Ana

You had been in Charleston, North Carolina for about 3 days. The show runners had asked you to be close to set while they considered making your character a part of the show for the third season that had started to film yesterday. They had paid for everything, you just had to wait. So in the mornings you made a habit to go out, exercise or just explore the city and the last time you explored, you found a cute little coffee shop you wanted to try, so that’s what you were doing that morning. You entered and ordered some breakfast, the barista told you it would take a little while because they had to fulfill the previous orders which was perfectly fine by you. You found a quiet corner and opened your laptop while you waited. They called your name, so you got up and retrieved your oat milk latte along with your croissant, cinnamon roll, donut and lemon cake. You turned to go back to your corner and struggled to hold everything, almost colliding into a tall guy waiting behind you.

“Shit, sorry” you apologized looking up and immediately recognizing him, of course you did, but you were never one to put celebrities on a pedestal so you didn’t react.

He chuckled at your concentrated face “It’s alright, you need a hand with that?” he asked and you nodded. He helped you carry some of your food and once at your table you thanked him.

“Thanks, I thought I could carry everything without a tray and now I see I was wrong” you smiled.

He nodded with a bright smile “Yeah my little sister does the same”

“How does it go for her?” you asked.

“Same way it went for you” he smiled “I’m Drew, by the way” he said extending his hand.

“Y/n, nice to meet you” you said as you shook it.

“How’s the coffee here?” he wondered, pointing at what you had purchased.

“Oh i don’t know, it’s the first time i come here” you said picking up your latte and trying it, you grimaced “It’s great!”

“Is it?” he laughed, having noticed the slight disgust on your face.

“Oh yeah, that’s just me, I'm forcing myself to like coffee” you smiled.

“Why? What’d you get?” he chuckled, his eyes somehow becoming brighter.

“Oat milk latte and ‘new city, new me’ I guess, for the time being, at least. I’m trying new things that’s why it looks like i robbed their bakery”

He laughed and it caused your heart to jump, the barista called his name and you swore you heard him cuss when he had to step away from you. When he retrieved his coffee, he approached you again to say goodbye, you looked up from your computer to meet his blue eyes.

“Well I have to go to work, I'm running late. Hope you enjoy the city– maybe next time get a tray” he joked earning a short breathy laugh from you.

“We’ll see about that, and thanks”

“See you around” he smiled before exiting the coffee shop he would absentmindedly enter for the next few days looking for you. He looked everywhere on social media for you, he even asked his castmates if they knew you and got no helpful responses. It had been over a week since he last saw you, it was a Wednesday morning when he entered the coffee shop and after so many let downs, he didn’t dare to look around for you, until he heard the barista call an oat milk latte and your name. He looked up from his phone thinking that there was no chance it was you but it was. A smile spread across his features once you turned around and met his eyes. You stood still for a moment, not really knowing what was appropriate to do until the barista called his name and he was the one to approach you.

“Hi” you said as he retrieved his coffee.

“Hi, how are you? Haven’t seen you around since last time” he noted.

You lifted an eyebrow and smiled “You’ve been looking for me?”

“Well yeah i wanted to send you a personalized tray” he joked, trying to not sound so creepy.

You laughed as you both exited the coffee shop, he held the door open for you.

“Ha! Very funny– I don't really have social media” you told him as you both walked towards the parking lot “How’s your sister by the way?”

He furrowed his brows “My sister?”

“Yeah, the one whom I share a hatred towards trays with” you joked.

“You remembered!. She’s good, yeah she’s great” he smiled “So, how are you liking the city?”

“It’s great! I’ve been exploring a lot, keeping myself busy, avoiding trays everywhere I go” you joked again mainly aiming to hear his laughter one more time which you did. You took a sip of your drink and grimaced discreetly.

“Still don’t like coffee?”

“Nope” you smiled “You’re a hell of an observer” you noted, sort of amazed.

“It’s hard to miss. Planning on staying around then?”

“Umm i don’t know, it’s not really up to me right now but i do appreciate the adventure”

His phone rang and he rapidly took it out of his pocket to see who it was, it was Chase probably calling to tell him that he was late.

