worst in me | joe keery (1)

01 : coffee spills and sweatshirts

"You're making me late to my first shooting day." Finn stated with a huff, buckling his seatbelt.

"You're going to arrive on time," Valoria sighed, turning on her car and pulling out of their driveway, "I'm sorry."

Finn shrugged, pulling out his phone and hooking it up to the AUX cable. "I'm just excited."

Valoria chuckled, stopping at a redlight and turning to her younger brother. "You do know today is just a table reading? You're not really doing much except reading a script sitting down."

Finn found the song he wanted and played it, "This is my first big role. Let me live."

His sister laughed, turning her gaze back to the road. "I got my first big role when I was fifteen, not fourteen. You're already ahead of me."

The curly haired boy beamed, bouncing his foot up and down as Valoria neared the lot that held the set of Stranger Things. "I'm so ready for this."

She had a spot reserved for her under the name Wolfhard, parking carefully then turning to Finn.

"I know you don't need me, but do you want me there?"

Finn thought for a moment, then sighed. "You don't want media coverage on you though."

His sister smiled, squeezing his hand gently. "You know I can face the paps, especially if it has to do with you. I spent way too long hiding."

"Well then, I want you to come." Finn grinned, bouncing out of his seat. Valoria grabbed her iced coffee from the cup holder, following her brother with a laugh as he headed into the building.

They entered the set after discussion with the security, and Finn couldn't help but stare in awe at the set up. The set wasn't completely done and it was only one out of the many places they'd shoot, but regardless, Finn was in love.

Valoria watched him with a gentle smile as he began speaking excitedly to workers around him, her heart filling with pride for her brother. She hadn't been honest with him about the whole "facing the media" thing, however she was here anyway and all for him.

He approached her after speaking with a worker, a man alongside him. The man introduced himself as an executive producer, offering to lead the two to Finn's future dressing room. She agreed eagerly, for the sake of Finn, and headed in the direction of the room.

She sipped her coffee on the way, enjoying the drink that Finn disregarded till she collided into someone, the cold beverage seeping into her shirt and chilling her skin.

"Fuck, shit, fuck, I'm so sorry. Fuck, oh my god."

Valoria looked up, her gaze meeting an unfamiliar pair of eyes. She bent down wordlessly, picking up the now empty plastic cup and discarding it in a trash can beside her as the boy who bumped into her went into another series of profanities.

"Its fine, babe. Really." She said, finally cutting off the small kid and ruffling his curly hair. "I'm Valoria Wolfhard. You?"

"Gaten. I'm playing Dustin, do you have a role?"

Valoria chuckled, pulling a tissue out of her purse and dabbing it against her shirt. "No, but my brother Finn does. He disappeared on me, but his dressing room is down the hall. I think you two are going to be good friends."

He nodded, thanking the girl before running off to find the stranger Valoria described.

Valoria tossed away the coffee covered tissue, letting out a small sigh. She was on a show lot and figured she could probably find something to wear if she looked, however didn't want to do anything to jeopordize Finn's career. Instead, she went on a hunt for a bathroom to clean herself up.

"I could lend you a sweater if you want." A voice behind her spoke up as Valoria was walking through the halls, searching for a bathroom. She turned to see who the voice belonged to, her eyes meeting a tall brunette with a warm smile.

"I'm Joe Keery." He extended a hand to her that Valoria grasped, shaking slightly. "Valoria Wolfhard. I really need that shirt, if you don't mind."

He chuckled, "Straightforwardness must run in the family, huh? I met Finn and all he did was ask about my character."

Valoria laughed softly, following Joe as he took her to her possible change of outfit. "He hasn't stopped rambling since the morning. My parents couldn't be here so I came instead."

Joe nodded, opening the door to a small dressing room and gesturing for Valoria to enter. Once she did, he followed behind her and went to the backpack that rested on a sofa and pulled out a mustard yellow crewneck jumper.

"Hopefully this'll compensate for the messy shirt. How did that happen, anyway?"

He spun around to allow Valoria to changed, and she quickly stripped off her soiled crop top and replaced it with the sweater. Once she finished, she gave herself a quick glance in the mirror. Her shorts were now covered by the sweater, just barely peeking through and her hands were completely engulfed in the fabric.

She tapped his shoulder to indicate that she was done before answering his question. "Uh, Gaten was a little too excited and bumped into me. His head collided with the coffee cup and it went all over my top."

Joe chuckled, sitting down on the sofa and gesturing for Valoria to do the same. "I think yellow looks better on you, over coffee brown."

Valoria laughed, her phone buzzing in her pocket. "I'd hate to cut this short, but there is a table reading Finn is calling me to. It was really nice to meet you."

Before she could exit, Joe weakly asked her for her number. Valoria's heart wavered in her chest as she nervously recited her number then exited the dressing room.

As she made her way to Finn's table reading, she couldn't help but let out the anxious breathes she was holding in. She couldn't let this happen to her, not again.