They had been friends for more than five years now and it's safe to say that they've known each other for so long, so long that they're more than comfortable with each other's presence - so comfortable that they have accepted the acting job offered to them without really knowing the characters they're going to play in that new TV series produced by the same producer of their very first movie together.
"Excuse me? Can you repeat that?" Red haired Nicole Haught, asked. It wasn't like she's pretending that she didn't hear it more like she wanted to confirm that she indeed heard it correctly, while her brunette friend, Waverly Earp, voiced out her own discomfiture, "Uh sorry, come again?" the same time as the tall woman beside her.
They were currently in the confines of the office of the said TV Series' Writer and was just handed the full script a second ago.
"Didn't you guys know what characters you are going to play in?" And when the two friends shook their heads, the writer knew they were in it for the surprise of their lives, "Seriously?" The two friends nodded at that, obviously stating the fact that they indeed have no idea at all.
"How did you get casted again?" The writer inquired as she motioned them to sit. Usually, in the film industry, the show runner is the one who decides on the actor and actresses who will play in the film but in this case the producer literally begged to be the one to cast the two supporting characters in the show and since the two main leads have already been casted by two great actors, the show runner agreed, not thinking anything suspicious out of it at all.
"Well my manager told me to do a screen test for Katie which I did and a week after I received a call that I got the part." Waverly stated, remembering how she had prepared for the screen test with some of Katie's lines her manager presented her with. She looked over to Nicole who in turn replied with her own version of the casting call. "I actually didn't audition for it, I just kinda got a call from Mr. Andres asking me if I want to play a role along side Waves and I'm like 'Yeah, sure, why not'. So I guess that's how I got Alex's role."
The writer smiled and nodded, mostly to herself, finding the situation rather amusing before looking back again to them. "You might want to rethink that considering you know, Katie and Alex are sort of in a relationship and most likely will be having tons of kissing scenes and a whole lot more of making out, emphasis on 'Making out'." The writer dragged along the last two words to specify the gravity of the roles they were offered.
Nicole and Waverly turned to look at each other, surprised and puzzled.. They're just glad that they were not with their managers right now or else they'll probably feel more awkward than they already are. They had been friends for so long they're practically sisters, and picturing them kissing each other more so making out, sent them both to embarrassment-wonderland. With both faces turning red as a tomato, Nicole decided that her sneakers are worth more staring at while Waverly fixated her gaze on the wall-stand poster beside the air conditioning stand.
"I'm sure you both need time to think about it, so I'll try to give you until the day after tomorrow, you know, if in case any of you backed out we still have time to find a replacement before the first script reading." The writer offered another smile before excusing herself as she has prior engagements to attend to.
Once left alone in the room, the red-head exclaimed, "Huh. That was unexpected." expelling some air out or her lungs to break the awkwardness that was looming around her and her friend.
Waverly re-positioned herself on the couch so she's now facing Nicole. "So what are we going to do now?" She asked worriedly. When she first had Katie's lines to practice for her screen test, she knew that the character is a bad-ass and considering that it's one of her favorite genre, she doesn't want to let the role go. It's not every day that she gets an offer to play for an interesting role in a post - zombie apocalypse t.v. show, albeit a queer character, still it's a character she definitely wants to play in.
Nicole, who instantly saw the anxiety laced within those stares, took Waverly's hand and said, "We have until the day after tomorrow to decide. Let's read our scripts first and see if we still want to do this after. I mean, I can see that you do knowing how damn well you loved The Walking Dead before and they can always replace me anyway so there's that. Let's just read it first for now and then we'll decide later, what do you think?" to which the brunette nodded.
When the writer said that there's a lot of kissing and making out, she was definitely not kidding. From their first scene together up to the last one, Alex and Katie seemed to be doing it whenever and wherever they feel like it.
Are all queer people like this horny?
Nicole gets the point that the two characters are in love, but to be doing it on the roof of the bus they're guarding where it's literally an open space and bound to be a free-for-all stunt? That's just wild and bold, not to mention that some of the group they're with isn't exactly deaf and they weren't really being quiet about doing it just sets the red-head a little bit off. Why does Alex have to be so horny all the god damn time?
Waverly, on the other hand, enjoyed reading Katie. She loved the fact that the character she wanted to play has a strong personality and she's not one of those characters that waits for her knight-in-shining-armor to save her. She's very independent, smart and empowering. The only downside on the character was her relationship with Alex. Why do they have to be such horny rabbits?
Don't get them wrong, they both had their fair share of doing sexual scenes before but maybe knowing that they'll be doing the scenes with someone they've known and have been friends with for a long time doesn't make it any less nerve-racking.
