﹙ HURTS ME TOO ★ ﹚

ESTRELLA TOSSED AND TURNED ON THE HARD COUCH!

Both of them suppressed their yawns, their eyes growing heavy as the quiet hours ticked by. It was almost two in the morning and the girl on the couch was still shifting under the blankets.

Dylan sighed to himself and sat up. "Come here. We can share."

"Ew." Estrella replied, without missing a beat.

"Don't make this a thing. If you can't sleep you'll be shit on set tomorrow, and I don't want to work with you any more than I have to." He excused.

Estrella sighed. She wanted to stay on the couch, to tell him she didn't wanna be anywhere near him, but she also didn't wanna make a bad first impression in the morning.

She dragged her feet against the floor to emphasize her unwillingness. Dylan stared up at the ceiling. The bed dipped slowly beneath her and he was suddenly very aware of the warmth of her body.

Her breathing was soft and even, her being distanced as far from him as possible.

When drowsiness overtook them and the night wore on, they shifted closer to each other.

Morning came and Dylan was the first to wake. The sun barely peeked through the blinds. His body was heavy with sleep and something else.

He blinked groggily and glanced to his side to a view of his limbs tangled in hers. The softness of her skin almost stung. Now fully awake, he almost threw himself onto the ground to avoid her waking up in his arms.

Dylan and Estrella were shooting their scene for what felt like the millionth time. Over time, he learned that having her angry with him was much worse than being annoyed by her.

Logistically, pretending to be in a relationship was the easiest way to learn how to act on set. Having two kids who hated each other as costars was fine if they were playing enemies, but they'd be playing lovers.

If they refused to settle their disputes, they had to learn to lie.

Dylan took his place on the greenery, sitting to face the expanse of water. The cameras were rolling and the crew watched as Estrella approached him. She lowered herself
into the space beside him.

He did his best to stay in character and keep his expression neutral. "What are you doing?" He lowered the prop blunt, the smoke leaving his mouth.

He had to look at her then. He let his eyes scan her, forcing a casual tone. He hadn't been as close to her as he'd been in the morning, afraid that she'd mention it.

"Keeping you company. You look miserable." Estrella replied, the lines on the tip of her tongue.

"What makes you think I want company?"

"I don't care if you want it."

"So, you just decided to sit next to me, uninvited?"

"Aren't you observant?"

"Are you always this bossy?"

"Bossy? No one's being bossy. Do you always smell like weed?"

Estrella encapsulated the quiet energy of her character with her tone and every moment she made. Dylan maintained a slightly irritated expression as the scene progressed.

"What's your name?" He pressed, his eyes trailing her face like he was interested.

Kieran, his character, was supposed to be interested. He was supposed to keep compliments under his tongue and cover up his admiration with sarcasm. Dylan was supposed to be nailing it.

There was a thin line of drug-induced disbelief and a curiosity he was supposed to linger between.

"Angel." She replied. "Y'know this is a rehab camp?
How'd you get weed in here?"

Dylan played it cool, but his gaze stayed on her for a moment longer than necessary. "I have my ways."

"Gross. Maybe I don't wanna know." She winced.

Estrella looked out at the water beneath the cliff. Only a couple more moments and they'd have their final take. Dylan's eyes moved over the slope of her nose and followed her eyes to the body of water a couple of feet below them.

"What, scared to jump?" Dylan challenged, throwing the stub of the prop to the side. It'd been burnt down from the duration of retakes.

Estrella stood up as he watched her, waiting to see what she'd do. This was the part they were having trouble with. One of them would stumble over their lines, or hesitate to touch the other.

She held her hand out to him and he gave her a relatively confused look. He took her hand in his and stood up after her. She pulled him to the ledge above the river, watching the crystal waves.

They'd practiced the stunt for an hour before shooting.

Estrella jumped into the water, tugging him after her. Their hands didn't come apart once as they bobbed back up for air. Darkness glimmered in the sky around them. When Dylan breathed out, it warmed the air in a haze of smoke around his mouth.

Seconds passed with only the two looking into each other's eyes. "Cut!" The director announced, causing the crew to let out a sigh of relief.

Estrella yanked her hands out of his and swam towards the shore. He wiped the droplets off of his face and then followed her out. One of the assistants wrapped a large towel around them and neither of them was stubborn enough to freeze.

That entire morning, they'd gone over the script and coordinated stunt ideas. Somebody commented on the similarities between Dylan and Estrella and they'd glared at each other.

They'd filmed a good chunk of the movie. It was an out-of-pocket passion project, filmed with one camera to get the effect of a digital camera-recorded home video. They'd be filming for two months and their trailers were right beside each other.

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♡ 562K 💬 176K ➤ 89K •••
estrellagonzalez new cameraman

xenagomez who replaced me
⤷ estrellagonzalez you'll never guess
⤷ xenagomez I KNEW IT

realdylanhoffman ✓ tag me

julietbaker omg posted with a fan
⤷ estrellagonzalez and he's in the comments
⤷ julietbaker blink twice if u need help
⤷ estrellagonzalez sos

helpme why is dylan in these comments
⤷ druskisthegoat she's his costar

inthehallsofyourhotel she's literally the girl in the picture
⤷ bluesunday they're dating
⤷ leopardgirl she said they weren't
⤷ ballonsintheair she was obviously joking

catkerson sorry this is unprofessional
⤷ sweetaurora they can make their own choices
⤷ advocate ngl
⤷ whiteferrari ur mad he didn't pick u
⤷ idchoe i think they look good together
⤷ malemanipulator yeah but imagine they break up

haterpro Ur gonna need this bc of me 🧿
⤷ riricomeback right why are u next to my man
⤷ literallegend this is getting out of hand
⤷ customerservice y'all mad

notyler what the hellyontae
⤷ ethaanblaake that's her man fr
⤷ carloslovesblonded they don't look good tg
⤷ omgomgomg i see it
⤷ cyclopsty i hate u guys