On Set
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Dan Humphrey. Or that's what his new name was going to be for the next 6 years on the teen drama TV show. He still couldn't believe that he gave in and signed the contract. Maybe it was the temptation of working with his old home school friend, Blake. Or maybe it was the fact that he got to work in the one and only, New York city. But whatever it was, he was here now. His first day on the job, and he was already late.
"Penn, you made it!" Chace yelled out once he saw his newly acquainted friend. The two met when they both got their roles for the TV. So they decided to get to know each other over lunch the next day, since they were going to be cast mates for the next few years.
Penn walked over to his friend, and gave him a loose-guy hug. "Hey,what did I miss?" he asked him.
"No worries, man. The whole cast were just having a Bonding BBQ" he pointed over at the people gathered around the tables full of food.
"Bonding BBQ" Penn repeated to himself with a chuckle, "sounds appetizing".
"Oh, it is." Chace mocked. "Come on" he brought Penn over to the group of people.
The BBQ was situated at back of the studio, where there was a small park for the cast to take a break.
"There he is." Josh Schwartz, the producer, said as he walked up to give him a hand. "Welcome to the cast, Penn."
"Thank you." Penn said.
"We're all going to meet at meeting room in the Silver cup studio, right over there, in an hour." Josh told him as he pointed at the building to the right, before he walked off.
"Now let's go meet your new cast members." Chace said, as he brought him over to a table full of teenagers their age. "Guys, this is Penn." he introduced.
Penn immediately noticed his old school friend he last saw 2 years ago. Their mothers were good friends, and had them home schooled together until Blake had to move to Los Angeles for her acting career. They were really close friends back then, and it devastated him when she left. "Blake" he said, walking over to her to give her a hug. "Good to see you after so long. How are you?" he smiled.
"Great." Blake replied, smiling at the thought of working with her best friend again.
"Penn. This is Leighton." Chace interrupted, as he introduced the brunette girl sitting next to Blake.
"Hey, I'm Penn." he said, as she got up to shake his hand.
"And this is Ed." Chace said, as they walked over to shake hands.
"Wow, Chace. You are quite the popular one already amongst the cast." Penn joked.
"You know it." Chace smiled. "Come on, let's get something to eat." he said as they walked over to the BBQ.
"So you know Penn?" Leighton asked as she sat back down next to Blake.
"Yes, we were best friends a long time ago." Blake replied, with a smile on her lips, thinking of how much they used to have.
"Never anything more?" She asked, as she took as a sip of water from her glass.
"Already gossiping, ladies?" Ed interrupted, with a smirk. "This is going to be an interesting year." he told himself, as he got up to join the guys at the BBQ.
"Bye Ed." Blake waved, before she continued to talk to her friend. "Why the interest?" she asked.
"Just wondering if you two had any history together. You know, just making sure that it won't become awkward at set already." Leighton explained.
"No history. I used to have a small crush on him, but that was ages ago." Blake replied, looking over to see the guys hanging around at the BBQ. "You can have him if you're interested, though. He's a great guy." she winked, knowingly.
"Woah, slow down." Leighton held her hands up. "I'm a professional. I don't believe in the whole 'date your co-worker' thing. It can only end bad." she told her.
"Not even if he's really charming and good looking?" Blake asked, jokingly. "That must have been difficult for you."
"Tried it once, got burned. Never again." Leighton said, before the girls were joined once again by the guys.
"Who got burned?" Penn asked, as he sat in between Blake and Chace.
"Nothing, just girl stuff." Blake turned to say with a smile.
"I see..." Penn smiled. "Chace, mind explaining?" he joked.
"I actually have a guess." Chace laughed. "Probably already gossiping about who is dating who." he told them.
"We actually were." Blake said. "Nothing interesting yet, though. Especially since Leighton has decided that she wasn't going to date any guys who work here!" she said. "There go the fun cast parties that won't be fun anymore."
"It's too much drama, and way too awkward." Leighton defended. "It's called being a professional, Blake." she teased.
"Girl fight?" Ed laughed. "loving this job already."
"Typical guy mind set." Leighton replied.
Penn for some reason couldn't stop looking at Leighton, and how her smile made his heart skip a beat every time he saw it. He must have been staring at her too much, since she caught him looking at her. Feeling bold, he decided not to take his eyes off of her to see her reaction. She smiled at him, which he returned.
"I'm going to get something to drink." Leighton announced, not moving her eyes off of him.
"Me too." Penn said, as he joined Leighton. "Hey Leighton." he said, as they walked over to the drink table.
