This story is made up. T'is fake. It never happened. I made this shit up.
And can I just say that I love that anon who keeps telling me to update. Seriously, it makes me chuckle in glee.
"Why wouldn't ridding your mind of me be easy?" Joseph asked Caroline, speaking in a quieter voice than normal since Candice was so close to him.
They'd gone over the lines once already, but were now trying to find and add all the right emotions. Candice had found a pen and they were dealing it back and forth between one another to make notes on the sides of their paper.
"Because you've made quite an impression on me," Candice replied with sass.
"Am I to take that as a good or bad thing?" Joseph frowned at his paper.
Candice shook her head. "Nope," she said, abandoning her script. "I have to see your face for this. Adds emotion," she explained as she started turning on the couch to face him.
Joseph took a few seconds to register what she was doing, and when he continued to just sit there, Candice quickly ushered him to turn towards her as she had. "Practice makes permanent, so we've got to do this while looking at one another."
"Uh huh," Joseph agreed as he moved around, facing her sideways on the couch. "You just can't get enough of my gorgeous face," he teased.
Candice leaned closer and started messing with her bangs. "Actually, no. I can just see my reflection in your eyes," she played along.
Joseph chuckled and went back to the script. "Good thing or a bad thing?" he repeated.
Candice shook her head, gathering herself, and looked back up at him from the paper. "Kinda both, isn't it? I think I finally found love, but now I can't let you-"
"You found what?" Joseph interrupted.
Candice forced herself to stutter, looking in his eyes in panic. She wanted to just abandon the script and make everything up like she knew that they could - because she could just feel the chemistry coursing between them. Chemistry that could be so much more if they had more leash. She hated being glued to the lines. But she did what Caroline was meant to and gave up fighting. "You know what I said," she sighed.
Joseph smirked, feeling Klaus' cockyness coming out. "You said love," he informed her.
Candice nodded. "Yes, thank you for repeating it..."
Joseph paused for a few seconds, staring straight into Candice's eyes. "Where do you see love in our little flings?"
Candice held Joseph's bright blue eyes as she looked for words. She knew what her line was, but she couldn't find her voice. She swallowed hard and quickly steadied her breath. "Well, you've said it to me before."
Joseph tilted his head to the side. "Many have said that to you before..." he reminded her.
Candice looked down at her lap, feeling like she was under a spotlight (which didn't make any sense since she lived with a camera in her face and should have been used to the pressure). She looked at her lines, just so it seemed that she had turned away from him for a reason. "But it feels different with you. With everyone else, it was just high school sweethearts. With you..." Eyes met one another once again, holding a thick connection of tension and chemistry. "I feel like I'm opening the doors to the world and all its danger. And I love it."
Joseph slowly smirked. Neither noticed that they were both leaning closer to one another. If anyone were to see them (which someone was) then they easily could have assumed the two were having a very intimate conversation with one another. Their faces were close enough to feel one another's breath. Candice's stomach fluttered gently and Joseph couldn't take his eyes from hers, even to look at his script.
"So why haven't we run away together yet?" Candice asked in a quiet, slow voice.
Joseph knew his last line. He'd been all too curious about it before they started. "Because I'm still waiting to hear the words."
Candice's breath caught in her throat at his words. She knew it was Klaus speaking, but it didn't feel like Caroline responding. So she surprised them both when she pushed herself forward suddenly, her lips falling onto Joseph's.
He knew there was a line before they were to touch, but he didn't even think about it as he instantly responded to the kiss. His hand rose to hold the back of her neck while he kissed her back as eagerly as she had started. The script left his mind as he became completely focused on the feeling of her lips. He'd kissed her before, yes, but he couldn't help feel that this was them. The kiss wasn't planned originally. Was this Candice or just Caroline skipping to the point?
The question was killing him, but he didn't let it keep him from wrapping his hands around Candice's neck and pull her closer while he took control of the kiss. Candice had almost gone limp from the contact. Her eyes weren't coming open any time soon. She hadn't expected Joseph to react to her spontaneous move as much as he was; however, she wouldn't be the one to end the kiss.
And it wasn't either one of them that ended the kiss when it boiled down to it. It was the lurker in the corner that interrupted them. They both frowned at the sound of clapping, and turned their heads to the sound. Walking out of the shadows was a man dressed in a suit with a very amused look on his face. "I must say," he said in an overly professional voice, "that was incredible acting, even if you were just going over the lines for the first time."
