She was so beautiful. Bathed in the gentle sunlight of the morning, my hatred for the wake of the sun was diminished as I took in every minuscule detail of her face. Eyes shut, her face was the picture of ease as it rested on the pillow beside my own. Her hair lay spread out around her, a piece lying across her cheek which I promptly tucked away as soon as I woke up.

I went through nearly two weeks of not having her in my bed. Two weeks of loneliness and crippling emotions because of what is happening right now. Every time I looked at my bed, I saw her in this exact position. Asleep, warm and happy - safe. But now, with that vision becoming a reality, the only crippling emotion is happiness.

We still have a lot to work through, I know we do. Management is breathing down our necks, the media was just about dying down and we are just about to add more gasoline to it. Everything is surrounding us, suffocating us, but as we lie here, she's like a breath of fresh air from the closing in walls.

My heart beat thumped erratically as her nose scrunched up, her captivating blue eyes slowly blinking open to take in the room. Sending her a smile, she barely keeps one eyes open as she smiles lazily back at me. A yawn and a stretch later, Alex places her hand on my cheek and lightly kisses the tip of my nose.

"What was that?" I ask, confused as to why she would kiss my nose.

"I wanted to kiss you, but not with my morning breath." Alex shrugs, moving her hand from my cheek to the back of my neck, playing with the hair at my nape. I let out a sigh in bliss.

I roll on top of her, supporting myself on my forearms as I kiss her forehead. Moving down, I kiss her cheek, nose and chin before moving down to kiss her neck. Her hand tighten on my shoulders as I kiss the spot that always makes her weak and I smirk as I pull away. Leaning down, I kiss her square on the lips, Alex's body moving up to get closer to my own.

She feels like heaven in my hands. Slotting against me, my hands could wander her forever and still be restless. I know we've got career defining things happening today, so I back off before this can get too far because I know it will - I have no control over myself when I'm with her. Rolling back off, I land back on the mattress with a sigh. Alex crosses her arms with a pout, huffing as she turns to look at me.

"That was mean." She frowns.

I stick my bottom lip out sarcastically. "Please forgive me, you're too irresistible."

Alex laughs and pushes my shoulder with her hand. Clasping it in my own, I pull her hand and give it a kiss, knowing her weaknesses back and front by now. Smiling when she rolls her eyes, I pull her into my chest and begin to run my hands up and down her back, unable to stop my hands from exploring. A week and a half without her and I'm going to make up for lost time.

"You know, we really have to get out of bed."

"But it's my favorite place." Alex frowns.

I roll my eyes. "You know that I, more than anyone, agree with you but we seriously need to get up."

Alex nods before kissing me slowly. My body reacts immediately and I clutch her hips, drawing her closer to me. Before she can get closer, she pulls back and stands up, away from my awaiting arms. She sends me a smirk as she walks away. Stopping at the door frame, she turns her head back to me with a glint in her eye.

"Who's the tease now?" She laughs before running out of sight, the sound of the bathroom door slamming echoing across the apartment.

I shake my head of my less than innocent thoughts and slowly stand up, making my way through to the kitchen. After pancakes, we both get ready. Throwing on black jeans with a grey t-shirt, I put on my khaki green bomber jacket. Slipping on my white sneakers and grabbing my keys, I walk out of the room as Alex emerges from the bathroom dressed with her hair up. Her make-up is on too, not as though that she needs it, anyway.

"You ready?" I ask.

"Yeah, just let me grab my phone." Alex nods.

Getting everything she needs, I reach for Alex's hand and intertwine our fingers as we make our way out of the building. Meeting Mr Walden around the back, we slip into the car without being noticed. As we rest in the car, the atmosphere is thick as the nerves begin to build the closer and closer we get to set.

Management have their own office where we're filming. Knowing that Doug is going to be there today, we decided to bite the bullet and tell him about our relationship. I'm regretting that choice now as my leg bobs up and down under me.

I don't think it's nerves, however. Both Alex and I agree that our relationship is our number one priority. The only power Doug has is to fire us, which I now judge as a minuscule sacrifice if it means I can have an open relationship with Alex. So, there's no existing nerves, it's more like apprehension for what's about to happen. He's probably going to blow up in our faces.

