Fic: if my heart was a compass, you'd be north
if my heart was a compass, you'd be north
Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction, nothing else and it isn't meant to offend anyone. The title is from the song 'If my heart was a house' by Owl City.
Summary: Colin likes Angel. Angel likes Colin. Angel waits for Colin to ask her out.
Many thanks to the lovely pizzazzical for taking the time of the day to beta the fic for me :).
risk it all 'cause I'll catch you if you fall.
wherever you go, if my heart was a house, you'd be home.'>
~
Angel has had moment when she thought that Colin would ask her out.
She knows that everyone thinks that Bradley is the one who has a crush on her- but whatever they have is platonic. They like hanging out with each other but that is where it begins and ends.
Colin is a different story. Yes, he assists Bradley in their ridiculous pranks but he's nice to her in this Colin-like way.
Usually, when no one is noticing, he'll get her a cup of coffee or coke. During lunch breaks, she moves his table and he makes room for her. There have been times when he refused to go somewhere with Bradley unless Angel came with them.
(Bradley is sure that if he were to die by Colin's hands, Colin would want Angel to witness it.)
~
Angel thinks that she might be insane because she's the only one who notices Colin's behaviour. Maybe other people have seen what he's done and felt like they should say nothing about it.
Whatever.
~
It's the first year of filming 'Merlin' and Colin notices her drinking habits.
~
'I got your tea the way you like it. With four sugars.'
Feeling pleasantly surprised, she beamed at him and sipped her beverage.
'Either I'm noticing the rosiness of your cheeks for the first time or you're blushing.'
She wasn't blushing but when he spoke, her cheeks felt warm.
The crew members told them to get ready.
He winks at her and moments later, he transforms into the bumbling magician cum servant boy.
As if he hadn't said anything of interest to her seconds before.
~
After that he did little thing like when he spoke to her he sounded like he actually wanted to converse with her. Everyone in the cast was just finding their footing in the group and they usually just wanted to joke around with her.
~
The day after they returned from Parc Astérix, he accompanied her to her room.
He asked if she was all right and if she had a good time.
It was a thing any gentleman would do and it was a warm gesture.
(A part of Angel wished that she could interpret that gesture as something more.)
~
After that he gets her tea now and then.
~
He told her that she looked pretty on certain occasions.
~
And he was a little more touchy-feely with her than he used to be.
While they were on set, he'd lightly hold her arm or shoulder and say things like 'Stand here' or 'What do you think Gwen would have done?'
(One of her male friends the reason he was tactile was because he was Irish.)
(She's been told that she's a great actress but she's not sure if that's true because try as she might, she can never really keep a silly smile off of her smile when he's talking to her being 'tactile'.)
~
The word tactile makes her think of marble floors.
~
She tries not to think of it as anything significant but Colin is a good kisser. Yes, they were acting. And yes, she didn't feel all that bad about enjoying kissing a sweaty man.
~
When they're almost done shooting the first series, she realizes that she has a crush on Colin. She also realizes that it makes her a tad bit upset that despite the fact that he might be nice to her in a Colin-like way, he probably didn't like her the way she liked him.
~
Colin's a boy.
He'll probably come around.
~
It won't be awful if he doesn't, though.
~
She doesn't have any serious relationships or anything of the sort for most of the years 2007 and 2008.
She's happy with her life- she's got friends, family and a pretty rewarding job.
She knows that it's the same for all them (including Colin).
However Angel is only human, unlike her namesake, so she can't help but feel a little jealous when Colin goes on a few dates with a member of the crew.
~
All her friends tell her to forget about it but Katie is the one who gets through to her.
'Angel, I don't care if you think that his irises are made of actual sapphires. We'll help you find some fantastic bloke who doesn't have the sense of humor of a potential psychopath and the physique of a manorexiac.'
~
(Katie likes being politically incorrect when they're in private.)
(Angel learns that the fashion industry taught Katie about the word 'manorexia'.)
(And yes, it's a sad and awful thing and they feel bad about laughing about it.)
(At least, they're not like Colin who enjoys dead baby humor.)
(Not that Angel minds it that much.)
