Behind the Scenes

Chapter Twelve

Amanda woke up wrapped in someone's arms and to the snap of a picture being taken. She groaned and turned to see Beth with a triumphant smirk.

"I knew you were sleeping with him." She teased in a singsong voice. Amanda huffed and turned away, resulting in Tom mumbling gibberish and pulling her closer. She kissed his shoulder softly, shaking him awake.

"We have to get ready for the meeting today." She whispered, and his eyes flickered open to stare at her.

"Have I mentioned how gorgeous you are, Angel?" He mumbled, making Beth roll her eyes.

"Not that anybody cares about me but I'm going out again, I just came back for more clothes." Beth whined as soon as she wasn't getting any attention and Amanda gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Okay. Have fun at Daniel's house." She said, raising her voice slightly as Beth stormed out. She heard the front door slam shut and sighed. "If she keeps slamming that thing its gonna break." She groaned and Tom laughed softly before unwrapping his arms from around her so he could get dressed. She huffed but let him go and he made his way into the kitchen, beginning to make a pancake batter. She sighed and made her way into the bathroom with a handful of clothes, a bundle of underwear and leggings and Tom's shirt and sweater that she still had, and she got washed and dressed just in time for the first pancake to be served.

"Lookin' good, angel." He said as he turned to look at her, putting a second pancake onto a second plate. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears, blushing slightly. "Here, put some music on." He suggested and she nodded, grabbing her phone from where it had been charging in the living room, opening Spotify to play her most played playlist. The familiar opening to ilomilo by Billie Eilish began to play and she closed her eyes, hoisting herself up onto the counter. Tom moved to stand between her legs and leant up, kissing her softly and she grinned against his lips.

"Don't let the pancakes bu-" he cut her off with another kiss.

"To hell with the pancakes." She laughed and wrapped her hands into his hair, kissing him slightly harder than all their other kisses, unaware of the door being opened and someone slipping in until she heard a camera click and she looked up, breaking off from the kiss to see Zendaya.

"I was wondering if you wanted a ride instead of having to walk." She said, smirking a little as she posted the photo, tagging them both.

"Well, we were gonna have pancakes, and then I burned one, so if we can stop by a coffee shop on the way...?" Tom suggested and Amanda nodded as he stepped back so she could get down. Zendaya chuckled and nodded, letting them both put some shoes on before she led the way out to her car.

"Who's Jackson?" Zendaya asked after a few minutes of silence. "You mentioned someone called Jackson yesterday."

"Oh. Right." Amanda laughed nervously. "He's an ex. Who, uh, cheated a lot. And got violent. And drunk. And then more violent. It's a whole ordeal, I don't wanna talk about it." She said, sniffing and waving her hand dismissively. Tom's hand found hers and squeezed it softly and she leaned against him, both of them getting into the back of the car as Zendaya gets in the front to drive, and they noticed that Jacob was in the passenger seat.

"Thanks to Instagram I learned you two made up. Thanks for the warning." He joked. "Although if you're ever mad at me I probably won't make it up to you the same way." He added and Amanda rolled her eyes but kept quiet.

"Well I figured it was quicker than texting all of you." Tom said with a shrug, squeezing Amanda's hand again. He opened his phone when he saw a new message from Robert and her heart swelled up when she noticed his lock screen was now one of the pictures of them kissing. She closed her eyes until they got to the Starbucks, her and Tom getting everyone's order and heading inside.

"To stay or to go?" The barista asked without looking up.

"To go, please." Tom said and she quickly looked up, her eyes widening.

"Y-Yeah, of course. And what can I get you?" She asked, Amanda making a note of her name being Leea.

"Uh, all large, a mocha frappe, a vanilla cream frappe, a cappuccino, and a latte, please, Leea ." Amanda said softly and Leea smiled at them both widely.

"Anything else?" She asked, grinning at them excitedly.

"Lemon muffin. She thinks she's so sneaky but I caught her staring at it. And a blueberry muffin too, please." Tom said with a laugh, making Amanda blush. Leea laughed as well but much softer and she tucked her hair behind her ears, telling them the total and Amanda reached for her purse but Tom stopped her, pulling his card out and paying quickly. Amanda huffed but didn't argue with him, knowing she couldn't really afford it anyway. They both moved to the other end of the counter to wait for their order to be prepared and they both called out thanks as they left with it, the muffin bag in Amanda's handbag and each carrying two drinks. Jacob takes his and Zendaya's drinks off them and Tom opened the car door for her, letting her get in first and slide across before he followed her.

"What is this meeting, anyway?" Amanda asked as she sipped on the mocha frappe.

"I think it's to let us know what the screenwriters' bosses have decided about you." Zendaya said, her eyes flitting to look at her in the mirror before returning to the road. Amanda nodded, gulping, suddenly filled with nerves.

"I'm sure you got the job, Amanda, your script was incredible." Tom assured her and he kissed her softly as they pulled into the car park.

They each filed separately into the meeting room, Amanda and Tom sitting next to each other. He reached under the table and squeezed her hand as Carrie came in.

"I'm sure we all know why we're here, to determine whether or not Amanda Neel will get a permanent job with Marvel Studios as a screenwriter. Well, I'm here to announce..."