#allaromcom

I'm keeping my eye on the road, occasionally glancing at the GPS to make sure I can guide my buddy Tanner as he drives. We had quite an early morning to get to L.A., having been on the road for the last 2 hours to get to this airbnb we'll be staying at. Tanner's nearing the end of film school, so he's getting all his classmates and anyone else that's available and interested to help him with his big final project: A legit short film, filmed, written and directed by him. Having some experience with being on camera myself, he elected to make me part of the main cast. I don't mind at all, if it'll help him out. Even if it's a romantic comedy. I'll kiss some dude, get him that 100%. I'm excited for this.

"Has Conner messaged me at all?" Tanner asks, breaking the last 20 minutes of silence. I quit out of my daydream to check Tanner's messages. Other members of the crew have updated them on their location, including a name I don't recognize, but Conner hasn't responded at all.

"Nope. Mostly everyone else is nearly there though." I responded, lightly shrugging my shoulders. A humorous but knowing smirk creeps along the edges of my lips. "Think he slept in?" "I fucking hope not." Tanner huffs, his tone suggesting he's half-joking. "He is literally /the/ male lead. He's like one of the people I need there the most today."

I put the GPS back up on the screen and lay back against the passenger seat, slightly raising a brow to myself. What would happen if he's late, or doesn't show up at all? Could we even get a replacement in time? We only booked this place for the next couple weeks.

As we get off the highway and get even closer to our destination, I see a notification pop up on Tanner's phone, it's the name I don't recognize. Ted. He's not in our friend group and I don't recall Tanner mentioning him from class.

"Is Ted a new guy?" I ask, turning my head to Tanner. "Oh, no, he's like...a friend of a friend." Tanner pauses before reiterating "He's going to be the editor. He's a youtuber, like you; he went to film school as well."

"Oh. He's like the only name I didn't recognize."

"Yeah, he's a cool guy, no worries, he'll probably be there with me to help with the, yknow, directing too."

There's room for a response, but I don't continue the conversation. We don't have a lot of money to put into this, so that airBnb is also where we'll be filming everything. Most of the film crew and extra actors got their own accommodations elsewhere, but some of us will be staying /at that/ location itself. Wonder if that includes the editor? It'd be weird to share a house with a dude I didn't know, but if Tanner trusts him, I will as well. "I know where to go from here, let everyone know we'll be there soon."

I take Tanner's phone and let everyone know we're close by, including Ted, before setting the phone aside. Tanner pulls into what I thought was a street at first, only to notice its the driveway of the airbnb. Wild how we can't afford multiple sets and hotels, but can afford this villa-like estate for nearly a month. Hey, whatever works, right?

Tanner parks by the many other vehicles and grabs his phone before we both hop out. I can't help but look up at how tall the building is. It looks like one of those frat houses an influencer would own, like if you told me this was owned by fuckin' 'disney channel flow' Team 10, I would 100% believe you.

Tanner and I are greeted by most of the cast and crew as we approach the front door of the house, giving the appropriate hugs and handshakes as we head inside. That's when I spotted a tall man in a dark green sweater fixing up some professional looking cameras, dark hair slicked up to add to his already impressive height, with circular glasses to match the relaxed vibe I'm getting from him. To be fair, he only stands out so much to me because I don't recognize him. This must be Ted.

He looks up from his camera when he spots Tanner and I greeting the other crew members. I casually glance away to one of the pictures on the wall to avoid giving the impression I was staring. I have a habit of fixing my eyes onto people without realizing it.

"Traffic?" Is the first word I hear out of Ted's mouth, directed at Tanner. I don't really know what I was expecting to hear come out of this man, but it certainly wasn't a voice like that. It's strong, deep, almost fake sounding, like he's already playing a character, but no, that's just him.

"Dude, we passed by, like, 3 accidents" Tanner shakes his head slightly, putting his hands on his hips. "And Conner hasn't even gotten back to me, It's been an interesting morning."

As they have their conversation, my thoughts turn to a more curious nature as I contemplate what this guy actually does as a youtuber. If he went to film school as well, does he make long video essays? Commentary, like me?

"This is (Y/N), mine and Joe's friend." My thoughts are cut by the sound of my name, realizing Tanner was introducing me to Ted. Makes sense. We don't know each other. "She's gonna be the female lead."

"Ahhh okay, nice to finally meet you. I'm Ted." Ted personally greets me with a gentle handshake and a winning complexion. I return the handshake with a shy smile. "'Finally'?" I repeat to him, raising a slight brow.

"Yeah! Joe's told me about you, 'said you'd be shorter"

A sudden chuckle escapes me. Joe's my best friend and is part of the wardrobe team, of course he'd say something like that. "He's a dick.." I kid, shaking my head to myself. "You, on the other hand, are a fuckin' giant."

"Oh I know. I have to fuckin' duck down to get into any room upstairs. Tallhood ain't what its cut out to be" We both get a laugh out before Ted returns to setting up the cameras. I notice Tanner checking his phone again, visibly both anxious and frustrated.

"Man." Tanner speaks, seemingly thinking aloud. "Still nothing." "Isn't he the other lead?" Ted speaks as he moves to adjust the stand of one of the lights, glancing up through his round glasses. "I figured he'd be here first."

"He should've been here first." Tanner huffs, masking his clear frustration with a chuckle. "I-I don't know what I'm gonna do if he just doesn't show." "What would we have to do?" I tilt my head at Tanner, feeling a little anxious myself.

"I have no idea, honestly" Tanner responds, shaking his head. "At best, we'd have to find someone to take his place within the next, like, couple days. At worst, I'd have to cancel this whole thing."

I frown, trying to think of some helpful alternative in my head, but nothing comes up. I'd hate for everyone to have to go home, and getting the money back for the airbnb would be a hassle. We all pitched in for this place. As much as I've joked about it, it's pretty nice. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, half the place is a giant living room and there's even more outside. I'd hate to leave without getting to sleep in one of those giant beds. All I can do is hope for the best, I guess.

About an hour passes. At this point, everyone except Conner has shown up on set and most of us that will be on camera are fitted and ready. We had already read through the entire script together over Discord prior to getting here, so all we need to do is just start filming.

I'm refreshing my memory with the script when I hear a notification ping from Tanner's phone. It takes him less than a second to pick it up and look at the message, pausing to read it. I see his expression go from relief to uneasy, his thumbs tapping on his phone's keyboard louder than usual as he responds before setting his phone down and taking a deep breath.

"Conner can't make it."

Silence fills the room for a moment as everyone looks up from their tasks. I approach Tanner, script still on hand.

"What? What does he mean he can't make it?" I asked, honestly shocked with what I was hearing. "So, yknow how he's just...not been responding since we left?" Tanner asks, looking understandably annoyed.

"Yeah?"

"Apparently he ate some bad food last night and has been throwing up since 4am. We left at 5."

The only thing I can do is run my fingers through my hair in frustration. Dude probably ordered bad chicken or something. Of course. "So our main dude, THE male leading role or whatever, has food poisoning." I say that as a statement, but I'm honestly just so confused, I don't want to believe it. "What do we do now? Could we hire someone else in time?" "Even if we could, we wouldn't have time to get the chemistry built up between you two." Tanner shrugs. "There'd be no way of knowing if it'll work out."

"I'll do it."

Tanner and I turn our heads to Ted, who's joined in on the conversation shortly after assembling the last light. My first instinct is to let out a sigh of relief, but I steel myself, trying to really process what he's offering.

"You? You wanna be the male lead?" Tanner points at Ted, rather surprised he'd offer. Ted seemed to laugh at the expression on Tanner's face "What's that fuckin' look for? You think I can't be romantic, Tanner?" "No--" Tanner cackles, putting his palms up defensively as he laughed. "That's not it! I just-- you haven't read the script, and, yknow..." Tanner pauses, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head in my direction. "You two just met, you'll have to, yknow--"

"'Yknow? Yknow?' I KNOW, Tanner. I. know." Ted begins to mock Tanner in a friendly manner while pointing at himself, his strong voice easily overpowering Tanner's timid tone. "I've been doin' this since you were in little baby diapers, alright? I can read the script, I can kiss the pretty lady, I got this!"

I suddenly feel a whole lot warmer, resisting the urge to put a hand to my cheek. I mean, I have blush on already, but now I'm definitely blushing. I'll have to kiss this guy?

I mean.

That ain't a bad thing.

That's a nice lookin' dude. I'd be blind not to see it.

But I did just meet him.

"I mean...." Tanner seems to be at a loss for words, glancing in my direction once more. I realize I've been one of the main talking pieces of this conversation, yet I haven't spoken a word. "Ah--I.." I stammer out what was meant to be a coherent response, realizing I'm a bit more sheepish about this than I thought I'd be. He called me pretty. I...don't know what to do with that. I can handle a compliment, sure, but this was...

"Hey, sorry, I don't wanna step over any lines..." Ted's smile faded after my lack of a response, resting his hands behind his back. "Oh no! I-I wouldn't mind it at all." I finally managed to speak up. I swear, I felt like a bashful damsel in those old transatlantic-accent films. "I mean, like, better this than sending everyone packing early, right?"

"Real flattering." Ted responded with a renewed smile and a chuckle, getting another sheepish blush from me. "Whatever works for everyone, I'm down for it."

Based on Tanner's knowing expression, I can tell he gathered something of use from whatever that exchange was. "I mean..." Tanner repeats again, as if to remind us he's also there with filler words before taking in a sharp breath of realization, or maybe it was one of acceptance, I couldn't tell. Either way, he had an idea. "OK, how about this: most of the crew didn't get breakfast on the way up here and we're all gettin' pretty hungry, we could use some caffeine. How about you two head back out and get everyone something from Dunkin' or wherever? Get talkin', see if it works."

"You setting us up on a breakfast run, or a date?" I collect myself fast enough to make a joke, actually getting a decent chuckle out of Ted. Part of me couldn't believe I had even made that joke aloud, I was also kind of genuinely asking. "I am testing the chemistry." Tanner clarified slowly with a half smile. "And I...don't want to do it myself."

Ted and I look at each other, giving me a brief moment to realize Ted's eyes are brown. Don't know why I've chosen to collect that information now. Just another observation I've made for the day.

...Man, I'm hungry.

"Alright, but I'm not driving your car." I agree with a shrug. "No need, I got my Tacoma." Ted responds, making a clicking noise with his mouth and gesturing me to follow him outside.

"You...have your city in Washington?" I ask genuinely, getting another laugh out of him, not intentionally this time. "Toyota Tacoma. My truck." He corrects me, guiding me to an old dark green pick-up truck. "I've had this baby since high school. Graduated with it."

"Ahh, your high school sweetheart. Lovely. Happy to meet her."

"Fuck off" Ted jokingly scoffs, hopping into the drivers seat. I have this big grin on my face as I get into the passenger side. He's giving me this...oddly comforting vibe. I can talk and joke with this guy so naturally, like I've known him for longer than an hour.

Somehow, I get the feeling we'll get along just fine, even if I'll end up having to kiss him once or twice this month....

....That's got me thinking, how many times am I kissing this guy again?

__________________________________

"....Wha-Wh--" I'm not even sure if I heard him correctly. Ted completely sits up off of me to pull his boxer briefs and shorts back so I can properly sit up as well, blushing faintly at the familiar warmth in my belly. "What do you mean you think it's a hickey?"

"I...I was..." Ted's nervousness from before seemed to have completely disappeared, as if it was never there. Now, he's smiling, holding his fist in front of his lips to try and hide it. "I was-I was trying to be optimistic. That's definitely a fuckin' hickey.."

After I collect my pants, ONLY my pants because Ted ripped my FUCKING panties off, I carefully shove passed Ted as he begins to cackle to himself, getting a good look at my neck in the rear view mirror before I return to the passenger seat. Sure enough. That's a big fuckin' hickey, and it sounds like Ted thinks that's absolutely hilarious.

Ted crawls out from the backseat to move back in the driver's seat, cackling proudly to himself as he grabs his glasses before sitting down. Cocky little prick. He sounds like a rebellious teenager that just succeeded in getting their teacher to ask 'What is updog'.

"Oh you sound reeeeal pleased with yourself over there.." I slowly shake my head at Ted, giving him an unimpressed but amused little smile. "You absolute fucker."

"Oh come on! That's funny! This is funny!" Ted holds his hands out defensively as he laughs, his eyes squinting from how big and proud his smile was.

"How is this funny?!" I furrow my brows at Ted, shrugging my shoulders out at him.

"Because--Be-Because--" Ted keeps cutting himself off with his own laughter, his face going red from just how funny he found this situation. Y'know, the situation that I'M exclusively in? Because of HIM? "Because not only--not only are you now out a whole-ass pair of underwear, you've got that big fuckin' thing! So you've got, like--HA--you've got two different problems in two entirely different areas!" Ted's sentence melts out into an airy cackle as he absolutely loses it. He smacks his hands down in his lap and leans forward against his steering wheel, shaking his head.

"Of course it's fuckin' funny to you, Ted!" I raise my voice at him with a nervous laugh, shaking my head at his hysteria. "You're not the one with the fuckin' palm sized hickey!"

"Oh come on!" Ted leans away from his steering wheel with a chuckle, wiping under his teary eyes. "It's not palm sized!"

"Look at it! That's huge!"

"It's like--It--ooh....ok It-It looks fine! It's fine!"

"Are you fuckin' seeing this??"

"I'm seein' it!"

"You expect me to head back with you like this?"

"They've seen you with a hickey before!"

"Ted."

"What?"

"We went to the Rainforest Café with them earlier."

"Yeah. What's that got to do with--"

"Did I have this fucking hickey when we left?"

I can see the gears turning in Ted's head in real time, his hazel eyes staring back at me as he connects the dots. I see the exact moment he gets it, his eyes beginning to sparkle with a nervous but amused little chuckle, turning back to his wheel again.

"Alright..." Ted let's out a long sigh. "We'll make a stop at Walmart on the way back. We'll get you some makeup to cover it.."

"I'm not going inside.." I scoff with a smirk.

"...I will get you some makeup to cover it."

As Ted insists that he'll be the one to get the makeup, he starts his truck back up again and pulls out of the clearing by the house we had parked by, finally getting back on the road. As we pull further away from the dead end, another truck passes us. Curious, I turn my body around to watch the truck go down the road, and sure enough, I see it slow down and turn into the driveway just before we get too far to focus on it. Oh, and there's a--there's a little stain on the backseat, where I was laying. Little white stain. Wonderful. Nice fuckin' job, Ted.

"...Pretty sure that truck was the person that lives there.." I mention, turning back to sit in my seat properly with a quiet hiss. Ooh, it does not feel good to have nothing on underneath these pants.

"Oh. Shit." Ted glances at his rearview mirror, still housing that proud smile along his blush-toned lips. "They'll probably just think we used their driveway to turn around.." We eventually get out of the suburb, one that will always been in the back of my mind from now on, and end up downtown once more. He drives us more towards the direction of the airbnb we've been staying at, but he pulls into the nearby Walmart just by our street, parking in the parking lot.

"Alright, I know I said you'd go without, but...I feel bad.." Ted speaks up as he turns his truck off again, leaning back against his seat as he smirks at me. "Do you want me to get you some underwear? Comfortable ones?"

"I mean...It's kinda funny.." I return the little smirk at Ted, but shift a bit against your seat. "But...these pants are really uncomfortable without underwear, I'll admit."

"Alright. Cool. No problem." Ted gives me a little nod before removing his seatbelt, moving to open his door to step out. Where is he going? I haven't told him what I need to cover up the hickey yet.

"Wait, do you--Ted?" I call out to him, leaning forward against the center console.

"Yeah?" He stops, keeping his hand on his own door.

"I haven't told you what to get."

"I know."

"...Do you know what to get?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"You need full coverage concealer and something to apply it in, right? Like a makeup sponge?"

I'm...honestly impressed. "...Alright. Yeah, g-go ahead. Text me if you need any other info.."

"Absolutely. Be back, babe."

Ted closes the driver door and walks off to head to the store for me. I get the pleasure of watching him walk away, just observing how he is naturally. I can't help but let out an infatuated sigh, sitting back against my seat. He's been calling me 'babe' a lot more now, I've noticed. I'm still 'princess', but I'm also babe. I don't know why I have this innate desire to see little things like that as a sign, but...that's gotta mean we're becoming more, right? That this really will continue after the project is over. That'd be nice. I'm...not thinking rationally about this man, like at all, and it's all his fault. He's got me thinking about moving to L.A. just to be closer to him. What the fuck.

I go on my phone while I wait for Ted to get back. To my surprise, I see him come back not even 10 minutes later. He has quite the bag in his hand despite not sending me a single text. What did he get?

Ted comes over to open his door, handing me the plastic bag as he stepped up to sit in the drivers seat. "Sorry if I took a while.." Ted clears his throat as he closes the driver door. "I got a bit more than just concealer.."

"Why?.." I raise a curious brow at Ted before looking down, opening the bag to look inside of it. He had...gotten quite a bit. There's way more in here than concealer and a blending sponge. He had bought 3 different shades of concealer, makeup brushes, different blending sponges, a large eyeshadow pallet, and a set of bikini bottom underwear. Comfortable. "Yeah, that's a lot more than concealer." I nod with a chuckle, taking out all of the makeup to set it aside on the center console. "What's it all for?"

"Okay, so, I had an idea of what your shade was but I wasn't sure if lighter or darker foundation worked better for covering hickeys, so I got all three.." Ted began to explain, placing his hands on top of the small bottles of concealer. "I wasn't sure what sponge you prefer using so I got a bunch of different kinds, you don't need water with them, and the eyeshadow is so you can cover the blemish before you apply the foundation. It'll cover it all better.."

...How the hell--

"What the fuck?.." I narrow my eyes at Ted as I let out a surprised laugh.

