A/N: This is an AU fanfic for Monchele. I know a lot of the content isn't consistent with actual events, and I probably don't have the facts down right, but this is for your entertainment only. Love it? Review! Hate it? Move on! Enjoy!
I was having one of those moments when everything was so perfect that I felt sad knowing nothing in my life would ever be better than this. Wait, did I say perfect? Let me rephrase. "Perfect" isn't the right word because my attempts with Lea were hardly "perfect". In this moment, though, it felt right, so let's just say it was perfect.
Movie night. I know, I know, it sounds so cheesy. Which it was. But hey, what can we say? Despite the publicity and paparazzi and nominations, we were just people. Just any old 29- and 25-year-old. Enjoying Love Actually. Because that's Lea's favorite movie and I bought it a year ago, just for nights like these, when we had a break and nothing to do. Hm, let's see, what else do I know about her? Oh, yeah! That would be EVERYTHING.
"Cory, Cory, Cory, this is my favorite part!" squealed Lea, looping her arms through mine in excitement – so much like her onscreen character, yet so much more real.
"I know," I said, because I did.
She shushed me, then leaned comfortably into my side and motioned for me to watch the scene unfold.
I didn't, though. I watched her. God, I sound like a creep. But she was just so… so Lea. We'd only known each other for what, three years? Already I was – and though I hated the thought as much as I loved the feeling, I had to admit it – in love with my co-star. My character's love interest and, eventually, girlfriend. It should work out, right? I mean, I can't go a single day without hearing some rumors about "Monchele" and, obviously, the famed Finchel.
It was ideal. Even though Ryan, our writer and kind of our manager, strictly warned us against co-worker romances, I knew he wouldn't object too much. I mean, hadn't other girlfriend/boyfriend pairs done movies and stuff together? Even husband/wives? It wouldn't be weird or anything, I knew that much.
But there was Theo.
Lea's voice jolted me back to the present. "Cory, it's over. It's the credits." She stood up and stretched, brushing popcorn kernels off the front of her hoodie. I checked my watch: nearly midnight.
"You gonna go home?" I asked, shutting the TV off.
"I'm contemplating it," replied Lea, yawning widely. "But I'm just too tired! Mind if I crash here? I promise I'll be out of your hair by 8:30, tops. Breakfast on me? Chord and Di are going to that super-cute new breakfast place down the street. Heather might be coming too."
"Sure," I said, trying not to sound too eager. While I knew that we'd do nothing but talk and Tweet as we tried to fall asleep, it was something. Call me desperate, but if all I had with her were small moments, when we were getting interviewed or, like this, when I knew I was her best friend, then I'd take what I could get.
"Can we both fit in your bed?"
Whoa there. I'd assumed she would sleep in my bed, and I'd sleep on the couch like a gentleman. I shot her a look, taken aback.
"Oh, get that expression off your face," she said, rolling her eyes and messing up my hair. "Haven't you ever shared a bed with Shaun?"
"Well, yeah, but the thing is, we're related," I retorted, smacking her with a pillow and trying to hide my disappointment at the fact that she saw me the same way I saw Shaun: just a big brother. "Fine. As long as you don't snore."
"You're so insulting." She shook her head, then grinned at me. "Ask Dianna. She even said it on some interview – I don't snore. At all."
"Jeez, defensive much?" I dropped the popcorn bowl in the sink and headed towards my bedroom. "Theo won't mind?"
"Oh, please. He got over the fact that we're best friends like a year ago. Obviously nothing's going on between us."
If only I could feel that way about her. Instead, I picked her up, ignored her struggling, and tossed her onto the bed. "Cory Monteith!" she shrieked, pummeling me with her fists. "You're awful!"
"You love me though," I said teasingly.
"I do. I love you very much, Cory. Best friends forever." She leaned over and kissed my temple, a sisterly gesture I'd seen her do with Dianna. Before I could say anything else, she'd rolled over so her back was towards me, and was sound asleep.
Which left me with nothing but a crap load of what-ifs, unhappy endings, and empty hands.
