The "Friend" Zone
"Hi, my name is Heather," I state as the director yells action. "I have feelings for my best friend Naya!"
As I continue to smile into the camera and pretend that this isn't weird, I start feeling a little more confident since acting is one of my professions.
"Naya thinks that she's helping me set up for a blind date, but in reality… the date is for her!"
I can't believe I'm actually doing this! I mean, I've wanted to tell Naya for so long, but never had the courage to. One day I was just channel surfing and came across this show and I totally related to it. So, here I am… ready to make a fool out of myself for a possible chance with Naya.
"This could go totally wrong and blow up in my face," I say into the camera, "but it's a chance I have to take… I can't waste any more time wondering "what if?" and what could have possibly been if I had said something sooner."
I take a deep breath as I finish the last line of my intro.
"Today is hopefully the day that I get out of the "friend" zone!"
Heather & Naya – Los Angeles, CA
"Hey, my name is Heather! I've had feelings for my best friend Naya for about 4 years now."
As I introduce myself again, the footage flashes to a random moment where Naya and I are out shopping, just being our goofy selves. Naya has on these extremely big neon green sunglasses that are bigger than Shamu's head, but as always… she looks amazing in them. I have on a beanie that is shaped like a banana… don't ask.
"Naya and I first met 4 years ago when our show Glee just started. She had already been casted to play the bitchy cheerleader Santana. I, on the other hand, had just been brought in to teach some of the cast members the "Single Ladies" dance and got offered a role by chance. I never really considered myself an actor or a singer so getting casted was a total fluke. However, the moment I met Naya… I just knew that there was a greater reason why I ended up on this show. And almost instantly, we became best friends."
As the segment continues to roll, pictures of Naya and me being cute and goofy on set start to flash on the screen, along with captions like "2 peas in a pod", "Besties", and "Two-shot".
"The thing that intrigued me about Naya right away was just her overall incredible personality. Besides being freaking hilarious, she's super smart, honest, and just breathtakingly beautiful. Naya is the type of girl that doesn't need make up to show how beautiful she is, inside and out. She gets along with everyone and is just a joy to be around. Naya also has this amazing voice that is just bone-chilling! A lot of the times when her character Santana sings a love song to my character Brittany, those are real tears streaming down my face. Trust me… I'm not that great of an actor!"
As more old photos and videos of us flash on the screen, I can't help but think about what will happen if she doesn't feel the same.
"Naya is my rock… she keeps me grounded when nothing else in this world makes sense. She is the most important person in my life and the thought of losing her scares me more than anything!"
As the next random video plays, I hear Naya's voice in the clip.
"You look like the Unabomber!" she says in completely seriousness before busting out laughing.
Personally, I find her comment to be a little rude and offensive. So what, I might be wearing a gray hoodie that's completely zipped up and have on a pair of aviators to hide my face… that's my business! Like always though, Naya sees right through me and we both begin to laugh uncontrollably. Her laugh and that cute little dimple that sometimes appears on her face are just more reasons why I'm crazy about this girl.
Help, Please! – Ashley
As my narration in the background continues, the shot of me playing now is at my house where I'm about to get some guidance from Ashley, my roommate and other best friend. Out of all of my friends, Ashley is the only one that I have confided in about my feelings. At one time or another, some of my friends/cast mates and even the media have speculated about the true nature of my relationship with Naya, but none of them ever received any confirmation.
"Hey, what's going on kid?" Ashley greets me as I step into the kitchen with her.
"Oh, you know… the usual," I reply back, casually. "Actually, I'm kinda freaking out..."
This causes Ashley to turn away from the sink and give me her full attention.
"Why? What happened?" she questions.
"I'm finally gonna tell Naya…" I trail off.
It takes Ashley a second, but then a light bulb goes off in her head.
"Oh… you mean you're gonna tell her…" she says, knowingly. I nod to confirm her suspicions. "Wow… what made you finally decide?"
