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Alex was kissing me. I remember exactly how his lips felt: soft, plump, and smooth. His skin on his cheek was warm as my thumb crossed it.

He bit softly on my lower lip, and I had one hand tracing and tangling into his curls. He ran his hands down my sides to reach the hem of my shirt. He started to lift it, and--

"Cut! That was great, guys!" Dave cried.

Alex let go of my shirt and helped me smooth it out again, and I retracted my hand from his face and stepped back. His cheeks were always naturally rosy, so I couldn't tell if he was blushing or not, but I felt like I was.

And his entire persona dropped as soon as we were a foot away from each other, like a light switch in his brain that took us from hopelessly in love to buddies. Just buddies.

Not that I was honestly getting my hopes up. In fact, I was trying not to look at the kiss scenes at all. Acting. It's a job. You don't mean it, he doesn't mean it. Don't read into anything. You're getting paid.

As soon as I let emotions get in the way, I get distracted. I called it an identity crisis, because I couldn't tell if it was me harboring a crush, or my character, Elaine, coming into my personality. Acting blurred those lines very often.

"You do realize, one day I'm going to end up taking your shirt off, right?" He reminded me with a playful smirk. That really wasn't helping. My face went red and I looked down at his gigantic sneakers.

"I do. And I think the script said I take off your pants. I guess there's no time for vanity in a place like this...,"

He put his arm around me as the next group of actors went up for their scene. Never knowing what to do when someone put an arm around me, I wrapped my own around his back.

"You're really scared about this, aren't you?" He asked, looking right at me with worry in his eyes. A little crease sat right between his eyebrows.

I blushed, but nodded all the same.

"Honestly? Yeah. It's hard enough to do the kiss scenes without royally screwing everything up, not to mention I've never done anything close to intimacy in real life, so... it's not like I've got anything to go off of."

"Wait, you're still...?" He didn't say the word but I knew what he implied.

I was tempted to say "That's personal," but why not tell him? We were going to see each other naked (or almost naked) by the end of next week. Privacy wasn't really an option.

"Nope. Why, have you?" I finally said.

He avoided the question by kinda shuffling his feet and scratching the back of his head.

"How do I say this without sounding like a total creep.... umh... what if we, um... you know... practiced? Like in private? So it's not as awkward in front of everyone?"

My eyebrows shot upward into my hairline as he said that. When he realized what he had implied, he flushed beet red.

"No! No I don't mean we should... do it... I-I meant... rehearse the scene... uh, this is...,"

"Awwwk-waaaarrd,~" Keanu sang, popping up behind us. He laughed at his own joke and Alex and I jumped apart.

"Good job guys. I felt uncomfortable watching that, but I liked the acting," he teased. Keanu squeezed between us and threw and arm over both our shoulders. My arm shifted around to his back, now.

"Thanks dude," Alex replied easily.

"Hey, do the two of you wanna go get dinner one of these nights?" I asked finally, "I mean, we're getting to know each other anyway, but that's just on set. I'd like to actually get to know you two. Especially you, Alex. I don't strip for just anyone."

He put his hand to his face and looked fake flattered.

"Is this your way of asking two very good looking guys out on a date at the same time? If so, I admire your enthusiasm, but the three of us would never work out." He joked back.

Keanu hit him on the shoulder. "Alex! Dude! It's not about the dinner, it's about what comes after the dinner!"

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I broke into embarrassed laughter. I almost pulled away from Keanu, but he had his arm too tight on me.

"Stop ruining this for me!" Keanu whined.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, KEANU, I'M NOT GONNA SLEEP WITH YOU!" Alex yelled so that everyone could hear.

Keanu laughed loudly and broke away from the both of us to cool off, somewhat dragging me with him. Several cast members "oooooh-ed" and "awwww-ed" and a few demanded that Alex do it.

After that moment passed, however, Alex wiped a tear of laughter from his eye and returned to me.

"Anyway, anyway, yeah dinner sounds good. That'll be fun. Tonight work?"

"Should be fine. Keanu?"

"Yeah, tonight's good. Hey, good idea, thanks for the invite,"

***

I shouldn't be nervous. It wasn't like I hadn't been kissing and making out with Alex for the past week or anything... Almost nothing would surprise me at this point, save the intimate scene.

And yet, as I teased my hair and slicked it back while getting ready for dinner with Alex and Keanu, I felt like there were rocks bouncing around in my stomach.

