A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. Reviews are really a great motivator so the more reviews the faster the updates.
Warning: There is a fair amount of cursing in this chapter. You have been forewarned.
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction loosely based on real people that I do not actually know. I've taken a lot of personal liberties with this story so, aside from the use of names and episode titles, all characterizations and events are purely fiction. I have no affiliation with Glee or anyone who works on Glee.
Bold as Love
Ch. 2 The Best
Leo cupped his hands around his mouth to shout, "Alright everyone gather 'round." The whole cast and crew shuffled over to the middle of the room in a circle. "Okay, this is an episode wrap for Eric Stoltz. Let's give him a hand for all his hard work." The whole room erupted in clapping and congratulatory shouts.
Eric beamed proudly and waited for the clapping to die down. "Thanks everyone. It's always a pleasure working with this cast and crew. I know it's been a long week but I'm always astounded at the incredible work ethic here." Everyone gave a self-effacing smile, appreciating the compliment. "Now enjoy your two days off! You all deserve it." Everyone threw their hands up once again, clapping and shouting.
Naya excitedly bounded up the stairs, grabbing Heather's hand on the way up, so they could be the first to the wardrobe truck. They put their wardrobe away and changed into their comfy street clothes as quick as they could. Beside the fact that the two girls wanted to get off the lot so they could start their two day break, half the cast wasn't needed for the last few shots and got to go home about an hour earlier, which meant they'd probably be at Kevin's place soon. And the girls didn't want to miss out on any of the party shenanigans.
They stopped by their trailers to pick up the following episode's re-edited scripts that had been dropped off for them earlier in the day, and then headed out to their cars in the parking lot. Naya threw her purse and script in the passenger seat of her car and drove off the lot with Heather following close behind. Heather knew the way to the brunette's house but Naya stopped at yellow lights anyway to make sure Heather didn't get lost behind her. She liked knowing the blonde was just in her rear view mirror driving her old faded yellow VW bug and the idea that they both would pull into the driveway of Naya's house at the same time.
It was around 9:30 by the time Naya unlocked her front door. She lived in a dark green, bungalow style, two-story house. It was just the right amount of space for one person. They walked into the living room area with its hardwood floors and a giant white shag rug. Mounted on the wall toward the front of the room was a large, flat screen TV with black wooden bookcases on either side that extended to the height of the TV, and a coffee table made of distressed wood to match. The coffee table had three red candles varying in size and was centered in front of a plush, oversized black couch with bright pink throw pillows. On the back wall opposite the front door was some decorative art and a door that led to a small extra room, which Naya mainly used for storage and some music equipment. Off to the right was the kitchen and a breakfast nook with a round wooden table surrounded by bay windows. The thing Naya liked most about her house was that the windows let in a lot of light during the day and there was no negative space. There were no walls or hallways separating the living room, kitchen, and her snug breakfast nook area. The only light in the room at the moment was the glow of her computer on the desk against the wall of the staircase leading up to her room. Naya flicked on the lights as Heather tossed her purse and bag of extra clothes on the couch. Naya set her keys and purse down on the coffee table and headed towards the kitchen with her script.
"You go ahead and shower first. I want to look over the rewrites for a sec."
As soon as Naya set her script down on the small kitchen island, Heather swooped in and snatched it away, hugging it close to her chest. "Heather, what the hell? You have your own script."
Heather backed away, putting some distance between them so Naya couldn't grab the script. "You need to relax. No more work stuff for the rest of the night. Don't think about scenes or lines or what you have to record. Tonight is just about having some fun with our friends. You can worry about the other stuff tomorrow."
Naya put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes toward Heather. The blonde raised her eyebrows and swayed her hips from side to side. She did look rather cute like that and Naya knew she was right. She shouldn't be worrying about work tonight. She rolled her eyes and softened her face, "Fine."
Heather raised the corners of her mouth in a tight-lipped smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. "Good," she placed the script on the side of the island opposite Naya. "And you take a shower first. I still have to decide what to wear."
"How many clothes did you bring?"
