A Smile So Genuine

"You heard it here first! The "it couple" of the year is BACK. Our Hollywood insiders have just given us the confirmation that the intoxicating Miss Charlie Madison is back together with the one and only bread boy himself...that's right, Josh Hutcherson. Guess those two love-birds couldn't stay away from each other huh?"

I listened to the soft excitement of the TV as the reporters chattered excessively, going back over the entire timeline of our break up. I felt a chill creep up my body as I thought about all the people in the world who must be watching this, all the people who bought sleazy magazines featuring Josh and I's face plastered across the front, the websites and blogs and posts that must be streaming through the internet, ranging from disappointment to excitement, as the news of our renewed relationship spread across the minds of anyone who listened.

I was barely awake, but millions of thoughts were pounding through my head, demanding to be heard. What if it didn't work out again? What if we were never meant to be together? What if every stereotype about Hollywood couples was true? What if this was just the calm before the storm? What if he cheated again? What if I can't handle all of this media scrutiny? What if I'm one more mental breakdown from ending up in rehab, like all the other media starlets? What if, what if, what if?

I pushed my eyes open, unable to comprehend anymore of the questions I was posing to myself.

And then I saw him.

His lips were pulled together in a soft smile, the corners of his mouth barely turned up, his lips blushed pink. I felt the warmth of his fingers pulsating down my arm as he was holding me into his chest, my face pressed against his bare shoulder. His hair was disheveled, messy, sticking up in all different places, the light catching the deep brown hues contrasted against his fair skin.

The sight took my breathe away for a moment. I flinched a bit, forgetting for a second that we were in my bed together, that this beautiful creature was mine. The questions in my head collided and disappeared, replaced by a single "Wow."

I reached out, pressing my fingertips against the small scruff growing on his chin. His body tensed and his eyes flickered open slowly, wide with wonder for a second as he woke up to the world. His hazel eyes caught mine, and a slow steady smile grew on his lips.

I smiled, pressing my lips against his jaw, tracing it back the place where his ear meets his face. I felt his arms pull around me, struggling to squeeze me any closer to his body than I already was. I could feel the raw sensation of his bare skin on mine as our hardly-clothed bodies tangled up together.

He shifted so he could see my face, so the tips of our noses were touching, so he could press his lips against mine.

"I just need you to know that I am so in love with you. And that I'll never give up on us or the feeling I get when I look at your beautiful face."

I could feel the words on my lips as he said it. I pulled back, taking a second to get lost in those pools of gold he calls his eyes, then pushed my mouth against his, allowing every ounce of passion I had for him transfer through this kiss. He yanked my body on top of his, my legs straddling his waist. His hands roamed my back, settling on my backside, as his tongue find mine.

There couldn't be a better way to wake up in the morning.

"Bring it up again and I'll hurt you."

"So you and Josh are back together...."

I watched in the mirror as the comb I threw missed my make-up artist Mike's face by an inch.

"Hey! Watch it! You know how long this face of beauty took to get ready this morning? Besides, you can't blame me for wanting to know. Plus, I'm a make-up artist. Gossiping is kind of, you know, our thing."

I sighed, looking into my reflection in the mirror in front of me. We started filming Mockingjay Part One today. Johanna had been tortured by the Capital, so my appearance didn't look all too hot. Actually, I was almost unrecognizable. A blessing, I would call it, because when I didn't have my make up on, I was being harassed every second I was there about Josh. It was getting ridiculous. I even had to bring out my inner bitch and demand a private make-up trailer so I could escape all the inquiries.

"I don't blame you it's just there is nothing to tell! We talked about everything that happened and we decided we didn't want to be apart."

Mike chuckled, securing my hair piece in place. "Nothing to tell? Are you kidding? You ran away to London for god's sake! You literally left the country!"

Kelly reached over and hit him, giving him a warning look. He just smiled and shook his head, reaching for a make up brush. Kelly looked at me in the mirror and gave me a tired smile. She had been really great through all of this, handling all the people who came up to question me about my disappearance, and my reappearance with Josh for that matter.

It hasn't been easy. And I know I wanted this and I'm so happy to have him in my life again, but its like every single question about our personal life brings up all those memories of London, all the pain and sleepless nights. It's like a wound being re-opened over and over again. I don't want to explain myself to anyone, especially about Josh and my relationship. Who's business is it really? No one can understand what we are to each other. Not really anyways, because something like what me and Josh have needs to be felt in order to be understood.

I heard a quiet knock at the door. Kelly rushed over and creaked open the door.

"Oh hey Josh, yeah you can talk to Charlie alone. Mike, come on. We'll wait outside."

Josh moved towards me, his newly dyed blonde hair hidden under a baseball cap. He smiled, grabbing my face to kiss me on the forehead. Mike was staring us down as he left, quickly taking out his phone and pounding in the keys to a text message. Probably updating his friends on our every movement. Vulture.

"How you doing Char? Holding up ok?"

He stood in front of me, leaning against the make up table behind him. He was wearing blue jeans and a white tee-shirt that was tight against his flat stomach, obviously not in his costume yet. He look undoubtedly sexy. It almost made me forget all about the media frenzy that was coming our way. Almost.

"I miss you. And I'm really sick of all these people."

"They've been hounding you with questions too?"

"Of course. It's been never ending. Mike practically begged me for the scoop, I just wish they could leave us alone, you know? I don't wanna hear another word about London or why we broke up or anything. I just wanna move on. I don't know, I'm sorry if I'm ranting."

Josh grabbed my hands and and stroked my ring finger, twisting the ring that replaced the small white band of pale skin. He had given the ring back to me a week ago, and I haven't taken it off since. He pressed his lips gently to my finger tips, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry this has been hard. It's just Hollywood, you know? Everyone wants to know everyone's business. But it's just you and me in this relationship. If we let the media and the gossip get to us, we'll end up like every other couple. And I can't have that."

I shrugged, unsure if I could promise not to let it get to me. We were literally being talked about everywhere. How could I escape that?

He noticed my worry and pulled his lips down to mine. "Just you and me Char. That's all we have to work on. That's all we have to worry about, ok? I love you. I'm not gonna let this go again. We just need to work at it."

I nodded my head, finding some peace within my thoughts for the first time all day. Josh always had that effect on me, quietly calming all my fears with his voice.

Just as Josh leaned in to kiss me once again, Lisa burst through the door followed by Josh's agent. She looked frantic and urgent, her hair a mess and coffee spilt on her shirt.

"Jesus Lisa, is everything ok?"

Lisa shook her head, pressing her finger tips to her temples in frustration.

"We have a problem. People magazine, their issue today features an interview with Vanessa. She told them everything."

I felt my throat close up, and my stomach suddenly lurched forward as Josh looked down at me in shock. Every secret, every aspect of our break up we were trying so hard to keep concealed, was now out there for all of the public to read about.

We were exposed.