Title: Behind The Scenes

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: T

Chapter Six: No Progress

Summary: Bella Swan is a young 17-year-old actress who's known for her lead roles in Indie movies. Edward Masen is a 21-year-old actor who's close to unemployed. They stumble upon the roles that would alter their acting career forever. [I suck at summaries. I can't believe I just said 'forever'.]

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I'm not Stephenie Meyer. And the "movie" that they'll be in, is not mine either. If it resembles anything (the movie), it's by chance and totally coincidental. Although, this story is dedicated to Robsten. You'd probably guess who Bella is, and who Edward is, and who Jacob is— and it's not Taylor Lautner, btw. But the rest of the characters are not dedicated to the real-life people. Hehe.

[A/n: So I updated on a Saturday. I'm so sorry if you were expecting something yesterday. :( We had this thing in school and I got home at ten. So, here it is.]

Bella POV

I stood right outside his doorstep, weighing whether or not I should ring the doorbell. This place is rather secluded. He lived somewhere in the Hollywood hills, almost among the trees. You can get to civilization easily enough, thank God. He seriously has some paparazzi issues.

The one-month mark of pre-production has been passed this morning and Edward and I haven't done anything.

So I rang the doorbell, knowing that he'd answer it because he, too, must be a little freaked that we haven't done anything at all. I only wish that he worries as much as I do.

He opened the door, a smile on his face as he moved out of the way to let me in. He closed the door behind him as he motioned me to the couch. Why aren't we saying anything?

"Wow. You did clean up," I commented as I sat on his couch.

He laughed, out-of-breath. "I just finished, actually. I'm wiped out. Would you mind if I… sit down?" I shook my head as he took a seat next to me. He leaned back and sighed.

"Where are you planning to have lunch?" I asked, snatching the remote on the table. "I was thinking that we walk to some coffee shop and read over the script. Not unless you had something else in mind."

"Uh…" he said, his hand traveling along his scalp again. Why does he keep doing that? "I just wanted to order pizza, but we could do what you wanted to do."

"No, no… Pizza it is," I said, watching the people in the TV. It was some black and white thing that neither of us knows.

In the span of two hours, watching the movie and—after the pizza arrived—eating, our only exchanges were, "What's going on with you?" and a few "What did the guy say?" during the movie. But it was his one question that made me look down and made my eyebrows meet at the middle.

"How's the thing with Jacob going?" he asked, biting a slice of pizza.

"Oh… him. We're still… not talking. But it's fine. We've cooled off just a little, but we're otherwise fine. It's only been two days, so I didn't really expect anything to happen, actually." I tried to act normal about it, but I knew that he saw through me easily.

He put his pizza down on his plate and breathed through his nose. "I'm sorry I brought it up," he apologized. "Forget that I even asked."

I shook my head. "It's fine. It's still not a big deal. I'm actually grateful that he's not talking to me because he was somewhat giving me the impression that he didn't want me coming over here today." SOMEWHAT GRATEFUL ? Who the heck am I kidding? I'm not 'grateful'.

He swallowed the rest of his pizza and turned off the TV. "So…" He stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Let's get to work."

Edward POV

We were seated around my dining room table, doing the twenty-something scene. I kept on messing up and I'm half-sure that Bella was starting to get irritated.

"Don't you find it weird that the school didn't find out about Tom and Samantha sooner? This is one crappy school, then," I commented as I put the script down.

"I know, right?" she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "This script is insane. I'm… tired."

"You want to go for a walk out? To get the muscles going?" I asked, stretching my legs underneath the table.

"Yes, please," she said, skidding the chair across the linoleum. She stood up and took her bag and nodded to the back door. She was out before I got up.

We sat on the back door's steps, watching the sun disappear in the distant horizon. We were both tired and we needed a break--we didn't even talk. But the silence was relaxing; we didn't need words. I got up and pursed my lips. "How about that walk?"

She laughed and stood, slipping off the first step in the process. I caught her forearm and, just when she was about to fall, she regained her balance. I helped her upright and patted her shoulder.

"You alright?" I asked. She just nodded and bit her lip. I could tell that she was mortified.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just… really uncoordinated. Sorry 'bout that. I'm a klutz," she said. "You better get used to it."

"I'm sure I would, taking into consideration that we have two more months of pre-production, three months of filming, a month of post-production and another of promotion," I reassured. She rolled her eyes.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets as we walked out onto the driveway, hoodies up—curse the disreputable paparazzi.

"So, do I ever get to meet Alice?" she asked, looking at me. Her hoodie was hovering over her eyes, making me unable to see the chocolaty orbs.

"Sure. Someday. You'll get along very well. I'll drag her to set sometime," I said. "And what about Emmett? Do I ever get to meet him?"

