Bradley threw another pillow on the couch and tried his best to keep Ozzy from jumping on it, who wasn't impressed by his efforts and only gave up trying when he sat down himself, leaving not a lot of space for the dog.

"Are your dogs allowed on the bed?"

Stefani nodded guiltily. "Well...they'll stay in their beds when the door is closed but...and you know." She shrugged and looked down at her hand drawing circles on her knee, but he didn't know what she was getting at. "They weren't allowed when Emily was little, it was crowding the bed too much."

He was trying to picture that, how she must have looked, glowing but likely completely overwhelmed cradling this tiny life against her chest and his heart lurched, until her voice pulled him from his thoughts. "...but anyway, two of them prefer their own beds a lot of the time, so they wander off at night. What about Charlie?"

"Charlie is not a very good co-sleeper. We had to ban him at one point, but he's been finding his way back sometimes lately, now that Irina's gone."

"That's why he's whining downstairs, he misses you." She laughed and gave Ozzy another pat before she leaned back to get comfortable. "So, part 1? I haven't watched this in years."

"Yeah. Marlon Brando was SO extremely good in this." He gushed while starting the film and couldn't stop when they watched the intro play. "Have you worked with Stanislavski's system before? Learning with improv theatre?"

Stefani was uneasy under the scrutiny. "No, only back in university when I did some theatre. I haven't managed to put much of it into practice. It's playing pretend, like I'm not a real actress yet."

"After everything you've done? Of course you are and I'll treat you like one. You're going to love it, it's so much character work. Figuring out the circumstances that are going to make your character feel a certain way."

"It's easier when it's the circumstances of a character I make up myself."

"But that's why it's so good she's a musician, all your personal experiences can help us mold her into something real. It's going to take some more convincing for me to portray one, on the other hand."

"That's why we're molding you into a real musician."

"We are?" He asked, her sincerity making him laugh.

"Of course. How else are you going to sing?"

"Well, we'll record everything and I figure..."

"I'm not working with pre-recorded audio."

He searched her face for signs that she wasn't serious, but then he remembered that it was one of her principles.

"How else is that going to work?"

"We'll sing live, as we go, how else would it work and be authentic?"

"Authentic would be a film with a real musician or someone with experience, not someone who was trying to be one for the sake of the film alone and not because he could feel something only music was giving him. "I can't...I'm not really a musician, Stef."

She ignored his worries as if they meant nothing. "That is why we're making you into one. As you said, personal experiences." She added and beamed at him in a way that made it impossible to say no.

"If you're helping me." He surrendered with a pleading tone in his voice.

"It's part of the deal. I'll treat you like a real musician, too."

"That's our deal?"

"It is. Like a pact." She nodded and sat back again, resting her head on his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world, before she realized what she was doing. "Uh...sorry."

"No, don't say sorry. Come here?" He held his arm up for her to settle herself under and she hesitated for a few seconds before molding her cheek against his chest. He draped his arm over her shoulders and breathed in her scent, of his own shower products she used earlier on her. That was a nice thought, that she smelled a bit like him.

"I haven't made any pacts since college." He reminisced, trying to pick up where they left off.

"You still have some going on?"

Bradley let his head fall on the back of the small couch to think. "There might still be a pact with an old roommate that we'll both stay happily single."

"That worked out well."

He was barely following the events of the film anymore, his mind hazed over as his arm held her closer around her shoulder. Was it her craving affection or could it be more than that? He knew what he wanted, but it wasn't something he allowed himself to hope for. Now it seemed like it was very close, that he would get to say all those things, tell her how he felt.

"We should do this more often." She mumbled when his hand was stroking up and down her arm, the heat of them seeping into her skin through the sleeves of the borrowed hoodie. Her voice was soft and quiet and he knew it would put them both into a vulnerable position if he asked.

"Spending time together, just the two of us?"

"Yeah, today was great. Even with all the unexpected." She agreed and nodded towards Ozzy who had settled on the floor instead of the dog bed.

His mouth was running dry and the fears that they could lose that connection they had, the trust she had in him, if he was interpreting things the wrong way, were close to taking over. The last thing he wanted was to be another one of those people to her, ones who only had an interest in one part of her.

"We should do that more often. Getting time alone with you is...different." She hummed softly in agreement before he continued. This was much like talking in the dark, the TV running and her not looking directly at him, but looking at the screen instead, although he doubted she was following the film, too. "I get it now, how everyone keeps saying you're special. You must know that."

Stefani scrunched up her nose and teared her gaze away from the screen to look up at him. "Stop it, it's not..."