"You know me. I can never decide what to wear until the last second. I brought options."
Naya rolled her eyes again and smiled, "Okay, fashionista," and walked across the living room toward the stairs. Heather watched the brunette with a wary eye and waited for her to pass so she wouldn't take the script off the counter. Naya turned her head back as she climbed up the stairs, "Ya know, you probably have at least like five outfits in my closet just from stuff you've left here."
"Ooh, more options!" Heather sprung from the kitchen like a bullet, grabbing her bag off the sofa and bounded up the steps two at a time. Naya giggled at the fact that Heather could go from a logical, reasoning adult to giddy as a schoolgirl in two seconds flat. One of the many qualities she loved about her.
Heather was in the shower singing quite loudly to a random song she'd made up on the spot about a shampoo bottle. Naya smiled at her friend's antics as she put on her makeup in the vanity area adjoined to the upstairs bathroom. Nothing too fancy. It was just going to be the cast chilling and drinking at Kevin's place so she didn't feel the need to dress to impress. She decided on skinny jeans with a tailored dark green button up shirt with the sleeves rolled, her hair hanging loosely off her shoulders.
Heather called out from the shower, "You're so lucky! You got to make out with Chord two days in a row. And you're getting paid for it! He's a total hottie."
"You got paid to kiss him yesterday too."
"Yeah but not like make out. Ooh! And have you seen his abs?"
"Boy, takes care of his body."
"He's a good kisser too."
"HeMo, I can't believe this. You have a boyfriend, who loves you by the way, and you're fawning all over Chord."
"Taylor's not my boyfriend anymore. He hasn't been for a long time. You know that."
"Hmm. Coulda fooled me," Naya teased.
"Just because we still call each other on a regular basis doesn't make him my boyfriend."
"I'd say calling an ex on a regular basis is grounds for holding on to some type of committed relationship. I mean you've barely dated anyone since."
Naya and Heather somehow managed to have a lot of heart-to-heart talks in the car or while one of them was taking a shower. Heather felt like this was turning into one of their more heartfelt bathroom conversations that they'd had several times before. She struggled to articulate the uncertain nature of her relationship with Taylor. "We're just … we're on a break cuz of the whole distance thing. I mean we can date other people it's just … we're like each other's safety net. I know he'll always love me and he'll always be there. It's … it's complicated. It's like an open invitation if I ever want to take him up on it."
"Still, I'm sure he's at least a little weirded out about you kissing other guys."
"Well yeah, he's weirded out by it but we're not together anymore so he doesn't get a say. Even if we were dating, it's part of the job."
Naya paused for a moment to think about the comment and then nodded her head, deciding it was a valid argument.
"Besides, kissing isn't cheating," Heather added.
Naya was somewhat surprised at what Heather said. "So you don't consider kissing other people cheating?"
Heather popped her head through the shower curtain to look at Naya. Naya paused, her mascara in hand, and shifted her eyes toward the shower.
"A., it was a scene for work. Ryan would fire my ass if I objected to every scene my hypothetical boyfriend wasn't comfortable with. And 2., it's not cheating if it's a harmless kiss." Heather shrugged and closed the curtain.
Naya twisted her tube of mascara shut and paused for a moment. She was intrigued now. She'd never asked what Heather's standards were on cheating. "So it's not cheating if it's just a kiss?"
"Not cheating."
Naya twirled the tube in her hand, contemplating. "So when is it cheating?"
"It's cheating once clothes start coming off," Heather resolved.
Naya continued twirling the tube with her fingers while she stared at the sink fixture for a prolonged moment. There was another question nagging at her but she didn't know how to phrase it. She abruptly stopped twirling the tube and shifted her eyes to the shower curtain. "What about intent?"
The question hung in the air for a moment while Heather took a few seconds to think it over. "That's a whole other conversation."
Naya inhaled a breath, about to ask another question but decided to leave it at that and turned back to the mirror to finish her makeup.
Heather re-directed the conversation, "Besides I've never had a crush on Chord."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You were all about Chord like six months ago. I thought you'd be a little more enthusiastic about getting to make out with him."
