7 – Just Acting - "Why do I keep running from the truth? All I ever think about is you. You've got me hypnotized, so mesmerized…" – David Archuleta (Crush)

"Kathryn, is this really such a good idea?" Dianna whispered with an uncertain look upon her face. "She seems like a pretty nice girl…"

"Sh!" Kathryn shooed away the bleach blonde girl with her hand, peering down the hallway to make sure they were alone. She turned back to her friends. "This situation is bad on so many different levels. This girl should not have a spot on this show!"

"Kat's right," Blakely nodded. "Kendall was wrong for this."

Dianna's eyes darted back and forth between her castmates as they tiptoed down the hallway towards Kendall's dressing room; she didn't like this. She watched Kathryn press her ear against the man's door, a smirk creeping to her face. "Yep," she said, immediately walking back the way they came from.

Dianna spun around, running after her. "Shouldn't you at least look inside?!"

"No. The quicker I go get a producer, the better."

Dianna slowed to a walk, shaking her head. She didn't want to be a part of this. The other girls didn't even notice she wasn't keeping pace with them anymore, and kept going. Dianna sighed and headed in the other direction to the dressing room she shared with Blakely. She didn't want her name mixed in this drama.


"Sir!" Kathryn poked her head through the crack in the director, Scott's office door.

The man struggled to respond through a mouth full of food. "Kathryn! What's up?"

She stepped inside, Blakely in close quarters. "Listen, Scott." She took a seat in front of his desk. "You guys are all about keeping the peace and following the rules on set, which is amazing. And I'm all about helping out with that, okay?"

"What are you getting at, Kathryn?"

"I think you should go take a peek inside Kendall's dressing room."

Scott sighed, setting his sandwich down and pushing himself up from his seat. He knew what the girl was implying, and he hoped more than anything she was wrong. Scott didn't agree with the no dating rule, and he was not in the mood to have to fire someone today, or, ever. He was a friendly guy, and loved all of the youngsters he had cast for his show. And even though some crew members were suspicious of Kendall and Jade, Scott gave them the benefit of the doubt considering Kendall's past relationships. If Kendall was friends with a girl, it usually meant he had not or would not sleep with her.

The director dreaded the actions he potentially would have to take. He didn't see why Kathryn would lead him there under false pretenses, which is the only reason he didn't question her. He sighed right before he opened Kendall's dressing room door and peered inside, only to sigh again, filled with relief.

The sight in front of him was nothing to question. He heard Radiohead playing softly, and looked over to see Kendall's ancient CD player going. Kendall was lying on his side on his couch, fast asleep, and Jade was curled up, wrapped in a hoodie too big for her on the LA-Z Boy chair, also fast asleep. That's when Scott realized how cold it was in the room. He slipped back out and turned on Kathryn, frustrated. "What did you lead me down here for? To point out that Kendall's air conditioner needs to be fixed? Well thank you, Kathryn. Maybe I can get someone down here to fix it before they catch a cold in there." He walked off, shaking his head. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my lunch."

Kathryn stood frozen, shock obvious on her face. Blakely took a look inside Kendall's room. "Yeah, Kat. You probably shoulda listened to Dianna and looked before you went and got him… oh, and it is freezing in there!"

Kathryn snapped out of her frozen state and lightly pushed Blakely away, seeing for herself. She frowned, seeing the two not even facing each other as they slept. Although Jade was wrapped in Kendall's hoodie… but the room felt like it was twenty degrees, so that wasn't good proof. Kathryn sighed, closing the door quietly behind her. She wouldn't have this.


Jade only had two more takes after lunch before she was free to go home for the night, and then the next morning, she only had to come in at ten for one scene. She couldn't have been happier about how that worked out, because it meant she got to catch up on her sleep after that random late night with Kendall.

She ended up staying on set until close to 4:00PM though, just hanging out with the guys when they were free from filming. She didn't mind today as much as she had the day before. But she figured that had to do with hardly seeing Kathryn and the other girls at all.

But her day took a turn for the worst when she decided she was going to drop off her script in her dressing room, instead of taking it home with her so she wouldn't forget it the next day. She made a move to turn the doorknob to her dressing room when she heard talking. She recognized the voice as Kathryn immediately. Then she heard what the girl was saying.