"Hello. Penn, was it?" Leighton smiled.
He nodded, as he grabbed two glasses of champagne, handing one to her. "So your friends with Blake?" he asked, taking a sip of his champagne.
"We met briefly a few days ago. She's a nice person." she said. "I understand that you two were really close before?"
"We were." Penn admitted. "but it was a long time ago. We were only friends, though. Never more." he told her.
Leighton looked at him for a moment, wondering why he decided to mention that. "So only friends?" she joked.
Penn chuckled. "So what about you?" he asked.
"What about me?" she offered, with a smile on her lips.
"I don't know, something interesting to know, I guess." he replied.
Leighton stood there, thinking about what to say. "My life's not that interesting. At least not yet." she told him.
"This TV show is definitely going to be an interesting part of our lives. Not only the experience as an actor, but also the relationships we build further on." Penn said. "Who knows what will happen between now and the end of the show." he told her.
"Who knows." Leighton agreed.
The two were interrupted by Josh Schwartz making an announcement on stage. "Remember that the cast is going to meet at the meeting room in the Buttercup studio in a few minutes." he said in his microphone.
"Well, I guess that we should head back to the rest of the group." Leighton told Penn, as she finished off her glass, before setting it on the table.
"Wait, uhm." Penn stuttered, not wanting her to leave. "Would you like to have coffee together sometime?" he blurted out.
Leighton turned around to face him. "I told you, I don't date guys I work with." she told him apologetically.
"Who said that I was asking you out on a date, Leighton?" He retorted. "Just coffee." he told her with a smirk on his lips.
She blushed like crazy. Way to jump to conclusions, she told her self. "Well in that case... I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing to have coffee with you." she smiled back, before she walked off to join the group of friends.
Penn chuckled to himself. It was going to be a difficult job convincing her to go out with him. But it was totally going to be worth it. He saw Chace wave at him to join the group, to which he did what was told.
"You and Leighton?" Chace gave him a suggestive look, as they walked to the studio.
"Nope." he admitted, "just friends going to get coffee together." he told him.
x|x|x|x|
It was noon, and Josh had just finished his speech about working together as a family, and how everybody how everybody had to dedicate their time and effort into each episode. "We will take an hour break, before we will meet again at the meeting room to discuss the first episode." he announced.
Penn got up from his seat, prepared to leave, before Blake called out his name. He turned around.
"Hey Penn!" Blake said, as she stood next to him. "The group were going to spend lunch together. Would you like to join us?" she asked.
He had thought to go back to his hotel room and relax, but decided it was a good idea to get to know his new cast mates. "I'd love to." he replied.
Together they walked to the studio garden, and took a seat at the table outside. Ed had gone with Chace to get food from Subway a few blocks away, while Leighton had gone to the bathroom to freshen up. Leaving Blake and Penn sitting at the table together.
"So how's your mom?" Blake asked. They were sitting next to each on the bench, catching up.
"Good. She's been really busy with her fashion line, so I haven't had much as I wanted to talk to her." he said.
"A fashion line? That seems like a nice idea." Blake smiled. "I've always loved her style." she commented.
This was the first time they had talked in a long time, and it was nice. Penn had missed talking to his best friend. "So last time we talked you were dating Kelly. How's it going?" he asked.
Blake sighed. "We broke up." she replied, in a low voice, not really wanting to talk about it any further.
"I'm sorry." Penn replied, regretting bringing it up. "He was a nice guy." he told her.
"Yeah." Blake agreed. "Hey Leighton." She greeted as Leighton walked back towards the table.
"Hey." Leighton replied. "The bathrooms here are beautiful. I mean, scented candles and beautiful flowers everywhere." she told them excitedly.
"A little unnecessary for a bathroom, don't you think?" Penn asked.
Leighton took a seat on the other side of the table. "Maybe for a guy." she told him, with smile. "Girls on the other hand need to have clean bathrooms."
Penn shook his head. "I guess." he smiled. "What time were we supposed to meet back at the meeting room?" he asked, changing the subject.
Blake looked down at her watch. "We still have forty-five minutes. Don't worry." she told him. "Chace and Ed should be here any second with the food."
"Unless they ate all of the themselves." Penn joked.
"Wouldn't surprise me." Leighton retorted.
"Well, I'm going to go to the bathroom." he announced. "Going to see if they're really all that special." he told Leighton with a smirk on his lips.
"They probably only made the girls bathroom nice. You know, since it's so unnecessary for guys." Leighton teased back.
