Chapter Two - Skinny Dipping

His hands were clammy with cold sweat. Gross. The robe, which aside from the flesh coloured tiny, snug boxers hugging his junk was the only piece of clothing he was wearing right now, was scraping against his skin. He squirmed in his seat, rubbed his hands over the robe and gulped. Today they were going to shoot The Scene.

The Scene aka the pool scene that involved a lot of making out and him and Maka wearing flesh coloured underwear to make it look like they were totally nude in the water.

His heart lurched in his chest as he rubbed the back of his neck. At least they had shot the scenes that didn't involve a lot of physicality first before they got to this one. The director had purposely chosen to shoot the scenes in this order, so Soul and Maka could get to know each other and more comfortable with each other before their scenes involved more touching. The director, an odd fellow named Kid, was meticulous with his work and quite frankly it annoyed Soul.

Soul hated music videos. He realized what their purpose was, why they had to shoot them, but he loathed standing in front of the camera and being corrected on how he was supposed to look while playing the piano.

"Can we do that bit again, but can you do it with more energy in your eyes?", he had asked, politely, legs crossed as he was fanning himself to ward off the heat of the midday sun. Soul had no idea what he meant, he had been looking into the camera like he usually did. Did Kid want him to stare at him like a serial killer? Soul had clamped his mouth shut instead before saying anything inappropriate and had bared his teeth in a frightening grin, sharp serrated fangs glinting in the sun. How the hell did Liz always do this shit? It was such a pain in the ass. And why the hell was he doing this again?

Oh right. Liz had kind of begged him to do it. And he could have said no if he had had the heart to do so, but this particular song was very personal to her and she had been more involved with the lyrics and the melody than usual. Soul wanted to pull at the collar of his shirt until he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, and sighed. Even if Liz denied it, this song was sort of based on her and Wes. What with the concept of the video being a wild girl from the streets, played by Maka, meeting his character, the wealthy high society man, and their lives getting mixed up in a flurry of drama and emotions and makeouts. Soul's mouth curved downward. Yep, he was definitely a stand-in for his big brother and Maka for Liz. It was weird. And kinda… whatever.

In the beginning of their partnership, the media was speculating if Soul and Liz were an item, but she had cleared things up pretty quickly when she had admitted that she was actually in a relationship with his older brother, the renowned violinist Wes Evans. In fact, it was through Wes that their entire partnership had formed in the first place.

"Soul, Maka!" Kid bellowed, walking with certain steps along the pool. He smiled when he spotted Soul. "Are you ready?"

"Kinda," Soul said, running his hand through his hair, as he looked around for Maka before his eyes widened. Holy shit! He was going to kiss The Maka Albarn. In a pool! His heart fell. With about twenty people watching them. He let out a groan and let his shoulders sag.

"I'm all set," came the sweet, melodic voice of his favourite actress, clad in a robe like he was, a small smile playing on her lips. She grinned down at him, playfully whacking him on the back. "You're gonna be just fine," she said, squeezing his shoulder. "No need to look so downtrodden." He shot her a half-hearted glower, but his mouth was quirking into a smile.

In the two days they had been working on this rather long video, he had come to know Maka Albarn on a more personal level. Sometimes the person you always saw on the screen, turned out to be such a tool it was difficult not to grow disillusioned with showbiz and its people. The day he got to meet famous record producer and the scout of many talented artists, Xavier Calibur, had to be one of the worst days of Soul's life. Sure, he had seen the big nosed man a lot on those horrid talent shows making borderline insulting remarks to some of the less talented artists that came to perform, but surely, most of that had to be scripted and a man with such a fine hand for good taste had to be a decent fellow deep down. Nope, Xavier Calibur was actually worse than he was on TV, so much that Soul was certain the producer had to tell him to tone his obnoxiousness down for the show.

Maka Albarn, however, was a genuinely sweet and kind woman. He had been extremely nervous the first day and sucked at acting affectionately in front of the whole crew with the hot lights shining upon him and making him sweat like a pig, but she had been exceptionally patient with him, whispering encouraging words, telling him he was doing fine. She was a professional through and through. And his inner fanboy had just become even more enamored with the actress. Although he had been able to catch a glimpse of an explosive temper in the depths of her beautiful green eyes, she had kept those emotions under a tight lid, only muttering some curses under her breath when Kid had insisted to do several more takes of the same scene over and over again. To catch the whole symmetry of the scene, he had said, but Soul still had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

"Good!" Kid clasped his hands together with a smile, his eyes shining with excitement, as Soul heaved himself up from his seat with all the eagerness of a sloth. "Okay, you both know that this is probably the most important scene. You've just had your falling out, have met coincidentally at a party and ended up outside. And while you-" Kid pointed at Maka as Soul just barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes as she listened intently. "want to be with him, you still have your reservations. It's a fight within you, want and fear pulling and pushing against each other equally. A dichotomy of emotions." Kid heaved a pleased sigh, his eyes glazing over as he stared through them into the distance. "A true display of the beauty of symmetry." This time Soul did roll his eyes. Kid was an okay guy, but by God, he was so pretentious. They weren't making the second fucking Apocalypse Now for God's sake. " And you Soul. You are confused and hurt. She pushed you away went back to you, said she doesn't want you, but her actions tell another story. You're wary but you also feel deeply for this girl and now you've both reached your very own catharses and everything you had been holding back, bursts out of you. So we're going to need several takes and angles for this."

Soul gulped, his hand shakily undoing the robe before he let it drop onto the folding chair in a shapeless heap. Even though the chatter of the crew went on, and pretty much nobody was looking at him weirdly, he still felt like dunking himself into the pool and never come up until everyone had left. He clenched his fists and turned towards Maka. She usually managed to ease all his worries and-

He choked on his spit and coughed into his fist in a pathetic attempt to hide any more embarrassing sounds his mouth might have released in that moment. She had shrugged her own robe off, handing it to her assistant with a smile. He had forgotten… no, not forgotten, but had not thought too hard about the fact that she'd be similarly dressed down like him and the pale, flesh coloured bikini top and bottoms hugging her modest curves made his throat dry up and his eyes nearly bulge out of his skull.

Shit, shit, shit!

Be cool, be cool, be cool.

Even if he was in nerd heaven, he was a fucking professional and a gentleman! He wrenched his eyes away from her half-naked form and breathed deeply through his nose and with clumsy robotic steps made his way towards the pool, unceremoniously plopping into the freezing water, holy shit! He shuddered, cursing loudly, and the laughter of the crew eased the knot of anxiety in his stomach just a little.

Mile long creamy legs came into view as Maka dipped her toe into the water before she followed him suit and jumped inside, resurfacing with a hiss as she slicked her wet hair back. And fuck, it really looked like she was naked and-no, no no, bad Soul!

Faint tendrils of nervousness clutched his heart as she padded towards him, placing his hands onto his broad shoulders.

"You got this," she said, earnestly, green eyes big and wide. "Just follow my lead, okay?"

He managed a weak nod. "Yeah, thanks."

She smiled, drops of water glinting in her pale eyelashes. She craned her neck, seeking out Kid. "We're ready!"

There was the faint echo of Action yelled nearby, but Soul's blood was roaring in his ears and even the music playing was nothing more than background noise as Maka's hand came to rest on his cheek and the switch had been flipped on. No longer was she Maka Albarn as her eyes glazed over, gleaming in the light with the intensity of a supernova. She leaned up to press their lips together and there was no tingling heat crawling all over his skin at that, no magical fireworks going haywire behind his eyelids, no explosions of colour or his mind going blank because this was so awkward.

People were watching them! He was stiff like a fucking iceberg, his hands rigidly clutching her hips as he moved his lips. Okay, okay, okay, he got this. Just like normal kissing right? Just without ever letting it veer into tongue action because he was sure as kind as Maka was, she'd smack him in the face for such a move. How did kissing go again? Damn it, he was not a fucking novice! Then she pulled herself closer, smashing their chests together and he yelped.

"Cut!"

He jumped away from her, wrenching his hands away from her soft body as if burned. Maka's brows were furrowed. In spite of the cold water, Soul could feel a blush crawling across his cheeks. Well, he fucked that up. Kid clapped his hands eight times because it was always eight times, shushing everyone around him.

"Okay, lets try this again. Maka keep going and Soul, I need you to be a little more relaxed, okay?"

He gritted his teeth, his jaw taut. How the fuck was he supposed to be more relaxed? With everyone staring and leering at them. How was this scene supposed to be super steamy and sexy when his balls were freezing off?

"Soul?" Maka said, drifting towards him in the water. "I know this is awkward, but just think of it as the same when we had to hug and cuddle. Ignore everyone else. It's just you and me."

"Only it's not," he laughed bitterly. He pointedly looked around, pointing at the crew. "How do you do this on a daily basis?"

She crossed her arms and said, sharply, "I'm a professional, that's how."

He just wanted to wither and die. "Of course." And no, he did not squeak.

"Let's try again."

"Okay."

His stomach churned with guilt. Maka was tired. They were all tired and him acting so prissy was just going to make their day longer. He bit back another wave of crushing nervousness and nodded at her, more resolutely this time and Maka gave the sign to Kid to continue.

"Okay, ready! Action!"

Soft piano music began to play and Soul steeled himself. He could do this. Just block everyone around them out. It was just him and Maka, a woman he admired immensely, her talent, her beauty, her kindness. Again, Maka held his cheek, her eyes fiery and fierce, as she leaned up to kiss him and this time he let himself relax, wrapping his arms around her firmly and returning the kiss eagerly. He slanted his mouth against hers, coaxing her lips into a sweet dance, as his eyes slid shut. He could still feel the twenty pairs of eyes focused all on them, making him shudder. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood. He was holding a half-naked, beautiful actress in his arms, kissing her intimately, her hands stroking his strong arms yet here was absolutely nothing sexy about this ordeal at all.

He would have laughed if it wasn't going to ruin the take. Pulling back at the same time, they gazed at each other intently. Or, at least he hoped it was intently since he apparently had a problem with looking passionate and full of energy. But he had to do this, even if he'd rather just leave the pool, dry up and sleep for fifty years. Maka's chest was heaving as she bit her lip, her gaze trailing over his features, as the soft tune of the piano drifted through the set.

Okay, this was the part where he was supposed to initiate a kiss. He could do this. He raised a hand up to her shoulder- this had to look intimate, right? - and ran it down her arm before he cupped her jaw, his thumb stroking her plump bottom lip. He didn't know how to look like a man who was supposed to be in love with a woman he didn't know much, but he liked her, and loved her work and hell, if he had the guts, he'd like to ask her out, even if a relationship with her would be perfect tabloid fodder.

Tilting her head up a little, he pressed a soft kiss upon her mouth and pulled back to gaze into her eyes again. This was okay, wasn't it? Passionate and lovey-dovey. Maka smiled a little before he captured her lips again in a deeper kiss, her arms winding around his neck seamlessly as their chests pressed together. The water was still freezing, if a little less so, the tight swimming trunks were still killing his balls and the sensation of several pairs of eyes watching them like hawks made him want to dunk his head under water, but he persisted until Kid, mercifully, put him out of his misery.

"Cut!"

They pulled apart, Maka patting him on the chest. "See?" she laughed. "I told you, you got this!"

"Yes, indeed. We can do a lot with this take," Kid said, already at the edge of the pool, staring down at them. Soul could feel himself relax just a little more. The corner of his mouth curved up as he released a quiet breath of laughter. Kid bend down a little before he spoke, "This time though, I want you to touch more. This is a love scene and your feelings for each other have reached their high and it's an explosion of emotions." Kid waved his hands around in what Soul assumed was an attempt to mimic an explosion. "Soul, do some leg grabbing, be all over each other. Don't be afraid to let your kisses wander. Sell your passion!"

"Oh boy," Soul muttered as Kid gave them a curt nod before he went back to his chair. "I think I suck at this."

"Nah, you're fine," Maka said. "And it's okay, you can touch me. I'm not gonna hit you." She smiled cheekily.

He gave her a shaky grin as he pushed his fringe back from his forehead, red eyes warm. "I'm glad. I don't think that would really sell our passion. You know, except if our characters were into that kind of thing… but I never thought they were and the script really didn't have that kind of subtext. Although if you think about, they constantly push each other away and hurt each other, so I don't know… maybe you can make a case for- what? Hey, why are you laughing?!"

Maka's hands were clamped over her mouth, her shoulders shaking before she dissolved into helpless giggles and nearly keeled over in her glee.

It would prove to be another long day, but at least they wrapped up all their scenes and Soul actually whooped into the starlit sky at the end. He couldn't wait to never do this again and he appreciated Liz so much more for putting up with this shit every time. Even if she was more comfortable being centre stage, this stuff was exhausting. He was a little sad to say goodbye to Maka and gave her a big bearhug, surprising the both of them, which she returned with a kiss to his cheek. They exchanged numbers and everything, but he knew it'd be difficult to actually ever properly meet up. His heart was heavy when he boarded the plane next morning.

"America's Sweetheart and The Cool Pianist: Love at First Sight?"

"Maka Albarn: Did she manage to thaw his heart?"

"Opposites Attract! Maka Albarn and Soul Evans the New Super Couple?"

"Evans Brothers and their Beautiful Blondes!"

"I swear to God, Wes, if you don't stop reading these gossip rags, I'm gonna-"

"Lighten up, Little Brother! You got a new girlfriend by making out with her in your new video. That's something to celebrate.!"

"But she isn't my girlfriend. I haven't even seen her since that day."

"Yeah, but that hasn't stopped you from skyping and texting each other constantly. You should really invite her to the VMAs as your date, that is."

"I will do no such thing. We aren't even together," Soul grumbled, huffishly crossing his arms as Wes smirked and held up another fucking magazine that depicted him and Maka in a heated liplock. The liplock that had occurred in the video, because there were no other instances where he kissed Maka since he hadn't seen her since that day. But the moment the video was released, the media was going crazy, already speculating how much acting was involved in making the video and how much of it was real. Soul refused to answer whenever an insolent interviewer not deterred by Soul's frightening glare asked him about Maka. It was annoying. Even more so, because Soul did kinda wish that he and Maka were dating, but he had yet to gather the courage to ask her.

"I don't know, Soul, but this looks like some damning evidence to me."

Soul gave his brother a flat look. "Ha, ha, ha. We just kissed for the stupid video and you know it."

Soul could kinda see why everyone was going crazy over him and Maka because, even though it had been probably the most discomforting thing he ever had to do in his life, their scenes in the finished video look pretty… hot. It was amazing what different camera angles, close-ups of their kissing lips, their touches, and good editing could do. It had been one of the worst mistakes in his life to view the finished product with Liz and Wes together. The teasing had yet to stop. Urgh. So annoying.

While Wes kept waxing poetic about true love and destiny, gesticulating wildly, Soul quietly slipped out of the living room just as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Maka! He smiled as he opened the new text message.

Hey, what's up? And I was meaning to ask you if you're going to be in New York around August. I have this award show I am gonna attend and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me. Strolling over the red carpet and everything, even though that's not really your kind of thing, but yeah :P

His heart jumped into his throat as he nearly dropped his phone. Oh God. She was asking him to be her date to an award show? That was pretty official. As in everyone should know we're together kind of official. He gulped and rubbed his sweaty palm against his pant-leg. Exhaling sharply, he typed his reply with shaky fingers:

um sure, i guess. but shouldn't we first you know, hang out and drink coffee first?

He pressed Sent before he could chicken out and promptly blanched. That had to be the lamest way to ask the girl of your dreams out. But before he could throw himself out of the window, his phone vibrated seconds later.

Sounds good! Just message me when you're in NY!

He let out a deep breath, his shoulder sagging in relief. He grinned at the display of his phone, rereading her message over and over again and pumped his fist into the air. He got a date with The Maka Albarn!