Naya rolled her eyes. "That was forever ago. And it was nothing. Just a small crush you get when you first meet people. He's a cutie but he's just too much of like, a good buddy now." Naya fumbled a bit to try and find the right words to describe how she felt about her friendship with Chord. "He's like a goofy kid brother. It was kinda weird today."
Heather hesitated with her response but decided that her thoughts on Naya's love life needed to be shared. "I was just thinking, I mean, you haven't really dated anyone seriously since Mark. And even that was like, semi-serious."
Naya put her lipstick down and leaned her hands against the edge of the counter, her eyes staring into the sink. There was a reason she hadn't dated anyone seriously, semi-seriously or otherwise since Mark. Every time she met someone she was interested in she'd let her crush play out for a week or so until she inevitably found something wrong with them or got bored. She would always find some trivial excuse to let her interest dissipate and immediately become filled with doubt at the idea of ever finding someone to love and someone to love her back.
Am I incapable of fully loving someone…like, being completely in love? She thought. No! God, that's ridiculous. …But… What am I so afraid of?
Despite any doubt, she could always feel a small part of her that was kept tethered to the hopeless romantic she truly was, holding out hope for something, someone else; someone to sweep her off her feet, someone she could give the world to, someone she could give her whole heart to. It was a long shot, a fairy tale really. She knew being connected to someone like that was rare but having that connection could make her feel full and complete and the strongest she could ever be. The darker side was that it also meant she would be giving someone the ability to potentially shatter her. If she was going to love someone, she was going to love them with everything she had. The idea of being that emotionally vulnerable with someone, willingly giving them the power to potentially break her heart, was terrifying. But despite all of that, giving someone all of her love and affection and receiving the same of someone else was what she wanted most. She just wasn't going to give it up easily. She couldn't give her heart to just anybody.
I just…I don't want to get hurt.
Heather knew her friend's silence meant she'd said something that caused Naya's mind to start reeling with self-analysis. Naya was incredibly self-reflective, something Heather rarely did. In fact it was one of the major differences between the two girls. Heather was pretty observant and intuitive of how other people were feeling but she never really spent time addressing her own feelings. Naya, on the other hand, was always so in-tune with her own emotions. She wasn't afraid to break herself down and be completely honest with herself. It was something Heather really admired about her. It took guts to explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of oneself, afraid of what you might find, and learning to accept it. Consequently, it made Naya much more comfortable in her own skin. She was one of the most confident and self-assured people Heather had ever met. But even she had moments of insecurity and severe doubt. Heather was willing to bet that this was one of those moments. She hadn't intended to make her best friend feel bad and painfully wanted to reassure her.
She hasn't said anything. She's probably doing that deep, over-analyzing herself thing again. I don't' know, she's kinda been a little off all day. But crap, I said something that probably made her feel shitty. Say something! Let her know how awesome you think she is.
The blonde poked her head through the curtain again, staring earnestly into Naya's face across the room. "Nay, you're like the most amazing person I know. Plus you're absolutely gorgeous and adorable. You're a total catch."
Naya shifted her head, looking toward the shower. Doubt was written all over her face.
"You are!" Heather pressed.
Naya's eyes shifted up to Heather's as she slowly moved to the doorframe and leaned against it, giving Heather her full attention.
"You have such a big heart and so much to give and someday you're going to make some lucky person so incredibly happy. You deserve nothing less than the absolute best."
Naya tilted her head down with a small smile to herself before looking back to Heather with indebted kindness. They'd only known each other for less than two years and yet, right from the start, Heather somehow always instinctively knew when Naya's anxiety needed to be eased. She was always there for her. Heather affectionately smiled back before closing the curtain.
I hope she knows how awesome she is…No, she does. She definitely does…She just needed to hear it from someone else right now.
Naya lingered by the doorframe, staring at the spot where Heather's warm smile had been just seconds before. She gave a deep sigh and returned to the sink area, put some finishing touches on her make-up and sprayed some light perfume before heading downstairs to wait for Heather to be ready.
