Chapter three: home

I woke up with sunshine streaming into my apartment, the sound of the endless stream of taxis below me being dimmed by my shut window. My heart squealed with glee as I realized it was ten in the morning - a significant lie-in for me, as my recent schedule has lead to me being awake at seven in the morning almost every day.

I hopped out of bed and had breakfast, cereal naturally since I can't be bothered with cooking so early in the morning. My thoughts wandered as I sat in silence, not wanting any noises to ruin my blissful morning. But there was one person who I wouldn't mind interrupting it and as soon as they knocked on the door - I practically fell over myself trying to reach it.

Opening it up, my breathless state suddenly wasn't due to my running, but Theo's appearance instead. Dressed in a burgundy t-shirt with black jeans and a navy beanie, my heart melted as it always does for him.

"Hi." I smile, stepping aside to open the door wider for him, motioning for him to come in.

"Hi gorgeous." Theo greets back, placing a hand on my cheek to place a soft kiss on my lips before moving away and making his way inside.

"How were the demons with cameras?" I ask, referring to the paparazzi.

There's usually less around my apartment, as I usually don't entertain any of it. I also live in a pretty quiet street, so they really can't cause that much of a fuss due to the threat of complaints. Theo's house doesn't have that luxury and his house is usually swarmed outside - making my visits to his a lot more sporadic.

Theo lets out a laugh at my lame attempt at a joke. Gathering himself, he smiles as he says, "There was only about five of them and I got Mr Walden to drive me round the back streets - so I'm pretty certain no-one saw me."

"Good, how is Mr Walden?" I ask, smiling at the thought  of the kind driver who, in all honest, has come to prefer me to Theo.

Not that I'm smug about this fact or anything.

"He's great. Now stop stealing my driver." Theo laughs, shaking his head.

Making my way through to the kitchen, Theo follows me, Hopping up on one of the cabinets, I smile as Theo stands between my legs. Raising my hands, I begin laying with his hair which leads me to be met with a soft smile from Theo - indicating to me that I've easily found his soft spot.

Obviously trying to distract me, Theo begins speaking, "So, what do you want to do to-"

But he's cut off by my best friend. "I hope you two aren't making out in there."

Clara opens her bedroom door to come into the kitchen. With her brown hair scraped back and her comfy clothes on - it's obvious she's pouring over Chemistry research as she usually does. Her long-term boyfriend broke up with her two weeks ago, which is why she's temporarily living with me as she tries to find a place to stay in New York.

So after her recent slump phase, I grin at her great mood - knowing that even if it's just a good afternoon, her life is slowly becoming her own again.

Theo steps back from my legs and goes and leans against the other side of the counter, hopping down I come to stand beside him. "What's up Clara?" I ask.

"Not much, just here for food." She shrugs, blunt as ever.

"Any developments on the house findings?" Theo asks.

Clara lets out a shrug, sighing in defeat. "Nothing. Unless I want to pay a million bucks for some rubbish apartment."

"That sucks, I'm sure something will come up."

"Yeah, I'm sure it will." Clara says, before smiling again at us. "But I'm in my room all day with headphones in - so don't worry about me."

Grinning at us both, Clara winks at me before practically skipping back to her room - knowing she's succeeded in embarrassing me. I slowly turn my head to the side to see Theo grinning at me, his dark brown eyes seeming lighter as they glitter with mischief.

"You know, we could." Theo taunts, knowing I'm already embarrassed by the bluntness of my best friend.

"Don't even try it." I laugh, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Worth a shot." Theo shrugs before making his way into my living room.

Following behind him, I say, "I heard Happy Death Day 2 was out in February, want to watch it now?"

"Obviously." Theo grins, smiling at me.

The movie begins and in sync, my heart rate picks up. The jump scares always terrify me, but it's that terror that makes me want to watch more. Often reminding me of a roller coaster, I've fallen in love with the adrenaline that horror films bring you. Luckily, Theo shares this same passion with me and horror films are often our go-to during nights in, which occur regularly due to our secret relationship.

The film draws to an end and I begin to think happy thoughts - not wanting any nightmares myself. My head rests on Theo's shoulder as he plays with my hair. Close to sleep, I jump when Theo's phone goes off in his pocket.

Mouthing sorry to me, Theo answers. Unable to follow the conversation, I read off of Theo's sad frown and his expression fills me with worry of what news he's finding our. Putting me out of my misery, Theo hangs up and grabs my hand.

Soothing his hand over my knuckles, he smiles. "People have just got news that you're covering Girls' life and now the paps want a photo of you for an article about it. Apparently news is spreading and Mr Walden is saying there's at least thirty paps out there."

I groan, knowing that this announcement was out of my control - but I still wish it could've been a different day so that we could possibly leave my apartment. Thirty paparazzi is too many to risk going out, so we're going to have to stay in.

"I'm so sorry." I murmur, squeezing Theo's hand that still encasing my own.

"There's no need to apologize, it was out of your control." Theo squeezes my hand once before standing up. "C'mon, what do you want to do?"

"Movie afternoon?" I suggest, shrugging my shoulders.

Knowing it's a lame idea, I don't expect Theo to agree. But when his eye light up with excitement, I suspect that maybe this is what we need after such a long time working. Getting changed into a crop top and joggers, Theo gets some of his clothes he keeps in a drawer over here and gets changed into a t-shirt and joggers as well.

His hair is ruffled due to pulling the shirt over his head as he comes out of the bathroom. The brown hair sticks in different directions and I step closer to him to smooth it down. Running my fingers through it, my body shivers in delight as he squeezes my other hand in his.

"Thank you." He smiles and I grin back before grabbing his hand and leading him back through to the living room. "What film should we watch?"

