2013
MADISON SANK IN THE PORCELAIN TUB, her back pressed against Corey's chest. She let out a sigh as the redhead wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. A soft hum left the other girl's lips as Madison tucked her head against the crook of her neck. The bubbles that created a barrier between their upper bodies and what rested below the water soothingly ruptured against their skin as they brushed up against each other.
Madison took in a deep breath of cinnamon and cedar, the scent only aiding in calming her nerves post-resurrection. She let one hand emerge from below the protective bubble wall. It snaked upward, her fingers coming to loosely intertwine with Corey's. The blonde placed a light kiss against the other girl's neck before pulling their connected hands closer to her face. She rested her chin lazily against their locked fingers, lost in her own thoughts.
"What's on your mind?" Corey asked. The water around them sloshed as she adjusted the way she had been sitting. The puddle that began to form against the floor let out an audible plop as the stuttering stream of excess bubble bath dripped from the edge of the claw foot tub. She heard the sigh that left Madison's nostrils and leaned forward. Her arm that remained underneath the water continued to hold the blonde against her protectively.
Madison pursed her lips, shaking her head. She didn't want to voice her feelings. She didn't want Corey knowing that she couldn't feel anything. In the time it took the other witch to settle things with Misty, Madison was an empty void. Not only could she not remember anything, but she couldn't feel anything either. She hoped it would pass, that it was just a symptom of being brought back from her cold, callous, lonely death.
She felt the goosebumps flutter out across her shoulder blades as Corey's lips danced across her skin. She shuttered slightly. Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth, the playful smirk quickly emerging from behind the knuckles of their entwined fingers. Madison felt the kisses that led up to her ear as the redhead giggled at the trail of rippled skin she left behind. The blonde shook her head with a laugh, the thought of not feeling anything quickly leaving her mind.
"I was thinking about that time Z helped Liv sneak me on set." She made something up on the spot. It was the earliest memory she could come up with on such short notice. Madison felt the giggle in her throat as she spoke, the feeling of Corey's fingertips gliding up her side catching her off guard. She swallowed hard as the other witch's breath tickled her earlobe. She tilted her head back to let out a soft laugh, granting the other girl easier access to her jawline. "Do you remember that?"
"How could I forget?" Corey asked. Her eyes locked on the slab of mud across Madison's jugular. She swallowed hard. Her mind shifted to focus on revenge instead of a playful memory. Corey cleared her throat, trying to shake the thought from her head.
She pulled a damp washcloth across Madison's shoulders, dispelling the uniform numbness from the blonde's back. Everywhere she touched left a flickering flame against the blonde's porcelain skin, or so Madison thought. Her body reacted to every touch, every breath, every look.
"I know that's not really what you were thinking," Corey sighed. Her head shook as she gently scrubbed the mud from Madison's shoulder. "You know I won't push it, but sometimes I wish I had even a sliver of Nan's powers... Just to know what's going on inside your head." She placed a kiss against Madison's temple as the blonde silently nodded.
"I'll make you something to try and get rid of these scars," Corey's finger ran across the divot in the blonde's shoulder that was left behind after the mud had been washed away. "For now we just have to keep applying the mud until this is fully healed." Madison cleared her throat. Her lips pursed as she tried to keep the not-so-kind words she had to say about the Headmistress from escaping. She looked upset, as if the thought of looking somewhat alive again offended her.
"What'd I say?" The redhead's face cracked. The smile fell from her lips in an instant. She was worrisome, unable to detect what she'd done wrong to upset the other girl. The blonde wouldn't admit that she was jealous of the bond that Corey had with Cordelia. Nor would she admit that she, at times, felt second best when it came to the older woman. She had already voiced her opinion on the matter once. The need to say it again made her feel like she was talking to a wall.
"Maddie," Corey's brow furrowed in confusion. Her eyes scanned the blonde's face. She watched as the girl's eyes became watery. The words bottled themselves up and attempted to force themselves out another route. It was usual for Madison to become overly emotional when she was holding things in and, every time Corey caught it, it completely broke her heart. She let her tongue dart out to wet her lips quickly as she wrapped both arms around the porcelain girl.
