Josh groaned as he and Ashley blew another take and the director called a cut. This time it was his fault; he’d mangled dialogue and actions he knew like the back of his hand. If she hadn’t tried to slip him some tongue during their kiss scene…. He let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair as he stormed off toward Rick Rivera, the director.
“You okay?” Rick asked as he walked up to him while they reset the scene. He was older than Josh, greying hair, a few wrinkles, and a twinkle in his eyes that reflected his passion for his work. They had worked on other movies before and he had always found Rick to be understanding when he lost focus, always kind to interns, and determined to make the set a fun place to work. The whole reason Josh had signed on for this deal was because Rick would be directing.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied automatically. In theory he should be fine. Ashley was hardly the first person to try to kiss him when he wasn’t interested, though she was definitely the most persistent.
Maybe it was too close to lunch. Or maybe he needed to take his meds. Or maybe it was the fact that he knew Beck would be waiting in his trailer when they cut for lunch. Just thinking about her made his frustration lift.
“Why don’t we break for lunch a few minutes early and regroup in, what, an hour?” Rick suggested. “Give you some time to collect whatever’s going on in that head of yours. I’ll talk to Ashley.”
Smiling, he said, “Not sure that’s quite enough time for that, but maybe after a bit of lunch I can reset my focus. And thanks.”
“Go get some food, kid,” Rick laughed.
“I’m 33.”
“And I’m 56,” he shot back. “Go get some food, kid.”
“Yes, dad,” Josh replied, throwing a salute as he turned to head for his trailer.
----------------------------------------
Somehow when Beck checked the progress of the download, it had more time remaining than it had a few minutes earlier. About a week had passed since Josh had picked her up at Union station, crying over her bad day. Every day since, he had brought her on set with him to work in his trailer while he worked. Between takes, he would come back and hang out with her while playing video games or reviewing his script. Even the silence when he was reviewing lines was comfortable.
In all of her digging, she had managed to find a remote access tool and a keylogger. Someone wanted something off of it. So now she was going through system logs and access logs to see what had been compromised, what they were after. Some asshole looking to spoil the movies? Someone looking for dirt on Josh? At this point she had no idea. And damn if reading logs wasn’t her least favourite part of her job. It required so much focus and attention and sometimes she just needed to break from it. Hanging out with Josh had been good for that. He was a lot of fun and a great distraction when she needed it.
Looking up, she debated turning on the giant flatscreen TV and playing one of the many video games in Josh’s library. On either side of the TV were bookshelves filled with video games for N64, Xbox, Playstation; hell, he even had an old NES and a Sega. Of course, he also had a full kitchen with a ceramic top oven, full-sized fridge (complete with beers inside), and a dishwasher. At the other end of the trailer was a bedroom, complete with a queen sized bed and the most comfortable mattress she had ever laid on. Well. Laid on. Technically he had encouraged her to run and jump into the bed like a toddler on sugar. Then he had done the same and laid down next to her. Next thing she knew Kris was barging in and waking them up for his next call on set. That had only been slightly embarrassing.
Between the bedroom and living room was a huge washroom with a bathtub. That had shocked her when she first saw it, during his tour of the trailer. Even her apartment only had a stall shower. The whole damned trailer was nicer and bigger than her apartment and definitely more luxurious.
A grin slipped across her face as her thoughts wandered back to when they had fallen asleep on the bed, growing bigger when the trailer door opened. It was like just thinking about him had summoned him. Compared to other days she’d been on set with him, he was dressed relatively normal - just a plain navy blue jumpsuit with his character's name on it and a white shirt underneath. There were some fake cuts and dirt on his face as well, but nothing that really stood out. The other day he’d been in full battle regalia and eating salad. If she hadn’t been so afraid of issues with the NDA, she would’ve taken a picture.
“Hey,” he greeted, smiling at her. “Brought pizza!”
“My hero,” she muttered, glancing at the box and napkins in his hands. “Did you swipe a whole pizza from the set?”
Josh gave her his best ‘who, me?’ look as he dropped down next to her on the couch and opened the box to offer her a slice.
“Plain cheese?” she asked, looking at the pizza.
He winced. “Not your thing?”
“Definitely my thing,” she said, taking two slices out and dropping them on napkins in her lap. “Always got called weird for it, but I’m just not a fan of covering my pizza in...anything.” From the corner of her eye she caught him staring at her with a goofy grin. “What?”
“That’s exactly how I feel,” he said, taking a slice of his own. “People get so judgy over pizza.”
She snorted a laugh. “People get judgy over everything, Josh. It’s why I don’t have any social media.”
“What, none?” He was looking at her like she’d grown another head or seven.
In reply, she just grinned around her mouthful of pizza.