"I just can't go on lying to her, or to myself for that matter," I reply as I shrug my shoulders. "How do you think she's gonna respond?"
"Honestly, I don't know Heath… I mean, you guys have been super tight since day one," Ashley says. "I always thought that she might have a thing for you and vice versa, but nothing's ever happened between you two so I figured I was wrong."
Suddenly, I feel a little deflated because I've always thought that there was something there between Naya and me as well. However, I just assumed that neither of us acted on it because up until about 2 months ago, I had been in serious relationship with my long-term boyfriend Taylor. Naya knew all about him and he's a really great guy, but after being off-and-on with him for the past 7 years, I finally decided that it was time for me to move on.
"Whatever happens, I think you and Naya will still be friends," Ashley says reassuringly. I flash her a tight-lipped smile and give her a quick hug before exiting the room.
The Best Friend – Naya
The next screen shot is of Naya pulling up to my house as she begins her intro.
"Hey, my name is Naya! Heather is my best friend and I know the perfect type of guy for her," she starts off. "Heather is truly one of a kind and if a guy can't figure that out right off the bat, then he definitely doesn't deserve to waste her time."
Naya finds me on the back porch and my face instantly turns into a mega-watt smile. I immediately greet her with the biggest hug possible before we sit down.
"So, HeMo… are you excited or nervous about the date?" she inquires.
"Both. It's been so long since I've been on a date, let alone with someone new," I reply.
It's the truth… Taylor had been such a big part of my life for so long and now here I am, single for the first time in my adult life. The thing that makes this a little more nerve-wracking is the fact that I've never had these sorts of feelings for another girl before nor have I ever dated one. Naya hasn't either, so really this could all blow up in my face. And then there's always the media and the possible negative effects it could cause to our careers, although we have a pretty huge gay and lesbian following already.
Even with all of the possible negative things that a romantic relationship between us could bring, I can't ignore this feeling anymore. Every time we kiss on set, I get these butterflies in my stomach that have never been there before. She needs to know how I feel… she deserves it.
"Well, I think it's great that you're putting yourself out there and ready to move on," Naya says with a genuine smile as she lightly squeezes my hand. "So, what are you guys gonna do for the date?"
"I thought it would be cool to rollerblade on the boardwalk and then have a little picnic on the beach," I state.
"That sounds cool, that way you guys will have plenty of time to talk and get to know each other while being somewhat active," Naya replies.
"Is there anything that I shouldn't do on the date?" I ask, tentatively.
"No, not really…" Naya begins. "You're awesome Heather, so I would say to just be yourself and the guy will love you!" I smile internally at her words.
"What about like holding hands or kissing?" I mumble out quickly. Naya giggles at me, sensing my nervousness and anxiety rising.
"I'd say don't force anything… just do what comes naturally. For me, I usually don't kiss on the first date… unless I want there to be a second date," she states with a wink.
All I wanna do is lean over and press my lips against her beautiful plump ones, but that would kinda defeat the whole purpose of the show.
"What if they don't like me?" I ask, honestly. Naya scrunches up her face as to say "are you kidding me?" before taking both of my hands in hers.
"Then they would be a dumbass!" Naya states, matter-of-factly. I lower my head as I feel a slight blush creeping onto my face.
After that, Naya drags me inside and I change into a pair of blue jean shorts, a white spaghetti-strap tank top, and a red plaid shirt that I have tied off at the bottom. I have the slightest bit of make-up on, just to highlight my eyes since I know she's a big fan of them. Once I step out of my room and get a "hot mama coming through" response from Naya, I grab the items for the picnic later and we set off to the beach.
The Longest Drive
As we get closer and closer to the beach, I start to mentally freak out, tapping my fingers against my lap and any surface around me.
"HeMo… chill! Everything's gonna be fine, okay?" Naya says. I just nod my head and try my best to keep my hands under control.
