Lily Evans wiped her hands on her trousers and adjusted the messenger bag slung over her shoulder before sticking out her hand to open the door. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. The moment could not be delayed any longer. The doorknob twisted in her hand and she pushed the door open.

It was a very unremarkable room. Every time Lily had imagined her "big break," she had imagined grandeur in everything. Instead, her first day of work was to take place in this bland room. There were four white walls, beige carpet, a small window overlooking some trailers,—it occurred to her just then that one of those trailers would be hers—as well as a small wooden table with five red, plush spinny chairs.

"Miss Evans!" she heard a familiar voice call and she looked away from the room to see the producer waving her over. Lily walked over to the table he was sitting at and took a glance at the three other people sitting there.

"Hello, Ben," she said with a small wave at the producer. Ben Fenwick was a tall and skinny man with curly brown hair and thick glasses.

"This is Lily Evans. She will be playing the companion, Tabitha." Lily nodded and somehow knew that she was blushing. "Lily, this is the director, John Sterling," he pointed to a middle aged man with mousy brown hair and wrinkles around his eyes. Lily nodded in greeting. "This is the writer, Helena Cooper," Ben motioned toward a woman with smile lines around her mouth and graying hair. Lily smiled and turned her eyes to the next person to be introduced. "And this is James Potter, who will be playing the fourteenth Doctor," Ben finished.

"Hello," she greeted, almost under her breath, while giving him a once over. He certainly was attractive: wild black hair, tall, slightly muscled, hazel eyes… When they made eye contact, Lily's heart thrashed wildly in her chest and she glanced away from his eyes, but not soon enough. The left side of his lips pulled up and out into a smirk, exposing some of his top molars, which were, Lily couldn't help but notice, very white. James quirked up a single eyebrow, a feat that Lily had always dreamed of accomplishing.

"Hello," he said back in a low tone and if Lily was blushing before, it was nothing compared to the heat she felt in her face now. With eyes still trained on her, he lifted his right hand up to the back of his head and dragged it through his hair. She clumsily pulled out the chair next to James and sat down, removing her bag from her shoulder and placing it on the floor next to her.

"It's very nice to meet you all," she said to Helena, Ben, and John, purposely avoiding eye contact with James.

Ben shuffled some papers before speaking, "Now that I have you all here, I'd just like to go over a few things. First thing's first: photo shoot tomorrow, be here at six AM."

"But…" James piped up from next to Lily. Ben, Helena, and John all turned to look at him with confused expressions on their faces. Lily rolled her eyes and watched him out of the corner of her eye. She really hoped that he wouldn't be the diva type.

"Yes, James?" Ben spoke.

"We haven't gotten our costumes yet or anything," he pointed out.

Ben nodded. "I was getting to that, James," he said calmly. "Anyway, you will have an opportunity to pick out costumes tomorrow with the help of our costume designers. And this brings us to the next thing. Helena," he nodded to her. She beamed at him and locked eyes with Lily first, then James.

"Guess what I have in my bag right now? Your very first script!" Helena's voice was higher than Lily expected it to be, but it wasn't an unpleasant voice to listen to. A smile was on her face and it was very obvious that she could not contain her excitement as she moved her black messenger bag from her lap to the top of the table. Eagerly, Lily traced Helena's movements with her eyes as she opened the flap and removed two thick bundles of paper. My very first script, she thought with many emotions running through her mind: excitement, nervousness, fear…

"I've read it, and I'm really excited for this episode. Helena's done a great job," Ben noted and Helena nodded at him. She passed a script to Lily and a script to James. Lily relished the feeling of the thick script between her fingers and she resisted the urge to smell it. Ever so gently, she rolled it up into a scroll and tucked it into her bag.

"I want you both to read it as soon as you are able, okay? And finish it by tonight, so we're all ready for the photo shoot tomorrow. It should help you get a grasp of characterization, at least a little bit. But I also do want to discuss it with you right now," she folded her hands together and placed them on top of the table in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she stared earnestly at James. "What kind of Doctor do you envision yourself being?" she asked.

"Look, I've already played the Doctor, so…" he retorted and crossed his arms over his chest. One of his eyebrows was raised in a challenge. Lily was appalled by his behavior.

Helena raised both of her eyebrows in return and hardened her look. "Look," she began, imitating him, "You really haven't played the Doctor. You were onscreen for about a minute. The Doctor had just regenerated and wasn't himself. You need to really work hard at this, because characterization of your Doctor is so important to making yourself successful as him." Helena took a breath and changed courses, "Who was your Doctor, James?"

If James was surprised with the quick subject change, he didn't show it. "Tennant," he replied automatically. It was instinct. Lily could relate.

