Epico - 16/?
Epico - A Sorta Fairytale: Chapter Sixteen
Authors: CJ [vylentcrymz], Emilie [emilierevan], Jen [savvy_elf] and Stacy [seemedsobright].
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder/Maggie Grace, Orlando Bloom/Evangeline Lilly
Summary: Love. Friendship. Growth. Sex. Change. Drama. But mostly just sex. Sure, we have a plot… somewhere around here (now where did I put that thing?), but when broken down into its simplest form, Epico = SEX!
Disclaimer: We don't own these people. They're real, sure, but none of these events have or ever will transpire. No offense is meant and we're making no profit from this. Title taken from the song A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos.
Authors' Notes: We the writers would like to thank ALL the readers for…well, reading, of course. And commenting, and making icons and graphics and for epico_squee in general. We love writing this story and we love that you love reading it. *BIG hugs*
Please remember: Feedback is to us as sex is to Magsian, Domilie, and Orlilly. As in, very important, and something that needs to be done 24/7.
AN2: Again, sorry for this taking so long!
Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
---
"I love you, Mags." Warm lips touched her nose and she smiled; easy and without a thought, like it'd been done a thousand times before. When really, as she saw fit to keep count when her mind was able, it'd actually only happened 998 times.
She kissed his chin. 999.
She entangled her fingers in his hair and gave him a long, luxurious kiss. 1,000.
"Love you too." The words rolled off her tongue as she sighed, opening her eyes enough to look at him. She snagged her lip between her teeth and giggled. "We should probably go out into the world today and, you know, taste the wine."
"Why would we do that?" he asked, warm breath ghosting over her cheek, blue eyes locked with brown ones.
"That's what we're here for, isn't it?" Maggie poked him in the stomach. "Or did you bring us all the way out here to Napa Valley to have sex?"
Ian smirked, lazy and in no hurry to reply as his hand touched her hip. Such a light, delicate and simple touch, but it drove her as crazy as it would've if he'd been on top of her and having his way with her. "What do you think?"
"I'd complain but the sex is pretty amazing." She pulled away from him when he moved in to kiss her, trying not to laugh as he gave her a petulant look. "I've heard I'm pretty damn good in bed."
"Yeah?" His eyebrows shot up. "From who?"
"My other boyfriends. I see them on the side when you're busy filming," Maggie said matter-of-factly and delighted in the way he could barely conceal his frustration.
"It was funny the first ten times you made that joke, but now?" He pinched her sides and a smug grin appeared on his face at her laughter. "Now I'm angry."
She didn't seem frightened, prying his hands off of her and matching his smug look with one of her own. "Oh, is this you angry? I'm shaking in my boots."
"You don't have any boots on, Mags," he ghosted his lips over hers, leaving her following him when he pulled away. "You're naked because we had lots and lots of hot sex earlier."
"Hot?" she shrugged. "I give it a seven."
"That's just mean."
"Fine, you're right. An eight."
He tickled her again, harder this time, leg slipping in between hers and his body hovering over her as he attacked. "What was the number, again?"
"Nine?" she suggested then he tickled her even harder, if it was possible, and she accidentally kneed him in the gut. He doubled over, falling off of her and burying his face in the pillow. "Oh god, Ian! I'm so sorry!"
"Jesus!" He fisted the sheets and coughed. From what she could make of his face, it was still fixed in pain.
"Hey." She ran her hand up and down his. "Are you okay? I was lying before, you're a ten. Totally a ten. An all-night ten. Ian...Ian?"
He lifted his head from the pillow suddenly and his face was red but instead of being fixed with pain, he was nearly choking on laughter. "That was pretty easy!"
"Oh!" She slapped his arm. "That's just evil."
"We've discussed this before," he sighed like it was taking too much effort to say it again. "I'm the evil genius, you're my sexy assistant."
Maggie nodded, smiling from ear to ear. "With the goddess legs?"
"Of course," he slipped his hand under the sheet to let his fingers trace a path up to her knee. "You put them to good use."
"Mmmm, if I didn't know any better--" her breath hitched when his hand slipped between her thighs. "I'd say you were implying I used them for naughty purposes."
He grinned, "It's a testament to my willpower that I don't rip your clothes off every time I see you."
"That'd be a bit of an embarrassing PDA if we were on set."
"I'd make it so that would be the last thing on your mind” He kissed her and she knew he was right.
Her lips touched his briefly as he moved over her, hands roaming all over her body and making her feel as close to an actual goddess as she could, extravagant worship and everything. "You think it'll always be like this?"
"Yep," he answered simply, moving down to kiss her neck, tongue touching the skin over her pulse point. "This is too good to ever go away. I won't let it."
"Not just us, Ian," she ran her fingers through his hair when he kissed a path down to the valley between her breasts. Her mouth dropped open in a silent gasp.
He dragged his thumb over her nipple, replying in his sweetest, softest voice. "I know what you mean, Mags. And call me an optimist but I love you too much to let it get boring. I'm not even just talking sex, either." Ian looked up and met her eyes. "Spending the rest of my life with you would be exciting enough."
"You think you'll be able to stand me for that long?" Maggie asked, still smiling. "Sure I won't drive you crazy?"
"You already do."
Smack.
"God, have you been spending more time with Emilie than usual or something?"
---
The door swung open and collided with the wall behind it unceremoniously, probably leaving a dent. Maggie and Ian shushed each other simultaneously, which only furthered their drunken snickering. Leaning on each other for support, they walked into the room. Ian lifted his foot to kick the door closed and, afterwards, lost his balance and fell back onto the bed, bringing Maggie with him.
"God damnit this is what we get." He blindly draped his arm across her, receiving a loud oomph in response when he realized he rather dumbly dropped it onto her stomach.
She didn't seem to mind, though, giggling into the sheets and fisting it, attempting to focus her eyes enough to see the time on the clock. "It's late."
Ian couldn't even tell time, but he knew for a fact that daylight was still pouring into the room. He laughed, snorting halfway through, which made him laugh even harder.
"Who knew a wine-tasting would have so much..." Maggie crawled across the bed and rested her head on his chest. "Wine."
Licking his lips, he looked down at her briefly before letting his eyes fixate on the interesting pattern on the ceiling. Maggie was further gone than he was at this point, but he knew that driving anywhere would be a bad idea. Ordering in looked like the way to go.
"Want some food?" His thumb brushed over her top lip. She caught it with her teeth and he laughed. "I was thinking a different mammal. Hairier, dumber and raised for its meat."
"Dom?"
Ian shook his head, disgusted by the thought. "I'd like to go a day without someone talking about Dom's--"
"The thought's disturbing, isn't it?" Maggie snickered. "Though, from what Emilie's said, he knows how to use it--"
"Seriously, can we stop?"
"Aw." She lifted her head and gave his neck a sloppy kiss. "This is our weekend away, I get it. You want some Ian-love. Ian love all around, right?"
"Do you even know what you're talking about, Mags?"
"...No."
"Want me to order some food and water so we can sober up a bit?"
"Mmmm, food." She rubbed her stomach. "My stomach's growling."
Ian grinned. "No, that's mine."
A long pause. "Oh. Well, still. I'm hungry. Food, please?"
"Yeah, just a second." He reached across the bed for the supplied phone on the side-table. Unfortunately, with a few drinks in him, his depth perception sucked; the phone didn't have a chance. "Shit, I knocked the phone off."
"Pick it up."
"Mmm, in a minute." He toed off his shoes and let out a long breath. The beds in the Inn were insanely comforting. A part of him wanted to see if he could fit one in Maggie's purse. The frighteningly huge bag certainly seemed like it could hold a lot, maybe it could hold a California King mattress? "So comfortable..."
A knock at the door sounded and Maggie's head perked up. "Is that our food?"
Humoring her, Ian tried to make it sound like he thought so too as he got up and padded across the polished wooden floor to the door. One of the employees greeted him with a bright smile, holding out Maggie's purse.
"Ms. Grace forgot it in the courtyard, thankfully someone noticed and delivered it to the front desk..." the man's eyes drifted to the phone laying on the floor. "Ah, I see you've taken 'Do Not Disturb' into your own hands?"
"Yeah, sorry," Ian took the purse. "Kind of knocked it off. Thanks for bringing the purse up."
"That and..." He pointed to the phone. "Someone's trying to get a hold of you, Mr. Somerhalder. They told me on my way up to pass on the information. The person insists he knows you."
Great. This was supposed to be his and Maggie's vacation. "Do you know the name?"
"A..." he looked at the slip in his hands. "Mr. Abrams?"
Ian rubbed the back of his neck and let himself find the humor in it, "Maybe I'm getting a raise or something. Thanks."
"Where's the food?" Maggie inquired as he walked over and set the phone back on the side table.
"It's coming," he grinned, reaching out and messing her hair up, much to her drunken chagrin. The phone immediately started ringing the second after he put it on the base. "J.J.'s calling to see if I've gotten rid of all your brain cells yet."
"Have you?"
He shoved his hand in front of her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Four?" He was holding up two.
"Yeah, I think I've gotten the job done." Before she could protest, he answered the phone and pressed a finger to her lips. "Hello?"
"Ian? Hey, it's--" the man stuttered over it for a moment; Ian had no problem imagining the man in his office with piles of notes and script changes weighing him down. "It's J.J. How’re you doing? You doing okay?"
Ian laughed, "I'm doing great. You go another night without sleep working on next week's script?"
"Well, that's actually what I was calling you about."
"Next week's script?"
"No, it's just..." J.J. sighed. "It's a direction we're going in, really. I want you to know, this--Damon and I had a hard time making this decision."