She grabbed the remote and fell back onto her comfy couch, propping her legs straight out onto the coffee table. She flipped through channels until her mind started wandering through all the things she had coming up for the next week.
There was Heather's 24th birthday dinner tomorrow. Initially Heather wanted to cook a big dinner and have a few select friends over but Ashley, Heather's roommate, insisted on cooking, claiming that there was no way in hell Heather was going to cook a feast on her own birthday.
Then there was shooting the next episode for Glee. Naya knew it was Brittana heavy and had to be sure she brought her A Game. Then her mind drifted to wondering what songs she might have to tackle for the next couple episodes. She missed being in the recording studio, even though it had only been a few days since she recorded her vocals for "Loser Like Me" and "Trouty Mouth." She remembered how when she got the demo she initially couldn't listen to "Trouty Mouth" without cracking up and it was even harder to keep a straight face once it came time to record the track. Everyone in the recording suite had been consumed with uncontrollable laughter and the session had taken a lot longer than it should have. Chord even got a kick out of it at first and then increasingly got embarrassed whenever Naya would call him that, just to mess with him. She reminded herself to call him 'Trouty Mouth' at some point in the night.
Naya let out a deep and resonant laugh and realized she wasn't actually watching anything on the television. She switched it off and tossed the remote to the side, then went to the refrigerator for a bottle of water. She knew there was going to be some heavy drinking tonight and the key to making it through a night like that was water. When she closed the refrigerator door and turned around, sitting there on the island counter was her script for the next episode entitled "Sexy."
Brad, one of the writers, had mentioned to her earlier that day that there had been a few major rewrites done for the Brittana scenes and one of them was going to be emotionally hard hitting for Santana. She remembered his exact words to her were, "It's a game changer for you." It piqued Naya's curiosity and she moved toward the counter, setting her water to the side. She stared at the title for a moment before she picked up a corner of the script, holding the plethora of pages between her fingers and thumb. She tilted her head and ran her thumb across the pages causing them to make a fluttering sound. She did this several times, with her eyes narrowed and staring at the fluttering pages, as she debated in her head whether or not she should take a peak at the rewritten work.
I want to know what this game changer is. Honestly, they haven't given us much to work with as far as a serious romance goes. It can't possibly be that major, can it?
She picked up the script with her whole hand, about to peruse the pages, and then quickly stopped herself, setting the script back down and pushing it away.
No. No work tonight. Stop being such a workaholic. Remember what Heather said. Tonight is just about kicking back and having fun with my friends. I can look at it tomorrow if I have some downtime before Heather's birthday dinner. And I have another full day after that to do a script breakdown and prep.
She picked up her bottled water and backed away until her foot hit the refrigerator door. She sipped from her water while keeping her eyes trained on the pile of mystery pages on the counter.
"You're not looking at that script are you?" She heard Heather chide her from the staircase across the room.
Naya immediately snapped out of her trance. "What? No!" And when she looked up she was captivated by a much more alluring sight. Heather was standing at the foot of the staircase with one hand on the banister. She was wearing tight black shorts that made her toned legs look like they went on for days, with a black form fitting tank top and a necklace that hung long down her chest. She had on her favorite faded denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up, her radiant blonde hair in loose curls cascading down around her shoulders. It was simple and understated but Naya was completely entranced by the beauty standing before her, especially when those blue eyes seemed to sparkle from across the room. "Uh … um," Naya stuttered as she tried to find words to respond with but words seemed to fail her at the moment.
"Nay, are you okay?"
Naya took in a quick breath and relaxed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She held her excess breath for a moment and let it out in a sigh. "Just a little out of it."
Heather was curious but if her friend didn't want to talk about whatever had been bothering her all day then she didn't have to. Heather wasn't going to push it. "Okay…but seriously, you weren't looking at that script were you?"
"No. I wasn't," Naya assured her.
Heather put her hand on her hip, cocking it to the side.
"I promise!" Naya insisted.
The blonde pierced her lips together looking at Naya, intently reading her face. "Okay." She instantly softened her face and leapt off the last step of the staircase like a ballerina.