They have spent their two days going over the script. Nicole would occasionally skip the other parts and just go straight to Alex's scenes while Waverly read from the first page up to the last not missing any pages in between. And whilst the red-head thinks she definitely can play her role, she worries more about her sensual scenes with her friend whom she treated nothing but a younger sister for years. She's well aware that Waverly's a professional actress and her acting career had been smooth sailing more so after getting offers around the globe; but can her friend make out with her?
Can she?
Nicole's phone suddenly rang. "So? What do you think?" Waverly's question greeted her. She was about to respond with her usual antics but she can literally feel the brunette's wariness on the subject, so she didn't and instead opted to be her most sober self. Placing the script on her side, she gave it a lingering look before asking, "Will you be okay kissing me?"
She doesn’t know why her partner seemed to be so annoyed at what she did. She basically just saved her life but an eye-roll was what she received as a 'Thank you' in return. Does anyone still know how to be grateful around here? Yeah, she gets it, the world is fucked up. You could die any time but at least when someone saves you, you thank them for it. "You could at the very least be thankful you know. That zombie could've bitten you for all I care, but I didn't let it. I didn’t stand there and wait it for it to bite you, I saved you. I know we didn't start on the right foot at first, but I'm trying here. I've been trying to...." And her partner spun around and almost threw herself to her and then ki-- and then Nicole laughed and muttered "I’m sorry. I’m sorry." in between.
Waverly groaned in frustration. "Arggh Nicole, God. This is the fifth time already." and combed her brown hair with her fingers before sitting lazily on the couch.
"I said I was sorry." The red-head shrugged her shoulders before plopping herself next to her obviously upset friend.
It was Saturday evening and it has been three hours since they started drinking wine while reading their lines, and nothing seemed to be going right, as far as the brunette can tell; her friend is being such a pain in the ass and she’s starting to rethink that maybe, she has to reconsider her decision to do it with Nicole and would probably ask for another actor to act it with.
After the night where they called the writer to inform her about their decision of completely taking the roles, the show runner immediately scheduled the first script reading a week after. It went rather smoothly with Nicole and Waverly meeting the rest of the casts and going over their lines without any troubles considering that the first couple of scenes were just their characters being introduced to one another.
Alex is an even-tempered suburb cop who happened to be in the right place and in the right time. She was on-duty at the precinct with all the ammunition she needed to survive when the zombie infestation happened. While Alex is the easy-going police officer tried to survive with just twinkies alone, Katie was a medical doctor whom the cop have saved along with another group of survivors. And whilst Katie should’ve been thankful for the brave save through the mayhem, Alex had killed her boyfriend who turned to be infected by the zombie virus and they have never been in good terms ever since.
“Whoever casted us as lovers definitely doesn’t know what they’re thinking because obviously, we don’t know how to do this.” Nicole admitted. It wasn’t really because she doesn’t know how to kiss, she does, she did quite some kissing scenes here and there before and she’s really good at it but she’s never done it with a friend whom she hold so dear to her heart. They may be comfortable around each other, but it’s probably not enough to force herself to kiss Waverly.
“It’s you who doesn’t know how to do this!” The brunette blurted out in exasperation and the red-head was taken aback, slightly offended. Nicole was about to say something but Waverly beat her to it. “Oh for heaven’s sake Nicole, will you just let me kiss you already and be done with it?!"
Shootings for their kissing scenes came and went and since they have practiced beforehand, they managed to execute it flawlessly than expected in front of the rolling camera. Having fewer men around watching them do it over and over again with every shot and takes helped a lot. Waverly was surprised to know that Nicole had asked the director if they can shoot it with just the lady staffs, citing how the brunette would sometimes get so awkward after her kissing scenes before. Whenever they're going to shoot anything sensual, there would be no more than three men in the room including the director, holding the heaviest equipment; it sure does made it less uncomfortable, more for the tall red-head than Waverly if truth be told, but of course, Nicole will never ever admit that.
The director would occasionally praise them with how they have such a good chemistry on and off the camera and that he can finally understand why the producer personally chose them for their roles. He even said that they really looked like a couple sometimes, which all staffs and other casts agree along.
"Okay, Alex and Katie's scene 3 episode 10, take 3, action." The director yelled before the staff had snapped the clapperboard.
The scene was set inside one of the rooms in the building the survivors have crashed upon as they tried to wait out the incoming horde of zombies passing through the town.
