Superstar (boyxboy)

Chapter 8: Better than Words

"You're so handsome, even when you're upset," Carl said as he grinned at Matthew, cupping his frowning face.

"Shut up," Matthew mumbled, rolling his eyes and trying to get away from Carl's grip as he looked away—while Carl just chuckled and leaned in to place a chaste kiss on the frowning actor.

The actor waited for the kiss, but it never came as Carl stopped himself from doing so. He stared at the musician in confusion as he heard him heave a heavy sigh, feeling Carl's minty breath hover his face before his hands let go of his face.

It has been two weeks since Carl moved in with Matthew, and since then, they have been practicing their lines through a demonstration for a better run through of the scenes. Prince was always there for them, if they needed his help for better judgement—although, this greatly annoyed Matthew because this was a blind opportunity for his assistant manager to tease him.

Matthew hasn't had a hard time teaching Carl about acting, as the musician was easy to learn. The key was always the delivery of the emotion, in which case Carl was very adamant in doing. But the problem lied within the actions, not with the words or lines from the script.

If Matthew was confident and proud as an actor, then Carl was awkward and shy—the exact opposite of him. Although, when it came to music, Matthew couldn't deny the fact that the musician was a very different person—this came with eagerness and pride, but too bad, he has to act for this movie to work.

"Th-that was good," Matthew said, after a few moments of silence, regaining his composure as he stared at Carl. "But you have to kiss me, in that particular scene. You're doing great, honestly."

Groaning loudly from frustration, Carl hung his head in embarrassment and said dejectedly, "I know. I'm sorry. Uh, give me a few minutes, then we can give it another try."

"Okay, take your time," Matthew said with a reassuring smile directed at Carl as he patted his shoulders, then he stepped away from their close proximity to give the musician some space. He walked over to where Prince was watching them—he was sat on the sofa, cross-legged, and a serious expression plastered on his face.

"Just think of Matthew as you would normally treat your girlfriend, if you're straight—or partner, if you're not," Prince advised with a shrug, and Matthew glared at him, not liking that advice one bit as it wasn't helpful to their case.

"You're really not helping, Prince,"

"It's okay. I can try," Carl interjected as he focused once again, breathing calmly and trying to get in character. "Okay, let's try again."

Matthew nodded as he walked back to his previous spot, standing in front of Carl as he, too, tried to focus on being his character.

The scene they were trying to do was when Carl's character, Spencer, returned to their hotel room after he snuck out of his concert, after performing, to enjoy his time for himself. And Matthew's character, Liam, got upset because he didn't know where he went and that he always told him where he was, wherein he got worried sick about the what could have happened to him. But ultimately, Spencer just laughed and went on to comfort Liam with a chaste kiss, telling him that he was fine and nothing happened to him.

"And scene!" Prince exclaimed in his seat, watching the veteran actor and the young musician like a hawk—eyes squinted in focus as he did so.

Matthew breathed as he closed his eyes for a moment, then he opened them again—this time brimming with focus. "Where the hell have you been?" he shouted in worry as he charged at Carl, a frown etched on his face while he observed the musician's physical well-being—his hands patting Carl around everywhere.