I just want to thank you all for your dedication and patience with this story! Your reviews and responses have been amazing, so thank you endlessly. You're all awesome.
This one-shot was prompted to me by Emma, Spoby Lover For Life, and I fell in love with the idea immediately. Also, HUGE thanks to Emma for not only the prompt, but all of her help in the fly-fishing facts as I have never set foot near a fishing rod haha. Sorry for the long wait, but I had to do quite a bit of research in order for this to come off realistic :) A lot of the stuff about Keegan's past and such is made up though, just as a heads-up, as well as Troian's alcoholic drink of choice.
So Emma, my sweet and awesome bff-extraordinaire, I hope you like this! I hope you ALL enjoy it :) Special thanks to Bree, again, for the help with the title. You are a rockstar and I love you.
Happy reading!
This by no means reflects the true thoughts/feelings of Troian Bellisario or Keegan Allen. No disrespect meant to anyone, clearly a work of fiction.
You've Got Me Hooked
"Ta-da!" Troian exclaimed, raising her hands above her head and giggling.
Keegan looked over and smirked, unable to ignore the fact that she managed to look utterly adorable in her get-up.
"Leave it to you to be able to pull off hip waders." he replied.
She wrinkled her nose at him in disagreement but practically bounded over to stand next to him. He sort of adored how excited she was over this. Troian certainly wasn't like other girls.
"So Jeremy Wade, what do we do first?" she asked brightly.
Keegan smiled at the River Monsters host title. "Well, we've got to fasten the bait to the hooks and then I'll teach you how to cast properly."
Keegan had mentioned earlier in the week that he planned on going fly-fishing that weekend. Troian, whose plans had fallen through to fly to Toronto, asked if he would mind if she joined him. He had been all too happy to extend the invitation to her and show her the ropes. Troian was always up for learning something new. This was something Keegan had been doing since he was a kid so he felt he was qualified enough to help a beginner.
"Are they… dead flies? Or…" she asked uncertainly. She really didn't fancy gutting the live ones with a hook just to catch a fish she wouldn't even eat. Keegan had always done catch and release and she was perfectly comfortable with that.
"No. They're artificial." he assured her. Troian was mostly a vegetarian, with the exception of eating fish. He knew bugs weren't really in that animal radar but the few times he had seen his costar encounter a spider, for example, she always rescued it with a cup or something and released it outside if she could. He found it endearing that she cared that much about things like that.
Keegan led her over to his bait box and helped her tie hers on. The triumphant look on her face when she managed to get it on there made him chuckle.
"They're not very heavy." she noted.
"It's the weight of the line that carries the hook through the air, rather than the bait like in regular spin or bait fishing." he explained.
She nodded in understanding, rubbing the line between her fingers forefinger and thumb.
"Now, which would you rather… shoreline fishing or to get out there in the water?" he asked. Normally he stayed pretty shoreline, but his dad had always enjoyed getting right out there. It gave you more distance obviously since you were further out. He was game for either.
"Let's get right out there." Troian suggested eagerly, always the adventurous one.
He smiled and they headed out until the water rested about three-quarters of the way up their calves. They were dressed appropriately with rubber boots and waders so they were still dry and warm despite the cool water surrounding them.
"It's beautiful out here." she commented. It was so peacefully quiet, only the occasional buzz of a passing insect or splash of disturbance in the water. There was no one else around. It was just them.
"Yeah, I really like this spot. This was where me and my dad always came because there are rarely any other people here, but still plenty of fish." he told her casually, but she could hear the hidden pain in his voice. Keegan had lost his father that past March and they were extremely close. He was really close to both of his parents and Troian really admired that about him. She always related well to people who valued family so highly.
Unconsciously, she reached out and squeezed his hand in hers before facing back towards the river, in her ready stance to learn the complicated casting.
Keegan had the urge to laugh at how seriously she was taking it but her affectionate, supporting gesture left him not trusting his ability to express such a light-hearted sound.
"Okay. So, place your thumb on top of the rod's cork grip. Make sure you have a firm hold." he instructed, watching her follow orders. "Now slip out twenty to thirty feet of line from the reel. With that length in front of you, more or less in a straight line, start the rod here."
He held the rod at a waist high position parallel to the water. Troian imitated him.
"So, think of a clock. The rod tip is pointing at nine o'clock, right? So from here, lift the rod tip by raising your forearm crisply, but not suddenly or violently. Let the tip pass through twelve o'clock then stop it abruptly. See how the rod falls at about one o'clock? The line will continue to loop behind you and will gradually straighten out. When it's straight out behind you and roughly parallel to the water again, move the rod crisply forward, stopping at about the ten-thirty position. Allow it to drift slowly back down to nine o'clock as the line comes down forward in an unrolling loop until the line is fully straight in front of you."
