A/N: I apologize in advance if any of this doesn't make sense, it was written at 3am and I am too tired to read it over.
"Victoria!" a thousand reporters screamed as soon as they stepped out of the limo and onto the red carpet.
She waved to the crowd and walked towards her friend, Mason Jergen. He hosted a show on MTV and was standing on the red carpet with a TV camera.
"Victoria, hi," he grinned, giving her a hug. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"Who are you wearing?" he asked, tilting the microphone towards her.
"Vera Wang," she replied. "She is my fashion soul mate."
"And you're here with Shane Gray," Mason noted. "You guys have a new movie coming out soon, tell us about it."
"Yep, it comes out in about a month and a half, and we're both really excited," she told him. "It's called The Popular Girl, it's just a fun romantic comedy, so…check it out!"
"Now, you've been nominated for Best Actress for your roll in As You Like It. Are you nervous?"
"Ya know, I'm just really honored to have even have been nominated. I worked really hard on the film, but now it's out of my hands, so whatever happens, happens," she explained, avoiding the actual question. "I think everyone who was nominated deserves to win."
"Thanks for talking to us, and good luck," he told her.
"Thank you," she replied.
They walked further down the red carpet, waving to the fans that had lined up along the velvet ropes.
"I wish they'd just do one interview and give it to all of the reporters," she whispered to Shane. "It's the same questions a hundred times."
"It's the price you pay for the 10 thousand dollar goody bags," he joked.
"I do like those," she laughed. "Have you seen her?"
"Who?"
"The girl," she said, as though he should have known who she was talking about.
I'm looking at her right now. "Yes."
He saw Victoria survey the room, trying to decide which one of them it could be. "Shit."
"What's wrong?"
She sighed and lowered her voice. "Pierce Mathers is here…he asks me out every single time he sees me. If he comes over here, he's going to spend the whole night trying to pick me up."
Shane's blood nearly boiled at the thought. "So…do you want hide, or something?"
She thought for a moment. "Pretend you're my boyfriend."
"What?"
"Pretend you're my boyfriend," she repeated. "He won't bother me if he doesn't think he has a chance."
"Okay…" he agreed, his mind going into panic mode. If I can be a good fake boyfriend, maybe she'll want me to be her real boyfriend. "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know, put your arm around me or something. Boyfriend stuff," she shrugged.
He snaked his arm around her waist, and it instantly felt natural. This is how it should be, he wanted to tell her.
They traveled down the long red carpet, and as she predicted, every interview consisted of almost the exact same questions. Once they finally got to take a seat in the large theatre, they still had to wait through almost the entire ceremony to get to the reason they were even there; the Best Actress award was announced second to last, followed only by Best Movie.
"I'm nervous," Victoria whispered to him as the winner for Best Actor finished his acceptance speech.
"Don't be," he smiled, taking her hand. "Whatever happens, happens, remember?"
"I didn't really mean that," she smirked. "It's just not polite to say that I think I deserve it way more than the rest of them and I'll be pissed if whoever runs this crap didn't notice."
He laughed. "Relax."
"And the winner for Best Actress is…" the presenter started, taking his time opening the envelope. Victoria squeezed Shane's hand, trying not to look nervous in case the TV cameras focused on her. "For her role in As You Like It, Victoria St. Claire!"
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, shocked.
"Tori," Shane laughed when she didn't get up. "You heard him right. Get up there!"
"Oh my God," she smiled. She kissed him and then stood up, making her way to the stage.
He was sure that she gave a wonderful speech, but he didn't hear a word of it. She had kissed him. That beautiful girl standing on the stage had kissed him. And that hadn't just been a peck. In front of all these people and everyone watching on television, she had kissed him. She had to know that the paparazzi were going to have a field day with that, and they would assume they were a couple. But if she knew that, and she did it anyways, is that what she wanted? To be a couple? He hoped so, more than anything.
"Congratulations," Shane grinned when she returned to her seat with her award.
"Thank you," she replied, kissing him on the cheek.
"Which after party do you want to go to?" he whispered to her as they presented the award for Best Movie.
"Do you mind if we just got back to the hotel?" she asked. "I hate after parties. They always just turn into a huge drama fest."
He laughed. He hadn't want to go out, either; he had been watching every guy there eyeing her the whole time they had been there, and he didn't know if he could control his jealousy if one of them had a few drinks and decided to try anything. "Yeah, that's cool."
"We can have our own little after party."
Shane prayed to any god who would listen that her words meant what they thought he meant. He put his arm around her waist as they exited the theatre, hurrying to the limousine. Amongst all of the other limos leaving the area, it seemed to take forever to get back to the hotel.
When they finally made it back, he ushered her into his room. Victoria excused herself to the bathroom, and he headed for the phone, pressing the button for room service.
"Yeah, hi, this is Shane Gray…can I get some champagne in room 610?" he asked.
"Yes, of course Mr. Gray, right away," the woman told him. He was glad she had recognized his name so he knew it would be sent up right away.
He was right; about a minute later, there was a knock on the door. He tipped the man and rolled the champagne cart into the room, pouring two glasses. He took his suit jacket off and hung it up in the closet.
"Can you unzip me?" Victoria asked as she walked over towards him. "I don't want to get anything on my dress."
"Do you want to go get something to change into first?"
"No," she replied innocently.
Shane's whole body tensed. He unzipped the back of her dress, trying to stop his hands from shaking. She stepped out of the dress and hung it up, standing in her bra and panties again. He couldn't help but check her out while her back was turned.
"Do you…um…want something to wear?" he asked nervously.
"Yes…" she gave him a sexy smile and stood close to him.
Victoria unbuttoned his vest and slid it off of his shoulders onto the floor, and loosed his tie. She slowly unbuttoned his shirt; he held his breath, his senses heightened. She pulled his shirt off of his arms and pulled it on her own body, leaving it unbuttoned. She picked up the champagne glasses from the cart and handed him one.
"To you," he smiled. "You kicked ass tonight."
"I did, didn't I?" she laughed, clinking her glass against his.
Shane sat down on the end of the bed and drank his champagne, trying not to look as anxious as he felt. They hadn't slept together since the press tour, but it certainly seemed like it was going to happen tonight. Of course, she had been teasing him for past three weeks, so maybe that was all she was doing. He wished he had any idea of what was going on in her mind.
Victoria smiled down at him and took the empty glass from his hand, setting it down on the cart along with hers. She stood in front of him and linked her hands behind his neck. He looked up at her, terrified of making the wrong move. He rested his hands on her hips, her skin hot against his.
She set her knees on the bed, straddling him. I knew it, he thought as she pressed her lips against hers. I knew she wanted to be with me. Shane wrapped his arms tightly around her; words could not express how he felt knowing he would get to wake up next to her tomorrow…his girlfriend.