"No, I heard how your friends talked about you before, and you always say how much it feels like it's a Gaga thing and less yourself." She was blushing furiously at his remarks as if she wasn't used to it and that didn't do anything to stop him. "I've been thinking about this, and I do like what I've seen of Gaga so far, but I adore the Stefani I've gotten to know." His voice cracked as he ran out of breath from speaking too quickly, and now he had gone too far to go back.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Yeah." Bradley admitted. "Is it working?"

"Sort of." Stefani said and moved even closer, making him wonder if she was always seeing right through him. His heart skipped a beat as she smiled back at him. All he really wanted was to kiss her right now. Right here and right now, and it would be so easy.

There wasn't any time for hesitation and he couldn't remember who started moving first. His fingers closed around the fabric of her hoodie and then her breath was suddenly lingering on his cheek and watching her eyes fall shut made him lean in closer to press his lips against hers. He couldn't think about anything else anymore, how her lips felt the same as they did the last time, but still different, how she was kissing him back just as fiercely.

He brought his hand to her face and ran his thumb gently over her cheek, letting her lean into the touch. His fingers wanted to explore every inch of skin she exposed and with every movement he was reminded just how much he wanted to taste and know every bit of her. The world faded around him, his arms wrapping tighter around her to pull her closer until she started laughing at his eagerness, as if he had been waiting for this moment for too long.

"What about this?" He asked. Her beautiful lips parted slightly as she gasped for air, her eyes focusing on his, and he gently kissed her forehead.

"You can do that more often, too." She whispered as that bright smile he knew made its way back onto her face.

"I'd love to do all of this more often."

"...but aren't you nervous? After everything with..." Bradley stopped her by kissing her again, not wanting to hear the name now.

"Very. But I want to see where it goes way more than I'm nervous. Am I scaring you off? Is this not something you want?"

"I do. Want this. But I barely got out of that...thing with Chris and everything's a little raw."

She draped one of her legs over his, cuddling even closer against him and there was a small, comfortable silence.

"We can go slow. There's time, I'm not going anywhere." He assured her and he knew she understood, wanting to savor the time they had, too. Her breath was ghosting over his neck again and it felt so natural to be with her like this, as if she had been there all along. The film became a background noise between moving in to kiss her again, drawing her closer while comfortably trying to wrap his body around her, and at some point in the middle of it he must have drifted off to sleep.

*

His eyes were half closed, his head buried in her neck where her blond locks curled against his skin and tickled. There was bright morning light pouring into the room, alerting him of the daytime. Bradley moved to avoid the bright sunlight and opened them fully, confused about the day and time and too preoccupied with the feel of Stefani's body pressed against his. His movement woke her up as well and she jerked into a sitting position quickly, smoothing her hair down to her shoulders.

"I didn't set an alarm." She burst out in a scratchy morning voice he was dying to hear more often.

"Alarm?"

Before he had come to his senses, she was hurrying to get up and to her phone still lying on the bed. "It's so late, fuck, I have to call a driver. I'm never late!"

"Wait, Stef, I can drive you there, it's faster than them coming out here first. You can use the bath upstairs again, I'll go downstairs. We'll be quick."

Bradley put on the coffee maker and rushed for a quick clean-up so they could get out the door. He had barely changed into a clean set of clothes when the doorbell rang, not the one to the gate outside, but the one that meant someone was standing right in front of his door. That didn't leave many options and he knew pretending he wasn't home wasn't one in this case.

"Mom, it's not a good time right now."

Gloria smiled apologetically and gestured towards her car. "I'll be gone in a flash. A really quick flash. You won't even know I was here. But can you quickly get the shelf we got for Lea's room from my car? It's heavy and I need the trunk today."

Too many things were happening at once. Behind him, Stefani was thundering down the stairs and he moved his body to the side, trying to block his mother from looking inside, but that was no help covering her voice.

"Do you mind if I keep the hoodie for today? I'll wash it and..." Stefani asked from the hallway before she froze in her step and her eyes met his mother's.

"Hi, I'm sorry, I'm Gloria, I'm only dropping something off." She broke the awkward silence quickly. "Are you helping now, with the shelf?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at her son.

"...sure." He conceded and threw one last look at Stefani before hurrying over to his mother's car.

He heard her introduce herself quickly and his mother seemed to be truly apologetic. As much as she was nosy sometimes, she never would intrude in his private life on purpose.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to barge in at all." She apologized again, unsure whether she should make it known that she knew who she was talking to.

"It's okay, I'm just about to leave, but it's nice to finally meet you, Bradley's been..."

"We're in a bit of a hurry, Stef has...a work thing." He interrupted, putting the shelf down in front of the door and shrugging at her innocently.

"Don't let me hold you up. Thank you for helping quickly." His mother winked at him and he rolled his eyes until she pulled him into a hug to whisper to him quietly. "I wasn't here. But I can be, anytime if you want to talk."