Sorry for the delay with this one. For some reason, my muse likes to tell me to rewrite these chapters before I post them. But I promise, I won't let this one defeat me.
Killian pulled his car into the familiar spot that he had been using for almost the last decade, before killing the engine.
The summer had seemed to pass by so quickly, and many things in his life had changed during those few months. The start of a new filming season felt like it was bringing with it the start of this second chance life was giving to him. And he found himself excited to see where the rest of the year would take him.
Of course, it helped that in less than a week's time he'd be reuniting with Emma once more. Because Killian truly hoped that his best-friend would feature heavily in whatever the future would hold for him.
As he made his way through the familiar corridors and towards the conference room the network always allocated for table reads, Killian found himself calling out cheery greetings to every person he recognized.
Normally, the start of a new season was something he didn't like to celebrate. When Emma had left the show, she seemed to take that buzzing atmosphere with her, and while Killian had found his days enjoyable, they had become much more subdued than they were whenever she returned.
But for some reason that morning, he felt the familiar buzz of anticipation filling the corridors once more. It gave him the hope that he would be able to go back to enjoying his time on the show as much as he always had done, before everything in his life had changed so drastically.
When he pushed open the door to take his place at the head of the table, Killian was only mildly shocked to find the seat next to his already filled. He'd completely forgotten that Ashley had decided not to return for a second series with the network, until that moment. And in her place sat a brunette who looked to be roughly the same age as he was.
After exchanging brief greetings with the writers and directors, along with the supporting cast he knew well, Killian made his way around the table to his allotted seat. But he hesitated for a brief moment before he sat down.
"Hey. I'm Killian," he introduced himself softly. "Welcome to the wonderful world of procedurals."
"Oh, hey," she greeted, turning around to offer him her full attention. "Thanks. I'm starting to think I have no idea what I've truly let myself in for." The actress flicked through the small stack of scripts in front of her on the table to make her point, and Killian found himself chuckling as he reached for a bottle of water.
He could remember saying something very similar to Emma when she'd introduced herself to him, during their first table read together.
"You get used to it after a while," he told her, repeating back his best friend's words from all those years before. "It becomes sort of second nature after twelve-ish episodes."
"Thank you," she giggled. "I'm Belle, by the way. Belle French."
By some strange twist of fate, Emma's last day on set as Dream Girl happened to be the same day as Killian's first table read for the next season of his show.
Emma couldn't help but feel a little bittersweet as she stepped into that tight white leotard once more. She'd come to love her small role in the DC franchise far more than she ever thought she would, when she'd initially agreed to the part. And now that it was coming to a close, she was reluctant to say goodbye to her new superhero alter ego.
Thankfully, both the director and the studio had been making all the right noise about a possible Dream Girl spin-off, depending upon public reception, and Emma had certainly made her voice heard on the issue. If the people in charge decided that a spin-off was on the cards for the franchise, she would gladly step back into that leotard once more.
"Hey, Emma. I can't believe it's your last day today," Graham sighed, as she carefully made her way onto the set. "Do you think you'll be coming to the wrap party?"
"I uh…"
The truth was she hadn't much thought about the wrap party that would inevitably take place when filming was completed. Emma's mind had been focused on the upcoming negotiations she had with some of the biggest studios in the world.
"I don't think I'll be able to make it," she told him honestly. "I have some meetings in Los Angeles that I can't miss, and then we start work on my next acting project."
"That's a shame."
Emma could see the disappointment behind the guy's eyes. It wasn't just her attendance at the wrap party that he'd been hopeful for. She could tell that he had believed it to be his last chance to impress her, and she hated crushing that spark inside of him.
While Graham might not have been the man for her, he was a sweet guy, who deserved to find happiness in what could be a brutal industry.
"You know, I'm sure Ruby would love to go," she said instead, hoping that he would maybe take the hint and start to see what had been in front of his eyes the entire time he'd been on set. "Maybe you guys could go together?"
"Ruby?" Graham looked confused for a brief moment before a smile worked its way over his face, as he said, "Oh, you mean Red from wardrobe? You think she would?"
"Trust me," Emma chuckled. "I know she would."
When the director called cut for the final time that day, Emma wasn't sure if she wanted to cry from the relief of having finally nailed all of her scenes, or from the sadness she felt at the strong possibility that she might never step into the role of Dream Girl again.
She fixed a wide smile on her face as she embraced the people around her that had become friends over the past few weeks, before finally making her way back to her trailer. After all of the running she'd been asked to do in those thigh-high boots, she needed to sit down for at least an hour, before she attempted to remove the skin-tight costume she'd come to love.
When she finally had a bottle of Diet Cola in hand, Emma reached for her phone with the intention of calling Killian one last time, as one of his favourite superheroes.
But the notification at the top of her screen had her frowning in confusion.
She'd subscribed to her best friend's tweets years ago, and in that time, she could count the number of non-promotional messages he'd sent on her fingers. So the notification that he'd tweeted that afternoon surprised her.