~
There's something called status quo in the cast. It's sort of maintained until they start filming the second series. Angel is the victim of Colin and Bradley's pranks and she suffers them gladly. Colin is the creepy guy who is fascinated by spiders. Bradley is the one who makes obscure 'Buffy' references. Katie (like Anthony) is the one who likes watching them from a safe distance to amuse herself.
They're all just friends with each other.
~
It's the night of their first shooting. Bradley and Colin finished doing a scene and Angel fell on top of Bradley (which was just acting).
Bradley insists on leaving early and she can tell from his sagging eyelids that he needs the rest.
She and Colin leave soon after but not before they have come up with an idea.
~
'You know, it's past your bedtime,' she giggles into the phone.
Her head is cradled by the soft white feather pillow. She stares at the cream colored ceiling as the night breeze cools her skin.
'I'm not all that younger than you,' he insists, amused.
(She once told Katie that Colin's Irish accent was unique and enticing. Katie, of course, made fun of her and said, 'That must be why you want to kiss me because my accent turns you on.')
'Quite.' Her cheeks hurt a little from all the grinning.
'So what did you do in England before we started filming?'
She catches her breath before she begins.
~
He's flirting with her.
It's fantastic.
~
She's not like Bradley when it comes to finances so she can spare a few Euros for her mobile phone calls.
And the French telecommunication industry gives good offers.
~
They chat on the phone, often after midnight. It usually doesn't last for more than 15 minutes.
But it's still fantastic.
~
He keeps getting her tea and being 'tactile' on the set and everyone finally notices.
~
'I think Colin is planning to ask me out,' she remarks, half-jokingly.
The French air is wickedly cold on her lips.
Katie and Bradley are both clad in green and they share the same sentiment.
'I think that Colin is actually planning to kill you,' the words pour of Bradley's lips like an April shower.
'Most definitely,' Katie agrees in a humourless tone.
~
When Arthur finally gets to kiss Gwen, they all have a laugh about it.
'Katie, you've got to tell the writers that Morgana should kiss Gwen because pretty much everyone else has Maybe that's why Morgana turns evil.' Bradley looks like he just discovered something important and his bright eyes light up.
'There's some solid logic to whatever he's saying,' Colin affirms, nodding his dark-haired head.
'You're idiots, complete utter idiots.' Katie snorts and her pink lips press against the white surface of her coffee mug.
'You're missing out on something, though. You should kiss Gwen.' Colin gives Angel this brief look and his mouth curls to form an attractive smirk and his thick, black eyelashes rise momentarily to give her a half leer.
Bradley smirks and turns away.
Katie is reserved enough to keep her poker face which is really something because Angel is obviously biting her lips to prevent herself from smiling.
~
So this is what she knows about Colin.
(Colin like Quentin Tarantino films while she dislikes Tarantino's work. She tells him that the stylized violence is unrealistic and often pointless. He disagrees, violence does have a point, it certainly had a point in 'Titus'.
Angel is a drama major so she knows that she's a goner when he makes one mention of the Bard.)
They have the same taste in books (JD Salinger, Emma Donoghue, Nick Hornby etc.)
He has good taste in music and she might not really care for music but appreciates it.
(Once, she sang a few bars from 'Champs Élysées'; the cast sang a few songs that day.)
(Colin said that she had a lovely voice.)
He hates the colour purple so of course his mother buys him plenty of 'aubergine' colored shirts.
He laughed when she told him that her father named her 'Angel' despite all of her mother's protests.
~
'It'll happen any day now,' Katie's voice is soothing but she's actually teasing Angel. She brushes away a few curls of ebony hair away from her face.
(Angel isn't fay but there was something otherworldly about Katie when her green sleeve touched her black hair.)
'Whatever,' Angel rolled her eyes and she smiled.
'And don't worry, the script tells me that Colin will have to hold me but I'll make sure that there isn't any more touching than necessary.'
'Oh you harlot, however shall I trust you?'
~
There are only so many more phone calls and cups of tea that she can take before she asks him out herself.
It's been two bloody months.
