Hollywood Royalty

Grace was starting to doubt herself as she waited anxiously by her hotel room door. Ash stared at her from his place on the floor of the living room. He probably thought she was the most insane human and that was okay because she thought the same thing. She was now dressed in a pair of galaxy printed leggings and a gray knit sweater that hung loosely over her small frame. Her hair was down from its French braid and was in a more wavy state than usual because of the braid. Grace started second guessing her outfit but then she realized she was being stupid. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was feeling as she waited for Pedro to arrive. It was almost like she was going on a date or something which Grace had just begun to realize would be the first in many years. The last time she had a first date was with Tom and that was over six years ago. Not that this was a date or anything but what she was feeling was that same giddiness.

Time and time again, she just kept telling herself that it was unbelievably wrong of her to have these sort of feelings for Pedro. The rational Grace would tell her how insane she was acting. Because, for one, Pedro was way older than her and two… Well, she had only known him for a week. There was also the fact that she was still healing from several other things in her past and she had no business dragging some other poor fellow into the mess that was her life. It wasn’t like Pedro would have any interest in her anyways. He was significantly older than her and he also probably had his share of more experienced women who weren’t nearly as damaged as she was even if they were older.

Still… Rational Grace had even told her that Tom would be good for her. The rational Grace convinced her that it would be safe to trust Tom with her heart because Tom couldn’t hurt a fly. She completely thought Tom was the right one which is why she married him but she was so wrong. Maybe they could’ve lasted longer if they hadn’t suffered so much. Grace bit the inside of her cheek at the thought, a stray tear falling from her eye as her mind suddenly started to go back to the horrors of her past… Horrors that went way beyond a friend stealing away her husband. She quickly wiped the tear from her eye and forced herself away from such thoughts. No, her and Tom just weren’t strong enough.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a knock on the door and Grace immediately snapped out of her stupor. Grace ran a hand through her hair, trying to make herself look more presentable even though this was supposed to just be a quiet night in amongst two new friends. She opened the door only to reveal Pedro which quickly made her forget any thoughts about Tom or her past. He was dressed the same as before, casually in a pair of jeans and t-shirt but her favorite part about his appearance was his hair which looked disheveled. He looked extremely cute with his hair sticking up in almost every direction. Pedro grinned at the sight of the blonde standing in the doorway of her hotel room. He marveled at the fact that she could look glamourous no matter where she was or what she wore. Grace stood there in her hotel suite with her make-up gone and her hair out of its intricate braid but she still looked like royalty. Pedro wasn’t sure what he had thought until he had thought it and even he had to admit it was pretty ironic.

“Hey, you made it.” Grace greeted with her charismatic smile. Pedro was delighted to see that it was one of her more genuine smiles. He had spent enough time around her to recognize when her smile was forced or not.

“Of course… I said I would come, didn’t I? I brought a bottle of wine for us.” He told her, holding up a bottle of wine.

“Please, come in.” Pedro glanced around the room out of curiosity before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. It wasn’t much different than his own room but as he walked inside the room Grace’s dog immediately went up to him. He chuckled as the German Shepard sniffed him before nearly ambushing him while placing his paws on Pedro’s chest.

“Ash, get off Pedro. You know that you’re not supposed to attack our guests.” Ash glanced back at his owner before reluctantly getting off Pedro. “I’m so sorry. He’s not usually like this with people he barely knows. Ash must really like you.”

“It’s fine. He’s a funny little dog.” Grace raised a brow.

“Little? He’s the size of a pony.” Pedro laughed. “So how are you feeling after the big day?” He inquired and Grace shrugged.

“It was fine… better than I thought it would be but it wasn’t terrible either.” She looked a little uncomfortable from the question as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Pedro thought it would be best not to mention Robert since she seemed very reluctant to tell him about her dilemma even earlier.

“You were amazing today during the table read. I think I saw some jaws actually drop.” Grace blushed from the compliment and Pedro was delighted from the rosy flush that came over her pale ivory skin.

“Well, you were very good too. You really impressed George and that’s a hard task to accomplish. He has an ego the size of this planet.” Grace took a seat on the couch in the living room area before patting the seat beside her, gesturing for Pedro to join her and he did so without any thought. He relaxed on the couch with a sigh, placing an arm around the back of couch, noticeably close to Grace. She suddenly felt an odd fluttering the pit of her stomach at his closeness but it must have been normal for Pedro, given how care free he seemed.

“I never even thought that I would meet George Clooney let alone star in a movie with him.” Grace smiled at his awe. It was rare to see a lot of actors still in awe of their surroundings and success. Most of them seemed accustomed to it. “I probably sound like a huge dork to you. You’ve starred in movies with a lot of amazing people.” Grace shook her head.

