Play Pretend | ✓

16 | take 2

Four days of filming went by, and I still couldn't shake Tyler's comment out of my mind.

This is the first time you smiled at me in two years.

How the hell was I supposed to react to that?

I'd shrugged him off at that time, pretending that I couldn't care less, but deep inside my heart was doing backflips amd somersaults at that simple yet meaningful comment. Was the old Tyler still there somewhere? Could I still reach him if I wanted to?

***********
That day, Kiara approached me.
"Liz, today you have to shoot the kissing scene with Tyler in the woods. I know about the tension between you two but you have great chemistry. I already have got proof of that when I saw your first kiss scene. So no arguments."

I sighed. I couldn't help but comply. After all, Kiara was the boss here, and I'd tried hard to make Tyler agree to shoot this scene. I couldn't be a hypocrite and back out now.

My personal stylist, Tay, messed up my hair a little bit to make it look dishevelled and added bare minimum makeup to my face. My clothes were also a bit on the ragged side. I really looked like I'd been to hell and back.

I came out of the makeup van and beheld Tyler, who stood in front of me, camera ready. He was wearing a torn shirt and the soles of his shoes were also coming off, I noticed. But what looked the most different was his face. His hair was a bit longer than usual and he had a beard. A beard. I almost laughed out loud.

I pointed at it. "Is that fake?"
"Well, some fake hairs have been added to it. But I've also got a week's worth of scruff to pull off this look."
"Oh, well, let me tell you, you look ridiculous."
Tyler glared at me, but the sides of his lips showed a telltale twitch.
He turned and walked away as I burst out laughing. Don't blame me, I'd never seen him in a beard and he did look ridiculous.

All this while we'd been shooting outdoors and some shots, indoors, in Ashville. But for this shot, we'd had to travel to a studio where the set of a forest had been prepared for us. The forest scenes, some of the most vital parts of the movie, were to be shot here.

We ventured a little into the 'forest' until Kiara told us to stop. There the crew set up the camera and adjusted the lighting until Kiara hollered, "Lights, camera, action!"
I took a step towards Tyler. "S-Sky? Is...is that you?"
Tyler edged away from me. "Hope."
I gasped. "Sky! Oh my god! Oh god, no! Sky! What are you doing here? What were you even thinking? Are you involved in my sister's death? Tell me Sky, I've finally found you after all these days and I demand answers!"
Tyler looked panicked. He's a gifted actor.
"Shut up, Hope! You don't know anything, okay? And I intend to keep it that way. I can't for the life of me imagine how you found me, but now I'll have to tell you to go. You've already messed me up badly enough."
I stared at him incredulously.
"What do you mean I messed you up? You were the one who messed up my life, Sky! You made me fall in love with you, played with my feelings, led me on, dumped me and still that wasn't enough for you! You just had to go absconding! I've been through hell and back just to find you, because no matter what, I still love you and care for you, although I know you've ruined my life for good---"

Tyler didn't let me complete my angry rant as he took a step forward and pressed his lips onto mine, fiercely. I took a step back from the impact, and gasped involuntarily. Although probably it helped in the act.

He kissed me for a long time and we stayed with our arms entangled. He finally pulled away and whispered shakily, "This is what I meant when I said you messed me up badly."
I stared into his emerald eyes, which had darkened considerably with an unidentifiable emotion. My hands were resting on his chest, and I could feel his heart hammering furiously underneath his shirt.

This time, try as I might, I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was some truth, some meaning behind the kiss, behind the way he was kissing me. Almost as if he was trying to tell me something.

This time, I couldn't convince myself to think he was Sky, and I was Hope, and we were playing our parts.

It was just Tyler, and I.

(A/N: hey there! Hope you liked this chapter! I really enjoyed writing it. Plus, I've got to thank you.... 120 reads!!!!! This is AWESOMEEEE!)