13. co-stars au
The first time he sees her, she is covered in fake blood and screaming.
It's quite an introduction.
But even if their first meeting hadn't been that dramatic, he still would have been stunned by her.
(Sometimes he feels like he was destined to love her.)
Elizabeth Keen is an actress, one of the best, all blue eyes and dark hair and pale skin. She is an absolute talent, a golden girl of Hollywood, and everyone knows her name. Men want to date her and woman want to be her and oftentimes it's the other way around.
But real life isn't as perfect as the movies.
Because Raymond Reddington is a famous actor in his own right but he is in no way as loved as Lizzie. He's recently single and his messy divorce was spread all over the news when Carla had "let it slip" that her infidelity was the reason. He's in the midst of a full-blown career slump and a mild emotional crisis.
But, somehow, they end up working together.
Their first film is a cheap horror movie. It is Lizzie's first big role and Red is cast as the hook for audiences, the one reputable name in the cast. He's been desperate for work since his highly publicized divorce and takes the job without hesitation, surprising just about everyone, including himself. But he's glad he does it. The film is an unexpected hit, mostly thanks to Lizzie, and it helps to get his career back on track.
(Besides, if he hadn't done this film, he never would have met her.)
Red is immediately attracted to her – what idiot wouldn't be? – but they don't have many scenes together and she doesn't seem to notice him. She is very professional, sticking close to her more intimate co-stars, always very prepared and invested in her scenes. Red would be lying if he said he doesn't sometimes stick around set after his filming is done to watch her act. Her performances - even when her character is fruitlessly plotting against the demon monster locked in the basement – are strangely mesmerizing.
(And if Red notices a shy glance or two from her while she studies her script or has her makeup redone, then he dismisses it as coincidence. She can't be interested in him.)
It isn't until their next movie together, a stuffy period piece, that Red discovers she is married. He supposes it would be obvious to anyone with the brains to operate a computer but he simply didn't care to look it up.
(And he suspects, inside, that he didn't want to know.)
He plays an older suitor of Lizzie's, one she eventually turns down despite his large fortune (the money alone is evidence that the film is a complete work of fiction), but they have more scenes together than they did in their horror film, and it's during an early rehearsal that they finally speak for the first time.
"Raymond Reddington?" a quiet but clear voice sounds over his shoulder.
He turns in surprise and sees her standing there, her gorgeous eyes bright and excited.
"That's me," he says, his heart suddenly in his throat.
"Hi, I'm Elizabeth Keen, I'm playing the main character in this film. I think we have some scenes together and I just wanted to introduce myself before rehearsal starts," she offers her hand to him, a little shy, but determined. "And, I have to tell you, I'm a huge fan."
He can't help but blink in surprise. She knows his work? "Well, thank you very much, that's quite a compliment," he says to her. "And I think I have to return the sentiment. You're quite the rising star."
She blushes prettily and hangs her head a little. "I'm not sure about that but thank you anyway. I'm looking forward to working together."
The smile she gives him is nothing short of lovely and they look at each other for a long minute before her assistant calls her away and she goes with a little wave.
(From there, it's rather a slippery slope for Red.)
Her husband visits set a few times and Red takes an instant dislike to him. Red supposes it's a matter of principle, hating the husband of the woman he's falling for, but he has a feeling he would hate Tom Keen even if he'd never met Lizzie.
He's slimy and sneaky, oozing insincerity, praising Lizzie one second and then, as soon as her back is turned, ogling other women on set, chatting up the body doubles while Lizzie is in makeup, cheating on her in every way except the physical.
(Although Red is sure he's doing that too.)
But it's not Red's place to tell Lizzie, after all, he barely knows her, and he'd simply come across as petty and jealous. Besides, he can see how much she dotes on Tom, utterly devoted to her sweet husband. He's an actor too, as it happens, but much less successful, clearly riding the waves of Lizzie's new stardom.
(He makes Red sick.)
But Red holds it back, staying polite and friendly with Lizzie through their shooting of the period piece, slowly getting to know her better. They spend their scenes together making pleasant small talk, discussing their work, and Red takes every opportunity to compliment her acting.
