This gif is making me SICK

Advent Calendar 2025 - Day 12

never getting over this day and how he looked so yummy

pairing : shawn hatosy x wife!reader 

summary : one kiss has the entire internet convinced you’re promoting a rom-com, little did they knew-

author’s note : I was watching an abbot tiktok message series and I got inspired for that part also I was listening to 'Cancelled for days on repeat and it got to my head L.

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE

warnings : age gap (20 years), secret relationship, secret marriage, co-stars to lovers, friends to lovers, romantic comedy, fluff, kissing, physical affection, mild sexual tension, paparazzi, media scrutiny, public relationship reveal, hollywood setting, press tour, interviews, social media, internet discourse, fake dating rumours, celebrity life, light swearing, alcohol mention

4k words

masterlist

There were exactly thirty-seven people on Stage 4. Twenty-nine of them thought Shawn Hatosy and I were just exceptionally friendly. The other eight the cast, hair and makeup, our director, the script supervisor, two camera operators knew. Mostly because we had stopped trying to hide it around them months ago. Not the relationship. That part was still ours. But the flirting…well. That was apparently impossible to contain.

"YN!" I looked up from my script as Shawn walked onto set in full Dr. Jack Abbott wardrobe, coffee in one hand, his jacket slung over his shoulder. The entire makeup trailer collectively looked up.

"So..." He said, stopping directly in front of me. "Miss me?"

"You've been gone..." I checked the clock on my phone. "...eighteen minutes." He frowned.

"Felt longer."

"It didn't."

"I suffered because of you.”

"What did I do?"

"You weren't there." A snort came from behind me. Our makeup artist, Lisa, didn't even bother pretending she hadn't heard.

"Oh my God..”. She muttered. "It's eight in the morning." Shawn didn't take his eyes off me.

"I've missed your optimism, Lisa."

"I miss silence." I smiled into my coffee and he obviously caught it.

"There it is."

"What?"

"The smile."

"I wasn't smiling."

"You absolutely were."

"I was pitying you."

"I'll take pity."

"You'd take breadcrumbs."

"I'd take dinner." I looked up.

"Was that your way of asking me out?"

"You'd know if I was asking."

"Oh?" He stepped closer but not enough for anyone outside our little circle to notice. Just that his shoulder brushed mine.

"I wouldn't waste an opportunity like that." My heartbeat betrayed me immediately. He noticed. Of course he noticed. His grin widened just enough to be infuriating. "You blush so easily."

"I don't blush."

"You do around me."

"I absolutely do not."

"Mhm."

Without warning, he reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers barely brushed my skin. It lasted maybe a second. It shouldn't have done anything after all these years. It absolutely did. Someone wolf-whistled from video village. Shawn didn't even look away from me I glanced toward the monitors. Our director was openly shaking his head. One of the camera operators gave Shawn two thumbs up. Another simply mouthed ‘get a room’ at that Shawn just laughed under his breath.

"They like us."

"They tolerate us.”

This is how usually the filming went with us. But not the last day. The last day on The Pitt always felt strangely quiet. After months of fourteen-hour days, fake blood, adrenaline-fueled trauma scenes, and enough coffee to keep the entire cast awake for over a year, the ED set was finally being dismantled. Everyone pretended not to be sentimental but no one really succeeded. Photos were taken every few minutes. Lisa had started a scrapbook. The props department was already arguing over who got to keep the fake hospital signs, while wardrobe packed away hundreds of pairs of blue scrubs that had somehow become as recognizable as the people wearing them. 

The wrap had started exactly forty-three minutes ago, and I had already accepted the fact that I wasn't making it home before midnight. The rooftop bar looked something that far too expensive for a television cast party. Noah was somehow in the middle of teaching two camera operators a dance that absolutely nobody had asked to learn. Katherine had already kicked off her heels and the makeup department had claimed an entire sofa in the corner.

I reached for another drink from a passing waiter, taking a slow sip as Ariana Grande began playing through the speakers. I laughed quietly to myself, leaning against one of the marble pillars near the edge of the room. It gave me the perfect view of everyone else without actually having to participate. Exactly how I liked it until, of course I noticed my husband. He was on the opposite side of the room, laughing at something one of the producers had said. Black button-up sleeves rolled to his forearms. Was he always this slutty?