Katie pushed through the door and was rumbling about the incident that happened earlier that almost got Alex killed over saving someone and not thinking first about herself or how her girlfriend would react, clearly mad. "You almost got killed Alex, how do you expect me to feel ab--" Her words got cut off mid-sentence as Alex spun her around and kissed her passionately, one hand on her neck and the other around her waist pulling her closer while pushing her across the floor, backing her against the wall. Once breathless, Alex pulled away, just enough to stare right through Katie's eyes, one that mirrors the same ache on her own once their lips parted. "I don't ever want to feel this again." Katie admitted with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't ever want to feel like I'm going to lose you." Alex nodded softly, eyes begging for forgiveness and understanding. She wiped her thumb across Katie's cheeks to dry her tears. There was a couple of seconds that passed between silence and slow breathing before Alex scooped Katie up and laid her to bed, but not without another kiss...
"And cut." The director's voice echoed across the room. "That's wow, just wow." he exclaimed, showing how satisfied he was with how the scene played out. Nicole and Waverly were already on their feet, both faces as red as the shirt the shorter of the two was wearing. The director has called them over to re-watch the scene with him. "Not bad. Three takes and you managed to give your all on this one. Good improvisation Nicole. I think the carrying-scene gave it more rawness and authenticity. I don't think we need to go for a take-four."
The red-head nodded in agreement, eyes still fixated on the small screen in front of her. "Yeah, I think so too. I just thought that well, since it's going to be the first time doing it, carrying her and putting her down to bed just feels so right. I mean at the moment, it just felt so right." She admitted before asking for her friend's opinion. "What do you think Waves?" The younger girl was still red in the face that she only managed to nod.
Realizing that she did not warned Waverly about her sudden impulse of carrying her beforehand, Nicole apologized, "Oh I’m so sorry, you must've been startled." She then felt the need to confirm that what she did was okay for her friend and that she did not, in any way, have stepped past the brunette's comfort zone. She found her hand on the Waverly's back as she asked, "You okay?"
"Y-yeah, for a minute there I thought I missed something in the script." Waverly admitted shyly. "But it came out nice, so I'm not going to complain." she added, smiling at Nicole, reassuring her that she is indeed okay.
Crossing his arms on his chest, the writer proceeded on praising them more as he commented, "There was a second window there where Waverly looked confused but she's such a professional that she easily caught on. Good job you two."
It was their season break and Waverly decided to spend it with her family back in France. Nicole would occasionally call her to tell her stories about the t.v. appearances, gigs and interviews she had attended along with the other casts and had expressed her yearning to be able to finally attend one with her considering that most of the question thrown at her most likely involves Alex's relationship with Waverly's character, Katie; and that it would've been nice to have her there with her.
"You should really come, Waves. It's fun." The red-head had just told her that there'll be a Clexacon event in LA next month and Nicole is friends with one of the coordinators of the said event who managed to squeeze her in the guest list.
Waverly knew that Clexacon is somewhat a big thing for the LGBTQ community and when she accepted her queer role on Gnaw, she knew that she will be a positive representation on behalf of the whole community, an LGBTQ icon, and that the convention is just one of the many ways to connect with their fans and understand that there's more to LGBTQ than gender preferences. "They told me that Sparks would totally go crazy if you're ever going to be there with me." Waverly smiled at that, she knew of their fans' given ship name Spark for her and Nicole's characters, a mix of their characters’ surnames Schultz and Parker and by association, their fans we’re called Sparks; she could not be any prouder knowing just how much people Alex and Katie’s relationship have touched so far.
"Oh I don't know Nic, Wynonna just arrived and she wants to spend more time with the family while she's still on some playing-detective break, maybe some other convention?” She hoped that her friend did not catch any hint of the little lie along her words.
There was actually no reason for Waverly to go back to France, her family could’ve visited her in Canada while she’s on break yet she insisted that going back home is what’s going to give her the rest she badly needed. It’s partly true, she really did want to come home and rest but it’s also because of her red-haired friend who had been messing with her feelings, yet again.
She and Nicole had been friends for years, and in those early years, Waverly had developed some sort of feelings for the taller girl, for just simply being her. Nicole was everything a girl can ask for in a man; sweet, gentle, caring, a total boyfriend material, someone you can be proud of to introduce to your parents only if Nicole was a man or if her parents aren’t so much of a 'homophobe', she’d definitely risk it all to date Nicole. But she knew all the pros and cons of the idea, and as much as she likes her friend, she’d rather have Nicole in her life as a friend than not have her at all. Waverly tried so much to push her feelings aside and with all her vigorous efforts, have managed to outgrow all that she feels for her friend but now, acting with her, being with her again and finally kissing her, all those deep-buried feelings resurfaced.
“That’s okay, but really, we definitely need to attend at least one convention together, okay? Uh, and tell Wynonna I said hi.” Waverly sighed in relief once the call ended. It’s like back to square one again, back when she’s trying to avoid the older girl and at the same time trying not to be so obvious about it.
