thanks so much for the reviews, please forgive any mistakes, I'm home sick today so I'm not completely clear headed. ;)
After several weeks of rehearsal Camille was feeling much more confident and at ease with the cast and crew thanks to the subtle unnoticed efforts of her new best friend Moose.
He was always behind the scenes unseen by her, making sure that her life was made just a little bit easier.
It wasn't anything grandiose, but tiny gestures that always made her feel more at home or more comfortable.
Her favorite flavored coffee was alway on hand in the morning, even though unbeknownst to her, he was the one who trecked four blocks down the block to the only cafe that made it.
He always planned for someone to be free after rehearsal to get her home if it was late, if he couldn't get away of course.
And with a little extra charm he managed to get the chef at the hotel to make her favorite banana pancakes for dinner, something that her mom always made for her at home.
She was definitely getting into the vibe on set, her personality and big heart was winning everyone over, and they were definitely becoming what he said they already were, but in real life, best friends.
They hung out all the time, sometimes with the other dancers, but mostly just together sightseeing, or hanging in her hotel room watching movies.
It was perfectly perfect, in every perfect way but one, Moose felt more for her than friendship, thinking back he felt it right away, it was like a lightning bolt hitting him the moment the dust cleared from their first real encounter in years.
He hadn't seen her since she was around ten or eleven, he didn't even recognize her at first, but as soon as he laid eyes on her he felt a feeling he had definitely never felt before.
It never occurred to him that it would turn into anything more than just intense, mind blowing attraction, but the more time they spent together, the closer they became it became very apparent that their real life was closely following the scripted one, at least for him it was.
One good thing was that their chemistry was undeniable on screen, it was almost impossible not to feel as if they were really falling in love.
It was obvious when the director called cut that the crew would be hanging on their every word or giving them a goofy smile as if they were really watching something unfold for real.
They became inseparable, which was awesome, but increasing difficult at the same time to hide the closeness that was growing between them, especially from themselves.
Moose would often be tempted to pull her in for a kiss when they were rehearsing or laying next to each other watching a movie in her room.
He'd often space out imagining what it would be like to hold her in his arms, to say all the things he'd been keeping in all this time.
But as outgoing and charismatic as Moose was on the outside, inside he was incredibly shy when it came to matters of the heart.
Sure he had girlfriends before, but honestly it was always initiated by the girl, and usually brought on by who he was on camera, and not for himself.
Camille was really the only female that really knew the real him, who seemed to love everything about him, he trusted her like no other, and if truth be known there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her.
It was all going great until one particular week.
It was the week that they were rehearsing for their big romantic dance number "I won't dance."
Every day they would rehearse straight into the night trying to get every move perfect, this was especially hard due to the fact that the dance scene was being filmed in one continuous shot, so if there was one mistake, one misstep, they'd have to start completely over from the top.
Camille had been taking dance classes since she could walk so choreography was not an issue for her, she was more than used to learning specific dance steps that has to be synchronized with others making the timing perfect.
Moose however was a natural talent, his body just moved to the music, moved as if he was taken over by something or someone else, he was incredible to watch, there really was no one like him, but he enjoyed that feeling, he felt more comfortable in that realm of freestyle dance.
So needless to say it wasn't an easy week, Camille was fine, her down to earth, laid back personality gave her endless amounts of patience, she never seemed to mind going over each part of the dance again and again until it was perfect, with him it seemed as if she just enjoyed being with him, it never looked as if she was working, especially when they danced together, she seemed blissfully happy.
Time was always an issue working on this movie, scenes moved fast, especially when they were dancing, they were always expected to be on point, that's why it was more than a little shocking when Camille showed up on set late the day they were to shoot their dance scene.
It was only fifteen minutes late, but for someone like Camille it might as well been hours.
Walking in she apologized softly, visibly appearing very upset, her eyes were red and slightly swollen as if she'd been crying.
After a few takes that had gone very badly the director called for a break, "Camille please head to the makeup trailer for some touch ups, everyone take fifteen."
Watching her disappear into the trailer Moose grew very concerned.
He waited a good five minutes before sticking his head inside the door needing to know if there was anything he could do.
Peering inside he saw Cindy with her arm around Camille stroking her hair as if consoling her as she softly cried.
Taking a hesitant step toward them he whispered as he approached her. "Hey Cam, is everything ok?"
Getting a stern look from Cindy, Moose shrugged innocently, "Of course she's not alright, the girl is crying, can't you see that?"