Shaking off her confusion, Emma unlocked her phone and pulled up the message, to see what Killian had found the need to communicate to the world. But once again, she found herself frozen in surprise at what she saw on her screen.
With everything going on in their lives, Emma had completely forgotten that her friend would be in need of a new co-star for the next season, and she had certainly forgotten that Killian's first table read would be their first official meeting.
She didn't know anything about the Belle French that had been tagged in Killian's picture, but Emma knew that she already disliked the woman. The photo he had chosen to share of the two of them looked far too intimate for two people who had only just met each other.
"Ugh. You're being completely unreasonable," she told herself, as she closed out of the app to tap her phone against her knee. Emma had never felt that way about Milah while she'd been married to him.
So why was she suddenly feeling that way now?
Killian was an actor. It was his job to make his chemistry look natural and easy with people he'd only just met. Emma couldn't go around feeling jealous of every single woman he worked with.
She would drive herself mad that way.
She shook her head a little to try and push aside the feelings burning away at her insides, before she unlocked her phone once more, and opened the Facetime app. Her best friend answered the call almost immediately, and as soon as his beautiful face appeared on her screen, Emma found all of her problems melting away.
"Hey," he greeted. "How was your last day on set?"
"It was good. We got everything done on time, and without any problems. I'm just relaxing for a bit before I head home," she explained.
"Has anyone said anything more about a sequel?"
"Not since last time," she sighed. "But they're gonna wanna wait on public opinion before they do anything else."
"Your next role will probably help too. I mean, a Spielberg blockbuster's gonna put you on people's radars, Em. Combine that with a relatively unknown DC hero, who has a whole world of untold stories to explore, they'd be crazy not to spin her off a few times over."
"Thank you," she whispered softly, as she sank back into her seat. Even though Emma wasn't entirely sure it would ever happen, Killian's belief in her abilities made her hope that it would, just so that she could make him proud.
"Now, talk to me about your day," she prodded. "I completely forgot you were getting a new co-star. Tell me all about her. What's she like?"
"She's great," Killian gushed. "A little shy, but really down-to-earth and friendly. I think we'll get along well. She's a big fan of the show too, so that helps."
Emma couldn't help the spike of jealousy that ran through her at Killian's words, but she tried her hardest to stamp it back down. He deserved to find a co-star he clicked with, and enjoyed working with. Since she'd left the show, he'd had so many different women try and fill her place, and none of them had stuck around long enough to make things work.
If Emma knew her friend as well as she thought she did, she knew that he would probably be blaming himself for that.
"That's excellent news, Killian. I really hope that you guys continue getting on so well. You deserve a good friend on that set once more."
"Does that mean you're coming back?" he teased with a cheeky wink, and Emma couldn't help but giggle at it.
"They did ask me back for the two-hundredth episode," she told him.
The call had come in earlier that week, and Emma hadn't planned on telling Killian until she knew her schedule a little better. But she couldn't seem to stop herself from spilling most of her secrets when he offered her that adorably hopeful look.
"I'm hoping I can make it work. I might still be in LA when you film it, if everything goes well next week."
"It will," Killian declared resolutely. "I know it will, Ems. And if something does go wrong, well… I'll just have to lock you in the house until we start filming the episode."
Emma snorted into her bottle at her friend's words. He always seemed to know the right thing to say to ease her fears.
When a familiar knock sounded on her trailer door, she groaned a little in frustration. "That's someone from wardrobe to help me out of this for the last time," she explained, as she gestured down her body, and dropped the camera to follow her movement.
"Do you um… do you get to keep it?" Killian asked, as he brought a hand up to scratch behind his ear.
Emma's brow furrowed up a little in confusion. It was a nervous tick of his that she had come to know well. But she had no idea why he'd be worried about asking that question.
"I don't actually know," she chuckled. "I can ask, though. Why? Do you need a screen accurate Dream Girl costume for your nerdy shrine to her?"
Killian's blush only seemed to deepen as he stuttered out, "Yeah. Um… I mean no. I uh… I was just wondering. I ah… I thought it would be a nice reminder of the film… for you."
The knock sounded once more, ringing out a little louder in the small space, and Emma's humour was quickly replaced with exasperation.
"I have to go," she explained. "I'll call you when I get home?"
"Of course. Talk to you soon, Ems."
Killian disconnected the line just as Emma called out, "Come in," to whoever was waiting on the other side of the door.
While Ruby helped her out of the costume for one final time, she couldn't help but think back to her friend's last question, and his reaction to her gentle teasing. She wasn't sure why he'd been so embarrassed by it. It wasn't like she didn't already know about his teenaged crush on the comic-book character.
By the time she was back in her jeans and comfy plaid shirt once more, Emma still hadn't managed to figure it all out.
But that didn't stop her from asking Ruby if she could keep one of the costumes they had used for filming.
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