A/N: Okay, so I've wanted to do a Maislinn fic for a while, but I never got a real idea. But I finally got one, so here goes! I'm planning on this being just a one-shot, but if you guys want more, I might be able to do it (: I'm obviously not done with Maybe This Time, I just need to get this out. Without further ado, I give you Please Don't Leave Me!
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or Munro and Aislinn's feelings or lives or whatever I'm supposed to say here.
I walked out of the room, tears streaming from my face. My emotions were running all over the place. I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself.
"Aaaaaand…CUT!" Stephen yelled. I quickly wiped the tears from my face and turned around hastily. I swiftly walked back onto the set that Munro and Stephen were now standing in. "Great job, guys. I think we got it!" He congratulated. He patted us both on the back and walked away.
Munro put his arm around my shoulder. His touch gave me the chills. "Way to go, Ace! You totally nailed that scene!" He smiled down at me. I tried to smile back, but it must have come out as more of a grimace. His smile turned into a frown. He placed two fingers under my chin and lifted it up so I could meet his eyes. Their sparkling green contents were filled with concern. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked soothingly.
I shook my head. "Nothing, it's stupid." I mumbled. He chuckled and lifted my face once more, for I had looked away when I felt the blush creeping up my cheeks.
"Ace, something's eating you," He said.
"Nothing's eating me; I'm at the top of the food chain!" I joked, giggling a little bit.
"Ah, a lion king reference! Good one, youngin'!" He chuckled and lazily slung his arm around my waist. Little did he know what it did to me…
"God, this cast is a massive pain!" Munro exclaimed. We had just finished our final scene for the Drop the World finale, so Munro was still in a hospital gown and a cast on his leg. We had started walking and his hobbling was getting more and more pronounced with each step.
"Alright, let's just get you to makeup and they'll take you out of it," I comforted him. He looked over at me and smirked.
"You know, Ace, sometimes you talk to me like I'm a little boy who just fell off of his bike and scraped his knee," He laughed.
"That's because sometimes you act like it!" I said, exasperated. He could sometimes be a handful, but I would gladly spend my time dealing with him. We finally arrived at makeup, where Munro and I took our seats. I didn't have much makeup on for them to take off, so I just sat there drinking water out of my water bottle and watching Munro fidget while the makeup team struggled to take off his cast.
"Remind me why we even had to put you in this in the first place?" One of the crew, Cindy, asked. "Munro, I swear to God, if you don't stop moving around, I'm going to take this cast and beat you down with it," She threatened.
Munro threw his hands in the air and chuckled. "It was for the dramatic effect of the whole scene!" He exclaimed. He looked over to me and winked. I turned away, already feeling the embarrassing blush rise faster and faster through my face.
"Well dramatic effect or not, we are never going to do this again. You are the worst person to have to sit still for a few minutes while we work on you," Cindy chided. Munro shrugged and smirked at me, and then reached for his own water bottle.
Even though we hadn't been working with each other for very long, we were really good friends on set. We had a ton of scenes together, what with our characters being love interests, so we had a lot of bonding time. Eventually, we spent so much time together that we ended up being really close. Munro was always there to comfort me on my off days, and I was the same way with him. My throat choked up, thinking of how that was all going downhill now.
"Earth to Aislinn," Munro said, waving his hand in my face. I jumped.
"Wh-what? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking," I concluded lamely. The makeup team was gone and Munro and I were the only ones in the room.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Thinking about what? Come on, Ace. We tell each other everything!" He said, genuinely concerned. "You've been out of it ever since we ended the scene. What's happening in that head of yours?" He joked, prodding my little head.
I got out of my chair and grabbed my jacket and bag. Eventually, I turned to him. "It's just, I don't know. Now that our characters are broken up, I feel like we won't be as…close anymore," I whispered. Munro's face instantly shifted into one of relief, care, and concern. He walked over to me and wrapped me into a warm hug.
"Nothing's going to change, bud. We're stuck together. We'll both still be on the cast and there's still season eleven. It's not like I'm disappearing altogether. I'll still be here for you," He murmured into my hair. A single tear slid down my cheek and I hastily reached up to wipe it away, embarrassed. He gently pushed me away, so he could look me in the eye. "Aislinn, I promise, I will never, ever leave you. Okay?" He asked, smiling a little.
I nodded. "See? I told you it was stupid," I mumbled, looking away. Munro grabbed my arm and pulled me back around so I faced him.
