He wakes as the morning sun shines across the bed. He opens his eyes and smiles as he sees her draped across him, her hair splayed in every direction. He feels her stir slightly, her eyelashes tickling his chest as she blinks several times, trying to get her bearings. She looks up at him.
"Good morning," she yawns sleepily.
He wraps his arms around her, rolling them on their sides as he holds her tightly to him. "I haven't slept that well in ages," he tells her.
"Me neither," she agrees. She's enjoying the feeling of skin against skin when she hears a knock on the door.
"Ugh," she says, climbing out of bed reluctantly and pulling on a robe. "It's probably the girls being nosy again. I'll get rid of them. Don't move." She winks at him and disappears through the door, closing it behind her.
She opens it and is surprised to see Ben standing there, holding a bakery bag and two cups of coffee.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he asks.
"No," she answers, "Come on in, Ben."
He enters, handing her one of the cups of coffee. "I brought breakfast. I thought we could talk. I know most everyone is away for the weekend. Skylar said he was visiting his folks. Rebel and Alexis took a road trip."
"Oh," Anna says. Skylar hadn't mentioned that he told people he was going to be out of town for the weekend. She hopes this means he plans to spend all of it with her.
Ben moves to sit down at the table, and she sits with him as he hands her a pastry. "So listen," he begins, "I heard that you might like Skylar, but I need to hear from you. I like you, Anna. A lot. And I guess I need to know for sure if I'm ever going to have a chance with you. Skylar's my friend, and he's great, but I always thought that you and I had a connection. Maybe it was just in my head."
He trails off, and Anna is unsure of what to say. It's at that moment that she realizes that just behind Ben is clear evidence of what went on last night between her and Skylar. There's a trail of his and her clothing leading to the bedroom, two empty wine glasses on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and worst of all, an empty condom wrapper lying unceremoniously in the middle of it all. She tries to keep her composure, hoping he won't turn around and see it.
"Ben," she begins gently, "You know I like you as a friend. You're so sweet, and talented, and kind, but you're right, I do have feelings for Skylar. I'm sorry if this hurts you, because I'd never want to hurt a friend." She pats him on the hand reassuringly.
"Ok," he replies, "Well I had to know for sure. You can't blame a guy for trying," he adds, managing a weak smile before picking up his coffee and turning to leave. He turns around for a moment in his trek towards the door to say, "Well, enjoy the pastries at least." It's at that moment that she sees his eyes scan the room and notice Skylar's clothing.
"I thought you said you were into Skylar," Ben says carefully, anger evident in his tone. "But he's out of town!"
Just as Anna is trying to figure out how to get out of this mess, the bedroom door opens and out walks Skylar, dressed in a robe that matches hers from the hotel. He holds up his hands, walking towards his friend. "Ben, it's ok."
"You told me you were going out of town," Ben insists, his eyes darting between the two of them.
"I lied, and I'm sorry. Anna and I wanted to keep our relationship a secret for now. So please, don't mention this to anyone," Skylar explains.
"So you…and her…are serious?" Ben asks, gesturing to the discarded clothing and the fact that both of them are currently only wearing robes.
"Dixie Chicks serious," Skylar replies, trying to provide a little comic relief to an extremely awkward situation. He walks over to Anna, wrapping his arms around her from behind and leaning her into his chest. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, man. But I'm really happy, and I hope you can be happy for me, too."
Ben looks at Anna, "And you're happy too?" he asks.
"Yes," she answers, as Skylar presses a kiss to the top of her head.
"Ok, well," Ben stutters, clearly trying to figure out how to leave the room, "I guess I'll see you guys around." And with that, he's gone.
Anna sighs heavily as she turns around to face Skylar. "Well that was horribly awkward. I feel so bad for him. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him."
"I know me too," Skylar nods, playing with the ends of her robe belt. He gives it a little tug and it falls open. As he reaches out to grasp her hips and pull her closer, she smiles up at him.
"Someone is insatiable," she teases, untying his robe as he begins to trace small circles on her hips with his thumbs. She snakes her hands under his robe and around his waist, pulling his body flush against hers.
