[Dedicated to Sadiyah, who's one of the awesomest friends I've made here on Wattpad. She's totally chill, and she's been to London, which makes me totally and completely jealous. Keep rocking on, Sads!]

"So exactly how different is the movie from the musical?" wondered Dom as he watched me scramble in front of my DVD player. "If the situation is something like My Fair Lady, the movie isn't that much different from the original at all."

I really wanted to cut him off to save my ears from receiving any more of his blasphemy, but I felt like acting slightly polite today since I was asking Dom to do something that he'd never do without considerable prodding.

Dom continued, as I finally plucked the DVD case from a rather unstable tower of DVDs with a little whoop, "And then, there would be no point for me to watch the movie since I can basically say that I've seen it all." He paused for a second, presumably to think. During that little bit of silence, a couple other movies fell off the stack, and I bit my lip to keep myself from cursing. Dom kept going on like nothing had happened. "Well, actually-"

"Just please," I said loudly to him without turning around, holding up a hand to him, "I need to concentrate, and I literally can't do anything when you're blasting my favorite movie in front of me."

There was a split second of silence, which I had started to enjoy as I popped open the DVD case and took out the disk, before Dom began blabbing all over again. Good God-I knew it was too good to be true.

"Actually," he called over to me, "I don't think I've seen it all because I fell asleep after a bit at the theatre."

I dropped the disk on the ground (even though I was totally prepared to put it in the DVD player already) and whipped my head around, my mouth dropping open. I must have tried to talk, but my mouth couldn't seem to make any noises. My eyes popped open wider.

How was I supposed to react to that?

"Wait, wait, wait," I was able to stutter out after a couple seconds. I leaned forward on my knees and stared straight into Dom's dark eyes. "You did what?"

Dom glanced to the side and bit his lip like he was a little kid who was caught stealing a cookie from the jar. Well, he sure did take his time formulating an answer. After a couple seconds, he finally admitted, still avoiding my eyes, "I fell asleep for a couple scenes...?"

Damn him for making me feel guilty by turning his shocking confession into a question. Damn him for being both a Guys and Dolls unbeliever and Dom Amaro. Damn him for being such a stubborn, uninformed ass who couldn't recognize good art if it were dancing in front of him with a toupee and a man thong. Damn him for being so fucking brash by actually admitting that to me-he totally knew what was going to happen to him if he let me, out of all people, know.

What was this?

After a little while of blinking furiously and gaping at my crush, I finally gathered the nerves to pick up the fallen DVD and stuff it in the DVD player. My mind was completely numb, like my dentist had really fucked up his needle placement and somehow injected my brain with anesthetic. It was almost like everything I was doing was autonomous, like my breathing.

Dom fucking fell asleep during one of the best musicals ever written in the world.

I was, in fact, so flustered that, for a moment, I completely forgot how to use a remote, and so, I had to resort to turning to Dom, who was still avoiding me.

"Whatever," I said once we both figured out that we would get nowhere if we just faced each other like this. "Just...try to redeem yourself somehow." In an undertone, I muttered, "If someone can even be redeemed for falling asleep during Guys and Dolls..."

Eventually, I realized that I'd have to get in a three-foot radius of Dom if I wanted him to resolve my remote control issues, so not quite unwillingly, I sat myself a respectable distance away from him. It was a little funny that Dom still wasn't looking at me-did he really think that I was going to beat him up or something-but I appreciated it nonetheless. I really was getting into deep thought about the depravity of the human species, and his interruptions would not be tolerated.

Stiffly, I nudged his shoulder with the back of my hand and handed over the remote. Still carefully avoiding my eyes, he switched through the many different modes of my TV and managed to get the TV to start playing the disc. However, for some reason, we still had to sit through some commercials that weren't even relevant to the musical, so there was some more awkwardness.

Now that I thought about it, I really shouldn't have overreacted that much.

But then, immediately, I thought to myself that Dom needed to learn his lesson to not fall asleep again.

"So," Dom finally ventured after we got to the start screen of the movie, "are you accepting apologies now or should I start resigning myself to eternal damnation via Lottie Ingham?"