"Don't you want to be somebody's Doctor?" Helena asked him with a disappointed look in her eyes before abruptly turning to Lily. "You have red hair," Helena started. "You're young. People are going to think you're trying to be like Amy Pond. And you can't let that happen. You have to make Tabitha her own character. Nobody likes a companion that's just a cop out from another one. Tabitha has a special place in my heart, and I will have you fired in a heartbeat if you mess her up. Got it?"

Lily gulped and nodded quickly, "Got it."

"Tabitha's shy and timid and a bit scared, which are unusual traits for a companion. But she has reasons for being that way and she will hide those reasons from the Doctor. In the end, she's kind and thoughtful and she does what she needs to do," Helena continued on passionately while Lily took in the new information like a sponge.

"She sounds wonderful," Lily said with awe. Random little children on the street would run up to her and call her Tabitha. Others would dress up like her on Halloween. Adults would analyze her character and admire her traits. And Lily would be the mastermind behind it. The notion almost moved her to tears, but she resisted for obvious reasons. How embarrassing would that be!

Helena slumped back in her seat and motioned towards John. A look of surprise ghosted over his face and he pulled out a piece of paper from under his travel coffee mug. He held it up and scanned it for a moment or two.

"We have a read-through the day after tomorrow at 10 am. Filming will begin in exactly two weeks," he said and then put the piece of paper down.

"Right. Well, Lily, James, do you want to see your trailers?" Ben asked. Lily nodded at once, but James crossed his arms and gave a lazy smirk.

"Sure," he said coolly. Lily gave him an incredulous look, but he didn't notice. Ben led James and Lily out of the room and into an open hallway lined with doors to offices. At one end, there was a huge wall of windows that glittered with the sunlight that poured in. Ben turned away from the windows and walked down the other end of the hall. Lily looked up at the giant framed photos that were hung next to each other down the hall in amazement. On one side, there were thirteen pictures of each Doctor, from William Hartnell to Daniel Winters. On the other, each companion had their own picture. Lily couldn't help the excitement that soared through her heart when she saw the empty space next to the actress, Hannah Buck, who played the last companion.

"Right there, in you go," Ben ushered Lily and James into an elevator to their right. Lily walked in first and leaned against the back of the elevator. It was lined with mirrors, and Lily studied her reflection as Ben and James packed in and the doors closed smoothly.

"So what's your deal?" James turned to Lily and asked. He held his rolled up script in one hand and repeatedly tapped the end with his other palm. His voice was sharp, but when Lily turned to look at him, she noticed that his eyes glittered. His mixed messages confused her and she crinkled her eyebrows together to display that confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked. James raised one eyebrow at her and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him for doing it again. Lily didn't trust people who could raise only one eyebrow; it was a basic principle of things.

"I mean, you've barely said two words today. Cat got your tongue?" he teased.

"If you must know, my cat is at home," she retorted with a slight smile.

"Oh, no, you're a cat person?" he said with disgust.

"Oh, no, you're a rude person?" she mocked. He opened his mouth to respond when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Ben looked nervously between the two of them for just a moment before leading them out into the lobby of the building. Earlier that day, Lily hadn't noticed much about the lobby, as she had been absolutely petrified. Now, she noticed that plush sofas and loveseats were scattered throughout the place. Some people lounged about reading magazines or just chatted with each other.

James slowed down to match Lily's pace. "It's bewildering, isn't it?" he said softly. She raised her eyes to his and smiled.

"Yeah, it really is. Being on Doctor Who is all I've ever dreamed of doing and I can't believe that it, of all things, is my big break," Lily answered and her bright green eyes lit up substantially.

"Geek," James scoffed and rolled his eyes. Flames of anger rose up in Lily and she glared at him.

"You're one to talk, Doctor," she emphasized.

"It's a good job. I'll be really famous. I'll make a lot of money. I'll go down in history," he replied with a shrug. Lily stopped dead in her tracks, though Ben was still trotting along down a hallway. James stopped a few steps in front of her and challenged her glare with a well-plastered smirk on his face.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she spat at him.

"Oh, like you're any better," he started out and she balled her hands into fists.

"Of course I am! I'm not in this just for the fame and fortune!" she nearly yelled. She heard the footsteps in front of her stop, and glanced forward to see Ben giving them a glare. She turned back to James.

"Every celebrity is in it for the fame and fortune. It's all about maintaining a good reputation, isn't it? You have to stay in the spotlight at all times," James argued. His comment made Lily furious and she flushed bright red.

"Maybe if you weren't so selfish you would realize there's more to acting than being in the spotlight all the time and earning money!" she yelled and stomped off towards Ben.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked, slightly bemused, when she caught up to him.

"No," she huffed and marched forward. She heard the pounding of James's shoes hurry to catch up with them and she gave herself a satisfied smile before flipping her hair and holding her head up high. Ben turned to the left and opened a door with a key and walked through. Lily followed with James at her heels.