"It just pisses me off that Jade actually got a spot on the show. I mean, seriously! One of Kendall's whores a spot? Since when does he want to be around one for more than three days tops?! It's sickening that he's bringing his disgusting way of life to his work. Seriously. He can't leave the trash at home?"

Jade had heard enough. She didn't realize her script was crumpled under her grip or that tears were burning at the back of her eyes. She didn't care. She just turned on her heels and did all she could not to take off running for her car. One of Kendall's whores? One of them? Jade didn't know what to make of those words. She didn't know who to be upset with at the moment, and she didn't want to cry. Crying would be stupid. But she couldn't help it. The tears came uncontrollably, leaving her to wish that she at least wouldn't run into anyone on her way out.

Making it out of the building successfully, Jade made a beeline for her car, keeping her head down and walking as fast as she possibly could, trying not to attract attention as she wiped her eyes, trying to clear her vision. But it was inevitable. She had almost made it to her car; she was literally feet away when she bumped into James, whom she had parked next to. "Oh hey Jade!" he said cheerfully, but she didn't respond quickly enough, and he grabbed her shoulders, trying to see her face. "Jade, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, but she knew trying to keep everything from James would be pointless; he would just cause a scene if she fought him. So she spilled what she heard Kathryn say to him, getting upset all over again and causing more tears to form and fall.

Anger settled on James' face quickly. His expression was set and hard. "Jade. Go home. Get some sleep or something, okay? But do me a favor and don't worry about this. You have nothing to worry about. Nothing, okay? I'll take care of Kathryn, and you don't need to worry about what she said about Kendall."

With that and a quick pat to the shoulder, he stalked off. Even his walk looked angry. But Jade took his advice and went home to take a nap. Of course she had to explain to Leslie why she was upset, then had to sit and listen to her go off on a tangent about how much of a bitch Kathryn must be, but soon enough, she was in her comfortable bed, and drifting off to sleep.

Four hours later, Jade was up, had showered, eaten, and decided she would go talk to Kendall. About what, she wasn't sure. She figured she would tell him about Kathryn and just go from there.

Hoping the fresh air would clear her mind a bit, she settled to walk to his house again. The stroll seemed to take less time than before, and she earnestly knocked on the front door, desperate to see Kendall. But to her disappointment, Dustin answered. "Hey Jade! Come on in."

"Hey. Is Kendall, uh, around?" Jade stepped in awkwardly.

"'Fraid not," Dustin shrugged empathetically. "I'm making hot cocoa right now though and you're welcome to join me!"

Jade smiled. "Sure, sounds great."

She followed him into the kitchen and took a seat at the bar, watching him concoct more hot chocolate, very much like Kendall would make coffee. "Yeah," Dustin said. "Kendall's staying at Logan's tonight. All of the guys are."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah, they do that every now and then. Have little group get-togethers. They usually work on songs or something. Even though they keep trying and no one's taking them seriously," he explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Well they keep getting together and working on songs for possible use on the show…" Dustin shrugged. "And the producers pretty much shoot 'em down every time."

"That's horrible!" Jade exclaimed.

"I know. But they keep trying, which is all that matters in the end, I guess."

Jade sighed. "Of course."

They sat in silence for a while as Dustin finished preparing their hot beverages, and finally, he set a mug in front of Jade and sat next to her, hesitating to speak. "Look," he said. "You really need to talk to Kendall about what you heard Kathryn say today, but I do have something I want to say."

Jade nearly choked on her first sip of cocoa. "Kendall already knows about it?"

"Well yeah." Dustin sighed. "Kathryn doesn't have any right to actually judge you. She doesn't even know you; she started making assumptions before you met. So please, please try not to let her bother you. From what I heard, she got a pretty colorful earful from James earlier, and you probably won't have to worry about her acting shitty towards you anymore." He sipped on his drink. "As for Kendall… I can't really say much, but he really cares about you, Jade. And what you heard Kathryn say, and what you might hear tomorrow, about Kendall's lifestyle choices, I don't want that to change how you see him. Because everything you've seen since you met him is real." He wanted her to know he wasn't lying to her. He stared into her eyes and added, "I promise it's all been real."


"Early day. Early day…" Jade mumbled to herself as she rummaged through her kitchen in a half-asleep daze, in search of coffee. She managed to get a brew going, and was on her way back to her room when she heard a car honk outside. She ignored it.

