#thinking about how much time tori spends worried and scared for charlie

[aristaeuss]

siblings: charlie & tori spring

“He seems fine most of the time, forcing smiles and neverminds. His laugh is a symphony, when the lights go out, it's hard to breathe. I pull at every thread, tryna solve the puzzles in his head. Live my life scared to death he'll decide to leave instead.”

-Forever Winter, Taylor Swift

[bi-bi-buckleydiaz]

i think not | owen joyner

requested?; - yes! Owen Joyner x reader - their characters might not be love interests on the show (readers is possibly a new one for Luke/which causes a rift in Juke) but they are in real life and are trying to keep it on the down low especially during cast interviews and with fans.

word count; 2K

warnings; language, yelling but only like two sentences

a/n; I didn’t know how to end it so the ending kinda sucks sorry. also side note, the character the reader plays on jatp is a character I’m planning on writing an x reggie fic with so be on the lookout for that !

that close up tho 

You didn’t mean for it to happen. 

Not the, relationship, of course. You wanted that to happen. You’ve been wanting that to happen since you were an extra dancer on the first season of Julie and the Phantoms and danced right into Owen on accident during The Other Side of Hollywood. He was sweet about it, of course he was, asking if you were okay when he was the one that got barrelled into. The apology coffee date turned into a movie night at his apartment which then turned into weekly Friday night takeout dates which ultimately turned into Owen blurting out one night that he liked you and wanted to be your boyfriend. 

You obviously said yes. 

Which brings you to now, two years later filming season two of JatP, except this time you weren’t a dancer, but a recurring character - Delilah Alarie, a 17 year old girl who can hear ghosts, but can’t see them, and forms an unlikely relationship with everyone’s favorite bassist in a ghost band. This is where the problem comes in. 

When you and Owen started dating back in 2019, you two decided to keep it on the DL because you both weren’t totally sure where it was going to go. At the time you were both so busy: Owen having his first acting job as an adult so he was getting used to the long hours, and you working what felt like 25/8 to get all the dance routines down pat. So you both just...didn’t tell anyone. That’s not to say people weren’t suspicious. Charlie was present at many movie nights and Tori liked to tease you about you how you’d spend your time between takes staring at the blond drummer and his fidgeting fingers. 

Filming wrapped and you planned to announce your relationship at the wrap party, but a certain 19 year old thought it would be smart to get a little wasted and passed out before you could say “hey, we’re dating.” Then, you all went your separate ways and you and Owen didn’t see the need to inform everyone of the relationship, especially because you had to figure out the whole long-distance thing. 

Then Covid hit. And there really wasn’t a need because you both were fighting so hard to not get insecure and worried about the hundreds of miles between you two. But you got through it. Between many facetime calls, a spontaneous trip to Hawaii, and one memorable meet up at a halfway point between your two states, you were finally back in each other's arms after the last three months apart. Of course, it was on set, where everyone thinks you’re just friends. 

So yeah, there’s a problem. Because you didn’t mean for the secret dating to go on for so long. Life just, happened, and now you two are constantly sneaking around your fellow castmates and trading secret kisses in each other’s trailers and having little rendezvous meetings in the apartment building’s pool after your roommates have fallen asleep. You’re sure Savannah and Tori have heard you sneaking out a few times, but they wisely say nothing. Charlie sleeps like the dead so your certain Owen is in the clear. 

It’s not like you two want to keep it a secret. Of course you want to tell your friends, it's just, since it’s gone on for so long you’re scared of what could happen. If they’ll get mad about the sneaking around and the lying. 

But alas, you knew the day when the secret would slip out would come. And today just happened to be that day. 

Your friends were already starting to get suspicious, you and Owen were starting to lose your subtlety with the sneaking around, and some fans don’t understand the term BOUNDARIES and caught you two outside the apartment building one day. You weren’t doing anything relationship-y, you two were just coming back from a short day on set because you both ended at the same time and were looking forward to some much needed alone time. But you both knew better than to hold hands or kiss in public, which you were glad for that rule when a few girls bombarded Owen when you both walked out of the parking garage to head inside. The girls posted about the interaction online and of course, assumptions were made about why you two were together. The cast brought it up, but you both shut it down. You really thought the secret would be exposed because someone would catch you two together...Owen is not good at keeping his hands to himself despite his own PDA rule. 