Joseph frowned at the man in a bit of anger. His hands slowly fell from Candice's neck as he opened his mouth to question the man beside them, but the man beat him to the cut. "What is your agent's name?" he asked Joseph.
Joseph raised an eyebrow. "Who's asking?"
The man reached into his pocket. "Carsons. You can call me just that. I'm quite impressed with your ability to jump into character so well. Please, give your agent my card," he said as he held out a small business card. "I would love to work with you..."
With that, he smirked at the two on the couch and started walking away. But he stopped at the door. "Oh, how rude of me," he almost gasped. Candice assumed he was going to comment on her acting because he'd been so polite to skip over her before. "What was your name?" he asked.
Candice twitched her eyebrow up for a moment as she looked to the side in annoyance. "Morgan," Joseph replied. "Joseph Morgan."
The man by the name of Carsons nodded. "I look forward to hearing your name again, Mr. Morgan."
Joseph turned to Candice with an offended look as the door shut behind the blunt man. "What on earth?"
Candice took the business card from Joseph and skimmed over it. "Jen Carsons. Worker for...himself?" She looked up at him. "This guy is way too full of himself."
"He's an agent. Aren't they all?"
Candice chuckled and handed him the card. "Come on. Hour's up. We've got to get onto set. I think we've kinda got this scene down." She stood up off the couch and walked to the door, not even giving him a look over her shoulder as she exited the room. Joseph sighed to himself. No, she'd just been acting. Of course. He really needed to stop getting his hopes up when things like this happened. She wasn't feeling anything towards him. It was just his imagination.
.
Candice took a drink of her water as Nina and Ian finished up their scene. "Alright, that good with everyone?" Kevin asked.
Ian almost immediately clicked his pen and wrote down on his script. "I think Damon shouldn't be quite so hesitant. He's always wanting to make amends with Stefan, so he should be more... 'Let's make this right again!' instead of this timid and unsure approach," he finished, wringing his hands together in thought just in case they didn't understand what he meant.
Kevin nodded. "Alright. Duly noted. Anyone else? Okay. Moving on. Caroline and Tyler." He took a deep breath as everyone around the table started flipping the papers of the script. "'Kay. Tyler walks into the Grill and Caroline's there. Go."
"Hey," Candice started, then frowned as she read Tyler's line.
"I want you back," Michael said with confidence from beside Candice.
"What? You can't be serious," Candice read.
"I'm serious, Caroline. I'm still in love with you."
"Tyler, no. You can't. Really."
"Why? Nothing's stopping us from being together again."
Candice chuckled, feeling the same awkwardness that Caroline was to be experiencing. "Yes there is." She looked up from her script across the table at Joseph, who was staring intently at his paper. "I'm with Klaus now."
Joseph smirked and looked up at Candice, giving her the look he always did when something in the script confirmed that Caroline was connected to Klaus.
"What?" Michael questioned in anger. "Since when?"
"A couple weeks?"
"Why?"
Candice frowned at Michael. "Why, what?" she demanded.
"How can you be with Klaus?" he asked in disgust, getting completely into the feel of the scene.
Candice looked back to her lines. "Because he treats me better than you, maybe?"
"Just because he can put your face on a piece of paper doesn't mean he treats you better than I do."
"See? This is what I'm talking about. He's more caring to me than you'll ever be."
"Bull! I love you; you can't tell me he's ever said that to you."
Candice hesitated. "Yes he has. And he's actually meant he loves all of me, not just the fun side like you did." She felt her stomach flutter at the thought of Joseph saying those words.
"How can you have so much faith in him?" Michael spat.
"Because I know him," Candice replied.
Michael chuckled. "No you don't. Not at all-"
"I love him, alright?" she said quickly. She leaned back in her seat a bit, trying to keep her head on so she didn't accidentally squeal out loud. She glanced up long enough to see Joseph smiling into the hand he was propping his head up with. She knew he was beyond happy with his character.
Michael gave the moment a short pause, most likely trying to figure out exactly what Tyler was feeling. "You love him? You realize he's the devil, don't you?"
"Why?" Candice read the paper. "Because he's a hybrid? Because he's killed? Well newsflash, Tyler, so have you. We all have."
"He does it for pleasure."
"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure he's been through more hell than you have, so give him a break."
"Give him a break? Caroline...What the hell is wrong with you? Did he compel you?" Michael demanded.
