Grace [SEBASTIAN STAN]

LXVII: real life

LXVII. GRACE—CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

Grace Capuano has never been on TV before. She has never been so open before. She had never been more terrified and nervous than she was right now, standing backstage for one of the most popular talk shows as her boyfriend's face filled the screen in front of her.

Ellen had introduced him a few minutes before, her immediately starting jokes with him and asking him about his upcoming movie — things she usually did at the beginning of every show.

Grace began wringing her hands in front of her, chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes remained glued to the screen. She had a cue to watch for, and with every slow passing moment, she waited for that cue.

          "So," Ellen began, a small smirk across her face as she watched Sebastian with a knowing gleam in her eyes. "You've got a girlfriend?"

          Sebastian smiled in response, his eyes crinkling as he thought about her. She was probably watching from her couch with a box of donuts or something. She had texted him that morning wishing him luck on the interview. But then again, the team had a game that night, so she could be there. She rarely missed a game. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

          "Look at that smile," Ellen pointed out, raising her finger towards the bright smile across his face. Sebastian blushed as she pointed it out, him rubbing his face with one hand in an attempt to cover his cheeks. "That's adorable. Do you think she's watching this — oh my gosh, what if she's blushing right back? Now, if that's not what you kids call goals, I don't know what is."

          Sebastian chuckled. "I don't know if she's watching. There's a hockey game soon, she might be with the team. They're like her family."

          "Well, why don't we give her a call?" Ellen suggested, waving her hand in the direction of the phone in his pocket. "Let's see if she's watching. I'd love to meet her."

          At the sound of that, Grace's breath hitched. This was her cue — the phone call. She watched as her boyfriend nodded, reaching into his pants to pull out his phone. Grace muted the TV so he couldn't hear it in the background, waiting for the call to come, and when it did, she panicked once again.

          Just keep calm, Ellen had told her beforehand. Act like you always do when he calls. She could do that. Easy peasy.

           She released a steady breath and hit the answer button, pressing the phone to her ear as she said, "Hey, babe."

Okay, maybe that was a little straightforward.

          She watched as Sebastian blushed, once again, at the name she used for him — on national television, so much better. His phone was on speaker, the crowd awing at the nickname. "Hi!" Sebastian replied. He didn't know what to say.

          "What's up?" Grace asked. She was surprised she had managed to keep her calm through all of this.

          "Nothing. What are you doing?"

          Crap. Grace almost froze. She didn't know what she was supposed to say. What could she be doing? Oh, right, hockey game. "I'm at the rink. There's a game tonight, remember? And, if I remember correctly, you have an interview right about...now."

         Sebastian raised his eyebrows at Ellen in a see? manner. Ellen almost laughed, the girl was pretty good at playing it off. Ellen cut him off before he could speak, saying, "Oh, my gosh, there's a game tonight? Can I get a ticket?"

          "Oh, my god, Sebastian!" Grace exclaimed, watching as Ellen stifled a laugh and her boyfriend rose his eyebrows. "It's inappropriate to be on the phone during an interview! Jesus."

          "I'm sorry —"

          "No, it's okay," Ellen cut in, her smile bright. "I told him to. You should see his smile right now. It's adorable."

           Grace laughed at that. If only he knew. "I wish I could, too."

           "How long has it been since you guys have seen each other?" Ellen asked, a photograph of the last picture the couple had taken together (well, the last one on social media) appearing on the screen behind them.

          "Two months?" Sebastian answered, his voice holding a slight question as he thought about it.

          "Yeah, two months," Grace confirmed. Ellen returned to talking to Sebastian and her, but kept it mostly between them, as a man who worked backstage waved for Grace to make her way onto the stage.

          Grace nodded, releasing a long breath as she laughed at something Ellen said on the other end. She made her way onto the stage, holding her finger to her lips as the audience noticed her. Thankfully, all of them remained quiet, turning their attention back to Sebastian, but knowing smiles still plastered their faces.

          Once Grace reached her boyfriend, she placed the phone between her shoulder and ear before wrapping her arms around him and covering his eyes with her hands. Sebastian jumped at the sudden contact. "Guess who?" she asked, a smile on her face.

          And then he grinned, immediately recognizing the voice. "Oh, my god. No way."

          Grace uncovered his eyes as someone grabbed the phone from her shoulder and quickly made their way off the stage, once again. She giggled, rounding the couch as Sebastian stood up and wrapped his arms around her. Her arms went around his neck as Ellen watched with amusement.

          "I missed you," he mumbled, quiet enough for no one but her to hear.

          "I missed you, too," she replied, her voice sounding muffled against him.

          "I can't believe this," Sebastian muttered, pulling away from his girlfriend with a large smile on his face. They both sat down on the couch and faced a grinning Ellen.

          "Surprise!" she exclaimed.

"How did you two even plan this?" Sebastian questioned, turning towards his girlfriend. "You totally suck at lying, by the way."

Grace's jaw immediately dropped. "Do not!" Sebastian raised his eyebrows at her, giving her a pointed look. "Okay, maybe. But I didn't give it away!"

"What excuse did you use?" Ellen asked her.

"I told him I was watching my god-daughter, which was totally believable," Grace pointed out, crossing one leg over the other. "But I think, maybe, when I told him I had to clean — when I was actually boarding the plane — was when I messed it up. I don't usually clean."

"No, she doesn't," Sebastian added, and Grace gave him a light smack on the shoulder. "Hey."

Ellen laughed at the couple, as did the audience, before the show cut to a short commercial break and Grace waited impatiently for the situation to be brought up.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: here's part one of three of the interview! I'm really excited for you guys to see the other two, as I involve you guys in the third part. it's going to be amazing.

how about that gif tho? and that jawline? damn.

12 chapters left!