"You've already made Boone commit faux-incest with Shannon, I'm sure whatever you've got coming--"
J.J. cut him off as politely as he could, and all Ian could do was listen at this point. The words...his stomach flipped and every ounce of alcohol he'd consumed in the past few hours was completely gone; he’d never been more sober in his life. He was sure there was sincerity behind them--J.J. wasn't taking this lightly--but all his brain could allow to be filtered were specific words, picked out from the sentences. Tension. Dramatic purposes. Sacrifice.
Death.
Entertainment shows, interviewers, everyone had been calling the show a success, had been asking them how they felt to be on such an amazing show. Whenever the topic of character death came up, everyone's reaction was basically the same. The show had to keep a sense of reality to it, and that meant death; they'd deal with their own when it happened. No point in wracking their brains over it too much, right?
It was easy to brush it off when it wasn't happening to you.
"So um..." Maggie's fingers trailed up his back and his eyes closed. He'd met her on the set. If it hadn't been for the show that wouldn't have ever happened. God damnit. "What--no. I mean...when?"
The answer wasn't what he wanted. A part of him still thought that this was all some sick joke and that J.J. would burst out laughing and tell him he was on speakerphone and Dom had set up the whole thing. Things would be a lot easier if that was true; he'd just kick Dom's ass and be done with.
It wasn't going to happen tomorrow. That was the only silver lining. His stomach was still tied in knots, mind racked on it. Selfishly, he wondered why it had to happen to him. But then the thought of it being someone--anyone--else wandered into his mind and he felt just as worse. The fact that he wouldn't be flying back to Hawaii to immediately shoot his character's death seat was certainly a relief, but the fact that eventually--and not just the 'one of these days...' kind of eventually, the 'any week now' eventually--he'd have to?
"Are you being let in on some kind of super-secret plot point?" Her breath coasted across the back of his neck as her hands slipped under his shirt. "Because you know I'm good at getting you to tell me..."
His jaw clenched when J.J. started to apologize, reiterating the reasons behind the decision, that it just wasn't random, that Boone's death had a purpose. All he wanted to do was hang up but his mother had taught him well growing up and he kept himself from punching the off button and throwing it against the wall.
Didn't matter how drunk she was, Maggie took notice to the way his hands were squeezing the phone so tight it was nearly crushed from the grip. "Ian...?"
---
Ian didn't sleep that night; not that he could've if he tried, Maggie's arms were wrapped around him so tight he may have suffocated to death in his sleep. She wasn't planning on letting go, he was pretty sure she'd still be attached to him while he took a shower and even when they went through security at the airport.
Staring at the ceiling, he stroked her arm absently and swallowed. His eyes were watering but he convinced himself it was because he hadn't blinked in over a minute. "I don't wanna leave, Mags."
She exhaled shakily, but didn't say anything.
"I know I'm being morbid, it's not like anyone's dead. Well...not anyone real."
"Ian." He didn't know what to approach first when it came to what he heard in her voice. Too many things. She'd been angrier than he had when he told her what was going to happen. If he remembered correctly, the words 'shove,' 'typewriter,' and 'ass' had shared space in a sentence. When he told her J.J. didn't use a typewriter, she merely glared at him for a moment before returning to coming up with highly believable threats toward the writing staff's lives. Never had someone offering to use violence on people been so comforting. It didn't take it all away but, as he tried to calm her down, it'd taken his mind off it for a few minutes at least.
But now, with her pressing a soft kiss to his chest, still holding onto him for dear life, he was sure he heard a crack in her voice. She couldn't let being angry distract her from the fact that she was sad for too long; and it sounded like she was just realizing that.
"What a great way to end the weekend, right?" He tried to joke again but it didn't help the situation at all. Kissing the top of Maggie's head, he ran his finger over the top of her hand, sighing. "This doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything," she rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. "You won't be on the show anymore, Ian. You...we won't wake up in the morning and go to work together anymore."
"I'm not talking about that." He moved so that he was on his side, eyes locked with hers. They were glazed over as he spoke, as if what he was saying was all that was on his mind at this point. Maggie didn't have a problem believing that. "I can kill myself over this for the next ten years of my life, I really can. People always tell me this show was the best damn thing to ever happen to me. But that's not it. As crappy as it is for this to happen I...well, I still have you."
Her lips curled up into a smile; nothing near her usual bright smirk but it was a start. "Cheesy line but I believe you."
He sighed against her forehead, eyes drifting to look past her and out the window. He really didn't want to leave, which was enough of a sign in and of itself. Was it so bad that he didn't even want to go back to Hawaii?
"Our flight's in a few hours," she reluctantly told him.
"I know." He kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her. It was an awkward position, with her already holding onto him, but he didn't care. "Can we just...stay here? For a few more minutes?"
---
"Okay. So." Dom took in a deep, steadying breath, pointedly ignoring the snickering from the others watching him get ready to implode. "I understand the whole issue about illegally downloading and how it's wrong--"
"Hence it being called 'illegal'," Orlando murmured behind his coffee cup, arm wrapped comfortably around Evi's waist.
"I do, I really do." He looked to Emilie, who was nodding along to appease him. "But...if they don't want you to illegally download music then why the hell do they make it so bloody fucking hard to open the cases?"
He made a gesture with the CD case that caused everyone to duck and cover with the exception of Emilie, whose hand shot out to snatch it from his without a second thought. "If you break the CD, then you're screwed either way."
"You're telling me violence isn't the answer?" he looked at her, surprised. "You?"
Her eyes narrowed, "Do you want me to say violence is necessary?"
Dom didn't flinch, seeing straight through her bluff. His fingers grabbed onto her sides and pulled her onto his lap, delighting in her halfhearted attempts to slap his hands away. He grinned to the others. "Isn't it cute when she tries to act like she can--"
Her nail dug into his shoulder and he yelped, nearly dropping her. Orlando choked on his coffee and Evi didn't even bother to hide her laughter as Dom rubbed at the sensitive spot.
"Isn't it cute when Dom forgets Emilie can kick his arse?"
Smile wiped from his face, Dom glanced up at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Wot's taking them so long, you think?"
Emilie shrugged, "I have no idea. Maggie was pretty quiet on the phone and she insisted they didn't need to get picked up at the airport."
"You think there's something going on?" Evi stirred her tea. "Maybe she's...pregnant?"
Shaking his head, Orlando tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "She's a bit quiet on the phone and you lot start thinking there's something big going on. Paranoid, all of you."
"You're one to talk about being paranoid," Emilie muttered under her breath, and when she saw the look on Orlando's face--a mixture of hurt and insult before realizing she was basically in the right--she reached out and squeezed his arm comfortingly. "Sorry."
"No worries," he offered a smile to her and looked back down at his nearly-gone coffee, finding Evi’s hand and squeezing it gently.
"Maybe!" Dom lifted his finger up, a brilliant idea hitting him. Orlando and Evi visibly groaned. "Maybe she is pregnant, but with another man's baby. Terry's, perhaps?"
Emilie scoffed, "What in God's name makes you think she'd ever cheat on Ian? And why with Terry?"
He raised his eyebrows at her. "You sound surprised, luv. Do you not find Terry attractive?"
"Oh, I do," she nodded vigorously, spurred on by the prodding look Evi gave her. She held her hands out and made exaggerated gestures with them. "There's just...something about that man. He's got this raw sexuality about him that I can't get enough of. I actually had a dream the other night--"
"Okay, okay," Dom stopped her. "I know I started it but now it's freaking me out."
Orlando stood up and took all the empty cups into his hands, balancing them on his way into the kitchen. "How about we stop talking about pregnancy and raw sexuality. Let's talk about... kittens."
Emilie's eyes lit up at the word kittens and she poked Dom in the arm, "We should get a kitten. No! A puppy!"
He gave her a nod, smiling fakely. It dropped off his face a second later when she turned away and he glared at Orlando. "Look what you've done now."
"What?" He tried to act as innocent as possible. "Don’t you like puppies, Dom?"
"Of course I do," he defended himself. "S'just...sometimes they don't like me much."
Evi looked surprised, "Weird, I would've thought you'd get along great with dogs. You have a lot--"
"--in common with them, ha ha ha."
"Someone's a bit testy today." Emilie laughed and kissed the top of his head, arm wrapping around his neck to pull him closer. Dom had no problem obliging, burying his face in her neck.
"Didn't get much sleep last night."
Evi made a face. "Too much information."
"Oh, come on." Emilie blushed and shook her head. "We just watched a movie."
"Yeah, a flick, that was all. Just a movie..." Dom grinned against her neck. "Of ourselves."
"Orlando!" Evi called for her boyfriend, who made a noise in the kitchen. "Why'd you leave me alone with these two?"
Emilie shook her head. "Don't listen to him, he's just being--"
"Dom?" Evi supplied.
"Pretty much." Emilie grinned at her boyfriend. "Can't help but love him, no matter how much of a ponce he is half the time."
He didn't seem to bother arguing, arm resting on the back of the couch. "I prefer ravishable ponce, actually. But whatever floats your boat, luv."
The doorbell rang and everybody's heads turned to look at the door. Dom rolled his eyes, "How many times do I have to tell you guys it's alright to knock once and just come on in."
"Well, we'd have no problem doing that if we didn't end up walking in on you guys..." Evi cleared her throat uncomfortably as she motioned to Dom and Emilie. "Doing stuff."
Emilie gasped, offended. "It was only once!"
"Which is one time too many, I'm sorry."
Hopping over the back of the couch, Dom skipped to the front door and swung it open. His bright beam of a smile was such a startling contrast to the strained smiles Maggie and Ian had on their faces that he actually felt his good mood falter just by looking at them.
"Hey guys, wot's...?" He didn't really know what to ask, stepping aside and letting them walk on in. "You look like you just saw Santa Claus naked or something."
"No, that's not it," Ian walked into the living room where Evi and Emilie sat, holding onto Maggie's hand for dear life. "Guys, um...well, there's something I need to tell you."