Penn gave her a smile. "Probably." he said as he walked off, leaving the two girls alone.
"Are they really that nice?" Blake asked, once Penn was gone.
"Nah, they're ok." Leighton laughed.
Blake smiled. "Oh, look. There come the guys." she pointed towards Chace and Ed who were walking towards them with bags in hand.
"Hello ladies." Ed said with his native British accent. "we've brought sandwiches." he put the bags on the table.
"Where's Penn?" Chace asked, looking around.
"He went to the bathroom. Why?" Blake answered, as she started to open the bags to grab a sandwich.
"We've found this great club close by that Penn would love." Chace said. He looked over at Ed knowingly, and started to smile.
"A club?" Leighton asked. "You mean strip club?"
"Of course not." Chace laughed. "We might be guys, but no. It's just this great dance club. We were thinking of going there tonight." he told her.
"Speaking of, Leighton would you like go shopping with meet later today?" Blake turned to her friend to ask.
"Sure. It's not like the hotel room is any fun alone, anyways." Leighton replied, taking a bite of her sandwich.
Chace looked at his watch. "We still have half an hour before we have to be at the meeting room." he announced. "Penn better hurry up if he wants any sandwiches."
"Oh, He's probably going to be there a while to inspect the bathroom, thanks to Leighton." Blake giggled.
Chace looked over at Leighton, cocking one of his eyebrows.
"Long story." Leighton replied, with a smile.
"I bet." Chace replied.
"Hey Leighton." Penn said as he walked up over to her. "I guess you were right." he told her.
"Of course I was." Leighton retorted.
Penn smiled back, before grabbing a sandwich from the table. He took a seat next to Chace.
"Guess what, man?" Chace said, facing his friend. "We found our entertainment for tonight. We're going to a club!" he told him excitedly.
"A club?" Penn repeated, slightly confused. "Dude, we have to be at work tomorrow at 6 o'clock."
Chace laughed. "That just means that we can't be there the whole night. Come on, it will be fun. Enjoy the time you have before you can't go outside without mobs of girls surrounding you!"
"Someone's confident that they're gonna end up a big star." Ed remarked, with a smirk.
"I don't know, man." Penn hesitated.
"Leighton and I are going to go bond by shopping together, you should join the guys and bond as well." Blake told him.
"Yeah, man." Chace repeated.
"Fine." Penn sighed, as he took a bite of his sandwich. If he was being honest, he would tell them he didn't want to go. That he just wanted to relax before his first day at work.
"Ok, great. It's time to head to the meeting room now, anyways." Chace announced, as he threw away the trash the group had left on the table. "You coming, Penn?" he asked.
"You guys can ahead, I just have to check an email." Penn said, as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.
Leighton walked over to Penn. "Leighton, you coming?" Blake called out, as she waited for her friend.
"I'll come in a sec." Leighton replied, "you can with the guys." she told her.
"Hey, I just needed to check on an email from my agent. You don't have to wait up." Penn told her, as she sat down next to him.
"I'm sure it won't hurt to miss a few seconds of the meeting. After all, it's not like Josh's speeches are the most interesting in the world." she joked.
Penn laughed. "I knew I wasn't the only one who had to force their eyes open during the meeting."
"Definitely not." Leighton smiled. "So, what do you need to email your agent about that's so important?" she asked.
"Nothing interesting." he told her. "just paper work for the show, you know." he sent the email, and put the phone back in his pocket. They got up, and started walking towards the studio. "So you're going to go shopping with Blake tonight?" he asked.
"Yes, I am." Leighton smiled, "it's going to be fun. And you're going to the club with the guys. That also seems like fun."
"I guess." He replied.
"You don't like clubs?" Leighton asked, a bit surprised.
"Oh, I do," Penn chuckled. "I just don't really feel like going to a club tonight, right before our first day at work." he told her, "but that's just me".
"Wanting to keep it professional, good job." Leighton gave him a pat on the back. "Hey, you can always join us when we're going shopping." she offered with a teasing smirk.
"While that seems like a very tempting offer, I think that going to club might be a bit more fun for me, as a guy." he laughed.
"Of course. Got to keep up your male pride." Leighton agreed.
"Ladies first." Penn said as held open the door of the studio for her.
Leighton smiled. "I guess chivalry isn't dead." she teased, with a small laugh.
"Never." Penn replied, as they entered the elevator to go to the meeting room.
"Ah, there you two are." Josh Schwartz said as he saw the two enter the room. "I was handing out the scripts for the first episode." he told them.