As if he could feel me looking, he lifted his head. Our eyes met across the room and his smile appeared almost immediately. I looked away first. Mostly because I already knew what was about to happen. He excused himself from the conversation and started walking toward me.

"You hiding?"

“I like this corner."

"I noticed." His eyes flicked to my drink.

"Second?"

"Third."

"I'm impressed." He took a sip from my glass before I could stop him.

"Hey. That's mine."

“Just like you are.”

"You are unbelievable." The opening notes of ‘into you’ echoed through the speakers.

"Dance?"

"I don't dance." He held out his hand anyway.

“One song.”

"I'll take it.”

I placed my hand in his. His smile widened. There it was again. That stupid smile. The one that always made me forget I was supposed to be saying no. His hand settled around mine with an ease that had become dangerously familiar over the past few years. I let him guide me through the crowd, weaving between cast members and producers until we reached the middle of the dance floor. The lights were lower there and the music was louder. Everyone else seemed to disappear. He rested one hand against my waist, waiting. Always waiting for me to close the distance first and I always did.

The corners of his mouth lifted into that annoyingly effortless smile. I felt myself smiling back before I could stop it. His thumb traced a slow circle against my waist. My heartbeat immediately betrayed me. I pretended it hadn't. He knew better. The space between us disappeared naturally, almost absentmindedly, until our foreheads nearly brushed. Without thinking, I reached up, my fingers finding the back of his neck as he leaned the last few inches closer. The kiss was soft. Unhurried. Completely unaware of the cameras that weren't supposed to be there.

I woke up to the smell of coffee. For one blissfully peaceful minute, I stayed exactly where I was, tucked beneath the duvet with Shawn's arm lazily draped over my waist. Morning sunlight spilled through the bedroom curtains. I reached for my phone on the bedside table. Thirty-seven notifications. Weird. I unlocked it instantly. Ninety-eight. Then one hundred and twenty-three. What the hell was happening? One headline filled my entire screen.

SHAWN HATOSY CAUGHT KISSING MYSTERY CO-STAR AT WRAP PARTY.

“Oh fuck…” He stirred beside me.

"Hm?" I simply held my phone out. He read the headline. His eyebrows lifted.

"...Well." That was it. Just well.

"That's your reaction?" He shrugged.

"I think they got my good side." I stared him and he just smirked at me. I threw a pillow at him. He caught it effortlessly.

"I'll call our publicist." An hour later, the apartment looked more like a production office than a home. Our publicists sat across from us, scrolling through thousands of articles appearing faster than anyone could keep up.

"It'll only get bigger. Unless we give them another story. Like announcing the rom-com.” The script have been sitting on the counter longer than a year now. It was a Best Friend’s Dad trope thing mostly for the girls with issues. The announcement wasn't supposed to happen for another month. Our publicist slowly smiled. "That could work."

By noon every entertainment outlet had the same exclusive headline.

SHAWN HATOSY AND Y/N TO STAR TOGETHER IN NEW ROMANTIC COMEDY.

The internet immediately reached the only conclusion it wanted to believe. The kiss and the chemistry. It was all marketing. Just a publicity stunt or even an early press campaign. People laughed and made memes. Called it genius or embarrassing. But not a single person considered that the kiss had nothing to do with the movie.

I knew it was bad before I opened my phone. Not because anyone had called me. Not because our publicist had texted. Because my name was trending. Worldwide. I stared at the screen for a long second before tapping on it. Big mistake. The first post had over two million likes. She's twenty years younger than him. What could they possibly have in common? The second wasn't much better. She's using him for his career. Another. He could literally be her father. I kept scrolling. Against my better judgment and against Shawn's repeated requests not to. Apparently, I was too young, too immature, too loud, too quiet, too ambitious or not ambitious enough. People I'd never met had somehow become experts on who I was.

