"I wonder if we ever think of each other at the same time," -Unknown
Jared glanced up as his phone buzzed for the millionth time that morning. He smiled when he saw that it was from Daphne. They were in Russia performing their last show and it was getting closer and closer to them heading home again. As much as he missed home, Jared was also starting to miss Daphne. They hadn't spent too much time together, but he couldn't stop thinking about the little time they did have together. The media had been abuzz for the past few weeks since he had cut his hair and dyed it peroxide blonde. There were many speculations going around about what his version of the Joker would look like and people were anxiously waiting for updates. More so, the media had started to play up his relationship with Daphne. Several photographers had captured pictures of them hugging and talking outside the bar in London and people were now speculating that they were dating as well, which was only drawing more attention to them both.
Daphne had finished her press tour and was back in Los Angeles training for the film. They talked pretty regularly, but most of their conversations were really extended. Because of the time zone difference, he would be awake when she was asleep and usually their questions waited up to a day for a response, but they were getting to know each other a bit more. Jared knew he'd see her again in a few days at the table read in Toronto, but they'd only have about a week together before filming started and then a week before he had to come back over to Europe to finish that part of the tour. It was really strange how they had gotten to know each other, but didn't really know each other at all. And each day that passed he was getting more and more excited about seeing her again.
Shannon had developed a little bit of a crush on Daphne as well and it had become a bit of a competition between the pair of them to see who she spoke to the most. They knew it was childish, but it was fun and helped keep things interesting in the monotony of touring. They were two fully-grown men in their forties fighting over a girl just like they were back in high school again. It was comical to watch. He put his guitar pick between his teeth and opened the message she had sent. It was a video message of her in the pole dancing studio doing a few moves. She wanted to know which ones he liked better. He glanced around to make sure no one would see before playing the video with the sound off.
He watched in awe as she maneuvered up and down the metal pole with ease, making the tricks look super easy. It was the last move that got his attention. She had her body parallel to the floor, in a split holding onto the pole with her bent-up leg. Her back was to the floor and her arms were free. Suddenly she dropped quickly, stopping inches from the floor which caused Jared to gasp quietly. He smiled to himself as he replayed the video.
"Dude, you need to see this video Daphne sent me," Shannon said, walking over.
"Pole dancing?" Jared asked, raising an eyebrow.
"How'd you know?" Shannon asked in confusion.
Jared flipped his phone around to show his brother the identical video. "She sent me the same thing."
"Dude, you're going to have one case of blue balls when you work with her," Shannon said with a low whistle as the video played again.
"How do you figure?" Jared asked, taking the pick out of his mouth.
"Because she isn't going to go out with you," he laughed. "She's teasing you and I bet she's enjoying every minute of it."
"Shut up. She's teasing you too, dumbass," Jared said, giving Shannon a kick in the leg as he sat across from him. "What makes you think she'll go out with you if she won't go out with me?"
Shannon smiled widely. "I'm not working with her. Her rules don't apply to me, technically."
"You really think she'd go out with the brother of one of her costars? Man, you're delusional," Jared laughed.
"Well she's certainly not going out with you," Shannon said with a smile. "Look."
He held up his phone for his brother to see. Several photos of Daphne out with Jake Gyllenhaal were circulating the internet. Jared laughed. "Shan, they're friends. They've been friends for a few years now. Even I knew that."
Shannon shook his head. "They don't look like friends," he said, holding the phone closer to his brother's face.
Jared inspected the photos closer and saw that there were several of them holding hands and one had even caught him kissing her bare back closely as they lounged on the beach in Los Angeles. He shrugged, trying to hide his disappointment. "She can date whomever she wants. I don't really care. Besides, she said she has loads of close friends and I know she's really close with him." Jared nodded his head toward the photo of Daphne and Jake before returning to picking on his guitar.
"Did she date Heath?" Shannon asked, leaning back in the armchair. "I mean, that has to be why she was so against making this film. She must have been in love with him or something for it to hurt that much to have that character recreated."
Jared shook his head softly. "They were close. Like REALLY close. At least, that's what she told me. But quite frankly it's not really my business."
Emma appeared in the doorway, telling them that it was time to head to the stage for the show. Jared sighed and put his phone and guitar away, not responding to the message Daphne had sent. Shannon grabbed his sticks and they headed for the stage, meeting up with Tomo halfway to get their inner ear pieces wired up. Jared was distracted by the images of Daphne and Jake for most of the show, not performing up to his usual standard.
