Naya/Heather Fic: I Am The Liar and You Are The Saint Chapt 4/?
Title: I Am The Liar And You Are The Saint
Rating: R
Summary: She had become an expert at putting on a face when she was around Heather. Naya just hoped it was enough for people not to realize it, because honestly Heather was wearing her down.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, this is a complete work of fiction. These two are not a couple… unfortunately.
Spoilers: Season 1 and Season 2
Word Count: ~6,500 (another long chapter)
Author's Note: Another huge thanks to sarake_leeg ! Always a great help :) Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, this is a belated Christmas gift to all of you! Enjoy!
I Am The Liar And You Are The Saint
Chapter 4
Naya was blindly running up and down her trailer, with her iPod blaring in her ears. She flailed her arms about and jumped on her couch like a little girl singing out proudly.
And it gets stronger in every way
And it gets deeper let me say
And it gets higher day by day!
Do I love you my, oh my
River deep mountain high yeah, yeah, yeah!
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby
Baby, baby, baby!
She felt so elated as she had finally finished recording “River Deep, Mountain High”. She had suffered through many weeks of vocal rehearsal, but after hearing the playback it all seemed worth it. Naya was now listening to the Tina Turner version as she mimicked the artist’s arm movements when she performed. She was currently dressed in a white tailored pant suit, except she placed her blazer on her dresser chair because it started to get warm in the confined space. She had pinned up her hair on top of her head to be sure not to ruin the loose waves that Molly had so diligently curled. Naya had been working so hard on the Tina Turner song that she had to give herself at least a minute to relish her accomplishment. Even so, she should have been pumping herself up for filming the huge number that was coming closer by the second. That’s right. In approximately one hour, sixteen minutes, and thirty-eight seconds, Britney Spears was going to be on set for the final shooting of “Me Against the Music”. Naya couldn’t be more excited to meet the icon she had worshiped her entire childhood.
The past few days on set have been surprisingly tolerable. They were just finishing up the last of the Grilled Cheesus episode; as of yesterday, the cast wrapped up “One of Us”. Chris had some final scenes to do, but other than that the episode was pretty much complete. Now Naya and Heather were set aside a day to film “Me Against the Music”, back tracking to the second episode Britney/Brittany. The producers could only arrange a certain three hour time block in order to accommodate with the star’s schedule to film this portion of the episode. Thus they were filming this scene now. Everything else had already been finished. Life had been going well for the most part; as well as could be expected… Naya had been doing her best with controlling her urges around Heather and Mark was learning to keep his distance.
After the whole Mark spiel last week, Heather practically harassed Naya until she agreed to spend the night over at her apartment. Heather wanted to be sure everything was indeed as “fine” as Naya was texting her it was. Naya had vented, for the second time, about her emotional state during the breakup. It did feel wonderful not hearing about Nate all night long; as the dancer’s complete focus was on her. Heather had kicked him out, telling him they needed a girl’s night. Although, she wanted a night alone to mull things over about what had happened with her ex and her fighting feelings for her best friend, Naya was extremely grateful in the end that Heather kept her company. The blonde always had her magic way in curing her sadness and making Naya feel so loved.
So even though Naya hadn’t mustered all the strength needed to fully say she was over Heather, she had accomplished to get back the normalcy of their close friendship. She absentmindedly spun around lopsidedly, almost falling on the couch. Naya spotted Harold and picked him up, beginning to tango around the room with him at the start of her favorite part of the song.
When you were a young boy did you have a puppy
That always followed you around
Well I'm gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No I'll never let you down…
She didn’t give a fuck about how ridiculous she looked right then. Didn’t she deserve a minute to let go a little? She stopped caring about technicality way back at the second bar as she now started to do ridiculous leg kicks and lunges, getting into her cheerleader character. Naya clapped her hands together and marched around the room, practically chanting through half of the bridge. Then she switched back to Tina Turner style and exaggeratedly shook her ass while riding the bull. Naya giggled lightly as she continued to sing. The simple joy of laughing at herself felt good… It was a feeling Naya hadn’t felt in a long while.