“Shit i gotta go” he said sadly. You nodded as he went to his car. “This was really nice, maybe we should do this on purpose sometime” he suggested “How can i find you?”

“How about we meet here around the same time next Monday?” you said, not wanting to professionally take advantage of the situation.

“Alright, see you on Monday then”

“See you on Monday” you waved, finally walking away.

Later that same day you received a call from the showrunners who welcomed you to the cast and told you to come visit the set that same weekend which you gladly did. They assigned you a production assistant to show you around and then take you to meet the cast, you talked with her as you approached them, they were all on a dock chatting when Drew saw you from afar.

“No fucking way” he expressed, immediately getting up and walking towards you as calmly as he could. The cast stopped talking and followed Drew’s gaze.

“Who’s that?” Odessa asked them.

Chase smiled and looked at Rudy, JD, Austin and Nick “My guess is–”

“The girl from the coffee shop!” they all said in unison and then chuckled happily.

“Who?”

“I’ve never seen him smile so big” added Rudy, watching the scene.

You saw Drew approach and stopped to greet him. The production assistant left once she saw you were comfortable and made sure you knew how to contact her if needed.

“It’s not Monday yet” he began.

“I know I just thought I'd swing by and take you up on that offer for that personalized tray of yours” you joked.

“Of course you did” he nodded laughing at that sense of humor he happened to love so much. He turned and motioned towards the cast as if to suggest introducing you to them but you stopped him.

“Hey can we– can I talk to you for a second?”

“Yeah sure, uh– let’s go over there” you both walked away from the now intrigued group and settled just under a tree to avoid the beating sun.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah I just wanted to apologize for lying and not really telling you about this. I felt awful and i should’ve–”

He smiled “Hey it’s fine. I get it, it’s totally fine”

“I was gonna show up on Monday though” you admitted with a downward smile.

He chuckled “Wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Come on, let me introduce you to everyone”

You smiled and followed him to where the rest of the cast was.

“Guys, this is Y/n” he said. You said ‘hi’ and the girls already got up to introduce themselves and hug you, all except Odessa.

“So the girl from the coffee shop has a name huh?” teased JD. You turned to Drew with a smile, meaning to ask ‘You told them about me?’ but Austin beat you to it.

“He wouldn’t stop asking if we had seen you around” he said, earning a playful shove from Drew.

“So what’s the deal? Are you here to visit or…” Interrupted Odessa.

You smiled at her before answering “I’m not really sure i’m allowed to tell yet but today’s just to visit”

“Looks like ‘the girl from the coffee shop’ is joining the cast!” cheered Rudy and JD, making Drew blush. After talking and laughing with them for a while, the pogues had to go film so you decided to leave too.

“Hey!” Drew called after you, when you turned around you saw him jogging towards you. “You’re leaving?”

“Uh not exactly. I met a girl the other day who told me about a secret place nearby to swim for a little. Thought i’d go check it out while i'm here”

“I got a few hours until i have to film, want some company?” he asked shyly.

“Yeah that’d be great”

On the way there you guys talked and laughed quite a lot, getting to know each other outside of the coffee shop. After walking for a good while you saw it, an old bridge and just under, a body of water.

“Wow this is insane” you marveled.

“This is my third year working here and I had no idea this was this close. Wish i brought my swim trunks”

You shrugged and smiled at him taking off your shoes “Who needs a swimsuit? There’s nobody near”

He looked at you wide eyed and chuckled “Are you serious?”

“I’m always serious and i rarely shy away from doing something insane”

He nodded and took off his shoes too, he only looked up when he heard you cuss.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s great” you said looking down at the white thin crop top you wore, if you got it wet, he’d most likely be able to see everything.

“I can give you my shirt, it’s fine”

An observer, that's who he was.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’ll dry fast” he assured, acknowledging the beaming sun.

He gave you his shirt and you turned around as he began taking off his pants to give him privacy. You shrugged off your top and he caught a glimpse of your back before you put on his shirt and removed your shorts. Once you were done, you meant to ask if you could turn around but just as you opened your mouth to speak, you heard a big splash in the water. So you turned to see him already in, smiling back at you and calling for you to join him.