~
He calls her name on set. He yells 'Angel' in a rather dramatic manner.
She imagines the sentence, 'Will you be my girlfriend?' leaving his lips.
Of course, he crushes her hopes and asks her about something incredibly mundane.
He can be a cliché sometimes- predictably unpredictable.
~
They're eating lunch and the air smells like Orangina, brown rice and beef curry. It smells delicious.
Anthony gets up from their table for an extra helping of food and Colin's eyes meet hers.
'So, what did you think was the best place to go out of all the sites we checked out on the Internet?' His voice is devoid of emotion and his face is blank.
'The small village, I guess,' she shrugs.
'All right, I know that you're free tomorrow, so are we going there or what?'
She stops poking the green skin of the lettuce that is lying on her plate.
She thinks for a second.
There is nothing to think about.
'Yes.'
It might be a trick of the light but Colin's ivory skin is radiant all of a sudden.
'Fantastic,' he says, as if reading her mind. He sips some of his orange juice. He looks down at his food and his lips may be involved in chewing but a smile lingers in his eyes.
'I was going to make room service send you that raspberry chocolate tonight.' She sighs and he looks up at her. 'Because you're going to be filming all day and you might want to come home to something nice.'
The pitch of her voice is low, the way it always is when she's flirting with someone.
Colin looks at her and mischief dances in his eyes.
A white tray hits the table and unlike Angel, Colin isn't phased by this.
'Did I miss anything?' Anthony asks, curious.
~
They have a different sort of conversation that night.
~
The next day, they pass by a pond and watch yellow ducklings swim behind their brown mother in the clear blue water.
He buys her a bouquet of red chrysanthemums from a flower shop and she buys him a cup of tea for a change.
They walk past small, white houses and green lawns.
They step on stony, gray roads, hand in hand.
Sometime during their walk, Angel tugs on Colin's hand and when he looks at her, his eyes appear to be a deeper and warmer hue of blue.
She presses her lips to his and his hand reaches out to stroke the caramel skin of her cheek.
(She doesn't feel guilty about kissing him this time, either.)
Colin tastes like tea, toothpaste and the reward for being patient.
Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction, nothing else and it isn't meant to offend anyone. The title is from the song 'If my heart was a house' by Owl City.
Summary: Colin likes Angel. Angel likes Colin. Angel waits for Colin to ask her out.
Many thanks to the lovely pizzazzical for taking the time of the day to beta the fic for me :).
risk it all 'cause I'll catch you if you fall.
wherever you go, if my heart was a house, you'd be home.'>
~
Angel has had moment when she thought that Colin would ask her out.
She knows that everyone thinks that Bradley is the one who has a crush on her- but whatever they have is platonic. They like hanging out with each other but that is where it begins and ends.
Colin is a different story. Yes, he assists Bradley in their ridiculous pranks but he's nice to her in this Colin-like way.
Usually, when no one is noticing, he'll get her a cup of coffee or coke. During lunch breaks, she moves his table and he makes room for her. There have been times when he refused to go somewhere with Bradley unless Angel came with them.
(Bradley is sure that if he were to die by Colin's hands, Colin would want Angel to witness it.)
~
Angel thinks that she might be insane because she's the only one who notices Colin's behaviour. Maybe other people have seen what he's done and felt like they should say nothing about it.
Whatever.
~
It's the first year of filming 'Merlin' and Colin notices her drinking habits.
~
'I got your tea the way you like it. With four sugars.'
Feeling pleasantly surprised, she beamed at him and sipped her beverage.
'Either I'm noticing the rosiness of your cheeks for the first time or you're blushing.'
She wasn't blushing but when he spoke, her cheeks felt warm.
The crew members told them to get ready.
He winks at her and moments later, he transforms into the bumbling magician cum servant boy.
As if he hadn't said anything of interest to her seconds before.
~
After that he did little thing like when he spoke to her he sounded like he actually wanted to converse with her. Everyone in the cast was just finding their footing in the group and they usually just wanted to joke around with her.
~
The day after they returned from Parc Astérix, he accompanied her to her room.
He asked if she was all right and if she had a good time.