Dropping his slice on top of the box, he asked, “What’s that even like? Shit. I mean, I have to have notifications turned off, otherwise I’d go nuts.”
Beck arched an eyebrow at him.
“More nuts,” he corrected, smiling. A noise like a phone vibrating hit her ears, and Josh’s posture went rigid and he slid the pizza box to the side to run across the room. “Shit, almost forgot.” His words were so quiet she almost didn’t hear them.
“Everything okay?” she asked, watching as he picked up what looked like a pill organizer and a bottle of water.
“Yeah, fine,” he muttered, popping the pill and chugging the water.
“If you’re not okay, you can -.”
“I’m fine,” he reassured her, smiling. “Nothing’s wrong. Well. Nothing bad. The pills are for...they’re....” He took another sip of his water, clearly stalling.
Smiling softly at him, she put her own pizza down on the box with his and crossed the room. Maybe she could ease his mind if she told him about her ADHD? “Promise I won’t judge, Josh,” she murmured. Fishing around in her pocket, she pulled out her Vyvanse bottle and showed it to him. “I take my own medication for -.”
“ADHD,” he said, a slow smile pulling his mouth up. “You have ADHD?”
She nodded and took the bottle back, putting it away. “Yeah, combined type,” she confirmed. “It means -.”
He showed her his pill organizer and grinned widely. “Adderall. Predominantly hyperactive, but only by a hair.”
Beck shook her head, laughing. “Guess that’s why we get along,” she muttered. When she looked up, he was giving her a weird look, so, trying not to blush, she suggested, “We should finish the pizza.”
“Good plan,” he agreed. “Rick’ll kill me if I ruin a take with a growling stomach.”
“I have a feeling you could run your car through the set and he’d still think you hung the moon,” she giggled as he pulled her back down on the couch. It had been obvious from the moment she showed up on set and he introduced her to Rick that they were close.
Josh shrugged, smirking. Whatever he was up to, she knew she was going to regret it. “Yeah, but I like my new car,” he said. “Blue’s my favourite colour.” And he took a massive bite of his pizza, tomato sauce dripping down his chin as he chewed loudly around his grin.
“You’re gross,” she laughed, pushing his face away from her to avoid sauce dripping on her. “I think if you get pizza sauce on your wardrobe, Rick might actually kill you. That might be the line.” She threw some of the napkins at him and grabbed her own slices from the box before he could drool sauce on them.
“You like my weirdness,” he chuckled.
Beck hid her grin behind a bite of pizza. She really did like his weirdness. And now that she knew he had ADHD too, it was like a weight had been lifted. No need to try to mask anymore, he understood. She leaned back into the couch as she ate, trying not to smile too much.
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Josh half turned his head away from his game to watch Beck as she worked on her laptop, chewing on her thumbnail as she stared intently at the screen. As she worked, her foot bounced and he wondered if it did that every time and he just hadn’t noticed before. It made sense, with her having ADHD that she’d need to fidget to focus. Did she have fidget toys and just avoided bringing them to try to mask?
Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail today, pieces of it had fallen out and framed her face. She wore jeans and a t-shirt with a dinosaur drinking coffee and glaring outward that read ‘Ask Me About My T-Rex Impression’. So he had. And she’d flipped up the bottom of the shirt over her head to reveal a T-Rex inside the shirt, roaring. Kenz would love that shirt. He’d have to find one for her. Maybe for him too.
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He wanted to ask her what she was working on but the last time he’d asked it was like she was speaking a different language - something about rats and logs? Maybe one day he could get her to explain it properly. She seemed so interested in her job and he wanted to understand, if only to hear her talk about it. The way her eyes lit up when she spoke….
An exasperated sigh pushed past her lips and she shook her head.
Time for a distraction. “You want to play?” he asked, offering her his controller.
Looking up through her lashes, she smirked at him. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned with me working to make sure your confidential information hasn’t been leaked?”
He shrugged and looked back at the TV, not really concentrating on the game. “If they’ve got something, they’ve already got it, right?” The truth was the idea of someone having access to his computer and possibly screwing up his confidentiality contract with the studio made him anxious as hell, but what could he do at this point? Not much, as far as he could see.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Nothing’s been leaked yet or it’d be all over…everything. If they do have something, they’re waiting. Maybe we can find out why or prepare if we know what they have.”
Pausing the game, he turned to smile at her. “We?”
A nice shade of pink spread across her cheeks and nose; it was adorable. Making Beck Kendall blush was becoming a favourite hobby of his. “I mean, it’s my job, right?” she asked, chewing on her lower lip as she looked up at him from her laptop.
“You know,” he said, reaching a hand out toward her to tap her nose gently. “I’ve never seen anyone’s nose go that shade of pink.” Grinning, she slapped his hand away, so he did the only mature thing - he reached for her nose again.