It sounded confusing when worded but he demonstrated for her and she felt a little better about it. She tried to mimic his action but once her rod was upright, she couldn't force it forwards. Frowning, she turned to see it was caught in some rocks at the shoreline.
"Well… this is promising." she deadpanned.
Keegan chuckled. "It happens to everybody. I've been doing this since I was a kid. Don't get discouraged."
He carefully untangled it and, after making sure the bait was still fastened well enough, brought it back to her.
"Okay. I think you may have loosened your grip a little. It's really important to hold on tightly for proper control. So place your fingers here…"
He placed his hand over hers as he positioned her fingers properly.
Troian hated the blush that crossed her cheeks at his gentle touch. It made her feel like a sixteen year old, unable to hold it together because a boy was touching her.
She really couldn't help herself though. He was surrounding her from behind, the length of his body pressing into her backside. She was tempted to just lean back into him and relax, but she somehow managed to refrain.
"So let's try this again." he told her quietly, close to her ear. She nearly shivered at the feel of his soft breath against her sensitive skin. She focused her eyes forward and tried to ignore the satisfaction she felt from being wrapped in his arms.
His hand coiled around her wrist so their arms were in line. He guided her fully in the motion and she watched in surprise as the line cast out perfectly several feet away.
"I did it!" she exclaimed, even though he did all of the work.
Keegan chuckled again. "You did. Congratulations."
His face was right next to hers so she turned her head to press a quick affectionate kiss to his cheek. "Thanks, Keegs."
She tried not to smile at the pink that rose to his cheeks at the gesture. Serves him right after all the blushing he caused her.
"No problem." he said easily, releasing her and heading back to his spot in the water.
"Now what?" she asked.
He laughed. "Now we wait."
Thankfully, she was rather comfortable with silence, especially with the man next to her. One of the things she loved most about her friendship with Keegan was how she could have just as good a time with him even when no words were exchanged.
As for patience, that came second nature to her after being an actress for so long, always waiting around for filming or hair and make-up to finish. She felt herself relaxing nicely at the quiet lake, the only sound the light breathing adjacent to her. She understood why people found this so mellowing. It was just you and your thoughts and the beauty of nature. Even her thoughts quieted and she was able to just appreciate the simplicity of the moment.
She honestly wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the sun had lowered in the sky when she felt her first tug.
Her eyes widened. "Keegs…" she whispered, not wanting to disrupt his Zen but realizing they hadn't gone over what to do when she caught a fish. "I-I think I've got something."
Keegan dug his rod into the mud at the bottom of the river to keep it in place and carefully trekked over to her.
"Tip up, right here." And of course he was behind her again and her stomach was doing flips. Since when did this man have so much control over her physiological reactions?
"If he starts to run, let him. Once he slows down, we'll try reeling again. We've got to tire him out and if we fight him the line with break." Keegan explained.
Troian nodded and followed his instructions, her heartbeat pumping in her ears as the adrenaline rushed through her. It was oddly exhilarating trying to reel the fish in. The suspense was building and broke free when the fish finally was raised out of the water and into her hands.
"I caught a fish!" she blurted out stupidly, laughing giddily.
"Decent size too, Troi. Let me get a picture of it before you release him." Keegan told her, fishing his iPhone out of his pants and snapped a shot of her and her first catch. Her eyes were lit up in excitement and pride and he swore she could put all the stars to shame.
He deposited his phone safely back inside his pocket before assisting her in properly unhooking and releasing the fish.
Overwhelmed with happiness, Troian hugged him tightly in thanks. Keegan's arms looped around her to return the gesture, smiling slightly.
Their sweet moment was interrupted, however, by something brushing against her foot in the water.
Squeaking in surprise, Troian broke away from him and scanned frantically for the source of the disturbance.
"Maybe that fish is mad at me for winning our tug-of-war." she commented, shrugging.
"Nah, I think it might have been that eel." Keegan said, nodding towards the elongated fish shimmying by.
Troian's eyes went huge and without even thinking about it, she leapt onto her best friend with a yelp.
Thankfully, Keegan was rather strong and managed to get a hold of her rather than letting her crash back into the river.
He burst out laughing at her rather girly outburst. She was still scrambling to get higher and away from the snake-like creature.
"Shut up, they're awful." she pouted at him.
He rolled his eyes amusedly. "I think that's enough fly-fishing for today. It's getting late anyways, especially if the eels are coming out. We should get dinner on the go."
She nodded and was grateful that he put her down after they were out of the water.
