Chapter 2
Okay Vi, you can do this. It’s just a pull up, and then a fake kiss with your best friend.
Vi adjusted her grip on the ledge of the castle window. The set piece had been built on the edge of a rolling staircase, so Vi had to do a real pull up to complete the scene.
That wasn’t the issue.
“Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked in a hushed voice. Vi made the mistake of glancing up to give an exasperated, ‘I’m fine, Cait’ when she got an eyeful of cleavage.
“Vi?” Cait frowned down at her bodyguard, whose head had suddenly snapped downwards.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-
“I’m good. Peaches- I mean, peachy!” Vi blinked rapidly, staring at the ground below her and wondering if it was too late to quit.
“Everybody ready?”
It’s fine. Totally fine. Just gotta not look up.
“And action!”
Vi pulled herself up with all the nervous energy she felt throughout her body, sending her flying upwards at a speed Cait didn’t expect. Vi’s skull smashed into the bottom of Cait’s chin.
“Okay, cut!”
“Oh my god, Cait, I’m so sorry are you okay?”
“No, Vi I’m fine, it was an accident.”
Jinx sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as the two morons she was supposed to direct spoke frantically to one another.
This was gonna be a long shoot.
———
“Action!”
Vi’s grip tightened on the ledge, she pulled herself up to be face to face with Cait and then she froze.
This was the moment Caitlyn was supposed to lean forward and kiss her, which she was totally 100% fine with and not at all crapping her costume pants about.
“What’re you doing?” Jinx’s voice came from behind her. “Just kiss already!”
A soft palm came to cradle the side of Vi’s face, where her tattoo usually sat. A thumb brushed over the concealer covering it and Vi felt goosebumps all through her body.
Caitlyn’s eyes were a brilliant blue, and they were looking down, at Vi’s lips and oh god she can’t be normal about this.
The best thing to do in this situation was to be a professional, let her eyes close, and proceed with the scene but holy hell Vi was not prepared for her best friend to be pretending to kiss her and this was definitely not in her job description.
Cait leaned forward ever so slightly, and Vi felt her heart jerk in her chest.
“Um,” She froze in place, eyes wide in an expression the bodyguard had never seen on the singer.
“Cut!”
——-
“Everybody ready?”
Caitlyn leaned down to rest her hands on the ledge of the window. They accidentally landed on top of Vi’s and she hurried to pull them away.
Unfortunately, Vi did the same. She panicked, snatched both hands away from the set piece sending her falling from the window and landing hard on the air bag just below.
“For fucks- we haven’t even started! Ok, can we bring the ladder back in?”
———-
Seven more mishaps later, Jinx was pulling her sister aside and asking to speak with her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jinx asked plainly.
Luckily, Vi had been asking the same question for the past half hour so her excuses were locked and loaded.
“Look, I’m not used to being on camera. Sorry for fucking up your shoot, sis, but you just gotta give me some time to get used to it.”
Jinx looked wholly unimpressed by that answer. She gave Vi a long look. “Did you two fuck?”
Vi sputtered. “W-what are you- why would you-“
“Oh, so you wanna fuck, but you’re in denial about it.” Jinx suddenly seemed a lot more understanding, nodding her head sagely. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Fat Hands. We’ve all been there. I just need you to get this one shot right and I’ll add a little more special stroking juuust for you.”
Her sister booped the tip of her nose before striding back to her Director’s chair, leaving Vi stood gawking at nothing.
“Can we get everyone back to square one?”
———
“And action!”
Vi’s hands gripped the ledge. At this point her arms were more than a little sore but with some effort, she pulled herself up and waited with bated breath.
Caitlyn had begun the scene kneeling down by the window, which made Vi’s life easier because it meant she wasn’t eye level with her two biggest distractions.
“I’m really sorry about all this.” Cait whispered lowly, blue eyes gleaming with emotion.
Vi opened her mouth to reassure her, tell her it was fine, she’d volunteered, when suddenly she felt Caitlyn’s thumb brushing her parted lips.