"What? What?" Ted smiles back at me, but sounds concerned. "What did I do? I didn't spend that much.."

"No, I'm not--how the fuck do you know all of this?"

"College." Ted answers in a slightly higher tone, fixing his tall hair out of his eyes. "And I have a lot of girl friends. I've heard some wild stories. Why?"

"They taught you all of that?"

"Yeah! Are you--"

"Really?"

"Are you one of those partners that get jealous if your boyfriend has girls that are just friends?"

"No! I'm just--I'm just surprised! Not even I knew to get all that!"

"Well, you're welcome princess, for bein' such a reliable man.."

"You--"

"For bein' your little Prince Charmin' over here."

"...That's crazy..."

"What's crazy is I haven't gotten a 'Thank you'."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry--Thank you.."

"You're welcome, now get to coverin'. Tanner texted me while I was in there askin' about where we were. The powers back on."

"Oh shit! Ok."

Well at least there's that to look forward to. As Ted starts the truck back up, I lower the baby car mirror in front of me so I can use it to cover up my large hickey, using contrasting colors to sort of paint over the bruise, letting it set for a moment before using the different shades of concealer to completely cover it. He got some pretty good stuff, from Walmart of all places. I was able to conceal the hickey fairly well, enough to be certain that no one would be able to spot it unless they stared at that spot for too long, as if they'd be looking for it. Someone will have to roll a nat 20 on their perception for this shit. Good.

Just as I finished fanning that side of my neck to help dry the concealer, we finally pull into the driveway of the airbnb, seeing that the lights were indeed on. I use this opportunity to change into one of the bikini bottoms as Ted turns the truck off, relieved as I pull my pants back up. Much better.

"Oh! I got you one more thing, just in case.." Ted slips his keys into his pockets, then pulls out a little fabric bag, like one you'd find...jewelry in. I watch him carefully pry it open and pull out a beautiful necklace with a delicately crafted moonstone in the middle. It's...so pretty. Even if you weren't the jewelery type, you could appreciate the subtly of the necklace he had picked out. Maybe he didn't spend a lot on the makeup, but I can tell he didn't cheapen out on this chain.

"Ted...I..." A bashful smile spreads along my lips, bringing a hand up to press it against my cheek, feeling a blush spread across my face. "That's...really fuckin' pretty. Jesus.."

"Turn around. Lemme put it on you.." Ted gives me a warm smile, twirling a finger around in a circle to gesture me to turn. I face away from him, moving any hair up that might be in the way so he can put the gentle necklace around my neck. Once he's got it hooked behind me, I feel him pull away. I turn back to look at him with an excited little smile, seeing nothing but infatuation in those big eyes of his. I look at myself through the baby mirror above me, seeing the chain around my neck, the gem resting nicely just above my chest. This is...really sweet.

"What did you mean by 'just in case?.." I can't help but ask, turning to look at Ted again with a curious smile.

"Well...I figured we kinda needed an alibi, so I wanted to grab you something.." Ted admits with a relaxed shrug, his soft tone of voice dripping with affection. "And I was just gonna grab somethin' basic, right? Like I wasn't really thinkin' about it, I was gonna get some stuffed sheep or some shit, I don't know...but then I started thinkin' about you, wandered around a bit...found myself in the jewelry aisle, saw that, bought that.."

Ted continues to amaze me with how open and honest he's been about his thoughts and feelings, especially as we've spent more and more time together. I'm glad that we can still be snarky and sarcastic with each other, like how it was in the beginning, but this new layer of vulnerability between us is just so damn nice. The fact that he was just walking through a fuckin' Walmart and he randomly thought of me makes me so happy. It makes my heart warm, he makes my heart warm. I don't care if I have to drive down to California every single god damn weekend, I'm keeping this man. I'm going to see him as much as I can once this project is over.

"...You also called yourself my boyfriend earlier.." I comment after a small bit of silence, giving him a knowing smile. "In the parking lot."

"I know." Ted gives me a little nod, his sparkling eyes briefly glancing down at the necklace. "I am."

"I think that's the first time you've used that label."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I am. Gotta start trainin' you to call me that.."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Everyone's gonna know by next month, so..."

"Everyone already knows."

"No, not everyone in there. Everyone out there. Before the premiere." As Ted speaks, he points to the airbnb and then gestures out in the general air. That's when he wants to reveal us? Next month? I'm perfectly okay with that. I give Ted an infatuated smile, shifting a bit in my seat so I could place one of my hands along his cheek, pulling him into a gentle kiss. I feel him let out a pleased hum against my lips and exhale a little chuckle out his nose, carefully cupping my face in his warm hands. Christ, if he's going to be this sweet and soft throughout the relationship, I'll be falling in love way faster than I should.

I pull back after a moment, letting our foreheads connect. I let out a sigh of relief, lowering my hand from his face to rest it atop one of his hands. "Thank you, Theo.." I whisper softly to him, admiring his taken expression.

"Always, (Y/N). You know that.." Ted whispers back, moving his hand to intertwine our fingers. He gives my knuckle another gentle little kiss before giving out his own content sigh. "You better know that.."

"There's a small stain on the backseat of your beloved Toyota Tacoma, Teddy. Of course I know.." I reply with a soft little cackle, my laughter only growing at how surprised Ted seems by that observation. Both of his eyebrows rise up and he glances back at the backseat, a scoff of realization leaving him when he sees it.

"Ha! Wow. Yeah, that's--aah.." Ted lets out a nervous, almost embarrassed laugh, shaking his head a little. "That-That's a cum stain. That's your cum stain. That's fine. I'll clean it. I'll clean it later. Sometime. Maybe. Let's go inside now."

"Do you even know how to clean that?" I ask with a curious smile, removing my seatbelt.

"No." Ted openly admits with another cackle, opening his door to step out of the truck. With a surprised laugh of my own, I grab the bag with everything inside it and exit his truck, catching up to Ted after closing his door.

It felt so good to be back. I had almost forgotten that Joe, Dan and Tanner had been waiting for us. As I'm taking off my shoes, I notice that they've already got Jackbox set up on Tanner's PC in the living room, we've just gotta set up microphones and the camera for the stream. I give everyone a quick little greeting before heading upstairs with the bag to put it in my room, making sure to bring some of the equipment we needed for streaming on my way back down. As I'm setting up Tanner's PC to stream through my Twitch, Dan and Ted are lugging all of the right equipment down to the living room to use. We even decided to turn on a few of the studio lights for the best lighting. Took about another hour before I could finally go live, making sure I had posted on all social media with the announcement just before we officially started.

Now unfortunately, to avoid being all affectionate and secretive with each other (we knew we fuckin' would), Ted and I didn't sit beside each other. Ted was at one edge of the circular couch with Dan next to him, then Joe, then me more in the middle and finally with Tanner to my right on the other edge of the couch. We had two mics spread out and a camera set aside to have all of us clearly in the shot without the tripod covering the TV. As everyone is naming themselves off, I notice that the viewer count is bigger than it usually is. Like, to an almost dramatic degree. Just as Ted is introducing himself, I speak up. "I think--I think there's, like, 200 more people watching than usual.." I admit, looking over at one of the monitors to double check.

"Oh, there might be." Ted chimes in, turning to look at me with a smile. "I tweeted it out."

"What?" I turn to look at him, giving a small smile and a raised brow.

"Like, that I was here." Ted elaborates, pointing down. "I shared the link to the stream. I think I just forgot to tag you.."

Man, that's...definitely a big leap compared to how he felt about this stream earlier today. I can't show it right now, but that makes me really happy. Man, today's just been so good.

And it just keeps getting better. We go through a plethora of different Jackbox games. Quiplash, Job Job, Blather 'Round, Tee K.O and Champ'd Up. The amount of laughs and friendly shouting matches we have throughout the night was enough to make me start to lose my voice, especially during Blather 'Round. The whole point of the game is that we're all supposed to work together to guess what the Presenter is referencing. Yes, there's a winner, but the whole point is that we work together. Some of them didn't seem to understand that.

"YOU SAID 'UNDERNEATH'!" Joe yells out to Dan, who had just been the Presenter for the answer 'Bra'. Wild that this is an actual option in the game, but it was.

"Yeah like underneath clothes!" Dan called back, gesturing to his sweater.

"Yeah but you wrote womanhood!" Ted laughs, gesturing over to the TV "'Big Underneath Womanhood'!"

"Yeah??? And?? That's where it is!" Dan places his hands over his chest, making me let out a groan.

"That's not where womanhood is, you dolt!" I call out, stretching my arm down my leg. "It's down here!"

"Is THIS not where it's called womanhood too????"

"NO!!!" "DAN--" "No, it's--" "AHAHAAA"

We've been losing it with each other all night, but it's been an absolute blast. We kinda had to create some new rules as we go along, and we didn't really care about who got the most points by the end of it. At least, not during this game. For the last game of the night, we switch back to Champ'd Up to end it on a high note, but for some reason, Ted and I get particularly competitive. Well...more-so Ted than myself. I'm not sure if I'd call myself an artist, but I can lock in when I have to. In this particular round, Ted and I were getting pitted against each other quite a bit and it was REALLY getting to him, in the funniest fucking way.

"I'm just gonna say--I'm just gonna say.." Ted begins speaking while everyone else is finishing up their drawing, looking up from his phone. "My drawings have been fucking great, Ok? I've been absolutely fucking robbed this whole god damn game."

"I don't know, Ted. You just gotta get good." I shrug with a mischievous smirk, focusing on coloring in my drawing. "You just gotta be good at the game."

"Y'know what's gonna be good? Y'know what's gonna be good?" Ted puts on antagonistic tone, raising his brows at me. "When I throw you out the fuckin' window."

"You're not doin' shit." I chuckle dryly, shaking my head. "Lemme finish my--"

"Oh I will. I fuckin' will. I'll pick you up and put you outside."

"You won't."

"Throw you out back."

"No."

"Like a fuckin' dog. A bad--like a bad dog."

"You won't do it."

"If you win this fucking match, you're going out back."

"You won't."

"I'll put you in a time out."

"Bet."

I finish my drawing and look up from my phone to lock eyes with him, watching him squint at me like I just revealed a big secret by challenging him. We both know I'm winning this game. Is he gonna be good on his word even on camera?

Sure enough, Ted and I are once again pit against each other, and once again, I win the round.

"HOW IS THAT NOT ZEN!?" Ted yells out, throwing his hands out to the TV after slapping his phone down onto the couch. "I drew a guy on a fucking YOGA MAT!"

"Yeah but my guy's called 'just chillin'! Look at him!" I laugh out, pointing at the screen as it reveals the winner of the game. Me, of course.

That makes Ted snap.

"Alright! That's it! You're going outside!" Ted slaps his hands down on his lap and stands up, moving around in front of everyone to move over to Tanner's side.

"No!" I laugh out, moving my feet up onto the couch in case I need to make a break for it.

"Tanner, move." Ted snaps his fingers at Tanner and points back with his thumb, giving me a knowing smile.

"I don't know if I--If I should.." Tanner leans slightly away from Ted with an amused chuckle, glancing over at one of the monitors. "Should I move, chat?"

"Tanner!!!" I nervously shout at him, standing up on the couch. "You have to protect me!"

"Come here." Ted snaps his fingers at me now, giving me a little beckon with his finger. Oh he's really doing this here, huh?

"Chat's tellin' me to move, (Y/N)." Tanner looks back at me and gives me a little shrug before shifting passed Ted so he can get to me. "I gotta move.."

Ah boy, here we go.

I jump off the couch and land behind it, but Ted is quick to move around to try and grab me. We end up moving around the couch in a slow circle while I continue to try and convince Ted to calm down. Well, I'm not trying too hard. I wanna see what he's going to do. We're still live.

"Ted! Ted come on!" I laugh, quickly moving around to the front of the couch. This puts us at a bit of a stand-off, with Ted standing across from me, once again behind the couch.

"I told you! I told you what'd happen!" Ted points out at me, holding onto the back of the couch with his other hand. "Don't make this harder than it has to be!"

"What do you want me to say?" I hold my arms out in a shrug. "Sorry for being funnier than you??"

I see a fire ignite in Ted's eyes, even from this far. Before I even have time to react, Ted jumps right over the couch and moves over the table to quickly scoop me up over his shoulder. I scream out his name and try to punch down against his back to get him to put me down, but he's just laughing and moving us back behind the couch so we're properly in frame.

"Alright, you can end the stream now, I'm sure.." Ted chuckles at Tanner, easily holding me despite my clear resistance. "I'm just, y'know...gonna take out the trash..."

Ted moves out of frame to make it seem like he's taking me out back, but he does a little u-turn as Tanner and the others say goodbye, bringing me up the stairs. I giggle quietly to myself as Ted marches us into his room and plops me right down on his bed, pointing down at me with a huff.

"Stay." Ted let's out a breathy chuckle, moving back towards his door. "I mean it."

"Oh? I'm stayin' in here tonight?" I ask with a tired little giggle, sitting up more in his bed.

"Yeah. Stay." Ted points back at me again. "Didn't get to cuddle in the truck, so you're stayin'."

I move some of my hair out of my face, shaking my head with another giggle. "As you wish, Teddy..."

So when Ted leaves the room to head downstairs, in his room is exactly where I stay. Thank God I remembered to put my phone in my pocket, because Ted's down there for quite a while. I figured he's just helping the guys clean up and bring everything back up to Tanner's. I hear them laughing with each other as they move up and down the stairs, bringing the extra cameras and cords into Tanner's room. Since the door is closed, I decide to get up out of Ted's bed to change into some of his clothes for pajamas, snagging one of his baggy shirts and clean boxer briefs before plopping right back into bed, setting my clothes underneath my side of the bed.

I hear Tanner and Dan say goodnight to Ted and hear their doors close for the night, but after that, it's a little quiet. I wait 10 minutes, which turn into 20, which turn into 30. I've been trying to distract myself using my phone, but...surely Ted should've been back by now, right? Come to think of it, I hadn't heard Joe say goodnight either. Are they still down there? What more is there to clean up? My curiosity gets the better of me. I leave my phone on the bed and get up, sneaking over to the door to creak it open a tad, trying to listen through the crack. Are they talking? I can hear them talking, I think, but they're very quiet. Strange.

I don't leave well enough alone. I open the door enough to slither through without making a sound, quietly sneaking over to the top of the stairs, leaning against the railing to get a better shot at the conversation. It's still a little quiet, but I can make out a bit. They...don't sound happy. Whatever they're talking about, it's not a good conversation, and it doesn't take me long to find out why.

"What's the fuckin' plan? Ted?" Joe's whispering a little louder than he probably should, but he sounds very upset. "You gonna wait till the last day? You gonna wait till the fuckin' premiere?"

"Will you keep your voice down?.." Ted let's out a heavy sigh. He sounds tired. "I told her enough. What's the problem?"

"Told her enough?" That only seemed to anger Joe more. I hear a scuffle and a smack. "You're lying to my best friend, Ted." I hate that I can't see them, but it sounds like Joe just hit Ted...

"Ow--like you haven't lied to her either?" Ted snaps back in a frustrated tone. "You told her you didn't know why I left. You don't remember kicking me out, Joseph?"

"You don't remember why I kicked you out, Ted?" Joe snaps back, still talking in a growly whisper "I only reminded you after you stuck your dick in her!"

"I was drunk, Joe! How many times do I need to apologize for that?"

"I'm not askin' for a fuckin' apology for getting drunk, Ted. You weren't the only one drunk at the wedding, I got drunk at the fucking wedding. I don't give a fuck why you did what you did, but I'm not the one lyin' about it now."

"Joseph.."

"I told her that you'd tell her. So fuckin' tell her."

"I-I tried telling her, Joe. I-I'm not...I'm not trying to hurt anyone."

"You got her high and lied to her face, Ted!"

"Lower your voice!"

I...I can't move. I'm frozen solid where I'm sitting. My hands don't leave the railing, my mouth doesn't close, my eyes don't blink. What...What am I hearing right now? Ted?

"Look, I-I just--I don't want her to hear us.." Ted let's out another heavy sigh, keeping his voice just above a whisper. "I am going to tell her, but not like this. Not down here.."

"Honestly, maybe she should fucking hear us." Joe let's out a snarky chuckle. I know he's just getting more and more frustrated. As am I. "Maybe she should fucking hear us. Maybe then you'd actually face the shit you've started."

"What, you want her to find out this way?" Ted's tone becomes more antagonistic. "Really? You'd do that to her?"

"We've lied to each other before, Ted. She's my best fucking friend, she'll be pissed, but she'll get it. I've been trying to protect her."

"What is there to get? What makes you any better?"

"I lied to her BEFORE you stuck your tongue down her throat, you fucking idiot. When I saw you two getting close, I was worried, but I told her to goto you. I said you'd tell the truth. I TRUSTED that you'd want to tell the truth. What's your fucking excuse? Gonna get her drunk next? At least I trust you'll be yourself at the end of a fuckin' bottle."

I'm not sure how much of this I can listen to, but I can't move. They've been lying to me about the wedding? Why? What was there to even lie about? What did Ted do?

Ted..

...Ted's been lying to me?...

"I'm..." Ted's voice trails off. He sounds so...done, so defeated. "I'm..sorry, alright? You're right."

"Of fucking course I'm right." Joe snips with another huff. "She deserves the truth. The truth. I don't care how hard it is, for either of you.."

I hear a frustrated sigh from Ted and a bit of silence, flinching suddenly when I hear the sounds of steps nearing the stairs.

"...I'll tell her." Ted speaks up, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. "Before the project ends, I'll tell her."

"No, you're telling her by Monday..." Joe insists with a stomp of his foot. "...or I do it."