"It's nothing," Madison's voice wavered as her focus shifted to the bubble bath. She could feel the butterfly-like nervousness in her stomach as the redhead's arms brushed against her skin and held her tightly.
"Just worried, baby, that's all." She could feel Corey's heart flutter as the pet-name left her lips. Madison let her shoulders submerge under the water as she rested her head against Corey's bare chest. She looked up at the redhead, a small smile peeking from the corner of her lips as green eyes locked with gold.
"Okay," Corey nodded. The blonde's smirk mirrored her own. She removed one bubble-covered hand from under the water to tuck a loose hair out of the other girl's face. Once again, her gaze locked on the healing gash across Madison's throat. She could feel the anger bubbling up in her core. She blamed herself; she always would.
She contemplated whether or not she should step forward as the next Supreme now that there was already one casualty. If the coven lost another witch, Corey wouldn't be able to live with herself. She knew the argument that would come from making herself known. Madison would never let her live with a target on her back.
The blonde leaned forward, a soapy hand rising from the water to cradle Corey's face. Both girls could feel their hearts threatening to burst from their chests as their lips connected and their eyes fluttered shut. She hoped Madison felt the same yearning, the same burning, the same passion. Corey would never grow old of the feeling that being with the blonde gave her.
2012
The cast was delirious. They'd spent the last nine hours on set working with the extras to finish filming b-roll for their previous outdoor scenes. As Josh and Ezra were in the midst of a competition to see who could chug a bottle of water the fastest, Corey and Olivia struggled to get through their final scene together as Daphne and Velma.
They were curled up against the mattress in Velma's bedroom, a single camera attached to a crane hovering above them. For the continuity of the script, they were reminded that the gang had just split off and returned home after unmasking that season's monster: a bankrupt logger trying to scare investors away from his property. They had heard the iconic line muttered from his lips, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!"
In reality, they'd just returned from rehearsing in Olivia's trailer. They'd mapped out their movements as well as they could, but it seemed like they were too forced; too robotic; too cliché. Olivia wasn't entirely comfortable with the scene and it was noticeable on camera. On their last take, the one the director kept in the final edit of the episode, Corey made an attempt to take charge of the scene. What should have taken a maximum of fifteen minutes to film had turned into an hour long shoot with twelve separate takes. The redhead was exhausted. She pushed through each reshoot of the scene to the best of her abilities.
"Lucky number thirteen," a sigh left her lips as they reset the scene once again. She watched Olivia from the corner of her eye as the cameras that surrounded them moved back to their initial marks. The brunette held the book over her face once again, blocking her large framed glasses from the view of the camera hoisted above them.
Corey's eyes fell to watch Olivia's clenched jaw and she wondered if her orange turtleneck was just as uncomfortable as the green silk scarf tied around her own neck. She kept her hands at her center as she rolled back from her side, trying her best not to stare at the girl until the director called action. She could hear the soft patter of Olivia's heart racing against the comforter in the otherwise quiet soundstage.
"Just follow my lead," Corey whispered. The brunette nodded beside her. She swallowed hard as she let a hand fall to her face to adjust the glasses against the bridge of her nose. It wasn't long before the overzealous man in the director's chair let his voice echo against the partial walls of the room around them. As soon as the word left his lips— the booming action!— they were pulled back into the universe they played so effortlessly within.
Corey thought she could hear the crickets, the imaginary background noise to set the scene. She knew it was her mind playing with her, but she swore that she was within the four walls of Velma's bedroom in Coolsville. She paid no mind to the cameras that circled around them.
"Hey, Velma?" She asked, looking up at the would-be ceiling. Her hair sprawled out against the pillow underneath her. "Why did you save me?" As the sound of the other girl turning the page of the graphic novel within her hands filled the room, Daphne's tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip.
"What do you mean?" The brunette's brows raised as she voiced her question. She tapped her finger against the spine of the book as she awaited Daphne's scripted response. An anxious air filled the room, the two girls playing off one another's plotted tension.