Looking over at Alex, I know she's feeling the same. Biting her bottom lip, her eyes scan outside the window as she breathes heavily. Reaching over, I take her hand in both of mine and she smiles knowingly. Letting out a sigh, her figure deflates into a more relaxed state.

"I'm fine, we're going to be fine." Alex murmurs.

"Yeah, we are." I support, squeezing her hand.

There's no more time to say anything on the matter because our conversation is shut down due to our arrival on set. The looming building is one I usually call home, a sanctuary. A way to express myself so easily by getting lost in my character and feeling the same emotions as him.

The aura is always controlled. Set out filming times, cast and lines mean that everything is always in place at the exact time. If it's not, there's a team of crew that are always ready to fix any problem. But right now, the situation is spinning out of our hands. It's uncontrollable nature is putting me on edge as I come to the realization that the next thirty minutes could dictate the most important things in my life. There's no team to help here, it's just Alex and I.

But her support feels like a whole team. As we step out of the car, she intertwines out hands and leads the way into the back exit where no paparazzi are to be seen. Her warm hand, no matter how small against mine, feels reassuring and relaxing as I acknowledge that we are in this together. No matter what happens, as long as she sticks by my side, I will always have a source of happiness in the form of her.

Stepping into the building, the silence feels foreign. Filming is probably going to start soon but for now there's only a handful of people fixing sets, checking cameras and giving management and writer time to revise before we all crowd back in. Used to the bustling energy of the set, the
unknown silence makes me want to back out slowly. This is wrong, I should have make-up jumping on me right now fussing over the state of my hair.

Regardless, I send Alex a smile to reassure her that I'm right beside her. Navigating our way through the building which has been our second home for quite a while now, we come to a stop at the top of a corridor. At the end of it is Doug's office and it's doorway screams with foreboding as I stare at it.

Feeling a squeeze on my hand, I look down to see Alex giving me a smile. My chest deflates at the sight of her, of course we can do this. Look at her, I'll go down fighting if it means I get to keep her. God, I want her in my life, permanently. Leaning down I cup her face in my hands and kiss her slowly, inwardly smiling when she grabs onto my arms for support. Letting go, I keep our foreheads together as I take a brief moment to re-collate my thoughts.

"Let's go in and smash it."

"Not the window, though. We're trying to be on their good side." Alex winks, breaking the tension inside of me like she always does.

I roll my eyes and place a kiss on her forehead. Taking her hand in mine, we take our final steps down the corridor as I murmur, "Noted."

Alex shoots me a grin and I return it. My legs run on instinct but my heart thumps erratically as if it's never experienced adrenaline in its life. The dark door looms over me, but I grasp it's cool handle like I'm walking into my own living room. Taking a deep breath I cast one last look into Alex's blue eyes before pushing the door open.

There's no words spoken as Doug takes us in. Hand in hand, Alex and I are screaming symbols of what we want to say.

Sitting behind his desk, Doug looks like the idealistic picture of powerful. His body is broad but his steely eyes with anger living inside of them is the thing that sends shivers down my spine. The mahogany wood is the exact same to the one that he has at home. His desk is very similar to the one that Alex and I stood in front of and said that we had no relationship. Yet here we are, standing in front of an identical one, begging for us to live our lives the way we want.

There's static noise running through my head as everything slows down. My heart is easily heard as it echoes against my rib-cage. Squeezing my hand like a vice, Alex stands ready beside me, despite her nerves invisibly wearing down all of her armor. Slow motion strikes across the room and as Doug shakes his head in refusal. My soul lets out a sigh.

"No."

Is all he says, the word bouncing off of the cold walls that feel like they're enclosing. I open my mouth to speak but Alex cuts me off.

"Yes."

Shaking my head at her inability to have a filter in stressful or emotional situations, I squeeze her hand to remind her that we are the prey here. Management is the vultures and with many bones to pick, we could be dead within minutes if we're not careful.

"No way! I just convince management that you guys were a good thing. They only accepted it because you were broken up." Doug shouts, spite laced through every word.

"You need to understand," I say slowly, swallowing in an attempt to get rid of the lump in my throat. "That this was always going to happen. Remember the pull? Even you said it was likely that we would get back together."

