80s/90s imagines + preferences

interview // river phoenix

🌌 hi guys! 🌌
ngl, i'm not a huge fan of the whole "celebrity falls in love with you on sight" thing, but i thought this idea was kinda cute? idk.
hope you enjoy!

"River!"
"Look over here, over here!"
"River can you give us a smile?"
You pushed past photographers and paparazzi to get a good view as River Phoenix, the supposed hottest celebrity at the time, walked outside into the warm New York City air.
He was clearly overwhelmed and you felt awful trying to swarm him like most of the photographers and interviewers did, so you stayed back, sighing as you tucked your pen into your pocket.
A huge crowd was following him and he seemed to be trying his hardest to be polite and answer their questions, which you thought was nice.
As you looked down, wiping your camera lens, you heard the voices quiet down.
Someone tapped your arm lightly.
You glanced up, rather surprised, to see that it was none other than River.
River Phoenix.
River fucking Phoenix.
The hottest celebrity in your generation.
He adjusted his glasses slightly and gave you a sweet smile, talking in a soft and hushed tone, as though he didn't want the other paparazzi to hear. Although, "paparazzi" wasn't what you'd consider yourself. You were more of a student than anything, just hoping to get something worthy of an A by searching the city. Luckily, you'd stumbled upon this scene.
"Hi. Do you need to get an interview with me?"
You stared up at him in shock and tucked your hair behind your ear.
"Oh! Um, yeah, actually, you know... if it's not too much trouble..."
"Not at all. Um," he said, looking around awkwardly, "do you want to go inside actually? It's a little... crowded."
You both laughed and he put an arm on your back, leading you inside of the hotel that he'd been staying in. Of course, other interviewers were swarming you two, practically pushing you over, but River ignored them, never breaking eye contact with you.
"What's your name?" He leaned down to hear you.
"Y/n."
"Y/n. I like it."
Once you'd gotten inside the gorgeous hotel, he sat down in a chair across from you and leaned forward expectantly.
You smiled at him, turned on your camera, set up the tripod, and began to ask questions.
He answered all of them, surprising you as when you'd seen him in other interviews on television, he'd always seemed a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it was just the way the questions were asked.
You bit your lip, checking your watch.
"So, River, this is probably my last question as my time is running out, and I'm sorry for this," you began, cringing as you read what your instructor had written down, "but, I've got to ask, is there anyone in your life right now that you're interested in? Any... girls?"
"No, no, not right now," he waved his hands dismissively, a breezy smile still on his face.
You did notice, however, when he looked you up and down quickly, his face turning a light pink.
You maintained eye contact with him, blushing.
"Right. Well, thank you, River, for allowing me to interview you! It's been a real... pleasure." You said the last line uneasily, partially going off of your script, partially making up something.
He smiled and nodded, holding back laughter.
"Anytime. The pleasure is all mine."
You couldn't believe how polite he was.
And how cute he was.
You shut off the camera and sighed, leaning back in your chair.
"Thank God I got that done. Hopefully I get an A."
River laughed and you blushed a little more.
"I'm glad I could help," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I mean, honestly? It's nice to finally have a real, raw, intelligent conversation. It's been a while."
You giggled a little.
"Yeah, same here. The idiots in my class can barely hold a conversation, much less an interview."
He adjusted his glasses and beamed at you.
"Oh, and, uh, y/n?"
He became serious again. Blush began to spread over his cheeks.
You glanced up at him, pausing as you packed up your things.
"The thing I said about not having anyone that I'm interested in, um..."
You sat back down, eyes fixed on him.
He cleared his throat and shifted in his chair a bit.
"Can I have your number?"
Silence.
"For... work purposes?"
"Um," he said, smiling as he caught onto your joke, "Yeah. Work purposes."
"Sure."
A warm feeling spread throughout your body as you agreed, smiling mischievously and writing down your number.
You ripped it out of your notebook and handed it to him.
Your fingers brushed with his, sending sparks through your body.
He seemed to feel the same thing.
You slung your bag around your shoulder and gave him a casual salute. He reciprocated your gesture with finger guns, making you both laugh.
"Guess I'll see you around?"
"Yeah. I'll let you know when I'm free for another, um, interview. Maybe 7:00 at the Franciscan tomorrow?"
The Franciscan was a restaurant a few blocks down, somewhere on 5th Avenue. You caught on.
"Sure." You smirked and he grinned back at you, winking.
You walked outside to a barrage of questions and hailed a cab, giving no answers except for a few smiles.
All you could think about was River.

(The date went insanely well, and you two have now been dating for a solid year. He gave you your first kiss after pulling you aside where no cameras could see on a snowy day near Christmas. You're going steady.)

🎥 yeet 🎥
i hope you guys enjoyed! i'm going overload tonight and getting a few imagines done so i don't have to worry about them later, so hopefully this all works out.
love you guys!

™️ -camhhhh- ™️

🐋 word count - 980 🐋