In the end

Chapter 10 - Impressive

~ Bree POV ~ Thursday Oct. 29th

The weather was warm compared to the last week or so and it felt great to be outside with nothing in particular to do. I took my time walking home at a leisurely pace and thought over what Maren and I had discussed earlier and of course started to worry. At the the time I had agreed because I couldn't think of anymore excuses but now I could think of a thousand things that could (and probably would) go wrong. Based on the events of the last two days alone I was freaking out. I pictured myself in some ridiculous gown falling on my face while surrounded by elegant people laughing at me. I would trip on the way to the podium or say the wrong thing or freeze and start blabbering out random words. Oh god. This is gonna be a nightmare. Like I need more crap to worry about right now.

Screw it I thought and popped into the closest liquor store. I wasn't really a big drinker but whatever I'm an adult I thought childishly. Grabbing a 6 pack of my favourite beer (Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale) and headed for home. When I was a couple blocks away I heard what sounded like firecrackers. Huh. I know it's close to Halloween but jeez. Turning the corner I could hear people yelling and more loud pops. I also noticed a bunch of my neighbours sitting in little groups on the apartment stoops. It was almost funny the way everyone was staring in the same direction, mouth open. I looked over and sighed. Those damn TV people again, don't they have studios for this. I mean people on this street have babies and shit. The biggest cluster of people were gathered in front of my steps and waved me over as I got close. "Bree check it out" someone said. "Seriously people. You guys have nothing better to do." I replied with a laugh. The made a space for me on the steps and motioned for me to sit with a collective shush. Meh. Ironically I realized that I did in fact have nothing better to do. I sat down and gave myself a mental high five for remembering to cross my legs. Why did I wear a dress again?

I followed everyone's gaze and turned my attention to the scene across the street. They were obviously filming as there were people scrambling around moving lights and placing props. Someone yelled action and as much as I hated to admit it I was soon just as mesmerized as everyone else. Two guys ran up the alley into view and started to fake fight. There was almost a gracefulness to it, like a finely choreographed dance. I soon realized there's was no magic to it at all as they proceeded to do the same actions eight times. Thanks to the insane lights everywhere and the fact that they were right across the street I could see everything pretty clearly. One of the men was about 6 feet tall and so attractive he was almost pretty. He had short hair somewhere between blonde and light brown and a fit, solid build. I'll admit he was smokin hot but a little too pretty for my tastes. I remembered that Jules watches this show and no doubt loses her mind over this guy. She's always been into those pretty Jared Leto type guys.

Eventually they seemed to be moving on to something else and started moving all the equipment around. It didn't look like anything else interesting was gonna happen so the people watching gave up and started making their way home. Now that I was alone I opened a beer and just relaxed on the stoop letting my mind wander. The Pretty boy sat down and played around on his phone for a bit before a man sat down next to him and started chatting. The other man was a bit shorter with black hair and was attractive in a GBF sort of way. He was wearing a dishevelled looking trench coat over a suit which seemed odd so I figured he was another actor on the show. I sipped on my beer and leaned back against the railing just enjoying the sun on my face. The wind picked up a bit ruffling the nearby trees, making my hair fly around my face. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, happy in this moment to just enjoy the feel of the wind in my hair. I heard deep laughter across the street and opened my eyes to see the same two men still sitting there gesturing and laughing loudly. I smiled and closed my eyes again content to just sip my beer and enjoy the weather.

A deep voice suddenly called out pulling me from my reverie."Jared, you gotta see this." My eyes snapped open and darted across the street. He appeared from behind a corner and stopped to talked with his friends. Pretty boy showed him something on his phone and they all started laughing again. My eyes raked over him appreciatively and I was in complete awe of this beautiful man. My god, how are you even real. He was wearing worn jeans and a plaid button down and his hair was loose and falling in his eyes. He kept running his hands through his hair and my body reacted with this slow heat building low in my stomach. I knew if he looked up he would see me so I tried to relax my tense posture.

Almost like he heard my thoughts he glanced up for a second and back to his friends. He head snapped back to me so fast it made my neck hurt. I burst out laughing at the expression on his face and he gave a embarrassed smile. All the nervousness I felt before seem to evaporate and I gave him a small wave. He whispered something to his friends and headed in my direction. His friends looked confused when he abruptly walked away and turned to look where he was going. Pretty boy's eyes went wide and he nudged the other guy and they both started grinning like hyenas. He turned back to them for a second before coming to a stop in front of me.

He was always so relaxed and at ease. I was jealous of how chill he was though I was surprised at how different I felt compared to the last couple times I has seen him. I was completely relaxed and comfortable in his presence. "Impressive." I said to him nodding towards the set. He chuckled. "It's really not, shooting on location is a nightmare. Everything takes twice as long to film. Plus I hate that we're getting in the way of the people that live here." He looked genuinely displeased at the idea. "I'll admit when I got the notice that you guys were filming here I wasn't exactly happy about it. But hey it hasn't been that bad so far and I got to watch them do a cool fight scene." I said gesturing to Pretty boy. "And it only took about a hour and a half to do one scene." He laughed and his nose crinkled up in the cutest way. "Is it ok that you're here, I don't want you to get in trouble for ditching work." He just smiled. "No they won't need me for a while." He gestured across the street. "That's Jensen and in the trench coat is Misha." I snickered and looked down embarrassed at what I had been calling them in my head. He noticed the look on my face. "What?" I leaned closer to him and whispered "I made up names for them but you can't tell them ok." He sat down on the step below me and looked really serious. "I cross my heart." He made a crossing motion across his chest and I giggled. "Ok Jensen, for obvious reasons I call Pretty boy." He started laughing so hard he was bent over. "And Misha?" He asked between laughs. I paused, after all I didn't want to offend him or anything. "I swear it can't possibly be worse than everything we've called him." He assured me. "Ok fine, GBF." He looked confused. "Umm. Gay best friend." I explained. He looked over towards where the guys were sitting and burst out laughing. They stared over at him like he was nuts. "Oh my god, that's awesome." He said wiping tears from his eyes. "I have to tell them that." I felt horrified. "Hey you promised."

We talked for what seemed like hours until it started to get dark. He asked me about the neighbourhood and told me how much he liked the area. He asked me how long I've lived here and if I liked it.

Eventually I heard someone call out for him. "I guess that's your cue." He looked disappointed again. "Yeah I should..." He motioned to the set. "Well I guess I'll see you." I made to stand up and in true gentlemanly fashion offered me his hand. "Thank you Jared." His face brightened and he smiled widely. He continued standing there and started shifting from one foot to the other. I opened my mouth to say something and he blurted out the last thing I expected him to. "Um I was wondering... I have to go to this party on Saturday. If you don't, I mean if your not busy I was wondering if maybe ... would like to go with me?" I couldn't believe he was so nervous, it was unimaginable that any straight woman alive would turn him down. Embarrassingly enough I said yes almost before he even finished talking. My voice came out in a high pitched squeak that I quickly tried to cover up with a cough. Crap. I had been doing so well. As soon as I spoke I could see the tension in his body disappear and he flashed me that blinding smile of his." Great, so I guess I'll see you later" he said turning to walk across the street.

I turned to go up the stairs but paused and turned back towards him. He had turned back to me at the same time and we both started to smiled like fools. "I was just going to say goodnight" I said. He looked down at his feet and almost whispered to me. "I uh, just wanted to tell you that you look really beautiful." Before I could say anything he turned and walked back to the set leaving leaving me alone, my heart pounding. I'm pretty sure that I floated up the stairs that night.