“No, not at all. I admit that I was also very in awe of Mr. Clooney when I first met him but don’t worry… The charm fades off with time. In a week’s time you’ll probably be wishing that Brad Pitt had been casted instead.” She joked and Pedro smirked but Grace continued. “This world is still one that I have yet to become used to. I doubt that I ever will.” Somehow Grace Gallagher became even more interesting to Pedro. She was an actress who had a decade worth of experience in making blockbuster films but she still seemed grounded and down to earth. It was obvious that she didn’t take any of it for granted and Pedro really admired her for that.

“Name one person you’ve worked with that you flipped out the most over.” Pedro said and Grace laughed at his demand. People asked her that during interviews but she was always polite and answered that she was delighted to work with every single one of the people she worked with. However, there didn’t seem to be any interviewers at the moment nor was her publicist there. Grace gave the idea some thought before answering but she already knew the answer.

“Colin Firth.” She finally said and Pedro looked a bit surprised. He honestly thought she was going to say Cate Blanchett or Maggie Smith. He was still amazed at how almost every time he talked to Grace, she still managed to surprise him with something she said.

“I didn’t know you worked with Colin. I’ve previously worked with him on the new ‘Kingsman’ movie myself. He’s a nice guy.” Grace grinned and nodded. He could tell that she was exceptionally proud of her film with Colin Firth just by the look in her eyes.

“We did a Woody Allen film a couple of years ago. I played his love interest.” Pedro raised a brow because while he had never seen the movie, he knew there was a pretty significant age gap between Grace and Colin. Colin was probably old enough to play her father and that was when he came to a stunning revelation. Could he also be old enough to be Grace’s father? He knew that one of his cousins had given birth to her child when she was only sixteen. How old was Grace’s father? Was he closer to Pedro’s age or was he considerably older? For the past several days he had been having very conflicting feelings for Grace. He knew that he was very interested in her and that he was also attracted to her or so he felt during their dance the night before. Was it wrong for him to be attracted to someone so much younger than himself? It was a confusing thought for him since it was easy to forget how old Grace was but the truth was that there was an age gap between them.

“That’s quite an age difference there.” Pedro commented, repeating his thoughts.

“I know but I was such a fan of his and it was always a secret dream of mine to kiss Mr. Darcy. As much as I love Keira Knightley that ‘Pride and Prejudice’ film will never be what the Colin Firth one was to me. Colin Firth will always be my Mr. Darcy.” She glanced at Pedro to see what he thought of her statement but he just looked curious and thoughtful. “Have you ever seen ‘Pride and Prejudice’?”

“I think I’ve seen part of the Keira Knightley one but I’ve never seen the one with Colin in it.”

“You should it’s my favorite of all of his past work.” A sad smile made its way onto her face as she remembered something else. “My mother and I used to watch ‘Pride and Prejudice’ all the time. Well, we also watched ‘Bridget Jones’ and ‘Love Actually’ too but ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was the one we’d spend all weekend watching. We would have a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ marathon and just watch the entire miniseries in one go.” Pedro smiled because it was really the first time he had seen Grace be so vulnerable and open.

“I bet she’s proud of you.” Grace’s smile fell off her face.

“She died eleven years ago.” Grace said quietly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Pedro’s smile vanished and he immediately frowned in concern.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you sad.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

“No, you couldn’t have possibly have known. It was cancer and it was years ago.” Pedro put a comforting hand on her shoulder and was worried that she would shake off his hand for a minute but she didn’t make any move to.

“That doesn’t mean that you can’t still miss her. My mother passed away twenty years ago from cancer and I still miss her every day.” Grace looked at him in surprise because she never would’ve guessed that he too lost a mother. It wasn’t exactly often that she met someone who had also lost a mother let alone to cancer. All her friends still had their mothers and it was something that always made Grace incredibly jealous of them.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Pedro gave her a smile that told her it was okay. “Wow… This turned really dark.”

“Well, it’s certainly a way to start off a new friendship. Maybe we should also pop open this bottle of wine.” Grace laughed as he held up the bottle of wine.

“Yeah, sure, just let me grab a couple of glasses. I think there’s some in the kitchen.” She then hurried off the couch to grab the glasses and brought them back barely thirty seconds later. Grace set the two glasses on top of the coffee table and Pedro poured them both a glass of wine. “I also ordered some Chinese takeout. I hope that’s alright with you.”