“Is this what you do on your adventures?” he asked, making you cackle. It surprised you how genuinely interested he was.

“It depends, I try to make everything fun anyway” you answered as you floated on your back. “Did you really tell them about me?” you asked just above a whisper, not wanting to disturbed the singing birds.

“I did, yeah”

“Why?”

“Because you’re intriguing” he quickly answered, you looked at him and chuckled. “Are you really not on social media?”

“I didn’t lie to you about that, Drew” this was the first time he ever heard his name from you and oh how he loved it.

“Why?”

“Because uh– I don't really know actually. What I do know is that when I had it, my self esteem was none existent and I cared far too much about what others thought. I used to compare myself to random people on the internet to the point where I didn't really know who I was and now I finally do. It’s better this way”

You saw him nod from the corner of your eyes “I would’ve given you my number though, I thought about it” you said pulling your body vertically to fully look at him.

“Why didn’t you?” he smiled.

“I have social anxiety and i was afraid of rejection”

“Really?”

“Yeah” you chuckled. “Although right now I might just be high on anxiety meds. It does help that you’re all very friendly. Nobody forced me to talk back there which was very nice”

“Thank you for telling me”

“Thank you for listening” you smiled “We should probably start heading back, don’t wanna get you in trouble”

“Yeah, we can take the long way back so we have time to dry off” he suggested as he swam to shore. You followed right behind and you guys changed, while he stayed shirtless waiting for his shirt to dry. When he picked up his phone, he saw 5 missed calls from his friend Odessa that you recognised from the TV series ‘Grand Army’ which he chose to ignore. On the way back, he took a video where you could be heard laughing in the background at something he had said. It mainly showed the sunny forest path you were walking down, but right at the end, he flipped the camera as you were throwing empty dried acorns at him, trying to hit his head as you stood far behind. He caught some failed attempts, making him laugh.

“Alright last one” you said. “Don’t move”

“Go. I believe in you. You got this” he chuckled, making himself taller. And that last one was a win, you both celebrated on camera before the recording time ended. You rewatched the video together and laughed again.

“Is it okay if I post it?” he asked you with a big smile as you both continued walking.

“Yeah of course”

You quickly became close with the cast, going everywhere they went and doing everything together, especially with Drew. You two immediately became best friends and it really was just that, a friendship.

“So you and Drew?” Odessa asked. The whole cast was at the beach, the sun was setting and most of them were playing volleyball while you read your book, you hadn’t noticed Odessa next to you.

“What do you mean?” you questioned looking in the direction she had been looking, your eyes landed on Drew.

“Well, you’re always here even though your character isn’t major until next season so i don’t know, you tell me” she shrugged.

You quickly read between the lines and nodded in understanding “He’s single, Odessa”

“Yeah but do you like him?”

“He’s all yours” you answered somewhat honestly, you just got a stable job with costars you loved, you weren’t exactly looking for a relationship or to mess things up with Drew when you didn’t know whether he liked you that way or not. You definitely thought him and Odessa were dating at first.

“You guys have been spending a lot of time together that’s all, it’s like you want him all to yourself. He’d rather hang out alone with you than with the cast” she murmured.

“That’s just a whole lotta bullshit”

“Is it?” she asked sarcastically.

“Yes! I don’t force him to go places with me, and he isn’t abandoning his friends either, he’d never do that”

Just as you answered, everyone came back and started packing their things, Drew looked down at you and smiled briefly.

“I’ll drive you home, Maddie has a last minute meeting”

You glanced towards Odessa knowing that she was close enough to hear. “Uh no it's alright, i’ll call an uber”

“No need to, i can just drive you”

“Drew if the girl wants to get an Uber, let her” Odessa voiced harshly as she put away her stuff, you finished getting your things and said goodbye to your friends and then left, not really saying anything else to Drew.

The next day, after a few hours of filming, both Drew and Austin reunited with the rest of the cast and Odessa for lunch, as he got to the picnic tables, his gaze immediately searched for you.

