(no subject)
Title: There's No Romance In This Story (Things Have Changed Remix)
Fandom/Pairing: Nishikido Ryo/Erika Toda
Warnings: AU
Summary: She wasn't your high school sweetheart, but once she had played the part.
A/N: Written as part of jentfic_remix. Originally Things Have Changed for Me (And That’s Okay) by chartre. I really liked how this one turned out.
She was sixteen when you first saw her, sitting in the middle of a cluster of stars. You knew their names, friends of your friends and rising just as steady as you were; in a few years you'll all be shining, but for that moment, she was the only one you could see, sitting there like the center of everything.
She had smiled, even though you were skeptical. She was just your average beautiful girl, some high school's sweetheart, trying to make it big. You could see everyone loved her, even the polished idols around her.
You weren't so convinced.
"Nishikido-san," she'd called you.
She'd laughed when you apologized for just calling her Erika-chan, for being uncharacteristically familiar.
You were young. Carefree. She liked that.
She was cute, you decided, but she wouldn't make it far.
*
She wasn't your high school sweetheart, but she played the part when she turned seventeen. Her hair had been curled and her smile was easy, and you think that's possibly when you fell for her, when her yellow sundress was flapping around your hands and there were a dozen cameras watching.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not ready for anything," she'd said and the director called cut because of how soft her voice was or bad lighting or a thousand other things you never noticed because you were too busy watching how she was biting her lip in the cold wind.
"No, I'm sorry," you'd told her when the scene picked back up, and you'd bowed and bowed and bowed, playing the part of a nervous school boy who'd just had his heart handed back. "I just wanted you to know."
She'd smiled at you for real when filming was done for the day because she never realised you'd meant every single word.
*
When you kissed her, it was dark. You were surrounded by people, because that's how dramas work.
She'd sighed and blinked at you, not because she was really annoyed, but because her lips were cold and her character didn't want to break your heart.
"Sorry," you said, and the director cringed; your timing was always terrible, but she didn't seem to mind.
*
On the last day of filming, you walk her home from the set. You hold her hand, and she laughs, lacing your fingers together. "Nishikido-san," she calls you, always professional.
You call her "Erika-chan," always familiar.
You know it'll be a while before you see her again, both of you rising even higher. You know how it'll go, awkward, tilted smiles and forced conversation with friends who assume you don't remember each other.
You wonder if you'll forget how to love her in the meantime, when you're slipping away into the darkness around her apartment block.
*
You play a business manager in your next drama, and you tell yourself you're too tired to watch hers. You catch bits of reruns late at night when you're stumbling in after days of shooting, pretend like you don't get caught up in her nurse uniform, the clinic setting.
She's cut her hair, but she's still beautiful. Everyone still loves her, even the seasoned actors around her.
Congratulations, she texts when you win best supporting actor. Your heart barely flutters.
You forget about her while you're filming your next drama. It doesn't even hurt.
*
She'll wear boots when you film with her again, a special for the same drama two years down the road. You'll meet at some cafe to run lines, and there she'll be in her pink lip gloss and yellow cardigan with your heart surprisingly still tucked away in her locket.
"I've missed you," she'll say.
"Really?" you'll ask.
"Really," she'll say, and then she'll smile. "So, are you seeing anyone right now?" and it'll take you a moment to realise she already has her script open.
She'll blink; you haven't forgotten.
Fandom/Pairing: Nishikido Ryo/Erika Toda
Warnings: AU
Summary: She wasn't your high school sweetheart, but once she had played the part.
A/N: Written as part of jentfic_remix. Originally Things Have Changed for Me (And That’s Okay) by chartre. I really liked how this one turned out.
She was sixteen when you first saw her, sitting in the middle of a cluster of stars. You knew their names, friends of your friends and rising just as steady as you were; in a few years you'll all be shining, but for that moment, she was the only one you could see, sitting there like the center of everything.
She had smiled, even though you were skeptical. She was just your average beautiful girl, some high school's sweetheart, trying to make it big. You could see everyone loved her, even the polished idols around her.
You weren't so convinced.
"Nishikido-san," she'd called you.
She'd laughed when you apologized for just calling her Erika-chan, for being uncharacteristically familiar.
You were young. Carefree. She liked that.
She was cute, you decided, but she wouldn't make it far.
*
She wasn't your high school sweetheart, but she played the part when she turned seventeen. Her hair had been curled and her smile was easy, and you think that's possibly when you fell for her, when her yellow sundress was flapping around your hands and there were a dozen cameras watching.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not ready for anything," she'd said and the director called cut because of how soft her voice was or bad lighting or a thousand other things you never noticed because you were too busy watching how she was biting her lip in the cold wind.
"No, I'm sorry," you'd told her when the scene picked back up, and you'd bowed and bowed and bowed, playing the part of a nervous school boy who'd just had his heart handed back. "I just wanted you to know."
She'd smiled at you for real when filming was done for the day because she never realised you'd meant every single word.
*
When you kissed her, it was dark. You were surrounded by people, because that's how dramas work.
She'd sighed and blinked at you, not because she was really annoyed, but because her lips were cold and her character didn't want to break your heart.
"Sorry," you said, and the director cringed; your timing was always terrible, but she didn't seem to mind.
*
On the last day of filming, you walk her home from the set. You hold her hand, and she laughs, lacing your fingers together. "Nishikido-san," she calls you, always professional.
You call her "Erika-chan," always familiar.
You know it'll be a while before you see her again, both of you rising even higher. You know how it'll go, awkward, tilted smiles and forced conversation with friends who assume you don't remember each other.
You wonder if you'll forget how to love her in the meantime, when you're slipping away into the darkness around her apartment block.
*
You play a business manager in your next drama, and you tell yourself you're too tired to watch hers. You catch bits of reruns late at night when you're stumbling in after days of shooting, pretend like you don't get caught up in her nurse uniform, the clinic setting.
She's cut her hair, but she's still beautiful. Everyone still loves her, even the seasoned actors around her.
Congratulations, she texts when you win best supporting actor. Your heart barely flutters.
You forget about her while you're filming your next drama. It doesn't even hurt.
*
She'll wear boots when you film with her again, a special for the same drama two years down the road. You'll meet at some cafe to run lines, and there she'll be in her pink lip gloss and yellow cardigan with your heart surprisingly still tucked away in her locket.
"I've missed you," she'll say.
"Really?" you'll ask.
"Really," she'll say, and then she'll smile. "So, are you seeing anyone right now?" and it'll take you a moment to realise she already has her script open.
She'll blink; you haven't forgotten.