For her part, Lizzie likes to analyze the characters, their motivations and personalities. She is so obviously in this business for the artistry of it and her dedication to the craft amazes Red, reminding him of the fervor he acted with when he was younger.
(She's an inspiration.)
The film becomes so highly anticipated that the premiere is quite an event, all black tie and catering. Red attends, only because his publicist tells him he must, and sulks all the way there, dreading the awkward questions and social exhaustion he knows he'll be facing soon. But it all becomes curiously worth it when he sees Lizzie posing on the red carpet in a gorgeous wine-colored number, all short sleeves and long skirt and high slit.
In his stupor, frozen halfway out of his limo, Red seriously considers dramatically sweeping over and taking her arm, coyly suggesting that she be his date for the evening, and perhaps afterwards they'll grab a drink and –
(But this isn't a movie. The good guy doesn't always win.)
His fantastical train of thought is stopped in its tracks when her husband slinks to her side, flaunting in front of the cameras, openly flirting with the interviewers, completely stealing the limelight from Lizzie.
Red's blood boils. How dare that snake profit off Lizzie's talent and hard work? Red's only consolation is that he sees Lizzie's glances at Tom, no longer as blindingly adoring, a slight twist to the edges of her smile that signal her discomfort, a detail so minimal that no one would notice it if they hadn't spent the last two movies of their career observing her facial tics and reacting accordingly.
(He already knows her better than Tom ever will.)
Red seethes but puts on a blinding smile for the cameras (he is an actor, after all) and sees Lizzie throw a few friendly glances his way. He smiles and waves, not wanting to take the recognition from her first lead role with his own status. Not that he's anything special. He just doesn't want to accidentally outshine her.
(As far as Red is concerned, this is her night.)
Once the red carpet drama is over, everyone, actors and press alike, settle in to watch the first screening of the film. Red abhors watching himself on film so he occupies himself with watching Lizzie's acting instead. She is even more stunning with editing and post production and all the angles he couldn't see as they acted one-on-one. She's a natural.
(And he does his best to ignore Tom's hand, possessively clutching Lizzie's thigh a few seats down from him.)
The film ends to thundering applause, more so than Red was anticipating, and the cast stands to recognize it. He doesn't consider himself a star of the film by any means. A main character perhaps but his name is still in rather small print on the poster.
So, he is incredibly surprised at the reception when (just as he is trying to determine how long he has to stay before he can finally sneak out), Red suddenly finds himself being thrown together with Lizzie by clamoring reporters and bombarded with questions.
Lizzie looks just as stunned as he is but, to her credit, she pulls herself together quickly, trying to be polite and address one question at a time. All Red hears are words like "chemistry" and "screen time" and "romantic interest" and he can't help blinking in shock.
He and Lizzie?
(And he'd be lying if he said he didn't delight in the knowledge that someone else sees it, the way they look together, how perfect they could be.)
"So how did you achieve such crackling chemistry with each other on set, Liz?" one of them asks and Red glances at her out of the corner of his eye, wondering what she will say.
"Oh, well," Lizzie says hesitantly. "Red is such a reliable presence on set. We spend a lot of time talking about our characters and how they interact, so I suppose that helps us get immersed in the roles, so we can really flesh them out and make a connection."
She looks at him tentatively as she finishes, as if for confirmation, and he nods dumbly, finding himself completely relieved that she enjoyed their time together on set together too, even if for her it was strictly for the purpose of getting into character.
(He'll take what he can get.)
"And what about you, Red?" shouts one of the reporters and Red jerks around at his nickname.
"Well, I think Lizzie said it perfectly," he says simply, shrugging a little, not seeing a need to add anything.
(Besides, if he tried to say more, he'd probably blurt out something stupid and truthful, like he's in love with her.)
If there's one thing Red has learned in his semi-successful career, it's that less is more with the press.
And that certainly seems to be true going forward. After the premiere, Hollywood can't seem to get enough of Red and Lizzie and their "out-of-this-world chemistry". Red is equal parts surprised, delighted, and nervous at this new attention.
(What an interesting combination of feelings.)