Penn and Leighton walked up to him to receive their little booklet filled with their lines.
"You will get tomorrow morning to learn your lines for the episode. We will then meet at 12 o'clock to discuss what actors will be needed for which scene. In the meantime, the actors not needed for the first scene, will be assigned their trailer park" Josh asked the group of actors surrounding the table. "Until then, have a good rest of sleep. It's going to be the last for a long time." he said, with a smirk on his lips.
Penn turned to look at Chace, with a 'I told you so' look on his face. But Chace shook his head, and stood up to walk over to Penn.
"Man, don't worry we won't be there long. Just to have a drink." Chace reasoned, patting his friend on the back.
Blake and Leighton walked up to the boys. "We're going to head off." Blake told the,.
"Yeah, see you guys tomorrow." Penn replied.
"Don't come to work too hungover." Leighton teased.
"We won't." Penn smiled.
"Time to party!" Ed yelled out, flinging his arms on his friends' shoulders.
|x|x|x|x|
It was 9 o'clock PM, and the girls had gone to Bergdorfs to do their shopping. While the guys had gone out to explore the night life in New York City.
"What do you think the guys are up to?" Blake asked, as she looked through the racks of clothes at Bergdorfs.
"Probably getting drunk, and using their fame to hook up with random chicks." Leighton responded.
Blake turned, and looked at her with her eyebrows cocked.
"I was kidding." Leighton sighed, "who knows what they're doing. Why, are you worried?" she asked.
"Well, I don't want them to do anything stupid, that's for sure." Blake replied. She held up a long, gold dress to show to Leighton. "What about this one?"
"I don't really like the straps." she replied, shaking her head. "I wonder what Penn is doing." Leighton laughed to herself.
Blake looked at her friend suspiciously. "Why care what Penn is doing?" she asked, as she studied her friends face to see what she was thinking.
"He told me that he didn't really want to go, so it made me think what kind of things Chace and Ed are making him do." Leighton explained.
Blake was still suspicious. "So you and Penn are good friends?" she asked.
"Just friends. We're still getting to know each other and all. I mean, it has been only like 1 day since we've met." Leighton said. She grabbed a blue skirt from the rack, "come on, let's try these on." she took her clothes, and walked over to the changing room.
"So just friends for now?" Blake asked.
"Well he did ask if I would want to have coffee with him sometime..." Leighton began to say. Blake immediately perked up. "But..." she continued, "... we hadn't really set a date for it. So it's probably not even happening." she finished off.
"Strange." Blake was confused.
"I guess..." Leighton sighed, "but it was only going to be a friendly get together anyway."
Blake modeled her cute summer dress that had flowers imprinted on them. "What about this one?" she asked.
"It's really cute." Leighton commented, with a smile plastered on her face.
"So, wait. It was going to be a friendly get together?" Blake continued. "Oh, right. Your whole I-don't-date-cast-mates rule."
"Don't mock." Leighton laughed. "It's a good rule, trust me. That way I won't get hurt, and it won't be awkward."
"I guess it's a smart rule." Blake sighed.
"So what about you?" Leighton asked, turning the attention towards Blake. "Any guys in your sights?"
"Not really." Blake admitted. "Kind of trying to get over the break up."
"I'm sorry."
|x|x|x|x|
"You see those group of girls over there?" Chace asked, pointing towards a booth in the corner of the club.
"Yep." Penn replied.
"That's our target." Chace said. "Ed already called the blond, and I want the other blond. So you can have the brunette." he pat his friend on the back.
"And why are we doing this again?" Penn asked, skeptically.
"We're enjoying our last few nights as regular unknown guys. Sure, we've all played some roles before, but none of us are that famous. But once we start this chick TV show, girls are going to swarming towards us like bees." Chace explained with a grin on his face. "So enjoy, my friend."
"But I don't want to hit on some random chick." Penn explained, as he looked at all of the girls at the club.
"Why? Because of Leighton?" Chace asked.
Penn crossed his arms. "No. We're just friends."
"So she friend-zoned you?" Chace chuckled. "Look whatever there is between you two, just enjoy tonight. Worry about that some other day." he pat his friend on the back.
"How about this. I'll be your wingman for tonight." Penn offered.
A big grin appeared on Chace's face. "Now we're talking!"
"What about me?" Ed asked, as they walked over to the girls.
"Sure, why not." Penn sighed.
|x|x|x|x|
"And here's your receipt." The cashier said, as she handed the girls the paper. "Thank you for shopping at Bergdorfs."