Lifting her chin Cindy shook her head, "I'm not going to be able to do anything here until she calms down, Moose try talking to her, I need to get some ice for those eyes."
Pulling up a chair next to her, he eased her hands down away from her face. "Cam, we're alone, tell me what's going on, please, I can't stand to see you cry."
After a few seconds she pulled a flyer out of her bag. "You mean to tell me you haven't seen these, they're everywhere."
Confused Moose grabbed it completely stunned. It was a copy of a small article from a dance magazine he had never ever heard of, titled "A unbelievable, unrealistic romance between homely Camille and Moose, the boy who's become the breakout star of the hit movie Step Up series."
Covering her face she leaned forward feeling ridiculous, "It was taped to my hotel door, and on every window, pole, mailbox from there to the studio."
Crumbling it up he immediately threw it in the garbage when suddenly it occurred to him who could've done such a thing.
"Cam, please listen to me, there's a girl, a fan that became a little too obsessed with me, she broke into my house, she'd search out my family's garbage for personal things, she's crazy. This article isn't real, she made it up, I've never even heard of this magazine, and there's no way in hell anyone could even think that about you. I know this is all her, if you give me a chance later tonight after shooting I'll prove it to you."
Sighing she looked up at him feeling completely stupid, really unsure why she even took this so hard. "You must think I'm an idiot, even if it was real, I shouldn't be acting this way. I don't know what's wrong with me."
Lifting her chin he wiped away her tears with his sleeve before pressing her forehead to his, "Listen to me, you are beautiful and incredibly talented and we are going to go out there and prove to them that this dance was more than they could've even imagined it to be. You know why?"
Shaking her head she couldn't help but smile at his sweet goofy smile. "No, why Moose."
Bringing his lips to her ear, he whispered softly to her, causing chills to rush throughout her entire body. "Because it's me and you, always Cam."
Before she could really take in what he had just said Cindy had walked back in with a bag of ice and he was gone. "She's all your's."
By the end of the day their special dance scene was shot perfectly, they moved effortlessly together as if they were in their own little world, only a few mistakes were because of them, most were due to lighting and the other cast members involved in the scene.
Still it was well after midnight when it was all over, Camille was changing back into her jeans and sweatshirt thinking that she was all alone when she came out of her trailer to find Moose standing there looking out the window across the lit up city while they were basically in the dark.
"Moose? What are you still doing here? I thought everyone had gone home."
Reaching out for her hand he pulled her close taking a small video camera out of his bag.
"I did leave for a while but I came back because I made a promise. There's something I want you to see. I had a friend of mine do a little favor for me while we were here all day."
Turning the camera on he wrapped his arm around her bringing her close so she could see.
It was a video of the girl Moose had been talking about earlier, she was being arrested for posting those fake articles on mailboxes.
"Apparently its a federal offense or something, at any rate, I have a friend, who knows a cop, and well I don't think she'll be harassing you anymore."
Closing the camera, Camille smiled almost shyly, blown away that he would go through that much trouble to prove this to her.
"I don't know what to say, that was very sweet, you didn't have to do that for me."
Stepping closer to her he nodded seriously leaving his infamous smile behind.
In almost raspy whisper he lifted his big brown eyes to her needing her to know just how much she meant to him.
"Yes, I did."
Moved by his actions, and the way he looked at her, so vulnerable, so very clear that it was coming from his heart, she reached for his sweatshirt pulling him in close, with the intentions of giving him a friendly peck on the cheek.
It all happened so fast, and in slow motion at the same time, without planning it, or thinking it out, he turned slightly causing her kiss to land softly on his lips.
In his life he had never done anything so bold, not when it came to girls that was, not that there was any other girl that he would risk so much for.
His hands began to shake as they gently moved up to hold her arms, everything went silent except for the sound of her breathing, like a whisper, slow, unsteady against his mouth.
He thought for sure she would step away, punch him in the arm, thinking it was a joke, just expecting anything except for what really happened.
For a split second her eyes widened with surprise, then they slowly closed as she parted her lips clenching his shirt tight in her hand, holding him there under the brilliant lights of the city.
Breaking away for a second she hesitated as his heart stilled unsure of how she felt, or what this all meant.
Then it happened, she moved closer once again to deepen a kiss that she didn't see coming.
It was innocent and sweet, completely unexpected, totally explosive, and perfectly, perfect.