In Hollywood, Daphne was enjoying her time off with Jake. They had been really close friends for a while but different work schedules had caused them to drift apart. It was purely coincidence that they had run into each other and started spending time together again. Jake was taking some time off before promoting his new film and Daphne was preparing to shoot 'Suicide Squad', so they both had quite a bit of time on their hands.
Her relationship with Jake was an interesting one. They both knew how the other person felt about them. They both knew the other person really well. Jake had been spending almost all of his time at Daphne's place or with her because his house was being renovated. They regularly went on runs with his dogs and their days usually ended with time on the beach or a trip to Runyon Canyon. Daphne enjoyed the feeling of security she had with Jake. Nothing was ever unexpected with him and she knew exactly how he'd react to everything. They had talked about a relationship in the past, but it had never seemed like the right time and they had just ended up remaining extremely close friends.
Daphne was well aware that photographers were following them around and she was well aware that there were rumors going around about her and Jared as well. She had reached a point where she just stopped caring about that stuff and ignored photographers as best she could. The single unique benefit of having friends who were famous was that they understood how the rumor mill worked and how photographers hunted people down. There was no stress in them freaking out about any of it.
"Hey Daph?" Jake called from the kitchen.
"Yeah?" she said, coming into the open room.
"When do you have to go to Toronto?" he asked as he looked at something on his laptop.
"In three days," she answered, sitting next to him on a bar stool. "Why?"
"I was thinking we could do a road trip or something and get away from the city for a bit, but I guess you'll be gone before we could really do anything," he said with a slight sinking in his shoulders.
She watched him carefully. They had become really close in the last few weeks-closer than she had even been with Heath-but they hadn't taken things to the next level. She wasn't sure if he wanted to or what the deal was. It was always kind of hard to read him. He was smart and sweet and funny. And safe. And she was definitely attracted to him. But she wasn't sure it was the right time. It never seemed like the right time. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you so much for thinking about it," she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
He turned his head to face her more and gave her a sweet smile. "It's alright. We can do it when you get back."
She shook her head sadly. "When I'm done filming in Toronto, I head right back to Las Vegas for Season two of 'Burnout'."
He sighed. "I'm beginning to understand why we never seemed to make this work between us."
She tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean? I thought we had agreed that we were better off as friends?"
He laughed wryly. "I don't want to be friends with you, Daphne. It doesn't feel like we're friends. It feels like we're somewhere in between."
She bit her lip and nodded. "I know what you mean."
"Hell, last night we slept in the same bed," he said. He shook his head. "It just doesn't seem like we're just friends. I know you feel it too."
His blue eyes met her green ones and he leaned toward her, brushing his lips against hers. She didn't move and he kissed her again, bringing his hands up to her face to kiss her deeper. Jake stood up and moved toward Daphne, resting his hands on her hips and kissing her more. Her hands came up to his chest and she slowed their kisses down and rested her forehead against his chin.
"Jake," she said softly. He bit his lip as he waited for her to speak. "I'm leaving in three days and I'll be gone for a while. This isn't a good idea."
"Why not?" he asked, pulling back to look at her.
"It's not the right time, Jake," she said softly.
"It's never the right time with you Daphne. You're always working," he replied. "I really want to see what's between us but you keep giving me mixed signals and I don't know what to do."
She blinked and bit her lip as she listened to him. "I'm not trying to give mixed signals, Jake. I just don't want to start something and then have it fall apart because I have other commitments in my life."
"And I get that. But you don't know if you don't try," he replied. "I'm just asking for a chance. We get along so well. We have a lot of fun. We have a great connection. Why do you think it's going to fall apart?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I have no real relationship to judge my own on. You know that." She had never really seen a happy relationship when she was growing up so it was hard for her to know what was right and what was wrong in terms of what a relationship SHOULD be like.
He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. "You have to trust me, Daph."
She nodded softly against his chest and sighed. "Okay."
"Should we go to the beach? Let's go to the beach and be lazy there," he said, trying to change the mood.
She smiled at him and went to get changed. He met her at the front door and led her to the car. As they pulled out of the driveway, photographers jockeyed around the car, trying to get the best shots possible.