He's surprised that the media and the general audience have latched on as firmly as they have to the two of them. Certainly, he can feel the spark between them when they act together, the intensity in the room as they play off one another, the connection they've seemed to have from the start. But other people see it too? That's the part that he's delighted with, this public reassurance that it's not completely in his own head, a product of his own imagination and private yearnings. And the nervousness stems from the fear that Lizzie can see right through him, that the public fascination with them has opened her eyes to what a lecherous old man he is, and she's only acting with him for the money and fame.
(He wouldn't blame her.)
It's with another batch of mixed feelings – excitement coupled with more of that same nervousness – that he signs on to another film with her, a concept born out of sheer demand: a romantic comedy, starring he and Lizzie.
The script seems fairly straight-forward, not the most compelling thing Red has ever read, but a feel-good movie nonetheless. His and Lizzie's characters dance around each other for the majority of the film, much as they've done in their roles before, and it's not until he gets to the last twenty pages or so that his heart stops beating in his chest.
They have a kiss scene.
(His first coherent thought is how could he possibly be this lucky.)
His second thought is that Lizzie won't want to do this. And he would never make her.
(Ever.)
Red makes himself wait three days, giving her ample time to read the script, before he calls her, her number already saved into his phone from when she entered it during one of their many lunch breaks together. She picks up on the second ring.
"Hi, Red!" she says breathlessly.
"Lizzie, how –" he starts but there is a loud bang and he hears her hiss something to someone.
"Red, can you hang on for one second?" her voice comes back on quietly, as if she's covering the phone.
"Sure," he hurries to say but he can tell she's already off the line. He hears her speaking to someone but he can't make out any words. He doesn't think she sounds very happy. There is another bang and a crash before all the noise stops with a sharp snap and Red realizes that she's closed a door somewhere.
"Sorry about that," and her voice is back, still a little breathless but very pleasant nonetheless. "I just had to get somewhere quiet."
"It's no problem," he says easily. "Are you on set somewhere?"
"Hmm?" she asks, sounding a little distracted. "Oh, no, I'm not working on anything right now. It's just a quiet day at home today."
(It doesn't sound very quiet to Red.)
"I start working again in two weeks though," she continues, oblivious to his worry. "On that rom-com we're doing! I'm so excited for that, it should be fun!"
"Yes, I think so," he answers awkwardly, wondering how to bring up the subject of their kiss scene. But she's gotten them this far. It's only fair that he does the rest. "Actually, Lizzie, that's why I called."
"About the movie?"
"Yes. Have you read the script?"
"Yeah! I blew through it last night with a cup of coffee. It's so cute!" she chirps. She sounds so happy. Maybe she accidentally skipped the kiss scene?
"It is, that's true, but…" How the hell does he bring this up?
"What's wrong, Red?" she asks gently. "Don't you want to do the film?"
"Of course I do, Lizzie, that's not it," he reassures her, annoyed with himself. "I'm just wondering if you're…comfortable with everything we have to do."
"Everything we have to…" she trails off and pauses for a minute, thinking hard. "Oh! Do you mean the kiss?"
"Yes," he gasps, so thankful she finally got there on her own. "Yes, I mean the kiss. Is that something you're comfortable with?"
Lizzie pauses again but this time not in thought. He can sense her confusion. "Well, yes, of course. It's only a kiss, after all, and…well, it's you," she says simply. He is touched by her obvious trust in him.
(She has no idea how he feels.)
"All right," he says, a little torn between feeling happy and nauseous with nerves. "All right, then. I just wanted to check."
"That's so sweet of you, thank you," she says kindly. There is a beat of silence. "Are you comfortable with this, Red?"
He blinks, completely taken aback. Is he? He pictures her beautiful blue eyes, her dark hair, her beautiful, red lips touching his –
"Yes, of course, Lizzie."
(He's so weak.)
After that discussion, time flies by towards the day he is craving and dreading in equal measure. Filming starts and goes as smoothly as ever, thanks to a combination of Red and Liz's easy chemistry and their habit of snapping into character once the call is made. And, before they know it, the last day of filming is here. The day they film the kiss.
(Red can't help feeling that this is a day that will change things forever.)