“Chinese sounds great actually. I order take out all the time, you know with being in New York and all.” Grace looked at her curiously.

“Really? You mean you don’t cook?” Pedro gave her a sheepish look.

“I would like to say it’s because I’m so busy but it’s honestly not that. Once I even almost burned down my apartment attempting to scramble some eggs.” Grace laughed at the thought of a distressed looking Pedro putting out a fire in his kitchen. “Do you cook?”

“When I have time I do so I guess I’ve actually been able to cook a lot these past several months. I took a ton of time off so I kind of experimented with a lot of dishes. My family was starting to get fat so I think that’s why they kicked me out.” Pedro chuckled.

“How long did you take off?” Grace paused to think about that for a moment.

“Well… I wrapped filming ‘La La Land’ about ten months ago. I guess I’ve kind of been on a very long break. I was so glad to return to filming especially since I was going crazy these last couple of months. You really don’t know how many things I’ve dabbled in.” Pedro gave her an amused look.
“Like what? Did you start taking pottery classes?” Grace laughed but shook her head.

“No… But I did take up knitting and I started taking some ballet classes again.” Pedro raised an eyebrow.

“Again?” Pedro questioned and Grace nodded.

“I used to take ballet lessons when I was younger. From the age of three to thirteen so about ten years but I quit after my mom got sick.”

“You never got back into it?” Pedro didn’t know why he was so surprised to hear about Grace’s past as a ballerina even if she did quit. Grace had the kind of slender figure to be a ballerina along with all her elegance and well… Grace.

“No, when my mother passed away it had already been years since I had last trained. I also wasn’t really interested in ballet anymore so I think that’s when I became interested in acting.” He nodded in understanding.

“That must be nice. I can’t dance worth a damn myself.” Grace smirked.

“You do know that we’ll have to dance in the film, don’t you?” Pedro sighed.

“I’ll probably step on your feet or something so please don’t hold it against me. I know Latinos are supposed to be skilled dancers but be aware that’s just a misconceived stereotype.” Grace rolled her eyes but laughed anyways. He really was kind of a dork sometimes.

“Don’t worry about it. Baz is going to set us up with a choreographer for the wedding dance scene and the guy will probably be a classically trained dancer so there’s no need to panic.”

“That’s easy for you to say but you’ve had plenty of dance lessons with ‘Cinderella’ and ‘La La Land’. Not to mention your secret past as a ballerina.” Pedro told her.

“Please… The dance scene in ‘Cinderella’ was basically Richard and I trying figure out how to move around an enormous circus tent of a gown. As for ‘La La Land’… I think Ryan was better at the waltz then I ever was. Ballet is quite a different form of dance than anything I’ve ever had to do for films.” Pedro smirked as he thought of something.

“You know what this movie will mean?” Pedro said with a mischievous smile on his face. Grace gave him an amused smile and decided to humor him.

“No, what?”

“We’re going to be married.” She rolled her eyes at him.

“Yeah but not in real life. You do know that, right?”

“Well, I’m excited because I’ve never had a wife before… On screen or off screen.” Grace didn’t why she was delighted to know that he wasn’t married. She probably figured he wasn’t married since he seemed to be spending so much time with her and not a wife but it still filled her with a sense of relief that he wasn’t married. It shouldn’t matter anyways since she shouldn’t be interested in him like that and he could’ve had a girlfriend for all she knew.

“Really? You weren’t married in ‘Game of Thrones’?” Pedro smirked smugly.

“Oberyn had a longtime lover but he never married. Him and his paramour were more of the type to host orgies rather than dinner parties.” Grace blushed, a little embarrassed by his wording.

“That’s nice.”

“It really was.” They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Grace headed towards the door. She was thankful for the arrival of the food so she could give herself time to get rid of that ridiculous blush on her face. The delivery guy was a nervous looking teenaged boy seeing as how he was escorted by one of the hotel employees. It was mostly for security reasons which was why Grace was thankful for the hotel’s security. The delivery boy handed her the order before Grace gave him the right amount of cash plus his tip. He seemed to recognize her from his slightly reddened face and wide eyes but he didn’t say anything. It must have been because of the hotel employee giving him the stare down. Grace thanked him and he was then rushed off with the hotel employee in tow.

“So what’s on the schedule for tonight?” Pedro asked as Grace brought the food to the coffee table.

“I thought we could watch a movie on paper view? Is that alright with you?” Pedro didn’t seem put off by the idea as he immediately started digging into the take out.

“Hey, you got the food. Whatever you want to do is fine by me although a movie does sound good.” She smiled before sitting back down beside Pedro. She searched the available options for films before seeing one that she actually hadn’t seen yet.