“Stop that!” she giggled, swatting at him with one arm as she put her laptop safely out of reach with the other.
A knock at his door interrupted before he could tease her further, so he took his hand back, winked at Beck, and shouted, “It’s open.”
“I’m gonna get you for that,” Beck laughed, straightening up.
“I look forward to it,” he shot back.
“Josh,” Ashley’s voice called from the door, lowering his mood a little. “Where are - oh.” She stood by the door, looking at him and Beck and frowning, her posture rigid.
“What’s up, Ashley?” he sighed. Beck’s foot knocked against his and he smiled at her. She had heard him venting a little about Ashley during the past week, nothing mean; after all the poor woman was new to the industry, he didn’t want to shit on her. Still, he couldn’t help venting his frustration and Beck was always more than happy to listen.
“Uh, yeah,” she said, shaking her head. “We’re needed back on set. Rick’s calling lunch early.”
Josh sighed and offered an apologetic smile to Beck. “Guess lunch is over?”
She grinned back at him. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”
“Thank you,” he muttered, the smile turning genuine as he pushed off the couch and reached for her nose again. Teasing her was sliding right up to the top of the hobbies list right below making her blush.
“Get out of here, you weirdo,” she said, slapping his hand away. “Let me get some work done."
He tossed her a wink as he followed Ashley out the door. While he wasn’t looking forward to any time alone with Ashley, he was fairly sure he’d be able to handle the few minutes’ walk to the set. Besides, he was technically a professional. If he could act on screen, he could act in real life, right?
A laugh almost bubbled up at the thought. One time he’d tried to do that, back when he was dating one of his closest friends, Jen Hayes, she’d told him how terrible a liar he was. Especially considering his profession. He was glad they’d been able to remain friends after dating, Jen was a good person. Not remotely what he was looking for in a partner, but a good person.
Ashley’s voice shook him from his thoughts. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
His eyes fluttered rapidly as he tried to process what she said. “What?”
“The woman in the trailer?” she prompted, hope in her eyes.
Josh almost groaned. He knew this was a bad idea, walking with her back to the set. This whole flirting thing was starting to wear thin. “She’s not my sister, Ashley,” he muttered. “She’s a friend.”
“Just a friend?”
Rolling his eyes, he started to walk a little faster, not caring if she struggled to keep up. All he wanted was to get away from this conversation, from Ashley. His relationship with Beck was none of her damn business. Hell, he was still working it out himself and with an eight year old in the conversation, it wasn’t easy. Especially considering that he was pretty sure Kenz had undiagnosed ADHD - he needed a partner who’d support his daughter, unlike Mel. And Ashley was so damned wrapped up in appearances, in the idea of him and her, that no way would she be present for Kenz. In any capacity.
“Anyway,” she continued, speeding up to try to match his pace. “I thought we could run some lines together before we head back from lunch. Might help relax me.” The way she looked up at him through her lashes suggested she wanted anything but work.
A frown pulled at the corners of his mouth as he stopped abruptly to look at her. “I thought you said Rick was calling lunch earlier?”
“Oh,” she said, a sheepish smile tugging at her lips. “Sorry about that. I misspoke.”
Misspoke, my ass. “Look, Ash, I really need a break. If we’re not -.”
“I like that,” she said, her voice soft.
Sighing, he already knew he would regret it but asked anyway, “Like what?”
“When you call me ‘Ash’.”
Before he could even process how to reply to that, Rick’s voice called his name and he turned to see his friend heading toward him. Thank fucking god for that man’s timing.
“We’re ready to go,” Rick said as he jogged up alongside them.
“Oh,” Ashley sighed. “I was hoping to have some time with Josh to -.”
“Time is money, kid,” Rick interrupted. “Let’s go.”
Josh gave Rick a grateful look as his friend guided Ashley back toward the set. Following behind them, he breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the rest of the day would go quickly.
----------------------------------------
Beck grinned as she crossed the lot to Josh’s trailer, grateful that she had been able to find out roughly when he’d be finishing for the day. That long on set? She was pretty sure he mentioned having to do some stunt work and a lot of physical activity. No way in hell would he be in the mood to cook. And it was getting a bit late. If they ordered when he got back to the trailer, by the time any delivery got there, he’d be starving.
So she’d run out to grab some food before he got back and found an Indian place with takeaway curry nearby. If the smells in the restaurant were any indication, they’d be in for a good meal! She jogged up the steps to the trailer and, tempting as it was to start without him, put the curries into the fridge.
Right as she was closing the fridge door, the trailer door opened and Josh slunk in. He was in his regular jeans and t-shirt and looked absolutely bagged. His hair was mussed, his eyes were heavy and glassy, and as he walked his feet barely left the ground. All around he looked as though he’d picked a fight with gravity and was losing.
