Fic: Off the Stage (2/14)
Title: Off the Stage (2/14)
Author: gradgirl (aka Ali)
Rating: PG-13 (eventually NC-17 - no one is more shocked by that then me)
Characters/Pairings: Van Hansis/Eric Sheffer Stevens
Summary: Future fic. What happens off the stage when Van and Eric meet again?
Warnings: RPS. If you are offended by the idea, please do not read this story.
Disclaimer: Complete fabrication, never happened, never expect to happen. There are no intentions to offend or cause harm.
Author’s Notes: The whole thing (credit and blame) goes to cherimola. Without her, I never would have attempted to write this. Thanks to my amazing beta,reilaroo I cannot post without and thanks also to slayerkitty for insisting I post. Comments are appreciated and loved. Thank you ~Ali
Previous Chapter: Chapter One
Chapter Two
Van walked slowly, following Neil, and he kept looking back, to check to see if Eric really was behind him, that he hadn’t somehow made it all up in his mind. Van had always enjoyed working with Eric, and he’d felt bad about letting their friendship go. Also, he was excited about the play. He’d been working on plays for the last few years, and what made them work was the more than just the words on the page, but the players in the company. With Eric there, Van knew that this would amazing.
They made their way to the rehearsal hall and a few other people were already sitting there. Grabbing a chair, he pulled it out for Eric and then stopped for a moment. He caught the redhead’s gaze and both men chuckled.
“Why did you never do this for me when we’d get dinner?” Eric questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
“We only went to bars,” Van countered, relieved that Eric had helped to release some of the tension Van was feeling. He had no idea why he’d done it. It was such a couple-like thing to do, but he was glad they could toss it off as nothing.
Van sat down next to an attractive blonde with blue-gray eyes. She smiled at him, trying to figure out what was going on between the two men. Van found himself smiling in return. “I’m Van,” he whispered offering his hand.
She returned the shake. “Van? That’s a great name.”
“Short for Vanfossen.”
The woman giggled in response. “Okay, you have to be serious because I can’t imagine anyone making that up.”
Van grinned. “Careful if you say that to an actor, we lie for a living. And you are?” Van asked.
“Mia,” the woman replied.
“Mia, with the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.”
She laughed again. “Careful if you say that to an actress, we love flattery.”
Eric sat for a moment, watching the scene unfold. He and Van never went into the specifics about Van’s personal life, but he was pretty sure Van was only interested in men. Eric couldn’t be certain if Van was flirting, but for some reason it made him a little uncomfortable.
“All right, everyone. I’m Neil, your director. We’re here for Ghosts of Regret. Now that you know who I am and I know who all of you are. So lets go around, introduce yourself and the character you’ll be playing.” Neil nodded in Eric’s direction to get them started.
“Uh, Eric Sheffer Stevens, I play Davis Hale.” He turned to Van and smiled.
Van smiled back for a moment. “Van Hansis.” He shot a wink at the actress next to him. “I play Campbell Hale, Davis’s half-brother.”
The actress next to Van offered a smile to him first and then the rest of the group. “Mia Ward, I play Laura Collins, Davis’s fiancée.”
The rest of the group introduced themselves. There were two actresses, one playing Eric’s mother, and the other playing Van’s mother. There was the guy who played Eric and Van’s father, Crawford Hale, then an associate of Crawford’s, and Crawford’s lawyer.
They began the table read and everything went smoothly. There were a few stops and starts, but everyone seemed to get along, eager to get to work. The director wanted to talk to a few of them, giving them notes, things to think about before the group got together again.
Neil talked to Van first and then moved on to Eric. Mia, the actress who played Eric’s fiancée, was told to wait so she and Van stood off to the side for a few moments.
“So you and Eric are friends?” she asked, feeling awkward just standing next to Van and not saying anything.
The blonde was watching Eric for a moment, cataloging some of the differences in Eric’s physical appearance. He didn’t look that much different. His hair was a little long, Van could see some of the curls coming through, and there were a few lines more defined on Eric’s face. He looked even more attractive then he had years before. Van pulled himself out of his reverie, not wanting to let that line of thought continue any further. He turned to Mia. “Eric? Uh, yeah, well…” He shrugged. “We used to work together on a soap. The show got cancelled and we went our separate ways. We haven’t seen each other in years though, we lost touch.”
Mia smiled sympathetically. “I know how that goes. Interesting twist of fate that you guys are here now.”
Van nodded his head in return. “Yeah.” His gaze wandered over to Eric again. He tried not to jump when the redhead’s eyes locked onto his. He didn’t want Eric to think he was staring at him. Van offered a tentative grin and Eric returned it.
Wrapping up his conversation with the director, Eric made his way over to Van.
“I still can’t get over it,” Van admitted. He almost reached out for Eric, but at the last moment, he realized what he was doing and dropped his hand, quickly shoving it into the front pocket of his jeans.
“It’s great to see you too. I probably would have kept in better touch if I were involved in Facebook and all that you had. Jenny used to handle all of that for me, but…” His voice trailed off. “Anyway, what do you think?” Eric asked, meaning the play, the cast.
“I’m really looking forward to this play,” Van said. “And now that I get to work with one of best actors I know…”
Eric ducked his head, and he felt himself blushing. He felt even more embarrassed, thinking he was way too old to blush, but he guessed that was just something about Van. He always enjoyed working with him, the younger man teasing him and making him feel young as well, that the nine-year gap in their ages was nothing. Eric tried to clear his thoughts, not sure where they were leading him.
