Episode Nine *COMPLETED*

Chapter 4: Practice

The moment we were inside, we both took their usual spots on his gray futon. I realized that I didn't even have a notepad or anything that my supposed chorus was supposed to be on. Charlie had grabbed his guitar, his pick resting in his mouth as he sat down next to me and strummed a few chords.

"Okay, show me what you've got." He prompted, his Canadian accent peeking through.

I was internally cringing at myself, searching my brain desperately for a chorus to fill the silence I created.

"Mads?" He finally asked after a long pause.

"Hm? Oh, right." I was taken out of my thoughts and took a deep breath.

"I don't have a chorus." I revealed suddenly and he looked at me, confusion plain on his face.

"Okayyyy. Then why did you say you had it?" He asked gently.

"I don't know, I just need to talk to you about something." I mumbled, staring at the wall of his trailer.

"What do you need to talk about?" He asked, reading that I was nervous so he removed his guitar and turned to face me despite my eyes being glued to his dark wallpaper.

This wasn't like the last talk, what I needed to ask him was somehow even more embarrassing then revealing that I had never kissed anyone before. What if he outwardly rejected me? What if he said I was being ridiculous to suggest that we practice our kiss?

I hadn't realized that I had fallen silent again, my thoughts loud as my mind ran rampant with anxiety.

"Is it about the kiss?" He finally asked, presumably because he had only seen me react this way to the topic of our kissing scene.

I nodded, my face flushing with embarrassment.

"What about it?" He prompted, and I could feel his eyes surveying me.

More silence. I wished that he could just read my mind because the words were caught in my throat.

"Mads." He pushed, his hand reaching out to rest on the side of my chin before gently turning my face towards him.

"What's going on?" He asked softly, his eyes meeting mine and I finally broke.

I let out a long exasperated sigh as my face fell in my hands.

"Ugh, it's so stupid. It's just, I'm worried that I'm not going to do a good job and mess up our kiss and it's going to be awkward and look terrible and the fans are going to hate it and-" I began rambling, letting out all the thoughts that had been tormenting me the past couple of weeks.

"Hey hey hey, slow down." Charlie chuckled, placing his hands on my shoulders.

I stopped dead in my tracks, the rest of my ramble forgotten as I realized what I just revealed.

I looked at him sheepishly, wishing I could just disappear into myself.

"First of all, it's pretty hard to be bad at kissing unless you are deliberately trying to be bad. And second, no matter what happens it's going to look great and the fans are going to love it." He reassured me and I took a deep breath as my stomach flipped in knots.

My eyes fell to my lap again, and I could tell that Charlie was scanning my face as he desperately tried to figure out what was going on.

He was used to the bold and funny girl who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. But right now, I was shy and timid and I didn't feel much like myself.

"Is there something else?" He pressed and I bit my lip as I looked back up at him.

"Well... I was talking to Jadah about how I was nervous and she said that sometimes it helps if the actors practice the kiss beforehand." I rushed out before squeezing my eyes shut so I couldn't see his reaction.

It was silent for an uncomfortably long moment before he chuckled again.

"Madison, it's okay you can open your eyes." He assured me and I finally opened my brown doe eyes.

"If you wanted to practice the kiss, why didn't you just say so?" He said as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

I suppose it made sense, considering he has kissed multiple people on camera so he probably had the most experience in the realm of staging kisses.

I found my confidence again, his casualness helping wash away the tension I was feeling.

I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder.

"Because that would mean that you would be my first real kiss, you idiot!" I exasperated and then understanding washed over his face.

"Mads, if this is not how you want your first kiss to go down, we don't have to do it. We can talk to Kenny and figure it out." He offered seriously, but I shook my head.

"No it's okay, I want this for our characters and for our fans. Even though it's weird, I don't mind you being my first kiss." I revealed and then we sat there in heavy silence.

"Well if I'm going to be your first kiss, then I want it to be special. How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow and we'll do something fun, then we'll go from there?" Charlie suggested, and I nodded.

"That sounds good to me!" I beamed, happy that we were able to have this talk and happy that my kissing problem would soon be fixed.

"Also, Mads? Don't ever be afraid to just tell me what you're thinking. I'm never going to judge you, I just want to help." He said sincerely, his eyes shining with the intensity of his words as he grabbed my hand.

"Okay, thank you." I smiled back at him, thankful to have such an amazing friend in my life.

-

Hey friends! There's more to come soon. Thanks for all the support and love 💕 Let me know what you think of this chapter :)))