"Hey now. It's not stupid. I'm just as upset as you are. No more time spending hours and hours making lame jokes in between takes," he said, smiling. I giggled, remembering all of the stupid things we had come up with over the season. He wrapped him arm around me and we headed to the door, turning out the lights on the way out.
We had reached the parking lot when Munro turned to me. "How about we celebrate tonight?" He asked cheerfully.
"Celebrate what, exactly?" I asked, laughing at his need to always celebrate something. He was big on going out and partying.
"Celebrate the end to a wonderful on-screen relationship and the start of an even better of-screen one!" He exclaimed, smiling at me. I knew that he meant a friendship, but a tiny piece of me wished that he was talking about something more. Unfortunately, that would never happen. But a girl could always dream, right?
"Sure, why not!" I said, throwing my hands up. "Lead the way, Mr. Party Planner," I said. He took my hand and led me through the parking lot of the studio. We wound up at his car and I got in without hesitating. He usually drove me home from late-night scenes like these, so it was pretty ordinary. He hopped in next to me and started the car. The radio blasted Avril Lavigne's What the Hell. I squealed like a little girl and turned up the volume.
All my life I've been good, but now.
I'm thinking what the hell.
All I want is to mess around.
And I don't really care about
If you love me, if you hate me
I sang the lyrics loud and proud, while Munro groaned. "Really? Come on Aislinn, no chick songs on in my car! You know that!" He chastised.
"This is my jam!" I yelled, turning down the volume all the same.
"Your…jam?" He asked, chuckling at my word choice. I just poked my tongue out at him and looked out the window, bobbing my head at the infectious beat.
Surprisingly, he kept the entire song on. When it ended, it turned to him. "I'm surprised you didn't change the station!" I said, surprised.
He blushed. Huh, you didn't see that often. "I, uh, wanted you to sing more. You could be the next Canadian Idol!" He said, grinning at me. Now it was my turn to blush.
"You're just trying to butter me up in preparation for whatever party you're planning on throwing tonight. By the way, don't you need to call everyone up? It's not a party if they don't even know to come," I joked. Munro turned to me.
"No big party tonight, my dear. It's just gonna be you and me," He said, forming his heart-breaking side smirk. My heart raced. Just me and him?
"I'm not much of a party, though. I'm pretty boring," I said, focusing my attention more on the road than on his face.
"You are too!" Munro exclaimed. "Remember that one time when everyone was so bored on set, and you disappeared? We were all confused as to where you went to, when you appeared with a box of Twister! We all thought it would be lame, but you made it awesome," He reminisced. I giggled.
"I never knew Sam was so flexible!" I said, my giggles now turning into laughter when the images of Sam creaming everyone, even Jordy, at the silly game. Munro joined in, and we laughed for a few minutes, remembering the astonishment on everyone's faces when he actually won.
"See? They may not have been in our little scenes, but we still had fun," Munro murmured, reminding me of our earlier conversation. I was starting to feel that it actually would end up okay after all.
Suddenly, the car stopped. "Wha-?" I started, but Munro shut the car off and said, "We have arrived!" He got out and jogged around the car to open my door and help me out.
"What a gentleman you are!" I joked, but grabbed his hand all the same. I shut the door behind me and followed Munro. He pulled me through a pair of doors and we were instantly exposed to a room full of light.
"No way! You brought me to Stir Crazy? This is my FAVORITE restaurant!" I exclaimed, smiling brightly. I turned to him and hugged him. "Thank you!" I said into his shirt, so it came out a bit muffled. I could feel the vibrations of his laughter through his chest.
"No problem," He said. "It's not even a big hassle; it's such an average restaurant!" He said.
"You take that back!" I gasped. "You cannot beat their stir-frying skills!" I exclaimed. He only chuckled and spoke to the waitress at the front pedestal.
"On a date, are we?" She asked, winking at me. Munro and I simultaneously turned different shades of pink. Munro was the first to cool off.
"Sort of," He mentioned. I blushed even more. Sort of? What is that supposed to mean? "It's her birthday," He whispered to the waitress, leaning forward.
"Oh, I see," She said, reaching for some menus and stepping out from behind her pedestal. "I'll make sure to mention that to the chefs. Right this way," She commanded, leading us to a table in the back. I was vaguely aware that Munro still hadn't let go of my hand. When we reached our table, we were forced to let go. My hand felt cold and bare without his large, warm hand covering it.
"I'll be back in a minute for your orders," She smiled at us before walking away.
