Sequel (Advent Calendar 2016)

THE 18TH OF DECEMBER

The 18th of December

...

The bright light beaming through the curtains woke Rob too early. Far too early. After travelling all day and an extremely awkward first night, he just wanted to stay in bed forever instead of facing what's outside the bedroom door.

Unlocking his phone, he notices that it's still a few hours before he has to be on set. Until they have to be on set, together, acting like a couple, kissing, hugging... He shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts, but as he goes to climb out of bed, he hears the door of the bathroom open and close quickly, as the lock turns and the shower is turned on.

With a sigh, he stands up and opens the curtains, looking out over the pretty Canadian landscape. Several of his movies have partially been filmed in Canada, but during most of them, he's been with Kristen, as a co-star and as her boyfriend. That's certainly not the case this time.

As he exits his bedroom and walks down the corridor, he's faced with two doors. One is the kitchen, the other is Kristen's bedroom. After arriving in Canada after-dark yesterday evening, Rob struggles to recall which door leads to which room. With his hand on the left door's handle, he looks towards the other door and changes his mind, going through the second door.

Instantly, he is faced with her. Her perfume, her clothes, her...everything. Before he can react, he steps out of the room and closes the door quietly, moving towards the other door and stepping into the kitchen area.

As he prepares his breakfast, he hears the shower turn off and the bathroom door open, but doesn't look up from his cereal. If you want to ignore me, two can play at that game.

...

Rob shivers as he walks inside the cottage, his hands in his pockets as he tries to warm up. The snow has slowly increased throughout the afternoon and the temperature dropped so suddenly that Rob hadn't been prepared with gloves or a scarf.

To warm up, he heads straight for the bathroom and locks the door, undressing to jump into the shower. He can hear Kristen listening to music in the kitchen, but decides not to disturb her.

Stepping into the shower, Rob instantly warms up; after a long day on set, the muscles in his back soften a little and his makeup washes off his face and neck. Slowly, he feels more himself, more prepared to face Kristen that evening after a difficult day of ignoring her.

I can't ignore you for much longer.

Washing his hair, he notices that it smells...floral, definitely not like his normal shampoo. He opens his eyes to look at the bottle, and blinks a couple of times before realising he's using Kristen's shampoo. Quickly putting it back on the floor of the shower, he washes it out of his hair and turns the shower off, sighing softly - smelling like her isn't going to help him to not think of her.

After wrapping a towel around his body and opening the bathroom door, he makes sure Kristen is still in the kitchen before entering his room and getting changed.

It's now or never. I've gotta face you some day, we are sharing a cottage, after all.

Taking a few deep breaths and leaving the bedroom, he steps into the kitchen to smell... something amazing. He looks around to see food on the stove, but Kristen's already eating at the dining table.

"Is this...can I have this?"

Kristen looks up from her food, nodding.

"I made it for you", she adds, shrugging softly.

"You...you made it for me?"

Kristen rolls her eyes as Rob looks between her and the food.

"You're a jerk, Rob, but I'm not gonna let you starve."

Glaring playfully in Kristen's direction, he spoons the pasta into a bowl and sits down opposite Kristen at the table. As soon as the food hits his tongue, he groans in delight; after a long day, he hadn't had time to eat, making this his first proper meal of the day.

They eat in silence, the tension unbearable between them. As Rob clears his throat to speak, Kristen gets up to clean her bowl and suddenly, the moment is gone. With a sigh, he goes back to his food and finishes it all, but before he can thank Kristen, she's gone back to her bedroom.

She doesn't have to say it, but Rob knows; she's not just shutting the world out, she's shutting him out as well, and having this confirmed makes his heart ache even more than before.

...

"I love it when we have connecting rooms."

Smiling at the look on Kristen's face, Rob nudges her shoulder playfully. "You and your dirty mind, Kris."

"Don't tell me you weren't thinking about it too!"

When Rob grins widely and squeezes her hand even tighter than before, Kristen giggles and whispers, "I knew it! You're thinking about the last time we had a connecting room, aren't you? You are!"

"That was different, we weren't even together."

"Didn't stop us from fucking, did it?"

Rob rolls his eyes at her language, but can't help the smirk that appears on his lips. When she nudges him again and stops outside the hotel room door, she whispers, "You wanna shower first before we go down to dinner?"

"We could shower together to save time?" Rob whispers back, stepping into the hotel room and dragging Kristen in with him. Shutting the door behind him with his foot, he pushes Kristen lightly against the wall and wraps an arm around her waist, his lips unbearably close to hers. As he pulls her closer and Kristen's heart beats rapidly against his chest, she takes his lip between her teeth and smiles at his quiet groans.

"Fuck dinner, let's take advantage of this time alone. I love you."

"I love connecting rooms more", Rob giggles against her lips as he kisses her, feeling her push against his chest softly in response to his comment.

"You're a jerk sometimes, Rob, but you're my jerk. A connecting room with you will always be my favourite place to be"