After the Academy Awards, Anna and Skylar has some time together in Los Angeles. He is wrapping up with filming on Ground Floor, and she isn't set to start another movie until April. They spend their nights together having dinner, watching movies, and just enjoying each other's company. Skylar usually comes to her house, because he can hide his car in her garage for the night. Also, she lives in a house while he has an apartment, and she often asks him to fix something or help in the yard, and he enjoys doing those things for her.
"You know you could hire someone to do this," he tells her one afternoon while he is trimming a branch from one of her trees.
"I know," she replies, "But you look so hot in a tight t-shirt and shorts using those sexy arms of yours. Besides, I like to maintain a certain level of normalcy."
He loves that about her. Even though Anna has a ton of money, she drives a Prius, has a modest home, and does everything herself.
"And if I save my money," she adds as he climbs back down the ladder, "I can always stop acting if I want to, or take a break when I want to have a family. I don't want the money to make me lose sight of who I am."
"I feel the same way," he replies. Even though he doesn't make nearly as much money as she does, he's still doing well for himself.
"So I've been thinking," she says, staring thoughtfully at him, "That you're here a lot, and we're always together when I'm in L.A., and that maybe we don't really need to have two separate places anymore."
She's rambling, and it's adorable. He smiles at her, "Are you asking me to move in with you?"
"Well, only if you want. I understand if you want to keep your place because it's closer to work and it's really convenient, and maybe you still want to have some alone time. But I'm away often and I have to pay someone to check on the house and I was just thinking that…"
"I'd love to live here with you," he interrupts her.
"You would?" she asks shyly.
"Yes," he replies, "There's no place else I'd rather be."
She smiles, kissing him softly. "I just thought it might be too soon, or that you'd want the place to be ours rather than mine. But you can redecorate however you like, and I'll even get your name put on the title."
She's rambling again, and he kisses her. "It's perfect, I promise."
In the next few weeks, he moves out of his apartment and fully into the house. "You know it's really nice to have someone to come home to every night," he comments to her one evening.
"Yes, I am going to miss this when I go back to work next week," she replies, snuggling into him.
He sighs, "At least this time you'll be in New York," he says, "And I will be off and able to visit you."
"I'm really excited to be working with Joe again, too," she says happily.
"Which Joe?" he asks, "You've worked with more than one."
"Joe Manganiello," she answers.
Oh. Of course she'd be working with that Joe. The extremely hot, muscular, tall Joe that people assumed Anna was dating a few years ago when she was spotted with him at a few events.
"Yeah," she replies casually, "He's going to be playing my love interest too, which should be interesting considering he's insanely tall. They're going to have me in crazy high shoes. My feet hurt just thinking about it."
"What's the movie about?" he asks.
"Joe's character and my character are madly in love, and it's about how their relationship changes over time with family and friends. And then there's the question looming over them about whether they want to have children or not," she explains.
"Is it going to be rated-R?" he asks, not wanting to picture her doing sex scenes with another man.
"I don't know," she answers, "It depends on how much they decide to trim the love scenes."
He cringes, thinking that he's definitely going to be visiting frequently while she's filming that movie.
When he bids her farewell at the airport the following week, he knows that he's going to see her again in ten days. He's thrilled that she's filming in New York, because it will give him an opportunity to see his family when he visits her. The following week, he too is headed to the city.
Anna won't be available to see him until the evening, so when he lands in the afternoon he heads over to his parents' house for a quick visit. And despite his attempts to keep his reservations about Anna working with Joe to himself, he ends up spilling his guts to his mother.
"Skylar," she says, "Anna loves you. You have nothing to worry about."
Skylar loads up Google on his phone and shows her a picture of Joe, "Oh really?" he asks, skeptical.
"Really," his mother replies, although she stares a little too long at the photo of shirtless Joe. "Don't you trust her?"
"Of course I do," he answers, "It is other guys I don't trust. And do they really have to do sex scenes together?"
"You do scenes like that all the time with Briga, dear," his mother points out, "And you don't see Anna getting her feathers all ruffled over it."
"It's different," he explains. "I'm on television, with censorship. She's in a movie. It's going to be far more intense than anything I've done before."
"Anna is a professional, you know that. It's going to be fine, I promise," his mother assures him, and he feels a little bit better about the whole thing by the time he leaves to meet Anna.
He arrives just as they're finishing up for the day. When Anna spots him, she runs over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him hard before returning to Joe's side. He stays to watch them complete the scene. Joe is constantly touching her, or staring at her, or kissing her, and it's hard for Skylar to watch. He keeps reminding himself that they're just acting. He's seen Anna do love scenes before, and this is no different, right?
But it's the way that Joe is with Anna when the camera isn't rolling that ends up grating on Skylar. He's still always touching her, or picking her up, or teasing her, and her laughter echoes on the set. And worst of all, Joe resembles a chiseled Adonis without his clothes on, and Skylar finds himself wishing he worked out more and ate less.
At night, he goes back to Anna's hotel room with her, and he's extra attentive and passionate when they make love. And so the pattern repeats each day, with him watching her film, and spending nights with her in her room. When his visit draws to a close, he decides he wants to stay.
"But who is going to check on the house?" she asks.
"I'll make some calls," he replies.
Anna is thrilled to have Skylar here with her, but she just can't shake the sense that something is off with him. Plus, it is awkward enough filming these love scenes even without her boyfriend watching every single day.