It was a thing any gentleman would do and it was a warm gesture.
(A part of Angel wished that she could interpret that gesture as something more.)
~
After that he gets her tea now and then.
~
He told her that she looked pretty on certain occasions.
~
And he was a little more touchy-feely with her than he used to be.
While they were on set, he'd lightly hold her arm or shoulder and say things like 'Stand here' or 'What do you think Gwen would have done?'
(One of her male friends the reason he was tactile was because he was Irish.)
(She's been told that she's a great actress but she's not sure if that's true because try as she might, she can never really keep a silly smile off of her smile when he's talking to her being 'tactile'.)
~
The word tactile makes her think of marble floors.
~
She tries not to think of it as anything significant but Colin is a good kisser. Yes, they were acting. And yes, she didn't feel all that bad about enjoying kissing a sweaty man.
~
When they're almost done shooting the first series, she realizes that she has a crush on Colin. She also realizes that it makes her a tad bit upset that despite the fact that he might be nice to her in a Colin-like way, he probably didn't like her the way she liked him.
~
Colin's a boy.
He'll probably come around.
~
It won't be awful if he doesn't, though.
~
She doesn't have any serious relationships or anything of the sort for most of the years 2007 and 2008.
She's happy with her life- she's got friends, family and a pretty rewarding job.
She knows that it's the same for all them (including Colin).
However Angel is only human, unlike her namesake, so she can't help but feel a little jealous when Colin goes on a few dates with a member of the crew.
~
All her friends tell her to forget about it but Katie is the one who gets through to her.
'Angel, I don't care if you think that his irises are made of actual sapphires. We'll help you find some fantastic bloke who doesn't have the sense of humor of a potential psychopath and the physique of a manorexiac.'
~
(Katie likes being politically incorrect when they're in private.)
(Angel learns that the fashion industry taught Katie about the word 'manorexia'.)
(And yes, it's a sad and awful thing and they feel bad about laughing about it.)
(At least, they're not like Colin who enjoys dead baby humor.)
(Not that Angel minds it that much.)
~
There's something called status quo in the cast. It's sort of maintained until they start filming the second series. Angel is the victim of Colin and Bradley's pranks and she suffers them gladly. Colin is the creepy guy who is fascinated by spiders. Bradley is the one who makes obscure 'Buffy' references. Katie (like Anthony) is the one who likes watching them from a safe distance to amuse herself.
They're all just friends with each other.
~
It's the night of their first shooting. Bradley and Colin finished doing a scene and Angel fell on top of Bradley (which was just acting).
Bradley insists on leaving early and she can tell from his sagging eyelids that he needs the rest.
She and Colin leave soon after but not before they have come up with an idea.
~
'You know, it's past your bedtime,' she giggles into the phone.
Her head is cradled by the soft white feather pillow. She stares at the cream colored ceiling as the night breeze cools her skin.
'I'm not all that younger than you,' he insists, amused.
(She once told Katie that Colin's Irish accent was unique and enticing. Katie, of course, made fun of her and said, 'That must be why you want to kiss me because my accent turns you on.')
'Quite.' Her cheeks hurt a little from all the grinning.
'So what did you do in England before we started filming?'
She catches her breath before she begins.
~
He's flirting with her.
It's fantastic.
~
She's not like Bradley when it comes to finances so she can spare a few Euros for her mobile phone calls.
And the French telecommunication industry gives good offers.
~
They chat on the phone, often after midnight. It usually doesn't last for more than 15 minutes.
But it's still fantastic.
~
He keeps getting her tea and being 'tactile' on the set and everyone finally notices.
~
'I think Colin is planning to ask me out,' she remarks, half-jokingly.
The French air is wickedly cold on her lips.
Katie and Bradley are both clad in green and they share the same sentiment.
'I think that Colin is actually planning to kill you,' the words pour of Bradley's lips like an April shower.
'Most definitely,' Katie agrees in a humourless tone.
~
When Arthur finally gets to kiss Gwen, they all have a laugh about it.
'Katie, you've got to tell the writers that Morgana should kiss Gwen because pretty much everyone else has Maybe that's why Morgana turns evil.' Bradley looks like he just discovered something important and his bright eyes light up.