“How do you feel about ‘The Nice Guys’?” Grace asked and Pedro raised a brow. “What? Have you already seen it?”

“No but isn’t Gosling your bff? Why haven’t you seen his movie already?” Grace scoffed but she knew Pedro was only kidding.

“I’m sorry but unlike some people, my whole entire world doesn’t revolve around Ryan Gosling. There are a lot of his films that I haven’t seen.” Pedro laughed at Grace’s defensiveness.

“Really? Like what?” Grace shrugged.

“I don’t know… I haven’t seen ‘Half Nelson’, ‘Blue Valentine’, and I also haven’t seen ‘Drive’… Oh and there’s also ‘The Notebook’.” Pedro’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard the last movie title.

“You haven’t seen ‘The Notebook’? I’m a guy and even I’ve seen ‘The Notebook’ a couple of times.” Grace blushed.

I don’t really like Nicholas Sparks films, they’re very sappy and unrealistic.” Pedro couldn’t help but smile at the blonde actress. She looked adorable in her defensive and sheepish state which made him want to laugh. Grace almost seemed apologetic for not being a fan of Nicholas Sparks movies and he knew that it was in her nature to be kind and polite.

“Did you even know who Ryan Gosling was before you made that film with him?” Grace glared playfully at him.

“Yes, I did know who he was. I’m a big fan of ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ I’ll have you know.” She then focused her attention back on the television screen. “Now are we going to watch this or not because this film looks hilarious and I love Russell Crowe.”

“Does Kevin Costner know that you have someone else on the side?” Pedro teased and Grace rolled her eyes again although she did reluctantly let out a soft laugh. Pedro then grew quiet as Grace started the movie so she took that to mean that he was done teasing her for the moment and ready for their movie night.

The film turned out to be an outrageously hilarious detective story and Grace couldn’t believe Ryan was the funnier one in the film. Grace knew that he had a particularly funny sense of humor in real life but usually he took himself pretty seriously when he was working on a film. She needed to tell him how great she thought he was in the film the next time she saw him… If she ever decided to see him again. Grace knew that seeing her actor friends was inevitable since Hollywood was a very small world. She would have to start the press tour for ‘La La Land’ with Ryan in a few months anyways and then there was award season. She knew it was sort of silly ignoring all her friends like that but Taylor had really destroyed her trust in others.

It might have seemed a little staged, having so many actor friends but it actually made total sense if you thought about it. When you worked with so many different people on film sets you tended to find a few people you had a lot in common with. Other celebrities often faced the same issues regarding privacy and complicated relationships due to conflicting schedules or popularity. The friends Grace had from her days at private school couldn’t understand her decision to become an actress. They were raised in families that had attended Ivy League schools for generations so when they graduated from school they left for college straight away. Grace tried to keep in contact with them but they just got so busy with school and their new college educated friends. It didn’t take long before they graduated, got jobs at law firms, and then settled down to start a family. It became clear to Grace that her old friends from school didn’t have anything in common with her anymore so she had stuck to her celebrity friends and that was okay with her. Emma had attended college too but she was an odd sort of actress. She was in a sort of in between world of acting and Ivy League education. Bonnie also attended college a year after Emma did and it made Grace feel a little lost.

She had thought about going to college but she had completely fallen in love with film making so she decided to work on more films rather than go to school. Despite Grace’s amount of family and her own wealth, the likelihood of her going to a college like Emma was unlikely. While Grace aced any English and History class she could during school, she really lacked any motivation in her math and science classes. Grace had applied to a few universities, inspired by Emma, but was rejected from them due to her low math scores. Her family compared her to her grandmother who had also apparently been rejected from a couple of universities due to her low math scores. If there was one thing to know about Grace it was the fact that she hated being compared to her grandmother. She had heard it all her life from people who felt that they knew her and she was sick of it. It was either that she looked identical to the late Princess or that she must’ve inherited her grandmother’s incredible acting abilities. Maybe acting was in the genes but that didn’t mean that Grace couldn’t be amazing on her own merit. It was because of all those comparisons why she had even agreed to star in a film about her grandmother. If she gave people what they wanted maybe they would stop seeing her as a dead Hollywood starlet and instead a very much alive English actress.