Naya threw her arm out to her side while setting her now empty bottle on the kitchen counter. "What? You don't believe me?"
"No, it's not that." Heather walked into the kitchen area and leaned her forearms over the island counter. "You're a great actress but I know you're not a very good liar," she said nonchalantly. "At least not with me," she added.
Naya cocked her eyebrow suspecting doubt on the blonde's part.
Heather rolled her eyes. "I believe you! Gosh. Come on, are you ready to go?"
"Just waitin on you babe."
"Woo!" Heather fist pumped her arm in the air, "Let's get this party started!" and excitedly danced her way to the front door. Naya smiled as she admired the dancer's beautiful movements. But then she remembered her own not-so-graceful moment from just seconds before.
Jesus! What the hell is wrong with you, you gawking idiot? It's just Heather, your best friend. Get a grip, Rivera.
Naya shook her thoughts away as she grabbed her purse off the coffee table and followed Heather out the door.
Kevin swung open his front door to see Naya putting her keys back in her purse and a giddy Heather bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "Git'cho butts in here."
Heather enthusiastically obeyed his request and rushed through the wide open door, planting a quick peck on his cheek as she passed him. Naya affectionately smiled at Kevin's continued attempts to pretend he was Snoop Dogg or something. "Ya know, we already wrapped the episode Kev."
"Yeah well this is the after party. Anything goes," he shrugged and then waved his arm for her to join the party. "Now come on. You're missing a very important accessory. Drinks are in the kitchen. Beer's in the fridge."
Kevin's house was rather large for one person but he was constantly throwing parties and having people over. The main appeal for everyone was that his place had a pool and was kept well stocked with liquor and food. It was also easy to navigate through. Just to the left of the front door was the downstairs bathroom and a staircase leading to the second floor. Directly across from the staircase was the entryway to a large living room complete with a foosball table, lots of comfortable seating and a fully tricked out entertainment set up, including a state of the art stereo system.
Naya shut the door behind her as she and Kevin walked straight forward through the entryway of the dining room. It had a huge table and several cast members had gathered around it, enthralled in a game of 'Ring of Fire.' To the right of the dining room was a large kitchen. As they walked into the space Naya could see out to the pool area through the big sliding glass door at the opposite end of the room. Heather already had a drink in her hand and was next to the sliding glass door, laughing with Diana about something. Kevin put a solo cup on the island counter, which was set up with an assortment of various liquor bottles and mixers, and started making Naya a drink. She walked over to the swinging kitchen door that led to the living room, opened it a bit and poked her head through to see who all was in there. She realized everyone had already arrived. Heather and her were the last to show and everyone seemed to be a few drinks in by now.
"Better make it a double. I gotta catch up," Naya joked to Kevin as she set her purse down on the stool against the wall.
"Pssh, a double is the minimum standard in this house." Kevin poured her drink and handed her the solo cup.
She took a sip and winced at how it burned down the back of her throat. There was definitely more liquor in this drink than Kevin's usual perfectly mixed cocktails.
"Shit, Kev. You wanna make it a little stronger?" Naya said sarcastically.
"Well you said you gotta catch up. I promise the next one'll be smoother."
She peered down into her full drink, shrugged and took another sip.
Heather glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. Fifty-four minutes until midnight and it would officially be her birthday. She thought about doing something small, maybe a special birthday shot, to silently celebrate and mark the occasion. Heather loved birthdays. Any cause for celebration made her happy, but she never made a huge deal out of her own birthday. Since she was young she had a thorough understanding that even though the day might be special for her, it was just a regular day for everyone else, and didn't expect anyone to go out of their way for her.
There was a huge eruption of boisterous shouts coming from the dining room table. Everyone in the kitchen walked over to see what had happened. Mark was bent over in his chair with his chin on the table and his eyes were popping out wide on his face as he was yelling "Ooooh!" Several other cast members were sitting around the table uproariously laughing at Chris. He'd placed one too many cards under the tab of the beer in the center of the table, popping the drink open.