Do I love you my, oh my
River deep mountain high yeah, yeah, yeah!
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby
Baby, baby, ba-
Naya didn’t finish wailing out the last note as she froze to the sound of familiar suppressed laughter.
~*~
Heather bouncily made her way over to her bestie’s trailer. Her dangerously tall heels tapped loudly against the pavement. She was used to their balance by now as she had rehearsed several times with them for the number she was going to be doing in approximately one hour, twelve minutes, and fourteen seconds. She still could not believe this world she’s been living in. Back up dancer, Heather Morris was about to meet and perform with Miss Britney Spears! Her mind still could not wrap around the whole situation.
She drifted back to the memory of when Ryan had sought her out after the end of one of their tours during the summer. His voice still echoed in her mind, “You got Britney, Heather.” Heather was so stunned, she couldn’t really respond. All she could remember was trying to be as professional as she could as Ryan discussed the details. Afterwards is when her mind officially exploded and emotion after emotion poured out of her heart. She didn’t even realize the tears that were quietly streaming down her face. The first person on her mind was Naya and she called her and told her the news first. Then the real tears started to shake out of her, and Naya stayed on the phone listening to her blubbering till the early hours of the morning. She was the only one who knew she cried that night.
Naya had been such a huge part of Glee and the rise in all this popularity. Naya was Glee to Heather. She didn’t know how she would have been able to do everything without her. She remembered the days during the beginning of the first season. She and Naya would lie on their backs in their trailer talking for hours on end about their dreams and making a living off of the things they loved best. She smiled at the memory. They worked so hard and now they were regulars on the show. It was more than they could both ever imagine. She still felt like the inexperienced dancer who just stepped in to teach the kids how to do the Single Ladies dance. Now she had a whole episode written around her talent.
She could not contain her cheeriness as she impatiently rapped on the door of Naya’s trailer. Heather waited, fits of jitters running up and down her body. She knocked again. Nothing.
“Naya?” she tried, calling out her friend’s name. Still nothing.
She huffed, but then listened closely… Heather’s eyebrows furrowed as she leaned closer to the thin lining of the door. She could hear a faint, familiar voice wafting out the lyrics to a song. Heather then smiled curiously and tried the handle of the door. It was unlocked. Unlike her previous entrance into Naya’s trailer, Heather slowly and quietly pushed the door open. Heather’s smile grew even wider when her eyes came upon the most adorable thing she’s swear she had ever seen in her life.
She was greeted by the lovely view of Naya Rivera’s rear-end vibrating like a motor machine as she was singing out “River Deep, Mountain High”. Heather’s mouth hung slightly agape, as she couldn’t help herself from eying up and down the Latina’s curves. She hadn’t noticed that she absentmindedly leaned against the doorframe, cocking her head a little to the left to get a better view. She swallowed, feeling slightly embarrassed that she was checking out her best friend. Heather had to avert her eyes away for a moment, but found herself immediately looking back up in temptation. She shook her head to snap herself out of it. It’s not like it’s my fault or anything… Naya’s ass was just right there in my face. It’s not like I could ignore it… Heather tried to reason to herself and she chuckled quietly at the outlandish thought that maybe... No, it’s not... It can’t be. Don’t be stupid.
Naya continued to dance around carefree. Not noticing the presence of the second party in the room. Heather had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from bursting into fits of laughter as she watched her friend do the goofiest dance moves. The dancer noted that Naya may not be technically sound or anything, but the effortless way she made every little move incredibly sexy was something Heather marveled at. Heather heard Naya giggle to herself and it made her smile even more to see her friend so relaxed. After Naya had jumped off the bull, she dangerously started to spin towards her dresser and Heather almost jumped in to catch her friend, but she eventually found her footing. She swiped up her hairbrush from the dresser and started to sing into it overdramatically. A smile tugged at the corners of Heather’s lips into a ridiculous grin. Heather remembered doing that when she was twelve, but this was a “matured” twenty-three-year-old Naya here pretending to be a rock star. It was absolutely precious. Heather admired how she was still a child at heart; it was one of the many things the two shared in common.
