jolivia•rini•hsmtmts

*i love her?

It was their last scene with just them, their last scene properly together and they were both dreading it. They didn't want it to be over, they didn't know how many seasons they would get or how this would be recieved. All they could do for now was hope. They stood there, waiting to go onto set, with sad smiles plastered on their faces. They knew this might be the end but at least they were together.

"Great job tonight Ricky" She slowly turned towards the door and began to leave,

"I don't not love you" He shouted, causing her to turn instantly in shock,  She smiled a huge toothy smile. 

"I don't not love you too" She grinned as she dropped her bag and walked towards him, he beamed, inching towards her too,  she leant on her tippy toes, and softly kissed him with a smile. 

"That was great!" Tim announced, "Josh can I talk to you quickly?" Josh nodded, as he blushed and left Olivia sheepishly. "So I thought, as we've got multiple takes locked down and perfect now, you could improvise the speech a bit. Just say what you think is right."

"Really?" Josh grinned, this was his chance to prove himself as an actor and maybe, just maybe he could prove something else too. Tim nodded and gestured for him to return to his mark.

 "I love you" he burst out, shocking Olivia for real this time. She had no idea about the script changes. 

"I've loved you since the first time you picked up your ukulele and you wrote a song about clouds. A silly little song about clouds." 

Olivia sniffled and giggled. He remembered, she told him all about her first song.

"I love you. And that night in your room when you told me you loved me, I meant to say it. I meant to say it! And I've kicked myself everyday since then because I didn't say it" 

He had meant to say it, that day he found her on the floor crying over Ethan, but he couldn't. 

"But I do. I love you. I've loved you since seventh grade, when I made you ride in the front row of Demon's Destiny at Six Flags, and you told me you sometimes get a little seasick on roller coasters, and I said, 'come on, live a little.'"

 Acting instinct kicked in and she remembered that improv class she took once. Always say yes.

"I remember." She nodded,

"Yeah. And then I puked all over your shoes and you didn't even make me feel bad about it. No. You just said, um..."

"No worries. I've been wanting to get rid of these shoes for awhile." She giggled, wiping away the very real tears.

He knew her. The words he was saying, he said as Ricky but some nagging thought in the back of her mind told her it was Josh.

" Yeah, because you outgrew them. The thing is, I never outgrew you." 

It was true, although he was years older than Olivia, he could never outgrow her. Age didn't change anything. It didn't change that they were best friends and it didn't change that he loved her. 

"And I don't really know what happens tomorrow, or in two minutes when we walk out that door." 

Once this scene is over, he might never act with her again or never have the chance to tell her how he feels.

"All I know is... I want this feeling to keep going. Because this whole experience... I'm just- I'm not ready for it to be over." He was terrified, the idea of losing Liv, it was the worst thing he could possibly fathom. 

"For us to be, I mean. And if that means doing another musical then fine." He would do anything to be in her life forever, even if it were sitting on the side lines watching her with other people.

"I don't want this to be just a showmance. Really. I want it to be the real thing. I mean, I think it is the real thing," He doesn't want them to be just Ricky and Nini, He thinks his feeling are real. Not just a complication of their closeness and chemistry and all he can do is hope Olivia feels the same. 

"I just... I want a chance to prove it." He couldn't tell her heloved her as Ricky, there were too many complications: Ethan, age differences,the show. He was too terrified to tell her his feeling as himself, what if sherejected him? He couldn't put their friendship or their careers on the linelike that. It wasn't fair to tell her, she doesn't need that pressure.

"I do." He really did.

"Ricky, you know in musicals when people burst into song when they've run out of things to say? Sometimes it's easier to just kiss." She beamed as she discarded her bag and dashed towards him with unforeseeable urgency.

"Yeah?" He smirked, mirroring her energy.

"Yeah." She whispered one last time before she smashed her face into his. It all felt unmistakably real. Realer than the previous kiss. Was this Ricky and Nini or Joshua and Olivia? She couldn't help but hope it was Josh.

"Wow. Guys that was perfect. Josh where did you come up with that?" Tim asked in astoundment. Josh shrugged, 

"I just talked about me and Liv" He hadn't properly thought about the implications of his word choice but it cause Olivia to turn bright red in an instant and look down and away. Tim wasn't completely sure how to react. 

"Umm... okay. That's a wrap on Ricky and Nini. Now it's time to go to the basement scene." He gestured for the crew to follow him out of the room. Josh and Olivia still stood there, just staring at each other. 

"So, some of that stuff you said..." Olivia trailed off, causing Josh to panic. 

"I just used our memories, it doesn't have to mean anything." He looked up from the floor and into her eyes, "Unless you want it to."

Olivia smiled.  All common sense went out the window and all she could think about was Josh. She lept up and towards him and kissed him again. He was left confused and ecstatic. 

"Hold on, can we try that again. I was too shocked to react" Olivia laughed at his response, wrapping her arms around his neck. He followed suit by pulling her even closer with his hands on her waist. He slowly leant down to meet their lips, it was all he had wanted for months. It felt surreal. After kissing softly for a while. He scooped her up and span her around, causing her to squeal and laugh her unique laugh. The sound was music to his ears, he loved her laugh. He loved her. 

I love her?

 Yeah. I love her. 

And for a while everything was calm, they just relished each other's presence. It was the calm before the storm but it was a story they could handle together.