There were side-by-side photos of Shawn on one side and me on the other. His picture was from an interview.Mine was from a red carpet where I'd worn a black backless gown.The caption read: He's aging like fine wine. She dresses like she's going to a nightclub. Nearly two hundred thousand likes. Another post. She doesn't even look like someone's girl. Another. Imagine waiting your whole life to become a respected actor only to date someone who dresses like an influencer. Another. She'll leave him for someone younger in five years. Some people criticized my clothes. Every premiere dress I'd ever worn had suddenly become evidence. Apparently showing my shoulders was now a personality trait. One fashion page posted a collage of six different outfits. The comments underneath were brutal. The irony was the same week those comments were written another actress had worn almost exactly the same dress. Her headlines called her confident. Mine called me attention-seeking.

Then came the personality critiques. People clipped fifteen-second interviews and decided they knew me. I laughed too much or that I interrupted people. I talked with my hands which made them think I wasn't ‘elegant enough’. Someone made an entire compilation titled: Proof She's Too Immature For Shawn Hatosy. It had over eight million views.

The evidence?

Me laughing because I couldn't pronounce the name of a French dessert. Me tripping over a cable during rehearsal. Me dancing with the makeup department between takes. Me making funny faces behind the camera while Noah was trying to record a serious cast video. Apparently joy was childish. Then came the comparisons. Photos of Shawn attending awards shows twenty years ago. Photos of me at twenty-seven. Comments underneath declared we looked like we belonged to different generations. That we had ‘nothing in common’. That he deserved someone ‘more sophisticated’. That I would ‘never understand him’. It fascinated me. Thousands of strangers had decided that because I wore a low cut dress and laughed loudly that I couldn't possibly hold an intelligent conversation.

They'd never seen us at home. Never watched Shawn spend forty minutes explaining something he'd read because he knew I'd ask a hundred questions. Never seen us sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, reading different books in complete silence Never watched me fall asleep halfway through one of his documentaries. They didn't know us. I locked my phone. It buzzed again and again. I placed it face down on the kitchen counter.

"Reading comments?"

I looked up. Shawn stood in the doorway with two mugs of coffee. I didn't answer and he didn't need me to. He set one mug in front of me before gently turning my phone over so the screen faced the counter. "They don't know you." I laughed quietly.

"They seem pretty convinced they do." He walked around the island and rested his hands on either side of my chair. He kissed the top of my head then his forehead rested lightly against mine.

"I didn't marry an internet comment section. I married you."

For the first time that day the noise disappeared. Not because the internet had stopped talking. It hadn’t and probably never would. But because the only opinion that had ever really mattered was standing right in front of me, holding a cup of coffee with bed hair, telling me I was enough exactly as I was.

Four months later Shawn was sitting across from Jimmy Fallon on a late-night talk show. The host smiled knowingly.

"So... should we congratulate you on the movie, or the girlfriend?" The audience laughed. Shawn smiled to himself.

"I'm happy to work with her. She is a talented young actor and keeps me on my toes.”

"So let’s talk about the kiss…everyone thinks it was planned.”

"They're allowed to think that." Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

"So you're telling me you just happened to kiss your co-star days before announcing a romantic comedy?" Shawn shrugged. "Interesting timing." The audience laughed again. Jimmy leaned forward. “So was it? You'd do all that just for a movie?”

"No." He took a sip of water before adding, almost absentmindedly. "I wouldn't get married just because of a movie."

"...Married?" Shawn's smile never faltered not even for the briefest moment.

"We're married. I mean YN YLN or should I say YN Hatosy….”  A collective gasp swept through the audience before it exploded into applause. Jimmy stared at him.

"You're serious?”

"Very."

"How long?"

"A while." The audience applauded again. Jimmy laughed, shaking his head.

"So the internet spent months arguing over whether your relationship was fake while you were already husband and wife." Shawn chuckled.

"Pretty much." He looked out at the audience, pride unmistakable in his voice. "She's my wife before she's my co-star. The movie just happens to be something we get to do together." The applause was even louder this time. Within minutes, every entertainment outlet in the world had the same breaking headline.

SHAWN HATOSY CONFIRMS HE'S MARRIED TO HIS CO-STAR DURING LIVE INTERVIEW.

Jimmy smiled at Shawn from across the studio.

"I've got to ask about something the internet will probably refuses to stop talking about." Shawn laughed.

"I have a feeling I know where this is going."

"The age gap."