It was when Naya went into the vicious head bobbing and hairography, when Heather couldn’t contain the inevitable laughter that was bubbling in her throat. She desperately clamped her hand over her mouth, but the sounds ruptured anyways in the form of strangled wheezes. Through her fit, she gave a loud snort which only made Heather laugh louder. That’s what did it.
The last notes stopped abruptly in the Latina’s throat, coming out in crackled croaks. She spun around haphazardly, unsurprisingly knocking over some cosmetics on her dresser. Naya’s eyes met with the beautiful blonde wonder and her cheeks immediately flushed from heat and embarrassment. Naya felt like a deer caught in head lights and stood there a little stunned, not knowing what to do with herself as she gazed upon her giggling friend. She looked down at her hand to realize she was still holding her hair brush and she quickly tossed it aside. She then hurriedly plucked out the ear buds of her iPod, music vanishing and leaving her head ringing slightly. Naya pulled at her white vest that had risen up sometime during her ridiculous recital and smoothed over any wrinkles. She annoyingly swiped and adjusted at the loose strands of waves that had billowed out of the pin on top of her head and then looked back up at Heather.
The dancer just stood there, arms across her chest, eyebrows raised, with the clear expression of amusement plastered on her face. That smile danced at her lips when she spoke.
“Oh no, no! Please don’t stop for me! That was simply adorable…” Heather let the last part slip out on accident. What was going on with her today? So she covered up by saying, “I applaud you.”
Heather clapped her gloved hands together as she beamed at her best friend. Naya’s stiff posture slacked as she rolled her eyes, but smiled at Heather’s sarcasm.
“Next time you should join me to teach me proper,” Naya chided meaning it to be innocent, but as she replayed it in her mind all she could hear was the underlying innuendo. She mentally slapped herself.
Heather, thankfully, didn’t seem to notice.
“You do know you’re kinda practicing for the wrong episode? Anyways, you should definitely show Zach and Ryan some of those moves… Maybe it’ll convince them to intertwine them into one of our next numbers,” Heather chuckled out, still trying to recover.
“Ha ha… very funny,” Naya said as she slipped a water bottle out of the fridge and took a large gulp.
“I guess that’s a good warm up before performing.”
“Yah, you should definitely try it sometime,” Naya smiled. Heather smiled back as she completely let herself into the threshold, the door clicking shut behind her.
“Mhm… and I’ll suggest it to Lea too. I know she’ll love it. She’s in need of a new warm up,” Heather joked.
Naya had to do a double take on Heather’s appearance. Her look made her almost splutter out her water. Just as Naya was, Heather was also dressed in her Britney/Brittany costume. She was currently missing the hat, but everything else looked exactly like Britney Spears in the original music video. Naya noted that Heather was way hotter than Britney ever was, even in her heyday. There was something about the way Heather looked in that iconic black suit with the blue collar that made Naya’s mouth dry and made her southern regions clench. It was those hip bones that were jutting out from between her top and slacks that really did it. Naya’s head was spinning and it certainly was not from her dancing. She thanked god she wasn’t a guy because at that moment she wouldn’t have been able to conceal anything.
Heather interrupted her thoughts as she continued to approach Naya.
“I heard you were amazing with ‘River Deep, Mountain High.’ Congrats…” was it just Naya or was Heather starring at her lips. “I know you hate when I say it, but I told you so,” Heather lustrously drawled out.
“Uh…” she was sure she looked really stupid. Naya swallowed and cleared her throat. “Thanks, Hemo.”
“So!” Heather was getting dangerously close. It was making Naya nervous. Naya felt extremely small compared to the towering, heel clad blonde as she was barefoot. Heather took the water bottle out of the brunette’s hand and placed it on the nearest surface. She then intertwined their fingers together and began to swing both of their arms in the little space left between their bodies. Naya knew the gesture was friendly, but she blushed and looked away anyways.