"That doesn't mean I supported it! You traitors. You defied your contract, both of you. Do you know how much shit this causes?" He roars, standing up and placing his hands on his desk.

"We understand. But that doesn't mean we can't work through it. Plus, the shit caused will be diffused by how much publicity this will bring. The fans have been rooting for us for months now, can you imagine how much media coverage we would get if we went public?" Alex says, her business brain clicking into place.

"Who cares? I'm furious. Managements furious. Once it gets out that your contract was broken, it'll tarnish the whole image of the show." Doug argues, crossing his arms across his chest.

"No." I say, shaking my head. "It won't tarnish it because we're now together. If it got out that we had broken our contct for a failed relationship it would've hurt the show. But now we're together. This is a love story that we can make the public fall in love with. Why can't you see that?"

"I can't see it because you're looking at the easy side of life. Have you forgotten all of the critics? All the other TV shows that are breathing down our necks waiting for us to drop something so that they can rip it into shreds because of their jealousy?" Doug questions.

"A relationship that is going to bring cast members closer together isn't going to rip this show to shreds, Doug. If anything it's going to make us look more realistic to the viewers. The contracts are getting changed, anyway. If they ask, you can show that they've changed and they'll never know about the other form of it." Alex insists.

Doug roll his eyes and scoffs, sitting back down in his chair. I let out a breath of relief as I see his whole-consuming rage beginning to simmer down a bit. "All we're saying is that we are together. This is it. You can let us go, but that would cause an outcry across the media as well as you having to spend time on finding replacements. Or, we can come out to the public and make this a great thing."

"How do you know?" Doug questions, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't. But what I do know is that this," I say, holding up Alex and I's intertwined hands. "Is not going anywhere. The choice is up to you but I think we both know the best option."

I turn to Alex and see her beaming at me. The arrival of her smile stakes a weight off of my shoulders and I inhale sharply at the relief. Her eyes twinkle with delight when I smile back, her joy irresistible even in the darkest of moments. I break our contact quickly and turn back to Doug, but the remainder of the moments lingers within my heart like a support beam for the heaviness it was once feeling.

Doug looks up at the ceiling as he mulls over his thoughts. A grip of fears clutches my chest but the thread of hope that I'm clinging to is still strong. His defense is slowly wearing away and I only hope that Alex and I have convinced him. We have to, this has to work.

"We do know the right option, I'm not blind, Theodore. This is still a nightmare to figure out. You're lucky I'm not firing you both."

Alex looks serious as she nods solmenl. "We know."

Doug rubs a hand across his face as he stares at us both. "Are you sure about this? If you go public everything is going tobe out there. There's no going back from this."

"We're sure." I smile, not even having to look over at Alex to know that she's nodding along with me.

"Okay, we can work out the rest of the details later in the week but Alexandria, here's your new contract open to changes. I'm supposing you'll have very similar ones to Theodore." Doug grumbles, handing over a thick stack of papers.

Alex takes them immediately and breaks our linked hands to coddle the papers. "Thank you, Doug."

"You're welcome. Now, see yourself out, I've got work to do." He instructs and Alex and I immediately comply, rushing out of the door quicker than I can think.

The dull corridor stands as it once was, the bare, grey walls standing still and strong even though I feel as though my whole world has just been turned around. Joy raidates from every pore I have as I hear the door click behind me. Turning around Alex's grin meets mine.

Wraping my arms around her waist and lifting her up, she squels and wraps her arms around my neck. I kiss her passionately, but our smiles break the kiss off after a few seconds. She giggles buries her face into my neck, peppering kisses. I squeeze her tighter and let out a laugh. Eventually putting her back on the ground, I take her face into my hands.

"We did it." I grin, my cheeks beginning to ache.

"We're officially going public."

Those words once sparked fear and apprehension into me and cast a cloud of foreboding across my life. Now, they carry joy as the sun peeks out from behind those clouds. Light that can only signal to happier, brighter days.

~~~~~
Author's Note:

Finally! Am I right?

What are we feeling about this chapter? Where do you think this is going to go?

The next chapter is up right now for FREE on Inkitt! All you have to do it's click the link in my bio and follow the instructions. You'll get the chapter a whole week before it's on
Wattpad :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Much love,

Jade x