'There's some solid logic to whatever he's saying,' Colin affirms, nodding his dark-haired head.
'You're idiots, complete utter idiots.' Katie snorts and her pink lips press against the white surface of her coffee mug.
'You're missing out on something, though. You should kiss Gwen.' Colin gives Angel this brief look and his mouth curls to form an attractive smirk and his thick, black eyelashes rise momentarily to give her a half leer.
Bradley smirks and turns away.
Katie is reserved enough to keep her poker face which is really something because Angel is obviously biting her lips to prevent herself from smiling.
~
So this is what she knows about Colin.
(Colin like Quentin Tarantino films while she dislikes Tarantino's work. She tells him that the stylized violence is unrealistic and often pointless. He disagrees, violence does have a point, it certainly had a point in 'Titus'.
Angel is a drama major so she knows that she's a goner when he makes one mention of the Bard.)
They have the same taste in books (JD Salinger, Emma Donoghue, Nick Hornby etc.)
He has good taste in music and she might not really care for music but appreciates it.
(Once, she sang a few bars from 'Champs Élysées'; the cast sang a few songs that day.)
(Colin said that she had a lovely voice.)
He hates the colour purple so of course his mother buys him plenty of 'aubergine' colored shirts.
He laughed when she told him that her father named her 'Angel' despite all of her mother's protests.
~
'It'll happen any day now,' Katie's voice is soothing but she's actually teasing Angel. She brushes away a few curls of ebony hair away from her face.
(Angel isn't fay but there was something otherworldly about Katie when her green sleeve touched her black hair.)
'Whatever,' Angel rolled her eyes and she smiled.
'And don't worry, the script tells me that Colin will have to hold me but I'll make sure that there isn't any more touching than necessary.'
'Oh you harlot, however shall I trust you?'
~
There are only so many more phone calls and cups of tea that she can take before she asks him out herself.
It's been two bloody months.
~
He calls her name on set. He yells 'Angel' in a rather dramatic manner.
She imagines the sentence, 'Will you be my girlfriend?' leaving his lips.
Of course, he crushes her hopes and asks her about something incredibly mundane.
He can be a cliché sometimes- predictably unpredictable.
~
They're eating lunch and the air smells like Orangina, brown rice and beef curry. It smells delicious.
Anthony gets up from their table for an extra helping of food and Colin's eyes meet hers.
'So, what did you think was the best place to go out of all the sites we checked out on the Internet?' His voice is devoid of emotion and his face is blank.
'The small village, I guess,' she shrugs.
'All right, I know that you're free tomorrow, so are we going there or what?'
She stops poking the green skin of the lettuce that is lying on her plate.
She thinks for a second.
There is nothing to think about.
'Yes.'
It might be a trick of the light but Colin's ivory skin is radiant all of a sudden.
'Fantastic,' he says, as if reading her mind. He sips some of his orange juice. He looks down at his food and his lips may be involved in chewing but a smile lingers in his eyes.
'I was going to make room service send you that raspberry chocolate tonight.' She sighs and he looks up at her. 'Because you're going to be filming all day and you might want to come home to something nice.'
The pitch of her voice is low, the way it always is when she's flirting with someone.
Colin looks at her and mischief dances in his eyes.
A white tray hits the table and unlike Angel, Colin isn't phased by this.
'Did I miss anything?' Anthony asks, curious.
~
They have a different sort of conversation that night.
~
The next day, they pass by a pond and watch yellow ducklings swim behind their brown mother in the clear blue water.
He buys her a bouquet of red chrysanthemums from a flower shop and she buys him a cup of tea for a change.
They walk past small, white houses and green lawns.
They step on stony, gray roads, hand in hand.
Sometime during their walk, Angel tugs on Colin's hand and when he looks at her, his eyes appear to be a deeper and warmer hue of blue.
She presses her lips to his and his hand reaches out to stroke the caramel skin of her cheek.
(She doesn't feel guilty about kissing him this time, either.)
Colin tastes like tea, toothpaste and the reward for being patient.