He's nervous, pacing around set, in his costume and makeup of street clothes and some powder, waiting for Lizzie to arrive. She naturally takes longer in makeup, since she's a woman and social convention states that she requires more (although Red is firm in his private belief that she doesn't need any at all), and it's a few minutes of wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans and trying to slow his hammering heart before she finally shows up.
(This could be so bad.)
At long last, he sees her escorted onto set by her assistant, looking perfectly made-up in her simple costume of street clothes similar to his, just jeans and a pretty blouse.
(She's perfect.)
Red watches her cast a glance around the room – looking for him, he thinks with a thrill – and she sees him right away, smiling and heading towards him with purpose.
(He just hopes he doesn't pass out.)
"Hi," she chirps, stopping in front of him with a little bounce, somehow startling Red even though he stood there and watched her come.
"Hi," he croaks, his voice a little worse for wear.
"Are you ready?" she asks, an eyebrow raising teasingly.
(If only she knew.)
He clears his throat in an effort to get himself together. "As I'll ever be," he mutters, managing to smirk at her and make her giggle.
"Okay, places!" he hears the call and his heart lurches in his chest.
Lizzie grins at him and turns to walk towards the three-walled room built for this scene, looking back to make sure he's following.
(Oh god.)
"Are you?" he asks, mostly trying to distract himself.
"Oh, sure," she says happily. "I'm going to kiss my co-star. What's there to be ready for?"
And for some reason her words send a rush of calm through him. She's right. What's there to be ready for? This is Lizzie, the woman he's in love with, yes, but more importantly, his co-star. They trust each other. This will be fine.
And he feels ready now, turning away from Lizzie and taking his place by the fake window as the crew quickly works to adjust the lighting and their director takes his place behind the camera.
"Okay," he calls loudly. "Lights? Camera? Action!"
And with that familiar call, Red immediately snaps into character, becoming a frustrated middle-aged man arguing with his younger female friend, jealousy permeating the air between them, desperation and undisclosed love obvious on their faces.
(The accuracy of the roles won't hit him until later. These parts were made for them.)
He hears Liz move around behind him, always attuned to her presence.
"Well, Kenneth, what do you expect me to do? Break up with him or something?" Lizzie snaps, no longer really his Lizzie, fully transformed into the short-tempered, passionate Ginger written in the script.
"Yes!" he barks, fully feeling Ken and his unrequited love for Ginger. "Yes, that's exactly what I expect you to do, Ginger! He's not good for you!"
"Oh, and you are?"
He whirls around to face her, being hit full force with the blazing anger in her eyes, flaming sapphires boring into him.
(Something in him thrills.)
"That's neither here nor there," he snaps, waving his hand angrily. "You shouldn't be with him, that's all I know."
Liz steps closer to him and he moves forward to match her, the tension palpable, building in between them.
"And how do you know that?" she spits, her eyes narrowing as she nears him.
He tingles in anticipation, stepping closer to her, his voice lowering but the intensity increasing as they get closer. "Because I know you, Gin. I know you so much better than he ever will. I know what makes you smile and laugh and cry. And I care, Ginger. I care about you. You're my friend and I only want the best for you. Do you know why?"
Ginger's eyes are wide now, looking up at him, seeing him clearly for the first time. "Why, Ken?"
"Because I love you."
There is a beat of stillness and silence between them, their eyes boring into one another, their posture frozen and tense, but then they lean forward at the same time and their lips touch and everything is different.
Yes, Ken is finally expressing his love for Ginger and she is finally accepting it but Red is finally showing his love for Lizzie and she can finally feel it, and their lips caressing each other's, passionate but gentle, her arms around his neck and his hands around her waist.
(And its truly movie magic, something special, and if their eyes were open, they would see the crew watching them open-mouthed, something about the two of them captivating everyone. The rest of the world is next.)
The kiss ends naturally, their mouths slowing, turning from desperate gulps to slow, small sipping kisses, their mouths parting, stopping just far enough away that their noses touch. Red opens his eyes before her and gets to see the faint smile on her face before she opens her eyes to stare up at him, and he feels deliriously like he's drowning in the blue of her eyes. So, he leans forward to press his forehead to hers to ground himself and they look at each other for an instant before –
"Cut!"