When I turned my head to look at him, I caught a hint of a smile on his lips and elbowed him right then. "You bastard!" I exclaimed. He chuckled and held up his hands, pretending to ward off my half-hearted attacks. "You didn't mean a single thing!" My mouth stopped working for a couple more seconds as I attempted to stomach my again bubbling rage. "You probably thought it was fun to take a nap during the performance!"

"Relax, Lottie," Dom said, biting his lips now. God, he was so hot. And his lips...I squirmed in my seat even though we weren't sitting anywhere close enough to be that affected by him yet. Why did I have to deal with him? Dom continued, "I'll try to stay awake this time, all right?"

I scooted in a little closer to him even though I looked pointedly ahead at the TV, on which the signature opening shot of bustling New York City was playing. "I don't even know if I can trust you anymore." I huffed. "Who am I to trust someone who can't appreciate the great arts of the world?"

"Don't be crass." The humor was leaking out into Dom's words by the tons. He slung his arms over my shoulders, and I stiffened. What the fuck did he think he was doing? Dom didn't seem to think anything of my body language and only scooted in closer, this time whispering in my ear, "It's not like you can resist me anyway."

And I swore, if I looked at him now sitting so damn close, I would swoon.

I would fucking swoon like I was some faint-hearted lady from the Middle Ages.

And it would all be because of stupid Dom.

What in the world was my life coming to?

(And also, he was absolutely correct, but he didn't really have to know that. I was supposed to be mad at him right now for being an insufferable ass with no sense of appreciation and for just being who he was. I couldn't be expected to keep up this façade if I saw those eyes up close. I'd probably be able to write an essay from them alone.)

"Don't." In spite of my reservations, I couldn't help but feel nice and comforted so close to his body heat. "Just...don't."

And the movie kept moving on, completely oblivious of the shenanigans of its viewers. It kind of made me think about how time kept moving on. The '50s were completely unaffected by the twenty first century now. And it wasn't like the characters were going to be offended by whatever horrible things that Dom was saying about them.

I sighed and leaned into Dom's body just a little more.

How nice it was to hang out with him like this, just as a friend.

We sat through the first song, "Fugue for Tinhorns", without much uproar even though I got more than a few concerned side glances from Dom. I didn't really get why he kept looking at me like that. Did he not expect me to act out the lyrics as the actors sang the song? I did think that Dom would know me better than that.

By some stroke of luck, the rest of the movie went by smoothly as well. I had to admit that I was somewhat pleased that Dom didn't make any snarky comments about the gamblers or Sarah Brown or Nathan Detroit in particular. Maybe I had educated him well. Maybe he had seen the virtues of Nathan's character and the strength of Sarah's character after all the rambling I'd fed into him all of this time.

However, the warm feeling in my chest vanished as soon as Miss Adelaide's first Hot Box performance came on and Dom opened his mouth.

"I don't get why Miss Adelaide is so important in Guys and Dolls," he mused, casually stretching his arms back and temporarily lifting his arm off my shoulders. I was caught missing the feeling of his arm's familiar weight on my shoulders for a second. Goodness, he would always be my weakness, regardless of whether or not I was watching my favorite musical, wouldn't he?

Then, I recovered my wits and straightened in my own seat, meeting his eyes squarely. "Did you genuinely ask that question or are you mocking me?"

Dom blinked a couple times, and I almost lost my breath as he licked his lips. How was he not aware of what he was doing to me? It was impossible to ignore me; I was always so painfully obvious. Then, I was basically blown away when he started speaking. "Since when do I mock you for sport, Lottie?" he asked, rolling his eyes. Good God, my name sounded so good when he was saying it. "You know that I'm fully aware of what the aftermath resembles."

I spluttered for a couple seconds. "Well," I finally bit out, "you totally played me half an hour ago, and in retrospect, it really does look like you were mocking me."

Dom shrugged. "The past is the past, and now, I have a genuine interest in why you like Miss Adelaide so much."

Genuine. Genuine, my ass.

I rolled my eyes and looked back to the TV screen, where Miss Adelaide ran into her fiancé and a bunch of his cronies at a restaurant, mistakenly thinking that the two of them were to elope when Nathan only wanted to organize his illegal crap game. "Where should I start?" I mused.