“Where’s Y/n?” he asked nobody in particular.

“She called saying she might not be able to come” replied JD with a mouthful of delicious homemade food. Drew immediately pulled out his phone to call you.

“What are you doing?” Odessa asked.

“Calling her, something’s off” he said, moving away from the group.

“Maybe she just doesn’t like us, i don’t know” she replied loudly earning a few glares from the cast. You watched your phone ring for what felt like ages, you were sitting at home, on your couch with your feet up on the coffee table honestly bored, but the will to avoid getting between two people in love was far greater than boredom will ever be.

“Hey” you answered quietly.

“Hi. Are you okay?” he asked you as he caught Odessa’s questioning gaze towards him. You sat in silence for a little while, thinking about what to say and obviously not wanting to lie to him.

“Uh–yeah I'm alright. My social battery is just drained today”

“Oh got it, I was worried since yesterday you just left without saying anything and you didn’t show up today so– you know, you can tell me these things, right?”

“Yeah I know. You have fun alright?”

At that point Odessa had gotten up from her seat and joined Drew, trying to listen into the conversation that, to her, was lasting a bit too long.

“Hey how about we meet up after i’m done at work, just to talk or not if you don’t want to. You don’t have to be alone”

I don't want you to be alone

“That sounds– yeah, that sounds good”

“Alright, how about we meet at our spot?” he suggested, scratching a non-existent itch on the back of his neck. Odessa furrowed her brows at the words he had said and at his flustered behavior, they had been friends for a while and didn't even have a spot.

“We have a spot?” you asked, smiling softly. Drew could hear it in your voice.

“Yeah, I guess we do, right?”

You nodded to yourself thinking about that day you swam together “At 7?”

“Seven it is”

And at seven you met. You walked down the tree lined path that quickly became familiar, the sun was setting on the horizon, spreading orange light and warmth around you. You walked through the opening and found Drew seated close to shore, looking at the running water, knees tucked close to his chest. You noticed a small pile of things next to him. A blanket, pastry box, drinks and flowers.

“Hey” you breathed lowly approaching him. Drew got up and hugged you tightly before you both sat back down. The first minutes were silent, just like he promised, you didn’t have to talk, he just didn’t want you to be alone.

“I’m okay Drew. You don’t have to worry about anything” you stated, breaking the comfortable silence. He turned to look at you with a questioning gaze shadowing over his blue eyes and you smiled “You have a distinctive ‘thinking’ face”

Your answer made him chuckle and smile at the beautiful connection you both had created in such a short amount of time. As the breeze became cooler, Drew retrieved the blanket and draped it over your shoulders, then handed you the box and the flowers. You opened the box to find a croissant, a cinnamon roll, a donut and a lemon cake which made you laugh as it was your order the day you two met at the coffee shop.

“You are unbelievable” you beamed.

“I didn't get you the coffee though” he smiled “Thought i’d save you from that today”

“That’s very considerate of you” you avowed, splitting the croissant in two and giving him a half. That night was by far the best you had ever experienced. It was just so pure and innocent, something you thought didn’t exist. He got to his apartment late that night after taking you home, he opened his door to see Odessa sitting on his couch. She was a good close friend of his, they had worked in Hellraiser together earlier that year and the connection had been great. She was very social and a very fun and unpredictable person, Drew thought he wanted more with her but decided not to rush it, that’s why he kept her close as a friend. If he was ever ready, it would happen, but now he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t even know how big he was smiling when he entered his home.

“Why are you smiling like that?” she laughed. His answer was only a shrug as he briefly entered his room to change out of the clothes he had worn.

“Where’s your hoodie by the way?” she asked again, noticing only the blanket he brought back.

“What?”

“The hoodie you left with”

It was then he realized that you had worn it on the way to his car and he had forgotten to ask you for it back or maybe he just skipped that part. “It’s probably in my car, it’s no problem” he answered from his room before going to sit next to her on the couch. For a minute she just looked at him seated next to her, trying to read his features. She laughed dryly.

“ ‘Probably’? Are you serious? You can just say that you gave it to her if that’s what happened”

“What’s going on with you?” he asked, genuinely curious by the sudden burst of jealousy.