Just as I hear Ted start to come up the stairs, I rush back to his room and close the door, returning to his bed. I don't even know what to think right now, I don't know how to feel. I just feel...cold. Scared. Before I can even collect my thoughts, I hear his door open and see him enter his room, shooting me a casual smile. He's...smiling. He's smiling at me, looking at me with those warm hazel eyes like he wasn't just in an argument, like he wasn't just talking about me behind my back. How does he do that? How is he able to just...turn that off in front of me? Part of me wants to reveal that I was listening, part of me wants to yell at him, but nothing comes out. I can't.

"Sorry, I got caught up with Joe..." Ted let's out a happy sigh, slipping out of his shorts before moving to crawl into bed next to me. "You doin' alright without me?.."

"...Yeah.." I shoot him a small smile, but turn away and lay on my side. "I'm doing alright.."

I feel him move to lay close behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me close for the night.

Caught up? Just caught up?

He just...

He lied to my face.

...

How long has he been able to do that?

__________________________________

We spend a lot of time inside the Rainforest Cafe, mostly because it took quite a bit of time to be served. We got our drinks fairly quickly, but Dan and Joe were having a hard time deciding what to have to eat so our server left us for a little while. Thankfully, a majority of all the talking was distracting us from how hungry we were. We talked about literally everything that we've accomplished together both as a film crew and a friend group. We talked about how we all kinda freaked out during that first day when Conner couldn't make it, and how relieved everyone was when Ted took his place. Joe talked a bit about where he got the inspiration for Kara and Mason's wardrobe, our characters, and Dan once again apologized for almost hitting me with that football that Tanner made him throw at Ted and I. Good times.

Speaking of Ted and I, that topic came up shortly after due to Dan's genuine curiosity.

"I just don't understand how this happened." Dan admitted with an innocent little smile, holding his hands out in front of him as he speaks. "Like, you guys weren't already together when I threw the football?"

"No, it happened like 3 days later." Ted admitted with a casual shrug, relaxing a bit against the back of the booth. He was right, but I was surprised to hear him admit it to everyone.

"What happened, though?" Dan asked with a bit more emphasis, placing both of his hands on the table. It's a weird question to be asked but I can tell that Dan means well. He isn't necessarily trying to pry into our business, he's just...very young and innocent at heart despite being one of the older members of the friend group. Ted turns his head to look at me, giving me a smug little smirk with an eyebrow raised, as if to signal me to answer.

"What?" I look up at him with my own brows furrowed a little, a slight chuckle slipping out. "Do you want to talk about it? Here?"

"Why not?" Ted replied with a simple little shrug. "My friends already know a bit of it, yours could as well.."

"Wait, really?" I'm a little surprised to hear that. "Who? Which friends?"

"Tucker and Schlatt--well, Schlatt doesn't know what we did, but Tucker does."

"Tucker knows?"

"Yeah."

"Everything?"

"About that night, yeah. Mostly everything."

"Mostly?"

"Well I didn't go into excruciating detail or anything, but yeah, mostly."

"When did you tell him?"

"I had texted him before you woke up that morning."

"You texted him while I was next to you?"

"Yeah."

"So he knew before I was on the podcast?"

"Yeah, he did."

"...huh."

"Why are you surprised?" Ted chuckled a little, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "How fast did you go to Joe about us again?"

"I'm--Okay, that's a fair point, actually.." I playfully roll my eyes and nod a little. After a decent little pause, Ted turns back to look at Dan.

"Anyways, we had sex."

Most of us started laughing at that response, with Dan letting out a genuine, but almost exaggerated "What!?" in between laughs. Him being so shocked is honestly valid, especially after that tangent between Ted and I.

"3 days later? Jesus, man!" Dan chuckles, gently smacking his hands down on the table. "No patience!"

"What day was that again?" Tanner asks with a confused little smile, looking over everyone's expressions.

"The day we had to go out and replace my wardrobe.." I admit in a slightly softer voice, sort of hugging myself in my seat.

"It was when you passed out in my bed." Ted added, pointing over at Tanner. "The first time we were up late editing?"

"Oh yeah.." Tanner glanced down a little, nodding slowly before looking up at Ted again. "And my door was locked, right?"

"Yeah, no idea why." Ted admitted with a shrug. "I couldn't turn the knob and I didn't really want to wake everyone to the sound of me breaking down your door, so I just knocked on theirs. Knew they were awake."

Huh. So Tanner really was taking up Ted's bed the first night. What an odd way for the world to put Ted and I together. "I genuinely thought it was a fuckin' story." I speak up after taking a sip from my drink. "I thought it was a whole-ass excuse just to get me alone."

"Hey, I know you like to think I'm some hot-shot lady wranglin' casanova over here.." Ted snickers slightly, turning his body a little to address me. "But despite what you think, I didn't intend to sleep with you that night."

"It kinda sounds like you did." Tanner admitted with his head tilted, resting his elbows on the table. I could tell that everyone was invested in this whole thing, Joe included, despite him already knowing everything. Mostly everything.

"I didn't! It wasn't--alright--" Ted's tone became defensive as he held his hands up in mock surrender, letting out a chuckle. "Alright, alright, listen: Was I kinda thinkin' about it? A little, maybe. Sure, but I wasn't plannin' on tryin' anything; not that night anyways."

"So how did it happen?" Joe asks with a knowing smirk, his body turned towards the both of us to give us his full attention. Joseph, you fuck, you already know.

"Because (Y/N)'s kinda a little whore, if I'm bein' honest." Ted admits without an ounce of hesitation, using his usual exaggerated tone.

"YO!" I laugh out and turn to smack his arm, hearing a quiet 'ah' escape him as I laugh. "I am NOT! You jumped me!"

"I didn't jump you! You were--"

"You cornered me by my window and my bed!"

"You wanted to kiss me!"

"I had no where to go!"

"You were givin' me the goo-goo eyes! The bedroom eyes!"

"I glanced at your lips ONCE, Ted!"

"And what does that mean, princess? Hmm? What does looking at the lips mean?"

"It's a fucking--"

"What does looking at the lips mean?"

"Ted--"

"Do you remember? Do you remember what it means?"

"Shut the fuck up!" I laugh.

"You used the tell for the film?" Tanner chimes in with a soft laugh, furrowing his brows in disbelief. "That's what did it?"

"Absolutely she did!" Ted points at Tanner with pure confidence in his expressive voice. "She looked, I made her admit it, then it happened."

"And now the whole fucking cafe knows." I lower my voice a bit with a playful eye roll, shaking my head at Ted. "You're being loud as fuck, you know that?"

"Oh come on, babe. Doesn't it feel kinda good to tell everyone?" Ted grinned back at me, getting yet another little eye roll from me. "Isn't it kinda funny?"

"....In a sense.."

The conversation was cut short when our server returned to take our food order. Dan and Joe had finally decided on what they wanted, so we could all finally order our food and wait for it to arrive. It was hard to believe that we'll all be separating in the next 9 or so days. Some of us will be flying back home, some of us will make a long road trip out of it and Ted will simply be just getting on the highway for, like, a 45 minute drive at best. It's odd. He'll have the smallest distance to travel, but he'll feel so far away...

I try to keep my thoughts focused on the group and their loud banter, watching with a smile on my face as Joe and Tanner rock back and forth in a laughing fit. Joe put his head in his hands and Tanner leaned his head back with his hand on his chest. I've clearly missed something. "What? What did you say?" I ask with a confused little smile, tilting my head at Joe as he leaned against my shoulder.

"We were talking about the--oh god.." Joe almost couldn't answer my question, wiping under his eyes as he chuckled. "Tanner, fuck man, oh my god.."

"I still have to show it to you guys, but we're talking about something we caught while editing last weekend." Tanner was able to catch his breath enough to start explaining it, an occasional laugh slipping out. "Y'know how we had to reshoot some scenes outside the other day?"

"Yeah, that's why Ted had to shave." I reply with a small smile, glancing over at Ted.

"She's still very upset about that." Ted adds in a joking tone, giving me a little point.

"Well--Okay, first of all, rude to just air that out." I let out a little laugh, turning my body more to look at Ted. "I was not upset, I was just...wanting you to grow it out a bit.."

"I am, half of it is already back." Ted rubs his slightly stubbled cheeks with his hands, shrugging a little. "It grows in fast, princess."

"Have you ever thought about growing a mustache?" Dan chimes in, resting both of his arms on the table.

"Ooh, y'know what..." Ted narrows his eyes with a smirk, leaning back a bit with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Man, he has nice arms... "I haven't grown in my mustache in a long time...maybe I will.."

"It'll look schnazzy for the premiere." Tanner gives him a gesture of approval before adjusting himself in his chair. We gotta stop going off on tangents like that.

"Anyways, what we were laughing about was something Joe and I caught while we were editing last weekend. There was a part of the file that got corrupted and it created this weird mix match of scenes that made it look straight out of a YouTube poop."

"The files mixed? Mixed how?" I repeated, tilting my head a little again. "Like, into 2 scenes?"

"Yeah, it mixed one of the outdoor shots with Ted pushing you into the pool." Tanner explained, beginning to laugh a little as he recalls the scene for us. "And--and so the camera pans--it pans, cuts to you two, you get pushed into the pool and it froze on the exact frame you go under the water. When it froze, the audio still plays and it's the loudest fucking, like...crashing into water sound I've ever heard. It was so fucking funny."

"Here, I recorded it on my phone." Joe takes his phone out of his pocket and opens the video, handing his phone to me so Ted and I could watch it. It was almost exactly how Tanner had described it, but it looked like it was some video game glitch. When I hit the water, the file was so corrupted, it looked like water was continuously coming out of the pool with my body vibrating inside it. The sound was LOUD, too, making Ted and I erupt into unexpected laughter.

"Jesus christ!" Ted laughs out, smacking his thigh a bit as he leaned back. "How the fuck did that happen!?"

"I honestly have no idea!" Tanner chuckled, shrugging his arms out a bit. "It was fine inside the camera! Sending it to my PC just did that!"

"Can you send that to me?" I ask Joe in between little laughs, placing a hand over my own chest.

"Yes, absolutely. It's so fucking funny.." Joe chuckled, carefully taking his phone back from me so he could send me the video. I needed to put that on my Instagram story or something. I'd have to do it later though. Maybe we'd been here longer than we thought, or maybe we were being so rowdy that it caught the staff's attention, but we finally got all of our food shortly after Joe sent me the video, so we were all finally able to calm down a bit and enjoy our meals, glancing up from our plates when another rainstorm occurred. That's still a little jarring, in a good way.

Honestly, the food wasn't too bad. The safari fries were a lot better than I thought they'd be and I thoroughly enjoyed what I had ordered. Everyone else seemed pretty satisfied too. I would've finished everything on my plate if it weren't for Ted, who had ordered a bit more than the rest of us. He wanted all of us to try a little bit of the nachos so we all sort of had a free appetizer with our meals. Honestly, Ted was the most eager out of all of us to come here but we were all having a blast. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time, even after another two or so Rainforest thunderstorms. I could tell that Ted was enjoying himself just as much, if not more. I kept catching him looking at me with a big dumb smile no matter what I was doing, whether I was turned away to talk to Joe or straight up stuffing way too many nachos into my mouth, he looked infatuated with me. It was really nice, in a strange way.

Once we were all done our food, Ted called for our bill. At first, he tried to pay for the entire meal, but most of us strongly disagreed with that idea. I stayed relatively quiet while everyone argued about paying for their own meals. I mean, I'd happily pay for my own meal if I had to, I'd feel bad about making Ted pay for it...at the same time, free dinner sounds pretty good and I oddly like the idea of Ted spoiling me even a little bit. The argument was settled when Tanner brought up the fact that he still had money on the credit card the school had given him for the film. Yes, the "emergency" credit card. Dan brought up the fact that Tanner seemingly wanted to use it for what was clearly not an emergency, Tanner just shrugged and said "We can't decide who's paying, sounds like an emergency to me." And we ultimately all agreed to use it, because making his school pay for our Rainforest Café dinner is just really funny.

After we've paid our bill, we make a quick trip to the gift shop to buy matching shirts, very similar to the one Ted had brought, and take a few group photos inside and outside of the joint before finally separating back to our vehicles. Joe, Dan and Tanner returned to their ride and Ted and I moved back to his Toyota Tacoma. Just as I had hopped into the passenger seat, I watched Ted do a quick little jog over to the guys and tell them something, though even with the windows rolled down I can't make out any of it. Huh.

Ted quickly steps back over and gets into the driver's seat, a small smirk on his face as he starts his truck up.

"What did you tell them?.." I ask with a curious smile, but I don't get an immediate answer. Ted takes his time carefully getting out of the parking lot, the smirk staying on his face. I furrow my eyebrows a little at him and just sort of...watch. His silence is making me a little anxious.

"Hang on, I'll tell you when we're on the road.." Ted speaks as he stops to let another car pass. He's being strangely...inconspicuous about this, which means he's up to something. I see Dan's van drive out of the parking lot and make a right turn to head down the main street, but when Ted gets to that same exit after a bit of navigating, he turns left. I furrow my brows again and turn to look at him. He's still smirking.

"You feelin' alright?" Ted speaks up again once he's on the main road, keeping his eyes front with his smug little smirk still along his blush-toned lips. "Not feelin'...stuffed at all?"

"Stuffed? I mean..." I'm getting more confused by the second, sitting up more in my seat. "I'm full, but I'm not sore or anything. Why?"

"Just checkin'.." Ted glances at me briefly, staying straight on the road. I don't know this area very well, but I know that our set isn't in this direction. "I told the others I'd take ya sight seeing for a bit."

"Sight seeing?" I repeat and briefly turn away, my eyes focusing down in my lap for a moment. "What are we seeing? Where are we--"

It hits me.

Oh.

Oh.

I remember.

"That...kinda depends on whether or not I'm makin' another left at these lights up here.." Ted slips his hand off the wheel slightly to point out towards the lights we were approaching. It seemed like turning left would lead into some sort of middle class neighborhood, while turning right would likely bring us back to the path home.

"Y-You're making me decide this now?" I'm immediately flustered, turning to look at him with a nervous pout. "How long did you say we'd be gone?"

"Didn't specify, but we don't have to be gone long.." Ted gave a slight shrug, easing up a bit when the light began to turn red. "Doesn't always have to last 20 or so minutes. Am I turnin' left?"

I try to get something, anything out quickly but I just stammer over my own voice and let out a nervous chuckle. I can't tell if he's bluffing, thought at this rate I doubt he ever is. He mentioned knowing a few spots before we got to the restaurant, but I thought it was a fucking joke. It's very quickly not becoming a joke...and it's very quickly becoming very, very tempting.

"I won't be upset if it's a no, but you got about 15 seconds to answer me. Give or take." Ted speaks up again to get my attention, glancing at me briefly. "Am I turnin' left?"

"Do you actually have a spot in that direction?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. I want to have at least some idea of where we're going. I certainly don't need to know what we'll be doing. I already know.

"Yes." Ted answers simply, slowing down ever so slightly. "I know a few, this is the closest."

"But that's through a suburb."

"Yeah, I know."

"The spots near those houses?"

"A house, kind of."

"Have you ever used it?"

"Not that one, no."

"Have you ever been caught?"

"Not in L.A."

"Isn't there a chance we could get caught there, especially if you've never used it?"

"No, not with what I know. Am I turnin' left, or...?"

Christ, I can't believe I'm doing this. "...turn."

I see Ted's smirk grow into a mischievous smile as he carefully switches lanes so he can turn left at the red light, bringing us into a neighborhood I didn't recognize. A devilish little chuckle leaves Ted and he shakes his head. It's like he also can't believe what I had just agreed to, and he's the one who made the damn offer in the first place.

"Don't laugh at me.." I playfully glare at him, anxiously crossing my arms in front of my chest. "This was your idea.."

"Yeah, and it's fucking awesome that you're into it." Ted replied with a cocky little grin, removing one of his hands from the steering wheel to rest it in his lap. I turn away for a moment just to glance out the window, noticing very quickly that there wasn't a single other car on this street. Even most of the driveways were empty. Maybe a majority of the people in this neighborhood work nights and closing shifts. Ted must've known that, though how he came across this area was a whole other story.

"Hey." Ted gets my attention by placing his free hand on my thighs, glancing at me with that confident, charming little grin. "Got a question for ya, princess.."

I can already feel my cheeks heating up and my stomach bubbling up with anxiety, turning my head to look at him. I was trying to appear as calm as possible. "Yeah?.." I respond simply, keeping my tone soft just in case I became shaky. His hand feels so warm on me...

"...Didya ever...think about me?.." Ted lowers his tone a little, occasionally glancing at me as he drove down the empty street. "Y'know, before anythin' happened? Did ya...think about how it'd go? How it'd feel?"

I find myself rolling my eyes and looking out my window again, letting out a shaky sigh. There's no way I'm gonna be able to answer that while looking at him. "Yeah..." I'm able to speak up enough so he can hear me clearly, but my tone is otherwise quiet and shy. "It...pretty much went exactly how I'd pictured it. You on top...a leg over your shoulder..."

"Oh yeah?" Ted speaks with a little purr, giving my thigh a small squeeze. I feel his thumb begin to slowly caress my inner thighs, his tongue gliding along the ends of his top teeth. "Ya like me on top?.."

I roll my eyes again. It's instinctual. It's like I'm annoyed with myself for enjoying his suggestive questioning. I look forward to see Ted go through a roundabout, heading down a new street that seemingly lead to no where. "I like...losing control. Giving it.." I admit after a little pause, slowly moving my tongue along my lower lip to wet it a bit. "You're just so...right for me in that way, I never have to worry about...telling you to slow down or curve up or anything, you just know. You just do it, and it's been good...every single time."

Even thinking about it now was making that familiar tingly warmth appear between my legs, lightly dragging my teeth along my lower lip. Sometimes, if I really think hard about it, I can still feel the anticipation of him pushing into me for the first time, how well I shape around him...

I can see that Ted is happy with my honest answer. A pleased little hum leaves him and he squeezes my thigh again. He keeps doing that and I'm gonna make him pull over...