We manage to get through three more films, two horrors and then a comedy to get our mind off of the vast amount of bone-chilling stuff we saw. By the time the third move draws to a close, we're both tired and hungry.

Placing my head on Theo's shoulder, I let out a yawn and close my eyes. Sensing my fatigue, Theo stands up and turns a nearby lamp to keep me awake. He walks through to the kitchen, shouting for me to follow him.

Now wide-awake, I let out a laugh when I see him looking confused at a packet of pasta. Coming to stand beside him, I grab it in my own hands to try and see what he's so confused at. With nothing out of the ordinary on it, I put his confusion down to his lack of culinary skills.

"Sit down, I'll make it." I tease, smiling.

Theo sits down on one of the bar stools in my kitchen, sitting behind a counter. Letting out a huff, he grumbles in defiance, "I can cook."

"Sure." I say rolling my eyes in amusement.

I quickly boil the pasta and stir sauce through it, making the meal simple because I'm too hungry to wait any longer. Placing a steaming bowl in front of Theo, he pecks me on the lips before picking the plate up.

"Eat it on the couch?" He asks and I nod in response.

Making our way back through with our food in hand, he sits on the sofa and I curl up beside him. The TV in front of us flickers on and I nearly spit out my pasta in laughter when I see what's on.

A celebrity news show.

Theo lets out a laugh from beside me and turns up the volume. Looking like children waiting for their favorite shows, I shovel pasta into my mouth in the anticipation of all the ridiculous rumors I'm about to hear, most of them probably about the Queries cast.

Once the host skips through the latest Kardashian drama, a group photo of the cast and I appears on screen.

"...It's said that Noah Defray and Alexandria Woods have a romance bubbling off of screen. A source from the show says that their connection is growing stronger each day..."

I tilt my head back as I laugh to the point my stomach hurts. As predicted, the show grabs every rumor they can get and twists it round - making the whole show seem ridiculous when you're the person they're talking about. Taking a deep breath, I try to stop my laughter but fail as a giggle erupts from my throat again.

"Well, who knew? You're cheating on me!" Theo exclaims in an over-dramatic voice, placing a hand against his chest in mock-hurt.

"I know, I'm sorry you found out this way." I pout, playing along.

"I don't blame you, his temper with the media is practically irresistible." Theo laughs, breaking down.

The giggles continue for a while, but they die out as the segment that includes us draws to a close. The rumor with Noah and I was the only one that affected us, so the show was a bit of a let down - the sick part of me wanting more rumors, just for my own amusement.

Now facing each other on the couch, Theo takes my hand, still clasped in his, and kisses the back of it.

Sighing, he says, "You know, we need to keep track of those."

"Yeah, but we also need to keep track of that rumor between Noah and I. That can't get any further." I shudder, imagining being with Noah.

Which isn't a bad thing, he'll probably make someone very happy in the future. Noah is one of the rare kind of person you find in the industry that is still sincere. But the idea of being with him, whilst I'm with the man of my dreams, is nothing but funny because I know it's never going to happen.

"That's true." Theo nods, grinning.

We lapse into silence, before I remember what I had to say to him. Drawing a breath, I murmur, "You know, we've got a lot of events coming up. What's our plans for that?"

"Just don't address anything and stay out of each others way." Theo shrugs.

"Oh yeah, because we did that so well at the last award show." I roll my eyes, remembering how we danced together and the longing looks I gave him as my body screamed for me to walk over. Remembering how weird it had been, I'm struck with a sudden idea.

"How about we make a list?" I suggest. Theo looks confused at my suggestion, so I continue explaining it. "Like, the yes and no's of being in public. That way we both have the same ground rules."

"I'll write it." Theo nods, standing up from the sofa to go and get a bit of paper.

Once he gets back, he resumes his previous position and takes the cap off of the pen. Looking at me expectantly, he sighs when he's met with my blank look.

"I thought you had ideas." He smiles.

"Um...obviously no kissing." I say, looking at the paper.

Hearing my words, Theo leans forward to place a hand on my cheek before kissing my slowly. Breaking apart, leaving me feeling drugged, he begins writing it down.

"Uh-hu. Plus, no hand holding." He says, frowning at the thought as he continues writing.

"Oh, and no provocative dancing." I say, remembering how painful it felt not to be able dance freely with him.

"I'm always provocative, dancing or not." Theo winks, before breaking his act and laughing.

Knowing he's anything but provocative when in public, I laugh with him. We create the list for an hour before eventually giving up. Sighing, Theo puts down the pen keeping his eyes on the expansive amount of writing on the piece of paper.

"Simple, really." Theo says, rolling his eyes.

He leans back against the sofa, so I move to position my back against his chest, our legs intertwined. Grabbing both of my hands in his, he uses his thumb to brush over the skin of my knuckles. The feeling of safety flows through me as my mind eases it constant worrying at the content feeling Theo brings me by being in his arms.

"We're going to get through this." Theo reassures me.

"I know, we just need to get through season three." I reply.

Our relationship is constricted by contracts. The contract only applies to the first two seasons however. Once filming and press is wrapped, I'l have a meeting with management to see if I want any changes. This is when Theo and I plan to change the contracts so that we can stop hiding our relationship from the public.

"Only a few more months." He whispers, ducking his head down to leave a kiss where my shoulder meets my neck.

His mouth sends shivers down my spine and I relax further into him, my body finally at peace for the first time in two weeks. The gentle noise of the TV dulls into a faint murmur as my eyelids droop shut.

Letting out a yawn, I fall asleep against Theo. The peace he gives me lulling me into the best sleep I've had in months.

~~~~~

Author's Note:

How I constantly felt writing this chapter:

How dd you feel? Plus, we met Clara! What do we think of her?

In the next chapter we get to see Alec and Theo filming together - what do we think is going to happen?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Much love,

Jade x