"Shitsticks! Of course, the one guy here who hates beer and I'm the one who pops the tab," Chris said in disapproval.
Mark quickly removed his chin from the table and stood upright, pointing at Chris. "Chin down and drink up buddy!"
"Oh Damnit!" Chris stomped his foot on the ground, picked up the beer from the center of the table and slouched in his chair. "I don't know which I hate more; beer or Cory's excruciating rule." He opened the beer can. "I mean Cory doesn't even drink. There should be a rule forbidding people who aren't playing from making a rule."
"Don't hate the player. Hate the game," Harry said with a broad smile. "Now I do believe your chin is not in its appropriate place."
Chris reluctantly set his chin down on the edge of the table.
Naya was confused, "What the fuck? Why do you have to put your chin on the table?"
Chris's eyes went wide as all his previous discomfort disappeared from his face.
Mark held up his hand. "Wait, are you joining the game?" he asked Naya.
"Yeah, sure," she shrugged.
Chris stood up and pointed back at Mark. "Ha!" he bellowed with satisfaction and turned back to Naya. "You cursed. Chin on the table honey," he said and pointed down with his other hand on his hip.
Now Naya was even more confused. "Okay, someone help me out here."
Amber was laughing in her chair at the ridiculous series of events that just unfolded. Lea was clutching her stomach and laughing in the seat next to her, holding on to Amber's shoulder for dear life.
Diana turned to Naya to explain. "Harry became the rule master and Cory suggested that if someone curse's they have to keep their chin on the table until the next person curse's."
"Oh shit," Naya said, understanding now.
Heather began chuckling with her whole body. "Haha! That's awesome!"
With his hand still on his hip Chris pointed back at Naya. "And you just cursed again, so put that pretty little chin of yours on the table little lady."
Naya complied, pulling up a chair and placing her chin on the table. "But wait, this means I get to curse all I want, right? I mean, until someone else curses."
Amber was coming down from her laughter and gasping for air. "Oh, Lord no. Once you get her going, girl has a mouth like a sailor."
"Which is always entertaining," Chris commented.
"And you still gotta drink your beer," Mark pointed out to him. "Don't think you're getting out of that one."
"Ah Cra-"
Everyone turned to Chris and froze.
Realizing his misstep he quickly tried to correct himself. "-aaazy. That's just crazy." He slumped down in his chair. "I hate beer." He took a sip and made a face of complete disgust at the beer can. "Drinking this should be a felony."
"Okay, whose turn is it?" Harry asked.
"Jenna's," Mark stated. "Pull a card."
Naya saw Jenna pull a card from the pile, which was now at her own eye level. Jenna showed the card to everyone at the table.
"Six is for chicks. Drink up ladies!" Mark announced.
All the girls took a sip of their drinks. As Naya reached for her cup she realized there was no possible way to drink normally or with any amount of grace with her chin stuck on the table.
She contorted her hand with the cup trying to figure out how to drink from it. "Ugh! Fucking asshats! Now I get why this is funny."
Amber and Lea erupted in chortling laughter once again as Naya took the most awkward sip from a cup in her life.
After a few more instances of trying to figure out the best way to drink from her cup, Heather got an idea on how Naya could get around it and found a silly straw in the kitchen for her. Heather sat next to Naya, who was now kneeling on the floor with her chin on the table. Heather held her drink with the straw so all she had to do was turn her head to the side if she wanted a sip.
For the next ten minutes the game continued while Naya took full advantage of her cursing domain, running through a creative and shocking use of expletives including, but not limited to, the use of, 'douchemonger,' 'Bitchcake,' and 'fucknuggets.' Though she wasn't fluent in the language, she even threw in the bit of Spanish cursing she knew. She had the whole table in riotous laughter. Every time Naya cursed in Spanish she did it with her alter ego, Lima Heights attitude. Finally, everyone dubbed her the queen of cursing and the game went on until everyone's drinks were getting light and they all dispersed to the kitchen and living room.
"Okay, what I just witnessed might be the most astounding display of creative and sassy cursing I've ever heard," Chris commented to Naya as she was making her next drink. "I don't think I've seen a group of people so formally addressed as a 'squadron of bastards' before. Remind me never to embark on a verbal assault against you."