"I know I haven't left you alone since that night, but..." Ted pauses to choose his words carefully, glancing at me again. "You ever...touch yourself to me, princess?.." Just as he ends his question, he slowly slides his hand more up my thigh, his thumb inching closer to my clothed core. Even through my clothes, I can feel his warm touch, I can feel myself aching for him, desiring him all over again.

"I've....never had the time.." I admit with a breathless little chuckle, trying not to tense up against my seat too much. "But...I've thought about it.."

"You've thought about it, huh?.." Ted begins to slow down a little, giving me another quick glance with his suggestive grin. "Ya wanna try it?.."

Gods, how does this man do that with just his voice?...

"Try it?" I turn to look at him fully, raising a curious brow. I'm trying real hard to hide how much he's getting to me. "Try it how? In here? In--In front of you?"

Ted, once again, chooses not to answer me right away. His suggestive grin grows and another low little chuckle escapes him. "...You'll see. You'll like it..."

Ted continues to drive until he's at the very end of the street with some large looking home to our left and a small little forest to our right. There isn't a single car in the driveway and it looks like all of the lights are on. The truck tilts and bobs ever so slightly as Ted pulls into the dirt path leading into the small forest, removing his hand from my thigh to steady the truck with both hands. Where the fuck are we? And how did he discover this place? Ted glances around a bit before parking and completely turning off his vehicle, letting out a little sigh. He removes his seatbelt, letting it slip behind him before turning to me with a smirk.

"Backseat, princess." He gestures back with a thumb. Oh god, okay, this is happening. Why am I even surprised? It's Ted, with me. He's obsessed...and honestly, so am I.

I quickly remove my seatbelt and move around to crawl into the back seat, grunting as I attempt to get through this awkward crawling bit as fast as I can. I realize that I've never seen his backseat so...cleared before. I don't think I've ever seen anyone's backseat so cleared. Did he plan this?

X

As I'm getting comfortable, Ted immediately moves towards me to crawl overtop of me, pinning me down on my back with his body. I'm honestly surprised he can even fit back here with how tall he is, but he seems relatively comfortable. He grabs my face and pulls me into a deep, sultry kiss, letting out a muffled groan against my lips. With how short these seats are, one of my legs are hanging over the side of the seat, my lap already completely spread for him. I'm able to loosely wrap my arms around his neck, already feeling him slip his tongue into my mouth for more of me. A small moan escapes me, which immediately turns into a more surprised moan when I feel his tented shorts press against me. He's trapped me beneath him, I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to. I can already feel my own excitement growing at that realization.

Ted kisses me roughly a bit more before pulling away to begin trailing hot kisses down my neck. As he pulls back a bit to say something, his glasses slip off his face and bop me on the bridge of my nose, making both of us let out a little laugh.

"Fuck, sorry--" Ted chuckles lowly, carefully snatching his glasses before they'd fall, tossing them onto the side surface in between the front seats.

"You're...so impatient.." I let out a soft purr, leaning my head back a little when he continued to trail his kisses along my neck.

"I know, I'm not doin' well at all.." Ted snickers a bit against my nail, nipping a bit along my jaw. "Soon as you agreed to it, I just...fuck, (Y/N).."

Ted knows we need to be semi quick, so as his hand moves down my body, he completely ignores my shirt and heads straight for my pants. He slips his hand in between my opened legs to touch my clothed core, my thighs flinching as a shaky moan leaves me. "Theo.." I tilt my head to moan into his ear, feeling the tips of his fingers press into the loose fabric of my pants. I know. I know he can feel how wet I already am, and it's all his fault. I don't know if it's normal for a man to make me such a mess so quickly, but he does it to me. Oh, he does it to me so easily...

"I know, baby. I know.." Ted moves up ever so slightly to whisper into my ear, moving his hand up to slink under the waistband of my pants, pushing my panties aside to slip his fingers between my folds. "I've got you, I've got you.."

A sharp gasp leaves me at his warm hand against me, glancing down to see his hand down my pants, wanting the pretty sight burned into my memory. I'm already soaked against his fingers, my panties are probably already a mess. My arousal only grows when I feel him push two fingers into me, making me lean my head back and moan out for him. I feel his fingers curl up inside me, massaging that perfect little spot from the inside.

"Oh you're drenched.." Ted purrs into my ear with a low little snicker, beginning to pump his fingers inside me with the small amount of room he had. "Did you get horny at the thought of me fuckin' you in my car? You're bad, princess. You're...fucking perfect.."

My pants have never felt so restrictive in my entire fucking life until now. I close my eyes as his fingers work me inside, pressing my foot against the back door with a groan.

"T-Take my pants off.." I beg with a slight growl in my throat, a shiver running through my body as Ted trails his tongue along the side of my neck, knowing he's doing it just to tease me.

"Hands are kinda busy, princess.." Ted purred against my neck with another low snicker, rebalancing himself overtop of me by moving his free hand against the backs of the seats. I groan in response, giving his wrist in my pants a quick smack so he'd remove it. I grunt quietly as he slipped his fingers out of me completely, listening to his dark chuckles as I push my own pants down my legs, wiggling my hips to slip them down to my ankles.

"These too, princess.." Ted shifts slightly to look at me, pressing his two fingers against me through my panties. A quiet gasp escaping me in response.

"Y-You do it.." I huffed, giving him a needy glare. I know Ted wants us to be quick, which of course means I need to start misbehaving, to test his patience. I see his eyes sparkle a bit with a surprised smile spreading along his blush-toned lips, raising a brow at me.

"Oh you really don't want to test me right now, babe.." Ted purred down at me, giving me a small shake of his head. "You're wearing lace. Y'know how easy that is to rip open? You wanna find out?"

"You think you're gonna rip them?" I ask with a quiet, mocking little chuckle.

"I will rip them." Ted insisted with a slight nod. "That's not a concern, that's a promise."

"Oh is that so?"

"Absolutely. Wanna test me right now? On the way back, you'll be sitting with nothing to cover how much I've stuffed your sensitive little cunt.."

"Bet."

Ted's eyes flared up at my response, like I just snapped a twig while he's on the hunt. He sits up a bit more so he can use both of his hands to grab the front of my panties, ripping them open like they were nothing.

"Ted! You--" I gasp out, the rest of my words muffled by the feeling of his fingers pushing into my mouth, making me taste myself.

"Shut up, I fucking warned you." Ted scoffs down at me, removing his fingers from my mouth so he could return them to my core, spreading my essence and saliva over my sensitive bud. He uses his free hand to lift my shirt up just so I feel even more exposed, leaning back over me to return to my neck. He uses his two fingers to make slow little circles around my sensitive clit, my exposed, spread thighs shivering in response.

"Oh my g-god, Teddy...that's..." I moan softly for him, leaning my head back once more. I don't even have the energy to think about my torn panties anymore, his touch is so sensual and pleasent, it feels really good.

"Yeah, there you go..." Ted whispered into my ear with another low snicker, changing the pace of his fingers to begin flicking them back and forth against my clit, pressing a kiss to the side of my neck. "Relax, baby. Relax beneath me.."

I let a few shaky moans escape me, closing my eyes to focus on all of the touches and noises around me. I can feel Ted's hot breath against my neck, his fingers working my sensitive bud in alternating paces. I can hear the way his fingers rub against me, occasionally dipping into my entrance for more of my essence, spreading it over my sensitive clit, my arousal making my breathing quicken and become uneven. I began to let my thoughts wander, recalling our first night in bits and pieces. I thought about how it felt to kiss him in my room with true passion and desire, how it felt to have him in my bed...

"You're thinkin' about it, aren't you? Bout that night?.." Ted purrs into my ear, flicking his fingers against my clit a little faster, letting the tip of his tongue curl along my ear. "Y'know how often I think of that? Of every night I've had you beneath me?.."

My mouth is open to let my sweet sounding moans slip out, though words refuse to form. I give him a shaky little nod instead, angling my hips up ever so slightly as if to grind against his fingers.

"I think about how well you responded to everything I did to you.." Ted whispers to me, alternating between circling and flicking his fingers along my sensitive bud. "I think about how we didn't need to say a word...how we knew exactly where to touch each other, where to feel, where to taste. Oh baby, and you taste so good..."

I close my eyes and allow myself to fully focus on his words and his touch, unable to balance my heavy breathing. An occasional little moan escaped me, urging him to keep going.

"I'll never have to touch myself again with you so eager, mm?.." Ted continues to whisper sweet nothings into my ear, occasionally moving to nip or suck on little spots along my jaw or neck. "You'll just do anything for my touch, won't you? You were made for me, princess. Made for me to play with. Look at you, look at how pretty your pussy is to play with.."

I can't help myself. With him, I must do as I'm told. I can feel the arousal in my body increasing, my core becoming warmer and more sensitive. I feel him adjust so I can look down at myself, watching as his fingers dip into my core to get more of my essence along his fingers, bringing them back up to continue to play with me, the pace of his fingers flicking across my clit only becoming faster and faster.

"Pretty little thing, mm?..." Ted glances down at his hand, a low, mocking chuckle leaving him as he watches my chest rise and fall with my quick, desperate breaths. "God, you're so fun to play with, baby. Pretty little pussy's all mine, isn't it? Can you say that, baby? Can you say that before you cum?..."

Everything is starting to feel more and more intense, I don't know if I'll even be able to get a word out before I finish. I let out a needy moan and lean my head back again, closing my eyes once more. "P-Pretty--pretty..." I manage to mutter out in between quick breaths, pouting my lips out with a desperate little whine. "T-Teddy, I'm--"

"Don't cum, princess. Don't cum just yet.." Ted teases me with a low snicker, yet his quickens his pace against my clit. "Tell me, tell me it's pretty. No no no, don't.."

"I-I am!--I'm!--"

Unfortunately, him urging me to hold it in while his fingers increased their pace was the exact thing that triggered my first climax. I shut my eyes and moan out for him, my body shivering and shaking as my orgasm intensifies through my whole body, rising up my chest and into my head. His fingers continued to move relentlessly against my sensitive clit as my head gets all fuzzy, my eyes rolling back as the last of my climax shivers up my spine. That was a completely different kind of release, at least compared to when he goes down on me, but it was...exhilarating. It felt amazing. He knows my body so well. I have a sneaking suspicion that he intended for me to finish then and there, despite telling me to wait

My hazy thoughts are interrupted by Ted snickering lowly at me, spreading his fingers over my core. "You bad girl.." He purrs to me, bringing his hand up to lightly clasp around my throat, keeping me down against the seat. "Thought I told you to wait. Pathetic..."

I open my eyes to meet his heated gaze, my lips parted as I tried to catch my breath. Ted was right, I liked that. I really liked that. Having him play with me was incredible. Now I'm the impatient one. "T-Too bad, I guess.." I manage to speak out with a shaky chuckle, letting my tongue smooth along my upper lip. "Now, you gonna keep everyone waiting or are you gonna fuck this pretty pussy?.."

I see Ted's eyes once again flare up with desire and arousal, hearing him let out another dark, yet shakier chuckle. That's exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Oh, I'm fallin' hard for you, you little bitch.."

Ted leans down to catch my lips in another deep, passionate kiss, using his free hand to begin working at the button and zipper of his shorts. I groan impatiently in the deep kiss, kissing him back with my own hands going down to his shorts to help him pull them down, helping him slip his boxers briefs down as well. Once he's fully exposed, I feel his right hand move up to smack onto his back window while the other let's go of my throat to align himself with my entrance, wasting no more time as he pushes deep into me. By now, he feels perfect slipping into me, every single god damn time. Something is missing if his cock isn't nestled inside of me. I'm shaped for him and him only and he knows it. He better know it.

He moves his hand up to press against the back door behind my head, bucking his hips up as roughly as he can against me. I can already feel how much he's been aching for me, his throbbing shaft massaging my inner walls warmly. Pleasure begins to surge throughout my entire body with every smack of his hips, a loud, needy moan slipping out of me everytime our skin connects. I lean my head back and let him hear the desperation in my sweet moans, smirking a little to myself when I can feel the truck rocking with his thrusts.

"Oh. God. Every. Time. Every. Single. Fucking. Time.." Ted growls, a single word leaving him with every thrust of his hips. "So. Fucking. Good. So tight, so--wet--FFFFUCK." He nuzzles his face into my neck, putting more force in with every single buck while his lips once again find my neck. His pelvis rubs up against me everytime our hips meet, I'm already getting lost in the pleasure he's rushing through my body, feeling his heavy pants against my skin.

"Oh god, Teddy! Teddy it's good!" I whimper for him, wrapping my arms around him to cling to him as best as I can, gripping onto his shirt to keep him close. "It's good, it's good! It's so good! So good!"

"I know, baby, I know--ugh, I'm gonna--" Ted growls into my ear, his hand moving from the window to slightly change the angle of our bodies, making my head nestle more into the corner of the backseat. "--gonna tilt this whole truck over fucking you like that, hold on.--" He puts us at a more diagonal angle with one knee on the seat with his other on the floorboard to keep himself steady, pulling my hips in closer. "There. Better..."

This new position gave him the room that he needed, able to tug me in with his rough thrusts over and over and over. The truck was definitely still rocking back and forth with us, arguably a lot more with how much harder he was fucking me, but neither of us cared now.

Ted quieted his own low moans and growls so he could focus on my own needy sounding voice, my head completely leaned back as I whimpered and whined for more, unable to form a coherent word or sentence that didn't include 'It's' 'so' and 'good'. It was all I could say, all I could feel. It was so good. It was so fucking good, everytime with this man is so fucking good. The intensity of it all was becoming too much. Here I am, in the backseat of his truck, getting railed like there's no tomorrow and no one has any idea where we've gone or what we're doing. It's exciting, it's exhilarating and I want to do more of it with him. I want to do everything with him.

"Ted! Teddy! I'm--It's--I-I'm cumming!" I cry out for him, finally able to get some words out when I begin to hit my peak a second time. I can feel his length throbbing inside of my tightened walls, my release building up more and more until it was nearly about to burst. Ted moved in to press his body down against me and latched onto my neck once again, panting and moaning sweetly into my neck as he bucked his hips against me like a needy animal reacting to heat. His pelvis continued to rub against my sensitive bud while the tip of his length massaged me from the inside and I'm able to release for a second time, crying out because of him; crying out for him. I can't control my volume even if I tried. I close my eyes just as I feel his hot seed push into my core, hearing his hand smack his back window as his body lightly convulsing against me, comfortably emptying into me. All of the pleasure centers around my aching core and rushes up my entire body and rumbles into my head, leaving me with a satisfying, light-headed haze, even as he gently pulls out of me.

X

Just as this pleasant high begins to fade, I feel Ted pull back from my neck with a weak moan, relaxing against my body to catch his breath, the truck's rocking still persisting ever so slightly. I lightly wrap my arms around him, one of my hands moving up to run my fingers through his tall dark hair. A part of my neck feels warm and damp and it's a little difficult to catch my breath with most of Ted's weight on me, but I'm completely satisfied. Maybe I'll keep this little adventure with Ted to ourselves. Joe doesn't need to know everything.

"You're incredible..." Ted whispers into my chest, letting out a shaky chuckle as he lifts himself off of me a bit, his dark orbs sparkling down at me. "You're fucking incredible, you're...everything.."

I meet his gaze with my own weak little chuckle, lightly biting the corner of my lower lip. I can feel the high of sex with Ted mixing with my infatuation for Ted. "E-Everything?..." I manage to repeat after a deep breath, giving him a little smile. "I'm...I'm everything except properly clothed, Theo.."

"Oh yeah, right...right..." Ted replies with another breathless laugh, glancing down at my bare legs. Fuck. This motherfucker really ripped my god damn underwear. "I...did that."

"I can't believe you did that.." I lean my head back for a moment and shake my head, my smile spreading into a satisfied grin. "You son of a bitch.."

"Hey, I did warn you. I tried to warn you." Ted insisted with a playful grin, shifting a bit to give me more room to move. "I just--ooh...uh...uh oh..."

"Uh oh?" I lift my head to look at him with my eyebrows slightly furrowed. "What uh oh?"

Ted, once again, doesn't answer me right away. He's looking down at me, but he's not looking at my face. What's he looking at? My chest? My chin? My neck?

Ted brings his hand to my chin to lift my head slightly, squinting his eyes and leaning in a bit, like he's focusing on something. I'm starting to get a little anxious. "What? What do you see?" I ask again with a frown, clearly getting more nervous by the second.

"Uhh..." Ted let's out his own nervous little chuckle.

"I...think that's a hickey..."

...Fuck.

"...A big one.."

Oh fuck.

__________________________________

*All Chapters, uploaded and not, will now be listed and linked at the bottom here ♡

"...Hi.."

I don't have words to describe how I felt opening my front door, how I feel looking at who's standing outside my home, leaning against the frame with one arm. The rain was coming down rather hard so he was pretty soaked, his black shirt looking heavy on his body. There are droplets fogging up his glasses and his usual tall hair is stuck on his forehead, appearing wet and curly instead of straight up.

Ted.

It's been nearly a month, only a month, but he looks...different. Older. Rougher, maybe. Even from where I'm standing, I can tell the last few weeks have been just as unkind to him as they've been to me.

...

No, there's no way he's been struggling. He doesn't GET to be straggling. No fucking way. HE'S the one that walked out, not just on me, but on Tanner. On the project. I don't care if it's almost been a month, I'm still pissed.

"I know you're mad.." Ted holds his free arm out as if to calm me, the rain still trickling down on his body, only ruining his clothes more. "And--And you're free to yell at me, to hit me, to call me whatever you want, but...can I come in first?"