What if she doesn't feel the same? What if at one point she did, but now she doesn't? I mean honestly, if Naya ever did have feelings for me, I'm sure it would be a pretty big slap in the face for me to tell her all of this now when I should've told her 4 years ago. I don't know… maybe this was a bad idea. If things go South, then things at work could get pretty awkward. Although, I think we would manage since our bond is much stronger than the one she has with Mark and those two are fine around each other nowadays after their very brief off-set fling.
As we pull up to the beach and start walking towards the building where you rent the rollerblades, Naya gives me some last words of encouragement.
"Alright kid, this is it," she says while grabbing my shoulders. "Just remember to be yourself! If the guy doesn't like you for some odd reason, then he's a fucking idiot!"
I smile because I know MTV is gonna have to bleep that out. Naya has such a potty mouth… and I love it! As I nod my head, Naya gives me one last hug before wishing me good luck and turning around to head back to her car.
Here it is… the moment of truth.
"Naya, wait!" I say as I jog a few steps to catch up with her.
"What, what's wrong?" Naya asks a little concerned.
I take a deep breath before looking into her eyes and finally reveal the secret that I've been carrying around with me for so long.
"I'm not the best actress, so I'm just gonna come out and say this," I start off, no pun intended. Naya looks a little confused, which she should be. "There's no one waiting for me here to go on a date… I did all of this for you!"
"I don't understand…" Naya says as she tries to look deeper into my eyes for answers.
"The truth is… I've had feelings for you for a while now," I state. "I don't know if you have any of that going on at all, but if possible, I would really like to take you on this date."
Naya stands there with her hand covering her mouth. She's in shock, no doubt. I don't think I can ever remember a time when she was actually speechless. She finally lowers her hand and begins shaking her head back and forth with an amused look on her face.
"Are you fucking with me right now?" Naya asks. I give her a small smile while shaking my head. "So you like me, like me?" I nod my head this time because I don't trust my mouth at the moment. "I'm just so overwhelmed right now… but yeah, I'll go on this date with you."
"Really? Like for real, for real?" I question. Naya just smiles at me and my heart melts.
"Yeah, for real…" she says as she embraces me in a tight hug. "Let's go!"
As we walk towards the rental shack, a million things are running through my head right now. Naya didn't reject the date, although she didn't get me any kind of hint as to how she's feeling right now. I didn't want to throw too much at her at once, so I figure we can just have fun for now like we always do and that will give her some time to mull things over. A little later, we can talk in more detail and go from there. Right now, I'm just gonna enjoy the moment and the fact that I'm on a date with Naya Rivera.
What Does It All Mean?
After we enjoy rollerblading for a little while, we make our way down to a comfy spot on the beach. As I open the picnic basket that I packed, I can tell that Naya is a little surprised that inside is sushi from her favorite restaurant. She gives me an appreciative smile before I nudge her to start digging in. I quickly disappear from the shot to grab an acoustic guitar that I had set aside.
"Okay… so I know this is probably really cheesy, but I thought I would sing to you while you eat and before I say anything further about this whole situation," I state.
"Wait, aren't you gonna eat? And when did you learn to play the guitar?" Naya questions.
"I'm too anxious to eat and I only know this one song," I respond. "So, can I sing to you?"
"Yeah, I'd like that," Naya replies with a toothy grin.
As I start to play the first few chords, I see a huge smile on Naya's face appear, probably from recognizing the song. I take it as a good thing.
Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything?
Look at this trove, treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you think
Sure, she's got everything…
As I continue to channel my inner Ariel, I see Naya swaying back and forth as she kills the salmon skin roll in front of her. That poor bastard never had a chance.
I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I've got whozits and whatzits galore
You want thingamabobs… I've got twenty!
But who cares, no big deal
I want more…
I look into Naya's eyes and try to read what's behind them, but come up empty handed. The only thing I'm certain of right now is that whatever happens at the end of this thing, I know Naya and I will still be best friends. I don't think anything could ever change that.
I wanna be where the people are
I wanna see, wanna see them dancin'
Walking around on those - what do you call 'em?