Taylor had always been supportive of Grace trying to make her own mark in Hollywood rather than trying to continue her grandmother’s legacy. Emma and Bonnie going off to college was probably what pushed Grace into her friendship with Taylor. Her two friends were so busy with their studies that they barely had time for working on films let alone hanging out with Grace who really needed to vent her frustrations to someone following the problems that began to arise in her then relationship with James. Taylor had been that person for her. Grace felt as if the two may have had even more in common with each other with their common interests as well as being the only ones not going to college like all their friends. Ryan came along later into Grace’s world of friendships but it would still be about a year before Grace would meet the Canadian actor. Taylor had been there for Grace in a way that Emma and Bonnie couldn’t and at the time that had meant something to Grace. It was obvious to her now that Taylor hadn’t felt the same way. Grace desperately wanted to know if Taylor hadn’t been a true friend to her since the beginning or something had changed along the way. It wasn’t likely that the English actress would ever find out because she didn’t think that she was ever going to see Taylor again.

“That movie was hilarious.” Pedro said aloud and Grace was snapped out of her thoughts by his voice. It was then that she noticed that the credits were rolling and she had most likely missed the ending of the movie. Grace took a sip of her second glass of wine and nodded from behind the glass.

“It really was. I wasn’t expecting Ryan to be the funny one if I’m being completely honest.” He raised a brow as he smirked at her.

“Really? Why? Is he boring in real life?” Grace gave Pedro an amused smile as she set her wine glass down on the table.

“No, not at all. He’s actually very funny but when he’s acting… it’s almost like he’s someone else.” Pedro looked at her curiously and noticed that her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. He wondered what the story was there. There had been rumors about Grace and Ryan circulating the media ever since ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ had come out five years prior. The two well-known actors had claimed to be good friends or even partners in film making but that didn’t stop the rumors from coming. Even when Ryan was locked in a committed relationship with Eva Mendes and Grace had gotten married to Tom Hiddleston, the rumors still didn’t stop. Some secretly rooted for their favorite Hollywood couple to get together but others admired their friendship as well as the simple fact that men and women could be friends and only friends. There were some people who even compared Grace and Ryan’s platonic relationship to the famous friendship of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant.

“Are you two really friends?” Grace raised a brow at him. Pedro was only referring to the fact of if their friendship was real or if it was something that they had to portray for the public but Grace wanted to have some fun.

“Or are we secret lovers you mean to ask?” Pedro’s widened and he began to shake his head furiously but stopped once he saw the smirk on Grace’s face. She was teasing him.

“You’re a devious little thing, aren’t you?” Grace just shrugged but the amusement on her face didn’t waver for a second.

“I know that’s not what you meant to ask but Ryan and I are just friends despite what the tabloids suggest. A lot of my friends are actually in the industry, it’s kind of hard to keep in contact with people who live different lives than you.” Pedro nodded.

“No, I completely get it. Most of my friends are all in the entertainment industry as well. I bet your friends are excited for ‘La La Land’, I’ve heard that it’s been getting a lot of Oscar buzz after premiering at the film festival so they must be proud… Your family too of course.” Grace bit her lip nervously as she became suddenly very interested with her hands in her lap. She didn’t know if it was just the wine that caused her to confide in Pedro or if it was the fact that she hadn’t talked to a friend in a long time but she blurted out an admission that she hadn’t even confessed to her family.

“I haven’t really spoken to any of my friends in months.” She blurted and Pedro gave her a confused look. Grace’s face reddened from her random admission and she cursed herself for saying such a thing to Pedro. Someone, while she liked, but was also almost a complete stranger to her. Maybe that was her problem? Grace felt like she had known Pedro for a lot longer than she actually had so she was probably just more comfortable around him than she should be. “I’m sorry… I don’t know why I just told you that. That’s very personal and you probably think I’m crazy.”

Pedro stared at the blonde actress and realized something. She was lonely. There was something about her that had seemed off to Pedro but he hadn’t been able to figure it out until now. When they were talking or dancing like back at the club she seemed alright but sometimes Grace would get a lost look in her eyes. It was almost like she was looking past him and whatever she saw gave her great distress. He hadn’t been sure what it was but he knew that part of it had to be her very publicized divorce.

“No, it’s fine. My mother used to say that if you have something on your chest then it’s best to get it off.” Pedro told her but Grace still seemed unsure. “Look, I know we haven’t known each other long but we’re friends, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t feel its right to dump my problems on other people.” Pedro rolled his eyes at her stubbornness.

“Come on, don’t be so British. Tell me what’s going on in that pretty little blonde head of yours?” Grace wasn’t sure if it was the concern in those beautiful brown eyes but something in the way he stared at her made her feel as if she could tell him everything. She already she wasn’t going to tell him everything because there still many things she still couldn’t even admit to herself let alone anyone else.