And the world shatters between them and they snap fully back to themselves, Red and Lizzie, no longer Ken and Ginger, who will be immortalized on screen for everyone to see.
(The people they truly are.)
"I think we got it people, one take! Great job, you two! That's a wrap!"
The crew starts to clap and cheer but Red stays staring at Lizzie, who is transforming before his eyes. The contentedness of that last scene is leaving her face, melting off her like wax, leaving only some cold, hard emotion in its place. Red has seen her horror acting enough to know fear when he sees it. Everything seems to hit her all at once and she pulls away from him in a sudden jerky movement, like he's burned her, that fear over-taking her eyes, closing her off from him.
"Lizzie –"
But what can he say?
(Nothing that isn't true.)
"I, um, no, I'm – I have to go…"
And she's turning and leaving him, hurrying away, scared of him, scared of what she felt between them and there's nothing Red can do but watch her go.
(This isn't a movie. There is no happy ending.)
The following weeks go by in a miserable blur, the release date and premiere arriving in a haze of darkness. Red attends, again only because he must, and he and Lizzie avoid each other studiously. The press absolutely adores the film, with audible gasps in the audience when their fateful kiss appears on screen.
(Red has to turn away.)
The film is a triumph, thanks to Ken and Ginger's wonderfully relatable love story, and Red derives absolutely no pleasure from their success. It doesn't matter if literally every other person on Earth think he and Lizzie should be together.
(She doesn't.)
Red notes briefly that Tom hasn't accompanied Lizzie to the premiere and he tries not to read too much into it. What does it matter anyway? Red stays the absolute minimum amount of time at the premiere, not even having a drink before he's slinking back to his limo like an injured animal going to lick his wounds.
(He doesn't see Lizzie gazing strangely after him.)
Red takes a "well-deserved break", as his agent calls it, after their "success", as everyone else calls it. He mopes around his home, missing Lizzie and everything they had. The easy friendship, the antics on set, the sparks when filming.
(He misses his co-star.)
But it's not long into his self-imposed asylum that his agent sends him a script via email, asking him to look it over. Red doesn't really want to but his agent bugs him about it until he finally flops down at his computer in defeat, struggling to open his email account and summon the correct message, downloading the attached script with some difficulty.
(One thing hasn't changed: he's still not good with computers.)
His tired eyes scan the screen without any real interest, mechanically picking out keywords to get an idea of the story. He'll be playing George Rickers, a middle-aged, suburban husband and father to daughter, Charlotte, played by –
Elizabeth Keen.
Everything in him screeches to a stop with a sickly jerk, his eyes blinking rapidly at the screen, trying to comprehend what he's seeing and think past the violent churning in his stomach.
Father?
No.
No, no, no.
(Nothing has ever felt more wrong.)
Red calls his agent at once and tells her to turn down the part. He doesn't answer any of her questions, just tells her that under no circumstances will he be accepting the role.
(That's something he can never bring himself to do.)
After that, Red throws himself head-first back into his bad habits and routine of just…existing. He doesn't expect he'll ever work with Lizzie again. Not after her response to their kiss. There's no way they can be together now. And who knows? Maybe he's done with acting, maybe he should retire.
(It wasn't nearly this bad when Carla divorced him.)
But it's one of these hopeless rainy nights (that he's proud of himself for merely showering and eating that day) that he's sitting slumped in his favorite armchair in his dark townhouse, night having fallen long since he sat down, with no real urge to get up and turn on a light. He's sitting nursing a glass of scotch and listening to the rain fall on the roof above his head when he suddenly hears a knock on his apartment door.
Red blinks in surprise. What the hell? No one ever comes to his door, rainy night or otherwise. But he has an odd feeling that he should answer it so, after a moment of frozen confusion, he gets up and shuffles to the front door. He has no peephole to look through so he can only take a deep breath in preparation before he pulls open the door to reveal –
Lizzie.
He feels his mouth fall open unattractively but he can't help it. He just stares at her, standing there on his doorstep, luckily shielded from the rain by the awning but still dripping wet from wherever she was before this, her hair even darker than it usually is, hanging in limp strands to frame her pale face, her eyes standing out like ocean sapphires.