But no, the secret came to a head because Owen is a big fat st0upid head and got jealous over his best friend. 

It started as a normal day. You got up at the last possible minute, Savannah and Tori already eating breakfast in the kitchen, knowing better than to wake you up before your alarm. You ate, showered, changed into comfy clothes for the ride to work. Madi joined you and the other girls that day, now being a little older her dad trusted her to be alone with the older cast members and alone on set for a little while. You jammed out to Doja Cat and HSM because “range, Y/N, range.” Then you arrived on set to Kenny calling you and Madi over for an impromptu meeting before any of you could reach hair and makeup. 

“Alright, now that the rest of you guys are here, I have an announcement to make.” You looked around to see that it was just the main four and you, and that’s when trepidation hit. The only scene you knew of today that involved you five was when the boys finally became visible to you, and you and Reggie share a moment. It’s a hug, much like the one Julie and Luke shared in the season one finale. But Kenny had come up to you a few days ago, suggesting adding a little something something. He told you he wasn’t sure yet, had to run it by a few execs, but that Jeremy was okay with it and he wanted to make sure you’d be okay with it too. You had said yes, after all Jeremy was the one married so you were really only worried about how he and Carolynn would feel about the kiss, you didn’t even think about Owen. 

That was a mistake. 

“So, I ran it by a few execs and of course, our own Delilah and Reggie, and have decided that after their big hug moment, a little kiss would really make the scene and ma -” 

“Uh I think not.” It was muttered, but everyone heard it. And everyone froze, Kenny stopping mid sentence to look at the culprit. Owen was looking at his hands, completely oblivious to everyone staring at him. He didn’t even realize he’d said it aloud until Jeremy cut the tension with a little forced chuckle. 

“C’mon Owen there’s enough of me to go around.” Everyone chuckled a bit, but Owen froze in his fidgeting, his face going firetruck red and eyes darting over to you. 

“Shit. Fuck I said that aloud didn’t I?” He groaned, putting his face in his hands and, before you could stop yourself, you walked up to him. 

“Hey. Hey c’mon.” You gently wrapped your hands around his wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. “It’s okay.” You expected him to look stressed. Based on his tone of voice you were preparing for a minor panic attack. But when you saw his face, all you saw was anger. It shocked you, causing you to stumble back a bit. 

“You knew about this?” And okay, yeah, you also expected a bit of that. But not to this caliber. 

“Owen I -”

“No. No you knew and didn’t tell me? Didn’t think to mention that you’d be kissing one of my best friends? What the hell Y/N?” You flinched, not used to Owen being this angry and loud.

“Owen, buddy, hey. Let’s just -” Charlie started, trying to diffuse the situation having noticed you flinching. 

“No! This isn’t a ‘calm down’ thing. This is a “my girlfriend lied to me” thing and I’m very upset about it!” And whoop...there it is. 

“Owen...” 

“God just, really Y/N?” Then he walks away, leaving you surrounded by your confused friends. It’s silent for a few seconds, everyone taking in what just happened. 

“Um...I know this probably a really bad time to bring this up but uh...y’all owe me twenty bucks each,” Charlie said. Then everyone started talking at one. Kenny apologizing for not knowing, Madi berating Charlie for the bad timing, Charlie firing back that Owen is just being dramatic, and Jeremy consoling you with Kenny. His hand on your back jump starts you into action. You quickly excuse yourself to make your way to Owen’s trailer, knowing that’s probably where he stormed off too. 

You don’t knock when you get there, just walk in, making sure to lock it behind you. Owen is there on the couch, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. 

“Owen Joyner what the hell was that?” That’s not what you had wanted to say. You were going to be nice and ease into it. But he yelled first and now you're anxious and stressed and upset. He sighs heavily and looks up at you, eyes red and glassy with unshed tears. 

“I’m sorry. I - Y/N I didn’t mean to freak. I realized halfway here that was not the way to go. I’m so -” You cut him off by pushing him back and crawling into his lap.

“It’s okay. It’s okay I should’ve - I shouldn’t’ve just yelled and I definitely should have told you when Kenny proposed the idea I just got so caught up in the fact it’d be my first on screen kiss and it’d be with a married man who’s in quite possibly the cutest relationship ever and I was worried about -” 

“You’re rambling babe,” Owen says with a smile. It’s a soft thing, one that makes your insides all mushy and your heart starts beating a little faster. “It’s okay. I mean, I would’ve liked to have found out earlier and not in front of our friends - oh my God! I just completely exposed us didn’t I? Oh God!” He whimpers out a whine and leans his head forward onto your shoulder. You giggle at the blonde beneath you, running your hands through his hair as he pinches your sides for the laugh. 