Naya smirked.
"So what were those Spanish curse words you used? I may need to take a mental note of those," Chris asked as he pulled out the Vodka and Cranberry juice to make himself another drink.
"Well, 'cabrón' means 'bastard,' and 'pendejo' means like 'jackass' or 'asshole.'"
"What's that one phrase you said? 'May Kahgo' something," he asked waving his hand in the air searching for the correct way to say the phrase.
"Me cago en tus muertos?"
"Yeah! That one."
Naya suddenly stopped and looked at him dead in the face. "For the safety of you and your children, I'm not going to translate that one."
"Oh, don't be such a tease. You know that's just going to make me want the translation more," he pouted as she picked up her drink and headed towards the living room.
She threw her hand in the air, waving him off. "Sorry Bitchcake. I'm not going to be responsible if you get your ass beat with that one."
As she walked through the swinging door she could hear someone playing an acoustic guitar. She wasn't surprised to see that Darren was sitting on the couch, guitar in hand and had seemed to enlist the vocal talents of Mark and Chord. Darren began singing the chorus to "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan, with Mark and Chord echoing the 'Be a Man' background lyrics with deep resonance, pounding their chest each time.
Naya stood next to Diana as the boys crescendoed the final lyrics of the song. "Oh Christ, Darren's busting out the Disney songs already?"
"You know we've hit a tipping point in the night once Darren breaks out the Disney songs," Diana affirmed with sarcasm.
Heather was sitting on the opposite side of the couch, clapping merrily at the boy's impromptu performance. She loved the many impromptu performances several of the other cast members often gave. People like Naya, Darren, Lea or Chord could start singing or playing an instrument at the drop of a hat. They were much more musically talented than her and she was envious of that ability, of almost always being ready to sing or play a song. But she also didn't get her energetic or creative release from singing the way they did. She always got that from dancing. If she ever had any pent up energy she could always just dance it out. She felt comfortable with movement, surrendering herself to her impulses on the dance floor and never having to think about how they came to her or where they might take her. Dancing always left her feeling exhilarated, content and satisfied.
Heather was clapping the loudest out of anyone in the room and it caught Naya's attention. The brunette made her way to the couch and slipped in next to the blonde. Heather had a dorky grin on her face.
Naya became wary. "Oh no, am I sensing another Disney movie marathon in the works in that head of yours?"
"No, but now that you mention it…" Heather's smile grew wider.
"Oh no. No no no no no," Naya frantically rattled off in disapproval.
"Oh c'mon!" the blonde pleaded. "You know you love our movie marathons. And you like the Disney ones just as much as I do."
"Yeah I like our movie marathons, but a full day of John Hughes movies and a full day of Disney movies are two very different things."
Heather pouted with a genuinely sad face.
Naya knew Heather would get her with that pout she does. "Okay okay, fine. But only if we get to watch Aladin."
"Well of course we have to watch Aladin. It's a classic," Heather said as if it were a given. "And of course you'll have to put The Lion King and The Aristocats on the list too."
Naya softened her face and started to smile. "Aw, how'd you know I'd wanna watch those?"
"Duh, They're your favorites. I mean those three are the only ones where you dance and sing around the house to like every song in the movie."
"Shh, Heather you're the only one who knows about that."
"What? That you dork out hardcore to Disney movies just as much as I do?" Heather was toying with her now, but it was with something she knew to be incredibly true. She thought the fact that Naya was a closet Disney mega-dork was kind of adorable, even if Naya didn't think so.
Suddenly there was an extremely loud clanking noise that reverberated in the room. The girls both shot their attention toward the entryway where the noise was coming from. Cory had a spoon he was beating against a big metal pot and shouting, "Midnight! It's midnight!"
