So Much More

Here Comes Trouble

Another month came and went, reminding her of how easy it was to just jump into work and shut herself off from the real life drama that was her life. She went on set almost every single day, getting breaks from the odd weekend or if by some miracle, they were shooting scenes that didn't include Peyton. She hung out with the girls a few more times but remained sober for most of them since she wasn't about to go through that again.

Speaking of the 'incident' – she had deemed it as such after telling Emily and her family about it because saying the incident was quicker than saying Jamie kissed her and even though she liked it and would love for it to happen again, she lied to him by saying that it was a mistake because she wanted to preserve their friendship – she had to admit that even though she did what she did so that their friendship wouldn't be tainted, she was ashamed to admit that it was affected. It wasn't all that visible but rather, it was in the details. How he seemed to be enjoying spending more times with the guys and sometimes with Shailene rather than spending time with her; how he seemed to not tell her so much about his thoughts; how she would find him looking at her with such intensity but when she looked his way he would quickly look away; how in all this time since they had the 'talk', they barely spent time alone in a room together.

This was what she was afraid of, but it was also the reality.

As they grew apart, Dakota was busier than ever with Peyton. It was a blessing as her tight schedule gave her little to no time to ponder about her life. She found solace in hanging out with the girls especially with Shailene and Hellen respectively. It was good to have close female friends again, seeing as Emily was on the other side of the country. While she talked to Emily and her family constantly, it just didn't feel the same.

Speaking of work, the scene she had to do that morning was going to be one of the tougher ones. It was not an emotionally-taxing or physically-straining and it should had been easy if not for the fact that she would be shooting a kissing scene followed by a bed scene with Jamie. Even before she saw him, she already knew that it wasn't going to be just another normal day on set.

As if she had conjured him from her mind, he came strolling in into her trailer wearing Stinson's custom-made three-piece suit, this one in all black from his vest to his pants except for his maroon tie. His hair was shorter than his preferred length and his jaw was supporting a five-o'clock shadow but she thought it was a good look on him. All in all, he looked like his normal delectable-self.

But if you paid a closer attention – and that seemed to be something she do as of recently – something was different. She couldn't put her hands on it until her gaze reached his eyes. It was there in his eyes; how the stormy blue wasn't clear or lightened with humor, rather it seemed to be reflecting a thunderstorm of emotion that must had been going through his mind. She knew was nervous about the scenes they would be filming that day and in that moment, she knew he must had been feeling the same way too.

So she did what she thought was acceptable behavior for a situation like this; she smiled up at him from her position on the sofa bed and cracked a sarcastic joke. "A knock would have sufficed."

Normally, he would have grinned but it was a forced smile that she received. "Sorry, Johnson."

"Huh. You should be glad I wasn't changing."

That did it. She finally managed to get a more genuine reaction out of him in the form of a lazy grin. "Now that would have lifted my morning."

She brushed him off while trying to contain her giggle. "Pervert!"

"You started it." He came closer to take a sit at the foot of the sofa bed, near where her head was laid down. He watched her as she continued to read through her script, trying to cram in as much as the dialogue as possible. "How many times have you read through the script for today's scene?"