Her feet dragged under her as she trudged towards her closet, considering showing up to set in sweats; it's not like they weren't going to dress her themselves once she was there. That was enough to convince herself. She grabbed some sweatpant-capris from a drawer and a clean t-shirt, and was in the middle of sleepily brushing her hair when there was a knock at the front door. She groaned, not wanting to move any more than she had to, and went to answer the door.

"Someone's not much of a morning person!"

"Carlos," Jade groaned again. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I thought I'd take you out for coffee or something!"

"I'm already making coffee." She sighed. "But you're welcome to come in and have some."

"Thanks!" The man smiled brightly and walked in past her, trotting towards the kitchen a little too energetically for Jade's mood.

"Carlos, how do you have so much energy?" Jade droned, slowly attempting to take the coffee pot from the maker.

He laughed. "It's a rare thing, trust me." He took the pot from her hand and poured the hot liquid into her mug, putting it back on the maker without filling up the second mug for him.

"You don't want any?" she questioned, pulling the sugar and creamer towards herself.

"Nah. Not a big fan of coffee!" Carlos took a seat at the small table in the room.

"Then why did you drive all the way out here to take me to get some?!" Jade plopped down across from him.

"I was going to drive you to set too!" he responded defensively.

She sighed. "Is this about the crap that happened with Kathryn yesterday? What, do I need an escort now?"

"No, it's not like that, Jade." He sighed too. "It's just a complicated situation right now, and I thought you could use a friend." Suddenly his whole posture changed as he became angry. "But I get it, I'm not Kendall. Well he's busy right now, but whatever, I'll just let myself out." He turned to storm off.

"Carlos, wait!" She grabbed his arm, whipping him back around to face her. "What the hell?" Her voice squeaked with heightened emotion. She didn't understand where the Latino's full-fledged anger had come from. She felt like she had been slapped; tears were already flooding the brims of her eyes. "I don't only care about Kendall," she whispered. "Is that how I come off?"

"S-" Carlos stopped himself. He was about to say sometimes, but deep down he knew that wasn't true. He didn't even know why he snapped like he did. He'd been doing his best to be okay with the idea of Kendall and Jade, but he felt like he'd held so much hostility towards Kendall for so long that he just couldn't shake the feeling sometimes. He sighed. He'd actually admired how upset Kendall got when James had filled them in on what happened with Kathryn. Kendall was a passionate guy, but Carlos had never seen him like that. So angry at Kathryn, but incredibly upset at the same time worrying about Jade.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Carlos mumbled. And to his own horror, saw the tears in her eyes. "Oh, come here, sweetie. I'm so sorry!" He pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her torso tightly, squeezing her. Though he did wish he was a bit taller, so this seemed more of a manly comfort thing, but Jade was close to Kendall's height.

"I've technically known you longer than I have anyone else," she murmured sadly into his ear, her arms holding his neck. "That means I care about you more," she added half-jokingly.

He chuckled softly. "Don't let Kendall know that."

Jade pretended she didn't hear that comment. "I wasn't trying to put you down for wanting to escort me to work." She sighed, pulling away from him and getting a good look at his face. "I just feel like I don't even know what's going on, or what to do about all of this. I don't know what to do." She shook her head. "Talking to Dustin helped a little last night, but he thinks I should talk to Kendall about what I heard Kathryn say, but…"

"But if you talk to him about it, it shows it upset you, which ultimately, would show him you care for him. I get it." Carlos smiled briefly. "Let's finish making you some coffee, and we'll sit so I can fill you in on some stuff."

The man proceeded to tell her that things were going to be tense on set, but okay, and that it'd be best if the situation wasn't talked about at all. They didn't want the producers to know there was drama between cast members. He also told her that after James left her in the parking lot, he marched right over to Jade's dressing room and, for lack of a better term, went off on Kathryn. Which led to James calling a band meeting at his apartment, to fill the guys in. Carlos, trying to explain it without just flat out telling Jade how ridiculously in love Kendall was with her, let her know that Kendall did take it the hardest, since he was closest to Jade and Kathryn's rant was about him too.