“Are you free tonight?”
Eric’s head snapped up, not sure, if Van was talking to him or maybe trying to ask that actress, Mia, out. “Me?” he asked, placing his hand over his chest.
Van chuckled and almost reached for Eric’s hand again. He attributed it to the fact that the last time they’d worked together, Luke was so affectionate with Reid. But in a way, being around Eric made Van feel like that guy he was six years ago. He’d changed. He wasn’t generally so openly affectionate with others now, but Eric was different. He brought out feelings in Van that were unexpected. “Yeah, you,” Van assured him. “I mean, that is, if you-”
“I can’t,” Eric said. “It’s my turn to have the kids,” he replied.
Van’s face scrunched in confusion and surprise. “Your turn?”
Eric grimaced slightly. “Jenny and I have been divorced for about four years now. We share custody.”
“Oh, I had no…” He reached out and gently rubbed his hand up and down Eric’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” Eric replied. “But it’s been enough time; we’re in a good place now. We get along great as friends and parents to Nate and Sarah.”
Van smiled indulgently, and he quickly did the math in his head. “Oh, my God, Nate must be 14 now, and Sarah’s 10,” he exclaimed.
The redhead chuckled. “Yeah, and doesn’t that make me feel old.”
“Oh, please you’re as hot as-” Van nervously swallowed down the rest of that sentence. “So how are they doing?”
“Good. They’re both doing well in school. Nate’s thinking of acting; we’re not sure how we feel about that. But he’s very much focused on his girlfriend. Sarah is brilliant. She loves science, and she’s always asking me questions. I feel completely lost with her.”
Van chuckled. “Nate with a girlfriend? God, I never had a girlfriend when I was his age. Way to go.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that,” Eric said.
“And Sarah was still so small. Well, tell the kids I said hi,” Van offered and started to turn away. “Actually, they won’t remember me. Forget it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Eric noted. “Nate loved all the comics you gave him. And Sarah? She has a mind like a sponge. She remembers everything.”
Van laughed, remembering the few times he’d met Eric’s kids. He and the little boy had quickly bonded over comic books. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been anywhere near a comic book store,” he admitted. “But if he remembers me, tell him I said hi and congrats on the girlfriend. And Sarah, tell I said hi as well and that she should never stop asking you questions!”
Eric chuckled softly. “I will. And Van?”
“Yeah?”
“Dinner this week? I’d like to catch up.”
Van found himself smiling. “Yeah, me too. It’s a date.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he winced and couldn’t look at Eric. He simply turned and walked away.
“A date,” Eric murmured to himself.
*
Eric had been with the show about two weeks. He was quickly picking up the pace and finding his way around. But being stuck in a studio out on Brooklyn was a little difficult sometimes. The commute was too long for him to head home. He had become friends with Terri and he realized he had done a play with Trent, the guy his character seemed to annoy so much. It was especially fun to do those scenes. Lately, though, he was working on building the antagonism with Van’s character, Luke. Van always offered to run lines with Eric and he was grateful. Also, Van was a bit of a social butterfly, he knew everyone and was loved by everyone. Wherever they went, Van was greeted with a hug and smile, and Van would quickly offer an introduction to Eric. He felt like he was being inducted into some kind of family.
“So do you want to get lunch?” Van asked. They’d run lines and had the scene down pat, insults, snark and an underlying something neither one could figure out.
“Sure,” Eric replied.
The guys went down to find a place and Van asked Eric how he was adjusting.
“I’m doing okay. I’m figuring my way around and you’ve been great about being my guide.”
Van shrugged his shoulders as though all of what he had done wasn’t that big of a deal. “I meant what I said, Eric, you can always use my dressing room as a home base.”
“Thanks.” Eric really enjoyed working with Van. The guy was extremely professional, always prepared and he did good work. Eric had heard that Van had been nominated for awards and working with him, Eric began to understand why. “I have to admit, one day I had so much free time between shooting, I went to Coney Island for a few hours.”
Van stopped and looked at Eric. When he realized the redhead was serious, Van let out a chuckle. “Next time, invite me, man.”
Eric laughed in return. He was so used to not trying to be in the way, that making friends and becoming attached to these people was still difficult. He didn’t know how long they’d want his character, but he loved playing Reid and he could grow to love everyone around him.
They found a sandwich shop, got their food and found a table.
“Thanks for running lines with me all the time,” Eric said.
Van shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “You can’t be prepared enough. We don’t get that many chances with this, so you have to make that first take count. You’re a theater guy, right?”
“Yeah,” Eric replied, not sure where Van was going with this. “I love being on the stage.”
“See, you can tell, you pretty much have everything down cold when you get here. I know when we run lines that you’ll have everything ready and I really like the scenes we have. Mostly because I love Reid’s dialogue, I’m constantly reading your lines, sometimes before my own.”
Eric chuckled and found that he did that often with Van. The guy was funny and liked to have fun, but once things got down to business, he was ready. He’d also been doing the show almost five years he’d told Eric once, so the older man thought he could learn from Van especially how to get used to the pace. “Well, I have to admit, I really love playing this character. The things Reid says, of course, I would never insult anyone the way he does.”
“And that’s what makes Reid so much fun. He sees all the crazy insane things around him and just calls it like it is.”
“Exactly,” Eric concurred.
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Again I have to thank everyone who took a chance on this story. I know the idea isn't universally embraced and I appreciate you all stopping by, reading and letting me know what you think. The comments and support have been so special to me. ~Ali
Onto Chapter Three...