Keegan was doing his best to keep from laughing at her. He always thought of her as fearless, and he loved that she was so different from most girls, but he sort of loved when she acted like a girl too. He was old-fashioned in the sense that he liked to feel like she would come to him for protection.
They had set up camp earlier, planning on getting the full experience of the outdoors, and left the site with linked arms to gather some materials. Their conversation turned to old childhood adventure stories and happy memories of the past. Sharing had never been an issue with them. They both loved learning more about the other. Despite them both being California natives, they had much different upbringings.
Troian worked on getting the air mattress inflated for later while Keegan worked on starting the fire. The mattress came with a pump so it didn't take her long, and when she came out she saw Keegan scraping two rocks together.
Her mouth fell open when a spark ignited from the friction and lit the kindling, gradually spreading to letting the flames lick along the logs.
"You just… you just made fire with your bare hands." she breathed. "That's impressive."
He smiled, flattered. "Something my dad taught me. Usually started with a 'Back in my day, we didn't have lighters…'" he teased, imitating a wheezy old man voice even though Troian knew firsthand his dad sounded nothing like that.
She ruffled his hair as she passed, coming to sit next to him on the log.
"Getting hungry?" she asked, dragging the cooler closer to them.
He was setting up the grill. "Yeah, I figure now is as good a time as any. Beer?"
She smiled, accepted the bottle. "You know me well."
After black bean burgers, a few beers and some music between the two best friends, they both were feeling pretty fantastic and mellowed out. It was dark out now, but the fire was providing a nice glow.
Troian stretched out, grunting a little at the kinks popping in her efforts. "You know you're really talented at that. Ever consider going pro?"
She was nodding towards the guitar in his hand.
He smiled as he placed it back in the case beside him, snapping the buckles to lock it shut. "I've considered it, but it's not something I'm interested in right now. I prefer just hanging out and jamming with people, like you and Keith. I love sharing music with anybody, but it just means a lot more when it's with those closest to me."
She nodded in understanding, and seeing his quirked eyebrow she smiled. "I have the same reason, although I've always been shyer about it than you have."
"That's because you seem to be oblivious to how great you are, at anything." he reminded her, laughing when she tossed a chip at him. "Do you want bears?" he teased, picking up the projectile and tossing it in the fire to dispose of the scent.
She rolled her eyes. "It'd be your fault. You're always heaping undeserved praise on me."
"Hardly. I'm just telling it like it is. You're just blind of all that you've got going for you." Keegan explained.
She was poised to respond with a witty retort when she heard a noise come from behind them.
Troian looked over her shoulder warily, into the dark woods. She couldn't see a damn thing. There could be a bear crouching there for all she knew, or it could just be a bush.
She turned back to the fire, ignoring the slight smirk on Keegan's face and forgetting all about their previous conversation.
She wasn't a coward, she was just… cautious. Yes. Exactly. Safety first and all of that jazz.
She decided to change the subject. "Mind passing me one of those?" she asked, pointing towards the s'mores they made.
He handed her one and their fingers brushed. Thankfully the alcohol she had consumed left her naturally a little flushed and the dim lighting probably hid the glimmer of crimson sweeping across her face.
She bit into it, indulging for once on something so ridiculously unhealthy. She could care less right now though. She didn't have any concerns about looking a certain way around Keegan.
Keegan suddenly snickered and gestured to the side of his mouth. Curious, she touched the same spot on her own face and found that a glob of marshmallow-chocolate mixture had gathered there. She wiped it away, but Keegan was still amused.
"Oh, because you're so neat huh?" she asked with raised eyebrows, and he knew he was in for it based on the playful grin on her face.
She peeled open what was leftover of her s'more and wiped the insides across his cheek triumphantly.
He sent her a look as she dissolved into giggles at her rather lame joke.
"You know that's ridiculously hot, right?" he deadpanned.
Her mouth formed an 'o' as she struggled to control her laughter. "Oh, I'm sorry." she replied, pressing her lips together firmly to keep her giggles at bay and reaching out to scrape away the sticky mess with her hand. She wet a piece of paper towel in the ice from the cooler and cleaned off the last of it.
It was suddenly very quiet between them, and his eyes were watching hers carefully as she continued stroking his face delicately. She dropped the cloth into the bag they deemed the garbage bin and turned back to see his eyes trained on her mouth. She swallowed nervously, unconsciously leaning closer to him.
But she suddenly heard a twig snap only a few feet away. She leapt about a foot in the air and instinctively shuffled closer to Keegan, bumping their knees and swiveling around to see what kind of lake monster was going to come eat them.
Keegan couldn't help himself; he started laughing. "Troian, relax. There's nothing there. It's the woods, there are always noises. Animals are always moving around but it doesn't mean we are in any danger. It might just be the wind."