Oh - feet!
Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far
Legs are required for jumping, dancing
Strolling along down a - what's that word again?
Street
Up where they walk, up where they run
Up where they stay all day in the sun
Wanderin' free, wish I could be
Part of that world
As I finish up the song, Naya appears to be done with her meal so I take this as a sign to pick up the conversation where we left off.
"I know there are probably a lot of questions you want to ask me, so go ahead… the floor is yours."
"Um, okay… how long have you felt this way?" Naya inquires.
"I guess it started the day I met you…" I start out. "As I got to know you better and our friendship grew, so did my feelings…"
"I guess I'm trying to sort this all out…" Naya states. "I mean, if you've felt like this all of this time, then why were you still with Taylor?"
And there it is… the question I knew was coming. The Taylor subject has always been a little tricky and complicated. It's also the reason why I was hesitant to tell Naya all of this and why I thought that she might not feel the same. I mean, I've been single for a couple of months now and if Naya did have any sort of feelings for me, wouldn't she have asked me out already?
"Honestly… I was scared," I state sincerely. Naya's gaze on me is very intense now, so I continue. "At first, I wasn't really sure what all of these feelings I was having for you meant. As they got stronger, I knew it was only a matter of time before my relationship with Taylor ended…" I pause to see if Naya wants to say anything, but she doesn't. "Part of why it took so long to end it with him was because I just didn't know how to. It was always tough since we hardly saw each other, but being such a huge part of my life… it wasn't something that I wanted to do over the phone. The other part is that I had no idea how you felt. Not knowing if you did or ever could feel the same way about me scared me so much that I fell back into my safety net of Taylor."
After a few minutes of silence, Naya has finally processed all of the information that I've just told her.
"So, then… what changed? I mean, this all pretty extravagant for you to still not know how I feel," she responds.
"I couldn't deny my feelings anymore and I definitely didn't want to string Taylor along any more than I already had. As far as all of this…" I state as I motion to our surroundings, "… you're more than worth it. Go big or go home, right?" I shrug and see a small smile form on her face. "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"
"Yeah, just one more thing… was there a specific incident or situation that made you realize that you couldn't hide your feelings anymore?"
I look away from her because I knew this question was coming too. The answer is something that I've only revealed to myself inside of my head. Neither Ashley nor the producers of the show were privy to this information because I wanted to save it just for her.
"Yeah… I realized that this was more than just a crush," I start off as I take one last deep breath. "I'm in love with you, Naya…" I say, looking into her eyes, "… that's the real reason I broke up with Taylor."
I wait for her to respond, but she remains still and silent. I can't read her face, other than the look of surprise that is present. I think I may have played it a little fast and loose with the L word, but I can't take it back now.
"Look, I know that I just dropped a major bombshell on you, but if you…"
I never got to finish my sentence because Naya's lips crashing into mine shut me up pretty quickly. I didn't mind though, although it did take a second to realize what was actually happening. As I start to gather my senses back, I bring my right hand up to cup her cheek and deepen our kiss. I feel a tingling sensation all over my body like I'm suddenly drunk… drunk on Naya, that is. After a few more seconds pass, I realize that we're in a public place and there's a camera crew standing right behind us filming. I reluctantly pull away and open my mouth to say something, but Naya's finger on my lip stops me.
"I've been in love with you since the first time I saw you…" Naya says honestly with a genuine smile.
I can't believe the words I'm hearing right now cuz this has got to be a dream. I then feel Naya brush away some hair that has fallen in my face as she stares into my eyes.
"I wanna be with you Heather… I'm just glad that one of us finally had the courage to say something," she states.
All comprehension of the English language is completely lost on me at the moment. All I can do is smile and nod stupidly because I'm still in shock. I lean in and steal a kiss from Naya, cuz apparently I can do that now. I quickly stand up and bring her up with me. I then link my right hand with her left and walk along the edge of the beach, just taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the feeling of Naya's hand in mine. I guess I finally got out of the "friend" zone!