It feels weird hearing his voice again. It's familiar, but also like a memory I can't completely comprehend. The anxious pit I'm getting in my stomach is definitely the most familiar thing here, but it's only making me angrier. Part of me wants to slam the door in his face, to leave him hanging the same way he left me hanging, the same way he left the team hanging....but I'm not him. I quietly step aside, giving him silent permission to enter my home. I hear a shaky breath escape him as he enters, like even he expected I'd deny him. I still kind of want to, but it's god awful out there and even he doesn't deserve to stand in that.

As he walks past me to remove his wet shoes, I see his Tacoma parked out front. This motherfucker. I live in Washington, did he REALLY drive all the way up here, even in this storm? Does he think this is some grand gesture that's gonna win me over, after what he did to one of my best friends? Absolutely not. He probably got high in his car so he could lie to me again. Bastard.

I close my front door, locking it before turning around to look at Ted, watching him awkwardly look around my living room. I step aside to go to the hallway closet, grabbing him a towel he can use to dry himself off. I can't get over how...different he looks. His hair no longer being tall and straight makes his head a little smaller, more defined. He's visibly aging, like he always looks a little bit tired. His scruff is shorter so it was shaved somewhat recently, and yet he seems to be growing in a thin, well maintained mustache like he said he would. It's the same face, same voice, but it almost doesn't seem like the same man.

Ted turns back to look at me, taking the towel from me with a soft, but uneasy smile. "Thanks.." Ted speaks quietly, beginning to dry his face, his hair and his glasses. It's been well over 3 minutes and I haven't said a word, I know. I'm just...I don't know what I should be feeling. Part of me wants to scream at him, to smack him in the arm, to shove him away and cry about what he did. I had just gotten over him, gotten over these harsh feelings of borderline abandonment, and now he's waltzed right back into my line of sight and my thoughts. I don't feel just anger when I look at him, and it just makes me even more frustrated.

"Nice to get to see your place..." Ted speaks again, continuing to cut through my angry silence with his own words. Even though I know he's stalling, I can also see that he's genuinely fascinated with my home, his warm eyes looking over all the art on my walls, the plants on my windows, how I have the couch angled. I can tell he's not just...looking, he's taking it all in, until his body turns more and his eyes meet mine. "It's...very you." I feel that all too familiar skip in my chest, his little smile curling up more when I don't look away from him. I don't want to look away. I wanna give him a piece of my mind.

"You're an idiot." Are the first words that come out of my mouth, like they were tugged out by that stupid smile of his. I see his smile fade almost immediately, awkwardly holding the now damp towel in his hands. I thought maybe starting with a petty insult would tone down all this built up frustration, but it doesn't. It only ignites it. "What the hell were you thinking, driving all the way up here?! You think this is gonna make anything better? Think this makes up for what you did?"

"No, I--" Ted tries to pipe up with a soft huff, his hand gently smacking the side of his thigh as he shrugs. "I'm not--"

"Forget the fact that you and I were a thing, how the FUCK could you do that to Tanner? To the whole god damn team?" I begin raising my voice, not even giving Ted a chance to speak or defend himself. I don't want to hear him defend himself. I've got weeks of these frustrations pent up and ready to go. "You can't just take up the mantle of the main lead and then abandon the project! You ruined the whole god damn thing!"

"I know, I'm not here to--"

"I don't even fucking know how Tanner's gonna finish the damn movie with how you walked out!"

"Tanner's--"

"And none of us are in any position to help him because he lives in fucking Sacramento!"

"We've--"

"I can't fucking comprehend how you could just leave everyone like that! You're the one that didn't want to have a fucking conversation!"

"Would you--"

"All I wanted was honesty, Ted, and you wouldn't even give me that for 5 fucking minutes! 5 god damn--"

"Would you SHUT THE FUCK UP and let me EXPLAIN!? For FUCKS SAKE!"

I'm silent. Completely silent. Never. Never did I ever expect to see Ted get that frustrated, to hear him get that...angry. My eyes widen and I completely shut up, a small frown on my face. Somehow I can just tell that despite the way he just exploded at me, he's not angry at me.

"I'm not fuckin' here to beg for your forgiveness, alright?" Ted snips with a small, but anxious looking glare, unable to look me in eyes. "You don't need to start callin' me fuckin' names to help me realize I fucked up. I KNOW I fucked up! I've been sitting with the fact that I fucked up for WEEKS!"

"What, is that supposed to make me feel bad?" I can't help but scoff, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "That you feel bad for doing a shitty thing? That's how guilt works, Ted."

"No--I DO feel guilty, (Y/N)! I feel guilty as hell!" Ted clasps his hands together with a loud smack, taking a small step closer to me as if to emphasize his feelings. "I've--I've been sitting with it for weeks, going through the moment over and over and over, trying to rationalize it in my head. Like....like if I found one good reason for leaving, maybe then it wouldn't be so hard to come back. I'd have a crutch, something valid to lean on in an argument, but I KNOW I have NOTHING. I didn't make a GOOD fucking CHOICE that day! Not ONE!"

As Ted continues to practically yell at me, his hands began to shake and his eyes began to tear up, giving me a pleading expression. It's like his own anger is scaring or hurting him, and he's silently begging me to quell his self-hatred. I can also tell that Ted is completely sober. He looks exhausted, but he's not under anything. This is all...genuine desperation and regret. He's being real with me. He's being honest.

"I've been feelin' fucking guilty since the very moment I got in my truck and took off." Ted calms his voice down with a shaky sigh, slipping his hands into his jeans pockets in an attempt to stop them from shaking. "Wanted to turn around immediately, but I just...I thought you didn't want to see me.."

"Bullshit.." I speak, despite feeling a little timid from his yelling. I furrow my brows at Ted, placing my hands on my hips. "You could've turned around, you could've answered our calls, you could've just fuckin' told someone where you lived. Tanner almost called the damn cops to find you!"

Ted's shaky hands remain in his pockets as his gaze trails away from me.

"I know.." He huffs, bringing his hand up to ruffle up his curly bangs.

"What do you mean you know?" I scoff, scowling up at Ted. "Have you talked to Tanner?"

"I went to him first yesterday.." Ted admits, gesturing back to my front door. "He drove up here with me. We're staying at a friend's place.."

I don't think I believe what I'm hearing, but that also doesn't sound like a lie. Ted's definitely had no qualms with lying before, but this would certainly be a ridiculous one to share while trying to prove he's changed If he went to Tanner first, that at least proves he's...trying to fix things.

"The plan was just to film something small, the two of us, but..." Ted trails off into a short pause, our eyes meeting once more. "I...I couldn't stop thinking about you, and--"

"Don't make this about us." I immedietly cut him off. "It stopped being about us the moment you started lying to my fuckin' face." A gentle growl rumbles out of my throat as I take a heated step towards Ted, my angry gaze locking with his sorrowful one. "You had the whole god damn team relying on you. You didn't just let me down. You let EVERYONE down!"

"I know!" Ted strengthens his own voice to meet mine, his brows lowering at me. "And driving down here isn't gonna fix that, wanting to see you again isn't gonna fix that. I get it."

"Then why are you here? Hmm?" I narrow my eyes up at Ted, giving a slight head tilt. "Why make the trip at all? Why show up at my god damn door?"

"Because I have to try something! I have to try!" Ted shrugs his arms out, his eyes widening slightly at me.

"I-I don't want that argument to be the end! I can't let that be the end! Not with that! Not with the project." Ted's speaking with a real sense of determination, no longer struggling to maintain eye contact with me. He's speaking from the heart. "The truth is: I was wrong. I fucked up. I lied, I refused to communicate, I refused to listen and then when I couldn't control my feelings, I walked out. I abandoned everyone because I panicked, and that was not okay. It still isn't. If that costs me this, you, then that sucks, but it's fuckin' deserved. I wasn't fair to you that last week. I wasn't fair to you at all, and I'm sorry."

That was....a genuine apology. Probably the best apology I've ever heard from anyone. It sort of stuns me for a little while, creating this uncomfortable silence between us. I even goto open my mouth to speak, but only a slight bit of air escapes me. I'm honestly not sure what to say. I may be speechless.

"As much as I wish I could go back in time and step out of the fucking truck, as much as I wish I had told you the full truth without getting you fuckin' high, I can't take it back." Ted continues, taking in a shaky breath to keep his voice from cracking. "I'm not here to beg for forgiveness, I'm not here to win you over. I'm here to do what I know I can, which is...finishing the damn movie. Together. For our friend."

He has....He has tears in his eyes. He's really pouring his heart out right now, all to me. It's oddly...fascinating to watch him struggle to keep his composure. It's beautiful, in it's own way. I never thought he could feel this deeply, this personally. He always seemed so put together with his feelings, so balanced, but...here he is, falling apart in front of me and me alone. He drove to my house at 12 in the morning, is now crying in my living room and all he wants to do is finish the project, for Tanner.

...

Just for Tanner?

"...You..." I almost struggle to find the words, beginning to anxiously fiddle with my fingers in front of my body. "...You drove all this way just to finish the movie"? I can tell that the question had thrown Ted off a little, but he still appears calm. He takes in a deep breath, breaking eye contact for a moment with a small nod. He seems to want to pick his words very carefully.

"...No..." His voice softens, his warm gaze once again meeting mine. There it is. Inside those big, hazel eyes of his is something I haven't been able to experience in weeks now, something I thought I'd never see in Ted again. Affection. "I'm just...trying to be realistic, but...no..."

Pure, deep, innocent affection. I can tell he's been thinking about me these last few weeks, a struggle we both shared. I can see the sleepless nights under his eyes, the lazy roughness of his scruff. He's been fighting his own demons, his own bad choices and regrets. I understand. When you hurt the people you care about, even unintentionally, sometimes you just...sink so deeply into your regrets, it's hard to crawl your way back up. Ted could've easily stayed radio silent, he could've moved on from all of us and he would've been fine. He'd still have his channel, he'd still have his podcast, he'd still have his friends. No one's pressured him to come back, no one's yelled at him or swayed him. He made this choice himself. He is sorry, and he wants to fix whatever he can. I...I can't be mad at that.

"...What's unrealistic?" I ask, keeping my hands curled in front of me as I gaze up at Ted. "...in regards to you...coming here to fix things?"

"...You still...being in my life.." Ted admits in a soft but low tone, keeping his hands at his sides. "Being...here.."

"Being here?.." I repeat, my smile spreading along my face a little more. I slip my own hands into my pockets, slowly approaching Ted. "Y'mean like, at my house, or?..."

"..No.." Ted speaks softly again, taking his own little bold step towards me. "No, no, I mean..." As Ted pauses, he gently presses one of his palms against his chest, taking in a small deep breath. "...here.."

Everything is starting to rush back to me. All of these deep feelings for Ted that I had pushed down as far as possible were starting to bloom again, feeling my heartbeat begin to pump harder in my chest. I can't ignore the familiar warmth that begins to spread over my body like a thin blanket, a bigger smile spreading along my lips. I thought that I was completely and utterly over him. I thought I was ready to continue on with my life as if I had never met him, but he was here. He was here, he was genuinely sorry and he wanted to fix things. He wanted to be...here.

"L-Look, I...I think it's pretty clear that I've got some shit to figure out.." Ted begins to speak again, gently rubbing his chest with his hand before resting it at his side again. "I'm impulsive, I'm...a liar, I'm insecure and I'm terrible with confrontation. I'd absolutely love for us to start again, you and I, because you're...you are fucking incredible. You're everything I've ever wanted in a partner, and then some. Those 2 weeks were some of the happiest moments of my life and--and if I've...totally and completely ruined that, I understand. We don't have to get back together, we don't even have to see each other after we finish the movie, but I'd even love to just--mmmffhh--"

I step forward to gently grab Ted's face, pulling him into a gentle, but passionate kiss. I feel him stand there, absolutely stunned, before his hands find my waist and he returns the kiss. I feel him let in this deep, emotional sigh of relief against my lips, pulling me in close by my hips for more familiarity. It feels like a bonfire's been reignited after sitting in silence, my hands pulling him in to deepen the kiss. Our lips begin to move together in perfect synchronicity, like nothing ever changed between us. It's passionate, it's intimate and it's personal. It's Us.

I'm the one to break the heated kiss just to make sure I'm not freaking Ted out and crossing any boundaries he may have been trying to set. He was just trying to tell me that he needs to figure stuff out. That could mean anything. His hands don't leave my waist and my hands remain against his cheeks, our eyes meeting once more, darker than before. Now I'm the one with the affectionate sparkle in my eyes, admiring Ted with this closeness in case it doesn't last...

...but what was I thinking? Of course it'd last.

"...Have...dinner with you, or..." I see Ted's gaze flick down to my lips, his own lips parted slightly with a quiet little breath escaping him before he'd lean in and connect our lips again with a low little moan, leaning in more to push his tongue into this sweet, passionate kiss. I open my mouth more in the kiss to allow his tongue to enter, a soft moan escaping me as my hands wander down Ted's face.

"Th-This works--" Ted mutters into the kiss before pushing back into it with a grunt, making me briefly press back against the wall by the staircase. My hands smooth along his shoulders before gripping the front of his black shirt to begin pulling him back further into my home and up the stairs.

It's been far too long without him.

There will be time for talking after...

__________________________________

Friday turned to Saturday, which turned into Sunday and by this point I know Ted won't be telling me anything. He isn't gonna tell me shit, and that frustrates me more than the actual secret he's been hiding. I haven't been nearly as chatty and sarcastic with him like I normally am, but he hasn't really shown to be suspicious. I can't tell if he feels the difference, I know I certainly do, but that's not a secret to me.

That's honestly what I don't get, all the secrecy. Sure, I get why Joe didn't initially tell me the truth, he had made a good point about it. No one was expecting Ted and I to actually get together so Joe didn't think it was important to share. That, and I was literally there for that event, I was there when it happened. I was right up on the stage while Ted was escorted out of the venue. I just don't remember it being HIM. That's just...so strange.

Because I didn't want to come off as suspicious, I would still be sleeping in Ted's bed with him every night, having his arm draped around me from behind or with my head laying against his shoulder. As I lay there Sunday night, knowing that Ted's time limit was coming close to an end, I couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like to meet him at that wedding or anytime afterwards. It wasn't technically the first time we were at the same event, we've attended the same cons and are friends with some of the same YouTuber's and yet it took Tanner's final assignment to bring us together. How different would everything be between us if Ted had been able to approach me at the wedding? Would I see back his drunken state and become curious? There would be no secret for him to hide, but considering his girlfriend had just left him that day, I more or less would've ended up a rebound. I don't wanna think about that.

Above all else, I just...I want this to work. Yes, I'm hurt that he's been hiding this and I'm even more upset with how easily he's been able to lie to my face, but there's also a small part of me that...kind of gets it. Not the lying part per se, but I keep thinking back on Ted and Joe's conversation and I can recall how anxious Ted sounded. I get not wanting to bring up old memories, I get wanting to get rid of that wasted first impression, I get wanting to start over and move on...but at least give us that option, right? At least let me decide how I'm going to feel about it. Who knows, I probably would've thought it was funny, it could've become a cute inside joke between us, an old mistake being used to strengthen our bond, but he wouldn't let me have that; let us have that. That's what's fuckin' bothering me, that's what I don't get. Why couldn't he tell me? Why couldn't he let me in?

I have a hard time sleeping that night, knowing that when the morning comes, Ted's time will be over. I know this limit was set by Joe, I don't have to be following it, but we're all packing up and officially leaving on Friday. That's less than 4 days at this point and I wanted to end the project on a high note. I don't want to wait for Ted to choose, not when he's had plenty of time. I'm not about to ruin this project because I'm anxious from all the fuckin' waiting. I still have to pretend to be falling in love with his character.

I manage to get at least some sleep, waking up to Ted's alarm as usual. I move Ted's arm off of my side and sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. This would usually be the part where I turn over to Ted and give him a kiss, but I just can't muster it up this time. I feel awful, like absolute dog shit. To my surprise, Ted notices that I've broken a pattern. For the first time since the weekend started, he's noticed a change.

"You feelin' okay?" Ted speaks up, his voice a little hoarse from just waking up, sitting up to lean back against his pillows. I don't really want to lie to him, but I'm not about to be like 'No, Joe told me you kept hitting on women at his wedding and I didn't sleep well', so I just cut that in half.

"I didn't sleep well.." I mumble, moving to stand up off the bed. One thing I'm lookin' forward to after this project is no longer waking up at 5am. I can't believe I've been as consistent with this as I have. I guess it's just been that fun. It was that fun...

"Oh--shit, is that my fault?" Ted asks with a slight frown, beginning to feel his bare chest and under his arms. I furrow my brows at him in confusion, watching as his hand lightly smacks around his body, feeling for...something.

"No, I just..." I pause, my confusion growing as I watch him. "...what are you doing?"

"I'm feeling for sweat. I sweat in my sleep sometimes. I sweat, like, all the time." Ted admits with a small shrug, returning his hands to his sides. "I thought maybe I had sweat on you or somethin'."

"No, I'm...I'm okay." I can't help the small chuckle that escapes me. "You haven't sweat on me.." It's weird to be speaking to him normally. It makes me nervous, making me subconsciously place my hand over my stomach. Anytime I hear his voice, it's a constant reminder that he's been lying to me, keeping something from me. I'm reminded that he's capable of lying to my face. I'm reminded that he's a coward, but then...I don't like keeping him at a distance, either. That nervousness turns into anxiety and I just feel cold and lonely. I'm not just sleeping in his bed to keep the act up, I'm sleeping in his bed because I need to be next to him. I need to feel his body heat next to me. I need to hear his steady breathing as he falls asleep. I need to feel his arms around me, need to see him smile, need to see him gaze at me with those warm hazel eyes. He needs to tell me. Please, God, Ted, just fucking tell me. It's Monday, you need to tell me.

I can see that Ted is still waiting for his kiss, quirking his brow at me with a small smile after he moves out of bed. I know I should probably kiss him, I don't want to take away affection all because I'm upset, but...I just can't.