Heather leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. Crystal, blue eyes swam with warm, chocolate brown. “You ready for today?” she had whispered in one breath and it tickled Naya’s already tinged pink cheeks.
“You already saw my dorky warm up… this is as ready as I’ll ever be,” Naya tried to joke in order to distract herself from the nearness of Heather.
“We’re going to be great. I just know it,” Heather’s smile was uncontrollable. “We’ve practiced this routine a million times… we will rock this shit.”
Naya chucked. “Better than Britney?”
“Oh yah, Nay. Way better than Britney,” Heather immediately confirmed.
***************
She had hoped that their close proximity in the trailer was as near as Heather was going to be to Naya for the rest of the day. Then she remembered the choreography to the cane sequence and that hope was instantly smashed. Naya didn’t know if she should consider herself lucky or unlucky. On one side, a very sexy Heather was being extremely touchy and flirtatious today, even outside the choreography. On the other side, Naya felt like she was about to die as a result from this, every moment the risk of blowing her composure was amplifying. Heather was getting a little too into character for Naya’s taste, as it was definitely putting her on edge.
The two of them had already filmed their individual shots. That was the only time Naya could solely focus on her work when Heather wasn’t dancing around her. She had felt confident when doing the sensual scenes. It didn’t matter if she was rolling in a pile of leaves or flashing her crotch in front of an extra she just met. Things like that didn’t bother her, in fact she thrived off of that. She thought it was fun. None of it fazed her like when she was in front of the camera with Heather that day. She felt naked when she was around the woman. It’s this Britney episode… that bitch. She’s making this all ten times worse. She was just trying to enjoy herself. When was she ever going to do something like this again? And with her best friend? Naya closed her eyes and gave herself a lecture to stay focused and savor the moment. She felt the pat of a gloved hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to meet blue ones.
The blonde beamed up at her, the contagious smile reaching to Naya’s lips. The blonde’s makeup was heavy in order to mimic Britney’s look, and it made it hard for Naya to identify where Brittany S. Pierce stopped and Heather began. But then Heather’s blue eyes would glow from her dark eyeliner and her face would light up into a bubbly grin. Then she knew it was Heather. Heather bobbed her head from side to side and bounced on the balls of her feet to pump herself up for their dance sequence ahead of them. The crew was setting up their cameras and making last adjustments on their makeup and hair. Extras and backup dancers were ready standing on their cues. Naya was nervously thrumming her fingers on her cane as she was counting out the steps again in her mind.
Naya’s attention was suddenly stolen; as Heather bent down to reach her toes in a stretch. Her palms pressed flat on the floor with no effort. The dancer’s flexibility amazed Naya. She couldn’t believe she could lay her palms flat against the ground like that, and in heels! Of course Naya was taken by Heather’s wonderfully rounded ass that was currently sticking up in the air. Naya was finally relieved from her torment when the blonde resurfaced and began stretching out her arms. I swear she’s doing this to me on purpose.
“Alright ladies, places please,” Ryan spoke out to his two performers as he sat behind a camera in his director’s chair.
Naya took her position behind Heather and slung her arm around her shoulder. Before Naya could put on her Santana face, Heather gave her wrist a squeeze and turned her head back to her. Naya breathed in honey and syrup. Their faces were literally centimeters apart and Naya could practically count the number of freckles still visible through Heather’s makeup. She was suddenly aware of how close their lips were to brushing against each other’s; it made Naya lick her pouty lips unconsciously. Heather smiled and turned back away, her face instantly channeling back to Brittany or Britney.
“Okay, from the top of the choreography please everyone. Action!”
