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are you guys virgins?

timothée and haley were kissing in a hotel hallway.

her arms were looped around his neck, and his hands were on her waist.

it felt good. she missed the feel of his mouth, his touch... just him in general. it made her wonder why she even broke up with him in the first place.

the thing that made haley even more aware of the mistake she made was the camera dolly that wheeled around the two of them on circular tracks.

"CUT!" shouted max. she was a french director who was known for her beautiful filmmaking and her continuous movie shots. though most of her work was about women in period dramas finding their sexualities, she was nonetheless still pretty great at directing anything that had the slightest hint of romance.

"that was very good," max told them, happily. occasionally, she'd switch back and forth from english to french, since it was what she was comfortable with (but she was still pretty fluent in english). the leads, timothée, haley, and elias, could understand her perfectly, so it was no problem.

"very good, very good." she repeated, headset on shoulders, and script in hand. "very romantique, don't you think?" the two just nodded, standing a good distance apart. it was a stark contrast to how close they were earlier.

timothée couldn't help glancing at haley as max was speaking. the dress she wore was beautiful.

it made of a deep red chiffon fabric and the thin straps that were barely even there were slung low, off her shoulders. as gorgeous as the dress was, timothée found it extremely distracting, since it had a rather low sweetheart neckline. her hair was tucked under a short, curled wig that resembled hairstyles from the 50s.

he had missed her presence immensely, and he felt like he would combust when max informed them that morning that they were to film the scenes later that day. timothée had no idea how to go about it, so he talked to haley in advance.

strangely enough, she didn't seem fazed about it.

"okay, so we need to kiss for a scene," she shrugged. "are you comfortable with it?"

"yeah, i'm fine with it. it's not like i wasn't fine with it in the first place, it's not like that at all, i just wanted to know if... if you were fine with it." he rambled.

"yeah, i am, it's no problem." she gave him a reassuring smile before he left.

everything about him that was reassured, however, flew out the window when she showed up to the hair and makeup trailer. IN. THE. DRESS.

timothée snapped back to reality when he heard max say "sex scene."

"wait, sorry, i just—" he shook his head. "did i hear her say sex scene?" he asked haley, who had the same look of frozen shock on her face.

"are you guys virgins? have you never done this before?" max asked, in french.

if the circumstances were different, he swore he would have laughed.

"it is not very difficult," she told them, in english this time. "just implications."

"i could do implications." haley looked at timmy, waiting.

"i could, too."

max gave them a detailed instruction on how to go about the whole process, saying the shot would show a major makeout, but for the rest of the scene, would just follow their lower bodies, or legs, as they moved. it sounded reassuring, but the idea didn't feel comfortable at all.

they tried to carry out what she had instructed, but the whole setup felt so impersonal to both of them since the whole hallway was crowded with crew members and equipment.

"listen max, i swear we'll get it right." haley told her, after four clumsy takes. "we'll work stuff out, it's gonna be fine."

"it better be." max warned. "a bunch of producers are calling and i'll go down to talk to them, but please, i beg of you, have something useful by the time i return. we have the restaurant scene after this. actually, can you leave them alone?" she told the cameramen. "only one person can manage the camera anyways, the rest of you can go on a break or something."

timothée sighed and began pacing around once all but one crew member had left. the cameraman named bruno spoke up timidly.

"why don't you act like you love each other?" he suggested. after being met with two pairs of raised eyebrows, he backtracked. "see, this is why i'm just a cameraman. sorry." he apologized, before making an excuse to go and leaving haley and timothée alone together.

tired, haley sat on the marble floor with her knees up and rested her head on them. her dress splayed around her like an open rose.

"you'll ruin the dress, didn't they say not to sit down?" timmy asked, lowering himself onto the floor to sit beside her.

"that's the last thing on my mind right now, to be honest."

"what is on your mind, then?"

"how how this whole thing feels so forced, and it shouldn't be."

"let's try again." he jumped to his feet.

"what difference will it make?" she asked dubiously.

"do you remember the dance choreo for the restaurant scene we're shooting after this?"

"sure." haley didn't know where he was going with this. she knew he practiced the steps, and she did too, but they'd never done it together yet since there never was time.

"may i have this dance?" timothée asked it playfully, but somewhere behind his eyes was a hidden hood of longing.

she took his hand carefully and the two practiced the steps together for the first time. they were both great dancers, and they moved gracefully along the corridor while something changed.

"you're a great dancer," he observed. "but then again, you were on shake it up."

"i don't think they taught us any 50s dances." she replied.

it was like all barriers between them fell down as they waltzed around, and it felt freeing for both of them.

"ready?"

"ready," haley said, smiling up at him.

the two of them called bruno back in, and did a practice take with all the effort they could muster. as they were reviewing the scene through the monitor bruno was showing them, max arrived.

"please tell me that you've got some progre— oh, you did it already?"