"Twenty years."

"Yep."

"Did either of you hesitate?"

“I did. I'd been around long enough to know exactly what people were going to say. They did exactly what I expected. I wasn't worried about me by the way. Or even the age difference. I was worried about what she'd have to deal with because of being with me. I remember thinking she deserves someone whose biggest headline isn't 'older actor dates younger co-star' or look she married her grandpa’.” 

"So what changed your mind?" Shawn smiled.

"She did. She looked at me one day and basically said, 'Are you done deciding what's best for me?' And she was right. I'd already made the decision for both of us without asking what she wanted. She knew exactly what people would say. She knew the age gap. Knew the attention and she chose me anyway. After that there wasn't much left to hesitate about.”

"So the hesitation wasn't about loving her." Shawn didn't even need a second to answer.

"Never."

My interview aired two days after Shawn's. By then, the internet had barely recovered. Every headline was still about the same thing. The secret marriage even the wrap-party kiss. The months everyone had spent convincing themselves it had all been a publicity stunt. Vogue's annual Hollywood issue. A live interview with Chloe. She welcomed me with her usual effortless smile as the audience applauded.

"It's such a pleasure to have you here tonight, Ms. YN YLN." I smiled back.

"It's Mrs. YN Hatosy."

I couldn't help the little smirk that tugged at my lips. Chloe blinked twice before laughing.

"I... was not expecting that correction."

"I figured I'd save you from having to update it later." Some laughing. Chloe shook her head, still smiling.

"So Shawn wasn't joking. You're really married."

"I really am."

"And you've managed to keep it secret this whole time?" I smiled to myself.

"We're both pretty good at keeping a secret when it's worth keeping." Chloe leaned back in her chair, smiling as the audience finally settled down.

"I have to ask..." I already knew where this was going.

"Go ahead."

"Was there ever a moment where you looked at Shawn and thought, 'Yeah... I have absolutely no chance of keeping this professional'?" The audience laughed. I covered my face for a second.

"...Do you want the honest answer?"

"Always."

"Day one." The audience erupted. Chloe pointed at me.

"I knew it!"

"I walked onto set, saw him in costume, and immediately thought..." I sighed dramatically. "...that's an unfairly attractive man."

"And can we acknowledge the obvious? That man is the definition of a silver fox." The audience cheered and I laughed.

"I was trying so hard not to be the one who said it."

"I'll say it for you. He's ridiculously handsome."

"He is."

"The grey hair?" I nodded.

"The grey hair."

"The voice?"

"The voice." I looked straight into the camera. “Listen to his Quinn audio guys.”

"I think half the internet has a crush on your husband." I shrugged with a grin.

"I get it."

"You get it?"

"I married him." The audience exploded again.

The press tour had become a circus. Every city. Every premiere, every interview the same questions. Every single time. ‘So... are you two actually together?’ ‘When did the relationship start?’ ‘Was the wrap-party kiss real?’ We answered every time with the same smiles. The same vague replies. 

The red carpet stretched the length of the theatre, lined with photographers shouting our names from every direction. Camera flashes lit up the night. Shawn reached for my hand. Not because anyone expected him to. Because he always did. We stopped in front of the backdrop. Smiled and posed. Answered a few questions. Then one reporter laughed. looked at Shawn snd he was already looking at me. That familiar smile spread across his face. He cupped my cheeks and kissed me. The kind married people shared without thinking. The photographers completely lost their minds.

The cherry on top was Taylor Swift’s music video for her new single, ‘Cancelled’. We’ve been introduced through her ex boyfriend but we stayed close and when she saw how many hate comments I got she got inspired and asked me and my husband to be the actors in her clip. Which we would never miss out. It was once in a lifetime opportunity. Im just simply fell in love with the song it was perfectly fitting because I never was the medias favourite little star girl especially since I started dating a man twice my age. The internet watched in stunned silence and the comments were unbearably funny for me. "Shawn Hatosy is the luckiest silver fox alive." I laughed when I read that last one. Shawn glanced over from the other end of the sofa.

"What?" I simply turned my phone around so he could read it. A slow grin spread across his face. He leaned over and kissed my temple. “They are so right about this one. ”