“You okay?”
He groaned and flopped down onto the couch face first.
As tempting as it was to get the curry out of the fridge first, she crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the couch. “Long day?”
Turning his head to the side, he looked up at her through the corners of his eyes. “Hmm,” he groaned. He pushed up and manoeuvred around her into a sitting position, lolling his head back against the couch. “Take after take after take of the same damned thing. Ashley screwing up our scenes together. Rick finally got fed up with it, pulled Ashley aside during a scene I was finally filming without her. Guess they offered her another part and are looking at their runners up for her role. She’s pissed. Tried to guilt me into talking to them on her behalf.”
Beck smiled softly at him. “Was gonna say that probably didn’t go over well. Guessing she was doing it on purpose to get more time with you?”
“That’s an understatement,” he laughed humourlessly, dropping his gaze to the floor. “At least for now they’ve called off shooting until next week when they’ll hopefully have a replacement. Means I can get some damn rest.”
“Speaking of,” Beck said, standing up to walk to the fridge. “Guessing you’re hungry?”
“Starved.” He was still staring at the floor, looking thoroughly exhausted. His shoulders were slumped, his expression blank, and his eyes unfocussed. It was tempting to ask if he’d prefer to sleep there and she could catch the train home. Maybe after they’d eaten.
The takeout curry was still hot, thankfully, so she grabbed a couple of forks and walked back to the couch. “Here,” she said, handing him one of the boxes.
Josh finally looked up and blinked at her. “What?”
She nudged him gently with her elbow, smiling when he finally looked at what she was handing him. “Chicken curry,” she explained. “Just picked it up before you slunk through the door.”
“I…nobody’s ever…,” he muttered, taking the food from her. “You got me dinner?”
“Figured you’d probably had a long day,” she replied, shrugging as she dug into her food. “And you brought lunch, so it was my turn.” The goofy grin he gave her was highlighted by the slightest redness in his cheeks so she grinned and patted at the colour. “Now who’s blushing?”
Finally he laughed. “Just can’t believe you did this for me, is all. People usually expect me to -.”
“After a long day? Nah,” she said, toying with her food. “Besides, I wouldn’t have had my vengeance if I’d let you get dinner.” She reached up again to flick at his cheek, grinning.
A louder laugh escaped him and he muttered, “Your vengeance. If this is vengeance, I’m okay with it.” He leaned back against the couch and shovelled the curry into his mouth, smiling.
Beck leaned back to eat with him, happy that he seemed lighter than when he’d walked in.
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After falling asleep on the couch and waking up awkwardly at two in the morning, Josh offered to drive Beck home since there were no trains or any other ways for her to get back to Burlington. She had tried to decline, offered to get a hotel, but he wasn’t having any of it. On the plus side, she supposed, the drive had been relatively quick since the QEW was virtually empty at that time of morning. It had taken just around forty-five minutes to get home from the studio.
She smiled over at him as he pulled up in front of her building. “Wish all rides on the QEW were that smooth and fast,” she muttered. “You really didn’t have to.”
“What, you were gonna sleep at the train station, head home at first light?” he teased. “It’s fine.”
“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks warming. “Really.”
He reached out and flicked the tip of her nose, laughing when she smacked his hand away. “I should be thanking you,” he said. “Kept me sane today, got me dinner. Nobody’s ever done anything like that for me before.” Before she could say anything, he leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. “You’re the best.”
Her cheeks burned hotter as she bit down on her lower lip to keep from saying something stupid and looked away. “I, uh…I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” she said as she fumbled with the door handle.
“Yeah,” he said, as she hopped out. “Today now, I guess.”
“Yeah.” She stood in the door, holding it open and trying not to set the damned Range Rover on fire with her cheeks. “Thanks again. Good night.”
“Night,” he said as she turned away.
It took everything in her to not run inside and the second she was safely in her apartment, she leaned back against the door and sighed. “What the hell just happened?”
----------------------------------------
The second Beck’s back was turned, Josh cringed. What the hell was that? What the hell was wrong with him? That was the best he could come up with? ‘You’re the best’? She’d spent all day alone in that damn trailer, put up with him venting, bought him dinner, and…’you’re the best’?
“Son of a bitch,” he groaned.
He watched her go inside her building with a quick look over her shoulder, then smacked his head on the steering wheel. She’d just looked so adorable all flushed, he couldn’t think straight. That had to have been it. Either that or he was just an idiot.
Shaking his head, he pulled away from the building and headed back to his place. At least he had some time during the drive home to figure out how to fix it. Or, more likely, agonize over the fact that she bolted the second he said it.
“Shit.”