She laughed and shrugged. "To be honest, you see Emmett everywhere. One time, when he was supposed to be with the Incas in Peru—total lie—I ran into him downtown." She snorted and said "Incas in Peru" under her voice.

It was dark now, people starting to come out of their houses along the main street of the neighborhood. I loved what they did with the place. I remember when I first bought my house; we had to use a golf cart to get out of my house and back. Now, we're just a normal neighborhood with a celebrity living at the mouth of one of the woodsy areas. Completely normal. Psh.

We saw one of my neighbors; he waved hi at me and shouted, "Smoking hot date, Edward!"

I laughed loud enough for him to hear and said, "She's just a friend!"

He laughed and flashed me the loser sign with his fingers. "Yeah, right! I know what type you like! SCORE!"

I laughed, embarrassed. Jeez. What the hell? I have to move out. I sneaked a glance at Bella to see her beaming at me. She was amused and I couldn't have been more chagrined.

We walked out of the neighborhood, greeting "Good Evening" to the nice old guy who always sits on the bench.

"I like your neighborhood, Edward," she noted. "Why do you have to live so… distant from the people here? Instead of living in a nice, typical, everyday house with the rest of these wholesome people, you choose to live at the end of a cul-de-sac right in front of the woods where nobody else lives. It's sad."

I snorted. "Living away from the others is sometimes a benefit, you know. Other celebrities live down here and they're hounded every single day, men with cameras waiting for them to come out of their houses, just so that they can make some money as soon as they sell the pictures to some clueless magazine that's desperate to make a piece absolutely false."

"Oh," she said, looking down. "Well, as long as nobody knows that you live here, you're still safe, right?"

I smiled at her. "Exactly. Nobody knows where I live. The only people who have the slightest idea that I reside here, are my neighbors—whom I am very much acquainted to and known long enough for them not to tell—my family… and you. I don't expect any of them—that means I don't expect you, too, either—to spill."

"Okay, then," she said. "Say one of your neighbors accidentally tells the media that you live here, what would you do?"

I pressed my lips together and quirked my eyebrow at her. "Well, I'd probably hate them for the rest of my life and sue them as soon as I get the chance to."

She laughed. "And what if one of your family tells?" she tested again.

"I'm most likely to do the same," I said. She laughed and shook her head. "I'm kidding..." She nudged at my side and rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. My family? I'd talk them into telling the media that it was a misunderstanding. They'd think of something—with my assistance, of course—and the public would forget about it."

She bit down on her lower lip and said, "But what if I tell the… aficionados-slash-stalkers… What would you do?"

Oh, crap. I didn't know what was written on my face but I knew that I was cornered. I couldn't just say that I would also hate her for the rest of my life and ignore her for just as long. I couldn't do that. But I couldn't tell her that I won't mind because she'd think—fine, she would figure out—that I had a slight school boy crush on her.

"I don't know. I'll tell you when I think of something, okay?" I said. Okay, that's the smartest thing I could think of.

She laughed and nodded sarcastically. "Whatever," she said instead. "Where are you planning to eat dinner, exactly? I mean you're taking me with you, right?"

I thought about that for a moment, and then slapped my forehead. Oh, no… Alice's dry-cleaning. I hate her. Why the hell do I have to pick that up? She already mentioned it the morning that Bella set up the meeting that we're having right now and I let it slip my mind.

"Can we just stop by… somewhere… before we eat?" I asked slyly. "It would be quick."

"Yeah, sure," she said.

We get to the place—walking, no less—quickly enough. It wasn't that far from my house.

Much to my surprise, but I have to admit that I expected this, Alice was there, glaring at me through this glass window, shaking her head, lips pouted.

"Who's that?" Bella asked. "Oooooh, she's mad. You're dead. Is that your girlfriend?"

I made a gagging sound and said, "Nope. Not my girlfriend, goodness, no. That's disgusting. Bella, that's my sister. She's… insane."

"That's Alice?" she asked, almost shocked. "She's… Wow. You don't look alike."

"I get that a lot." We stopped a few yards from the door, pretending to ignore Alice's sullen look at us. "She'll come out sooner or later."

She did. She came out with the… thing… no less than fifteen seconds after I predicted.

"You owe me big time, Edward. I told you to pick it up for me, and you didn't. I had to cancel an appointment with the record label because I had to pick this up. And… I need this dress tomorrow and imagine what would have happened if I hadn't come here to pick it up myself." She paused to take a deep breath then continued, "If I didn't wear this, I'm practically jeopardizing my career. Well, not really, but I would be risking my reputation when it comes to my style—"

"Alice!" I cut off. "This is Bella. Bella, this is Alice."

Alice shut her mouth and blushed. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't… notice. I am so sorry, Bella. I couldn't be more embarrassed. I'm Alice. Alice Masen."