Present Day
"Wow… I can't believe that only happened 6 months ago," Naya exclaims.
We had just finished watching our episode of Friendzone on MTV. After our date at the beach, I explained the whole concept of the show to her and told her about how they did a special celebrity edition, just for us. Naya repeatedly told me how crazy I was for going through such lengths to tell her how I really felt, but honestly… I'd do all over again if I had to. Naya also told me the reason why she never said anything to me was because she was afraid too. Plus, the fact that I had a boyfriend the entire time didn't really leave her with much wiggle room to make any declarations of love then.
Since that day at the beach though, Naya has become my girlfriend and I couldn't ask for anything more.
"I still can't believe you did all of that for me and I had no idea!" Naya states.
"Well, I wanted it to be special… plus, I figured it would be harder for you to turn me down in a public setting," I say with a smile. Naya playfully slaps my arm and shakes her head at me. "Oh yeah… I've been meaning to ask you something…"
"What's that?" Naya questions.
"I thought you said that you usually didn't kiss on the first date…" I reply, smugly.
"Yeah… I also said that I only kissed on a first date if I wanted there to be a second date," she starts off as she leans over on the couch and captures my lips. "And I definitely wanted a second date… away from all of the cameras," she says seductively as she straddles me.
We end up making out for several minutes and only break apart when our lips became too blue and numb to feel anything. I look over at Naya, whom is breathing quite heavily with a smirk on her face.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I inquire.
"Technically, that wasn't a question…" she responds.
"What? Are you talking about what I said before we started making out?" I ask. She nods her head. "You really want to dwell on that now, especially after what just happened here?" I state, befuddled.
"No… I was just saying…" Naya sings while looking away from me.
Why does she have to be so freaking adorable. All I can do is shake my head at her.
"By the way… there's something I never told you," she states with a serious tone. I nod for her to continue. "Mark and I had been hooking up for a few months when you told me all of that stuff…"
My jaw literally hit the floor with that one. I couldn't believe what she was telling me. On one hand, I feel pissed because she was still messing with Mark and didn't tell me. On the other hand though, I guess she had to let him down again once we started dating.
"Babe… I'm totally just fucking with you!" Naya says, snapping me away from the trance I was in.
"Wait, what?!" I reply, totally confused at this point.
"I was just kidding with you… I haven't hooked up with Mark since season 1," she says, while grabbing my hands.
"Oh my God… you almost gave me a freaking heart attack!" I state, trying to regulate my breathing cuz apparently I had forgotten to during that fake admission. "Why would you do that… that's so mean!"
"Calm down there, Brittany…" Naya says with a smirk. "Besides, it wasn't me… it was Snix!"
"I don't know why I continue to be in this abusive relationship…" I say with a grin, shaking my head at her.
"It's because you love me…" Naya says quite confidently. I fold my arms and turn my head away from her to act as if I'm ignoring her. It doesn't work though. "And I love you… more than anything!"
Naya places a chaste kiss to my lips before jumping off the couch. She then lends me her hand to help me up and we walk into the kitchen to start making dinner. Nothing has really changed since Naya and I started dating. We still do all of the same things we did when we were just friends, but now there's a lot more kissing and cuddling and sex… lots and lots of sex! I really should've have told her a long time ago cuz I was definitely missing out. But... that's a story for another time.
Author's Note:
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot. I was just watching Friendzone yesterday and thought I would make a Heya version of it. I also wanted to do a little something different where it was Heather that harboring the feelings for Naya and the one to take the leap of faith to bring them together. Also, I love Darren Criss and after seeing him rendition of this song at The Grove, I knew I wanted to use it in one of my stories. Anyways, hope everyone got to read the new chapter for You and Me. Also, all mistakes are my own. Til next time!
Songs Used:
Part of Your World by The Little Mermaid
Disclaimer: I do NOT own MTV, Friendzone, Glee, or any of the characters mentioned in this story.