The music blared and Naya began to sing along with the recording of her and Heather. They went through the choreography and Naya put as much of herself, while including an ample amount of Madonna finesse into her movements as possible. She had studied the music video on YouTube several times in order to prepare herself for the number, but she still wanted to make this their own. Naya surprised herself by keeping up with Heather. However, it didn’t last too long. The choreography reached the point where Heather’s backside was currently writhing up and down Naya’s front. That’s when Naya’s mind went completely blank, making her forget where her feet were. Her mind scrambled to catch up as she dipped down with Heather, but she couldn’t spin around fast enough. She fumbled with the cane causing it to clank to the floor out of reach.
“Cut,” Ryan said.
“Good going, Nay,” Heather said lightheartedly with a smile. Naya blushed and looked to her apologetically. She had to pull herself together.
“Okay, go again from the start.”
The music picked up again, but Naya’s brain was still scattered about and she continued to fall behind. Why the fuck did this have to happen now? Naya pleaded helplessly. She started counting the steps in her head and just went back to the basics. By take three, Naya was simply going through the motions, trying to not focus on Heather and to focus on making it through the whole number. Hand here, foot there… spin, then step and one, two, three. Thrust cane, pull up Heather and-
“Cut, cut… You’re almost there ladies. You two are doing great. Heather fantastic, but Naya you’re getting a little stiff. Don’t worry about the choreography too much. I can see the focus too much on your face. I want that beautiful face of yours to shine through on camera! Relax a bit okay?” Ryan directed to the two of them, more so to Naya.
Naya nodded curtly. She swallowed and swiped at the forming sweat at her hairline. One of the tech guys started pointing something out to Ryan and he diverted his attention away from the cast members, giving them all a breather. Heather took Naya’s shoulders and turned her around so that their eyes locked. Naya had a rush of déjà vu from when they had been in this exact position in the tin shed all those years back. When Naya first realized she was in love with her best friend… when she had lost all control over herself.
Heather gently squeezed, “Hey, come on, Nay. Relax. You know you do better when you’re loose…”
Naya’s annoyance with herself and with Heather’s ability to so easily make her weak was starting to build up. What does she know about when I work best?
“Stop. I know, Heather,” she said with hint of sharpness in her voice. She brushed off Heather’s touch.
Heather furrowed her eyebrows. “Don’t be like that, Nay,” she spoke, hurt.
“Okay, ready everyone? Places, and… action!”
Heather instantly snapped back into character while Naya continued to struggle with her emotions. She was trying to keep her frustration in, but the more she moved the more Heather and everything was getting to her. She knew this choreography. They had practiced it nonstop because Naya demanded to perfect it. The fact that she knew it so well pissed her off even more knowing it was Heather that was making her forget it all. She pushed through the routine, however messy it may have been, but they were almost to the end. Suddenly, there was a high pitched squeak of a miss placed foot against the slick floors. Naya could hear the thud of a body hit the ground. She immediately stopped and looked behind her. Heather had suddenly disappeared from her side and had rushed to a fallen backup dancing scowling in pain as he clutched at his ankle.
“Okay, okay… stop. Is everything okay?” Ryan asked worriedly and he got up to approach the fallen dancer.
Naya watched the commotion around her, greatly concerned for the injured man on the floor. A couple crew members had rushed in next to Heather and the dancer’s partner to examine his wound. Heather comforted her friend, while she elevated his leg and the crew members examined his ankle. She nodded her head carefully and spoke in hushed tones. The blonde dancer was well educated on the topic of injury and Naya knew she would be able to help. The two crew members finally lifted up the dancer onto his feet and shuffled him off set. Ryan walked with him patting him on the shoulder and giving him words of encouragement.
“Alright everybody… let’s just take five while we go check out Tanner’s injury.”
Naya, distraught from the situation and from her inability to cope with her feelings she flew off set, not really wanting to be followed. Heather was speaking with Jenny, Tanner’s partner, calming her down and telling her that none of it was her fault. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of white escaping off the set. Confused and wanting answers to her friend’s odd behavior, Heather followed.