She hoped Cait couldn’t hear her little noise of shock as the thumb softly rubbed across the bodyguard’s lips, making her have to fight to keep her grip on the castle window.
Then she was leaning forward, slowly, slowly, ever so slowly and Vi was letting her eyes flutter closed and-
Nothing.
Vi felt a pressure on the thumb that was placed against her lips, but that pressure was the only thing she felt. All too soon, even that was gone, and she was left blinking her eyes open with what felt eerily similar to disappointment twisting at her stomach.
She’d recognised the trick. It was something actors would do when they had to kiss co-stars. They would use their thumb as a barrier, since the cameras could hardly tell the difference.
Which was why they were doing this in the first place, Vi forcefully reminded herself. For the cameras.
“Now grab the collar and pull her in!”
Caitlyn’s hands curled around both sides of Vi’s black shirt and - with a little of Vi’s help and a surprising amount of strength - pulled her inside the window.
The two spilled over onto the other side, Vi sprawling on top of Caitlyn and just barely managing not to smack their heads together by landing on her forearms.
Cait felt all the breath rush out of her at the other woman’s weight pressing into her. Her landing had been surprisingly soft, and she only realised why when she felt Vi’s hand being pulled back from where she’d instinctively held it behind her head.
The singer felt her heart soar at the care of that motion. Then she felt her stomach flip as she realised the situation she was in.
“Are you okay?” Vi’s eyes were wide, and so very blue, roving over Caitlyn’s face. The singer couldn’t help return the favour, letting her own gaze wander over the creepily absent spot on her cheek where the tattoo lay, to the scar on her top lip that makeup had managed to cover.
She had felt it though. When her thumb had passed over its usual position and the thought gave her a weird feeling of almost comfort.
“Get moving you two, we got a lot more to get done today!” Boomed Jinx’s voice through her megaphone.
Vi startled, immediately pulling back to put distance between their faces. Caitlyn just then registered the fact that she had been asked a question and had answered by staring at her bodyguard’s lips for over a minute.
“Ah, yes! F-fine.” She choked out, scrambling to sit up and sending her forehead slamming into Vi’s in her haste.
“Ow!”
“Fuck!”
—————
The rest of the shoot was more of the same. Mishap after mishap as Vi tried hard to control her nerves and failed miserably at every turn.
At one point Vi had been instructed to remove Cait’s gown-thing and she’d been so damn worked up she couldn’t even undo the knot.
It was safe to say that Vi was not cut out for acting if this is what it entailed.
She fell back onto the bed, landing on her elbows with her feet still on the ground, forced to watch with a thundering heart and clammy hands as Caitlyn pulled the chemise she wore over her head.
The singer wore a lacy pink bra underneath, but that did little to lessen the effect it had on Vi.
If anything, she thought as her eyes helplessly traced the newly exposed skin before zeroing in on the tantalising little bow at the centre of the bra. It almost made it worse.
Then Caitlyn was striding forward and Vi was swallowing down her nerves.
The tips of her fingers traced the silk sheets before her palm pressed fully down, then the other.
“Vi, crawl back. Kiramman, forward.”
It felt like she couldn’t breathe, and Vi didn’t know if she was in heaven or hell.
She did as she was told, using her elbows to push herself further up the bed until her back hit the headboard but Caitlyn was on her like a predator. Matching her pace as she crawled after Vi looking like virtue and sin all at once.
Her eyes were still a brilliant blue, wide and wholesome but her pupils were dilated and blown wide. Cait’s plump, pouty bottom lip had been pulled between her teeth and messy strands descended from both sides of her ponytail.
Vi’s breaths were coming hard and fast at the image in front of her and she could only hope Cait didn’t notice. She could feel a drop of sweat sliding down the back of her neck and she was distantly aware of the camera crew circling them, searching for the best angle.
Caitlyn’s hands were on her face again, cupping her cheeks and drawing her attention away from the cameras and back on her.