"Thank you." Blake took the bags and handed Leighton hers. "Wow, shopping really is tiring." she said, as they walked out of the store with bags in hand.
"I don't know, I'm not really that tired." Leighton put down her bags, and grabbed her phone from her pocket to check the time. "It's only 9:43pm, Blake." she told her.
"I guess it's not that late. I'm just tired from all of the shopping." Blake said. She grabber her phone, and dialed the driver. "I'm just going to call Henry, so that we can put the bags in the car."
The girls had gotten rid of their bags, and were still in the middle of New York City, with plenty of things to do.
"I don't know, we can join the guys at the club." Leighton offered. "I'm sure it would be very interesting to see what was going on there."
"I guess that would be fun." Blake agreed. "I have Penn's number, I'll ask them where they are." she told her.
"Ok." Leighton agreed.
"Hey, Penn." Blake said, once he answered the phone. "Leighton and I are just finished with shopping, and are wondering where you guys are so we can join you." she asked. "Ok. Yeah. Thanks, we'll see you in a bit. Bye" Blake ended the call.
"So where are they?" Leighton asked.
"At some place called Pacha." Blake answered. The two girls stepped into the car, and drove off to see what the guys were up to.
|x|x|x|x|
"So you're an actor?" Tiffany asked Chace. Tiffany was this blond girl, who was sitting next him at the table. She had this big fascination with him, and touched him at every chance she got.
"Yes, indeed." Chace smirked.
Penn sat next to Tiffany's brunette friend, Ashley. They had talked for a while about her cats, but after she drank 4 shots, she had basically passed out. Ed on the other hand had gone off to dance with an Italian girl, named Bella. Even though she didn't understand a word he said, they still managed to dance together the whole night.
Penn was about to call it quits, until he saw Blake and Leighton enter the club. He quickly stood up, happy to finally have a reason to ditch, and walked up towards the girls.
"Hey, Penn!" Blake said, as she gave him a hug. "How's it been?" she asked.
"For Chace and Ed, amazing. Me, not so much. I'm not really into the club life." he answered.
"Well, Leighton and I got a lot accomplished." Blake smiled proudly. "She even managed to get the number of the cute salesman." she told him.
Penn looked at Leighton. "A salesman? Score!" he teased.
"Shut up." Leighton replied, giving him a friendly punch on the arms. "He was hot, ok." she explained, with a giggle.
"Let's get a booth guys, so that we can sit down and order drinks." Blake suggested. And so they walked to a booth near by the dance floor, and took their seat.
"I'll get us beer." Blake offered, and walked off to the bar.
"So did you find any good sales?" Penn asked, trying to start a conversation.
Leighton laughed. "Yes, I found some amazing leather boots for 20% off, so that definitely made my day." she told him. "What about you? Any luck?"
"I did have this cat girl, but she passed out, so not really." he told her, making her laugh.
"Passed out?"
"Way too many shots." he explained, "don't worry, I didn't do anything."
Blake walked back to the table, and gave each their own bottle of beer. "To Gossip Girl." she held up her bottle.
"To Gossip Girl." Leighton and Penn repeated, clinking their bottles together, before taking a big sip.
Penn was about to ask Leighton to dance, before he was interrupted by Blake.
"Leighton, look." Blake pointed towards the guy standing at the table.
"Oh, hello." Leighton smiled, as she looked at the cute guy.
"Hey, I was wondering if you would want to dance with me." he asked.
Penn gripped onto his bottle of beer. Another chance missed, he thought to himself.
"I'd love to." Leighton smiled. She grabbed onto the stranger's hand, and walked with him to the dance floor.
"Hey, are you ok?" Blake asked, noticing her friend's uneasiness. She scooted over to sit closer next to him.
"I'm fine," he sighed. He looked on as Leighton started laughing at something the guy told her, while they were dancing.
Blake saw Penn look at Leighton, but decided not to say anything about it.
"There you are, Penn!" Chace yelled out as he walked over to the table. "I've been looking all over for you, man." he took a seat next to Penn.
"Hey, sorry. What happened to Tiffany?" Penn asked.
"Yeah..." Chace sighed, "turns out she was kind of a weirdo." he chuckled.
Penn laughed. "I'm sorry, man."
"I can tell." Chace retorted, "I thought Leighton was coming with you to the club, Blake?"
"She did." Blake said, pointing towards her, "only now she's dancing with some guy."
