Frenemies? Or Something More?: a Blake Gray Fanfiction *completed*

1

"I'm headed to a meeting with Sean, Mom! I'll be back around five!" I yelled through the house, shutting the door behind me as I left.
As I walked down the steps and to my car, a fan stopped me. "Oh my gosh! You're Tiffany Wilde! Can we take a picture?"
"Of course," I replied, posing with her and smiling. "It's really nice to meet you."
I got into my Tesla and drove to Sean's office. He had called yesterday and told me that he had a collaboration that he thinks would be great for me. It had better be. The last time he told me about a collab, it was Tony Lopez, and I got hate comments on every TikTok I posted for weeks.

"Hey, Lindsey. Sean ready for me?" I greeted his receptionist.
"Absolutely," she nodded. "Head on back."
I walked into his office and stopped in my tracks. I recognized the tall, dark-haired boy sitting in a chair opposite Sean's desk, and if this was my collab, I would likely be looking for Sean's replacement as my manager.
"Tiff! Sit, sit! We have a lot to go over," he said, motioning to the chair next to the boy.
"Like hell we do. What is he doing here?" I asked, scoffing before I sat down.
"This is Blake Gray," he said, thinking that he was introducing me.
I interrupted him. "I'm familiar with Mr. Gray. What I'm not familiar with is why he's here."

Sean sighed. He was used to my particular attitude when it came to my fellow TikTokers. "Blake is another one of my clients. I've been watching both of your follower counts, and they've both been decreasing recently. Now that Blake isn't posting content with Amelie, and you aren't posting content with Tucker, people are bored. They want the spark of a could-be romance. That's why your buddy, Bryce, is doing so well, right, Blake?"
Blake shrugged. "What are you getting at, Sean? Tiffany and I don't even get along. Now you want us to collab?"

Sean shook his head. "I think we need to go deeper than that. It's one thing to just post a couple of TikToks. It's another to confirm that supposed relationship."
We both jumped up in protest. "Sean, I am not pretending to date Blake Gray."
"Ditto," Blake agreed.
"It's just for a few weeks. Get your follower counts back up. Have a breakup with little to no explanation. Claim you're 'just friends.' People will watch your pages religiously, just to see if you two are posting together. It's a genius idea."

I sighed, sitting back down. "So, I'm supposed to lie to my followers after I preach complete honesty. Sean, you're really not helping yourself here."
Sean laughed. "You would never fire me. You and I both know that. Besides, think of it as a publicity stunt. Stunts aren't lying."
Blake cut in. "Our content is completely different. How are we supposed to get people to believe that we're actually together?"
"It's easy. You're going to start as soon as this meeting is over. I've tipped off Fletcher from Hollywood Fix. You two are headed over to Saddle Ranch for a nice date. Stand close together, maintain a lot of physical contact. Deny any questions of a relationship. That's what draws these people in. Now, go! They'll give your reservation away if you're late," Sean said, shooing us out of his office.

"I hate you," I said, looking at him angrily.
Blake sighed. "You think I'm any happier about this? Let's just get this done. I'm driving."
I protested. "I don't think so. I would like to make it there safely."
Sean peeked his head out of his office. "You two already argue like a couple. It's perfect. Get outta here!"
Blake sighed as Sean shut his office door again. "We'll get an Uber. Then we don't have to argue."
Reluctantly, I agreed, and before I knew it, we were at Saddle Ranch.

"Yeah, reservation for Gray? Yes. Thank you. Come on, babe," he said, holding his hand out to me.
I groaned internally, grabbing his hand. "You think you could tone it down?" I whispered.
"I'm just doing what the boss man said. You, on the other hand, could try to look happy that you're spending time with me," he replied, flashing me his beautiful, million-dollar smile. Damn it. This would be easier if the person I hated most in the world was ugly.

We sat at the table, and he put his hand face-up on the table. "Hold my hand," he whispered, looking at the menu with his free hand.
"Sean better know that he owes me," I replied, gritting my teeth as I slipped my hand into his.
"You think this is fun for me? I'm not enjoying it either. We're suffering together," he replied, setting the menu down and looking at me.
"Oh really? You seem to be having a lot of fun pissing me off," I said angrily.
"Woah, you need to cool your attitude. We're supposed to be on a date here. You enjoy my company, and I enjoy yours. If you can lose the attitude, I'll even pay."
My expression softened. "Fine. But, if I'm going to have to fake date you, you should probably tell me a little bit about yourself."

It might have helped that his face lit up as he talked about his family, or maybe it was the way he had so many good things to say about his fellow Sway members, but I found myself having a genuinely good time.
I was suddenly brought back to reality as he asked me a question. "Why did you start hating me in the first place? I just hated you because you hated me, but I never understood why."
I sighed. Was I really about to bring up fourth grade? Unfortunately, the answer to that question was yes. "Blake, do you remember when we met?" I asked, picking at the salad in front of me.
"Sure. We were in Mrs. McDonald's kindergarten class together. What does that have to do with this?" he asked.
"Well, in fourth grade, you wouldn't let me play kickball with you at recess. That made me mad, and I decided from that point on that I would hate everything that you do."
Blake chuckled. "I still wouldn't let you play kickball with me now, if that's any consolation."
I hit him playfully. "It is absolutely not."