I'd called my mom about the part asking for advice, and she told me to just be myself. That was the problem. I didn't want to scare them off, and "being myself" meant hiding in shame at the thought of acting out a bedroom scene with Alex Winter.

I asked her what she thought about the dinner, and she gave me the green light, telling me to wear something pretty.

I don't know about pretty, but it was... something.

It was a white knit sweater and a long, black skirt. I didn't know how casual or fancy to dress, so I went for something that could pass as both.

Alex was going to pick me up, just like he usually did, but this time, something felt different. It would be the first time I would be spending time with him and Keanu without having a script to tell me exactly what to say in the dull moments.

I stood out on the porch of my little apartment to wait for Alex, and right on cue, he pulled in the lot and waved to me from the front seat.

Alex climbed out of the car and ran around the front to get the door for me, as Keanu was already nestled in the back seat.

His eyes widened a little, having never seen me in anything except comfortable clothes on set.

"Woah," he said, smile creeping on his face, "You look really cute."

He called me cute? Was I right for once, and he actually liked me? Or was he just being nice? I had to try really hard not to blush at that comment, and instead I gave him a hug.

"Aww, thanks. You look great too. I love your jacket."

When I pulled back, he straightened his jacket so I could see it better.

"Thanks," he looked down at it. It was black leather over a blue shirt. It really worked for him. He held open the door so I could climb in front, and I turned around and did an awkward in-car hug with Keanu.

Alex was acting a little odd as he pulled out, like he couldn't stop smiling. I was generally good at reading people's emotions, but I never could tell if someone liked me or not. Maybe he was just happy. I know I was.

***

He took us to this restaurant called Glenn's Place. It was just like I predicted: not casual, not fancy. For once, I fit in nicely with my surroundings.

I got spaghetti, which, in hind sight, was not that good of an idea, but it tasted good. I had to wipe my mouth every 6 seconds, though, because I was making a huge mess and embarrassing myself. The guys couldn't care less, but I did.

We talked about all sorts of things, from projects they'd done together, to my school plays, to this current movie, and even family life.

I told them how I had just moved into my new apartment. It was first time on my own. I lived not 15 minutes away from my mom, though, so it wasn't too bad. I didn't tell them anything extremely personal, but I mentioned that my parents were divorced for 3 years now.

They looked like they felt bad for me, but they didn't have to be. I wasn't upset over it anymore, and I could visit either parent freely.

Sometimes I couldn't help but talk about myself, so I sank back and let Alex and Keanu talk for a while, feeling like I'd hogged a lot of their conversation.

They noticed that I'd gone quiet, apparently. Alex leaned over really discreetly while Keanu ate.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked softly.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled.

"You just went really quiet, and I wanted to make sure,"

That brought a big smile to my face. I was very tempted to kiss him on the cheek for being thoughtful, but thought it better not to.

We finished dinner feeling closer than ever, splitting the bill evenly between the three of us, and Keanu took care of the tip.

As we drove home, I felt like I knew them a lot better. They were very nice guys, and I was happy I got to work with them, as well as talk to them about something other than the movie.

Keanu got out of the car to take my spot in the front seat when Alex dropped me off, and he engulfed me in his signature tight hug. I loved the way he smelled when my entire body was buried in his jacket. I pulled back and smiled, thanking him for coming with us, and he messed up my hair.

"No problem dude," he grinned. "Thanks for the offer."

Alex was the one to walk me to the door, as Keanu warmed up in the front seat. We didn't go far, just to my porch.

Honestly, this was the part of the night I was worried about: the awkward goodbye. He kinda took my hand, then decided against it and almost put his arm around me, then decided against that, too. Where was the Alex on the movie set, who had a comeback for everything? Was he nervous? Or did he just not know what to do?

I thought about it for a minute. What did I actually expect right now? Did I want him to kiss me? Really, I didn't care, I just didn't want this awkward silence where we weren't looking at or touching each other.

Finally, Alex looked like he was going for a kiss, but hugged me instead. Or maybe he just messed up the side he was going to hug me on. Either way, we almost met in the middle but ended up hugging.

"Uh, thanks for offering dinner. It was a good idea. We should do this again,"

"Yeah, it was fun. I like that restaurant," I replied awkwardly.

"...Well," he said after a moment of silence, "I'll see you on set tomorrow!" He gave me a quick, friendly kiss on the cheek, then hastily went back to his car.

I made it just inside the hallway door before the blush exploded on my cheeks and I skipped into my apartment.

That wasn't scripted.