Just at that moment, Dom settled his arm over my shoulder again, and I lost my train of thought completely.

Why was I so affected?

Why couldn't I just...ignore everything he was doing to focus on the matter at hand, Guys and Dolls?

Why did I have to discuss this with my crush?

Life was so unfair.

"Lottie?" Dom elbowed me lightly, his dark eyes dancing in the light of the TV. For a moment, I almost forgot which part of the movie we were watching. That had never happened to me before. And why was it happening to me now? What was wrong with me?

"Oh, right." I shrugged, and Dom took that as a sign to take his arm off me. Oh, fuck it. There was something quite obviously wrong with me and my fucked up emotions. I pushed on before I could start losing my mind over meaningless things. "Well, we all need to know that Nathan Detroit isn't just some slick bastard who likes to make money. It's nice to know that Nathan has a heart."

"But Miss Adelaide could be a fairly minor character to fulfill that role," Dom returned, raising his eyebrows at me. "There's no need for her to have two solos."

"She's a very comedic character," I said quickly. "The entire scene with Nathan and his cronies in a bar and Miss Adelaide? That wouldn't have happened if she wasn't a major character. That wouldn't have happened if she was some two-dimensional airhead who only knew how to look pretty on stage." I poked Dom's arm. "Any other concerns?"

"But again, why the two solos?" Dom was leaning back, appraising my face casually. Was this what it felt like to be evaluated by professors during a presentation?

I decided that presenting to a panel of professors was much different from presenting to just Dom. With the professors, as long as I sounded like I knew what I was doing and was fairly accurate, I'd do okay. With Dom, I had to worry about looking like an utter idiot as well as controlling my attraction to him.

"Her personality is unforgettable!" I threw up my hands. Oh-there went not looking like an idiot in front of Dom. "Personally, I love Miss Adelaide so much more than Sarah Brown. She lets loose, you know? She's kind of the image of a strong woman who tries to get what she wants. Even though Sarah may be an obstinate preacher, she's a little insufferable and uptight sometimes, and that's not fun."

"Sarah got drunk," said Dom pointedly. He glanced over his shoulder at the TV. "We just watched that, didn't we?"

I was speechless for a second that he was actually watching the movie. Again, it probably had something to do with the fact that I was watching the movie and making sure that he was watching the movie, a little like something a kindergarten teacher would do with an unruly child.

"So yeah." I shrugged. "I guess she does let loose sometimes, but that doesn't even count! She was under the influence of a foreign substance!" I pointed at the TV, where Sky and Sarah were returning to the mission house to meet some disaster. Oh, damn it. Adelaide hadn't come back yet. I waved dismissively. "But anyway, Adelaide is naturally easy-going and very likable. Sky, Sarah's love interest, liked her because she was pretty and a challenge. Adelaide's a very loving, caring person. She's perfect for Nathan."

"All right." Dom was looking at me like I had just told him that I wanted to dye my hair bright orange. "Why do you sound like you're their matchmaker?"

"What?" I said defensively. "It's not my fault that I know them so well."

Dom only shook his head and turned back to the TV. Hell was going on since Sarah and Sky caught the gamblers rushing out of the mission house, which was closed for the night that Sky had taken Sarah to Havana, Cuba for a date. I couldn't help but bite my nails a little even though I knew exactly what was going to happen next. Now Sarah was going to think that Sky had been employed as a distraction while his fellow gamblers used the mission.

Oh, poor Sarah.

Dom was eerily silent compared to a couple minutes before during that time. Turning my attention away from the screen for a while, I looked at him. His eyes were still wide open, and his breathing was normal. He met my eyes for a second.

"Nope, I wasn't doing anything," I said quickly.

Dom narrowed his eyes at me before looking back at the TV. "Whatever you say," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Was I really that obvious? Good Lord. This was probably why I had botched all of my drama auditions.

But I really wasn't that bad of an actress. I was enthusiastic, for one, and I did memorize my lines very well. Frowning a little as I focused on the scenes that were going on, I bit my finger. What exactly had gone wrong during that audition? I leaned back against the sofa. Well, I, as Charlotte Ingham, always managed to botch something, so I really shouldn't have been surprised.

