Gabill Fluff
I was nervous. I hadn’t been sure what to say when the reporter from MTV had asked me and Gabe to do an interview together. I had actually considered turning them down for a second there, because, hell, it was live and if I screwed up, the whole country would see. But Gabe had smiled his blinding, charming smile and agreed and I hadn’t wanted to look like an asshole or a wimp in front of my (crush?) best friend, so I’d agreed too. Now, though, nearly a month later, I was in makeup, alone, without Gabe, regretting it and getting what I was sure was way too much shit applied to my face.
“Hey, um, can you guys maybe stop with the powder?” I tried to say. “I mean, I’m not that ugly, am I?” I laughed half-heartedly, and the makeup people ignored me.
“Dude, you look like a girl with all that makeup!”
I turned, recognizing the low chuckle before I even saw Gabe. Gabe Saporta was tall, dark, and handsome already; the makeup girl only applied a bit of cover-up to a miniscule spot on his chin and said he was good-it took two minutes, max, and I’d been sitting here for, I swear to God, an hour. I sighed in defeat, regretting opening my mouth when a puff of slightly-darker-than-my-own-too-pale-(according to the makeup chick)-skin-tone powder landed on my tongue, making me choke, wheeze, and fall out of my chair.
“You’re done,” I was told as I rolled around in agony.
*
“And here we are with two fabulous frontmen, who also happen to be great friends! Give it up for Gabriel Saporta of Cobra Starship and William Beckett of The Academy Is!”
I squeezed Gabe’s hand for strength before the camera panned over to us.
“Good afternoon, you two,” the female reporter said, smiling effortlessly. “How are you?”
“Pretty fucking awesome,” Gabe said, then clamped his hand over his mouth and failed at looking penitent. “Wait, I’m not supposed to cuss on live television, right?”
The reporter giggled, already charmed. “We don’t care, do we?” she asked, turning to the audience, who cheered wildly, a few people screaming ‘I LOVE YOU, GABE!’
“I love you guys too!” Gabe yelled, waving and getting another loud, appreciative roar.
“Okay, okay, let’s settle down now,” the reporter said. “We asked fans to send some questions for you guys to answer, okay?”
We both nodded, Gabe grinning.
Shuffling through the small stack of printed-off sheets of paper before her, the reporter cleared her throat. “Okay, here’s one from a girl named Sara. ‘If you guys could sing any song together, what would it be?’”
“Teenager by the Thrills,” I said automatically, pleased that we were done with pointless socializing and I could actually contribute.
“Wow, that was fast,” the reporter said, impressed. “Why?”
“Back when Gabe sang for Midtown, he had this… bordering-on-nasally sound, and I think that’s really well suited to the song, which is very melancholy. Also, the song is extremely different from Bring It, and if I got to sing with Gabe again, I’d like to try something different. We sounded great together then, and I’m hypothesizing that our voices would mingle nicely in this genre too. The lyrics to the song are amazing, as well-I mean, it’s talking about being a teenager again, and Gabe really strikes me as the kind of guy who’s just a teenager in an adult body. The song asks ‘who would break my fall’ and I trust Gabe to be there for me, and I hope he trusts me too.” I smiled, glancing at my friend, who nodded at me.
“Wow, how sweet,” the reporter said, touched, and the crowd let out an enraptured ‘aaawww!’ “How about you, Gabe?”
“Good Girls Go Bad,” Gabe said, smirking. “Bill would sing Leighton Meester’s part.”
I blushed and the reporter cleared her throat. “Okay, then. Next question. ‘Where do you guys hope to be in five years?’ And that one’s from Crystal.”
“On tour,” Gabe said.
“Definitely,” I agreed. “On tour together.”
“TAI and Cobra Starship on tour together? I’d be willing to wait five years for that,” the reporter said, and the audience cheered in agreement.
I grinned, finally getting comfortable.
“Okay, this one’s for Gabe,” she said.
Gabe put on his best serious face, which wasn’t all that serious, actually. “I’m ready.”
“It’s from Charlotte. ‘If you were stuck in a cave with one other person and that person died and you were starving, would you eat him?’”
Gabe wrinkled his nose. “Since Bill’s here, can he be the other person in the cave?”
“Are you trying to tell me something?” I asked, feigning hurt.
Gabe flashed his blinding smile at me in response. “Yeah, so if it was Bill, I would totally eat him if he died. If I was hungry enough, I might eat him alive, too. He wouldn’t miss a little meat.”
“I am not fat!” I protested.
Gabe scoffed.
“I weigh less than you!” I told him.
“That’s just ‘cause you’re shorter.”
“No, it most certainly is not!”
“Fine, be that way, skinny,” Gabe said, rolling his eyes. “Next question.”
“Okay,” the reporter said, trying not to laugh. “Umm… ‘What do you hate most about eachother?’ from Frankie.”
“He calls me fat,” I said, poking Gabe in the arm.
Everybody laughed.
“In all actuality, though?” I frowned. “He never takes anything seriously.”
“Oh…” Gabe’s grin faltered.
“Aww,” the reporter said, trying to be sympathetic but sounding delighted instead. “And what about you, Gabe?”
“I love everything about William,” Gabe told her, not even cracking a smile.
The audience let out a collective sigh.
“I’m sorry, Gabe,” I said, looking down and feeling thoroughly awful.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he replied. “No hard feelings.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He held his arms out and I gave him a quick hug.
“How cute,” the reporter stated. “Okay, let’s see… here’s one from Jackie. She asks, ‘In Gabilliam-” she pronounced it ‘GAY-bill-ee-uhm’ “-does William ever top?” She didn’t even have the decency to blush, just looked at me expectantly.
“Uhhh…” I said. “I-m-me and Gabe-We d-d-d-d-we don’t-d-d-d-” Oh, fuck. Not now. I couldn’t be stuttering now. “D-d-d… we-w-w-we…” My breathing hitched, and I was almost worried I’d start crying. “W-w-we…”
“What William means to say,” Gabe said, saving my ass, “is ‘no.’ I always top. One hundred percent of the time.” He leered at the camera, and the reporter blushed.
“Okay then! We’ll be right back after these commercials,” she giggled, and the cameraman pulled away.
“Five minute break, everybody!” someone called out, and I sighed with total relief.
Gabe got up to get a drink, and I followed him.
“Thanks for saving my ass back there,” I said after he’d finished his glass of water. (He’d tried to get a beer but nobody would give him one, saying he acted drunk enough when he wasn’t.)
He smiled at me, wiping his mouth. “You’re welcome.”
“You’re the best, Gabey-Baby,” I continued.
When he didn’t respond, I got up the nerve to plop a kiss on his cheek. He smirked.
“You have sixty seconds, everybody!” someone called. “Gabe, William, get back on set.”
As we scampered back to our seats, I swear to God, I felt Gabe smack my ass.
Date: Nov. 11, 2009
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Gabe Saporta, William Beckett.
Summary: Gabe and William do an interview together. It doesn't go as expected.