“What am I doing here, Drew?” she exclaimed, loud tone surprising him.

“You said you wanted to hang out with us and be on set, that’s what we’re doing”

“No, I mean here, with you!”

“Okay this is ridiculous” he replied, getting up and going to the kitchen for some cold water.

“So what happened in Serbia was nothing?!”

“It was a movie Odessa! A movie!”

“We kissed–”

“On camera”

“Drew, I like you! Okay? I know sometimes you don’t see what’s right in front of you so i’m just gonna say it. I like you. And I'm here waiting to see if you’ll like me back and this random girl just shows up and gets to have you?”

Drew looked at her dumbfounded, mainly because neither of them made each other promises, that was just a friendship that could be more if they both wanted so but he didn’t, he actually never did. Suddenly something just clicked in his mind.

“The other day at the beach, did you say something to her?”

“What?”

“You two were alone for a while and then she didn’t want me to take her home, so did you say something to her?”

“Maybe she’s just a sensitive bitch or maybe–you know, maybe, she just doesn’t like you!”

“Okay, you know what? You can sleep here tonight, i’ll go to Rudy’s” he said as he moved to his bedroom to pack some things. Odessa watched him do so from the doorway of his room.

“Okay, Drew? Stop, alright? I'm sorry. We can talk this out”

“Not tonight, that’s for sure”

He exited his apartment and went to Rudy’ for the night, a night he didn’t spend sleeping but just thinking, not about Odessa and their fight but about you. That next morning, he found himself in front of your door and knocked. Confused, you looked at the time and then at your phone, thinking that something you had ordered might have arrived. You set the spatula on the counter next to the stove and made sure that if you left for a few minutes, your pancakes wouldn’t burn. You went to open the door and found a tired Drew looking back at you.

“Are you okay?” you asked after letting him in.

For a moment he couldn't think, no words registered in his mind felt right to say as he noticed you wore his hoodie, you were in the kitchen, making yourself some breakfast with some old tunes playing in the background and he just genuinely did not know how to act. He just realized how much he liked you.

“Drew?– Okay, you’re scaring me. Sit down, I'll make you breakfast, but if you want coffee you might just have to make it yourself because I'm awful at it” you admitted as you flipped some pancakes.

“Yeah, i got it” he smiled and finally managed to say as he started working beside you. Everything just felt so domestic, so right, that he almost didn’t want to tell you what had happened. He wanted to just live in this little perfect dreamlike scene he had stumbled into.

“I had a fight with Odessa” he started as you both set the table.

“Shit, I'm sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don't want to”

He nodded in acknowledgment “I–she told me she liked me and I don’t feel the same way about her”

You suddenly looked up at him from the pancakes and he understood you knew something.

“You know something” he confidently stated only received a head shake from you, “Y/n” he insisted.

“Nope, i don’t want to get involved”

“Well you already are. The fight was more or less about you”

“Oh great” you exclaimed sarcastically. For a few minutes, you both sat in silence, looking at the other and not knowing what to say, you sighed. “What can I do to fix it?” you asked.

He shook his head dismissively “It’s not on you, i’ll talk to her and if she’s okay with being just friends, then that’s what we’ll be”

"And if not?"

"Then we'll go our separate ways"

You nodded “I’m sorry Drew. I tried to keep my distance after she told me–this happened to me once, i know how bad it feels and i'm so sorry”

“Did it?”

You chuckled “Yeah, I was in highschool. He was a new guy, quiet and I liked him a lot. We had a lot of classes together so we became friends and then my best friend joined! I thought we had something special but then I saw them kissing so–yeah! But this is different i mean you and i– i mean, you don't–” and right when you met his eyes, you saw it, the same glimmer you once had too “Oh”

“Yeah” he began “I should’ve told you, I just didn’t know until you opened the door and invited me in for breakfast. I like you a lot, Y/n” he confessed.

You sighed “I do too, not in the way i like coffee, i mean in the way i like donuts, like, a lot” That caused him to laugh, his smile bringing one equally as bright to your face. “So, what will you do?”