“Fine but just know that I don’t usually talk about myself.” Pedro’s expression softened and he could tell that whatever was on Grace’s mind had been troubling her for quite some time.

“It’s okay to talk about your problems. Think of it as a bit like a confession to a priest.” That caused Grace to smile a little more.

“No offense but you don’t look very much like a priest.” He chuckled and they were silent for a moment before Grace spoke again. “The truth is that I haven’t talked to any of my friends since I filed for divorce. I haven’t really talked to anyone other than my family since the divorce.” This didn’t help to ease Pedro’s confusion.

“Why?” Grace sighed and looked away from him for a moment before returning her gaze to his bright brown eyes.

“I don’t really know myself. I know that it sounds a little ridiculous but I feel like I can’t trust any of them anymore. It’s completely stupid especially since they’ve done so much for me but now I find myself questioning everything.” She knew that she was being very vague so she decided against her better judgement to tell Pedro more. Grace hadn’t been this upfront with anyone in a long time and she was a little afraid of what the outcome would be. She finally decided that she had been hurt enough in the past so whatever happened couldn’t be as bad as before.

“I’m sure you’ve probably heard everything about my personal life in the media anyways.” Pedro nodded but tried to seem nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

“Well, it’s the media after all. You can’t believe everything they say.” Grace laughed without humor.

“They seemed to get most of it right this time. My point is that I was very good friends with someone that I thought I could trust. I let her into every part of my life and I thought of her as almost… a sister of sorts I guess. It became apparent to me over the past few months that she didn’t feel the same way.”

“I’m sorry.” Pedro told her, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not yours either.” Grace tried to smile at his attempt at comforting her but it came out as more of a grimace.

“You know how I found out about it?” She asked but Pedro didn’t answer because it was an obvious rhetorical question. “Some tabloid headline… The Sun I think it was. I thought it was the media’s attempt at stirring up rumors but then the pictures came out and I just knew. My publicist tried to reassure me that they were probably just photo shopped but I knew otherwise.” She continued telling Pedro about her friendship drama because she knew if she stopped then she might not be able to ever get it off her chest.

“It was then that I remembered something my grandmother said… My dad’s mom of course. She told me a story about how this couple became such good friends with another couple. They spent so much time with each other that it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the wife and husband from the opposite couples had an affair.” She laughed again, a bitter tone in her laughter. Pedro didn’t favor that bitterness, much preferring her carefree laughter from before. It was in that moment that Pedro decided that he hated Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift. He despised them for causing so much pain and suffering in this beautiful, kind, and warm hearted woman’s life. Grace had obviously cared and loved the both of them very much and they completely betrayed her in return.

“I guess when everything happened I pushed everyone away because I don’t know who I can trust anymore. You think you know a person so well then they do something like that and you wonder whether you really knew them at all.” Pedro placed an arm around Grace, pulling her in for a hug. He thought that it may have been the wrong thing to do but she didn’t seem to want to pull away. She buried her face into his chest. Grace wasn’t really crying but she was still upset about the betrayal and her never talking about it before didn’t seem to have lessened the pain.

“I know that I’m not exactly the person to seek advice from. The last real relationship I had lasted three years and that was almost ten years ago.” Pedro told her. He didn’t know whether Grace was paying attention or not but he continued anyways. “What they both did was wrong and horrible but that doesn’t mean that you should push everyone away. That won’t help anyone and I bet they’re very worried about you.” Grace pulled away from his chest to look up at him. The look in her blue eyes was a look he wished to never see again. Her eyes were a beautiful cerulean blue that deserved to hold happiness and not pain.

“I know they’re worried. They try to contact me all the time and especially my friend Emma. She’s the only one who’s never stopped trying to contact me. I should answer the phone but I’m afraid.” He still held her in his arms and tried to get a read on her but those blue eyes weren’t giving anything but pain away. Pedro gently pushed a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

“What are you afraid of?” Grace hesitantly bit her lip at his question but answered anyways.

“I’m afraid that they’ll hurt me like she did. I’m terrified that I don’t really know them just like I didn’t really know her.” Grace admitted and Pedro gave her a look that spoke nothing but understanding.

“Look, you were hurt badly by the people you thought you could trust most in your life. You’re going to feel distrusting towards other but you need to know that not everyone is out there to hurt you.” He told her firmly. “Grace, your friends are probably really concerned for you right now. You need to talk to them.” Grace gave Pedro a sheepish look.

“I have been rather selfish, haven’t I? I’ve only been thinking about my own feelings instead of what everyone else is feeling.” Pedro just shook his head.