Evi looked to Orlando when he sat on the arm of the couch next to her. "See? We're not paranoid."
Emilie looked from Ian to Maggie, worry in her voice, "What's going on?"
Ian sat down in the chair across from them, Maggie sitting on the arm beside him and grabbing his hand, squeezing it. He tried to keep his expression as unreadable as possible; if only to try and delay what he was about to say a few seconds more.
The tension and the silence filling the room was suffocating enough, and Emilie couldn't rein her patience enough to wait more than a few moments. When he didn't say anything, still trying to figure out exactly how to put it, she couldn't help herself: "Seriously, what's going on?"
"I got a call," Ian blurted out, rubbing the back of his neck, not looking at anyone longer than a momentary glance. Staring down at the carpet made it a little easier. "I uh...it looks like--it looks like I'm going to be leaving the show."
"But," Dom immediately said, looking for all the world like he didn't believe him. Or didn't want to. A weak smile appeared on his face as he grasped onto the idea that this was all just some stupid joke. "You're just fucking with us, yeah?"
Emilie's hand rested on his, "Dom..."
He turned to her, smile still desperately hanging on. "He's just taking the piss, Em. S'all it is."
Ignoring Dom, not out of inconsideration for him but merely because her attention was fully on Ian--who looked like all he hadn't slept in ages--Evi tried to keep an even voice as she approached the topic. "When did you...?"
"Yesterday. J.J. called and told me." Ian cast a glance up at Maggie. "I needed a day to...you know. Figure some stuff out."
Evi nodded, brow creased and her lips turned downward as she looked at him. What was there to say?
"So he just...called you?" Dom's attitude shifted startlingly quick in the span of a second, the desperate smile wiped off his face and replaced by a deep scowl. "Bastard didn't have the bollocks to tell you face-to-face?"
"Dom!" Emilie warned him in a firmer voice than before, squeezing his hand to the point of almost breaking some bones. "Don't, alright?"
Ian nervously scratched at his chin, measuring everyone's reactions in the glimpses of them he managed. "I uh...I don't think I could've handled being called into his office, to tell you the truth."
Maggie bit down hard to keep herself from voicing her agreement with Dom, knowing that it wouldn't help the situation much.
"So..." Orlando had just as hard of a time picking out the right words as Evi did, but felt as if he needed to say something, anything. "What the bloody hell is going to happen? Do you even know?"
Shaking his head, Ian swallowed. "No. They just made the decision and they’re writing the script now."
"Wait," Evi straightened up a little. "They're writing it now? That--that means the episode is going to be soon. That can't be right."
"Six or seven episodes from now." Ian tried to make light of the situation and held his hand up to cross his fingers for everyone to see. "I'm hoping for lucky number seven."
Nobody laughed, the information still being processed in their heads. Everybody was still; Dom's eyes were darting everywhere, Emilie was still crushing his hand but not to keep him quiet, and Evi and Orlando were trying to keep as calm as possible.
"I need a drink," Maggie said suddenly, voice barely audible as she stood up and walked out of the room.
Ian didn't waste a moment in getting up to follow her. He pushed open the door and saw her shaking hands holding a bottle of Jack Daniels. "Mags..."
"Don't call me that," she warned him, tears streaking down her cheeks. "God damnit, Ian."
"Hey," he pulled the bottle from her grasp and put it behind him, grabbing her arms and holding her still. "You okay? I thought when we talked about this you..."
"Why do you have to be so damn strong about this?" She shook her head, contradicting herself by pushing and pulling at him.
Ian laughed, like the idea was funny. "Strong? You think I'm being strong about this, Mags? This is killing me."
She shook her head again, swiping away her tears. "I told you not to call me that. This isn't the time--Fuck, Ian, I don't care if you say this is killing you, you're not..."
"Not what?"
"You're not angry enough." She hit his arm to make her point but it had no affect on him, he didn't move an inch. "I know you can tell yourself this is just a job but we all know it's more than that. Without this show we wouldn't have...we wouldn't have met. I know I said I believed you but...God! We work with each other in Hawaii and we couldn't be happier. What's going to happen when you leave the show, Ian? Do you even know?"
"I haven't stopped thinking about it," he said to her in as strong a voice as he could imagine. He was pretty sure the others were talking in the living room, finally, but he didn't care at this point. His focus was entirely on Maggie and how upset she was. "You think it doesn't scare the shit out of me how much things are going to change? Things are going to be hard but the world isn't going to end, that's what I'm telling myself right now. I'm not dying. And being alive means I can try to keep my life as perfect as it is now. That's what I'm shooting for here, Mags. I can get pissed off and resentful but..."
His hand drifted over her cheek and when she looked into his eyes it was like she could see him deciding something. Whatever it was, it caused her mouth to go a little dry.
"I'm not going to let it ruin my life." The smile that curled at the corner of his lips was the first genuine one he'd had since the phone call. "I don't want you to not be okay with this, Mags. Tell me what I can do, please."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment. "Just don't leave me, alright?"
---
"Evangeline."
If she'd heard him say her name, she barely acknowledged it. Orlando had been on the phone with her for the past ten minutes, but neither said much up until that point. Because she was on break, Orlando decided to give her a call, but Evi seemed to be too distracted with watching every single scene Ian would still be in from that day onward. It was the little things that got to her; how her and Ian always managed to meet each other at the snack table around noon to talk about anything, everything. It was such a natural thing to happen that she didn't realize how much she was going to miss it until now.
"Princess..." Orlando made his voice a little louder, hoping to catch her attention.
"Yeah?" she murmured, absently burying her feet in sand as she watched Ian do a scene with Maggie. "Orlando... you should put the phone down. It's a waste of money. We aren't even saying anything."
Orlando smiled a little and even shook his head, forgetting how she couldn't see him, anyways. "I've been counting your breaths, love. S'good enough for me." He knew she smiled then. He just sensed it. "I honestly don't see why I can't be there in person, though. It would save us money from the phone bill."
"Gas prices are high," she managed to say with an emotionless chuckle. "And the producers won't let you on set anymore. I told Damon you knew about what was going to happen with Ian, but they're persistent," Evi explained, sighing. "Ian's filming right now... they're doing so great. It makes you wonder why they have to make him leave, though, y'know? They're already easing into it, Orlando. The next few weeks are going to be the absolute worst."
Though he understood how she felt, Orlando jokingly scoffed. "Yes, of course they're going to be the worst. Especially since I just told you this morning that I was going to fly out almost every weekend from this point on to visit you."
"You know that wasn't what I meant."
"I know, love. But... you really shouldn't be sad like this. Everything happens for a reason. Ian's already got some great opportunities lined up for him. And there's no doubt that he'd visit often. Maggie's there, for chrissake."
"You're right, I know," she nodded, "but still. It's just..."
"Evi! Scene in ten minutes!"
"Alright!" she yelled back, standing up and running back towards her trailer. "I've gotta go, Orlando. See you in a few hours?"
"Hurry home, okay? You're going to feel a lot better once you're with me again." Orlando laughed at his own statement, nearly jumping out of his seat when the house phone rang.
He knew he should have expected it, since he told them to call back when they confirmed his request, but still...
"Just... come home soon, Evangeline."
Ignoring how oddly out-of-character his sudden pleas were, Evi smiled a little, shooing away a young set assistant that just ran up to her who was motioning wildly towards the beach and the director. "I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? I wouldn't want to waste these valuable weekends with you, after all."
---
It was always easy to tell when Evi was getting home from work. Orlando could hear her tires squeal as she pulled into the driveway all the way from his perch on the living room couch at the back of the house.
“Finally,” he muttered, abandoning the couch to meet her at the front door. He’d spent all day planning a surprise outing for her, to take her mind off the news about Ian’s departure from the cast, and once that was set up all he could do was sit around and wait impatiently for her to come home. She’d called before leaving set to let him know she was on his way, and he’d twiddled his thumbs in the living room, eager and excited, until she arrived.
“Sorry I’m late,” she sighed as soon as she came through the front door and found him waiting in the entrance hall. Without saying anything Orlando pulled the strap of her messenger bag over her head and dropped it on the floor, pulling her in for a tight hug.
“Missed you,” he murmured against her hair, and felt her smile against his neck. “Was traffic bad?”
She nodded. “There was this big detour, I had to go all the way around this street fair thing they were having.”
Orlando grinned, rubbing her back a few times before he pulled back enough to find her lips and kiss her softly. “Got a surprise for you, princess.”
“Oh yeah?” Evi smiled. “Does it involve a long, hot shower, and then maybe a big, comfy bed? I think that’s about all the excitement I can handle tonight.”
“We’ll see about that.” Orlando turned her around and put his hands on her shoulders, steering her into her bedroom. “Take your hot shower and get dressed. I’m taking you out.”
“Out?” Evi groaned, putting her hands against the doorway of the bathroom to stop him. Turning around, she put her arms around his neck and made a face. “Wouldn’t you rather stay in? Relax?” She leaned in and nuzzled his neck. “I can promise you it won’t be boring.”
“I know,” he laughed, pulling her arms down and walking her backwards into the bathroom. “But I won’t let you distract me. I went through a lot of trouble to set this up.”
“Set what up?” she asked.
Orlando pursed his lips and shook his head, clearly not willing to answer that. He pushed back the shower curtain and turned the tap on to let the water get hot before he faced her again, motioning for her to put her arms up. Once she obeyed he pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.
“I’m capable of undressing myself, you know,” she laughed, making no move to stop him when he reached around to unhook her bra.
“I know that,” he assured her, unbuttoning her shorts and pushing those to the floor. Grinning, he put his hands on her hips and pressed his forehead to hers. “But it’s been about sixteen hours since I’ve seen you naked, and I didn’t want to forget what it was like.”