I turned on Munro. "My birthday, my ass!" I hissed. He put his hands up in a defensive pose.
"Hey now, it's a celebration! Plus, you get free cake! It's a win-win!" I smiled at his reasoning and picked up my menu, but not before I whacked him on the head with it. "Ouch!" He exclaimed, rubbing the spot that the menu hit.
"Oh, come on. It's a piece of plastic!" I said, exasperated.
"I'm pretty sure you just gave me a concussion. Thanks a lot. Remind me to never take you out to dinner ever again!" Munro said with a hurt look on his face. He couldn't keep it going, though, and he broke out into laughter. The sound alone made my heart skip a beat.
I rolled my eyes. "You are such a drama queen."
"Guilty as charged!" Munro smiled at me and raised his menu. After a few minutes of contemplation, the waitress arrived again.
"What can I get you two?" She asked and turned to me. "I'll have lemonade." I said. She nodded and scribbled on her pad. "And to eat?" She asked me. "I'll have the stir fry with beef and white rice," I said, folding my menu.
"How about you, sir?" She turned to Munro. "I'll have a Coke and the stir fry as well with chicken and noodles," He said, not bothering to fold his own menu before handing it to the waitress. She smiled at us and took mine as well before heading off. She reappeared almost instantly with the bowls for our vegetables.
Munro and I got up and headed over to the vegetable bar. After throwing many vegetables in my bowl and having a mini-fight with Munro over the last baby corn, I poured some sauces into a cup and gave my food to the chef. I rested my chin on my hands and laid my head on the table. I jumped when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist.
"How's the birthday girl?" He mumbled into my hair. I whacked him on the chest.
"You are such a dirty liar!" I whispered harshly. He just smiled and grabbed our completed meals. We walked back to the table and sat down, immediately digging into our plates. The meal went by relatively quietly, with a few murmured compliments on the food. Eventually, I had eaten so much that I had to sit back in my chair and push my plate away.
"I feel like I'm going to explode!" I groaned. Munro grabbed the contents of my plate and dumped it on to his. He smiled at the look of disgust on my face.
"The more, the merrier!" he said cheerfully. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"You eat way too much," I said.
"Ib bno" He spoke through a mouthful of noodles. I giggled at his childishness and turned away. I saw a small group of the staff heading our way with a slice of cake in hand. They reached our table and placed the tiny plate down in front of me. I stared at the jumbo piece of chocolate cake with a pink candle sticking out of it. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish this at all. More for Munro to digest, I guess.
"Haaaaaaaappy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Aislinn! Happy birthday to you!" the staff sang, much to my embarrassment. Munro joined in as well, laughing the whole way at the murderous glare I was giving him. I made my wish and blew out the candle, which set off a whole other round of cheers and clapping. Eventually the crowd thinned out, leaving just me and Munro to admire the dessert.
"Here you go, Mr. Bottomless-Pit. Have some more food," I joked, sliding the plate along the wooden table. He smiled and picked up a fork.
"This," He said, pulling off a piece of cake, "is for you." I barely had time to open my mouth before he shoved the fork and cake in it. Cake slipped down my chin, causing Munro to laugh. I started laughing too, choking on the food in my mouth. I painfully swallowed it and continued to laugh.
"You are totally getting it!" I yelled. I pulled apart another piece of cake and flung it at his face. Munro was shocked, but only for a moment. A devilish grin grew on his face as he plunged his hand into the cake and threw it at me. I closed my eyes and attempted to wipe the chocolate off of my face. He dipped his finger in the frosting and lightly pressed it to my nose. He erupted with laughter at that, easily distracting him. I tore apart the cake, slamming it into his face. He instantly stopped laughing as chunks of chocolate fell into his lap. I started laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face.
I felt Munro kick me under the table, so I looked up at him. He had wiped a majority of the dessert off of his face, but his eyes told me to turn around. I did so, trying to control my laughter. It was now just tiny hiccups. I was now face to face with the waitress from before. She did not look happy. At all.
"Do we have a problem here?" She asked menacingly. I quickly shook my head, instantly scared. I felt Munro's leg wrap around mine, as if he knew that I was freaking out. His touch calmed me down.
"No, not at all. Could we have the check please?" He asked innocently. She nodded sternly and walked away. I turned back around to Munro. As soon as our eyes made contact, we burst into hysterics. We laughed until the waitress slapped our check on the table. Even then, we let out the occasional chuckle. Munro signed the bill and handed it back to the waitress. I knew there was no point in arguing over who paid the bill, because I knew that I would lose. He was too much of a gentleman.