“You had every right to be selfish.” They fell into a silence and Grace took the time to notice that she was practically in Pedro’s lap. She blushed at the thought and started to inch her way away from him. He must’ve thought she was some desperate, entitled girl who was trying to throw herself at him and tell him some sad sob story. She pulled away quickly after that.

“I’m sorry. You must think I’m so sad and pathetic.” Grace told him and Pedro immediately frowned.

“Never. Grace, never hesitate to talk to me about anything. You’ve gone through a lot of unbelievable shit and you shouldn’t keep that bottled up.” She smiled genuinely for the first time since they started this conversation. It had been such a long time since Grace had met someone who was so upfront and brutally honest with her. People always liked to sugar coat things like that and it was never appreciated by her. He was the first person since her father that told her not what she wanted to hear but what she needed to hear. Grace suddenly found herself wishing that she was older than what she was because she knew that Pedro would make an amazing boyfriend. She knew that he was far too much older than herself to even start to look at her in that way. The reason he was being so kind to her was probably because she reminded him of a little sister or something.

It was like something shifted between Grace and Pedro after that. They slipped into a much more casual conversation that regarded Grace’s love for a much different HBO show. True Blood. He pretended to be offended that she had seen ‘True Blood’ and not the show he was on but he was amused if anything. Somehow she had talked him into watching a couple of episodes with her. He even had to admit that he liked the show although Pedro was sure that Grace loved it so much because certain vampire Viking named Eric Northman. Pedro acted like Grace’s attraction towards Alexander Skarsgard didn’t bother him but it kind of did. It shouldn’t have bothered him so much. He knew that but he couldn’t help but wonder if Grace had a type and if that type was tall, blonde, blue eyed men with six packs. If it was then Pedro was shit out of luck since he possessed none of those things. Pedro shook himself out of his musings because absolutely nothing was to happen between him and the blonde actress.

At some point during the third or fourth episode of ‘True Blood’ Grace had fallen asleep. She had rested her head on his shoulder and Pedro turned to look at her. Grace looked so peaceful and beautiful in a relaxed state which was different from her distressed state from before. He wished that she could stay like that… Peaceful and relaxed because she had far too much to deal with. Things that she really shouldn’t have to deal with, Pedro thought to himself as he allowed himself to think about Tom and Taylor. It became obvious that Pedro didn’t have a high opinion of the media’s favorite new celebrity couple.

Time had really flown since Pedro had entered her hotel room and he now noticed that it was almost two in the morning. Usually he stayed up until three but Pedro knew that both him and Grace had to be in early to the studio for rehearsals. He glanced down at Grace’s sleeping form and knew instantly that he couldn’t leave her like that on the couch. Without any further thought Pedro got up from the couch before leaning down and picking Grace up in his arms. He was afraid that he would wake her but she barely stirred as she nestled her face into his neck. Pedro smirked at how absolutely adorable the slender blonde was. Not stopping to think any more on it he carried Grace to her bed with Ash quickly following behind them. Pedro gently set Grace down on the bed, getting ready to place the covers over her but she woke up before he could.

“What happened?” She asked tiredly with a dreamy look in her eyes. It made Pedro want to stay with her and not leave the room without her.

“You fell asleep. I thought you would appreciate me not leaving you on the couch for the night.” Pedro told her softly. Grace still seemed to be half asleep as she pulled the covers over herself before nodding.

“I’m going back to my hotel room, okay?” He said before making a move to leave the room but Grace protested.

“No. Please stay.” Pedro turned back to her, thinking that she had been talking in her sleep but he saw that she was more awake then she had been before.

“What?” Grace suddenly looked very nervous and wide eyed.

“Please stay… I really don’t want to be alone.” Pedro couldn’t find it in himself to just deny her of that. The far away look in Grace’s eyes pulled at his heart strings so Pedro found himself giving up. He knew that he secretly wanted to stay with her but definitely not in a friendly way. He wasn’t opposed to being friends with a woman since most of his friends were women as it turned out but Grace was starting to feel like different territory.

“Are you sure?” He asked hesitantly and Grace nodded. “You do know that I don’t sleep in my jeans, right?” Grace blushed but he couldn’t see the red flush on her skin in the darkness.

“We’re both adults here.” Grace retorted and Pedro stared at her for a moment like she was a piece of a puzzle he just couldn’t figure out.