Then it came to telling her that the reason Kendall wasn't the one to come visit her this morning because he wanted to "chat" with Kathryn before Jade got there, so ultimately, Carlos was stalling. The guys didn't want Jade walking in on that conversation and hearing something she didn't need to hear just yet. Carlos did leave out however, that Kendall was ready to beat the living shit out of Kathryn, and it took over an hour to talk him down from it because she was a girl, and there was just no reason to hit a girl, ever. The only way the guys would let Kendall go to set early and talk to the girl, was if he promised to keep calm, keep it civil.

But once Carlos was finished with his spiel, Jade wanted to be taken to work. She told Carlos she didn't care if Kendall was still talking to Kathryn; she promised she just wanted to go sit in Kendall's dressing room and wait for him, which is exactly what she did. Because Carlos was sort of right, in a sense that she really did want to see Kendall.

Carlos walked her to Kendall's dressing room, offering to sit with her until Kendall came back, but she declined the offer, wanting a moment to herself. She just sat timidly on the edge of the messy coffee table and checked the time on her phone: 6:30AM. She sighed. There was a little over an hour left before the long day of filming was scheduled to begin, so she had about 45 minutes before she'd be needed at makeup.

She found herself picking at the material of her sweatpants nervously, and realized she was paranoid. It had been quiet when she and Carlos passed her dressing room. She'd half-expected yelling, but she heard nothing. And she knew she'd seen too many movies and read too many books when the worst possibility popped into her head and she saw Kendall and Kathryn realizing some sort of sexual tension between them, and suddenly acting on it in a rage. And Jade either should've walked in on it, or would find out about it later through someone else, but either way, be heartbroken.

Jade laughed at herself, running a shaky hand through her hair, feeling anger coursing within her at the thoughts. Jealousy. She covered her face with her hands, leaning forward onto her lap. Deep breaths. She was just being ridiculous. What Kathryn had said about Kendall was obviously going to her head.

"Jade?"

She jerked upwards, sitting straight again and uncovering her red face. "Kendall." She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"…Are you okay?" he murmured uncertainly, barely even audible. She felt like that question applied to about ten different things at the moment.

She stood up, taking a step towards him. He was being timid with her; he didn't even know what she would think of him anymore. But she just didn't care for now. She wanted him to hold her, to feel his arms supporting her. But she didn't know how to tell him that. She couldn't. She wanted him to just understand that she didn't even know what she was feeling. She just wanted some kind of relief.

Her breaths came short and sobs were building, but she wouldn't cry. Not anymore.

Jade was standing in front of him now, gazing at him so uncertainly, but then she threw her arms around his neck as if he were trying to leave. At first he didn't respond; he was frozen. He hadn't expected this kind of greeting. Slowly, he slid his arms around her waist, finally giving in as he kissed the side of her head comfortingly and clenched his fists against her back as he held her close. "I'm sorry," he mumbled anxiously into her hair.

She didn't know exactly what he was apologizing for. Just in general because of Kathryn, or because of this "lifestyle" that she apparently knew nothing about? "Y-you don't have a reason to be sorry…" she stammered. Does he?

He suddenly gently had a grip on her arms and was pulling her towards the couch. "Come sit with me," he softly pleaded, sinking into his couch and dragging her with him.

She moved to sit next to him, but he had a firm grip on her now and directed her towards his lap. She was taken aback, unsure of how she was supposed to react to that. They'd held hands, kissed each other's faces, flirted, but this… this was new territory. "K-Kendall…" she muttered. They looked at each other, faces closer than either had expected, just few inches between lips. She was so tempted to just do it. To just kiss him. It was the perfect opportunity. She felt him move closer, hands snaking to her waist. His breath tickled her lips, green and yellow-specked eyes boring into hers, gauging her reactions, her movements…

And then she chickened out.

She jerked her head away to look at the door suddenly, swallowing and trying not to pass out. "K-Kendall, what if- what if someone comes in and sees us sitting like this...? They'll think…"

Kendall groaned, letting his head hit the cushion behind him. "I don't care what they think. They can make fucking assumptions, and think whatever the fuck they want. We're two close friends in need of a little comfort and quiet, and frankly, you being right here like this is the only thing in this world right now that could comfort me."

