Title: Breakthrough
Author: Watoshimi Kairou
Fandom: Hollywood U: Rising Stars
Characters: Thomas Hunt / Jane Doe, Chris Winters
Rating: General
Status: Complete
Summary: Chris had just done the unthinkable and for once, Hunt was the furthest thing from Jane's mind. It's too bad he wasn't having any of it.
Original prompt by anonymous (on Tumblr): In honor of the latest Chris date: Chris proposing and MC not knowing what to do. Hunt being jealous and trying to prove he's better.
Breakthrough
[1] Twilight
She showed up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after class during is office hours like clockwork.
At first, Jane would pretend that she needed help on her assignments; coming in with questions but they would either end up arguing or talking about some completely unrelated subject. It became clear that help was the last thing Jane needed but since neither of them mentioned anything, soon enough, Jane's appearance became something like a routine. For those two hours, it was their time.
Jane tilted her head, hoping for a better view of the tabloid magazine that Hunt seemed to be reading through narrowed, judgmental eyes. Whatever the article's about, she mused, it's enough to make him use that particular frown. It's the same frown he always had on his face whenever she did something to annoy him. Hunt flipped a page, frown deepening as he did so.
"Should I pretend I didn't just catch you reading a tabloid magazine?" Jane asked as a way of announcing her presence.
His head immediately snapped up at the sound of her voice. "Yes," he answered, setting the magazine to the side and watched as Jane approached his desk, frown never leaving his face.
Jane wondered which particular persona he was going to grace her with this time; the 'I'm your professor and we must maintain our distance' persona or the 'we've been keeping each other company for a while now and can probably be considered friends of sorts or something'. Of course, there was also the 'we have some sort of connection and I may or may not have feelings for you' persona but Hunt seemed to have that particular one under lock and key.
"You brought lunch?" Hunt asked, eyeing the take-out bag in her hands. "Again?"
"Yes."
He glared at her.
Jane rolled her eyes. "In case you didn't know, your office hours are smack in the middle of lunch time. I don't plan on going hungry just so I can see your face."
Ignoring her last sentence, Hunt eyed her with a raised eyebrow. "I had a wonderful time explaining to Ackermann why there were coffee stains on some of his more important paperwork last time." His eyes narrowed. "I hope you don't still plan on using my—"
She set the bag onto his desk, pushing away the papers he had been grading before the tabloid magazine caught his eye. Easily ignoring his grumbling—they go through this every time; Hunt had a thing about keeping up appearances—Jane asked, "Do you want some?" She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled innocently, already knowing his answer.
He glared at her for a moment before his eyes darted downwards to the bag. "What is it?" he finally asked.
"Japanese."
He sniffed. "I don't like raw fish."
"I know," she replied, rolling her eyes. He liked to remind her every time she ordered some for herself. "Which is why I got udon this time." Hunt looked up at her and she had to resist the urge to smirk; it took a while but Jane liked to think she was very good at reading him nowadays. "Don't think I don't notice you drooling every time I have some."
He huffed. "As if I would do something so indecent."
Still smiling, Jane reached into the bag and pulled out the udon containers, handing one off to Hunt and setting down another for herself. "Oh! Did I tell you?" she said brightly, handing him a pair of wooden chopsticks. "I got an interview with Anthony Carter for Singh's class." She pushed the now empty take-out bag away and sat down across from him, wiggling happily in her seat.
Hunt raised an eyebrow. "Carter?" he repeated. "How in the world did you manage that? He's even harsher than I am when handing out interviews."
She flashed him a smile and reached up to tuck a stand of hair behind her ear. "Please, no one can resist my charisma and obviously charming good looks for long."
Hunt scoffed softly in disbelief. "And here I thought he was gay," he muttered, side-glancing at the magazine he had been reading earlier.
Jane froze. Then: "Yea," she admitted. "Probably."
He turned back towards her and raised an eyebrow.
"It was only after I mentioned you did he finally agree to give me an interview," she told him, pursing her lips in annoyance. As if knowing that wasn't the end of her story, Hunt continued to stare at her, chopsticks posed over his udon, waiting. With a sigh, Jane slowly reached into her purse and pulled out a small card which she slid across the desk towards him. "So, um," she began hesitantly, "here's his personal number. Only a limited amount of people have it so take good care of it." Refusing to look up, Jane kept her gaze firmly on the card. She could practically feel his eyebrows twitching in annoyance and waited for the insult that was sure to come her way.
It never did.
"You better not have promised him that I would call or something equally as foolish," he grumbled instead, his tone lacking its usual bite.
Jane frowned, "I didn't."
"Hn."
She looked up again, brows furrowed in confusion. If she didn't know him better, Jane would have thought that he was worried about something but distracted seemed like a much more fitting word. "So, what got your panties up in a twist?" she asked, lightly slurping the noodles into her mouth.
He blinked, watching the movement of her udon noodles for a moment before glaring at her. "I beg your pardon?"
Giving herself a moment to chew her noodles, Jane rested her chopsticks over her container before interlocking her fingers together and resting her elbows onto his desk. "You're usually so much more insulting than this," she told him, resting her chin on her interlocked fingers and staring steadily into his eyes.
If they weren't already sort of friends at this point in their odd relationship, Jane was sure Hunt would have kicked her out for such a comment by now. Or, at the very least, give her a sharp tongue lashing that would make her want to snap back. Then again, she realized, he had been acting strange. As his gaze shifted from her to the magazine again, Jane followed it with narrowed eyes; finally realizing what had been distracting him.
Feeling annoyed about the situation in ways she couldn't really explain, Jane reached over and snatched the magazine up before he could stop her. "What has you so distracted that you—oh." Jane blinked, finding herself staring at a picture of her and Chris. The paparazzi photograph must have been taken when the young heartthrob had dropped her off at her dorm after dinner a couple nights ago. "Oh, damn it," she grumbled, reading the title of the article.
Hollywood's New "It" Couple, it read.
Jane winced. "Does that mean I shouldn't go to dinner with Chris tonight?" she muttered quietly to herself.
"Pardon?"
Her head snapped up in surprise. For a moment, Jane had completely forgotten that she was currently in Hunt's office having lunch with him. "No, right?" she asked him, looking to him for advice with ease she had not imagine would ever be possible considering her pride and stubbornness. She guessed it had something to do with their odd friendship. "I can't have the paparazzi dictate my life."
For a moment, Hunt only stared at her, an odd expression flashing over his face. Before she had time to truly observe it, however, it was gone and Hunt's usual 'are you stupid?' expression was back. "Did I or did I not teach you not to let the outsiders change who you are as a person? You may be aiming to be a public figure but you should never lose your individuality along the way."
"You're right, of course," Jane agreed, remembering the assignment she had with her pop-star friend. "But what do you do if you're not the only person affected?"
She watched as a muscle in Hunt's jaw twitch as he pondered over the question. "It really depends on the other person," Hunt finally answered, looking at her in such a way Jane wondered if he was speaking from experience. "Are they willing to have their name dragged through the mud along with yours?"
Jane blinked and looked down at the magazine again, mulling over his comment.
Humming, Jane was putting on her favorite pair of feathered earrings when someone knocked on her door. "It's open!" she called out, giving herself a look-over in the mirror.
"Jane, you coming?" Addison immediately asked as she walked into her dorm room, closely followed by Ethan.
"Coming where?" she asked, tossing her friend a questioning look.
"Only the biggest party of the month," Ethan answered.
Flashing him a smile, Jane shook her head. "Sorry guys," she said as she twisted her hair up into a loose bun before plunging a silver hair stick into it. "But I'm going out to dinner with Chris tonight."
Ethan and Addison exchanged non-too subtle glances. "And where is Mr. Heartthrob taking you?" Ethan asked as if he didn't already know. Jane may not have told him where they were going but Ethan had a way of finding out things people rather not have him find out.
Familiar with both the agent's teasing tone and expression, Jane only rolled her eyes in response. "Oh, stop it," she huffed. "Chris and I are just friends."
They exchanged glances again, a movement that was really beginning to annoy Jane. "Jane," Ethan said slowly and carefully as if he was talking to a child. "No one makes reservations at Silver Crescent for some friendly dinner." He shook his head in disappointment. "I don't know how someone as intelligent as you can be so stupid. Or are you just refusing to see what is so obviously in front of you?"
"Ooh, you're annoying!" she huffed again, spinning around to face them. "Look, Chris and I talked about this. We both agreed that we were better off as friends." Actually, they had only agreed to take a break and while their interactions may have been slightly awkward at first, Jane thought they had finally managed to rekindled their friendship to its former glory. She threw a glare in Ethan's direction. "And how did you even know about Silver Crescent anyway?"
He shot her an unimpressed look. "Really, Jane?"
"Never mind," she grumbled. "Stupid question." Ethan would probably make a better stalker than he was an agent, Jane thought. Now, that would be impressive considering he was probably one of the best junior agents at the university. "Anyway," she continued. "I have to go now so remember to lock my door behind you."
"Chris?" Addison teased.
Jane glared at her in mock anger. "It's not a date," she reminded the blonde.
This better not be a date, Jane thought, glaring at the bouquet of red roses sitting innocently on top of the table. Chris had called her a couple minutes ago telling her that he would be running late so it wasn't as if he had personally handed them to her or anything, but Jane didn't see roses on any other table. She looked around as discreetly as possible just to double-check.
"Is there a problem, Miss Doe?" the waiter—Jared—asked, looking down at her in concern. "Is the table not to your liking?"
"Erm," she began hesitantly. "It's nothing, really... it's just... the roses..."
"Ah," Jared smiled, nodding. "They were specially requested by Mr. Winters."
"I see..." Jane muttered; it was more of an automatic response than anything else. "Did he request anything—"
"Jane?"
She turned around and gaped. "Professor Hunt?!" she exclaimed. Her eyes darted to the man standing next to him whom she recognized as the university's dean. Business meeting at Silver Crescent? she wondered in the back of her mind. Really? Then again, Jane realized, it could be a date; the dean was rather good-looking for his age.
They stared at each other for a moment.
"Well," Jane said, still blinking at him in surprise. "This is certainly awkward."
Hunt looked down at her, facial expression indicating that he couldn't have agreed more. His gaze slid down her form, taking in her appearance but Jane couldn't tell whether or not he liked what he saw. Hunt's expression was even more closed off than normal and she couldn't get a reading on him.
They stared some more.
"Thomas?" the dean—Ackermann—said slowly as if unsure if he should be interrupting. "Should we... head to our seats?"
"Yes, of course," Hunt replied, turning to walk towards the table right across from hers.
Jane winced, this was going to awkward.
"Enjoy your date," Ackermann told her politely before following Hunt.
Jane blinked at his words before scowling. That damn article! she thought angrily, sitting down in the seat Jared had pulled out for her minutes before. It's causing all kinds of misunderstandings! A blur of red caught her eye and Jane turned to glare at the roses too. You too!
She paused. Was it possible that Chris had invited her to such a prominent and expensive restaurant because he wanted them to try going out again? Her breath hitched at the thought and as much as Jane would like to deny the possibility, it would certainly explain the out-of-place roses. "Not exactly the place where I would like to talk about it," Jane grumbled but to be completely honest, she couldn't say she was surprised. Chris had always been a romantic and Jane wouldn't do anything to change that about him.
Jane knew that she liked him well enough but it wasn't enough that she would want to go out with him again. She sighed and flipped open the menu in front of her, looking at the words without actually reading them. Chris wasn't even here yet and already she was making assumptions. She blamed the article. And the roses. And Addison and Ethan, of course. Jane scowled at the reminder; the article itself wasn't enough to sway her mind but with the combined forces of her two friends... if they hadn't gotten into her head, she probably would have saw the roses and thought it was a typical Chris thing to do. Chris was kind, passionate, and knew how to make someone feel good about themselves. He was everything she looked for in a guy and Jane was sure she probably would have been in love with him if it wasn't for Hunt.
Ah, Hunt.
Unwittingly, Jane's gaze slid from the menu, to the beautiful red roses, and finally towards the table across from hers, catching Hunt's eye. He returned her stare for a moment before breaking contact and turning his attention back towards Ackermann. Jane sighed to herself, and wondered why it was so hard to get over him when she—possibly—had someone like Chris Winters who wanted her.
"Jane?"
Both Hunt and her head snapped up in surprise; Hunt was just a little more subtle about it. "Chris!" she greeted, standing up.
He smiled at her—happy expression a complete contrast to Hunt's scowl—and quickly assured, "It's fine. You can sit down!" They both settled down, smiling at each other; Jane could only hope that she was acting natural and that Addison and Ethan's teasing words were not noticeably effecting her behavior around the young heartthrob. "You look very beautiful," he complimented.
Oh boy, Jane thought. "Thank you," she replied pleasantly instead. "You look very handsome yourself." It was true, of course, but she preferred Hunt's crisp, clean-shaven look over Chris' five o'clock shadow. Her gaze glided past Chris to admire the smoothness of Hunt's firm jawline.
"Would you like some wine?"
"Wine?" Jane repeated, gaze snapping back to him and the expensive-looking wine bottle he was holding. She wondered if it had been on the table all along. "Oh, yes please."
Chris smiled, pouring some into her wineglass. "I'm glad; I don't want to be the only one drinking."
"Oh?"
He laughed lightly in a nervous sort of manner. "Yes, I'll definitely be needing some tonight."
Jane felt herself pause at his words but was quick to recover. "So," she began as she wrapped fingers around the thin handle of the wineglass, purposing ignoring the subtle non-hint despite the god-awful pounding of her heart. He was being kind of obvious, wasn't he? "How was work?" she asked. "You're shooting a new movie, right?"
"Inferno," Chris confirmed. "It was... interesting."
"Oh no," she breathed, knowing that tone anywhere. She used it herself whenever she talked about Bianca ruining something. It was also Hunt's favorite tone to use whenever her name was brought up for whatever reason. "What happened?"
"Well, the lead actress isn't fond of the director so she spent the entire shooting time arguing with him about everything. And we can't really afford that since we only have the building for one more day." He leaned closer to her and whispered, "Between you and me, I don't think she's going to be keeping her job for much longer." He shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, enough about my awful day. What about you? How were your classes?"
Her eyes immediately darted past him at the reminder, once again catching Hunt's gaze who seemed to have been staring in her direction for quite some time. He scowled at her and Jane blinked rapidly in confusion. "U-um," she stammered, trying to regather her thoughts as she pulled back, distancing herself from Chris. "The usual, got yelled at by Singh, got yelled at by Hunt, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Ah." Chris smiled in amusement.
"Excuse me, sir, miss," Jared suddenly interrupted quietly. "Are you ready to order?"
Jane and Chris blinked at each other.
"No, sorry," Chris said, slightly embarrassed. "We haven't even looked at the menu yet. We were just catching up and lost track of time."
"Understandable." the waiter nodded.
Jane giggled. "You haven't looked at the menu yet. I got here earlier than you, remember?"
Chris grinned at her. "Then why don't you order for me?"
Besides the fact that she wasn't really comprehending what her eyes were looking over, Jane was pretty sure the menu itself wasn't written in English. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me?" she asked him. "I can't pronounce anything on this menu. Are you trying to embarrass me?"
He laughed again and turned toward to the waiter. "Why don't you have the chef choose for us?" he asked. "The price doesn't matter."
"Doesn't matter?" Jane hissed in a horrified tone, hand darting out to grab a hold of his arm. She leaned towards him and glared, making sure to keep her voice low. "Chris! I'm a poor university student, remember? I have a budget!" Behind him, she saw Hunt narrow his eyes in her direction before shifting in his seat and turning away from her again. Jane had to resist the urge to glare at him, mentally hoping that the lines from his scowls became permanent.
"Let me pay this time," Chris said, placing a calming hand on hers. "Please?"
Jane stared at him for a moment before remembering this may as well be Chris' way of easing his way into her graces and buttering her up so she'll reply positively in his favor. Jane bit her lip, wondering if she should say something but reminded herself that she wasn't completely sure if that really was the case. "Fine, but I'm paying next time," she told him, pulling her hand back and wondered if she meant it.
Next time, she thought, meant she was already agreeing to go out with him. But was she really? With Hunt on her mind, it wouldn't be fair to Chris and while Jane knew she may be a flirt, she would never play with someone's feelings like that. She looked back up across the table but Hunt was too busy speaking with the dean to notice.
The waiter smiled and nodded again. "Any preferences?"
"I'm good," Chris answered before looking at Jane again. "You?"
"I'm good too," she replied.
The waiter smiled and nodded before leaving to place their non-order.
"I hope you're not allergic to anything," Chris commented with a worried frown. "We probably should have told him that beforehand."
"I'm not," replied Jane with a small smile. She marveled at how nice and considerate he was and wondered again why she couldn't have fallen for someone like him instead.
Their dishes arrived fifteen minutes later, smelling so delicious that Jane had to check to make sure she wasn't drooling from the corner of her mouth. Biting the corner of her bottom lip, Jane sat up higher in her chair, hoping for a better view as Jared moved to set down their dishes. She barely heard him as he introduced them, wanting very much to just close her eyes and take in the scent of what could only be described as 'a little piece of heaven.'
"Everything looks delicious," Chris told Jared who smiled at him with a nod before leaving. He then turned his attention towards her and watched as she slowly wafted the scent of their dishes in her own direction. "Jane?"
She held up a hand. "Hold on, I barely ever get to enjoy food like this."
Chris smiled and leaned towards her. "Really? Then I should just bring you here more often."
"No," she replied distractedly. "I'll just get spoiled."
"If anyone deserves to be spoiled, it's you." He shifted slightly in his seat. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy before."
At that, Jane looked up but instead of catching Chris' gaze, she found herself looking past him. Again. It was beginning to drive her mad since she couldn't explain why she kept doing it.
Dinner itself was a quiet but enjoyable affair. Even so, by the time dessert had finally come around, Jane was ready to get the entire dinner over with and call it a night. Dinner with Chris had never felt so awkward before and it wasn't just because the young heartthrob may be waiting for the right moment to ask her out. After all, Hunt was sitting right there and had front rows seat to their entire conversation; Jane wasn't sure how she felt about that.
It wasn't fair though, Jane realized, feeling a sudden wave of unreasonable anger. Hunt had no right staring at her and making her feel both guilty and out of depth. Of course, Jane also knew, it wasn't as if he was doing it on purpose. Which makes it even worst, she thought with a mental huff. He should not have that power over me.
Realizing that she was—once again—thinking about Hunt when she should be paying attention to Chris, Jane forced herself back into reality. "This was an amazing dinner," she told Chris truthfully as they finished off the last bits of their chocolate cheesecake.
Chris smiled again and reached out to place a hand on hers. "I have one last surprise for you," he said.
Oh gods, Jane thought. Here it comes. For reasons she rather not admit, her gaze swept past Chris to seek Hunt's again. He was staring at her in such an intense manner that Jane was forced to drop her gaze. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and Jane wondered if he knew something she didn't.
Before she could ask Chris about his 'last surprise,' the lights of the restaurant dimmed and Jane probably wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the single beam of light aimed directly on their table. "Miss Jane Doe," a smooth, amplified voice rang out. "This song was especially requested for you."
Wide-eyed, she turned to face the musician, watching as he began playing a familiar melody on the piano; familiar because it's the melody to the very first song they danced to as a couple. Jane could feel the prickling feeling of a hundred gazes on her back as the entire restaurant turned their attention towards them. She—she who had always been unbreakable under pressure—felt cold, nervous sweat on the back of her neck. It was as if her body knew what was going to happen before her mind could catch up.
"Jane?"
She whipped back around at the unexpected voice, surprised to see Chris standing in front of her. Scrambling to her feet non-too gracefully in response, Jane stared up at him a horrified sort of manner, her breath catching in her throat as Chris knelt down in front of her.
—what.
The restaurant—which had been filled with low, excited whispers before—fell into immediate silence. It was so quiet, Jane swore she could hear the pounding of her heart. "Chris?" she squeaked in horror as she realized what he was doing.
How is it possible, she wondered, that two people see their relationship status in such different places? She who had thought they were only friends—they've talked about it, damn it!—and Chris who apparently thought they were going out long enough to think proposing was a good idea. When had everything began to go so wrong?
"Jane," Chris said again and his voice was filled with such warmth and emotion she thought she would just about cry for him. "Marry me?" And then he opened the ring box showing off a beautiful silver and blue diamond ring that he had so obviously chosen with care. It glittered in the beam light, prompting the oohs and ahhs from their audience.
Oh no.
Her heart stopped. Jane knew she was a flirt, she liked to tease and joke but she never, ever, ever wanted to break anyone's heart. And Chris—Chris who was proposing—in public!—would no doubt get his heart broken if she were to speak up now. Later. At all. How and when could you turn someone's marriage proposal down without breaking their heart? She might have considered going out with him again but getting engaged was absolutely out of the question.
"No one makes reservations at Silver Crescent for some friendly dinner."
No one makes it for some slightly more than friendly dinner, either, a small voice in her mind quipped up sarcastically.
Shut up, Jane thought, feeling as if she was going mad. Shut up, shut up, shut up!
She could feel everyone's attention on them—on her—not wanting to miss her reply to Chris Winters', celebrity heartthrob, proposal.
"I-I—" she stammered.
"It's not like that, Chris and I are just friends."
Haven't they talked about this before? Hadn't they agreed on just being friends? Had this agreement ended without her knowledge? Since when had Chris thought they were going out? Did that mean all the 'friendly dinners' they've been having for the past few weeks wasn't as 'friendly' as she thought? Had she always been this oblivious?
"Jane?" Chris asked again, looking up at her expectantly.
She took in a shuddering breath and felt as if the entire room was shuddering along with her. Everyone was waiting, waiting, waiting and she was stalling, stalling, stalling. Jane knew she couldn't marry him, not now—not ever—but she also knew she couldn't turn him down in front of everyone. It would ruin both their careers; he would forever be known as 'the heartthrob that got turned down by a newbie actress' and she would forever be known as 'the girl that turned Chris Winters down.'
"But what do you do if you're not the only person affected?"
Then again, Jane also realized that if she did turn him down in public, her fame would only increase even if it wasn't due to her hard work. And since she wasn't that type of person, that wasn't even an option; not to mention Chris was her friend. How could she play this so that neither of them would give the media something negative to report about?
You put me in such a tough pickle, Chris, Jane thought mournfully.
"Jane?" Chris repeated again, this time sounding slightly confused and worried.
Say yes, she could almost hear him thinking.
Jane bit her lip. What to do, what to do, what to do?
Say yes.
She was usually so good at solving problems in the heat of the moment. After all, she was not known for being the only person who had ever successfully managed to pull a prank on Hunt for no reason. Why is it—during one of the most problematic situation in her life—can she not think of a single solution?
Say yes.
Some problems, Jane was reluctant to admit, had no real solution. So, unable to find a way to reject his proposal without breaking his heart in front of everyone, Jane did the only thing she could think of.
She fainted.