"See ya downstairs.." I give Ted a little smile and a wave instead before I open his front door and head for my own room to get dressed. I don't even wanna imagine the look that washed over Ted's face in that moment, but at the same time, I hope he's disappointed. If he's finally starting to notice that things are different after a whole weekend, maybe it'll coax him into being honest with me. I don't know how much extra time today I'm gonna give him, but I've just woken up and I'm already getting frustrated.

I know what we're doing today, in fact I know what we're doing for the last 4 days of production. We officially only have 2 more scenes to film and they're both for the fabled ballroom dream sequence that's been hyped throughout this entire trip. I have no idea how it's going to be edited exactly but I know why we're shooting it twice. Ted and I will be slow dancing together, doing one version in our casual clothes with the living room as it is, and one version dressed up in our 60's Era formal wear with the entire living room switched up to look more vintage and old. I've been trying to picture how the final product will look in my head, but Tanner hasn't been giving me much to work with. He's been purposely vague about his plans for this scene and claims it'll be much more impactful that way when we all see the final product on the big screen. I trust him on that.

After I get dressed, I head downstairs to do the usual. I grab some breakfast, chat with Dan, Tanner and Joe and then head to the makeup corner to get all dolled up. I hear Ted come downstairs after a little bit and hear him chatting up the guys as well. He doesn't sound particularly sad or low, but I guess he knows how to hide it. I'm not doing a half bad job at doing that either. I can be secretive too.

No I'm sorry, I'm not gonna let this go. It's constantly running in my head, even now as I'm just sitting here getting my makeup done. My head is spinning. I've got a giant hamster running on a massive wheel in my head right now, I don't fucking know, I'm just getting madder and madder about this. I don't give a fuck that he got too drunk, I don't give a fuck that he was headed my way, I don't fucking care that he spilled wine on Joe's mom or his husband's mom or whoever's mom. He didn't have to lie to me about it. I'm pissed. I can't get over this.

I'm snapped out of my own thoughts when I hear Tanner calling for Ted and I, realizing that the makeup team had finished me up almost a full minute ago and I had been sitting there, staring at myself in the mirror in silence. I let out a soft sigh and move off the chair, moving into the living room to join Ted, Tanner and a few members of the wardrobe team who would be acting as extras. We had a different set of actually hired extras during the first week of filming, yes, but everything that's done is done on purpose, according to Tanner. You're supposed to not recognize anyone in the background. For reasons Tanner won't spill, it's intentional.

God, I don't really wanna slow dance with Ted right now, but I'm doing this for Tanner's project. The second we get some sort of break, I'm bringing my frustrations up to Ted in private. That's how I want to do this.

The first bit of today's scene is done in relative silence. One of Ted's hands rests on my hip while the other takes my free hand, holding it out at our side. I rest my hand on his shoulder, glancing down at my feet to make sure I'm not about to step on him. We have some basic music playing to give us a beat to sway to, but Ted and I are not told to talk at all, everyone's meant to be silent as a moving camera runs around the entire living room, slowly circling us. Ted's warm eyes never leave mine. I can tell that he's not acting here, he is gazing at me with real infatuation and adoration, his soft smile genuine and affectionate. For a moment, I become...lost in his gaze, a small smile creeping up along the corners of my own lips.

'What if it's a rom-com? Baby, we could get away

Be my Meg Ryan and I'll be your Tommy Hanks

I know people die young and your friends fade away

But I'm your Jakey Matthews, Christensen, McConaughey'

I feel Ted let go of my hand to bring his hand up to my face, lightly brushing some of my hair out of my face, his affectionate smile stretching his lips out more. He slowly caresses the back of his finger down the side of my face I...I don't think I've ever had a guy look at me the way Ted is right in this moment. Not ever. I wish the only thing I could feel right now were the butterflies in my stomach and the warmth in my heart, but the burning realization that he's been lying to me with those same eyes creeps right into my soul. I can't let my feelings for him push away my anger.

Tanner gets a few good shots with all of the expensive cameras in the room. He decides to do one more slow go around, encouraging everyone in the scene to talk to each other, claiming it'll add some 'natural-ility' to the scene. That's not a word, Tanner, but I get what you mean. He says we can talk about anything as long as we're a little quiet about it, so after a bit of adjusting, we return to slow dancing. I can immediately hear the room be filled with quiet conversation between the extras, once again keeping my eyes on Ted. I must've made a face at some point between scenes because Ted's no longer looking at me with infatuation. He looks visibly confused, maybe even a little conflicted.

"Are you okay?" Ted whispers to me, his smile faltering slightly with concern. "You've been...different." Okay, so he has noticed a difference and he's waiting until now to bring it up? How has he not connected the dots at this point? We didn't even film yesterday, he had ALL DAY yesterday to tell me the truth, he had ALL DAY yesterday to ask if I was okay, if we were okay. He can't possibly be this ignorant, can he? I can't fucking do this anymore.

'I could be the ten days that you never wanna lose

Be the ten things that they hate about you

It don't gotta be this way, Just rewind the tape back to the meet-cute

View it from the top anytime that you need to, babe'

"No.." I admit in a quiet tone, letting out a soft huff. I know this isn't the appropriate time to talk about this, but I need to get it off my chest. I can't wait for break. "I know, Ted.."

Ted clearly doesn't understand what I'm referencing at first, shaking his head ever so slightly. "I figured you'd know if you were okay or not, princess." Ted gives a quiet scoff, a soft smile once again crossing his blush-toned lips.

"No, Ted..." I shake my head back at him, keeping my voice quiet, but firm. "I know, Ted. I know."

Any and all affection and happiness is completely washed off of Ted's face and his expression slowly drops. His mouth hangs open slightly and his eyes widen. The camera is currently behind him so it doesn't catch his shock, but I do. I get to witness the exact moment of realization on Ted's face. I get to see him grasp the fact that I know he's been lying to me, all while still mindlessly swaying to whatever music we've drowned out.

"...How did you?--" Ted tries to speak up first, but I immediately cut him off, already knowing that the question was coming.

"I overheard you and Joe arguing about it Thursday night.." I cut him off to answer him, my tone cold and serious. "And I made him tell me Friday, around lunch.."

Ted let's out another scoff, not as friendly this time, and he looks away. He gives a slow shake of his head, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue. He looks upset. He doesn't have a right to look upset. "Okay..." He mutters under his breath and turns to look at me once more, giving me an expression I could only describe as...unamused. "How much did he tell you?.."

"Everything you didn't." I admit bluntly, trying to look relaxed just in case the camera circles back around to show my face. "That you got drunk, talked around with the girls, spilled wine on someone and was escorted out.."

"...Okay.." Ted repeats with another slow nod. He can't even look at me anymore, not directly. Not even 5 minutes ago he had no issues gazing at me, all with the knowledge that he was purposely keeping secrets from me. Now that the cats out of the bag, and he can't look at me? All he can say is 'Okay'?

"Okay? Okay?" I repeat back at him mockingly, still keeping my voice down. It's hard not to look angry. I certainly feel angry. "That can't be all you have to say.."

"Well I-I thought--" Ted let's out another scoff, blinking his eyes a bit more. "I thought I'd have more time.."

"More time?" I repeat, furrowing my brows ever so slightly. "Joe gave you until Monday, I heard all of it. Have ya checked the calendar lately?"

"I was going to tell you, (Y/N).." Ted frowns a little. "Eventually, I just...I'm sorry."

"When? Thursday? Friday?" I scoff. "Over the phone when I'm back in Washington, maybe?"

"No, just--I-I just needed time, I--"

"Time? We didn't even film anything yesterday, Ted. We filmed nothing."

"And?"

"You knew Joe had given you until today to tell me, that would've been the perfect day."

"Oh yeah, right before filming this? Real perfect."

"You had a full fucking day, Ted. That's plenty of time."

"It's not that easy, (Y/N)."

"Not as easy as lying to me, huh?"

"I wasn't lying the whole fuckin' time, princess. I didn't know--"

"Stop calling me that, I'm serious."

"What, did you want me to prepare a speech?"

"Guys?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you want a poem written in cursive, too?"

"Guys--"

"Oh fuck off, Ted, that's not fair."

"I don't know what want from me."

"I wanted the truth."

"Guys!"

It takes Ted and I way too long to see that our argument had disrupted the scene. At some point during the exchange, everyone had stopped and just stared at us. It was Tanner that had started calling out to us, a concerned frown on his face. "What's going on?.." Tanner speaks up again now that he has our attention, anxiously crossing his arms in front of his chest. "What happened?"

"Nothing.." Ted speaks up before I can, giving Tanner a dismissive wave. "It's nothing."

"No, it's not nothing." I step up in a frustrated tone, placing my hands on my hips. "Can we take 5? I need to talk to Ted."

"No, I'm not taking 5. We can finish the scene." Ted huffs, shaking his head at me before gesturing to Tanner again. "How much did you get before you stopped?"

"L-Like half.." Tanner stutters a little, the growing tension in the room causing him to look visibly uncomfortable. "Look, if you guys need to...work something out, we can--"

"We can work it off after you film the other half, right?" Ted asks, glancing over to the camera's. No, I'm not letting him get out of this. I don't care if he's a fucking director. "Just start from back there." Ted instructs the camera man, completely ignoring me at this point. "It's all good."

"No, it's not all good." I strengthen the tone of my voice, moving around Ted to stand in front of him once more. "We need to talk about this."

"We will, when we finish the scene." Ted insists.

"No, you've had all weekend. We're talking about this now."

"It's one fucking minute, princess."

"I wouldn't care if it was 5 seconds. I'm not finishing the scene until we discuss this."

"What is there to discuss? You know now, and I said I was sorry."

"Two words aren't gonna cut a week of lying to me, Ted."

"Are you really doing this here?"

"You won't do it elsewhere!"

"I just wanna finish the fucking scene, (Y/N)."

"I'm not fuckin' touching you until we talk."

"(Y/N), you're not gonna ruin a whole day of shooting when we've only got 4 days left, alright?"

"I'm not trying to ruin anything! I fucking love Tanner, he and Joe are like my brothers! You know this!"

"Yeah? And this is how you treat them?"

"Oh, like you were any fucking better to them at Joe's wedding?"

"I was drunk! I don't even--"

"All because you got dumped?"

I hear a few quiet gasps from some of the wardrobe team from that drop, but my focus is on how pale Ted's face becomes. He looks even more shocked than he did before, and he's not the only one. Dan is covering his mouth with his hand, Tanner looks distraught and Joe looks anxious, but disappointed.

"You what?.." Dan speaks softly, like he's trying to be quiet as to not set anyone off. "That's when she broke up with you?.."

"(Y/N)..." Joe frowns and pinches the bridge of his nose, lowering his head in shame. "Shit.."

"Wait, what? That's-That's not--" Tanner stammers over his words, completely stunned. "That's not what you told us..."

I'm finding it difficult to read the room, furrowing my brows as I look over everyone's astonished faces. I understand why the film crew might look surprised, but why are Tanner and Dan so perplexed?

"What? What?" I shrug my arms out, turning to look at Tanner. "What, like y'all didn't know that?"

"No." Tanner admits with raised brows, shaking his head a little at me. "That's not when he said it happened.."

"No, he said after." Dan admits, nervously clasping his hands in front of his face. "He said it happened a week after the wedding."

So I guess at some point last week, Tanner had asked Ted about his ex alongside Dan, the one that had left Ted at the wedding, but even when it was just the 3 of them, Ted had once again told a lie to save his own appearance, and I just completely spilled the truth out for everyone to hear. Not just in front of our core friend group, no. Everyone. The entire film crew, makeup, wardrobe department and all just heard me air that out.

All eyes are on us, Ted and I. Well, this isn't my fucking fault. How was I supposed to know all of the lies Ted has told? I didn't mean for it to turn into an argument. I didn't mean to disrupt the whole scene. I didn't mean to spout out his stupid secret. All these secrets. All these lies. All these rumors and whispers and eyes. I look at Ted one final time and he hasn't moved from where he's standing. He looks ashamed and pale, like all of the brightness and color has been sucked out of him. I don't care. I can't do this. I can't fucking take this. I need to breathe.

Without addressing anyone else, I grab my phone from the kitchen counter and start marching towards the front door. I ignore any and all calls to me, anyone saying my name, anyone telling me to come back. I put my shoes on and head right out the front door and I just walk. I just start walking forward.

I pass by everyone's parked cars in the roundabout driveway, I pass the fence that acts as a sort of archway into the property, I step onto the sidewalk and I just keep fucking going. I'm not even thinking about where I'm going or how far I'll be going, I'm just huffing and puffing as I stomp across this sidewalk. I take in the fresh air of the midday, wondering if any entitled suburban families are watching me stomp by their house through the front window. I can't fucking believe this. I can't believe it went this far. I didn't want to fucking argue like that. I didn't want to have a spat in front of every single fucking employee of that project. I didn't want to air out Ted's dirty laundry like that. I'm not that kind of person. I don't hurt people like that. I don't use secrets against people. I'm better than that. I'm better than this...

...but he didn't give me much of a choice, did he? Ted didn't want to fucking talk about this, he didn't want to tell me the truth. He told me the truth about his fuckin' girlfriend dumping him but didn't think to tell me to keep that to myself? Or is HE the only one allowed to keep secrets? I don't get it! What did I do that made him think he could treat me this way; that he could lie to me? Was I too easy? Was I too short? Too small? Too innocent? Too infatuated? Too biased? Christ, I know I've only known the guy for less than a month, but he never seemd the type to pull THIS shit. Joe and Tanner trusted him, they had so many good things to say about him, Joe practically gave us his fucking blessing. Joe said we looked good with each other, we were good for each other, we were good together! What the fuck happened?

I can feel my phone buzzing in my pocket but I just keep fucking walking. I only deter away from the sidewalk when I come across an empty park that's always in the middle of these family-centric complexes. It reminds me that I should probably find a place to sit, I don't want to go too far in case I don't come back until the sun starts to set. I turn into the empty park and plop myself down on one of the low swings, rocking myself up and down with my feet against the chipped ground. I put my phone on the ground so I can hold both of the rusted chains with both hands and I just...sit, think and breathe. I genuinely can't stop feeling frustrated about this.

There's a part of me that wants to keep finding reasons to blame myself, that this all happened mostly because of how I was or how I acted. Maybe if most of it is my fault, we can move past it easier and stay together. I have no issues with apologizing, I can make up for what I did.

But there's another part of me that wants to put this 100% on Ted. He got me high under false expectations, he lied to my face multiple times throughout the week and he refused to talk to me in private unless it was under HIS conditions, like that fucking worked out the last time. Every step of the way, he was trying to avoid this. How else was I expected to react? How long was I expected to handle his dodging and weaving calmly and rationally?

I don't know how long I sit at this park. By the time I had sat down at the swings, my phone had stopped ringing for a little while. The longer I sit there, taking in those deep breaths, the calmer I start to become. I start to feel ridiculous for coming out here, for storming out of the house the way I did. All I did was walk straight for like 10, 20 minutes. It wouldn't take long for anyone to find me if they came looking. I just...I don't know what to do. I don't know what I should be feeling, how else I should be handling this. I've been trying to get him to communicate with me, we were doing so good before all of this shit, I don't want it to be over. So what if he flirted with a few girls 2 years ago? That's not what I'm hurt over, I'm hurt over the secrecy and the lies. I need to understand why he was so okay with lying, why he felt the need to lie. I just want the truth. I just want to talk to him.

...Damnit.

I put my head in my hands, leaning forward while still on the swing. I'm no longer moving back and forth, completely stagnate. What do I do? How do I fix this? This can't be the end, it can't be. Ted gets a little too drunk and spends the next 2 years essentially waiting for me, and it's gonna end with one argument? If we really, truly can't work this out, that's fine, but...I just need some damn answers. I want to talk to him. I need to talk to him, need to see him. I take in one last deep breath before pushing myself off the swing, grabbing my phone off the ground, then walking back to the sidewalk to return to set. I don't know what time it was when I left so I truly had no idea how to gaugue how long I'd been gone.

...Until I actually got back.

The first thing I notice as I approach the driveway is that most of the cars are gone, including Ted's Tacoma. None of the upstairs lights are on and I can't see any cameras in the windows or anything, despite the curtains being wide open. I take in another deep breath before sheepishly opening the front door, relieved that it was unlocked since I hadn't grabbed my keys. The only people I see right away are Tanner and Joe in the kitchen, looking almost...scared as they gaze down at their phones. The cameras and lights that had been set up earlier hadn't been moved since I've been gone. As I close the door behind me, Tanner and Joe look up from their phones with wide eyes, shuffling out of the kitchen to head to me.

"Did he find you?" Tanner asks with a worried frown, clenching his phone anxiously in his left hand. "Where is he?"

"What?" I give Tanner a confused look, shaking my head a little. "Who? Who's gone?"

"Ted. He left right after you." Tanner admitted, his frown deepening. "He's not with you?"

"No, I came back alone." I admit, slipping my shoes off. "I was just down the street. Why? Where did he go?"

"We don't know." Joe let's out a heavy huff and shrugs. "He just left."

"What do you mean you don't know?" I ask with a scowl. "He didn't say?"

"No, he literally just...grabbed his keys and went, like, a couple minutes after you.." Tanner replies, anxiously scratching the back of his head. "He's not answering his phone. He just...left."

Ted's...

Ted's just gone?

'It's the middle of the night with the morning dew

605 or the 212

Even after I'm gone, what if it's all a rom-com?'

__________________________________

The warmth in my stomach shifts for a moment, and I feel a little nervous. I watch as Ted moves the blankets up to cover our lower halves, sitting up a bit and leaning against his pillow. "I....think hangin' around me is making your pillow talk worse.." I make a light-hearted joke as I sit up as well, trying to ease the tension that was now filling the room. It was a pretty heavy thing to drop out of the blue. What started as a funny little conversation in his Tacoma has begun this big, almost unnecessary mystery. He's choosing one hell of a time to finally talk about it.