Naya found a quiet spot off to the side and she began pacing it with frustration. She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. Fuck! You’re being so overdramatic. Just get over yourself! She stopped pacing and threw the cane over her shoulders, resting both her arms over it. She let out an exasperated sigh. This is just getting ridiculous. Naya could hear the growing sound of clicking stiletto heels. She knew it was Heather.
Heather approached her in a half-jog and said in a breathy voice, “Hey, Nay… What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing Heather… I’m fine,” Naya couldn’t handle the vulnerability anymore, she was about to snap. “I just need some space.”
“Okay… Yah, yah. I hear you. Tanner rolled his ankle and his condition may be pretty bad. Things were getting a little tight in there…”
“No, Heather,” Naya stopped her sharply. “I need space from you.”
Heather had sucked in a breath, but held it in. She looked surprised as the realization of Naya’s words punched her in the gut. She looked hurt and confused and Naya hated that, but she had had enough. Naya had even been surprised by her own bluntness in the situation. She never thought she had it in her to speak to Heather in that way.
“Oh…” Heather finally managed out. She opened her mouth to speak again, but just closed it and let out a long sigh. She looked to Naya sadly. “Nay, what did I do?”
“Heather you… you just… I-I just can’t deal with this right now,” Naya spluttered out in aggravation. She slipped the cane back off her shoulders and leaned on it as if she were exhausted. But she was exhausted. She was so tired of the teasing and the tormenting.
Heather looked down and bit her lip, thoroughly confused. “I’m sorry. I don’t get what’s wrong, Nay, but whatever I’m doing I’m sorry.”
“That’s exactly the thing Heather! You don’t know! You don’t know what the hell you’re doing to me!” Naya almost shouted. Wow, this was happening right now. It of course had to happen today at this moment, when Britney fucking Spears was going to be walking onto the set in another forty-five minutes.
“Nay, just… j-just tell me. I’ll stop I swear,” Heather looked so scared.
“You’re just…” Naya paused and tried to choose her words carefully. “I feel like you’re acting too close lately. I mean I know that’s how we were before, but it’s different now…” she wished she could have just said it right then. Just blurt it out Naya! “I don’t know… You’re just always touching, and hugging, and holding my hand, especially today. But it’s not like it used to be anymore. It’s all… overwhelming.” Naya hoped she understood, most importantly she couldn’t tell her the complete truth yet. Not here anyway.
“You’re right…” Heather agreed sadly. “I’m sorry, Nay. I have been acting weird lately I know. It’s just… when you shut me out for those three weeks it had honestly been the worst three weeks of my life. I thought it was because I was the one to put space between us. I don’t want that to happen again, so I did the opposite… I guess I’ve been too clingy… I’m so, so sorry if I annoyed you.”
Heather’s eyes were downcast and her normal straight posture was hunched. Naya sighed and her normal self was starting to come back. She was starting to realize that none of it really was Heather’s fault. How should she know what she was putting Naya through? It was wrong of her to accuse Heather of doing so. She knew that they were going to be needed back on set soon.
“Hey… Heather,” the blonde looked back up at Naya. “Just… just forget what I said. Everything is fine. It wasn’t your fault, you were just being a good friend and I… well I was being a bitch about it like normal.” That got a smile out of her.
“Yeah, well, it certainly doesn’t help when you get frustrated with work. You get more Santana-like. And I gotta say, I like Naya better.”
Naya gave a small chuckle. “Sorry, it’s just the pressure made me overreact I guess,” Naya tried to make up an excuse.
“Hm… Naya, I want you to know from now on that whatever I say and do, I never do to try to frustrate you or hurt you. I do it because I love you,” it scared Heather a little this time how easy those three words slipped from her lips. “Okay?”
Naya simply nodded. Then she thought to herself. It was now or never right?
“I know we don’t have much time right now, but…” Naya paused to give herself the courage to go forth and do this, “after, I really need to tell you something.”
“Anything Naya…” Heather smiled at her gently. She then hesitantly reached out her hand and took Naya’s lightly in her own. “Now… let’s go kill this number. No more excuses, Rivera. I want you to eat it up.”
