Bootcamp was over and filming had begun. The cast had all bonded with each other over the course of ten days.
Everyone was receiving their scripts and getting ready to start shooting.
Emily felt nervous entering an already bonded cast.
She nervously played with her recently bleached and dyed blonde hair, looking for Shane.
Ever since they first met, they remained in contact with each other for the purpose of Emily informing him on Eugene and Alice's relationship.
Surprisingly, many of those conversations diverged a lot from Alice and Eugene and focused more on each other the more phone conversations they had.
"I'm going to bleach my hair as soon as I get to England." Emily had said one afternoon in an already two hour long conversation.
"What?" Shane asked in surprise.
"Yeah, well Alice was blonde, we can't have her brunette in the series now, can we?" Emily explained.
"Oh, right. I keep forgetting. It's going to be strange seeing you as a blonde." Shane said.
She could hear him clanging around with something.
"Thanks for the confidence boost. What am I hearing?"
"I'm making dinner." Shane explained casually.
"You can cook?" Emily asked in surprise.
"Only the basics." Shane laughed. "Just a simple pasta with a tin of sauce is my dinner tonight."
"How funny! That's what I'm having for dinner tonight too." Emily giggled. "Mine's pesto. Yours?"
"Bolognese." Shane answered with a smile.
"Sounds fancy." Emily commented.
"It's just a tomato and meat sauce, Love." Shane chuckled. "Yours sounds more fancy."
"Like I said, it's a jar of pesto." Emily giggled, lazily turning pages of a magazine. "Wait... the meat in the sauce isn't already in the jar, is it?"
"I know how to brown meat. That's actually what you heard me doing." Shane said, loud enough to hear over more clanging of pots and utensils.
Emily grinned. "Oooh! Then maybe you should cook for me when I get to England."
"Hmm... maybe I will." Shane agreed
--
"Emily?" A voice startled her. She turned and saw Shane, smiling adorably at her.
"Shane! Hi!" She exclaimed and jumped to hug him.
He hugged her back with a chuckle. "You looked a little lost there."
"It's my first day on a set like this." Emily said, pulling away. "Can you blame me?"
"No, I don't blame you at all." Shane said, moving a loose strand of hair out of her face.
"What do you think? Does the blonde suit me?"
"Perfectly, come, I'll introduce you to the rest of the boys." Shane said, taking her hand and leading her to the rest of the cast.
Frank John Hughes walked up to them, having recognized Emily as Alice immediately.
"You must be Alice, there is no way you can't be!" He said, taking her hand and kissing it.
Emily blushed. "And you must be Wild Bill."
"At your service." Frank bowed. "Or as Bill himself told me, time and time again; Hello, Gorgeous."
Emily let out a shy giggle "Perfect!"
"We'll have to make time to talk about Alice and Bill's friendship." Frank said as the three of them walked to the rest of the men.
"Indeed." Emily agreed.
The men were more welcoming than Emily thought they would be.
Richard Speight bowed "Your Ladyship!"
Ross McCall eagerly shook her hand and welcomed her warmly.
Scott Grimes shook her hand shyly.
Rick Gomez gave a small hug.
James Madio did the same as Gomez and offered her his seat.
Kirk Acevedo offered her a coffee.
Damien Lewis welcomed her along with Ron Livingston.
Donnie Wahlberg walked over with Captain Dale Dye, both welcoming her warmly.
Emily almost became a little dizzy from all the greetings, handshakes and excited "Hello"s. There were so many of them she almost forgot who she had already met. It wasn't long before she felt like part of the group.