Dom and I watched the movie in silence for a couple more minutes. It was much more than a couple minutes, in fact. We got through entire scenes without Dom opening his mouth to make a single comment. At first, I took that as a sort of break-now I didn't have to take my attention off the movie to fend off his questions. But then, after a while, Dom's body heat certainly felt much closer. I didn't really notice (who would notice the real world while watching Frank Sinatra?), but then, a heavy weight-much heavier than Dom's arm-rested on my shoulder.

I gingerly turned my head and looked down at Dom's head of dark hair drooping on me.

Well, I really should have expected that. And to a degree, I must have, since I wasn't even surprised or half-mad. Besides, Dom looked almost adorable when he was sleeping, which was a contrast from his walking, talking, awake self-he was just hot then.

To listen to him snore right next to my ear was a little irritating at first, but I soon found that I could ignore it without too much effort. Even though my eyes were on the screen, my mind wandered off...to Dom. (I'd never been distracted while watching Guys and Dolls before...)

Maybe I should have been more tolerant. I didn't know Dom as well as I wished. I couldn't judge him so quickly just based on his face and his dislike of something that I liked. I was biased like that, and because of that, I was kind of a horrible person.

Oh Dom.

I let him sleep there. I really should have felt a little more outraged, but I couldn't summon the nerve to shake him awake when his mouth was twisted into such a cute pout and his eyes were fluttering every few seconds. Not like this. Not when I could feel guilty.

But eventually, he stirred, lifting his head only a couple inches off my shoulder. Sighing softly, I turned away from the TV, where Miss Adelaide and Nathan Detroit were having an argument, and met his tired, droopy eyes. And he was just there with his nose brushing mine, which brought back memories of the day at the park when we were standing together with the wind blowing, so close.

I caught my breath.

Slowly, Dom opened his eyes a little wider and stared into mine. I couldn't look away, not like this when his dark ones were sucking me in, making me feel just warmer inside, like I was the only one in his world. Stupidly, the only thing I could think was that this was definitely something that friends didn't do. Dom tilted his chin up and tipped up mine with a gentle finger. My lips parted.

Our lips brushed once. And twice. And my God, I felt so faint and light from just that-from the simplicity of the moment. Lightly, slowly, torturously, his hand traced a path up my neck and cupped my chin. I hadn't ever imagined his lips-everything about him, really-to be so soft, and in the silence of the moment, it felt as if my heart, stopping its crazy marathon pace for one second, forgot how to beat. And we stayed like that, so close yet so far, so withdrawn yet so intense.

Because it was Dom.

Hours later, it seemed, we broke apart when Dom pulled away, eyes hazy.

After I summoned my breath back, I breathed out hurriedly, pretending that my heartbeat hadn't just sped like I was running a marathon right after I caught sight of those eyes, "And for the record, you're totally not off the hook for falling asleep."

Dom grinned, and in front of us, Miss Adelaide finished her song about her love woes with Nathan.

→

This update is a little early this week, but we hit our (loosely set) goal, so here I am! Fear not, the usual Saturday update will still be here this week, as announced on my bio. (I suck at updating my bio; sorry.)

I only have one word to say regarding this chapter: #progress. *winks* What did you guys think? Has the #Dottie ship finally sailed for real? What's going on? (I anticipate a lot of interesting comments this chapter, haha.)

This chapter's title is a reference to a lyric in "Adelaide's Second Lament", in which, as Lottie mentions briefly, Adelaide once again complains about how Nathan, her fiancé, always fails her when it comes to love. I just thought that "a table reserved for two" was kind of clever because it's just Dom and Lottie sitting there watching TV together...and fraternizing...eh? I guess I'm not funny.

Attached above is a gif of Adelaide getting angry at Nathan after she finds out that he has, once again, fucked up...heh.

That's it for today, everyone! Thank you so much for checking in (RTD hit 3K sometime, and seriously, omg) with Lottie and Dom, and I hope you're having a fantastic day.

Much love,

Anne xo