Naya smiled and followed Heather back to the set.
***************
When they had come back on set, they were notified that Tanner’s injury turned out to be only minor, but that he would have to sit out for a couple weeks. Everyone seemed to be relieved by the news and a stand-in came to fill in the spot with Jenny. After her conversation with Heather, Naya was starting to feel a little more reassured with her actions. Naya could tell that Heather was starting to second guess her friendly affection around her, but she could also tell she understood. At least she hoped she did. Before Ryan called out action, Heather gave Naya a warm, genuine smile. That’s all Naya needed in order to know things would be okay; they just needed time. Of course, she had no clue how she was going to go about telling Heather how she felt, but she had this odd light buzz in her brain. Knowing that she was about to come clean, somehow, encouraged Naya forward. The fact that she had regained some sense of control over the situation brought relief to the Latina. She had to be honest, she was surprised how she felt about the whole thing. Naya was finally pulling herself together and by their second take they “killed” the number.
The two were extremely happy with the way they wrapped up the scene. Something had ignited between the two of them that Naya couldn’t really put a finger on, and it lit up the entire set. There was something different in Heather’s movements and the way that she locked her eyes with the Latina that seemed to drive each other forward. They were completely feeding off of each other to the point where they weren’t dancing separately, but as one. Naya was on a runner’s high. If this is how Heather felt every time after a performance, she understood why she was so bubbly crazy.
The two gave Ryan high-fives as they exited the set for their short break. Heather, being herself, absentmindedly embraced Naya into a celebratory hug. She could tell Naya was cautious as she had instinctively stiffened by Heather’s gesture. She inevitably relaxed into Heather’s arms, wrapping her arms around her waist and burying her nose into her shoulder, surrounding herself in honey and maple syrup. Naya was confusing Heather. She really had no clue what the hell was going on in the brunette’s brain. One minute they’re happy and giggly, the next Naya is stuttering a whole bunch of nonsense and pushing Heather away. Naya’s bouncing emotions was making Heather’s emotions sling around too. She desperately wanted to know what was on the Latina’s mind.
Heather finally broke contact, “Oh God! That was so fucking amazing! I told you we were going to be way epically hotter than Madonna and Britney ever were.” Heather was bounding with excitement and Naya mirrored her emotion, to a lesser extent.
“I know... We were really great. You were great. Perfect even… I was just following you the whole time,” Naya said with a smile.
“Are you kidding me?” Heather looked at her as if she had three heads. “I think you are mistaken. I was feeding off of you the entire number. You had the lead, missy. Guess that warm up of yours really did do somethin’.”
Naya smiled, shook her head, and looked down at her beige heels.
“Don’t be modest now,” Heather joked.
“The only reason I danced that way was because of you… It was your voice counting the beats for me in my mind from practice,” Naya said sincerely. “I’m sorry… again. I mean it, Hemo. I didn’t mean to snap like that, I-”
“No… God… we gotta stop doing this stuff to each other. Communication, Nay. We really need to practice that. I’m sick of all of this apologizing,” Naya nodded in agreement while Heather spoke. “Let’s start now, yeah? What was it that you need to tell me?”
Heather had held out her open palms, asking for permission to hold Naya’s hands. Naya accepted. Heather’s piercing blue eyes deeply searched Naya’s as if trying to read her mind. Naya was suddenly getting nervous. Don’t get cold feet now… You can do this. You need to do this… She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.
She looked the blonde straight in the eyes, “Heather, I-”
Naya’s face suddenly fell and she dropped Heather’s hands. The blonde looked at her confused. Heather felt strong arms encircle her waist and a familiar set of lips press against her neck. She was looking at Naya the whole time, the brunette biting her lower lip. Naya read Heather’s face and she swore she saw a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes before turning around happily in the embrace.
“Nate!” Heather’s arms flung around her boyfriend’s neck, reciprocating the hug. She chastely pecked him on the lips. Naya wanted to gag herself… “Y-You’re here? What are you doing here?”