"You heard that though, right? How do you know it's not a bear or a moose or something?" she asked, sneakily shuffling closer so she could cuddle into him for safety. She wasn't normally very cowardly, but she had never been attacked by an animal before. She wasn't really sure what she would do to defend herself. And after Keegan's jab about her attracting bears, she was nervous she had dropped food without realizing and they picked up the scent.
Keegan wrapped his arm around her protectively, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with his other hand to get her to face him. "Do you really think I'd ever let anything happen to you?"
Troian was silent as his words washed over her. She was a little lost in those blue eyes of his, as always. But they were a Caribbean blue when he spoke the tender words and she longed to drown in their depths. She swallowed visibly as her eyes darted down to his mouth, the one she had kissed so many times on camera but never in their private time, and felt the all too familiar craving building to close the distance between them. She suddenly remembered very vividly what had been interrupted by the noise and was curious if he was fighting the same craving now.
Keegan was apparently oblivious to the direction of her thoughts and simply pulled her closer, nodding towards the sky. "I love it out here at night especially; you can see so many stars. My dad taught me all of the constellations."
Troian snuggled closer, finally taking in the beauty of the sparkling night sky. There was far too much light pollution in LA to get a view like this. She was yet again grateful for the mini getaway.
"Show me." she murmured to her best friend, enjoying the quiet of the night now, all previous worries forgotten now that he had his arm around her. Keegan always made her feel safe, no matter what was going on.
Keegan smiled and pointed out the patterns, showing the visible Zodiac signs, the planets, the classic constellations and even a passing satellite. He spoke quietly about how to determine them based on certain collections of stars that led into the other constellations, and Troian closed her eyes as she leaned into him. There was something so mellowing about listening to Keegan speak; his voice was very soothing, just the rich tone to it.
He seemed to realize he was losing his audience and dragged her legs over his lap so he could lift her comfortably and take her to bed. She tightened her grip around his neck, not opening her eyes but shaking her head. "Can we just stay like this for a bit? Keep going. I promise I'm listening." she told him earnestly.
Immune to saying no to her, Keegan kept talking as he traced languid designs into her back. She sighed in bliss into his neck, inhaling the subtle scent of his cologne. Keegan always managed to smell good.
A small gust of wind sent a shiver through Troian and she nuzzled into his shirt, seeking his warmth. The night brought with it a drop in temperature and she was beginning to feel it in her extremities.
"All right, bed time." Keegan decided, having noticed her shiver and ready for the comfort of the sleeping bags in the tent himself.
Without hesitating, Keegan lifted Troian in her cocooned form, carrying her gracefully over the threshold into their canvas cave. Laying her gently on top of one of the sleeping bags, Keegan began unzipping the other to make it easier to slide her in.
Troian sat up a little, her eyes a little hazy as she was overcome with sleep. When her body was ready to sleep, she had little control over stopping it. "Can we… do you mind if we open them both out and use it as more of a double bed than two separate bags? I think it's going to be a cold one and I'd much rather your body warmth than to shiver alone."
He nodded. "Good idea." He tried to hide his nervous swallow from her. It's not that he and Troian hadn't shared a bed before, but usually they didn't do it on purpose. Sometimes they crashed when watching a movie or just talking late at night.
But he knew Troian's body temperature was naturally on the colder side; it came from her being so tiny- her circulation wasn't the best. He, conveniently, tended to run warmer so they complemented each other well.
Troian helped him set the bed up and then dug through her bag for her change of clothes. Keegan took that as his cue to do the final tending to the campfire and grabbed his pajamas to change outside.
Once he heard the all clear from her, he re-entered the tent and tried to keep his eyes off of her. She was stretching across the mattress to zip the last bit of the sleeping bags together. The tank top she was wearing was riding up to reveal the dimples of her back and he had to consciously remember that she was taken and his best friend so he had no right to admire her that way.
She smiled when he settled in next to her.
Keegan was less pleased. "Jesus, your toes are freezing!" he cried out, the icy appendages brushing against his foot.
"Oh stop being such a baby." she argued, snuggling into him for warmth.
Against his better judgment, he held her close. She nuzzled her face into his neck.
She has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend. he chanted in his head.
"Keegan?" Troian whispered a few minutes later.
"Mm?"
"Thanks for today. I think I really needed it." she admitted, the rare vulnerability shining in her voice.
He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "No need to thank me."
She smiled into his shoulder as she got comfortable. "I love you, Keegs."
"I love you too." he promised.
If only she knew how true those words were. There was something about Troian though, that had him convinced that his feelings weren't ever going to change about her. He was hooked and he wasn't letting go.