Chace looked at Penn, before answering, "I'm sure he's a douche." he said,
"Look guys, she can dance with whoever she wants. Even if he happens to hace a hideous mohawk." Penn pointed out, letting out a laugh.
"Sure." Chace continued, "just don't come crying to me when she turns up with a new boyfriend tomorrow. I'll just tell you it's your fault you didn't man up, and act on your feelings."
"Go ahead." Penn replied, before taking a sip of his beer.
"Let's stop with the whole Penn/Leighton drama." Blake said, "Chace, where's Ed?" she asked, scanning the room.
"He was dancing with this guy an hour ago. I haven't seem him since." Chace replied.
"Maybe his girl didn't turn out to be a cat freak." Penn teased, smirking at Chace.
"Whatever, man. She wasn't that hot anyways." he told him. "They're way hotter girls here who are sane. But first I need energy. Anybody else want something from the bar?" he asked, before continuing, "Ah, who cares, I'll just bring for everybody." he said, before walking off to the bar.
"It's already 10:37pm." Penn read from his phone, "and tomorrow we have to memorize the first few scenes already." he told her.
"Don't worry, Penn. We have until 10am tomorrow, to learn out lines. And it's not like their going to expect that we memorized everything on our first day at work." she explained.
"I guess your right." Penn sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"Now come on, and let's dance." She got up, grabbed his hand, and brought him to the dance floor. He tried to keep up with her dancing, but ended up making a fool of himself.
"I can't dance to save my life." he yelled out, over the music.
"Neither can I, just enjoy it." Blake yelled back.
The music was upbeat and happy, but quickly changed into a slow song, resulting in Penn getting asked to dance by some random girl. "Sure." was the only thing he could think of.
"I'm Lexi, by the way." She told him, as she wrapped her arm around his neck.
"Penn." he replied, loosely holding her waist with his hands. In the corner of his eye, he saw Leighton dance with the same guy. She saw him as well, and gave him a small smile, which he returned. His heart got shattered into small pieces though, when he saw the guy kiss Leighton. Maybe Chace was right. Maybe he had to just man up and ask her out, before it was too late. Lucky for Penn, the song was a short song, and so he quickly walked off of the dance floor once it was over.
"You sure have a knack for ditching me, man." Chace said, once he saw his friend plop back down next to him.
"I'm sorry, Blake wanted to dance." he explained.
"Well, here's your drink by the way." Chace said, as he handed over another bottle of beer.
Penn grabbed the beer and emptied it into his mouth.
"Someone seems a bit weird." Chace noticed, slightly backing off.
"I'm fine. Completely fine." Penn held up his hands. "Really, no need to worry... I'm fine." he finished off.
"So, I'm guessing your fine?" Chace asked, finding his friend's behavior amusing.
"Definitely." Penn replied. "Oh, look who's coming our way." he saw Leighton walk back towards the booth.
"Hey guys." Leighton smiled, as she took a seat next to Penn.
"What happened to your dancing buddy?" Chace asked, as he handed her a beer.
"We finished dancing." Leighton said, as she took a sip.
Chace cocked his eyebrows, as if asking for more information.
"I gave him his number, and he said he would call me." Leighton explained.
"I'm going to get another round, anybody want another?" Penn asked, prepared to stand up.
"Oh no your not." Chace held him down, "we have our first day tomorrow, and I'm not letting you turn up hungover."
"What happened to him?" Leighton asked.
"Oh, you don't want to know." Chace replied, "trust me."
Leighton turned her body to face Penn. "Penn, I thought you hated clubs, and were afraid to do anything stupid before work started?" she asked.
"I do, and I was." Penn replied, starting to slur his words. "It's just that I had a lot on my mind."
"It's ok." Leighton smiled, gently rubbing his back, "we can head back to the hotel if you want." she offered.
"That would be amazing." Penn ran his hands through his hair.
"We'll see you guys tomorrow." Leighton told Chace, as she helped Penn up.
"See you. Take good care of him." Chace waved.
Leighton took Penn's hand and led him out of the club, and into the car of the driver.
Penn turned to look at Leighton sitting next to him in the car. "Thanks." he told her.
"For what?" she asked.
"I don't know, everything I guess." he smiled.
"Well, you're welcome then." she smiled back.
When they arrived at the hotel, she brought him up to his floor and room. "I trust you can take it from here." she told him, as they stood in front of his room.
"Again, thanks a lot, Leighton." Penn told her.
"No problem." Leighton said, before giving him a small kiss in the cheek. "Good night, Penn."
"Good night, Leighton."
TBC.