“Babe, I’m pretty sure they already knew.” Owen whips his head up at that, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Charlie mentioned everyone owes him twenty so, i’m pretty sure they were betting on when we’d tell them.” Owen groans and grumbles at that, throwing his head back in a dramatic way to convey his fake frustration. He brings his head back center and smiles softly again at you. 

“I will make sure to steal it from him tonight. That’s our money babe.” You giggle into the kiss he places onto your lips. You two sit there for a few more minutes, exchanging kisses and trading affirmations of love. After a final kiss, one that’s full of passion and heat, you decide to head back to set. 

You walk into the stage with the studio hand-in-hand, smiles on your faces. Madi squeals when she sees you both, running over to hug you. 

“Yay yay! I knew you’d work it out and now I have another couple to fangirl over. Yay!” You hug the small girl back before she bounces over to give Owen the same treatment. 

“Congrats bro,” Charlie says with a smile, clapping a hand on Owen’s back and ruffling your hair up. Jeremy smiles at you two, hugging you both as well. 

“Congrats you two, now can we get back to the meeting? You two dating is old news. Like, 2019 old. But congrats on finally announcing it!” You look at Kenny in shock for a second, before bursting out into laughter, everyone around you following suit. Owen squeezes your hand three times and you look back over at him. You both shoot each other a small smile. 

It’s gonna be okay. 

[thescrewedrooger]

And There She Was - Chapter 37

4 weeks pass, I’m having a bad day, I decided to take Jordan and see Seth at work. I when I go inside, I am met with the receptionist. . She says with a smile “Hi Charlie, how are you?”

I smile “I’m good thanks”

Her smile gets bigger she says to Jordan “Hey, how you are little man?” and tickles his tummy.

Jordan laughs.

She asks me “I take it you are here to see Seth”

I reply “Yeah”

She tells me “He’s doing a table read now, but you are more than welcome to go in and watch. Follow me”

I follow her down a long wide hallway until we reach a large room on the right hand side. Everyone is there sitting around the table. The receptionist says “You can go in if you like”

I say “Thankyou” before slowly walking in.

Jordan spots his dad, he smiles widely “Dad dad dad”

Seth hears him, briefly looks up from the script smiles then looks down at the script.

Seth starts reading out a line in Peter’s voice. Jordan laughs and squeals at Seth. I smile and try to quiten him down, but I don’t succeed. Seth stops in the middle of his line because he’s laughing at Jordan. Everyone is laughing at Jordan now. I ask Seth “Would you like me go out until you are finished?”

He replies “It’s fine, you can stay”

During the rest of the table read, Jordan finds amusement in it. He does distract Seth a couple of more times, but each time Seth said it was ok to stay. After the table reading had wrapped up, Seth walks up to me and takes Jordan out of my arms, he gives him a kiss on the cheek then says “Hey buddy” Seth kisses me before saying “Hey Babe”

I say quietly “Hey” I was a little down, watching the table read made me feel better while it was happening, then I started to feel my bad day coming back.

He asks “Are you ok?”

I say “Just another bad day”

He puts his free arm around me and brings me in for a hug. He tells me “I’m glad you came here, you and Jordan just brightened my day”

I needed to hear that. I look up at him and smile weakly.

He asks “Why don’t you spend the rest of the day here?”

I say “I don’t want to be a distraction, Jordan was distracting enough during the table read”

He replies “He was a pretty funny distraction, it’s ok, honestly, just stay”

I say “Ok, but tell me if you need me to go”

He laughs “As if I’m going to tell you that” then he adds in a serious tone “Look, Babe, I don’t want you at home feeling like this, it scares the living shit out of me that you will fall back into the deep depression and start hurting yourself again, or even worse, if being with me at work takes your mind off things, then I’m more than happy for you to be here. I don’t care how busy I am, I won’t tell you how busy I am either. As I have already said, you and Jordan being here makes my day a whole lot brighter”

I cry when he says that. He has every reason to be scared. I would be lying if I said I haven’t thought about hurting myself again. I don’t know if he’s picked up on small signs I don’t realise I’m showing, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case, he’s pretty switched on when it comes to noticing the small things.

