Work Text:
----
Chace has been accused of being many things since he made it onto Hollywood's radar in early 2007; a ladies' man, a delinquent, and a stoner are just a few of the more noteworthy labels that have been assigned to him.
Apparently, he's also an asshole. Case and point:
"You should leave that idiot you're with high and dry." Okay, so he's only known her, what, two weeks? Not the greatest way to foster a comfortable atmosphere on-set. Whatever. Alcohol diminishes his already thin personal filter. "Being British doesn't automatically make him a great guy."
This isn't really coming out of the blue, just to be clear. Last night, there'd been a fairly loud argument going on in the foyer of the condo complex everyone's staying in; it was kind of hard not to overhear. Given the fact that the conversation was one-sided and over a phone line, some of the nuances might have been lost on him. Still, anyone who can make a girl cry from 5,000 miles away is a douche. All there is to it.
"What qualifies you to make that assessment, exactly?" Anna's tone has an icy bite to it. "You don't know me." She pauses, glances down, hair curtaining her face. "Or him."
"I know this much," he says around the final swallow of his beer, pointing the bottle in her direction. "He made you cry. That's never okay."
He leaves money on the bar, touches her wrist with a soft see ya tomorrow. She lets out the breath she's been holding since that last comment, ignores the way her her heartbeat is thumping in her ears.
----
"You're reading?" Anna sprawls in the chair next to his, lobs her hideous faux pregnancy belly into his lap. "Someone should be recording this."
"Yes, well. I'm much more literary than I appear to be." The high-society accent lasts all of three seconds before a smile and a short chuckle crack his attempt at diversion; he lifts the paperback in his hands, lets her catch a glimpse of the title. She makes a face.
"Oh. No. No." He waves a finger vehemently. "None of that. Did you forget Twilight already? The final movie hasn't even wrapped yet."
"Excuse you, I'm not even in the last one." After a pause, she continues, "I didn't read the book until after I landed the part, so."
Her demeanor shifts after that, in an instant. She moves herself into a sitting position, breathes Ed and I are done so softly he almost has to ask her to repeat the words.
"Shit." He glances across to her, pulls her into a hug as her face starts to crumple. He's never been very good with words. "Sorry," he whispers into her shoulder.
----
Anna's newly-minted single status somehow translates into hanging out with Chace. Far too much, some might say. Jennifer can take her snide, passive-agressive Aren't you two just the cutest and Be careful about dating a costar, honey; it'll only end in tears and shove it.
a) At present, she and Chace are not dating in any way, shape, or form.
b) There are never any tears when she's around him. He makes her laugh, cheers her up when she's had a crappy day. That's about as far from crying as one can get.
c) If things ever do progress past friends, no way is she basing any aspect of her as yet non-existent relationship on advice from Jennifer Lopez.
----
"Where are you headed after this?" he asks, going for casual.
"I was thinking sushi." She pauses the Golden Girls marathon she's in the middle of at his laugh, tilts her chin up so she can see him, even if he is upside-down. "What?"
"I meant after filming wraps. Not tonight." She's been spending too much time with him if his tendency toward the literal is starting to rub off on her. He can't bring himself to think of that as a problem.
"No concrete plans, as of yet," she says, shrugging.
"Want to come up to New York for a bit?"
They're finished in Georgia in a week. A friend is asking a friend to visit, relax after working 16 hour days for a month and a half straight. Nothing else is happening here. (Who is he kidding?)
Her face lights up as she answers,"That would be awesome, actually!"
"I'll have my people call your people, set something up."
"You really know how to make a girl feel special." There's a smirk thrown in his direction before she restarts her show; Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose discuss their lastest dilemma over cheesecake.
Here's what's interesting, though. The whole feeling special thing, while trite and cliche, might not be an exaggeration.