Candice scoffed. "I'm done with you, Tyler-" She stopped mid sentence and looked up from the script. "Whoa. Is this ending this fast?" she asked Kevin from down the table.
Kevin looked up with a frown. "What?"
"Caroline and Tyler. They've been together for over three seasons, and we're just going to end it all in one thirty second scene?"
"We have to. We've got more Klaus fans than we do Tyler. Tyler and Caroline have basically been done for a while now anyway," Kevin explained.
"Actually," Paul stepped in, "I thought they had already ended things."
Candice inhaled and shook her head, giving up. "Alright. Sorry, I guess I just haven't been paying attention."
Nina nodded. "No, I found it shocking, too."
"Found what shocking?" Ian asked.
"That this is just done so fast," Candice explained.
Nina laughed. "It must be a female thing. We know what we're talking about and they're clueless."
Kevin leaned on his elbows on the table and raised his eyebrows. "Yes, we're obviously missing something. Julie isn't helping with this episode so would you like to share what your thoughts are?"
Nina looked at Candice. "You want to take this one?"
Candice sighed. "Tyler and Caroline have been together for a long time, like I said. She finally gave into Klaus at the beginning of the season, and she hasn't really talked to Tyler that much. This is where you guys went wrong with Damon and Elena and Stefan." Kevin raised his eyes in mock offence and Candice exhaled a laugh. "Well it's true. Damon and Elena got together and then it was kinda like Stefan was just kicked out of the picture and there was never really a reason that Elena left him other than 'she loved Damon.'"
Nina hummed her agreement. Paul licked his lips in confusion. Kevin looked down at his script as if it would give him answers. Joseph frowned. "So what are you saying should happen here?" he asked Candice in particular.
"I think that we should give Caroline a reason to start to dislike Tyler."
"Isn't her fighting with him here good enough?" Kevin asked.
Nina shook her head. "No. This is just a disagreement that will lead to an awkward friendship down the road."
Ian, who had been silent most of the time, clicked his pen a few times. "What's wrong with that?"
"The fans hate awkward friendships," Candice said in a low voice, like she was completely with the fans on that one. "They're just annoying. We want love or hate."
Joseph raised his eyebrows with a smirk on his face. "We?"
Candice kicked him from under the table, silencing his chuckle. "So we either make something horrible happen, or make Tyler a dick."
Kevin pursed his lips in thought. "Can't the situation just be that Caroline prefers Klaus?"
Nina raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "It can be, but you'll lose all your Forwood fans from the show."
Michael held his hand up as an idea came to him. "Wait. Caroline broke up with him in the first place because he was spending too much time with Hayley. Should we bring her back into amplify Caroline's dislikes even more?"
Candice pointed at him. "That could work."
Kevin sighed. "It might have to do for now. Alright, I'll talk to Julie about it. Continue with the scene, please."
Candice and Nina seemed to be content with what they had everyone agree to. Candice felt like she was really part the show; it was every day that she got to give them suggestions. Normally she was too timid to because it was typically their show. This was just a really good day all around. She'd spent the entire day with Joseph...had moments that made her nerves tingle out of control...and was now finally getting in on helping with the script.
Michael repeated his previous line. "Did he compel you?"
"I'm done with you, Tyler," she said once again. Caroline starts exiting building, she read from the paper.
"You're leaving me for Satan himself. You realize that, don't you? That makes you almost as bad as him."
Candice was taken back by Tyler's line, but that was the line's purpose. She forced herself to feel the natural heavy chest that Caroline would be getting. "I guess that just makes you an angel, doesn't it?" she snapped back.
"At least I'm not turning on my friends."
Cardice didn't reply to him after that. She was supposed to be too upset to form words. Caroline turns and leaves the Grille. Runs straight into Klaus.
Joseph quickly got into character. "Caroline? What is it?" he asked in a worried voice.
Candice shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing, let's just leave," she said quickly. Caroline was trying to keep him from getting to Tyler because he would surely kill him.
"Caroline, you're close to tears. What is it?" Joseph persisted.
"I'll tell you on our way to your house," she told him. Caroline pulls Klaus away from the building.
"Is it Tyler?" Joseph checked.
"How would you possibly know that?"
"You reek of him."
Candice chuckled to herself. "Of course I do. Yes. It's Tyler. Can we just drop it? I don't want to talk about him."
"Must I kill him for you?"