He asks concerned “Babe, why are you crying?”

I tell him through my tears “Why are you so good to me? I’m nothing but a burden on you, you already have so much on your plate then you have to worry about me and how stupid I am”

He tells me “You, Jordan and the baby are my priority, I will always have time for my family, I may screw up and it doesn’t seem like it, but trust me, my intentions are there. You aren’t stupid please don’t think that. You are a smart, gorgeous woman and an amazing mom. You just need support sometimes, I will make sure you get all the support you need from me”

I cry harder, grip his waist tight and bury my head into his chest.

He asks “Babe, what’s going on?”

I say through my tears “I don’t deserve you”

He says “You deserve every single part of me and then some” he pauses “I didn’t want to say anything, but I know you think about hurting yourself again”

I do nothing but cry. He says “Babe, I’m going home with you, I will tell the others that I am going home. I don’t want you driving, my car will be fine here overnight, I will get Rachael to take me to work tomorrow morning”

I just nod my head.

When we walk through the door at home, Seth puts Jordan in his cot, he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Seth asks “Babe, do you need anything?”

I shake my head. I just want to go to bed and cry myself to sleep. I make my way to the bedroom, I flop down on the bed, I get underneath the blankets and cry. Seth follows me, he lays down next to me and just holds me.

He’s still there holding me when I wake up, I don’t know how long I was asleep for. I needed the sleep, it actually did put me in a better mind frame.

I tell him “Thankyou”

He asks “For what?”

I say “I don’t know what signs I was showing, but thankyou for picking up on them”

He says “Don’t thank me for that. I’m here for you, I do everything in my power to make sure you are ok”

I’m 26 weeks pregnant now. Seth has been spending weekends home since my breakdown. When I have a bad day I do make the effort to go and see him at work, it does make me feel better. It’s a Saturday afternoon. Jordan is playing with his toys on the living room floor while Seth and I relax on the couch.

Seth says “We still haven’t chosen a name out”

I smile “I forgot”

He says “How can you forget?”

I tell him “It’s called pregnancy brain”

He laughs “I see, so do you have anything in mind?”

I smile “Yeah, do you?”

He says “Yes”

We go through the names on our lists. We are both ecstatic that we have one name common on the list. It’s only one name, the name we decide on is Tory. Both of us a relieved that we have the name out of the way. It should be fun picking out a name, but for Seth and I, it was just a pain in the arse.

Seth says “Well that was alot easier than what I thought it would be”

I smile “I can’t believe we actually had Tory on both of our lists. All your other names suck”

He laughs “I can say the same about your names” then he adds “Should we tell everyone the baby’s name”

I ask “Why?”

He says “It’s something different, they can look forward to the arrival of Tory, not call it the baby. Saying a name sounds alot nicer than saying the baby, also, they will have fun with the unisex name”

I smile “That does sound nice, I think we should tell them”

He says “They will be excited”

I tell Seth “I love you”

He replies “I love you too”

I ask him “Are you hoping for a boy or girl?”

He laughs “I’m hoping you will give me enough boys to make a baseball team”

I slap him across the shoulder “You don’t want that many kids”

He jokes “If I had my way, yeah, but somehow I don’t think that will happen”

I laugh “Stop it, I know you don’t want that many kids”

He laughs “Alright, I will compromise on 6 kids”

I tell him “Well I ain’t spitting out 6 kids either”

He says “I would love another boy, but I’m not going to be disappointed if Tory is a girl”

I smile I ask him “So exactly how many kids do you want?”

He says “I definitely want 3, maybe 4, how many do you want?”

I reply “I really don’t know. I never put any thought into it before I fell pregnant with Jordan. Since falling pregnant with him, my mind has been preoccupied to think about it”

He asks “So are you up for our kids to be close in age? I mean start trying for our third as soon as you get the ok from the Dr to have sex again, I know it’s not easy for you, so if you don’t want to it’s ok”

I ask him “So you want it that bad?”

He starts “Yeah…but…”

I cut him off “Babe, I will do it for you, I know you will be there for me on my bad days, you have been my rock. I know I will be able to cope with your support”

He says “You just made me the happiest man, I love you so much”

“I love you too” I smile.

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