“Nice excuse.” She grinned and kissed him as he pulled her panties off, subsequently giving her a gentle push toward the shower. Evi pouted when he did this, running her finger up his forearm and tugging lightly at his sleeve. “What, all that and I still have to shower alone?”
He smiled, guiding her under the spray before he pulled the curtain closed. “Put on something comfortable when you get out and meet me in the living room in twenty minutes. Don’t be late!”
Shaking her head, Evi reached for the shampoo and washed her hair quickly, eager to be done showering. She may not have admitted it, but she more than wondered what Orlando had planned, and curiosity made her hurry. Eighteen minutes later she was showered, dried, dressed, and walking into the living room.
“Okay, Bloom, spill the beans.” She put her hands on her hips, standing directly in front of him. Evi noted the fact that Orlando was now dressed in dark jeans, a crisp, white button-down shirt, and a leather jacket. “What’s your big plan?”
He grinned at her from his seat on the couch. “Not gonna tell you. Where are your car keys? We should get going.”
Orlando stood up and attempted to walk past her only to have her grab his arm, halting him. “Nuh-uh. I’m not going anywhere until I know what scheme you’ve cooked up.”
“What, don’t you trust me?” Orlando pouted, his lower lip sticking way out while he adopted his best puppy dog expression. He broke into a laugh when Evi tweaked his nose and sighed, defeated. “Alright, okay, I’ll tell you. Tonight, Miss Lilly, I am whisking you off to a fun-filled night at the local carnival.”
“You’re taking me to a what?” Evi broke into a laugh, covering her mouth to stifle the sound.
“Don’t laugh, it’s going to be fun!” At Evi’s look, Orlando grabbed both her hands and swung them back and forth before twining their fingers together and leaning in until they were forehead-to-forehead. “Have I ever disappointed you in the past? Date-wise, I mean, because we all remember my major fuck-up. Which, by the way, I will never stop trying to make up to you.”
A soft kiss was Evi’s only response to that. “No, your dates have never disappointed me, but you’ve never taken me to a carnival before.”
“You’re just being difficult because you don’t want to go out because you’re being mopey,” Orlando accused.
“I’m not mopey.” Evi pulled her hands out of his and crossed her arms over her chest, lower lip sticking out. “Ian and I are just really close, y’know? We may not have a lot of scenes together so it doesn’t show on TV… but really. It’s going to be so different without him around…”
She trailed off when she realized that she’d just proven his point. “I assure you, princess, you’re being quite mopey,” Orlando laughed. I know you’re upset about Ian, and yes, losing a cast mate is horrible. But he’s still going to be around, love.” He paused to touch his finger to her lips. “So I want to turn that frown upside down!”
“You’re such a cheeseball.” Evi grinned as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her slowly.
“C’mon. No worrying about work tonight, no talking about depressing things like characters dying or anything like that.” Orlando tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her forehead. “I didn’t arrange for us to have the carnival to ourselves for four hours for nothing, alright?”
“To ourselves?” Evi repeated in disbelief.
Orlando pulled her toward the door. “Keys?”
“Orlando, to ourselves?”
“Thanks a lot!” He found them sitting on a table near her front door with no help from her at all and pulled her to the car, opening the passenger door for her and helping her in.
“Orlando.” She put her hand on his arm, her eyes still wide with surprise. “To ourselves?”
Orlando shrugged, as if it were normal the most natural thing in the world for him to do things like this for her. “Like I said, Evangeline. Have I ever disappointed you before?”
---
“Seriously, Evangeline?”
Evi shook her head vehemently, trying to hide her grin. “Not at all, Orlando. You have to prove your worth.”
He looked at her, then at the bull’s-eye yards away he had to hit. It was easy enough, sure. But Evi chanced upon the one time Orlando was shooting a modern-day film; he hadn’t trained with a bow and arrow in ages.
She crossed her arms and began tapping her foot with mock impatience, and Orlando knew he had to do it once the man assisting them started to laugh at him. He did all this to cheer Evi up, after all. Taking the bow and suction-cup arrow in hand, Orlando tried to get a feel for it, aiming at the target and taking a deep breath.
“I’m doing this because I love you,” he muttered, glancing at her for a moment before taking final aim. A moment passed, and, upon closing his eyes, Orlando let the arrow fly; it hit the target with a loud thwump.
Setting the bow down, Orlando bit his lip, taking a few moments before he opened his eyes to see the result of his shot.
“Excellent aim, sir. You’ve still got it in you, then,” the man chuckled, taking the bow from Orlando as he motioned to the bull’s-eye Orlando had hit perfectly. With his remark, there was no questioning the fact that the man knew exactly who they were. He handed Orlando a large stuffed toy. “Here’s your prize.”
Orlando looked at the bear in his hands and grinned, turning around to face Evi and give her the bear. “For you, princess,” he said, bowing with a flourish.
The bear (and Orlando) had the most adorable expression, and its white shirt had a simple, cheesy, yet utterly Orlando message for her:
I love you BEARy much!
“Cute,” Evi laughed, tugging on his hand and making him stand back upright as she took the stuffed toy in her arms. All her teasing aside, Evi truly did appreciate this surprise Orlando had made for her. No matter how temporary, it served its purpose of cheering her up and helping her feel better. Orlando always seemed capable of doing that.
They walked away from that stall and strolled through the street fair, enjoying the privacy and the cool night breeze. “Happy?” Orlando asked, glancing at her and gauging her feelings. It amused her that after everything he’d do for her, he was never sure if she absolutely liked it or not. He always aimed for nothing short of perfection.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He arched an eyebrow at her response and she stopped walking, making him do the same. Without so much as a warning, Evi pulled him in for a deep kiss; never mind that they were standing right in the center of a street carnival.
Pulling back, she looked into his eyes, smiling. “I’m at a carnival for the first time in my life. I’ve consumed cotton candy, ice cream, two corn dogs, and a large cup of iced tea over the past two and a half hours. I’ve won every game we’ve played - I’m sure you rigged them somehow. And, most importantly, I’ve spent all this time here because I have you - my very own Elf-with-shiny-longbow.”
Evi’s eyes glinted with amusement at her last remark. Orlando pressed his lips to the spot between her eyes - whispering I love you as he did so. Of course, everything she’d said symbolically stood for the more important fact that they’d managed to work past a test on their relationship, and she smiled, knowing he understood.
“Again, Orlando,” she murmured, “why wouldn’t I be happy?”
He sighed, looking down at her, one word to describe the entire moment. Perfect.
"And you?" She didn't need to ask, already knowing the answer, but certainly felt the need to. "Are you happy?"
"I'm a pretty easy man, Evangeline," he grinned. "As long as you're happy, so am I."
"Good," she smirked, nose scrunching up as they continued to stroll down the path, observing some of the booths and trying to figure out which one to go to next. A few yards away from a small station where you could make your own candle, Evi's phone started to ring. Immediately, she apologized, "If it's work I'll ignore it but I'm waiting for a call from..."
Her voice drifted off as she reached into her back-pocket. She saw a picture of Emilie on the screen--the Aussie had insisted Evi utilize her photo-ID feature on her--and shushed Orlando, even if he hadn't been saying a word. Flipping the phone open, she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Yeah?"
Orlando couldn't help but laugh, "Why're you whispering, love?"
"Shh! The one good thing that could come out of this entire situation needs to be handled accordingly!" Evi immediately shut her mouth and shook her head to whatever Emilie was saying on the other end of the line. "Right. Sorry. Not going to mention it in public. Is everything alright, though? The plan going forward?"
Emilie's voice was in the same vehement whisper, as if paranoid some secret agent was listening in on her conversation, "Yes, going forward. Does Orlando remember his part?"
"Orlando, do you remember your part in the plan?" Evi asked him under her breath.
"My part in what plan?" Orlando's brow furrowed questioningly before he grinned from ear to ear, belying his words.
"He remembers."
"Good, that's great. If we all stick to our jobs then it'll work out perfectly."
Evi nodded, smiling lightly. This was taking to extremes when it came to making the best out of an awful situation. But they were just the cronies, doing their job. "And Dom?"
"Has no idea."
"Great," Evi squeezed her stuffed animal and smiled up at Orlando. "See you later then?"
Emilie coughed twice, signaling that she was no longer alone. "So you bring over the cherry tomatoes, half a cup of butter and I'll provide the baking soda, olive oil and--okay, good, the coast is clear."
"Em?"
"Yeah?"
"What the hell were we going to make?"
"Just shut it, make sure Orlando remembers his part, don't let anyone in on what's happening, especially Dom and...well, you know who else. Screw this up and I promise you--"
"Heads will roll?" She'd heard the line from when they gathered to talk about it the other night. She couldn't help but roll her eyes, even if she did somewhat believe the threat. This had to go perfectly. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine, Emilie. If you strain yourself too much you might give yourself an aneurysm."
Emilie sighed, "I know, I know. Just...keep to the plan."
"Keep to the plan," Evi nodded. "Got it."
They wished each other luck and the phone call was over with. Orlando was still smiling, amused by the entire situation. "See? Things are already getting better, yeah?"
Evi pointed a finger at him, even if she was laughing, "You're having too much fun with this."
"What?" he held his hands up defensively. "Isn't that the point?"
"No!" she slipped her phone back into her pocket and they returned to ambling down the street. "The point is...well, you should know what the point is at this...point."
"Say point some more," he teased and she just laughed. "You have to admit, this is exactly what you need."
Evi ran her fingers along the impossibly-soft top of the bears head, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. If everything goes right, this could--this will be great. God, just thinking about it--"
"Then don't," he suggested, making it sound so easy. "Forget about the plan for today and just...enjoy yourself."
Her arm looped with his and she stood on her tip-toes, giving him a sweet kiss. "Don't worry, I am."