"I know, I'm...I'm dogshit at this sort of thing.." Ted gave a soft, nervous sounding chuckle as he lays back against his pillow. "And I hate that I can't do it sober, but....I think I've kept it long enough...from you.." Wow. Fuck. This is really happening. It hits me like a tidal wave, making me place a hand on my bare stomach. I realize that I truly have no idea what this big secret could be. I quietly search my memories of our first conversation, desperately trying to find any context clues that would give me an idea of what to expect. The only thing I knew for sure was that he was at Joe's wedding, but didn't stay for the reception. That gives me...nothing. I have no idea what he's going to tell me, I have no idea what to be ready for. That's making me incredibly nervous.

"Ted...should I be worried?.." The words leave me before I'm able to filter them, my playful smile completely gone. Fuck, this is why I stopped smoking. I'm paranoid for nothing. This is clearly hard for him. He trusts me, I should trust him too.

"No! No...m-maybe? I--" Ted cuts himself off, his usual confidence seems to be slipping which at least assures me he's trying to be honest. He runs his fingers through his dark hair, the usual height of it sticking to his sweaty forehead. "I-I mean...I-I'm probably gonna look like a huge dick for fucking you senseless before telling you, but...I don't know, you...do something to me. You always have, and it..." He pauses and let's out a deep sigh. "...it drives me insane."

That last little sentence is a lot more reassuring than he probably thought it'd be. Even if I'm nervous, I want to make this as easy for him as possible. If we're really gonna have something special, it needs to have honesty in there with all the tension.

"Always? What, are you about to admit you've been stalking me for the last two years?" I ask with a lighthearted smile, trying to ease the tension once more.

"No! Oh my god, no. Never." Ted nearly shoots up out of the bed, sitting up more briefly before letting out another nervous chuckle. "Okay, on Instagram, maybe, but no. I've--I've stayed in L.A., an entire state away from you, I swear..."

"Then it's okay, Ted. It's okay..." I reach for his hand to take it into my own, giving him the most reassuring smile I could muster, looking into his eyes as I speak. "Look, I'm not gonna sit here and claim some sappy shit like 'I know you, you'd never hurt me!', because it's been less than a month of...this.." I pause to gesture around the not-so foggy room, the lingering smell of cannabis still in the air mixing in with the smell of sex. "I mean, I didn't even do any of this...casual shit until I met you, and...I'm pretty sure that means it's real, right? How we're feeling?..." I felt like I was rambling, but I could see that my words were reaching Ted.

"Yeah, yeah it's real.." Ted spoke up with a little nod, giving me a small smile. "I'm not gonna lie and say I've never done casual shit before you, but...yeah, I can feel it..."

"I don't want you to lie, Ted.." I reply, bringing both of my hands down to hold his, shaking my head a little. "I promise I'm going to listen and hear you out, no matter what it is. If it's upsetting, we'll talk about it. If it's not, we move on and...probably have more good sex, imma be real." The tension between us is cut by my little joke. Ted let's out a cackle, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, yeah it's--It's pretty great.." He replies, his tone a bit hoarse.

"Surprisingly good, right?"

"Yeah, it--it fucks with me, dude. It fucks with me."

"And I'm in your bed for a change."

"Yeah, you are."

"You know why?"

"Because the sex is good?"

"Not just that, it's because I like you, Ted. I like you..."

I see Ted's shoulders visibly relax and he turns to look at me again, his amused smile shifting into a warmer, almost infatuated smirk. I watch as his eyes search my face, quietly taking in my features before taking another deep breath, nodding a bit to himself before speaking again.

"Alright, so..." Ted speaks and looks back up at the ceiling again. "When I went to Joe's wedding, I...went with my girlfriend at the time. She was my date. We'd been together for...about a year or two by that point, I think.." I notice that he isn't looking at me as he's explaining himself, but I understood why. Based on the way he was squinting and searching the ceiling, he was trying to recollect as much as he could.

"There was this really nice wine they were serving before the ceremony. I'm not even a wine kinda guy, but I had...a few glasses, so did my girlfriend. Anyways, I..." Ted is holding onto every word a little longer as he speaks, I can't completely tell why. Maybe he's being very careful with how he words this story, or maybe he's stalling for as long as he can until he has to say the part he's clearly worried about.

"I...I used to consider myself a pretty romantic guy." Ted admitted, gesturing with his free hand as he talked. "Like, I liked doing things, sharing stuff. I'd always have some dumb fuckin' date planned every other week. We'd go hiking, we'd go on a road trip, I'd get some fuckin'...stupid expensive restaurant reservation just so we could make fun of how expensive everything was while willingly giving them our money; knowing we were giving them our money. I...I don't know, I liked doing things together, even if they were dumb or didn't go completely according to plan. I guess you could say it's my love language? Or It was? I don't know.." I quietly remind him that everything's okay by giving his other hand a gentle little squeeze. All of that sounded wonderful. I'd love to make all of the dumbest plans in the world with him after this film was done. I'm hoping I can bring that side of him back.

"...What happened?.." I ask after a moment, tilting my head at him.

"Well...maybe my love of sharing experiences was a bit much, cause...I had made some comment about having our own wedding sometime or something..." Ted glances at me as he speaks, shaking his head a defeated sigh. "I-I can't remember exactly what I said, but whatever it was, it was big enough to freak her out. She flipped at me, we got into an argument and then she left.."

Hearing that made me feel both confused and frustrated, visibly furrowing my brows. That sounded like a strange thing to get upset about, especially if you've been dating for over a year or so.

"She left the whole wedding?" I ask, not even trying to mask my confusion.

"And me." Ted replied with a little shrug, his gaze moving to his closed door. "Like, an hour before the ceremony."

If this were any other guy, I'd feel like he was leaving something out, but based on the somber look on Ted's face I know he's telling the truth. That's it. He made a comment about having a wedding with his girlfriend and she flipped out and left him. Her reaction made no sense in my head.

"What???" I let go of Ted's hand to shrug both of my arms out. It's like the disbelief you get when your favourite show or book has the worst, most cop-out bullshit ending of all time. It sounded like bullshit. "That's it? Over a comment about fuckin' marriage?"

"Yeah." Ted simply nodded, placing both of his hands on his bare chest. "I think I had said something like 'another moment we could share' or something, and she just...I don't know, she--she lost it."

"So it wasn't even one of those dumb 'ball and chain, I hate my wife haha' jokes?"

"No."

"What the fuck???"

"Yeah, I know. I-I still don't get it either."

The more Ted won't look at me, the more I have the urge to reach over and touch his face, but I keep my hands to myself for now. I genuinely couldn't fathom a person having such an overreaction over such a cute comment. The only thing I could think of is maybe she was having a bad day? Maybe she was overwhelmed? Maybe she thought he was genuinely proposing then and there and flipped out? Still, why wouldn't she at least hear him out?

"And that was it? You guys didn't talk after the wedding?" I ask, sitting up more. I know this isn't what he wanted to talk about and I felt a little bad for not dropping it, but this was just...bonkers.

"Yeah, that was it. Ended at a wedding." Ted confirmed with another little shrug. "Her friend came and got her stuff from my apartment and that was the last I'd heard from her. Probably could've tried harder, but...I just knew it was done."

I couldn't imagine breaking off a near 2 year old relationship over a simple comment about potentially getting married. I'd have understood if the comment was made before the 6 month mark, but 2 years, man. 2 whole years, thrown out the fucking door. Even I wouldn't be that petty.

"So..." I speak up after a moment, clasping my own hands together. "...How do I fit into this? Do you think I had something to do with it?"

"No, I hadn't even noticed you at that point. It was after she left.." Ted shook his head, resting more on his back as his gaze went back up to the ceiling. I watch him take in a deep, heavy breath. Whatever he's about to say, it's been weighing on him not even since we've met, but since that wedding itself. Whatever it is, I'm ready to hear it. I just want him to be honest with me, and with himself.

"After she left, I was...a pretty decent mess.." Ted explained, moving his hands a little as he spoke. "I drank more wine than I probably should've; way more than I should've. I wanted to look chill, I wanted to look fine, but everyone asked where my date went and I just got frustrated. I sat in my seat, watched the ceremony, watched all the bridesmaids go up on the stage, saw you stand near Joe and then after, I..."

Ted finally turns his head to gaze at me fully once again, his dark orbs meet mine as he trails off. His dark eyes are moving side to side as if they're struggling to pick an eye to look into and I watch his somber expression fade into something I don't recognize, his eyes almost looking glassy. Whatever he wants to say, he's silently struggling with it. I raise my brows a little and give him a gentle smile to try and silently encourage him. I want him to know it's okay, that he can trust me. I hope he knows he can trust me.

"....I...I was too upset to approach you, so I left.."

Ted finally finishes his sentence, his tone simple, almost stern, like a strict parent that had made up their mind. He's a lot more relaxed than he was before. All of the tension surrounding him was gone, as if it were never there. Silence fills the room as I put all of the pieces in my head together. That feeling of disbelief enters me again, my eyebrows furrowing once more. That's it?

"...That's it?" I ask after the long pause, shrugging my shoulders lightly. "You didn't approach me because you were upset?"

"...and because you were just..." Ted breaks his gaze away from me to look up at the ceiling again, slowly shaking his head. "...beautiful. Too beautiful."

"You didn't approach me because you were upset and I was 'too beautiful'."

"Yes."

"So--wait.."

My eyebrows are lowered so tightly I feel like I'm going to get a headache. I close my eyes and sit up completely, sitting up on my knees.

"So you goto your wedding with your girlfriend..." I begin, holding my hands out with my fingers pressed against my thumbs, recollecting his whole story to him. "You goto the wedding with your girlfriend, you drink a bit of wine and you make a comment about having your own wedding, she freaks out and leaves you, you drink more to cope, you see me up with the bridesmaids and because you think I'm so beautiful, you...panic and leave?"

There is another silent pause between us after I repeat back everything he's told me.

"....Yeah...That's it." Ted finally answers, turning to look at me once more. "I..panicked and left.."

I don't know if it's because I'm still high or whatever, but that sounded...kinda dumb. Very dumb. I guess that's a good thing? This is technically best case scenario.

"So...what part of that were you specifically afraid of telling me?" A breathy chuckle leaves me as I ask, feeling the tension in the room begin to fade with the remaining cannabis smoke. "The coming to the wedding with your girlfriend part? Or the 'you were so pretty I dipped' part?"

"You weren't the only reason I left.." Ted gave me a small smile and playfully rolled his eyes at me, sitting up more to face me fully. "I just, I don't even know anymore, it was so long ago..." Ted runs his fingers through his dark hair, getting some of it to stay off his forehead. "I just remember seeing you up there and...it's like I was there for you, I completely forgot I was supposed to be watching two motherfuckers get married, there was just you." Our eyes meet once more. I see the true infatuation Ted has for me in his glassy eyes. I feel like I can see right through him, but I'm only seeing the best of him.

"But, at the end of the day, you were Joe's Maid of Honor and I was some fuckin'...stupid wine-drunk asshole who had just been dumped, so...that's why I didn't approach you." Ted glanced down at his lap. Everytime he's paused, it's like he's been thinking about exactly how to put it, purposely choosing particular words carefully. It's not that he's speaking slowly, no. He's speaking carefully, almost cautiously. I'm aware of it, but I figured it's because this is a lot for him to talk about. "I guess I just thought you'd think I was...pathetic. It worried me."

"What, you were worried I wouldn't think you were cool anymore?" I let out a soft chuckle, inching a bit closer to move some of Ted's hair out of his face.

"I...like having a good reputation..." Ted expressed with a warm little smile, taking my hand in his to rest it against his cheek. "It was stupid to hide, I know."

"Yeah, it was. It kinda was." I confirm with a playful little laugh. "I don't know why Joe was so adamant on you telling me that. I'm not offended or anything, it's...kind of sweet."

As I mention Joe, we both lay back down and pull the covers over our bare bodies. Ted's smile fades a little as we lay down, furrowing his brows at me. "Joe wanted me to tell you?" Ted asks, his tone a little hoarse again. He seemed a little confused by that. "He wouldn't tell you anything?"

"Yeah, I asked him about it first. He insisted you tell me." I emphasized, shifting a bit close to loosely wrap my arm around him, taking in how his warm skin felt against mine. "I guess it's a pretty romantic story if you think about it. As much as I wish I had met you sooner, I think you made the right choice to leave.."

Silence fills the room once more. They're starting to make me a little uncomfortable, like he's going quiet because of what I'm saying. I hope I'm not upsetting him. "...and we're together now, right? That's what matters.." I give him a fond smile, feeling my bare chest lightly brush against his. I see him relax fully again, slowly wrapping both of his arms around me to pull me into a warm, almost possessive hug.

"Yeah, that's what matters..." Ted whispered to me as I laid against him, feeling him give me a gentle peck atop my head. "I wouldn't of been good to you then. I think this was the perfect time..."

"You think so?.." I glanced up a little from his prickly chest to look at him, watching as he gently shook his head.

"After I got dumped, I got...I got stupid.." Ted admitted, another deep sigh escaping him. "Said things, did things...I-I wasn't myself. I wasn't who I wanted to be, connection wise, y'know what I mean?" I give Ted a small nod and a reassuring smirk, continuing to listen as he spoke. "Like, even before we met, even before we really connected I'd been...." Ted pauses and stammers a little, a half-chuckle leaving him. "It's gonna sound sappy as fuck, but I'd been working on myself a lot. Yeah, I'd look at your Instagram every so often, pretty sure I've been following you since that wedding, but I wanted to be my best self, even after I'd accepted I'd probably never see you again; that I had fucked up my chance. I couldn't do hook ups and, what do they call them?...'situationships' forever."

Ted's confession is genuine. I think this is the most honest and vulnerable he's been with me since we've met. I appreciate it more than he'll probably ever know. "So when you stepped into this fuckin' house with Tanner last week, I..." Ted exaggerates his tone, looking down at me with a smile. "I can't begin to describe how fucking terrifying that actually was."

"Terrifying?" I let a laugh leave me, raising a brow at Ted. "I'm terrifying now?"

"You are. You're fuckin' scary, dude."

"I'm scary?"

"You're hair-raisin', yeah."

"How am I terrifying? I'm half your size."

"Well, it's how I feel that's terrifying, actually."

I feel my cheeks go a bit warm from the subtle blush spreading along them, exhaling a quiet scoff out my nose.

"Because...now you're here." Ted continued, a nervous smile curling up the corners of his lips. "You know me, you've talked to me, said my name, kissed my lips, and if I somehow fuck this up..."

"Ted, you're not gonna fuck anything up.." I scoff a little at him again, bringing one of my hands up to caress his cheek, having him look me in the eyes once more. "Maybe most people would probably think it's a little fucked up that you got them high and slept with them before confessing all this, but what matters is that you trusted me enough to be honest and I'm not upset. I'm not uncomfortable or offended and I've always thought you weren't cool, so you've got nothing to worry about."

That last comment succeeded in getting a good laugh out of Ted, watching him shake his head a bit. "My point is that I...I believe in us, I guess. I believe in you." I give him a reassuring grin, caressing his cheek with my thumb. "I'm proud of you for finally sharing that with me. I'm as ready as you are to stick together. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. You can tell me anything, alright?.."

Ted leans a little into my touch, his worried expression softening into one of infatuation and tenderness. He pulls me into his prickly chest once more, lightly nodding before resting his chin on the top of my head.

"Yeah...anything.."

I hear a little waver in his voice as he speaks, but I figured it's just cause we're tired. I don't even think we're high anymore, though I can't recall where it would've worn off. All I know is my throat is sore and my legs are shaky but my body is warm and my heart is content.

I fall asleep to the feeling of Ted's hand slowly caressing my bare back, my dreams filled with wine glasses and roses.

__________________________________

I didn't have a lot of time to see exactly what Ted was smoking, but I knew he definitely had something. I watched with a curious smile as he quickly stuffed something into what I could only assume was an ashtray hidden behind some knick-knacks on his bedside table, fanning his hand back and forth to clear any smoke around him. If he was trying to hide all of this from me, he was doing a poor job. It was kind of funny, actually.

"Shit--okay, don't tell Tanner." Ted spoke up with a nervous little shake in his voice, holding the palm of his hand out like he was trying to de-escalate the situation. I wasn't sure why he was so nervous, but it made me laugh a little, making sure to close the door behind me as I step into his somewhat misty room.

"Dude, I'm not gonna narc on ya." I reassure him with a relaxed chuckle, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "I already knew you smoke.."

"No, it's--" Ted closed his eyes and let out a little chuckle, looking a bit relieved as he moved off his bed. "Tanner doesn't know. I'm supposed to be smokin' outside."

I raise my head a little and make an 'Oh' shape with my mouth, nodding slowly. My eyes glance over at the window, seeing that it was wide open. At least Ted was decent enough to air everything out.

"Have you really been smoking in here for the last hour?" I ask with a knowing smile, turning my head to look at Ted again.

"Shit, has it been an hour?" Ted anxiously slips his hands into his pockets, then takes them out to feel his back pockets--even though he has none--turning his head around to look back at his bed. "Fuck."

"You could've texted me, yknow. I would've just come in here.." An amused smile creeps along my lips, raising my brow as Ted moves over to his messy bed, slipping his hands underneath to try and search for something.

"I would've. I should've--I-I--" Ted is a bit more relaxed, but he's still stuttering. I can't help but wonder if something is wrong, watching him take in a deep breath to calm himself. "I can't find my fuckin' phone."

Both of my brows raise up, I'm visibly surprised. A sudden sharp laugh leaves me, keeping my arms crossed in front of me.