"I'm Isabella Swan—you can call me Bella," Bella responded, holding her hand out, but Alice caught her in a bone-crushing hug. "Nice to meet you, too."

Alice let go and stood next to me and tilted her head and said, "We're going to be great friends. Although, I hope you don't kill Edward too much. He's a marshmallow."

Bella laughed and said, looking at me, "Don't worry, Alice. I have no intentions of killing him… yet."

Alice laughed awkwardly and patted in at the small of my back. "Well, I guess I better get going. I think I can still catch that meeting with the record—no thanks to you, Edward." She turned to Bella and smiled warmly. "It's really nice to finally meet you, Bella. I've been itching to harangue Edward into introducing us already. But I have to get going. I'll see you guys around."

"Yeah, Al. Go away," I said harshly. She laughed, annoyed, and stuck her tongue out at me. "Sorry 'bout not picking that up, too. I seriously owe you one."

She walked away and turned on her heel afterward. "You owe me a lot. By now, you owe me your life," she said, winking at me.

Once she was out of earshot, I said, "Sorry about that. Alice is… chirpy and… everything I'm not. She's a pixie, I swear."

Bella laughed and shook her head. "No, no, she's great. Where have you been hiding her?" I laughed and shrugged. "And you're more alike than you think. You're both naturally and effortlessly funny in your own way. You're both on each other's necks and you couldn't let go of each other. You guys are heartbreaking."

I rolled my eyes and started walking aimlessly again. "It's a bond you can only have once you've lived with someone until you're eighteen. And, just a fact, Alice talked me into method acting."

"I never understood method acting. Enlighten me," Bella said, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"I don't either. She explained it to me once before—before one of my movies. I tried it out and I messed up. It was one of the worst movies I have ever done, if not the worst." I paused then resumed, "It's when you act like your character while the cameras aren't filming. Say your character is British and you're American. For the rest of the time, even if you're not filming, you're sporting a British accent. So that when the cameras are rolling, it would feel more real, natural."

Bella jutted her lower lip and quirked her eyebrow at me. "You're not doing a very good job with method acting if that's the case, Masen."

I gaped at her and said, "Tom Quicksilver is supposed to be awkward. So I am, too."

Bella stuck her tongue out. "You've always been awkward. Like when you auditioned… The contributing factor about you was that you're innately awkward. You don't even try; you just are."

"Wow, that makes me feel so much better," I said sarcastically. "Do you… want to go back, or do you still want that dinner out?"

Bella shrugged and said, "I'm fine with your home-cooked dinner."

"Since when was takeout home-cooked?" she said, laughing as we watched TV.

"Since we ordered it and we ate it here," I said. "Well, that doesn't really make sense but—okay, fine. Do you want me to cook?"

She doubled over and cupped her hand over her mouth. "No! We already ate."

I stared at her, fascinated by now much I was comfortable with her. Whenever I was around a girl that I liked, I usually geek out and end up saying something embarrassing about myself that she didn't necessarily have to know. But with Bella, it's just so much easier. We don't even try to get along. We just do. Like how she said I was awkward.

She noticed my gaze and closed her mouth, and then sat up properly. "So…" she said, still giggling in between. "No progress today."

"Hey! I'm insulted. We read more than twenty scenes today and you call that no progress?"

Bella rolled her eyes and said, "The movie has about a hundred ten scenes. Having read twenty scenes in…" She looked at her watch as I looked at mine: eight-thirty. "…nine hours isn't what you would call progress."

I shrugged. "Well, we do have two more months of pre-production," I said. "So are you planning to stay over?" She looked at me questioningly. "I just thought it would be convenient. You're not going back home and look for my house again, are you? And you had said that you couldn't stay over because of Jacob. Last time I checked, there's something up with him. And I don't really thing you'll be going home to him..." I looked down and swallowed.

She looked at me for a long moment. For a second, I felt like she saw through me. I felt like she suddenly knew that I was impossibly infatuated with her, and fascinated, too. She just looked as I wondered what she found.

"Okay."

A/N:

2,661 words. Whoa. I think that's the longest. Sorry. I had fun with it. What do you think? Review!

I don't know what to do next. Le sigh. Any suggestions?

Thank you so much for those who are still checking this out. And even more thanks to those who review. Your reviews are everything to me. Even if it's the same people. It still means a lot to me. Goodnesssss, I only have 5 reviews. :| REVIEW!

Again, I have to remind those who might have forgotten. I won't be here from March 31 to May 1. I'll be all over the place. And during that one month (Whoa, that's four chapters already), I won't get to update nor write. So the next update after that would probably be mid-May.

Please stay with me. :( And review!

I want to make an icon for the story but I don't know how. Anybody do? I mean I can screen cap and edit with text but I don't know how to bedazzle it. Well, I'll find a way.

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~ The Age of Detour