TBC...
Authors: CJ [vylentcrymz], Emilie [emilierevan], Jen [savvy_elf] and Stacy [seemedsobright].
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder/Maggie Grace, Orlando Bloom/Evangeline Lilly
Summary: Love. Friendship. Growth. Sex. Change. Drama. But mostly just sex. Sure, we have a plot… somewhere around here (now where did I put that thing?), but when broken down into its simplest form, Epico = SEX!
Disclaimer: We don't own these people. They're real, sure, but none of these events have or ever will transpire. No offense is meant and we're making no profit from this. Title taken from the song A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos.
Authors' Notes: We the writers would like to thank ALL the readers for…well, reading, of course. And commenting, and making icons and graphics and for epico_squee in general. We love writing this story and we love that you love reading it. *BIG hugs*
Please remember: Feedback is to us as sex is to Magsian, Domilie, and Orlilly. As in, very important, and something that needs to be done 24/7.
AN2: Again, sorry for this taking so long!
Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
---
"I love you, Mags." Warm lips touched her nose and she smiled; easy and without a thought, like it'd been done a thousand times before. When really, as she saw fit to keep count when her mind was able, it'd actually only happened 998 times.
She kissed his chin. 999.
She entangled her fingers in his hair and gave him a long, luxurious kiss. 1,000.
"Love you too." The words rolled off her tongue as she sighed, opening her eyes enough to look at him. She snagged her lip between her teeth and giggled. "We should probably go out into the world today and, you know, taste the wine."
"Why would we do that?" he asked, warm breath ghosting over her cheek, blue eyes locked with brown ones.
"That's what we're here for, isn't it?" Maggie poked him in the stomach. "Or did you bring us all the way out here to Napa Valley to have sex?"
Ian smirked, lazy and in no hurry to reply as his hand touched her hip. Such a light, delicate and simple touch, but it drove her as crazy as it would've if he'd been on top of her and having his way with her. "What do you think?"
"I'd complain but the sex is pretty amazing." She pulled away from him when he moved in to kiss her, trying not to laugh as he gave her a petulant look. "I've heard I'm pretty damn good in bed."
"Yeah?" His eyebrows shot up. "From who?"
"My other boyfriends. I see them on the side when you're busy filming," Maggie said matter-of-factly and delighted in the way he could barely conceal his frustration.
"It was funny the first ten times you made that joke, but now?" He pinched her sides and a smug grin appeared on his face at her laughter. "Now I'm angry."
She didn't seem frightened, prying his hands off of her and matching his smug look with one of her own. "Oh, is this you angry? I'm shaking in my boots."
"You don't have any boots on, Mags," he ghosted his lips over hers, leaving her following him when he pulled away. "You're naked because we had lots and lots of hot sex earlier."
"Hot?" she shrugged. "I give it a seven."
"That's just mean."
"Fine, you're right. An eight."
He tickled her again, harder this time, leg slipping in between hers and his body hovering over her as he attacked. "What was the number, again?"
"Nine?" she suggested then he tickled her even harder, if it was possible, and she accidentally kneed him in the gut. He doubled over, falling off of her and burying his face in the pillow. "Oh god, Ian! I'm so sorry!"
"Jesus!" He fisted the sheets and coughed. From what she could make of his face, it was still fixed in pain.
"Hey." She ran her hand up and down his. "Are you okay? I was lying before, you're a ten. Totally a ten. An all-night ten. Ian...Ian?"
He lifted his head from the pillow suddenly and his face was red but instead of being fixed with pain, he was nearly choking on laughter. "That was pretty easy!"
"Oh!" She slapped his arm. "That's just evil."
"We've discussed this before," he sighed like it was taking too much effort to say it again. "I'm the evil genius, you're my sexy assistant."
Maggie nodded, smiling from ear to ear. "With the goddess legs?"
"Of course," he slipped his hand under the sheet to let his fingers trace a path up to her knee. "You put them to good use."
"Mmmm, if I didn't know any better--" her breath hitched when his hand slipped between her thighs. "I'd say you were implying I used them for naughty purposes."
He grinned, "It's a testament to my willpower that I don't rip your clothes off every time I see you."
"That'd be a bit of an embarrassing PDA if we were on set."
"I'd make it so that would be the last thing on your mind” He kissed her and she knew he was right.
Her lips touched his briefly as he moved over her, hands roaming all over her body and making her feel as close to an actual goddess as she could, extravagant worship and everything. "You think it'll always be like this?"
"Yep," he answered simply, moving down to kiss her neck, tongue touching the skin over her pulse point. "This is too good to ever go away. I won't let it."
"Not just us, Ian," she ran her fingers through his hair when he kissed a path down to the valley between her breasts. Her mouth dropped open in a silent gasp.
He dragged his thumb over her nipple, replying in his sweetest, softest voice. "I know what you mean, Mags. And call me an optimist but I love you too much to let it get boring. I'm not even just talking sex, either." Ian looked up and met her eyes. "Spending the rest of my life with you would be exciting enough."
"You think you'll be able to stand me for that long?" Maggie asked, still smiling. "Sure I won't drive you crazy?"
"You already do."
Smack.
"God, have you been spending more time with Emilie than usual or something?"
---
The door swung open and collided with the wall behind it unceremoniously, probably leaving a dent. Maggie and Ian shushed each other simultaneously, which only furthered their drunken snickering. Leaning on each other for support, they walked into the room. Ian lifted his foot to kick the door closed and, afterwards, lost his balance and fell back onto the bed, bringing Maggie with him.
"God damnit this is what we get." He blindly draped his arm across her, receiving a loud oomph in response when he realized he rather dumbly dropped it onto her stomach.
She didn't seem to mind, though, giggling into the sheets and fisting it, attempting to focus her eyes enough to see the time on the clock. "It's late."
Ian couldn't even tell time, but he knew for a fact that daylight was still pouring into the room. He laughed, snorting halfway through, which made him laugh even harder.
"Who knew a wine-tasting would have so much..." Maggie crawled across the bed and rested her head on his chest. "Wine."
Licking his lips, he looked down at her briefly before letting his eyes fixate on the interesting pattern on the ceiling. Maggie was further gone than he was at this point, but he knew that driving anywhere would be a bad idea. Ordering in looked like the way to go.
"Want some food?" His thumb brushed over her top lip. She caught it with her teeth and he laughed. "I was thinking a different mammal. Hairier, dumber and raised for its meat."
"Dom?"
Ian shook his head, disgusted by the thought. "I'd like to go a day without someone talking about Dom's--"
"The thought's disturbing, isn't it?" Maggie snickered. "Though, from what Emilie's said, he knows how to use it--"
"Seriously, can we stop?"
"Aw." She lifted her head and gave his neck a sloppy kiss. "This is our weekend away, I get it. You want some Ian-love. Ian love all around, right?"
"Do you even know what you're talking about, Mags?"
"...No."
"Want me to order some food and water so we can sober up a bit?"
"Mmmm, food." She rubbed her stomach. "My stomach's growling."
Ian grinned. "No, that's mine."
A long pause. "Oh. Well, still. I'm hungry. Food, please?"
"Yeah, just a second." He reached across the bed for the supplied phone on the side-table. Unfortunately, with a few drinks in him, his depth perception sucked; the phone didn't have a chance. "Shit, I knocked the phone off."
"Pick it up."
"Mmm, in a minute." He toed off his shoes and let out a long breath. The beds in the Inn were insanely comforting. A part of him wanted to see if he could fit one in Maggie's purse. The frighteningly huge bag certainly seemed like it could hold a lot, maybe it could hold a California King mattress? "So comfortable..."
A knock at the door sounded and Maggie's head perked up. "Is that our food?"
Humoring her, Ian tried to make it sound like he thought so too as he got up and padded across the polished wooden floor to the door. One of the employees greeted him with a bright smile, holding out Maggie's purse.
"Ms. Grace forgot it in the courtyard, thankfully someone noticed and delivered it to the front desk..." the man's eyes drifted to the phone laying on the floor. "Ah, I see you've taken 'Do Not Disturb' into your own hands?"
"Yeah, sorry," Ian took the purse. "Kind of knocked it off. Thanks for bringing the purse up."
"That and..." He pointed to the phone. "Someone's trying to get a hold of you, Mr. Somerhalder. They told me on my way up to pass on the information. The person insists he knows you."
Great. This was supposed to be his and Maggie's vacation. "Do you know the name?"
"A..." he looked at the slip in his hands. "Mr. Abrams?"
Ian rubbed the back of his neck and let himself find the humor in it, "Maybe I'm getting a raise or something. Thanks."
"Where's the food?" Maggie inquired as he walked over and set the phone back on the side table.
"It's coming," he grinned, reaching out and messing her hair up, much to her drunken chagrin. The phone immediately started ringing the second after he put it on the base. "J.J.'s calling to see if I've gotten rid of all your brain cells yet."
"Have you?"
He shoved his hand in front of her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Four?" He was holding up two.
"Yeah, I think I've gotten the job done." Before she could protest, he answered the phone and pressed a finger to her lips. "Hello?"
"Ian? Hey, it's--" the man stuttered over it for a moment; Ian had no problem imagining the man in his office with piles of notes and script changes weighing him down. "It's J.J. How’re you doing? You doing okay?"
Ian laughed, "I'm doing great. You go another night without sleep working on next week's script?"
"Well, that's actually what I was calling you about."
"Next week's script?"
"No, it's just..." J.J. sighed. "It's a direction we're going in, really. I want you to know, this--Damon and I had a hard time making this decision."