Jade blinked a few times, uncertain as to whether he just called them friends, or confessed fondness towards her. But she just sighed and readjusted herself on his lap so she could curl up and rest her head on his shoulder, placing a hand near the side of his neck, rubbing his skin there soothingly with her thumb. "If you don't care, then I don't care."

Exhaling a deep breath, Kendall let his eyelids slide shut as he doodled soft circles onto Jade's waist with his finger. "Thank you," he whispered. He was glad she stayed with him, curled up on his lap and wrapped in his arms. But he couldn't help but be upset by that almost kiss. He knew he didn't imagine that moment. She had wanted that as much as he did.

But they couldn't be together.


Production for the day was scheduled to run from 7:30AM to late in the night, or as soon as they finished the second episode. The whole cast thought the crew was insane for wanting to film a whole episode in a day, but they were promised that if they could complete the first three episodes by Friday, they would have a promo day at the studio on Saturday, and then have six days off.

But the day managed to go off without a hitch, Jade even receiving an incredibly sincere apology in the privacy of their dressing room during lunch from Kathryn, who felt the need to eat in there since she wasn't at the top of a lot of people's favorite person list at the moment. Jade, however, was having lunch with James and Logan, hoping to get information out of them.

Jade made it to Logan's dressing room five minutes after their scheduled "date" after having to thoroughly convince Kathryn she was forgiven for everything she said. "You're late, woman!" Logan exclaimed when she walked in.

"Yeah, sorry. Kathryn wouldn't believe that she was forgiven, so, that took a while." Jade plopped down on the floor next to the coffee table and reached across it to grab a slice of pizza.

"So how'd that go?" James asked, his mouth full of cheese and pepperoni.

Jade shrugged. "Fine, I guess. She seemed really sorry, so."

"She's usually not like that," James responded, finally swallowing his food. "I don't know what was stuck up her ass yesterday-"

"Yes you do." Jade just stared at James, setting her barely eaten pizza down. She averted her glare to Logan. "I'm the one who doesn't know what was stuck up her ass, and you know I can't talk to Kendall about it."

"Why is that again?" Logan looked at her stupidly.

"If I ask him, and it's bad, I'll end up getting upset in front of him which will basically give away whatever these feelings are that I have for him!"

Logan kept on with the same expression. "And why is that a bad thing?"

Jade sighed. "We can't date, and you know, who knows if he even likes me-" the guys both groaned. "Like that." She was trying to forget that almost-kiss from the morning earlier. She was sure she'd imagined the tension and spark…

"Jade, we don't feel right telling you…" James watched her uneasily as she groaned and lay back on the floor.

"You do realize that I can go up to anyone that's known him longer than I have and ask, and they'd probably tell me?" Jade looked pointedly at Logan, knowing him and his big mouth would be the first to spill. "Please don't make me resort to that."

Logan caved. "Alright woman, but you didn't hear from me. You heard from some random crew member or some shit like that. Got it?"

Jade sat up, clasping her hands together anxiously. "Got it!"

"Stop acting so fuckin' excited," Logan rolled his eyes. "I know you're not gonna like it." Jade's heart sank.

"If you're really going to spill this to her," James cut in. "I'd better do it. You have no regard for human emotion." He gave his friend a distasteful glare, before returning his eyes nervously to Jade. "I guess you could say Kendall's never exactly been in a real relationship."

"Well neither have I!" If that's the news, then phew!

"No, no," James looked down. "You've never had a boyfriend because it just hasn't happened for you," he grimaced at his own word choice. "Sorry," he mumbled. She just shrugged uncomfortably. "Kendall's never had a girlfriend because, well, because he never wanted one."

Jade furrowed her eyebrows, not exactly following what her friend was saying.

Logan let out a frustrated sigh, obviously annoyed both that James wasn't just getting to the point, and that Jade wasn't catching on. "He's a one-night stand kinda guy. The longest he's kept a girl around is, I don't know, three days?" Logan shrugged. "He just fucks 'em and is done with 'em."

Jade's breath caught in her throat, and she seriously thought she was choking for a moment before James slapped the back of Logan's head harder than she'd ever seen someone get slapped, and nearly screamed at the raven-haired man, "Damn it, Logan! That's exactly why you needed to keep your fucking mouth shut!" Not missing a beat, James was on the floor next to Jade, taking her hands in his and trying to get her to look at him. "Jade, Jade, was. Kendall was a one-night stand kind of guy. Was!" he emphasized over and over.

