% CHAPTER 10 %

After repeating the scene a countless amount of times, we still aren't getting it right. Taylor isn't cooperating that well anymore and I'm at my last straw. I'm pretty sure Derek is too. We've all just had about enough of ponds and freezing water and kissing.

"Come on Taylor! I'm gonna catch pneumonia if we don't finish this scene soon!" I tell her, trying to get her to focus.

"Good!" she yells. "You deserve it."

I sigh. She still hasn't forgiven me because of that incident when we were kissing. All I did was touch her butt. Even if it was sort of taking advantage, I thought it would look good in the movie. I mean that's what people want, right?

"Let's take a quick break," Derek says. "You two need to figure out a solution fast. We don't have all the time on the world."

Taylor glares at me. I sigh again. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! Don't even ask that! You know exactly what's wrong!"

"Look I'm sorry. I just thought it would look better-"

She immediately interrupts me, because she's Taylor, and that's what she does. "You thought it would look better. You thought! That doesn't make it right. In fact, you thinking it makes it all the more wrong!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Let's just fix this mess. I don't want to waste anymore time in this damn pond. We need to put our differences aside and act like civil people should." She breathes in slowly before exhaling and coming over to me.

I don't get why she's so pissed. It's practically her fault! First she ignores me and barely puts any effort in this scene and now she's telling me that we should be acting civil towards each other?! I shake my head of the thought. Fighting with women brings you nowhere, especially when they're already pissed off enough.

"Where do we start?" I ask.

Taylor grabs my hand and tugs me along as she stomps out of the water. I excuse ourselves from the pond before letting her continue. She drags me towards the forest area. Trees are all clustered together. I look around

"Keep quiet," she tells me.

"What are we doing?" I ask, ignoring her previous statement.

"Don't ask," she says. "I've heard that if you tell someone your problems with them face to face and you tell the truth about the way you feel, you feel a whole lot better and start bonding."

I think it over. Start bonding? Since when did Taylor want to start bonding?! With me of all people. All the same I sort of like the idea because then... I mentally slap myself. Those old feelings for Taylor need to evaporate, like now. The only reason I'm acting this way towards her and letting her get her way is because she is damn stunning in that dress.

I roll my eyes. "That's a whole bunch of counselor shit Taylor."

She furrows her eyebrows. "I just want to try it out okay?! Shun me, gosh..."

I chuckle. "Maybe I should."

Taylor puffs out her cheeks and pushes me roughly against a nearby tree. "Shut up! And try it out with me!"

Holy fuck, that was hot. No. No it wasn't.

I sigh. I guess it couldn't hurt. It's not like I have anything bad to diss her out with. "Fine. Where do I start?"

She looks at me pointedly before shaking her head. "No actually. I start."

I ran a hand through my hair. I take it back, this wasn't going to help at all. If she wants to already take things over, we aren't going to get anywhere. "See that's what I'm talking about!" I say, disregarding that she wanted to start first. "You're always trying to tell me what to do. You get extremely bossy sometimes and I can't help but want to make a joke out of you. You're too serious for your own good Taylor. You need to loosen up."

Her cheeks burn bright red as she absorbs my judgement. "I guess I can see where you're coming from."

"You also judge people way too fast and make me feel like a complete asshole."

"Sometimes you are a complete asshole though, Bret." I was about to start talking again but she put a finger to my lips. "Shut up. You told me about my problems; now it's my turn to tell you about yours." She takes a deep breath in before facing me head on and looking straight into my eyes. "You're really arrogant at times and never take things for real. If there was a hurricane heading straight towards you, you'd laugh it off and probably waltz off to a night club and get your game on."

I wince. That's not true at all. She makes me sound like a total tool. "Okay...anything else?"

"Well I don't like your behavior. You need to work on it and become more serious when it comes to the movie. People are going to be paying real money to watch you perform. People are paying wads of money to make this happen right now! You don't realize how big of an economical and social change this will be for you. Fame doesn't happen overnight and last Bret. Time and money has to be put into the whole shabang."

"I get your point. Now back to you. I don't like how you act all high and mighty like you're an adult."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Well someone has got to be the adult around here."

"You need to relish your time as a teen. You're only 16 once. Hell, you're only 40 once but that's not the point. Point being is that you shouldn't be worrying about all the economical crisis happening around here just yet. Learn to think about fun. Go to parties. Have a drink. Don't just stay cooped up in your room and hope for the best."

"That's not it at all Bret-"

"Kids! Get back here!" Derek yells off in the distance.

Taylor and I fix ourselves before stepping out from behind the trees. I guess revealing these things helped out a little. I now realized that Taylor had been judging me completely wrong, and I got how she came to these conclusions. I was always an asshole around her for some reason. Why was that?

We've been fighting for so long it's like a sixth sense to us. I did like how we got along though, even if it was just for 2 percent of our usual life. Now I sort of feel bad for lying to her about my scar.