“You did invite me, remember Hemo?” Nate said giving a low chuckle. Naya hated the way Heather’s nickname rolled off his tongue. Oh how he was just so fucking charming… Naya thought. She gripped the handle of her cane till her knuckled turned white. She started counting the number of ways she could use her cane as a weapon…
“Yah… Yah, no, I know, but you told me you couldn’t make it because you had an interview at the same time today,” Heather spoke questioningly.
Nate tried to avert his eyes away from his girlfriend for a moment and embarrassingly said, “I did… but it didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. Job just wasn’t right for me. So instead I decided to come down here and surprise you. You two were amazing, seriously. I only caught the last two takes, but my god… definitely filing that picture in my mind for later use…”
Naya grimaced and Heather playfully punched him the ribs.
“Okay! Okay! I get it… I’ve gotta tell you though I would have been here earlier, but it took me forever to get through security here… They were pretty intense.”
Naya had to suppress a snort.
“Well… it certainly is a surprise!” Heather said awkwardly. Naya furrowed her eyebrows curiously.
“Oh…” Heather suddenly turned around and slipped out of Nate’s grasp, but he just slung his arm over her shoulder. “Nate, you remember Naya…”
“Of course! How can I forget about the best friend?” he said cheerily, giving her an award winning smile. He held out his hand and Naya shook it gingerly, trying to smile the best she could. “Heather can’t shut up about you. She talks about you all the time.”
Heather glared at her boyfriend and then looked back to Naya. For a moment, Naya thought Heather looked a little nervous.
Naya gave a fake laugh, “I can say the same about you.”
“Oh gosh, I hope it’s only good things.” More fake laughter.
Heather then suddenly realized. “Oh, Nate. We were actually having a conversation before you came in…”
But Naya stopped her, “Oh, no… don’t worry about it. It was really nothing.” Naya smiled, trying to shake the topic off. It was certainly not nothing though…
“No, Nay. It sounded important… I-”
“Really. It’s okay, Heather. It was no big deal.”
“Hey, if you guys need time… honestly I can just wait-” Nate tried, but Naya interrupted him as well.
“Nope. It’s honestly fine. It’s… it’s nothing that can’t wait,” Naya reassured, smiling at the couple. But could it really wait? All this shit continued to bubble inside Naya.
Heather simply stared at her with the familiar look of confusion and worry.
“Hey Heather! Hey Naya! Hi… who are you?” Roy, the runner, said jogging up to them.
“Hi, I’m Nate. Heather’s boyfriend,” he said giving a strong handshake, sending jolts through Roy.
“Right… Hi… Heather, Britney will be here in five and we need you to prep for your guys’ scene. So Ryan wants you back over in a few.”
“Okay, thanks Roy,” Heather spoke sweetly. He beamed at her and walked off attending to another errand. “Guess, that’s my cue.”
“Yeah, I’m excited for you, babe” Nate said turning Heather back to face him. “You’re gonna be ridiculously hot compared to Britney.” He smiled that lame, cheesy ass smile. He closed the space between them, lips meeting in a slow, sensual kiss. Naya rolled her eyes.
She counted for fifteen seconds and when they still hadn’t resurfaced, Naya coughed out uncomfortably. Yup, fifteen seconds was all she could tolerate of their lip smacking. Heather pushed his chest away gently, breaking the kiss. She turned her head to the side as her eyes searched for Naya and she unconsciously bit her lip. Nate was doing the opposite as he licked his, relishing the taste of Heather’s lip gloss.
Heather wiggled out of Nate’s arms for the second time that day and spoke out breathlessly, “Okay, I’ll be back in a few. You two don’t go anywhere.”
“Oh I don’t think either of us would miss Britney for the world,” Nate said on both their behalf and Naya started to examine how sharp the end of her cane was again.
Heather simply smiled as she briskly strut back onto set, leaving Naya alone with the only person in the world she was sure she had ever truly hated.