Jade couldn't find her voice, so she just shook her head, looking at James with wide eyes. James panicked, trying to conjure up the right words to say. He and the guys had been doing everything they could to not ever straight up tell Jade how Kendall feels about her; it wouldn't be fair to Kendall. But James was stumped on how to prove to this girl that Kendall had changed without just telling her why he had changed. He chose his next words carefully, speaking slowly as to not say the wrong thing. "Kendall hasn't slept with a girl in over two months…"

Logan literally could not control his mouth. "Which is a fuckin' record-"

"Stop. Talking," James hissed, wishing he had something heavy to chunk at Logan's head. Then he sighed. "Unfortunately, Mr. No-Filter over here is right. It sort of is a record, Jade."

"I just-" Jade felt like she was going to throw up. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to take this information," she whispered, releasing one of James' hands and pressing her fingers to her lips anxiously, shaking her head. She'd promised herself just this morning that she wouldn't cry anymore. This was not helping.

"Jade, see, that's exactly all this is." James got a good grip on her hands again, squeezing them reassuringly. He'd found his footing with this thoughts again. "It's just information. It's his past."

"It's just hard to picture him being that kind of guy, I guess." She was still whispering, unable to make herself do anything else.

"He's still the same Kendall you've grown to know and love, I swear. I know it's weird, I know it's hard, but you can't let it change how you see him." Jade was wide-eyed again, staring at him, panic and confusion written all over her face. "You just can't, Jade."

After that, Jade thought the day would never end. She hated putting on this façade for people; pretending that she was okay. She thought she was doing a fairly decent job though at hiding her true emotions from everyone around her, though Kendall seemed to see right through her. He didn't say anything, but she'd catch him watching her curiously, as if he was trying to figure out what was going on.

Finally at 9:00PM, the work day was done, and the set was shut down. Episode two was complete. Scott let the cast know that filming didn't begin until noon the next day for episode three, and would be done at six. Jade bolted for her dressing room as soon as they were free to leave, hoping to avoid Kendall, and everyone else for that matter. She just wanted to sleep on it. But when she got to her room, Kathryn was already in there. "You were so good today, Jade!" she complimented. Jade couldn't tell if she was being sincere, or just sucking up.

"Thanks, you were great, too," Jade responded as enthusiastically as she could muster, and it didn't sound convincing. She felt extra sludgy due to her literally eating two bites of pizza for lunch, losing her appetite after her discussion with James and Logan.

Almost as if Kathryn could read her mind, she said, "Logan had some pizza delivered for you not too long ago. It's on your vanity." She motioned towards their personal makeup area. "He dropped by for like, point two seconds to tell me it was coming, and to get me to leave a note with it for him. He said you didn't really eat lunch, and he felt really bad."

Jade raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow…"

"And I swear I didn't read the note," Kathryn smiled shyly. She hesitated before her next words. "They all seem to really like you and care about you. I'm sorry I was so quick to judge."

Jade smiled. "Would you stop apologizing? I told you I forgave you." She laughed a bit.

"Thanks." With that, Kathryn bid farewell, and left Jade alone.

Jade curiously picked up the note taped to the pizza box left on her vanity. Unfolding it revealed Logan's surprisingly neat handwriting. 'Hope this makes up for the lunch you didn't really get to have today. And I'm sorry for being such an insensitive asshole. Forgive me? (: -Logan' Jade smiled. That was sweet. She whipped out her phone to send him a quick thank you, and gathered her things rather frantically as she remembered she had been trying to escape before she went in there.

She was halfway to her car with her purse and pizza when she heard footsteps running towards her from behind, trying to catch up. "Jade!" he exclaimed.

She squeezed her eyes shut. So close. "Hey… Kendall!"

He was next to her now, smiling down at her with his flawless lips, and teeth, and dimples. "Ya wanna come over and watch a movie or something?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. She knew James was right; this was the same old Kendall she'd met a few months ago. She hated to turn him down, but she really needed time to herself to just think about everything. "I-…I'd better not," she replied sadly. "I haven't eaten all day." She held up the full pizza box. "And I think I'm just gonna hit the sack as soon as I devour this." Kendall frowned, looking genuinely sad that she didn't want to join him. "Raincheck?" she suggested, hoping it would make him feel better.