"No. That's why you need to come on. You can't kill him, no matter how much we both want to."
Michael held his hands up in offence. "Hey!" he complained to Kevin. Everyone at the table laughed at him.
Paul put his hand on Michael's shoulder. "No one likes you, man, sorry," he teased.
.
Joseph picked up his bag of papers from his chair as everyone around the table started standing up to leave. With the new episode read through and ready to begin, they all had to go finish the episodes they were currently working on. That never made sense to Joseph. Why get halfway through something just to add more complications and thoughts onto the end of the finished project. But he didn't run the show. He didn't know what it took to make sure everything didn't fall to the ground.
He reached into his pocket, careful not to bump his elbow into Ian as he walked past. He pulled out his phone and saw that he had a new text from Nate. The text brought a smile to his face. The two had been telling one another about artists they were fond of, and Nate's tended to be amazing, so this new suggestion was sure to open up a new world to Joseph on his stuffy day.
He didn't pay attention as he expertly walked towards the door of the room and walked into the now crowded hallway, all while punching up his internet to Youtube the artist. But when he opened his internet explorer, he saw that Candice's email was still open on his phone. He had taken it away from her before she had the chance to exit out.
He should have just logged out for her, been a gentleman and respected her privacy. And he was on his way to doing exactly that, but he caught sight of his name in one of the email's headings. "Joseph. Sexy name for a sexy guy ;)" It was his name. He just had to see what was going on.
He clicked on the email, opening the link to the message she had gotten from a Tanya Collin. "Of course I've seen your show. It's pretty dramatic. You're pretty dramatic. Lol And you're all so damn hot. Especially Joseph Morgan. I forgot his character's name, but I know that he has the hots for you. My question to you, dear Candice, is does Joseph in real life?"
Again, he should have just left it at that. He saw one email, that was bad, yes, but it wasn't as bad ass reading every single one of them. But of course Joseph couldn't help himself as he went back to the inbox and clicked on the email that came after the previous.
"Okay, okay. I get it. You guys are just friends. But seriously, I don't think Johnny Depp himself is good enough to pull off the looks Klaus gives your character. I mean, serious sparks."
Joseph didn't know what he had wanted to read. Had he wanted Candice to admit that she hoped he would ask her out because the feelings were mutual? Had he just wanted his own interests to stay in the dark? But what he discovered really wasn't what he'd been wanting. Candice didn't think anything was going on between them, and that upset him.
That meant all the looks he'd shared with her that he thought meant something didn't. All the times he'd thought the flirting had gotten out of just the teasing range and into actually flirting...it hadn't. He was on a one-way road in that relationship, and it was almost as pathetic as an elementary school crush.
Joseph quickly logged out of Candice's email and put his phone in his pocket. What was he doing? He was a grown man, this was ridiculous. If he wanted answers, he would go to Candice personally. And since he didn't, he would leave it at that. He would keep his heart to himself to save his sanity, and if he waited long enough, the flame he had for Candice would burn out eventually. He just needed to give it time, then he would be a free man again.
.
Candice laughed with Michael as they rode in his car, yelling over the insanely loud music. "Hey!" he said suddenly. "Did I tell you that my cousin is coming up in a couple weeks?"
Candice shook her head as the car slowed down in front of a red light. "No, you didn't," she called over the music. Michael reached forward to turn it down a couple notches when he got a glare from a nearby car. He laughed again and Candice continued. "What's she coming up for?"
Candice had heard a lot of Michael's cousin, but had never actually met her. Michael shook his head like it wasn't for any big reason. "I just invited her up for a while."
"What was her name? Tina?"
"Jennifer," Michael laughed out loud. Candice was about to apologize, but laughed with him instead.
"I meant Jennifer. I totally meant that," she joked. Michael nodded his fake agree and turned onto a different road. "Where are we going to eat?"
"Olive Garden," he replied as he turned yet another corner.
"You mean the same place we've run into groups and groups of screaming fans?"
"No, that was the Olive Garden on the other side of town. This is the Olive Garden with that cute waiter."
Candice gasped. "Michael! You have a girlfriend," she reminded him behind the smile that wasn't going to come off her face easily.
"Not a female," he chuckled. "The guy that you won't shut up about," he corrected.
Candice gasped again, but in a good way. She tapped his shoulder nearly ten times. "I completely forgot about him!" she exclaimed. But then she stopped and got a dreaded feeling in her stomach. "Wait. I have a ton of makeup on my face. I'll look like a prostitute!"