"You've already made Boone commit faux-incest with Shannon, I'm sure whatever you've got coming--"
J.J. cut him off as politely as he could, and all Ian could do was listen at this point. The words...his stomach flipped and every ounce of alcohol he'd consumed in the past few hours was completely gone; he’d never been more sober in his life. He was sure there was sincerity behind them--J.J. wasn't taking this lightly--but all his brain could allow to be filtered were specific words, picked out from the sentences. Tension. Dramatic purposes. Sacrifice.
Death.
Entertainment shows, interviewers, everyone had been calling the show a success, had been asking them how they felt to be on such an amazing show. Whenever the topic of character death came up, everyone's reaction was basically the same. The show had to keep a sense of reality to it, and that meant death; they'd deal with their own when it happened. No point in wracking their brains over it too much, right?
It was easy to brush it off when it wasn't happening to you.
"So um..." Maggie's fingers trailed up his back and his eyes closed. He'd met her on the set. If it hadn't been for the show that wouldn't have ever happened. God damnit. "What--no. I mean...when?"
The answer wasn't what he wanted. A part of him still thought that this was all some sick joke and that J.J. would burst out laughing and tell him he was on speakerphone and Dom had set up the whole thing. Things would be a lot easier if that was true; he'd just kick Dom's ass and be done with.
It wasn't going to happen tomorrow. That was the only silver lining. His stomach was still tied in knots, mind racked on it. Selfishly, he wondered why it had to happen to him. But then the thought of it being someone--anyone--else wandered into his mind and he felt just as worse. The fact that he wouldn't be flying back to Hawaii to immediately shoot his character's death seat was certainly a relief, but the fact that eventually--and not just the 'one of these days...' kind of eventually, the 'any week now' eventually--he'd have to?
"Are you being let in on some kind of super-secret plot point?" Her breath coasted across the back of his neck as her hands slipped under his shirt. "Because you know I'm good at getting you to tell me..."
His jaw clenched when J.J. started to apologize, reiterating the reasons behind the decision, that it just wasn't random, that Boone's death had a purpose. All he wanted to do was hang up but his mother had taught him well growing up and he kept himself from punching the off button and throwing it against the wall.
Didn't matter how drunk she was, Maggie took notice to the way his hands were squeezing the phone so tight it was nearly crushed from the grip. "Ian...?"
---
Ian didn't sleep that night; not that he could've if he tried, Maggie's arms were wrapped around him so tight he may have suffocated to death in his sleep. She wasn't planning on letting go, he was pretty sure she'd still be attached to him while he took a shower and even when they went through security at the airport.
Staring at the ceiling, he stroked her arm absently and swallowed. His eyes were watering but he convinced himself it was because he hadn't blinked in over a minute. "I don't wanna leave, Mags."
She exhaled shakily, but didn't say anything.
"I know I'm being morbid, it's not like anyone's dead. Well...not anyone real."
"Ian." He didn't know what to approach first when it came to what he heard in her voice. Too many things. She'd been angrier than he had when he told her what was going to happen. If he remembered correctly, the words 'shove,' 'typewriter,' and 'ass' had shared space in a sentence. When he told her J.J. didn't use a typewriter, she merely glared at him for a moment before returning to coming up with highly believable threats toward the writing staff's lives. Never had someone offering to use violence on people been so comforting. It didn't take it all away but, as he tried to calm her down, it'd taken his mind off it for a few minutes at least.
But now, with her pressing a soft kiss to his chest, still holding onto him for dear life, he was sure he heard a crack in her voice. She couldn't let being angry distract her from the fact that she was sad for too long; and it sounded like she was just realizing that.
"What a great way to end the weekend, right?" He tried to joke again but it didn't help the situation at all. Kissing the top of Maggie's head, he ran his finger over the top of her hand, sighing. "This doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything," she rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. "You won't be on the show anymore, Ian. You...we won't wake up in the morning and go to work together anymore."
"I'm not talking about that." He moved so that he was on his side, eyes locked with hers. They were glazed over as he spoke, as if what he was saying was all that was on his mind at this point. Maggie didn't have a problem believing that. "I can kill myself over this for the next ten years of my life, I really can. People always tell me this show was the best damn thing to ever happen to me. But that's not it. As crappy as it is for this to happen I...well, I still have you."
Her lips curled up into a smile; nothing near her usual bright smirk but it was a start. "Cheesy line but I believe you."
He sighed against her forehead, eyes drifting to look past her and out the window. He really didn't want to leave, which was enough of a sign in and of itself. Was it so bad that he didn't even want to go back to Hawaii?
"Our flight's in a few hours," she reluctantly told him.
"I know." He kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her. It was an awkward position, with her already holding onto him, but he didn't care. "Can we just...stay here? For a few more minutes?"
---
"Okay. So." Dom took in a deep, steadying breath, pointedly ignoring the snickering from the others watching him get ready to implode. "I understand the whole issue about illegally downloading and how it's wrong--"
"Hence it being called 'illegal'," Orlando murmured behind his coffee cup, arm wrapped comfortably around Evi's waist.
"I do, I really do." He looked to Emilie, who was nodding along to appease him. "But...if they don't want you to illegally download music then why the hell do they make it so bloody fucking hard to open the cases?"
He made a gesture with the CD case that caused everyone to duck and cover with the exception of Emilie, whose hand shot out to snatch it from his without a second thought. "If you break the CD, then you're screwed either way."
"You're telling me violence isn't the answer?" he looked at her, surprised. "You?"
Her eyes narrowed, "Do you want me to say violence is necessary?"
Dom didn't flinch, seeing straight through her bluff. His fingers grabbed onto her sides and pulled her onto his lap, delighting in her halfhearted attempts to slap his hands away. He grinned to the others. "Isn't it cute when she tries to act like she can--"
Her nail dug into his shoulder and he yelped, nearly dropping her. Orlando choked on his coffee and Evi didn't even bother to hide her laughter as Dom rubbed at the sensitive spot.
"Isn't it cute when Dom forgets Emilie can kick his arse?"
Smile wiped from his face, Dom glanced up at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Wot's taking them so long, you think?"
Emilie shrugged, "I have no idea. Maggie was pretty quiet on the phone and she insisted they didn't need to get picked up at the airport."
"You think there's something going on?" Evi stirred her tea. "Maybe she's...pregnant?"
Shaking his head, Orlando tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "She's a bit quiet on the phone and you lot start thinking there's something big going on. Paranoid, all of you."
"You're one to talk about being paranoid," Emilie muttered under her breath, and when she saw the look on Orlando's face--a mixture of hurt and insult before realizing she was basically in the right--she reached out and squeezed his arm comfortingly. "Sorry."
"No worries," he offered a smile to her and looked back down at his nearly-gone coffee, finding Evi’s hand and squeezing it gently.
"Maybe!" Dom lifted his finger up, a brilliant idea hitting him. Orlando and Evi visibly groaned. "Maybe she is pregnant, but with another man's baby. Terry's, perhaps?"
Emilie scoffed, "What in God's name makes you think she'd ever cheat on Ian? And why with Terry?"
He raised his eyebrows at her. "You sound surprised, luv. Do you not find Terry attractive?"
"Oh, I do," she nodded vigorously, spurred on by the prodding look Evi gave her. She held her hands out and made exaggerated gestures with them. "There's just...something about that man. He's got this raw sexuality about him that I can't get enough of. I actually had a dream the other night--"
"Okay, okay," Dom stopped her. "I know I started it but now it's freaking me out."
Orlando stood up and took all the empty cups into his hands, balancing them on his way into the kitchen. "How about we stop talking about pregnancy and raw sexuality. Let's talk about... kittens."
Emilie's eyes lit up at the word kittens and she poked Dom in the arm, "We should get a kitten. No! A puppy!"
He gave her a nod, smiling fakely. It dropped off his face a second later when she turned away and he glared at Orlando. "Look what you've done now."
"What?" He tried to act as innocent as possible. "Don’t you like puppies, Dom?"
"Of course I do," he defended himself. "S'just...sometimes they don't like me much."
Evi looked surprised, "Weird, I would've thought you'd get along great with dogs. You have a lot--"
"--in common with them, ha ha ha."
"Someone's a bit testy today." Emilie laughed and kissed the top of his head, arm wrapping around his neck to pull him closer. Dom had no problem obliging, burying his face in her neck.
"Didn't get much sleep last night."
Evi made a face. "Too much information."
"Oh, come on." Emilie blushed and shook her head. "We just watched a movie."
"Yeah, a flick, that was all. Just a movie..." Dom grinned against her neck. "Of ourselves."
"Orlando!" Evi called for her boyfriend, who made a noise in the kitchen. "Why'd you leave me alone with these two?"
Emilie shook her head. "Don't listen to him, he's just being--"
"Dom?" Evi supplied.
"Pretty much." Emilie grinned at her boyfriend. "Can't help but love him, no matter how much of a ponce he is half the time."
He didn't seem to bother arguing, arm resting on the back of the couch. "I prefer ravishable ponce, actually. But whatever floats your boat, luv."
The doorbell rang and everybody's heads turned to look at the door. Dom rolled his eyes, "How many times do I have to tell you guys it's alright to knock once and just come on in."
"Well, we'd have no problem doing that if we didn't end up walking in on you guys..." Evi cleared her throat uncomfortably as she motioned to Dom and Emilie. "Doing stuff."
Emilie gasped, offended. "It was only once!"
"Which is one time too many, I'm sorry."
Hopping over the back of the couch, Dom skipped to the front door and swung it open. His bright beam of a smile was such a startling contrast to the strained smiles Maggie and Ian had on their faces that he actually felt his good mood falter just by looking at them.
"Hey guys, wot's...?" He didn't really know what to ask, stepping aside and letting them walk on in. "You look like you just saw Santa Claus naked or something."
"No, that's not it," Ian walked into the living room where Evi and Emilie sat, holding onto Maggie's hand for dear life. "Guys, um...well, there's something I need to tell you."
