiding or the lies it comes with but there's something about the way the brunette handles things that just rubs you the wrong way. She straddles the border between genuine and fake so often that you're sure she doesn't even know who she is most days.

Hence her constant disappearances from the public eye nowadays. Disappearances that just make her stunts with the quarterback even more confusing.

You're not here to figure the actress out though, you just have to fake a few smiles, hold her hand, and pretend you actually like each other. The media and her fans will do the rest.

Whether the result of your stunt ends with people speculating you're in a relationship or just a public denunciation of her connection to said quarterback is ultimately up to her team so all you two really have to do is pretend.

Something that would be easy...if your distaste for each other wasn't so obvious.

"Did your lovely team forget the part where we're not actually a couple?" You question the second you arrive at your hotel room, only to find a single king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

"Why do you assume it was my team that messed up?" She fires back, eyebrow raised in defiance.

You roll your eyes as you finish wheeling your suitcase inside. You don't even bother to argue about who gets the bed and instead put your things down on the couch set up in the corner of the room. After all, you're still a gentleman. "Because this whole thing was their idea."