I didn't exactly lie. I just didn't tell her everything. I did get cut by a metal rope, but how is a different story. It was because of my dad. He wasn't paying attention to me when I was a little kid. He wasn't watching me like he was supposed to, but I forgave him a long time ago. He's the only parent I have. He taught me things and made me who I am today. That's enough to forgive him.

"So you guys ready to get back into the water?" Derek asks.

Taylor shivers. "Not really."

"Well it sucks to be you, doesn't it?"

I roll my eyes. Derek's sense of humor is totally off. "Come on Taylor. We'll do it together."

She grabs onto my arm and we both wade in. Her voice gets a little high pitched when she lets out a squeal the first time she makes contact with the water, but she remains calm for the rest of it.

"Lights. Camera! Action," Derek orders through his megaphone.

While the camera is focusing elsewhere, Taylor and I splash each other playfully.

"Stop stop!" Taylor squeals as soon as the camera is on us.

I immediately stop splashing her and inch a bit closer. I pretend I'm about to speak as she takes her hands and makes the biggest wave possible with those delicate fingers. The water hits me in the chest, forcing ne to step back a few steps. Taylor instantly starts giggling.

"No fair! Em, you cheated!" I say in disbelief.

Taylor laughs away. It's not really fair how she gets the upperhand in this scene. I can't fuss though or she'll kick my ass.

I grab her by the waist before saying, "I got you now pumpkin!"

We double over in fits of laughter. Why can't reality between us be like this? Oh I know the answer. Because I'm too much of a stuck up jackass. I laugh as she giggles in this extremely cute way. Then it dies down and we make eye contact. Such beautiful blue eyes. God, how does she make my insides shiver like this? No, that must be the freezing water.

I slowly bring her down and balance her on my waist like Derek wants. My heart starts accelerating, already yearning for the pulses that her touch gives me. Our lips finally meet. Taylor's hand immediately cups my cheek while the arm to the other hand goes to the back of my neck and begins rubbing on this weak spot I never knew I had. I love when she does that. We're taking it slower, just like Derek said.

My hand rests on the small of her back, not going any farther down for the sake of our nonexistent friendship. Maybe one day we will be friends. Probably not, but one can try.

We slowly part ways and look into each other's eyes lovingly. Damn, that was perfect.

"And scene!" Derek shouts. "Finally!"

I'm pretty happy myself, but seriously now, this pond is making me feel like I'm cold blooded. I can't handle it much longer. Taylor and I rush out of the pond and two members of the crew hand us towels.

Are you serious? They had towels this whole time?!

"You had towels the whole entire time?!" Taylor yells out. I smirk. Great minds think alike.

Derek scratches the back of his head. "Oh. About that. I sort of didn't want them to be wet and clammy when we were done with the scene so I didn't tell you."

"Derek!" She screams. I chuckle at her outrage. That's a mistake. Taylor's fierce blue eyes land on mine. "What are you laughing at?"

"I just thought it was cute the way you reacted over these towels."

"Well I've been freezing my ass off over here you dick!" Thank goodness Derek hadn't heard that, though I didn't understand how the whole planet didn't hear her yelling.

Oh gosh, what did I do now? "Okay okay. Chill."

"I am chilled! Haven't I been telling you this for the past minute?!"

I sigh. This girl...."Yes you have and I'm sorry you feel that way, but you should be warm now so stop complaining."

She looks at herself. The towel is propped around her shoulders so its hugging her nicely. Her blond hair is damp from the splashing around. After realizing she's quite cozy, she puffs out her cheeks for a bit.

Finally the yelling has ceased. I take off my wet costume pants. I feel like my freaking nuts are about to fall off! Luckily, the boxers I'm wearing aren't snug, so they aren't freezing me up. Taylor immediately starts sputtering.

"U-um. What do you think you're doing?"

"It's called body heat," I say and roll my eyes. "But you've probably never heard of that before."

She puffs out her cheeks again. Maybe she's doing that because she's annoyed. It's actually kind of cute.

"It's not that. Just... put your pants back on!"

"I'm not willing to catch pneumonia for you," I say truthfully. "And if you don't want to either, then I suggest you take off that dress." I smirk as I'm saying the last part. I don't mean to smirk like that. I'm actually trying to help her out. The dryer she is, the less likely she is to catch something.

Taylor looks at her dress for a second before looking back at my grin. Then she shudders and wraps her towel more around her.

"No," she says.

I shrug. "Fine by me."

"Kids! Time to go!"

I head to the limo. Taylor follows quietly behind. Once we reach the car door, I turn back to her. She freezing her ass off.

I sigh. "Just take it off Taylor. You're freezing."

"No I'm not," she lies through chattering teeth.

If I wouldn't have seen her shivering, I would have actually believed her. She's quite the actress.

"Quit lying. I'll even turn around so I won't see anything and then you can wrap your towel around everything."

"I don't trust you," she spits at me.

I sigh again. "Okay then just get in the car. I tried warning you. But since you want to catch a cold, just go right ahead."

I slide into the car and rest my head on the seat cushions. It's her funeral.