“Don’t worry about them.” The singer murmured lowly, and she was leaning in, thumb once again brushing Vi’s lip. “Keep your eyes on me.”
And then she was surging forward, pressing her lips to the back of her own thumb in a way that was wholly unsatisfying and did nothing to alleviate the thumping in Vi’s chest.
The bodyguard forced herself to close her eyes, fisting her hands in the silky sheets to stop herself from doing something Cait might regret.
(Because she couldn’t ever imagine regretting getting to touch the other woman)
“I lived with you for half your life, Vi, I know you’re not some blushing virgin.” Jinx came from the megaphone and her sister’s voice was not at all what Vi wanted to hear right now. “Grab a tit or something!”
Tentatively, Vi relaxed her grip on the sheets to gently place her hands on Caitlyn’s hips. She held them for a moment, relishing in the feeling of soft skin against the skin of her palms before gently moving up and down.
She could’ve sworn she heard a strangled noise omitted from the singer, before she felt lithe fingers interlocking with her own and her left hand was tugged up to grab-
Vi’s eyes grew wide before she forced them closed again.
“What do you think?” Jinx asked Viktor. Her own hand was pointedly raised to block her view of Vi (because she absolutely did not want to see her older sister doing anything like this) and she was relying fully on the other man’s judgement.
“It is going well.” Viktor shrugged. “Are you sure your sister is not an actor? She is very . . .” He watched in mild disbelief as Caitlyn unbuttoned enough of Vi’s shirt for her to be able to shove it down her shoulders and let her arms wrap around the bodyguard’s neck and rove her muscular shoulders. A move that was definitely unscripted but didn’t seem to bother Vi at all. “Convincing.”
Somewhere along the way, when the two would break apart from their fake make-out session to breathe, Cait’s thumb had stopped returning to brush against Vi.
Instead, their lips met in full. In a movement that left Vi breathless every time. Her heart was in overdrive now and she could barely think straight.
On the plus side, she had forgotten all about the cameras.
Her grip tightened on Caitlyn’s hip as the singer mimed a rolling motion against Vi. Her other hand came back down to encourage the movement, mouth never leaving Cait’s.
When she felt the singer’s tongue lap against her bottom lip, she eagerly reciprocated.
Vi wasn’t too sure about this acting business, but if it was anything like this, then maybe she’d give it a try.
“-And cut!”
The bodyguard choked on an embarrassing noise as Cait suddenly pulled away and she was left leaning forward, panting like an idiot.
“Wha-“ Vi gulped, licking the remnants of Cait left on her lips. “Huh?”
“Did we- did we get everything?” At least she wasn’t the only one breathless. Cait was out of sorts, panting as she looked over to Jinx.
“Yup!”
“Are you sure we don’t-“ She sent a glance over to their bodyguard that Vi could only describe as hungry.“Need anything else?”
“Nope! We’re good!” Jinx waved them off, immediately beginning to look through the footage on a camera an intern handed over. “You wanna keep making out, you do it on your own time.”
Vi felt her face grow hotter and she sent a side along glance to the cameras still on her. An uncomfortable feeling twisted at her gut. The feeling she usually got when she was being recorded before she was broken out of her reverie by the weight straddling her waist shifting.
Caitlyn seemed to snap out of whatever daze she was in, staring down at Vi with a wide eyed expression.
Her hands came up to hover uselessly for a moment before settling on pulling Vi’s shirt back up onto her shoulders.
The bodyguard truthfully hadn’t even noticed it had been pulled down. She was only thankful it hadn’t been pushed down too far, since she’d been asked to remove her bra to fully play the part of a male love interest.
An awkward silence settled between the two. Caitlyn seemed far too preoccupied with re-buttoning Vi’s shirt to notice at first, but once she reached the very top button, Vi placed a hand on her wrist to stop her and she physically jolted.
Their eyes met, and Vi felt her stomach turn a little at the panic in Caitlyn’s features.