"By the way, these," Ben extracted two plastic cards from his pocket and held them out for James and Lily to take, "Are yours." Lily held the card up to her face and examined it. It had a picture of her on it—she remembered it was the one that the casting crew took of her during the audition process—as well as her name and the official logos for both BBC and Doctor Who. She flipped to the backside, where there was a black stripe and a small crude map of the building. "These serve as your official ID, key, and credit card, so don't lose them!" Lily tucked hers into her back pocket.

Since they had walked through that door, they had walked outside to a bleak paved lot with several trailers lined up. Lily thanked the heavens that it wasn't raining for once.

"Whose trailer do you want to see first?" Ben asked and shifted from one foot to the other in a constant rhythm—back and forth, back and forth.

Lily turned to look at James and dared him to speak up. He opened his mouth as if to speak and then closed it when he saw the expression on her face. "Lily's first," he grumbled. With that, Lily straightened her posture and pursed her lips in a half smile. They followed Ben straight towards a fairly good sized trailer, where he paused to let Lily approach the door. She swiped the door handle with her card and reached for the handle. With some struggle, Lily pressed down the button on the top and swung the door out towards her.

Vanilla wrapped Lily in a hug and she closed her eyes and sniffed the air around her. Her shoulders dropped, her back relaxed, and she was instantly reminded of her mother and her childhood.

"It smells like girl in here," a deep voice caused Lily's eyes to snap open and she remembered where she was. She turned to him and blushed—had she seriously just zoned out in front of her costar and producer?

"How old are you?" she threw back at him, her body tensing up again.

"Twenty five," he said with a smirk and his hand flew up to ruffle his hair, causing it to stick straight up. She had an urge to wipe that smirk off of his face with a slap. "And you?" he grinned.

"Twenty three," she grumbled and stepped forward into the trailer. It was a quaint little living space. There was a small kitchenette to the right that contained a microwave, a mini fridge, and a small counter space. The middle of the trailer had couches and tables to set things on. Lily eyed the flat screen TV on the wall in front of her. On the very other end of the trailer there was a small door that opened to a small bathroom.

"James, don't touch that," she said when she noticed him creeping closer to the TV remote.

"It's a pull-out couch," Ben commented and Lily turned around to see where he was motioning.

"Oh, thanks," she said.

"What're you going to load that fridge with, Red?" James asked her as he opened up her fridge. She huffed her way over to him and kicked the door shut.

"I thought I told you not to touch my things, James. And I swear to God, if you ever call me that again…"

"What will happen?" James asked with an over-exaggerated wink.

In response, she rolled her eyes and he smirked. She turned around to resume inspecting the room.

"Drinks, perhaps?" he asked. There was a different tone in his voice now: it was less teasing and more thoughtful. Skeptically, she glanced over at him to gauge his facial expression and her eyes locked with his. They were definitely pretty-boy eyes: almond shaped, slightly upturned at the corners like a smile, and light yellow-brown eyes that were almost reflective, almost iridescent. His face was completely relaxed and serious. "Lily?" he asked when she did not respond.

"Oh, um," she said, tearing her eyes away from his. "I guess like sodas and lemonades," she said with a shrug. She let her eyes wander around the room and watched as Ben did last minute inspections of the place.

"Shall we go see James's trailer?" Lily asked Ben and he turned around with a smile.

"Yes, let's!" he said enthusiastically and practically bounded out the door.

"He's a character, isn't he?" James scoffed. Lily rolled her eyes at him.

"I think he's sweet," she defended and waved him out the door. She followed after him and closed the door to her trailer with a satisfying clink. Ben had already walked several meters ahead of the pair and Lily ran to catch up to him, her ponytail swinging back and forth in the process. When James did not appear next to Lily for several moments, she swiveled around and started to walk backwards. "Whatcha doing back there?" she called.

"I'm observing the way you walk!" James yelled back and picked up his pace to catch up with her. Lily groaned internally at his euphemism.

"You're a pig," she scolded when he reached her side.

"I'm not pink, tubby, nor do I enjoy rolling around in the mud," he said cheekily.

"You know what I mean."

"Do I?"

"You were totally checking out my arse," she explained and swung her arms behind her to grab her own butt. James gave a short burst of laughter and ran his hands through his hair again, making it stick out in each direction.

"No, I wasn't," he denied.

"Yes, you were! Observing the way I walk? That's a euphemism if I ever heard one," Lily scoffed.

"No… It wasn't. You walk funny. I noticed it earlier, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was that made it funny. I think I may have figured it out," he grinned and there was a definite mischievous glint in his eye.

"I do not walk funny!"

"Yes, you do. Your right foot has a tendency to move inward when you're walking, and it makes your entire body lean to the left, and your left knee bend. Plus, that messenger bag you're wearing keeps bouncing against your right hip and it just makes it even worse. Who even wears messenger bags anymore?" James clapped her shoulder and said that last line in mock seriousness.