Kissing and making out with Nicole had been like a second nature to Waverly; it felt so natural, so right, and she can’t still wrap her head around the fact that she’s not just dreaming about it anymore. Everything is real and it’s happening. If she said five years ago that a day will come that she’ll be writhing under the taller girl’s light weight with fingers tickling its way from her nape to her sides, she wouldn’t have believed it. It was just a dream for her, a dream that she thought will never ever come true. But now, who could’ve known, right?
She knew she shouldn’t give away teeny parts of her heart whenever she’s with Nicole but can anybody really tell her how she can’t fall in love with the red-head again when all Nicole ever did was, literally, sweep her off her feet every time they touch, stare and kiss? It was as if Waverly’s lungs forget how to function every time and she couldn’t breathe. And God knows how difficult it is for her to breathe even more when the red-head is out of sight and the need to be around her hurts just as much, it suffocates her.
And sometimes, it just becomes too much to the point that Waverly fails to differentiate real life and acting. She’s incapable of forcing herself to lay aside her ever growing feelings for her friend who seemed to be not seeing her for what she is, more so now than before; because with every second that they were together, every touch that lingered on her skin and every kiss that has set every fiber of her being alight is just too much and it kills her - it pains her to want for everything to be real when she knows it can never be, so she indulged herself with whatever she’s being offered and if it’s the few minutes or so of having Nicole in her arms, albeit in front of a camera, then so be it. She’ll gladly accept it.
But when her taller friend stopped kissing her, pulled back few inches away and stared at her with questioning eyes, Waverly knew she made a mistake; although they did talked about it before going back to shooting their scenes for the second season and she definitely remembered Nicole mentioning that “Tongue slips are okay. If it happens, it happens.” she still can’t shake the feeling that she went overboard.
Waverly was just thankful that Nicole did not make a big deal out of the tongue incident that happened on their last shooting and shrugged it off as “At one point or another, it was bound to happen eventually. I mean with the amount of kissing and making out we’ve done, I was quite surprised it took this long for that tongue to slip in. I guess I was just not as professional as you, I mean I did panic for a minute there.” But she noticed how the red-head started sticking to the script more now and would not do improvisations like usual, noticed how Nicole would seldom fell rigid against her touch in between takes and the awkwardness that follows, and she surely noticed how her friend avoided her for some time.
Does she know?
Did she finally have an idea what Waverly truly feels for her?
The younger girl can only hope so and then it wouldn’t be that hard to explain why she said what she said on her first Clexacon.
“Ah I think this question suits Spark the most, if anything, I think they’ve done this so much than the others we already lost count.” The mediator laughed as she waved the paper in her hand, teasing the audience that she might’ve something they would actually like. “Okay, so who’s going to ask and who’s going to answer…” The mediator trailed off as she watched Nicole and Waverly decide between them.
They were currently playing twenty questions along with the other casts of Gnaw and everybody almost had their turns except for the two friends.
“I’ll ask the question and Waves will answer.” The red-head said as she took the paper from the mediator and immediately exclaimed “Oh my god are you serious?!” It worried the brunette beside her, “Why? What is it? Should I be scared because I am scared? Oh my God!” Waverly unconsciously reached out for her friend’s hand on top of the table.
“To whoever put this question in the poll, good thing you’re anonymous or else, Nicole might actually hunt you down.” The mediator joked and everyone laughed as they waited for the question to be asked.
“Do you want me to do it?” One of their co-stars chimed in which made everyone burst into another fit of laughter.
“My God!!” Nicole held her temple with her free hand while she squeezed Waverly’s hand with the other; at least the action gave the brunette some kind of calmness before the storm. She took a deep breath before delivering “Okay, here we go. Waves, with all the making out we’ve done so far, did you ever get turned on?” and then she stood up and acted like she’s going to walk out of the venue. “I-I can’t do this.” That earned quite a thundering laughter from the audience with a lot of cooing “Ooooooh” in between.
“I just like to add, that whoever sent that question, I’ll be hunting you down as well.” Waverly pointed at the audience jokingly. She knew she’s blushing, she could feel her cheeks heating up.
“Guys, guys…” Nicole tried to simmer down the audience’s excitement. “Whatever goes after this, please do not take it out of context and whatever happens here, stays here. Got it?” and when the audience confirmed with a loud “Yeah!” she turned to her friend whose face is buried on her palm. “So Waves, do you?”
The whole venue went silent, all were eager to hear what the younger girl would say and we’re not disappointed when Waverly answered, “In some moments, how can you not?”