“Um, nice work.” She pasted on a smile that looked all too performative. Her hand curled into a fist and she gently used her knuckles to push at Vi’s chin, in a playful manner. “Buddy.”
Any other time, Vi would have a field day making fun of Cait for that. Now though, the word and the action made her previously soaring heart feel like it had dropped three stories and had hit the ground hard.
“Yeah,” She managed with a laugh that she hoped didn’t sound too strained. Curling her hand into a fist, she softly pushed at Cait’s chin the same way. “Buddy.”
————————
The second Vi entered her apartment, her batshit cat was flying across the room from the couch to her chest.
Vi had long since grown used to Vander’s antics, and she hurried to catch him before he used his claws to catch himself instead.
A sigh bled from her as she closed the door behind her. Cradling Vander in one arm, Vi headed straight for her refrigerator.
Vi lifted him up to get him to crawl up onto her shoulder like he usually did. She used her newly freed arms to pull a tub of ice cream and a frozen pizza from the freezer before bumping it shut with her hip.
She moved on autopilot. Loading the pizza onto a plate, then shoving it into the microwave for five minutes. She fished arount her drawers for a spoon before finally approaching the couch.
Vander hopped off her shoulder and onto the cushions just before his owner flopped down. After she grabbed the remote and slumped into prime TV watching position, he crawled onto her lower stomach and curled up.
Vi winced as she felt claws dig in, but eventually settled on scratching the cat’s fluffy orange ears as he began to purr like an old engine.
Today had been exceptionally long. Filming had lasted all day, all night and half the next day. Vi had done nothing but replay the events of filming in her mind on the drive home, nearly crashing multiple times.
Now, she wanted nothing more than to pig out and watch trash TV with her cat.
Vi pried the top off her ice cream tub, feeling around the couch for her spoon. Finding nothing, she lifted her head and groaned at the sight of it on the small table in front of the couch.
Conscious of her cat - and immensely comfortable position - she lifted her legs from the ground to attempt to pick up the spoon with her sock covered feet.
She slipped a few times, eventually managing to squeeze the handle between her heels and with one quick motion, she swung her legs towards her face and grabbed the spoon. All without getting up.
Vi let her feet drop back down with a sigh, wincing as Vander punished her for disturbing him with a hint of sharp claw digging in to her belly.
“Sorry buddy.” She muttered, scratching the top of his head.
Buddy.
Vi let out a groan.
————————-
When Vi woke up with a crick in her neck and light streaming annoyingly into her eyes, she knew she’d fallen asleep on the couch.
She groaned, picking up the arm that had been dangling off the couch all night and reaching across to the table for her phone that was buzzing angrily.
Vander was meowing at her to be fed from where he stood on Vi’s back and she blinked sleep out of her eyes to stare at her screen, searching for the snooze button.
As wakefulness returned, Vi realised with a frown that the buzzing wasn’t an alarm, - it was her day off - but tons of notifications spamming her phone.
A text from Claggor dinged across her screen, and she chose to answer that first.
He had sent a video, most of the contents marred by the large grey play button but the cover made Vi sit up immediately.
Vander let out a disgruntled meow as he was displaced.
It was Caitlyn. Her blue hair and messy ponytail was the look she wore on the music video and it had been engrained into Vi’s mind from how many times she’d replayed their make-out session.
Vi deliriously wondered how Claggor had gotten the video before she realised that since they’d filmed all day, all night, and into the day again, the music video would be out for public consumption by now.
Her thumb hit play on the clip, and she saw Caitlyn’s hands stroking up and down someone’s - her - toned arms, their face tastefully cropped from view. Then for a split second, there was a flash of pink-hair as the angle changed and refocused on the two kissing before it was quickly cut out to show Vi’s hands gripping Cait’s hips.
The video cut off. Vi’s head was pounding.
That was- she wasn’t supposed to be visible. She wasn’t-
It’s ok. It’s ok, maybe- maybe no one would recognise her.
Three dots appeared in the chat, before Claggor’s message came through.
Wtf
12:07am
Is that u?
12:08pm