Lily's mouth gaped open and she was sure that her bottom lip kept attempting to move but kept failing, creating a fish-like facial expression. In most circumstances, she would have been able to formulate a witty comeback or two, but as she had already discovered, James Potter was the biggest git that she had ever met, not to mention the most baffling one.

"You know it's true," he said. After a few moments of stewing and brewing, she looked at him and gave him a hard look.

"I wear a messenger bag, that's who," she said dramatically. Laughter sprouted from James's mouth and her glare became even more intense. "And messenger bags are very useful. I can put tons of things in here and it stays on easily. You could do with one," she pointed out, motioning to the script that was still bundled up in his hand, albeit much more crinkled than it had been in the building, and his ID card sticking halfway out of his pants pocket.

"I will never wear a messenger bag," he proclaimed with an offended look. Now it was Lily's turn to do the smirking.

"What if," she started and twirled a piece of her hair around her fingers, "the Doctor has to wear a messenger bag?" After she saw the look of indignant horror on his face, she whipped around with an evil cackle and bounded up the few steps to where Ben was standing in front of a trailer.

"James, are you ready?" Ben asked and moved out of the way so James could swipe his card into the door. The moment when he swung the door open was oddly exciting for Lily. She couldn't really see into the room because James and Ben were blocking the doorway, but she had the urge to push through them when she heard James chortle a bit.

"Well, come in!" he called once he had completely ducked inside the trailer. Ben went in after him and Lily followed. James's trailer was essentially the same as Lily's, but the main living space was bigger, and it didn't smell like vanilla. Instead, it smelled like pine trees. While Lily was glancing around the place, her eyes skimmed over to James to see him grinning broadly at her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"My trailer is bigger than yours, ha!" he said and plopped himself onto his couch.

"I don't really care…" she said with a laugh. He quirked up an eyebrow at her and his hand flew to his head to ruffle the black mop of hair there.

"Are we done here?" James asked Ben while Lily rolled her eyes at his arrogant tone of voice.

"I guess so. See you guys bright and early tomorrow morning!" Ben said with raised eyebrows before walking out the door and slamming it behind him.

"What's his problem?" James muttered as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Lily still stood in the doorway and her gaze switched back and forth between the closed door and James, who was fixated on the television.

"James?" she asked hesitantly, wondering if he even realized that she was still there.

Without taking his eyes from the comedy show, he opened his mouth and spoke, "Sit down or get out."

"Er…" Lily thought about this for a few moments. He seemed despicable, but she felt it was important to get to know her co actor.

"Do you drink?" he asked suddenly, turning his head to face her.

"Occasionally…" she answered uneasily, switching her weight back and forth between her legs.

"There should be some liquor in the cabinet above the fridge. Since you've made no effort to leave or sit down, would you mind getting something out?"

"What?" she said, incredulous. "How can you already have liquor in there?"

"I'll tell you if you get me something." Lily rolled her eyes and walked over to the cabinet, reached up, and opened it. Nothing. "What the hell! They said there'd be alcohol! Check the fridge."

Sure enough, there were a few packs of beer in the fridge. Lily grabbed two and sat down on the couch next to him. After they settled in with their beers, Lily swiped the remote from James and turned off the TV. "Why don't we run through lines? I'd like that."

"Why don't we shag on this coffee table? I'd like that," he retorted.

"I'm sure you would, Doctor." Lily rolled her eyes and threw his script on his lap. "Now, what's your first line?"

" 'Oh golly gee I'm the Doctor and I'm so lonely where's my companion? What's that sound? Someone calling for help! I must investigate!' " James said in the most serious voice he could muster, though his silly facial expression had Lily throwing her head back and laughing.

"I was right, you're completely mad!" she declared while clutching her stomach.

"Why do you think they casted me? Literally no acting required for me," he said seriously, tossing a leg onto the coffee table and taking a long drag from his beer.

"Oh, come on."

"No, seriously. When I auditioned, I just acted like myself. Bam. Instant fame."

"James…" Lily sipped her beer and shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"What? You don't approve of my lack of respect for the art?"

"Not at all. It isn't fair to all of those people who've studied acting for years and only end up with minor roles in things." Her grip on her beer tightened and she hardened her look against him. James shrugged. "What? You see nothing wrong with that?"

"If they only land minor roles, then clearly they aren't good at acting," he deadpanned.

A pregnant pause, and then, "Or maybe society is flawed and there isn't really a demand for actual talent and you're an asshole."

"What?" James blinked in surprise.

"Yeah. I said it. You're a pompous arse, and I'm leaving." Lily rose gracefully from the couch, shoved her beer into James's hand free hand, and swiped her script up from the coffee table.

"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, Potter," she said as she slammed the door to his trailer shut.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.