Michael frowned at her like she was crazy. "Calm down. He knows we're on the show."
"He does?" Candice questioned. "Since when?"
Michael shrugged. "I might have mentioned it to him when he asked about you the other day."
Candice's head snapped to look at him with big eyes. "He what?" she demanded.
Michael pulled the car into a parking place and turned the car off before he replied. "I was here a week ago and he asked what happened to the beautiful blonde I was always with."
"And you said?" she demanded further as she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned her body completely towards him.
Michael was smiling, totally proud of himself. "I said you were just busy lately. Which then led onto us working on the show."
"So you've actually had a conversation with him now. How is he?"
Michael nodded his head to the side. "I'm not going to tell you," he smirked, then opened his door and got out, ignoring Candice's questions.
And he continued to ignore her as they got into the building and were directed towards a table. Candice kept her eyes pealed for the dark haired man as she followed Michael like a lost puppy. "How do you know he's even here?"
Michael rolled his eyes. "Saturday evening. He's always here."
"You talked to him enough that you know his schedule?" she hissed in his ear while he led her through the other tables of people eating.
Michael widened his eyes in exasperation and turned to look at her with his annoyed look. She pulled back a step and pursed her lips in an understanding face. She was being too excited and pushy.
She said nothing else until they were at their table, seated, and looking over the menu. "What's his name?" she asked casually as she skimmed the food.
"William," he answered casually as well, not looking up at her.
But that was it for calm, because his name made Candice excited. "William? Like Shakespeare?"
Michael frowned and looked up at her. "Yes, it's Shakespeare resurrected," he deadpanned.
Candice bit her bottom lip. "I bet he's incredibly romantic," she giggled.
Michael leaned over the table and looked around like he was ashamed. "Will you control yourself, woman."
Before Candice could reply with a loud reply, someone stepped up to their table and spoke. "Good evening." Candice looked up and felt her cheeks get warm. "What can I get for you?" the tall man asked. His smile was whiter than pearls and his voice was smooth. He was looking at Candice, not paying attention to Michael at all.
Candice smiled sweetly and scrunched her nose in thought for a second. "I'm still thinking. I might just take water to start, though," she said in a voice much cuter than normal.
"With a bit of you on the side..." Michael muttered under his breath.
Candice looked at him with huge eyes. What was he doing? Michael smirked to himself and looked at William. "I'll take a hot tea for starters," he requested.
William nodded his gorgeous head, and Candice stared at his black curls that laid against his head and curled out at the end, making him look like he'd had a hat on earlier. "Alright, be back in a second," he winked at Candice.
Candice watched him walk away, and then kicked Michael when they were alone. "Bit of him on the side?" she repeated.
"You were thinking it," Michael retorted.
"In my head. Not out loud where he could hear!" she hissed.
"Well now he knows you're interested."
"He made that perfectly clear when he winked at me," she informed him.
Michael smirked. "You're welcome."
Candice rolled her eyes. "You're so annoying."
"You love me."
"And you're lucky I do or you'd be dead by now," she chuckled.
.
Nearly an hour later, they were leaving the restaurant, Michael ready to throw something at Candice for being so cheesy, and Candice smiling with William's number in her hand. "He's Italian," she whispered to Michael with glee.
Michael sighed. "I know, darling. I was there for the entire conversation."
Candice laced her arm through his as they walked out of the doors. "Oh come on, be happy for me," she pouted.
"I am," Michael chuckled. "I thought I made that obvious when I was giving you a good word when you in the bathroom putting on more perfume," he said, letting her know that he noticed.
Candice smiled up at him. "Thank you!" she sang. "Seriously, I wouldn't have a date if you hadn't helped."
Michael opened the door of the car for her. "And I expect to get all the chocolate he sends you."
Candice pulled the door shut before he could tease any more. She smiled down at the paper with his sloppy number written on it. This wasn't just exciting because she now had a date for the first time in a long while, but this might be what she needed to finally get over thoughts and dreams about...well, someone that she really shouldn't have been interested in. That was on screen only, and she needed to get that through her head.
I shall admit that I have not updated because with news of the spin off, I panicked. But I think I have a path for this story once again. Thank you all for reviewing and letting me know what you think. And thank you all for not yelling at me for being sick because I'm shipping Jodice. It's innocent and you all seem to understand that and I love you all for it. Here, have a pie.