Evi looked to Orlando when he sat on the arm of the couch next to her. "See? We're not paranoid."
Emilie looked from Ian to Maggie, worry in her voice, "What's going on?"
Ian sat down in the chair across from them, Maggie sitting on the arm beside him and grabbing his hand, squeezing it. He tried to keep his expression as unreadable as possible; if only to try and delay what he was about to say a few seconds more.
The tension and the silence filling the room was suffocating enough, and Emilie couldn't rein her patience enough to wait more than a few moments. When he didn't say anything, still trying to figure out exactly how to put it, she couldn't help herself: "Seriously, what's going on?"
"I got a call," Ian blurted out, rubbing the back of his neck, not looking at anyone longer than a momentary glance. Staring down at the carpet made it a little easier. "I uh...it looks like--it looks like I'm going to be leaving the show."
"But," Dom immediately said, looking for all the world like he didn't believe him. Or didn't want to. A weak smile appeared on his face as he grasped onto the idea that this was all just some stupid joke. "You're just fucking with us, yeah?"
Emilie's hand rested on his, "Dom..."
He turned to her, smile still desperately hanging on. "He's just taking the piss, Em. S'all it is."
Ignoring Dom, not out of inconsideration for him but merely because her attention was fully on Ian--who looked like all he hadn't slept in ages--Evi tried to keep an even voice as she approached the topic. "When did you...?"
"Yesterday. J.J. called and told me." Ian cast a glance up at Maggie. "I needed a day to...you know. Figure some stuff out."
Evi nodded, brow creased and her lips turned downward as she looked at him. What was there to say?
"So he just...called you?" Dom's attitude shifted startlingly quick in the span of a second, the desperate smile wiped off his face and replaced by a deep scowl. "Bastard didn't have the bollocks to tell you face-to-face?"
"Dom!" Emilie warned him in a firmer voice than before, squeezing his hand to the point of almost breaking some bones. "Don't, alright?"
Ian nervously scratched at his chin, measuring everyone's reactions in the glimpses of them he managed. "I uh...I don't think I could've handled being called into his office, to tell you the truth."
Maggie bit down hard to keep herself from voicing her agreement with Dom, knowing that it wouldn't help the situation much.
"So..." Orlando had just as hard of a time picking out the right words as Evi did, but felt as if he needed to say something, anything. "What the bloody hell is going to happen? Do you even know?"
Shaking his head, Ian swallowed. "No. They just made the decision and they’re writing the script now."
"Wait," Evi straightened up a little. "They're writing it now? That--that means the episode is going to be soon. That can't be right."
"Six or seven episodes from now." Ian tried to make light of the situation and held his hand up to cross his fingers for everyone to see. "I'm hoping for lucky number seven."
Nobody laughed, the information still being processed in their heads. Everybody was still; Dom's eyes were darting everywhere, Emilie was still crushing his hand but not to keep him quiet, and Evi and Orlando were trying to keep as calm as possible.
"I need a drink," Maggie said suddenly, voice barely audible as she stood up and walked out of the room.
Ian didn't waste a moment in getting up to follow her. He pushed open the door and saw her shaking hands holding a bottle of Jack Daniels. "Mags..."
"Don't call me that," she warned him, tears streaking down her cheeks. "God damnit, Ian."
"Hey," he pulled the bottle from her grasp and put it behind him, grabbing her arms and holding her still. "You okay? I thought when we talked about this you..."
"Why do you have to be so damn strong about this?" She shook her head, contradicting herself by pushing and pulling at him.
Ian laughed, like the idea was funny. "Strong? You think I'm being strong about this, Mags? This is killing me."
She shook her head again, swiping away her tears. "I told you not to call me that. This isn't the time--Fuck, Ian, I don't care if you say this is killing you, you're not..."
"Not what?"
"You're not angry enough." She hit his arm to make her point but it had no affect on him, he didn't move an inch. "I know you can tell yourself this is just a job but we all know it's more than that. Without this show we wouldn't have...we wouldn't have met. I know I said I believed you but...God! We work with each other in Hawaii and we couldn't be happier. What's going to happen when you leave the show, Ian? Do you even know?"
"I haven't stopped thinking about it," he said to her in as strong a voice as he could imagine. He was pretty sure the others were talking in the living room, finally, but he didn't care at this point. His focus was entirely on Maggie and how upset she was. "You think it doesn't scare the shit out of me how much things are going to change? Things are going to be hard but the world isn't going to end, that's what I'm telling myself right now. I'm not dying. And being alive means I can try to keep my life as perfect as it is now. That's what I'm shooting for here, Mags. I can get pissed off and resentful but..."
His hand drifted over her cheek and when she looked into his eyes it was like she could see him deciding something. Whatever it was, it caused her mouth to go a little dry.
"I'm not going to let it ruin my life." The smile that curled at the corner of his lips was the first genuine one he'd had since the phone call. "I don't want you to not be okay with this, Mags. Tell me what I can do, please."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment. "Just don't leave me, alright?"
---
"Evangeline."
If she'd heard him say her name, she barely acknowledged it. Orlando had been on the phone with her for the past ten minutes, but neither said much up until that point. Because she was on break, Orlando decided to give her a call, but Evi seemed to be too distracted with watching every single scene Ian would still be in from that day onward. It was the little things that got to her; how her and Ian always managed to meet each other at the snack table around noon to talk about anything, everything. It was such a natural thing to happen that she didn't realize how much she was going to miss it until now.
"Princess..." Orlando made his voice a little louder, hoping to catch her attention.
"Yeah?" she murmured, absently burying her feet in sand as she watched Ian do a scene with Maggie. "Orlando... you should put the phone down. It's a waste of money. We aren't even saying anything."
Orlando smiled a little and even shook his head, forgetting how she couldn't see him, anyways. "I've been counting your breaths, love. S'good enough for me." He knew she smiled then. He just sensed it. "I honestly don't see why I can't be there in person, though. It would save us money from the phone bill."
"Gas prices are high," she managed to say with an emotionless chuckle. "And the producers won't let you on set anymore. I told Damon you knew about what was going to happen with Ian, but they're persistent," Evi explained, sighing. "Ian's filming right now... they're doing so great. It makes you wonder why they have to make him leave, though, y'know? They're already easing into it, Orlando. The next few weeks are going to be the absolute worst."
Though he understood how she felt, Orlando jokingly scoffed. "Yes, of course they're going to be the worst. Especially since I just told you this morning that I was going to fly out almost every weekend from this point on to visit you."
"You know that wasn't what I meant."
"I know, love. But... you really shouldn't be sad like this. Everything happens for a reason. Ian's already got some great opportunities lined up for him. And there's no doubt that he'd visit often. Maggie's there, for chrissake."
"You're right, I know," she nodded, "but still. It's just..."
"Evi! Scene in ten minutes!"
"Alright!" she yelled back, standing up and running back towards her trailer. "I've gotta go, Orlando. See you in a few hours?"
"Hurry home, okay? You're going to feel a lot better once you're with me again." Orlando laughed at his own statement, nearly jumping out of his seat when the house phone rang.
He knew he should have expected it, since he told them to call back when they confirmed his request, but still...
"Just... come home soon, Evangeline."
Ignoring how oddly out-of-character his sudden pleas were, Evi smiled a little, shooing away a young set assistant that just ran up to her who was motioning wildly towards the beach and the director. "I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? I wouldn't want to waste these valuable weekends with you, after all."
---
It was always easy to tell when Evi was getting home from work. Orlando could hear her tires squeal as she pulled into the driveway all the way from his perch on the living room couch at the back of the house.
“Finally,” he muttered, abandoning the couch to meet her at the front door. He’d spent all day planning a surprise outing for her, to take her mind off the news about Ian’s departure from the cast, and once that was set up all he could do was sit around and wait impatiently for her to come home. She’d called before leaving set to let him know she was on his way, and he’d twiddled his thumbs in the living room, eager and excited, until she arrived.
“Sorry I’m late,” she sighed as soon as she came through the front door and found him waiting in the entrance hall. Without saying anything Orlando pulled the strap of her messenger bag over her head and dropped it on the floor, pulling her in for a tight hug.
“Missed you,” he murmured against her hair, and felt her smile against his neck. “Was traffic bad?”
She nodded. “There was this big detour, I had to go all the way around this street fair thing they were having.”
Orlando grinned, rubbing her back a few times before he pulled back enough to find her lips and kiss her softly. “Got a surprise for you, princess.”
“Oh yeah?” Evi smiled. “Does it involve a long, hot shower, and then maybe a big, comfy bed? I think that’s about all the excitement I can handle tonight.”
“We’ll see about that.” Orlando turned her around and put his hands on her shoulders, steering her into her bedroom. “Take your hot shower and get dressed. I’m taking you out.”
“Out?” Evi groaned, putting her hands against the doorway of the bathroom to stop him. Turning around, she put her arms around his neck and made a face. “Wouldn’t you rather stay in? Relax?” She leaned in and nuzzled his neck. “I can promise you it won’t be boring.”
“I know,” he laughed, pulling her arms down and walking her backwards into the bathroom. “But I won’t let you distract me. I went through a lot of trouble to set this up.”
“Set what up?” she asked.
Orlando pursed his lips and shook his head, clearly not willing to answer that. He pushed back the shower curtain and turned the tap on to let the water get hot before he faced her again, motioning for her to put her arms up. Once she obeyed he pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.
“I’m capable of undressing myself, you know,” she laughed, making no move to stop him when he reached around to unhook her bra.
“I know that,” he assured her, unbuttoning her shorts and pushing those to the floor. Grinning, he put his hands on her hips and pressed his forehead to hers. “But it’s been about sixteen hours since I’ve seen you naked, and I didn’t want to forget what it was like.”