He smiled softly. "Sure." He placed a quick kiss to her cheek, dangerously close to the corner of her mouth. "Well I'll, uh, see ya tomorrow…" He awkwardly stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets and walked away to his car.

Jade considered just falling out right there and letting the universe have its way with her. She could not seem to handle being around Kendall anymore; it was killing her holding in all these feelings, not acting on them.

It wasn't until the next day, when they began working on episode three that Jade remembered something important, something that was going to send her body and mind into overdrive, no doubt.

On Friday she'd have to kiss Kendall.

When Jade arrived wide awake and nervous on set Friday afternoon, it was all she could think about. She only had two scenes left to film; one girls scene, and the kissing scene with Kendall.

The girls scene blew by with ease, not taking long at all. But to Jade's utter horror, the kissing scene was staring her in the face, and all she knew was she was not ready for it. If she could have been kissing anyone else in the cast, anyone, she'd be okay. But it was Kendall, and just thinking about it made her heart want to explode. What was this going to do to her? Would it help subside her feelings some? Or will it just make him that much more irresistible?

Their characters were to hold a lengthy, fairly tense conversation before they got to the sucking face part, and filming that took a while in itself, because the conversation lasted a little over five minutes, and they got at least five angles.

And then it was time for the part that neither knew whether they were dreading, or looking forward to.

Jade was instructed to, basically, rush him and kiss him, then say "See you later" as seductively as you can on a children's show, wink, and walk off camera.

The two had to jump right into the shot, cutting right to the action. Jade's stomach turned somersaults as she practically lunged at him, and he ended up meeting her halfway as they both leaned in for the kill, lips meeting for only one, maybe two seconds. That wasn't so bad. It was like she hadn't even felt his lips or anything. "See ya later." Jade winked, but was stopped before she could walk out of the frame.

"You call that a kiss?" Scott scolded. "No, I don't want a peck. Kiss each other like you mean it. Jade, grab the back of his head mid-kiss, we'll tell you when to break it, and when you do, pull away just enough to smile and say "See you later", peck his lips again, smile again, then let go of him and waltz away like you own the place, while Kendall is frozen in place pretty much looking like an idiot. Got it?"

"Got it, Scott." She nodded, taking a discreet deep breath. I can do this. It's just acting.

"And please have a little lip action of sorts. I don't know why you two seem so dull today."

Jade felt her cheeks flush with heat, and looked over to see Kendall's face had turned red too. She mentally sighed. It's just acting. It's just acting. They were quickly called to action and before Jade even had a chance to process what was happening, her favorite arms were wrapped securely around her waist, and what would soon become her favorite lips were sucking longingly on her own, searching for some kind of dominance in the kiss. Jade knew in the back of her mind that she was supposed to grab the back of his head, but instinct had her caressing his face first, sliding her hand across his skin and hair before she actually did what they had asked of her. Jade's stomach erupted with butterflies; she had never felt this intensely about someone before, not even Chad.

It was time for her to break the kiss, and when she pulled back from him, she thought at first that Kendall wasn't even going to let her go. But reluctantly, he did, and she realized he was breathless. "See ya later," she murmured seductively, moving in for one more quick kiss, and gave him a cute wink, and walked off frame.

"Perfect!" Scott exclaimed. "That was absolutely perfect, kids. So believable! Good job!" Jade was just trying not to go weak in the knees, or puke. "Now let's roll it just like that at least twice more!"

Jade was proud of herself at the end of the day for making it through the kissing scene without fainting, but she felt scarred for life. It was already ridiculously hard for her to resist kissing him every other moment she was with him, but now she knew what it felt like, and she didn't know how she would ever escape that memory, that feeling.

To her slight disappointment, Kendall didn't come find her at the end of the day. He didn't text, didn't call. Eventually Jade had to remind herself that they weren't actually in a relationship and he wasn't required to talk to her; it was just their characters that were together, and kissing

But then the next day, at the promo photoshoot, Kendall hardly said a word to her. He interacted like nothing was wrong when they had to take lovey-dovey shots, holding each other, eskimo kissing, but once they were alone or waiting for a new shot, he was different.