"How high are you, dude?" I ask through my laughter, moving over to his bedside table. Ted defeatingly sits at the edge of his bed, watching me move his stuff aside so I could get a look at his ashtray. It was hardly dirty, he had probably just bought it. There was only one joint crunched up in there, pretty small. He had just about finished it before I walked in. I glance over at Ted. He's watching me like he's anticipating some sort of discipline. It makes me let out another laugh.

"Last timed I checked, isn't weed supposed to help you relax?" I ask him, turning more towards him. "Why you lookin' at me like that?"

Ted's nervous expression flickers into curiosity. I watch his eyebrows furrow a little and a small smile creeps along the corners of his lips.

"'Last time'?" Ted repeated, his eyes narrowing at me a little. "You've...never given off the smoker vibe."

"Mm, probably because I don't smoke.." I scrunch my nose a bit as I reply. "Not anymore, anyways.."

"Yeah? What made ya stop?"

"I just...got bored of it."

"You got bored of getting high? I've..never heard of that before."

"Okay, well, it stopped feeling...interesting, I don't know."

"It stopped feeling interesting."

"Yeah, I'd usually smoke alone and it stopped being interesting."

"....You wanna make it interesting?"

Ted pulls out a fully rolled joint from his front pocket, raising his brows with a enticingly optimistic smile. How he managed to keep that in there so neatly was beyond me, but I was impressed, and....curious.

"Didn't you just smoke that one?" I ask with a light chuckle, gesturing to the crunched up joint in his ashtray.

"That was like...less than half a joint. I can't even feel it." Ted admitted with a dismissive scoff, gesturing his hand down a bit. "It's not one of those obnoxious strands either. It'll smooth us out."

"If you can't even feel it, what were you doing in here for the last hour?" I ask, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I see Ted's expression change. It's very subtle, but I notice it. His eyebrows relax but his eyes widen a little, though he's still smiling at me. It's like I caught him, and he knows it. Either he's purposely downplaying how high he really was for the last hour, or he wasn't really high and he had another reason for being in here alone; a reason he seemed hesitant to share. I wish I could read his thoughts, ease whatever anxieties he had about being completely upfront and honest with me. It's moments like these that remind me how...oddly secretive Ted is about some things.

After a brief moment of silence between us, Ted's expression softens.

"...Share this with me." He speaks, holding the rolled blunt up in front of him. "and I'll tell you.."

I furrow my brows at him, smiling in genuine disbelief. "Are you really propositioning me with weed now that I've caught you in your lie?" I ask with a soft laugh, placing a hand on my hip. "On top of that, aren't you worried Tanner is gonna notice? That's a whole joint."

"This is the one and only time I'm having a joint on this trip, and I want to share it with you." Ted admitted, standing up off the edge of the bed. "Come on, you'll smoke half, I'll smoke half."

"Would you have wanted to share that with me if I hadn't walked in?"

"...Probably not."

"Oh, we're being honest now?"

"I'm--I'm tryin', believe me."

"You're trying?"

"Yeah. I...I think...I just need a boost."

"You need to share a joint to be honest with me?"

"I want to share a lot more than a joint with you."

"Like what?"

"Like why I didn't approach you at Joe's wedding."

Now I'm intruiged. What started as a one-off comment in our very first conversation has turned into one of the biggest mysteries of this relationship, purely because Ted has refused to talk about it and Joe insists on him being the one to tell me. If he needs to be high to finally tell me about it, I'll take it. I take a small breath and hold my hand out, smirking up at him. "Got a light?"

Ted gives me a relieved smile, placing the joint in my hand, then reaching into his other pocket to hand me his green lighter. I can't help but chuckle at how excited he is, shaking my head as I place the skinny end in between my lips and flick the green lighter to light the joint, taking a breath in once I knew it's lit enough. I knew nothing was going to hit me immediately, but knowing I hadn't smoked in a long while still gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. Maybe I was nervous. I was either nervous about getting high, or about what Ted would say once we were high. Once I took in my puff, I passed the joint over to Ted, watching him take in a deep hit from it. I knew he'd probably smoke it a bit more than me. Honestly, I was okay with that.

It took a few good minutes for me to feel anything, but once I was feeling it, God...I was feeeeeling it. Ted and I were now laid out on his bed, taking turns, albeit slow ones, with the blunt. Ted had taken his glasses off, completely relaxed against his pillow. If he truly wasn't high before, he definitely was now, as was I. The haze that had settled into my brain felt smooth and pleasent. I felt comfy. I felt content. Ted had closed his window slightly so most of the smoke would stay in the room. It made me a little anxious about Tanner finding out, but once we started talking about it, we couldn't stop laughing about it.

"I can't--I can't even picture Tanner angry..." I admitted with a soft laugh, breathing in a hit from the joint before passing it to Ted again, my gaze locked up on his ceiling. "Unless he's acting in a fuckin'....DnD game, I've never seen him angry.."

"He would be. He would be angry, I'm tellin' you, he'd be pissed." Ted admitted with a smirk, taking the joint from me. "He'd kick me off the set."

"He would not!" I laugh out, turning my head to look at Ted.

"He absolutely would."

"You're the lead! This whole thing--"

"He absolutely would."

"The whole thing--"

"I'd be a--I'd be a goner, dude."

"The whole--stop!"

"Absolutely a fuckin' goner."

"Stop interrupting me!"

I playfully swat at Ted as he tries to take another hit from the blunt, but we both can't stop laughing. I'm trying to quiet my laughing so we don't wake up the whole damn house, but Ted's insistence was just so fucking funny for some reason. It was maddening how attractive Ted really was. He was handsome, he was funny, charming and amazing at his craft. While I'm lost in my thoughts, I realize I've been staring at Ted. I watch as he turns his gaze towards me, his eyes sparkling with realization.

"You starin' at me, princess?" He asked, his tone low and relaxed. I meet his dark gaze with my own, a warm smile creeping along my lips.

"Kinda.." I admit in a soft tone, resting my head a bit more on his pillow. "I was thinking.."

"About?.." Ted purrs, sitting up a bit more on his side to fully face me. I feel a sense of warmth wrap around my body like a warm blanket, particularly around my eyes as if I were tired, and my core, as if I were...tempted.

"I was thinking about you.." I admit after a short pause, blinking my eyes a little to ward off any real tiredness I was feeling. I wanted to hang on to this a little while longer, to really...ride it out. "I was thinking about your handsome face..." As I speak, I rise up a bit from my side of the bed, slowly moving my body over to crawl overtop of Ted, comfortably straddling his lap. "I was thinking about your sultry voice...how...infuriatingly funny you are.."

Ted made sure to turn his body to lay on his back, resting one of his hands on my thigh. I see that he's still holding the joint in his other hand. It's much, much smaller than it was earlier. I realize I have...no idea how long we've been smoking it or even what time it was. Honestly, I didn't care. "And how I wish I could read that stupid mind of yours.."

"You wanna read my mind?.." Ted asks with a low chuckle, his dark eyes gazing up at me. He takes another smooth hit from the joint, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He slowly blows the smoke out towards me, watching me close my eyes in response with another deep chuckle. Fuck, his voice...

"Mmm, here..." Ted hands me the small blunt, sitting up a bit more to be at my eye level. I take it into my two fingers with a curious hum, knowing Ted was probably giving me the last hit. "You finish that up...and I'll tell you exactly what I'm thinking..."

X-----

I could already feel the last of my judgement slipping because of this strand. I had completely lost track of time and we had nearly turned Ted's room into a hot box, but fuck, that voice, that...hungry look he was giving me, I just had to do what he wanted. I had to. I wanted to.

I lock eyes with Ted once more, bringing the skinny end of the blunt up to my lips to take a good, looooong hit. He gives me a devilish but proud smile, his hands moving up to toy with the waistband of my pajama pants.

"Good girl..." Ted purred at me, moving his head to begin trailing little kisses along the side of my face, moving them down to my jaw. I close my eyes and blow the smoke up into the air, leaning my head back to allow Ted to bring some attention to my sensitive neck. Pleased hums and moans are escaping me, every little touch feels so...fucking...nice....

"I'm thinking about how beautiful you are.." Ted tilts his head up slightly to whisper into my ear, his tongue lightly grazing the edge of it to send a little shiver up my spine. "I'm thinking about how soft your skin feels..." Every word he purrs into my ear mixes with the stronger high I'm getting from the last of the blunt. I feel wonderfully dizzy, euphoric even. "I'm thinking about aaaaaall that tension we had in my truck..I really gotta get you in that backseat, eh, princess? Would you like that? Mm?..." Once again, all because of Ted, I lost all sense of my self. Every time. Every single time he gets me alone, coats his words in honey and lust, I can't resist. There was something in the back of my mind I knew I was forgetting, but oh fucking god, Ted...

My thoughts are cut by the feeling of Ted removing my pajama top for me, all of my focus on him once more. I looked at him with a surprised smile, showing that the blunt was still in my hand. "You could've set that on fire.." I chuckle a little, watching as Ted tosses my pajama shirt onto the floor.

"It's a joint, not a lightsaber.." Ted snickers, eyeing my now bare chest briefly before moving back up to return to my neck. Another moan escapes my parted lips, using the last hit from the blunt to muffle my voice. It was hard to tell how loud I was being. I was sensitive in some ways and numb in others. It was maddening, it was thrilling, it made me uneasy but absolutely serene all at the same time. I begin to anxiously rock my clothed hips against his own, feeling his sweatpants become tighter and tighter, grinding against his clothed length in a slow, even pace. I take the blunt out of my mouth to moan for him, holding his shoulder in my free hand.

"You finished it, baby? Good girl..." Ted whispers against my skin, pulling back briefly to remove his own shirt before pressing his body up against mine once more. The tingling heat building up in my core was already becoming unbearable. I knew how attracted I was to Ted, but the joint had made it all much more intense. I was already aching for him, I could feel it. I pull from Ted for a brief moment to push the joint into the ashtray, finally able to wrap my arms around Ted as he leaves kisses along my neck and jaw, feeling his fingers still toy with the waistband of my pajama pants. I run my fingers through his tall dark hair, my eyes fluttering closed.

"Touch yourself for me, baby.." Ted purrs lowly into my ear, his hands moving from my thighs to my lower back to trace my skin with his fingertips, his lips grazing my ear to make me shiver once more. I instinctively raise my hips up a bit, a shaky breath leaving me. I didn't think for a second about his command, I just did as I was told, raising my hips up off of his lap a little more before moving one of my hands from his hand, slipping it into my pajama bottoms to feel myself. God, was I wet and sensitive. My fingers danced between my soaked folds easily, my sensitive bud reacting to the tip of my finger. I moan for Ted, my eyes remaining closed with my mouth hung open. Any noises that my body wanted to let out were free. I wanted him to hear me.

"That's my good girl. Good..." Ted let's out a another low purr into my ear, removing one of his hands from my back briefly to slip his own sweatpants down. It was a little challenging with me still straddling him, but he managed to slip them down just enough to slip his length out for me. The sight of his rigid cock fills my mind with a strong sense of hunger, my bloodshot eyes gazing down at it as I rub my sensitive bud inside my pajama bottoms. Such a familiar sight. I'm so enthralled, I can't even recall a single moment of my life where this man wasn't in my life, fucking me right, making me feel so good. Ted carefully takes my arm with his other hand, pulling my hand away from core to bring it up to his mouth, running his tongue along my fingers just to get a taste. His tongue slips between my fingers, a hungry moan escaping him. "If I wasn't f-fucking throbbing, I'd make you fuck my face.." A shaky chuckle leaves him as well, bringing two of my fingers into his mouth so he could help me slip my pajama bottoms down my legs more, finally giving him the access he's desperate for.

He carefully holds his length with his hand as I move up to hover over its, spreading my folds to give him a nice view. As I press downwards to help him slip inside, a shaky moan escapes me, pushing down slowly until his entire hardened shaft was inside me. Everywhere was so sensitive, I felt the satisfaction of him entering me shiver throughout my entire warm body. I begin to grind against him once more, feeling the tip of his length already rubbing against the right spots. I don't normally go for this position, but the added sensitivity from the blunt made it so, so good. My mind is stuck in a pleasent, lustful haze, and I need more. More of him.

I start to pump my hips up and down on him, I don't bother to take my time. He feels so good, he sounds like sin. I bring my finger down once again to rub my sensitive bud as I continue to ride him, my voice whining and whimpering out desperate moans I didn't even consider myself capable enough to make. I'm so wet, he fits inside me so nicely. I watch him run his fingers through his hair and lean back for a minute, his eyes closed, in absolute blissful euphoria. The moans that are leaving him as just as desperate, just as satisfied. Everytime my hips smack down with his, it's a rush of warmth and pleasure for us both. It feels invigorating, it feels like I could do this for hours.

"God, y-you are so...fucking beautiful.." Ted whispers, opening his eyes to look at me with a small, tired smile. He takes both of my hips into my hands to start grinding his hips up against me, the new force making my voice sing out desperate pleasures even louder, barely muffled by our smacking hips. I rest my free hand on his hairy chest, toying with the silver chain he still had on around his neck. He leans up to whisper sweet nothings into my ear, holding me close to fuck me from below. His praise is making me weaker; making my body feel warm and lazy, but I know what it's preparing. I know what he's urging me to do. I can feel his cock throbbing in me, I can hear him panting in my ear, the occasional desperate moan escaping his heavy breathing.

"You are so fucking good, my beautiful girl. Are you my beautiful girl, hm? Does anyone else get to see you like this?.." His dirty words once again fill my thoughts and make them dance in my head, an excited smile spreading along my dry lips when I begin to feel a familiar knot building up in my lower stomach, making my hips crash down on his faster and faster, as fast as my body will comfortably allow. My finger is flicking along my sensitive bud, urging for what I know will be an intense release.

"I-I am, I am, Teddy..." I moan, my voice girlishly soft. I can't normally feel this much aching pleasure in this position, but the mixture of Marijuana and my absolute unwavering attraction Ted made everything so good, so fucking good. "O-Only you get to see me this way, Teddy.." I moan for him again, my mouth feeling almost forced open with how much I was moaning for him. It was so much, oh fuck, it was so, so much. I hear a dark, almost possessive chuckle leave him and ring into my ear, and that's the trigger for everything to come undone. Just his voice. Just his fucking voice is enough to finally make me cum.

My moans get louder, much louder, as I reach my peak. My finger along my bud moving almost just as fast as Ted's crashing thrusts against me. It feels like an overwhelming tidalwave of pleasure it taking over my body, drowning me in it all. It's so warm and intense, it feels like two different orgasms had flickered on at the same time. I'm moaning out his name, or at least trying to, my eyes rolling back as I desperately ride out my orgasm and my high. I must sound like a pornstar to him, but fuck, he fucks me like one. He makes me feel sloppy and easy. Just as I finish riding out my release, I feel an immediate shot of warmth enter me, his own pleasantly low growls and moans coming into focus as he releases inside of me, pumping me down on him to fill me up as comfortably and as deeply as he desires, so much so that I can already feel his hot seed dripping out of me. My head flings back as my last, shaky moan comes out of me, my entire body suddenly feeling so...hot...

X-----

Ted and I sit there for a moment, both of our eyes closed with the only sound in the room now being our collective heavy breathing. I make sure to slowly lift off of him before he lays down, resting my body against his. We're both feeling warm and a little sweaty, the smell of sex and cannabis still lingering in the air. Most of the smoke had cleared from the open window...

...oh god, the fucking window.

I raise my head a little to look over at it, my eyes widening a little when I confirm that the window was indeed still open. It wasn't wide open, but I knew it was open enough. If anyone else had their window open for the last hour, they heard us. Fuck.

"You...lookin' at the window?.." Ted asks in between pants, looking up at me with a shaky chuckle. "Whoops.."

"Oh, we're...fucked now..." I whisper annoyingly, crawling off of Ted's lap to lay on my back beside him, placing a hand on my chest to feel my heartbeat. "Do you...know if anyone...sleeps with their window open?.."

"Well..." Ted takes a deep breath, seemingly as exhausted as I am. "Dan and...Tanner...have air conditioners.."

"Oh fuck, Joe doesn't.." I suddenly remember it as I say it, bringing one of my hands up to cover my eyes with an embarrassed chuckle. "We're bad. We're baaaaad, Ted.."

"I know.." Ted gives a dry, tired chuckle as well. "I know, I know..."

We both sit there and just...laugh it out. Maybe it's just how ridiculous we both are with each other or maybe we're still high, but we just sit there and laugh for a good minute or so, making comments and jabs at each other, playfully smacking our bare bodies as we giggle and chuckle like troublemaking teenagers. It got even worse when Ted discovered he had given me a hickey near my ear, a spot that was nearly impossible to cover. I was piiiiiissed, but in a...'I' still very high and this is actually hilarious' way. I go to playfully smack Ted's arm, but grabs both of my wrists to fight me off until I grow tired enough to give it up, letting out a defeated huff with this big, stupid smile on my face....

....

I still feel like I'm forgetting something.

Ted gazes into my eyes for a moment, bringing one of my hands up to his face to kiss the back of it. Suddenly my stomach feels are warm, filled with butterflies and all. I see his expression turn warm, his dark eyes practically sparkling as he looks at me. Briefly, his smile falters, like he too just realized something. He exhales from his nose, moving my hand to cup the side of his face.

"...alright.." He speaks softly, breaking his gaze to sort of glance his eyes away.

"Alright what?.." I ask, a small smile still spread along my lips. "You're not kicking me out, are ya? I think Tanner might've taken my bed.."

"No, I'm--" Ted relaxed for a moment at my joke, a sudden chuckle escaping him as he shook his head. "I'm not kicking you out, I'm..." His smile fades again and he pauses, nibbling on the dry skin of his lips before meeting my gaze again, his expression turning serious.

"I'm...I'm gonna tell you what happened...at the wedding."

--------------------------------------------