(She's just as gorgeous as he remembers.)
He's still staring like an idiot when he suddenly sees her shiver, her arms coming up to wrap around herself.
"Hi, Red," she breathes. "Do you think I could come in?"
Red shakes himself out of his frozen state with effort and nods hurriedly.
"Yes, yes, of course, I'm sorry, Lizzie, come in," he steps aside and lets her pass him, a shiver of his own running through him as she goes.
Red quickly shuts the front door and jogs to his bathroom to get a clean, dry towel for her hair and returns in a flash to usher her into his living room. He automatically gestures for her to sit but she shakes her head a little distractedly, staring at the floor as she mechanically dries the ends of her hair with his towel.
He tries to wait for her to speak – she's the one who just appeared on his doorstep, after all – but her general lack of expression is worrying him.
"Lizzie, are you alright?" he can't help but ask.
She looks up, a little startled by his gentle question, but doesn't answer. She stops drying her hair, leaving the towel draped over her shoulder while her hands drift down to her sides. She paces slowly away from him, stopping in front of the large window overlooking the cityscape. Red drinks in her profile, framed dramatically by the rain running in rivulets on the other side of the dark glass.
(What a scene this would make.)
"You turned down the part."
It's not a question but he can hear the uncertainty in her voice, prompting something from him.
"Yes."
"Why?"
He squeezes his eyes shut briefly at the inevitable question, not knowing how to answer her. Instead he sidesteps and asks her a question in return.
"Are you upset?"
"No," she abruptly turns to face him. "I wasn't going to take it either."
"Why?" he blurts, shocked, before he can stop himself, wincing as he realizes he's asking her the very question he didn't answer. Not exactly fair. But she doesn't seem to notice. She floats back towards him across his living room, her brow furrowing in thought.
"I don't know," she murmurs. "Something about it…didn't feel right. Does that make sense?"
"Yes."
(Completely.)
"Is that why you didn't take it?"
"Yes."
(Entirely.)
She nods thoughtfully. "I thought so." She grows quiet after that but now she's looking at him instead of out the window and he still doesn't know why she's here.
"Lizzie?" he prompts her again and her eyes fly back to his.
"Tom said I should take it," she says suddenly.
Red feels a wave of burning hate for her manipulating husband.
"He was quite nasty about it, actually," she murmurs, more to herself than to him. "He said that's the way it should be between us, that's the relationship we should be portraying on screen, family, not lovers."
Red feels his stomach fall through the floor. That poisonous little –
His only consolation is Lizzie's face, which has furrowed back into that frown he can't stand, signaling her disagreement with Tom's statement.
"I felt so sick when he said that," she continues quietly, shaking her head. "But that's not the first time he's been like that. He hated the fact that we kissed in our last movie. He was ridiculously jealous."
She sighs, looking so tired, turning to pace away from him.
"It's stupid, really. I was so affronted, at first. He didn't have any reason to feel jealous or threatened. You're my co-star, my friend, a kind man, and I never…" But then she lowers her head self-consciously and something in her changes. "But then we kissed and…well, then he had a reason."
Red blinks in shock.
(A small flicker of hope lights inside of him.)
"But he was awful about it and I can never forgive him for that. And I'm really here to apologize to you. And ask for your forgiveness."
Lizzie looks up into his eyes all of a sudden and Red is taken aback by the fierceness he sees there.
"After we kissed…Well, I was over-whelmed and confused by what I was feeling and I needed time to think," she murmurs before laughing suddenly, surprising Red. "Turns out I didn't need to do too much thinking. It was pretty obvious, really. And Tom just helped me decide, the exact opposite of what he intended to do. So, now I'm here to tell you."
"Tell me what, Lizzie?"
It's the first time he's spoken in a few minutes and he feels it in his throat, all scratchy and scared, but she hears him just fine. And he will never truly believe the words she says next.
"I'm in love with you."
And finally, finally all the pieces fall into place and here they are and not much is fixed except everything and he can't believe she came to him in the rain like one of their ridiculous rom-coms but the difference is this isn't a movie.
This is real life.
And it's so much better.