"At the sawmill, when Fred froze..." The redhead paused. She rolled over onto her side to let her eyes scan Velma's face. She looked for any sign of the other girl faltering. "I could have died but you saved me. Why?" She propped herself up against her elbow as she looked over at the other girl. Her brows raised slightly as she awaited any sign to continue.
"Isn't that what friends are for?" Velma let her eyes flicker from the book's pages for a moment. The girls locked eyes for a fraction of a second before she turned the page once again. She didn't want it to be known that she wasn't truly paying attention to the book in her hands, but she didn't want the tension between them to grow any more either.
"Is that all we are? Just friends?" Daphne's brows furrowed within a beat. She quickly realized that Velma was avoiding a conversation they needed to have. Daphne's feelings were on the line, and she needed to be sure that they were both on the same page before she attempted to push things in a direction that wasn't welcomed by both parties in question.
"Velma, look at me." She ripped the book away from the brunette. A gasp left the girl's lips as she shot upright, reaching for the conversation blocker in Daphne's grasp. The redhead leaned so that she could be seen by the other camera in the shot. Throughout the entire altercation, she kept the cameras in the back of her mind. The last thing she wanted was yet another reshoot.
The camera crane that had hovered above moved with them. They were practically nose to nose. A full frame headshot of both girls could be seen in the viewfinder. If either girl turned towards the director, breaking the delicate fourth wall, they would see the producers and crew— along with a familiar face that wasn't usually around on set— waiting with baited breath.
"Hey! I was reading that." Velma's bottom lip jutted out in a frustrated pout. Daphne rolled her eyes as she tucked the book underneath herself. It was purposefully moved out of reach from the other girl, forcing her to have a conversation Daphne could tell was already far too difficult to initiate.
"And you can finish reading it later, now, answer my question." The girls were merely inches apart. Velma had stopped short as Daphne turned back to face the brunette.
The gulp that rang out from Olivia's throat caught Corey off guard. Her eyes flicked to focus on the other girl's lips before moving back to scan her face for a moment. Corey could feel eyes on her, burning into the side of her skull, but she wouldn't break character. She'd been working far too hard to just ruin the scene this late in the game.
Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the mattress shift underneath her. Corey hadn't expected Olivia to skip scripted dialogue, but she had. In the time it took her to realize what was going on, the brunette's lips were already connected to her own. She felt the other girl's fingers graze against her cheek. Corey's hands moved to grab hold of Olivia's elbows but instead she froze, her fingers flexing as she held her breath.
After a moment, the initial shock washed away and Corey was able to follow through. She matched Olivia's urgency and haste. In the back of her mind, she prayed that what they were providing matched what the director had been hoping for. The redhead's shoulders fell as the tension left her body. Her only worry became whether or not she would be able to remember her lines when the time came.
They broke apart to breathe, both girl's eyes fluttering open and locking on one another. Corey opened her mouth to move on to her next scripted line but couldn't manage to form the words. Olivia adjusted her glasses in an attempt to regain her composure, her breathing beginning to level.
"Did that answer your question?" The brunette asked. A light laugh left the redhead's lips as she looked at the other girl with her head cocked to the side. They jumped slightly at the booming sound of the director's voice once again— the short, distinct cut! that pulled them back into the real world.
"That's a wrap on Daphne Blake for Season Three, ladies and gentlemen!" Corey let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders falling once again as the stage lights dimmed. The familiar head of blonde hair caught her attention. She watched as the blonde stood from where she had been sitting next to Josh and Ezra. The clicking of heels echoed closer to the soundstage as the girl moved.
"Madison?" Corey asked as she climbed off the edge of the bed. She narrowed her eyes, taking the bottle of water offered to her by the stagehand on her right. She could hear the sound of Olivia's laugh ring out from behind her, but all of her attention was on the blonde in front of her.
"Bet you thought I'd miss my best friend's last day on set." Madison laughed. She quickly wrapped her arms around the taller girl's waist. "Thirteen takes, huh?" She muttered against the redhead's chest.
"Oh, bite me, Montgomery."