Everyone quickly piled into the room from other parts of the house while Darren, Mark and Chord stood behind Cory in the entryway. They were holding various instruments; Darren with a guitar, Mark with a ukulele, and Chord with a mandolin. A surprised smile appeared on Heather's face as the three boys started playing, their instruments blending well together in the sort of sound and rhythm that reminded Heather of the beach. Just as they began singing 'Happy Birthday' in three-part harmony, Diana appeared out of the kitchen carrying a large cookie cake lit with candles.
Heather's eyes went wide and her smile even wider as Diana approached with the cake and set it down in front of her on the coffee table. Heather was completely filled with joy as she looked around the room full of her friends who were singing and smiling back at her. She was so overwhelmed with the moment that she grabbed Naya's hand and squeezed it tight as if she couldn't contain herself and had to physically transfer some of this happiness to someone else. Naya squeezed back and leaned into Heather, giving her a kiss on the cheek just as everyone was ending the song.
"Woohoo! Make a wish!" everyone shouted haphazardly.
Still squeezing her friend's hand, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and blew out the candles. Naya looked on with a warm smile, knowing her best friend felt incredibly loved at the moment.
As the clapping in the room died down, Heather gave everyone their due gratitude. "Aw, you guys, this is great! You totally didn't have to."
"Well it is your birthday," Diana said.
"Yeah, we just wanted to do a little something special for you," Harry added.
"You guys this is so awesome! I've never had, like, a surprise anything on my birthday," Heather said excitedly as she looked down at the cake, which Diana was now cutting. "Hey, how'd you know I like cookie cake?"
Cory was licking some chocolate frosting off his finger that he'd swiped from a corner of the cake. "Well the whole thing was Naya's idea. She said you like cookie cake better than regular."
Heather turned to Naya with a look of complete adoration.
The tanned brunette shyly smiled as if she didn't know how to take the recognition. "Yeah, I had this whole elaborate surprise party thing planned but that all got botched when we had to work so late today."
Heather hung her mouth gaping open as if in complete shock and practically tackled Naya onto the couch in a tight hug. The blonde wasn't entirely used to any sort of gesture, grand or otherwise, made to make her feel extra special. Even Taylor had dialed down on that type of thing after high school. So Heather greatly appreciated the little things and, given the unexpected show of kindness, she felt compelled to give excessive affection to her friend who was so big-hearted as to go to such lengths, just to give her an unsolicited moment of happiness.
Naya laughed at her friend's elated outburst and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist. "Happy Birthday, HeMo."
Heather loosened her grip around the girl and enthusiastically pressed her lips to her cheek for a big kiss followed by a peppering of quick, small kisses. "You're the best!"
Naya was beaming as her friend released her and they sat upright again. "Well guys, I think she likes it."
"Like it? I love it!" Heather bounced sitting on the edge of the couch as she swiped some frosting from the cake with her finger.
"Although, the military style sound-off was a bit overzealous," Naya jokingly teased Cory.
He was now stuffing his face with a slice of cookie cake. "Well it got everyone's attention, didn't it?"
"Aw Crap! Did I miss the surprise?" Ashley, Heather's roommate, was standing in the entryway of the living room, seemingly out of breath and holding a bottle of Patrón.
"Awesome! You made it." Naya was glad another one of Heather's close friends could be here for this.
"Ashley!" The birthday girl's high spirits were only getting higher. "Whoa, you were in on this too?"
Ashley was still trying to catch her breath. "Well I was supposed to come out for the whole surprise party shindig but you guys and your shooting schedule decided that, apparently you don't work enough." Ashley took another deep breath trying to steady herself. "Then the Indian guy at the liquor store decided that he doesn't speak English today and took forever to check me out."
Kevin came out of the kitchen with half a lime in his hand. "Ashley, you're here! You got the tequila right?"
She took one last deep breath and held up the Patrón bottle high in the air. "Hell yeah! Birthday shots!"
Heather was effortlessly laughing as she pulled two pieces of cookie cake out, handing one to Naya.
Naya could see the laughter and happiness in Heather's eyes. It made Naya helplessly smile to see her best friend so happy, knowing that she had done something to be the cause of that happiness.
I'm going to try and have the next chapter up in a few days. In the meantime, if you are so inclined, please leave a review!