"Somehow I think it isn't just me," he grins, lowering his mouth to hers. And soon, their robes join the trail of clothing leading to the bedroom.
They spend the rest of the weekend together. They talk about everything from their childhoods to their parents and families. She opens up to him more about her past relationships, and he does the same. She's enjoying just being with him, and he can't believe how compatible they are. Everything seems natural with her.
They make love frequently, and the only clothing they put on the whole weekend is those terrycloth robes. At one point she attempts to shower alone, only to have him join her a few minutes later, his mouth hungrily attached to hers and his body pressing her against the cool tile wall. She loves how passionate he is about everything, and he loves how open and honest she is. By the time Sunday night rolls around, they're both feeling confident about where the relationship is headed so far.
He gives her a long, lingering kiss on the lips as he turns to go. "I'll miss you tonight," he tells her softly.
"Me too," she whispers, pressing one final kiss to his mouth before releasing him. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight beautiful," he says before disappearing into the hallway.
Only she doesn't see him tomorrow, or the next day, or even the day after that. She's filming all the Bellas scenes, and he's in the recording studio and filming scenes with Ben. They text each other occasionally, but he hasn't been up to her room since the weekend. He tells her that by the time he's finished working each day he's too exhausted to do anything but sleep and she knows the feeling well. But still, she misses him.
Skylar is going crazy. He desperately wants to just see her or talk to her, and he's growing more frustrated and distracted by the minute. He keeps telling himself it's only a few days, and that when this film wraps it's going to be even harder with them in different places with different schedules. But their relationship is new, and his heart and body don't seem to be getting the memo. He's pacing his trailer one day late in the week when he hears a quiet knock on the door. He flings it open to see her standing there, and she quickly pushes past him. She's kissing him before the door clicks behind her, and her hands are everywhere. She's pulling eagerly at his clothes in an attempt to remove them.
"Careful," he warns, "These are property of Jesse Swanson."
"I don't care," she grits out, and he laughs as he pulls his shirt over his head. They quickly shed the rest of their clothing, and she leads him toward the couch, pulling him down on top of her. It's cold in the trailer and he covers them partially with a blanket as he moves over her. It's desperate, and quick, and within minutes she's breathing his name over and over again. He's so wrapped up in her that he almost doesn't hear the sounds of someone else knocking on the trailer door followed by the sound of it opening.
"Skylar?" he hears a shocked voice say, and he turns to see Beth standing there, her mouth agape. "Anna Kendrick?" she says, recognizing the girl beneath him.
He pulls the blanket up, covering them as much as possible, and it about to open his mouth to explain when they hear the door slam as Beth leaves. He jumps up, scrambling to put on his clothes and chase after her. "I need to fix this," he says to Anna as he runs out the door, still throwing his shirt on in the process.
Anna dresses quickly, waiting for him to come back.
"Beth!" Skylar calls, running after her. She spins around, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What do you want, Skylar?" she says angrily, and he's taken aback.
"I want to explain what you saw," he says, "Anna and I are together, it's just not public knowledge yet and I'd like to keep it that way."
"I just thought we'd had a nice moment the other day while filming, and I was going to ask if you wanted to grab dinner sometime. I guess I was mistaken," Beth says, still looking mad.
"Look, I'm sorry if I did anything to mislead you," he says honestly. "I hope you can respect our privacy and keep what you saw to yourself."
She nods, but doesn't say anything. He jogs back to the trailer, hoping that Anna is still there. "Sorry about that," he says. "Turns out she had a crush on me after talking to me for like five seconds the other day. Next time let's remember to lock the door!"
She shakes her head, "I guess you can't help it if you're irresistible," she jokes.
He hugs her, holding her tightly against him. "I really missed you," he says quietly.
"I missed you too," she replies, learning her head on his chest. They stand there for a moment before he tilts her chin up and slowly lowers his mouth to hers. The kiss is just beginning to grow in intensity when the trailer door squeaks open once more.
"Skylar?" a female voice says, and they both look up to see Anna Camp standing there.
They really need to lock that door.