One afternoon she and Joe are filming a particularly heated love scene which involves partial nudity on both their parts. Of course, Skylar is there, but like always, Anna is very serious and dedicated to her work. She throws herself into the part of this character fully each day, trying to experience the emotions that she might feel. She and Joe are kissing passionately, and he lifts her up onto the kitchen countertop, wrapping her legs around his waist before lifting her and carrying her to the bedroom. Most of her body is blocked by Joe's, but she's not wearing anything. They repeat this scene, over and over again, until finally the director is satisfied. She wraps her robe around herself and goes to throw on some clothes so that she and Skylar can go out to dinner as planned.
Later, Skylar's mood is borderline sullen as they eat in near silence, the only conversation provided by her rambling. When they arrive back at the hotel, she closes the door and turns around to face him.
"What is it, Skylar?" she demands.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replies nonchalantly.
"You," she says, "You're different. Are you mad at me? Did I do something to upset you?"
"Other than have your legs wrapped around Joe all day long?" he says sarcastically, "No."
"I'm acting," she says, narrowing her eyes, "It was in the script. I don't get jealous of the million times you do love scenes with Briga."
"It's different," he retorts, "And we're definitely not naked."
"You're still kissing her, and touching her, and acting as though you're in love with her. I don't see how it's any different," she snaps.
"Of course you don't," he argues, "You're in movies. I'm just in TV. It's not the same Anna!"
She crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head. "You're being ridiculous."
"Am I?" he nearly explodes with frustration, "Joe wants you, Anna. I can tell. And he looks like a fucking God. I just can't compete with this!"
"With what? Joe? Or me?" she demands.
When he doesn't reply, she continues, "Don't you dare do that. I have never once cared what it is you do or how much money you make or how famous you are. I don't even care about those things when they involve me. And now you're standing here acting like I make you feel like you're not good enough, only because of some stupid love scene that somehow made you so insecure that we're now having this absurd conversation!"
"So now my feelings are ridiculous and absurd?" he snaps.
"No, but don't blame me for them. Deal with them," she interrupts him.
He doesn't say anything, only turns around and walks out the door, slamming it behind him. She throws herself onto the bed and cries. When it gets late and he hasn't returned, she climbs into bed alone, futilely trying to get some sleep.
The next morning, there's still no word from Skylar, but she's angry and so she goes to work without trying to contact him.
Skylar stomps down the steps and into the kitchen. "You look exhausted," Meryl points out.
"Thanks mom," he tells her, rubbing his eyes with his hands.
"You need to go and talk to her," Meryl says.
"And say what exactly? That I'm a tremendous asshole? That I still think she's too good for me? That I'm afraid that one day she'll realize that herself and she'll be gone?" he asks.
"So do something about it," Meryl states.
"Do what, mom? Go to her and grovel for her forgiveness? Because I love her, mom, so much that it scares me sometimes. And the idea of losing her for any reason is more than I can handle. It makes me crazy."
"Then do something about it," his mother repeats softly.
Skylar knows that he can't handle watching Anna film, so he stays with his parents for a little while before heading back into the city.
Anna is distracted all day, and completely exhausted by the time she gets into the elevator and ascends to her hotel room. She slides the key card into the slot and swings the door open. Her nose is immediately keen to the scent of roses and she turns to find the room covered in red roses and candlelight, the result of what seems like hundreds of candles arranged on every surface of the room. She rounds the corner and finds Skylar standing there, dressed in one of those banker suits that she loves, and holding a single red rose which he offers to her.
"Before you say anything," he says, "Just let me get this out."
He leads her to the easy chair in the corner of the room, and she lowers her tired body into it.
He takes a deep breath, "I know I acted like an insecure asshole, and I'm so sorry for that. I think you're amazing, Anna. You're everything I've ever wanted in this life and more, and I love you so much. I just think that sometimes the fear of losing you cripples me. It isn't just because of the accident, or the frequent distance between us, or the fact that every single male you come in contact with seems to want you as much as I do. It's because I now can't imagine my life without you, and I don't want to."
"Skylar," she whispers.
"Do you know what it's like to watch the one you love in the arms of another?" he asks. "It was more than I could bear."
"Yes," she replies quietly, "I had to watch you with Camp."
He takes her by the hands, pulling her up out of the chair until she's standing in front of him. "Anna," he says, his tone serious, "I know that we have only been together eight months, but it has been the best time of my life so far. I know that we are going to face many more challenges, but I know I can handle them as long as I have you in my life."
And then, to her absolute shock, he kneels before her. "Anna Kendrick, I love you more than words could ever express. Will you marry me?"
He pulls a small box from his pocket and opens it to reveal the most beautiful diamond ring she's ever seen in her life. She's completely stunned, and she just gapes at him for a long moment.
His face shifts from hopeful to panicked in a matter of seconds, and he starts to stammer, "I know it's crazy fast, and you probably think I'm nuts, but if I know I'll always have you by my side, I know I can do anything."
She drops to her knees in front of him, placing her index finger over his lips. "Yes," she whispers, and he launches himself at her, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.
"Really?" he says, smiling so brightly that it lights up the room. She nods and he takes the ring out of the box, sliding it onto her finger. She admires it for a moment before pulling his lips to hers once more.
"I love you," she breathes into his mouth, standing up and pulling him up with her by his tie. She backs him towards the bed, pushing him down onto it before straddling his hips.
"I love you more," he replies, his eyes gleaming.
She smiles, nibbling the shell of his ear. "Mine," she whispers possessively.
"That's the sexiest thing I've ever heard in my life," he replies huskily, flipping her and hovering over her.
"Make love to me, fiancé," she replies breathily.
"I stand corrected," he grins, before lowering his lips back to hers again.