“If you’re sure then.” Grace didn’t say anything as she turned back over to try and give him some privacy. Pedro smirked at her bashfulness because he wasn’t sure if her shyness was a British thing or a Grace thing. Whatever the reason was Pedro knew that he had to stay with Grace just because she simply asked him to. He felt like Grace could ask him to punch Tom Hiddleston in the face and he would’ve done it. That was mostly because Pedro knew that he really wanted to punch Tom Hiddleston. Pedro took off his jeans but left his t-shirt on before getting into the opposite side of the bed. He decided to lie on top of the covers instead of under so he wouldn’t cause Grace any discomfort. There were several minutes of silence between the two of them before anyone spoke. The silence was brought to an end as Grace spoke up out of the blue.

“Pedro?” She whispered softly. Her voice was so quiet that Pedro had thought that he imagined it at first.

“Yes?” He whispered back and Grace turned over to face him. The bed was large and spacious so there was plenty of room between them but he could still see her bright blue eyes under the moonlight that streamed in from the window.

“Thank you for staying.” She thanked him and Pedro smiled.

“Don’t mention it. We’re friends, right?” Grace returned his smile.

“Yes… Friends.” Grace wanted to say something else but decided against it so she decided to just call it a night. “Goodnight, Pedro.”

“Goodnight, Grace.” An overwhelming silence grew in the moments since Pedro spoke and he assumed that she had fallen asleep. He let his mind wonder for several minutes before also falling asleep. A part of him knew that this was a very bad idea. This was only going to feed into his growing attraction for the young blonde but another part of him didn’t care. In this moment it was almost like Grace and him were more than friends. All it took was an imaginary scenario and he could pretend that he was free enough to allow himself to give into that attraction.

Pedro wasn’t sure of the time when he finally woke up but he assumed it was fairly early in the morning since the birds were still chirping and no one was blowing up his phone, asking him why he was late to rehearsals. The warm LA sunlight streamed in from the window causing him to close his eyes from the sheer brightness. He covered his face with his hand but noticed how difficult the task was one of his arms was wrapped around something… Or someone. Pedro glanced down in surprise to notice that his arm was wrapped around Grace Gallagher. The blonde was sleeping soundly, her head resting against his chest and one her arms lying across his torso lazily. At first Pedro was afraid that he had gotten drunk last night and did something that would ruin whatever was going on between him and Grace. It was then that he noticed that they were both clothed and the memory of her asking him to stay came back to him. Pedro calmed down but not completely since there was still the question as to how they ended up like that. They were way closer together then they had been when they had fallen asleep. Grace was resting soundly against his chest and he could feel her warmth against him. Their legs were tangled together and Pedro was sure that if Grace woke up and demanded to know what was going on… Well, he wouldn’t have an answer for her.

Pedro knew that it should feel wrong to be that close and intimate with Grace considering the age difference but he honestly didn’t feel that even as she lay upon his chest. She was an incredible and talented young actress but there was also more to her than that. Grace was intelligent, modest, and had a very witty since of humor all of which were hard to find in Hollywood. She was ridiculously famous but none of that seemed to matter to her in the least. Grace was also kind and down to earth which was something he admired about her. Pedro couldn’t picture her furious or hateful towards anyone even when she seemed angry talking about Taylor. Grace was alarmingly polite to those who may not have even deserved it. He knew that if he had a best friend that stole his significant other than he wouldn’t waste anytime rushing over to their house to pop them one in the eye or nose or something. There was also this certain air that Grace had about her. A feeling of innocence that still had not been tainted even after spending years in Hollywood. It was infectious and Pedro felt an unquenchable thirst for everything about Grace.

He stared at her as she rested in peace because he knew that whatever attraction and feelings he was having for Grace was not just going to go away. It had been a long time since he had fallen in love with someone but he knew that Grace would be easy to fall in love with. They had only known each other for just over a week but they already had this insane chemistry together. Pedro had tried to deny his attraction to Grace because he knew that it was wrong because of the age gap but now he didn’t think he could. He tried to not deny himself the things he wanted in life and he certainly wanted Grace. Pedro wanted to make her forget all about her asshole ex… He wanted to be more than just a friend or coworker to her.

Pedro knew that he was going to pursue Grace romantically. It had been a very longtime since he been serious about anyone but he knew that he could be serious with her. He just had to be. Grace had been hurt in the past by some asshole who didn’t appreciate what he had when he had it so he would have to be careful. Pedro knew that she wasn’t just going to be a simple fling that he would get over. He wasn’t even sure if Grace would have him but if she did he knew that she was the kind of woman you didn’t mess around with. She was someone who could have anyone and if you were lucky enough she might pick you. If she picked you then you should consider yourself the luckiest person in the universe. She was like a shooting star in that sense.

The older actor had never been so hung up on someone shortly after meeting them but for some reason he was that way with Grace. It just had to mean something.