“Nice excuse.” She grinned and kissed him as he pulled her panties off, subsequently giving her a gentle push toward the shower. Evi pouted when he did this, running her finger up his forearm and tugging lightly at his sleeve. “What, all that and I still have to shower alone?”
He smiled, guiding her under the spray before he pulled the curtain closed. “Put on something comfortable when you get out and meet me in the living room in twenty minutes. Don’t be late!”
Shaking her head, Evi reached for the shampoo and washed her hair quickly, eager to be done showering. She may not have admitted it, but she more than wondered what Orlando had planned, and curiosity made her hurry. Eighteen minutes later she was showered, dried, dressed, and walking into the living room.
“Okay, Bloom, spill the beans.” She put her hands on her hips, standing directly in front of him. Evi noted the fact that Orlando was now dressed in dark jeans, a crisp, white button-down shirt, and a leather jacket. “What’s your big plan?”
He grinned at her from his seat on the couch. “Not gonna tell you. Where are your car keys? We should get going.”
Orlando stood up and attempted to walk past her only to have her grab his arm, halting him. “Nuh-uh. I’m not going anywhere until I know what scheme you’ve cooked up.”
“What, don’t you trust me?” Orlando pouted, his lower lip sticking way out while he adopted his best puppy dog expression. He broke into a laugh when Evi tweaked his nose and sighed, defeated. “Alright, okay, I’ll tell you. Tonight, Miss Lilly, I am whisking you off to a fun-filled night at the local carnival.”
“You’re taking me to a what?” Evi broke into a laugh, covering her mouth to stifle the sound.
“Don’t laugh, it’s going to be fun!” At Evi’s look, Orlando grabbed both her hands and swung them back and forth before twining their fingers together and leaning in until they were forehead-to-forehead. “Have I ever disappointed you in the past? Date-wise, I mean, because we all remember my major fuck-up. Which, by the way, I will never stop trying to make up to you.”
A soft kiss was Evi’s only response to that. “No, your dates have never disappointed me, but you’ve never taken me to a carnival before.”
“You’re just being difficult because you don’t want to go out because you’re being mopey,” Orlando accused.
“I’m not mopey.” Evi pulled her hands out of his and crossed her arms over her chest, lower lip sticking out. “Ian and I are just really close, y’know? We may not have a lot of scenes together so it doesn’t show on TV… but really. It’s going to be so different without him around…”
She trailed off when she realized that she’d just proven his point. “I assure you, princess, you’re being quite mopey,” Orlando laughed. I know you’re upset about Ian, and yes, losing a cast mate is horrible. But he’s still going to be around, love.” He paused to touch his finger to her lips. “So I want to turn that frown upside down!”
“You’re such a cheeseball.” Evi grinned as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her slowly.
“C’mon. No worrying about work tonight, no talking about depressing things like characters dying or anything like that.” Orlando tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her forehead. “I didn’t arrange for us to have the carnival to ourselves for four hours for nothing, alright?”
“To ourselves?” Evi repeated in disbelief.
Orlando pulled her toward the door. “Keys?”
“Orlando, to ourselves?”
“Thanks a lot!” He found them sitting on a table near her front door with no help from her at all and pulled her to the car, opening the passenger door for her and helping her in.
“Orlando.” She put her hand on his arm, her eyes still wide with surprise. “To ourselves?”
Orlando shrugged, as if it were normal the most natural thing in the world for him to do things like this for her. “Like I said, Evangeline. Have I ever disappointed you before?”
---
“Seriously, Evangeline?”
Evi shook her head vehemently, trying to hide her grin. “Not at all, Orlando. You have to prove your worth.”
He looked at her, then at the bull’s-eye yards away he had to hit. It was easy enough, sure. But Evi chanced upon the one time Orlando was shooting a modern-day film; he hadn’t trained with a bow and arrow in ages.
She crossed her arms and began tapping her foot with mock impatience, and Orlando knew he had to do it once the man assisting them started to laugh at him. He did all this to cheer Evi up, after all. Taking the bow and suction-cup arrow in hand, Orlando tried to get a feel for it, aiming at the target and taking a deep breath.
“I’m doing this because I love you,” he muttered, glancing at her for a moment before taking final aim. A moment passed, and, upon closing his eyes, Orlando let the arrow fly; it hit the target with a loud thwump.
Setting the bow down, Orlando bit his lip, taking a few moments before he opened his eyes to see the result of his shot.
“Excellent aim, sir. You’ve still got it in you, then,” the man chuckled, taking the bow from Orlando as he motioned to the bull’s-eye Orlando had hit perfectly. With his remark, there was no questioning the fact that the man knew exactly who they were. He handed Orlando a large stuffed toy. “Here’s your prize.”
Orlando looked at the bear in his hands and grinned, turning around to face Evi and give her the bear. “For you, princess,” he said, bowing with a flourish.
The bear (and Orlando) had the most adorable expression, and its white shirt had a simple, cheesy, yet utterly Orlando message for her:
I love you BEARy much!
“Cute,” Evi laughed, tugging on his hand and making him stand back upright as she took the stuffed toy in her arms. All her teasing aside, Evi truly did appreciate this surprise Orlando had made for her. No matter how temporary, it served its purpose of cheering her up and helping her feel better. Orlando always seemed capable of doing that.
They walked away from that stall and strolled through the street fair, enjoying the privacy and the cool night breeze. “Happy?” Orlando asked, glancing at her and gauging her feelings. It amused her that after everything he’d do for her, he was never sure if she absolutely liked it or not. He always aimed for nothing short of perfection.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He arched an eyebrow at her response and she stopped walking, making him do the same. Without so much as a warning, Evi pulled him in for a deep kiss; never mind that they were standing right in the center of a street carnival.
Pulling back, she looked into his eyes, smiling. “I’m at a carnival for the first time in my life. I’ve consumed cotton candy, ice cream, two corn dogs, and a large cup of iced tea over the past two and a half hours. I’ve won every game we’ve played - I’m sure you rigged them somehow. And, most importantly, I’ve spent all this time here because I have you - my very own Elf-with-shiny-longbow.”
Evi’s eyes glinted with amusement at her last remark. Orlando pressed his lips to the spot between her eyes - whispering I love you as he did so. Of course, everything she’d said symbolically stood for the more important fact that they’d managed to work past a test on their relationship, and she smiled, knowing he understood.
“Again, Orlando,” she murmured, “why wouldn’t I be happy?”
He sighed, looking down at her, one word to describe the entire moment. Perfect.
"And you?" She didn't need to ask, already knowing the answer, but certainly felt the need to. "Are you happy?"
"I'm a pretty easy man, Evangeline," he grinned. "As long as you're happy, so am I."
"Good," she smirked, nose scrunching up as they continued to stroll down the path, observing some of the booths and trying to figure out which one to go to next. A few yards away from a small station where you could make your own candle, Evi's phone started to ring. Immediately, she apologized, "If it's work I'll ignore it but I'm waiting for a call from..."
Her voice drifted off as she reached into her back-pocket. She saw a picture of Emilie on the screen--the Aussie had insisted Evi utilize her photo-ID feature on her--and shushed Orlando, even if he hadn't been saying a word. Flipping the phone open, she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Yeah?"
Orlando couldn't help but laugh, "Why're you whispering, love?"
"Shh! The one good thing that could come out of this entire situation needs to be handled accordingly!" Evi immediately shut her mouth and shook her head to whatever Emilie was saying on the other end of the line. "Right. Sorry. Not going to mention it in public. Is everything alright, though? The plan going forward?"
Emilie's voice was in the same vehement whisper, as if paranoid some secret agent was listening in on her conversation, "Yes, going forward. Does Orlando remember his part?"
"Orlando, do you remember your part in the plan?" Evi asked him under her breath.
"My part in what plan?" Orlando's brow furrowed questioningly before he grinned from ear to ear, belying his words.
"He remembers."
"Good, that's great. If we all stick to our jobs then it'll work out perfectly."
Evi nodded, smiling lightly. This was taking to extremes when it came to making the best out of an awful situation. But they were just the cronies, doing their job. "And Dom?"
"Has no idea."
"Great," Evi squeezed her stuffed animal and smiled up at Orlando. "See you later then?"
Emilie coughed twice, signaling that she was no longer alone. "So you bring over the cherry tomatoes, half a cup of butter and I'll provide the baking soda, olive oil and--okay, good, the coast is clear."
"Em?"
"Yeah?"
"What the hell were we going to make?"
"Just shut it, make sure Orlando remembers his part, don't let anyone in on what's happening, especially Dom and...well, you know who else. Screw this up and I promise you--"
"Heads will roll?" She'd heard the line from when they gathered to talk about it the other night. She couldn't help but roll her eyes, even if she did somewhat believe the threat. This had to go perfectly. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine, Emilie. If you strain yourself too much you might give yourself an aneurysm."
Emilie sighed, "I know, I know. Just...keep to the plan."
"Keep to the plan," Evi nodded. "Got it."
They wished each other luck and the phone call was over with. Orlando was still smiling, amused by the entire situation. "See? Things are already getting better, yeah?"
Evi pointed a finger at him, even if she was laughing, "You're having too much fun with this."
"What?" he held his hands up defensively. "Isn't that the point?"
"No!" she slipped her phone back into her pocket and they returned to ambling down the street. "The point is...well, you should know what the point is at this...point."
"Say point some more," he teased and she just laughed. "You have to admit, this is exactly what you need."
Evi ran her fingers along the impossibly-soft top of the bears head, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. If everything goes right, this could--this will be great. God, just thinking about it--"
"Then don't," he suggested, making it sound so easy. "Forget about the plan for today and just...enjoy yourself."
Her arm looped with his and she stood on her tip-toes, giving him a sweet kiss. "Don't worry, I am."
TBC...