And that's how the next week went, much to Jade's dismay. They had seven days off, for the most part. Jade still had to go to an acting coach, which she found rather insulting considering she had already filmed three episodes, but there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't like her coach though, and he didn't seem to care for her either. Their sessions were dull, and pointless.

But her classes were just in the morning, so she had pretty much whole days to do anything, and she saw Kendall a total of two times. He barely texted her anymore, and when she'd tried to suggest a movie night, because she wanted to "cash in" her raincheck, he said he had other plans. It wouldn't have been a big deal if he hadn't done it three times. She just missed him.

It was the cast's last day off, Saturday, and Jade had to be up early yet again to go see her acting coach at the practice studio. Jade always felt awkward in the practice room, because it was actually an old dance studio, with the wall-length mirrors, and ballet bars to match. She didn't understand the point of having training in there, but it's not like she controlled it.

She was surprised to find no one at the studio when she walked in. Her coach was always there early. Always. He made it a point to after Jade expressed how she hated showing up last anywhere. That was just one of the many reasons she disliked the man. She dropped her keys and wallet on the floor just inside the door and walked into the rather small room. She sighed, watching herself in the mirror before she just plopped down in the middle of the wood floor, tired and anxious.

Suddenly she heard the door open and she sighed. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "And here I thought you were always early just to spite me-" Jade stopped short. The man that had just walked in wasn't her asshole acting coach. "K-Kendall?"

He approached her almost nervously, dressed in sweats, Vans, and an Incubus t-shirt, and obviously had not brushed his hair yet, but he still looked incredible. He held out a hand for Jade to take and stand up. "I uh…" He licked his lips timidly, not able to resist staring at her mouth. "I'm your acting coach now…"

Jade groaned. "Did that dude seriously quit on me?!" She rolled her eyes. "Pussy."

Kendall chuckled, surprised by her word choice. "He just didn't know how to handle you," he murmured jokingly, his signature smirk settling on his face.

"Oh, and you do?" Jade challenged.

He grinned. "I'd like to think so."

Jade didn't know why she felt relieved when he said that.

Kendall started her off with simple vocal exercises, to help when it comes to breathing and projecting. Then they played a couple of games that would be used as icebreakers for big groups. And after a while, things began to feel normal again between the two. They were talking, laughing, and veering off topic quite a bit. Nothing seemed wrong anymore.

Once they were done with their games, Kendall wanted to try out an activity his brother had learned at some kind of convention or camp that's supposed to help acting partners. They were to sit on the floor with their backs together, and just start reciting lines. "I don't know," Kendall said before they started. "This is kind of a beginning exercise. The more effective one, which we'll do next time probably, we'd both wear a blindfold, and have to actually try and interact. It's kinda fun, not gonna lie."

After having their fun with the back-to-back activity, they decided to begin working on facial expressions, which seemed to be what Jade was struggling with the most.

"I don't know, Kendall," Jade sighed, frustrated with herself. "I just don't think I can make my face have such wild expressions like you all do. I'm better with serious roles."

"Okay, first, you've just got to relax." Kendall rested his long fingers on Jade's shoulders, moving close enough for her to feel his light breath on her face. "You're overthinking this, sweetheart. You're nervous, and have no reason to be." Pet names are back in check.

She took a deep breath. He was too close. "I have every reason to be nervous."

Kendall didn't take the hint that she wasn't talking about the show anymore. He shook his head, and murmured. "No you don't. Relax, and feel your character." He stared into her eyes and felt her shoulders fall as the tension left them. "Now try it again with your line." And though he said that, his voice was a whisper and his face was much closer than it had been a few seconds before.

His lips parted slightly, and he let out a slow, warm breath against hers. Jade's insides tingled with desire and the swarm of butterflies was back, intruding her stomach with their fluttering wings. And that was enough to make Jade close the distance between them and attach her mouth to his.

Kendall almost pushed her away in pure shock, but then realized what was happening, and quickly tried to take control, his fingers creeping to her neck and grabbing her waist. But as quickly as it had happened, it was over, and Jade was more flustered and jittery than he was. "I-I'm sorry," she muttered. "I was j-just… getting into character…" She was slowly backing away from him. "I should really-… just go."

She cleared her throat and rushed out of the room, leaving Kendall with only the word "Whoa" escaping his lips, otherwise rendered speechless.