"You two have a nice night," The waitress said bitterly. I just nodded, gathering my coat and standing up. She stalked off, swishing her hair behind her. Sheesh, and I thought she was nice. I turned to Munro, who had stood up as well. He grabbed my hand again and pulled me through the dining room. Other couples and families were there, all enjoying their meals. I smiled at a few of them as some of the kids recognized us. Munro seemed to be in a hurry, so I couldn't stop to talk to them.
He led me outside and to his car. "Munro, you speed demon," I joked. He smiled at me and unlocked the car. I slid in and he followed suit. We ended up driving back to my house in the comfortable silence that usually filled the air. I enjoyed it, soaking it up. This was one of the last times that we could actually do this. The thought saddened me. I was definitely going to miss this.
The car stopped and I looked up. I saw my familiar house, and my heart sunk. I hated arriving home and cutting the time I had with Munro short. I hopped out of the car. Munro walked around it, meeting me. "Damn, Ace, you beat me to it!" He said, feigning disappointment. I only smiled at him.
"Still in the sad mood, huh," He mumbled. I just looked down, trying to avoid his eyes. "Ace, it's not going to change. It's still going to be the same that it always has been!" He comforted me.
I looked up at him. "I know. I'm just being stupid. You're not even affected by it. I'm just stressed from all of the emotions from the scenes we had to do today." It was a lame excuse, but it was the only thing I could come up with.
"You don't think I'm sad about it? When I read the script, I was devastated! But I knew that we will still see each other all the time. We will still have cake fights in the middle of restaurants. You still have my phone number. It's going to be okay," He said, hugging me again. I sighed, finally comforted.
"You're one of the only people who I actually hang out with off-set. Just promise me that won't change, okay?" I asked him. He nodded and smiled.
"Aislinn, you're my best friend. I'd never give that up just because of some stupid script change," He began walking me to my door. I moved slowly, trying to stall as much as I could.
"It's going to be so weird now! For us, the season's over. Sam, Jessica, and a few of the others have the baby scene tomorrow and that's it. It'll just be so…weird," I mused. Munro nodded as well and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I'll call you all the time, Ace. No joke," He said seriously. My heart swelled. "You will get so sick of me that eventually you'll have to kick me out," He joked.
"Never," I said. He smiled, and we reached my door.
"I'll see you around, then," He said, pushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. My breath caught in my throat.
"Of course. I'm not going anywhere," I replied and smiled at him. For a fleeting second, I thought that he was going to kiss me. I thought that my wildest dreams had finally come true, and that we'd have a romantic kiss on my front steps in the moonlight. Then he'd confess his undying love for me and the world would live happily ever after.
But no. Instead, he waved goodbye and retreated down the stairs. I sighed in frustration and opened the door to my house, stepping inside. I shut the door and headed to my room, a pit settling at the bottom of my stomach. Never again would I be able to kiss Munro. The only time we were able to was when we were playing Eli and Clare. But that wasn't going to happen anymore.
I released a sigh and flopped on my bed. I didn't know what I was going to do now, without having to wake up early to go to the studio every day. Suddenly, my jean pockets vibrated. I pulled my phone out, expecting a text from Jordy.
Come outside. I have your bag. You left it in the car, silly goose.
-Munro
My insides churned, and a huge grin spread on my face. I raced downstairs, not even bothering to check my hair and clothes. I opened the front door to Munro standing there holding my pink bag. It was quite a sight. I started laughing, but was suddenly cut off by Munro's arms sliding around me. He pulled me against his body and he smashed his lips against mine.
It was just like I had imagined. It was totally cheesy and romantic and terrifying and stupid, but I loved it all the same. We just stood there in the doorway, making out passionately. I don't even know what changed in him, but I liked it.
I absorbed myself in this kiss, knowing that it could very well be our last. I tangled my fingers in his hair and pulled myself closer. I could feel him chuckling against my lips. He gently pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. We were breathing heavily and both smiling.
"I couldn't just leave without that. I've wanted to kiss you forever," He whispered. I laughed slightly and pulled away.
"I guess I should take my bag now," I mumbled, blushing. He laughed and handed it to me.
"Goodnight, Aislinn," He whispered, kissing my lightly on the cheek. His hand grazed mine as he retreated, heading to his car.
At that moment, I knew it. He wasn't going to leave me. We were bound together, whether we liked it or not.