"Richie! What are you doing?" A bright peal of laughter echoed through Rose's living room as Richie pushed a script into her hand. She didn't even take a moment to look at it, her eyes never leaving him, as he took his seat behind his new camera.
Well, it wasn't really new. Not exactly. New for him. Her mum had bought one months ago and had never used it. Thinking that, perhaps, Richie could use it for rehearsing, she had offered her mum a little bit of money for it and had given it to him as a sort of surprise a couple of weeks before. He'd seemed pleased enough, and she'd seen him use it to make sure he had his delivery right. But, this? Oh, this was more than unexpected.
He beamed at her from behind the camera, his hands fiddling with the controls, his own copy of the script sitting on top of his leg. "You said when we first met that you wished you could do what I did. It's not exactly the same, but it's something." The red light of the camera blinked and he nodded at her, his face suddenly serious. "Just trust me, I'll read with you. Act Two, Scene Two, start after the monologue."
For the first time, Rose looked down at the script in her hands and her cheeks turned positively scarlet. Romeo and Juliet. Of course he'd give her Shakespeare…And of course it would have to be that one. It had been a while since she'd even picked up the play. Even longer still since she'd read it out loud. And never had she read it out loud in front of anyone. She looked up at the camera, her hair falling across her face, and her cheeks a bright shade of pink. "Richie…I'm just going to embarrass myself." Still, though, she opened the script to the section he'd specified.
"You're going to do fine, Rose. Just don't think about the camera." He gave her a soft smile and motioned for her to get started. He was more eager to see what she could than he was willing to let on.
Rose glanced down at the script, her eyes widening at the scene before looking up at him for reassurance. Finding that in his eyes, she lifted the script and began to recite:
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny they father and refuse they name.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Her teeth dragged across her lower lip and she couldn't help but giggle as she looked up at Richie, unable to wait for his line. "I'm making a fool of myself. I'm reciting lines to nothing. You can tell me I'm terrible, y'know."
He glanced down at the small screen of the camera before looking up at Rose with a reassuring smile. "You're doing find. Your nervous, that's all." Making sure it was still running and stable on it's tripod, Richie stood and moved to take a seat in front of Rose, script in hand. "We'll both make idiots of ourselves. That any better?"
She nodded, her smile broadening. "Much better."
"Good." He looked down at the script in his hands and thumbed over a page or two before looking back up at her. "We'll skip a little bit. How about…Ah!" Once he'd found his starting point, Richie didn't make much of an effort to look at the script. He knew it like the back of his hand, only keeping the script for reference. "With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls, For stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsman are no stop to me."
Rose swallowed hard, glancing down at the papers to gather her line before looking up at him, her eyes concerned as she did her best to stay in character. "If they do see thee they will murder thee."
He shook his head, not missing a beat, his brow furrowing with the sincerity of the words. "Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet, and I am proof against their enmity."
She reached out a hand and cupped his cheek, her eyes meeting his. "I would not for the world they saw thee here."
"I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes," He reached up a hand and placed it over hers. "And but thou love me, let them fi-"
His words were cut off as Rose's lips spread into a grin and she fell into a fit of laughter, her hand still held to his cheek by his own. "I'm sorry. I just…I can't. Your face, Richie. You're so serious." She looked up at him and her nose wrinkled before she fell into another fit of giggles.
Richie did his best to keep a straight face. He'd been trained to hold it, but with Rose falling into giggles right in front of him and the fact that he could feel her hand trembling against his cheek with the force of the laughter, he couldn't. His face broke into a smile and the giggles escaped him as he nodded at her. "It's supposed to be serious. It's a reading of Shakespeare."
"I know, I'm sorry." She sucked in a breath, gasping as she tried to calm her laughter. "I guess we'll just never be able to work together, will we?"
He shook his head and set the script on his leg and ran a hand through her hair. "Nope. Not if you can't stop laughing."
A blush once again spread across her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I should just leave the acting to you." She dipped her head, hiding the embarrassment in her eyes.
"Hey. You'd be great if you learned to not laugh. We'll work on it. Don't worry." He smiled and leaned forwards to press a gentle kiss against her forehead.
Rose tilted to look up at him, a half smile crossing her lips. "You'll help me learn to not laugh and I'll help you with memorization. Deal?"
He nodded quickly, a bright smile on his face. "You've got a deal my little Rosebud."
She leaned forwards and pressed her lips innocently to his, pulling away with a blush and a giggle. "A deal. Sealed with a kiss. And it's on camera…no wriggling of it."
Richie blushed brightly and let slip a nervous giggle before giving him a nod. "Wouldn't dream of trying." He stood, pulling her to her feet, the scripts falling into their chairs. "C'mon. Let's get a cup of tea and something for lunch." He slipped his hand into hers and pulled her off into the kitchen, their giggles echoing through the house.
The red light of the camera blinked, forgotten, recording two scripts laying on chairs and laughter filling the air.