"we did a rehearsal thing." timmy explained.

"let's see it then, can you replay it?" she asked. max nodded a couple times, evidently pleased with how it started out and occasionally pausing the clip to point out things to change or improve.

"haley, that was great, but look to your right and left faster, alright? yes, yes i like that," she said. "timothée, that was great, do that again later." max instructed, referring to when he pushed haley up against a wall.

"sure."

"nice, fluid, camera movements bruno, i love how this is all continuous. just make sure to zoom in on their various movements, alright? i like how haley's clumsily reaching for the doorknob and i think it could've been highlighted a bit more." as max watched the camera slide to the floor and follow timothée and haley's legs stumble into the room, she paused it.

"haley, you're doing a wonderful job as per usual, but i need you to slide out of your heels gracefully. don't trip. that's what you do." she said, pointing at timothée. "luc is tripping because, well honestly? no one knows him like this and let's just say he's being a bit more vulnerable than he usually is." a couple of seconds later, as timmy's shoes were kicked off, the pause button was hit again.

"timothée, let's be clear with one thing. luc does not walk around in formal loafers without socks. he also does not fuck with his socks on, he is much better than that."

"yes ma'am, my apologies." he laughed.

"do you fuck with your socks on?" she asked, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

"NO, NO, NO," he said, loudly, bending over to one side in embarrassment.

"i was kidding. okay, bruno, you'll need to slide the camera up again here to show them kissing again— you guys will have to kiss again— and then timmy, you're going to slide the zipper off her dress as you do it. but do it slowly," max added. "it's gonna be fine, haley's wearing a bodysuit thing so no one will know. you'll just slide the zipper, then bruno, slide the camera down to their legs again, then let the dress fall a second later."

"gotcha."

so they did it and managed to get it right on their next try.

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"i'd say we did a good job today, don't you think?" haley asked timothée after returning her dress to the costume exhibit. it was late and both of them hadn't eaten yet.

"we did," he agreed. "but i'm hungry, are you?"

"wanna grab something?"

"oh my god, i've been meaning to show you this place ever since i came here to shoot wonka last year," he told her excitedly. "can i take you there?"

"of course," haley smiled. "i know i grew up here but i barely remember anything, so." the two of them dressed to go out casually, in jeans and hoodies.

"it's just a stall, nothing special." he added, hoping she didn't have high expectations.

"i don't mind. also, what's the point of wearing sunglasses when it's dark out?" haley asked him, as they walked down the street. "i tried that once and i can't see anything."

"i don't mind," he answered and glanced at her to see her reaction. he still took them off since they were wearing masks anyways.

"do you know if we're going to paris?" timothée asked. they had picked up the food from the stall and were walking back, when haley scrunched her face in discomfort.

"you okay?"

"they're probably just cramps, which is weird because i never get them even when i'm on my period. and to answer your previous question," she said, her mouth full of food, "i don't think so. i asked max if we could take you but i don't think we're going at all because the covid guidelines were changed and it's too late to get a permit."

"aw, man."

"yeah... we had the idea of filming in the place you'd visit as a kid, so you could have been our tour guide." she added with a small laugh. "but none of us are going anymore. i mean, i am, of course, but that's because the premiere was planned ages ago. i'm not even sure if we're gonna be doing interviews anymore."

"that's a bummer. when's it coming out in london? i wanna see it," he said, giving her an evil grin.

"please don't."

"how can i not? it's like, the biggest oscar contender for next year."

"i just feel like it would be weird."

"then watch it with me. hell, let's take eli, too!"

"no, that's gonna be the worst," she groaned.

"just watch it and tell me what you thought of it after."

"i can tell you what i think of it during."

"timm—" her phone began to ring.

"hello?" haley asked. it's joe, she mouthed.

"what i'm wearing for the paris premiere? who's asking?" timothée heard her say.

he didn't dislike joe, that wasn't it, but he didn't exactly like him either after everything that happened with maika. not that he was still hung up on her, god no, he was still hung up over someone, but a different girl this time. haley.

"it's... how do i say this? can i just send you a picture of it? it's with my team right now and i'm on set," haley explained. "it's like, black, and it's got this cute ruffly skirt, and yellow flowers... i like flowers, sue me." she snapped. "you're infuriating, you know that?"

she sighed. "love you too. bye." haley smiled as she put down the phone, then looked at timothée.

she shook her head. "i can't believe him. the premiere is two weeks away and he still doesn't have an outfit picked! who does that?"

"him, apparently."

"i know, and you have yours picked out months before!"

"speaking of outfits, what about the premiere for an absolutely remarkable thing?"

haley is the queen of cute face scrunches :)

i TOLD myself to get out this chapter but i've got a conference in a few weeks

that i'm not prepped for and also so much deadlines i wanna cry.

haley's red outfit is on top and also her hairstyle, and here's her dress for the paris premiere:

I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY