Hollywood Royalty

Two and a half weeks had passed since that night with Pedro and Grace knew that something had drastically changed between the two of them. She awoke that morning to find Pedro gone from bed but she hadn’t questioned it. It wasn’t like he had any obligation to her or anything. He wasn’t her boyfriend and Grace figured that he probably went back to his room to get dressed for their second day on set. Still… Grace was certain that something had changed between them. She could almost feel it in the air between them whenever they interacted.

Grace had been worried that she may have opened up to Pedro a little too much. It wasn’t like her to reveal so much about herself especially to someone she hadn’t known for too long. Pedro hadn’t made any mention of anything she told him the night before. They went on as they usually did with their playful conversation and banter only this time it was different. He looked at her a different way than he had before with a certain twinkle in his eyes. The way he talked to her was also a change from the usual with his tone more playful and maybe even… flirtatious. No, that couldn’t be it. Something was different but it didn’t seem possible that things had shifted that much overnight.

Rehearsals had come to an end and the cast and crew were getting ready to start filming the scenes. Everything had gone as well as expected and there was little to no problems that had arisen during rehearsals. George was his usual goofy self, pulling pranks on nearly everyone on set. He had even taken a super soaker to Grace and completely showered her with water which felt good on a hot day but had ruined her outfit. Robert paired off with George made Grace hate whoever did the casting for the film. Things between her and Robert were as friendly as they could be but there was still awkwardness there. Grace had gotten along well with Lily as predicted but the blonde actress had remained close to Pedro’s side and he with her.

Grace smiled as she remembered the dancing lessons that she and Pedro had to take for the movie. It hadn’t been anything too crazy for her since she was accustomed to with her past films. ‘Cinderella’ and ‘La La Land’ had both required extensive dancing lessons. The wedding dance that she and Ped had to do was just a simple waltz that was seemingly less complicated than the one she did with Ryan in ‘La La Land’. Even though the dance was easy for her that didn’t mean that it was also easy for Pedro. The look of pure concentration on Pedro’s face as he tried not to step on her feet was absolutely adorable. Apparently he could dance to Rihanna but when it came to the waltz he was completely clueless. It took him a while but eventually they nailed the wedding dance and Grace was excited to do the dance in front of the cameras. She only hoped that Pedro didn’t forget anything.

The first day of filming turned out to be a long day for Grace seeing as how she had arrived on set at five in the morning for hair and make-up. It took nearly three and a half hours for the make-up and hair people to get her ready for filming. Today was the day she shot the scene where Grace Kelly won the Oscar for ‘The Country Girl’ so everyone was going all out with her look. Grace wore a replica of her grandmother’s pale blue, silk gown. It was floor length with a modest neckline and two thin straps holding it up. Even though the gown wasn’t the original dress, Grace was still afraid to move around in it. They paired the down with a pair of elbow length gloves and heels. The hair people carefully styled her hair into an elegant looking bun and the make-up people did the rest, giving her a natural look.

Grace stared at herself in the mirror in awe. It was obvious to her now so she couldn’t deny the resemblance between her and her late grandmother that she never got to meet. Grace looked identical to Grace Kelly from all the pictures she had seen of her grandmother in the past. It was almost scary. Usually Grace covered up the resemblance with her more modern look but there was no denying it now. Even the hair and make-up people stared at her in a state of wonder and amazement. They wished her luck on her way out of the hair and make-up trailer and Grace knew that she would need it. Nothing would prepare her for the reactions she got the second she stepped out of the trailer.

It was almost like time froze as Grace Gallagher made her way to set. Everyone stopped and stared as she walked past them. Not just because she was having one of those moments every girl has in a movie… You know… the one where the girl puts on a dress and everyone stares at her while time slows down. No, the moment Grace was having wasn’t anything like that. The cast and crew stared at her simply because it was like the ghost of Grace Kelly was haunting the set. Everyone knew that Grace looked very much like her grandmother but never to this extent. If they took a picture of Grace and put it beside one of her grandmother they wouldn’t be able to tell the different. Baz knew in that moment that he had done the right thing in getting Grace to play her grandmother in the film.

Pedro wasn’t filming anything that day and he wouldn’t be filming anything for another week since Prince Rainier came later in the movie. He had been chatting with George when Grace came strolling onto set and he had to do a double take when he saw her. Pedro suddenly forgot whatever it was that he and George were talking about. He didn’t looked to be the only either as everyone had become mesmerized by the blonde.

“Holy fuck.” George said under his breath. It was clear that even the award winning actor was left in a state of shock at seeing Grace’s appearance. He didn’t blame him though because Grace looked exactly like her grandmother. It reminded him of the fact that Grace was still the granddaughter of a legend of the silver screen and not to mention that she had royal blood. Pedro knew that it was stupid of him to forget such a thing considering what movie they were both starring in but he couldn’t help it. All the time he had spent with Grace seemed to make him forget that she was the granddaughter of Grace Kelly and the daughter of a princess. Seeing her looking like that reminded him of who she was but it also made him feel like he was out of his depth.

It had been two weeks since Pedro had made up his mind about pursuing Grace romantically. It had been a while since he had been this serious about someone since most of the past ten years in his life consisted of flings or one night stands. This was a fact that most of his friends constantly bugged him about since most of them were in committed relationships. Pedro was starting to think he had somehow lost his game because all the flirting and spending time together didn’t seem to be working. It seemed that every night he and Grace would spend hours together in her or his hotel room. They would stay up until the early hours of the morning either talking or watching movies… sometimes both. Just when he was thinking that Grace was interested in him she would make an excuse to leave the room and walk out.

Pedro wasn’t clueless. He knew when a woman wasn’t interested in him and he could tell that Grace seemed to be interested although she always tried to escape him when he flirted. Pedro loved flirting with Grace because she had a reaction unlike anyone else. The blonde actress would flush a lovely shade of red over her ivory skin before looking anywhere else beside his eyes. It was almost frustrating to Pedro that she didn’t seem to pick up on his more than subtle clues. Did he have to spell it out for her? Something told him that she probably got the hint but was trying ignore his advances for whatever reason. Pedro was snapped out of his thoughts as Grace walked up to him and George.

“Hey,” Grace greeted as she approached them. They didn’t say anything and she rolled her eyes before groaning. “Not you too.” Pedro took this as his opportunity to make a move as he shot her a charming smile.

“Can you blame us, princess? You look a vision in your gown.” Pedro flirted and Grace glared at him.

“Who are you calling princess?” She demanded and he smirked at the annoyed look on her face. Even when she looked annoyed with him she looked absolutely beautiful.

“You, of course. Aren’t you technically a princess?” Grace scoffed.

“No, I’m not actually. My mother was a princess… there’s a difference.” Pedro didn’t seem the least bit put off by her statement.

“Well, you’re still my princess.” Grace blushed at his suggestive tone. She glanced away from Pedro hastily before looking at George. The older actor was looking between Pedro and Grace with an amused expression on his face.

“I think I’ll go see what Baz wants.” Grace told them before heading off in the direction of the Australian director. George laughed once she was out of hearing distance and looked at his new friend.

“That was smooth.” He commented and Pedro glared at him.

“Thanks a lot.” George decided to have a little chat with his costar. He hadn’t known Pedro long but he had known Grace for a while even if they hadn’t been in touch for a long time. The older actor knew her when she was a naïve and nervous looking twenty year old young woman. She had just entered her relationship with Tom back then and he remembered that she always seemed to have a sad look on her face after talking with the British actor on the phone. It was a wonder how they lasted as long as they did. He liked the way she looked when she was around Pedro. Grace always seemed so shy and reserved but around Pedro she appeared to be the life of the party. George felt inclined to give the Chilean actor some insight into the mind that was Grace Gallagher. It would be good for Grace. Grace had gone through so much that he knew that Pedro could be just what she needed.

“Listen, Pedro, you’re going about it wrong with Grace.” George told him and Pedro’s look softened as he listened to the older actor.

“What?” George sighed.

“If you want to go out with her you’re going to have to spell it out for her. I’ve known Grace for a while and it’s really all or nothing with her. She needs you to literally tell her that you’re interested in her or she’s just going to sit there all day and overthink things. It’s just what she does.” Pedro listened to George’s advice intently. He didn’t know what to say to that but it made a little sense since Grace was always overthinking the smallest of details like what movie they were going to watch or what pair of shoes she was going to wear that day. On the other hand, part of him was afraid of asking her out because she could say no and then things would be awkward. George made a face at the contemplative look on Pedro’s face.

“Oh, don’t you start overthinking things too. Grace isn’t going to say no. She’s interested… there’s no doubt in my mind about that.” George said and Pedro wondered how he was able to read people so well.

“So just come out with it then?” Pedro inquired and George nodded.

“Yes and the worst thing she can say is no. If she says no please don’t be upset with her. Grace has been through a lot and she may need time.” Pedro nodded in understanding before they were cut off by Baz announcing that they were about to start filming. They watched silently as Grace slipped out of her British accent into the mid-Atlantic accent golden age actresses were known to have back in the fifties. Pedro was no stranger to accents since he had abandoned his American accent for a more Latin sounding one on ‘Game of Thrones’. Still… It was very amazing to hear Grace speaking in an accent that was more similar to his own than British. Pedro had to admit that he loved her original British accent in all fairness.

As the Latin actor watched Grace film her scene he started developing a plan in his head. He knew that the overly subtle hints he dropped for her weren’t working so he would have to take it to the next step as George suggested. Pedro was going to come out and ask Grace out but he just needed to find a way to go about doing that. She was a rather skittish little thing and he didn’t want to send her running for the hills so he would just have to figure out how to sweep her off her feet. It became obvious to him that Grace wasn’t going to make it that easy but it was one of the things he loved about her.

Loved?

Pedro wouldn’t say that he loved her even though he cared about her a great deal and was interested in her romantically. You couldn’t love someone after only knowing them for three weeks. Could you? Pedro had spent a lot of time with Grace in those three weeks but that was still such a short amount of time. A month ago he hadn’t even known her… at least not at a personal level. It seemed like he was quickly developing deep feelings for the blonde actress. This only caused him more frustration since Grace didn’t seem to be giving into his advances quite yet. The situation he was in with Grace only confused him more because he had never dated a costar before. Could there be some rule that dictated that costars couldn’t date each other? No. That couldn’t be true. Besides… he knew that Grace had dated costars before not that he paid much attention to the media. Maybe that was why she was so hesitant.

Pedro shook himself out of his thoughts. He was overthinking things just like George had said previously to him. He must’ve spent so much time around Grace that her personality was starting to rub off on him. Usually Pedro was never this careful about anything but instead was a carefree and impulsive person. His friends, Sarah and Lena, would probably agree that Grace was becoming very good for him. No, Pedro would go through with his plan to pursue Grace like George suggested. He was never one to deny what he felt so he would be damned if he ignored his feelings for the sake of the public. Whatever was between him and Grace was intense and powerful. Pedro needed to see this through for both Grace’s and his own sake. He knew that Grace felt it too even if she was trying to ignore all his attempts at furthering their relationship. Pedro would just ask her out and if she said no then that was it but if she said yes… now that was a whole other story.

“And the Oscar goes to… Grace Kelly for ‘The Country Girl’.” The actor playing William Holden called out. Grace sat in the midst of hundreds of other extras who were portraying attendees at the Oscars but back in her grandmother’s day. Grace smiled as she heard the que before getting up from her seat. She was still amazed how they managed to build the epic set of the 1955 Academy Award ceremony. All of the extras looked so old Hollywood as well as glamourous and part of Grace wished that she was Lily or George so she could stand on the sidelines and watch from off camera. As Grace climbed onto the stage in her fitted gown she plastered an appreciative smile on her face before shaking the actor’s hand and receiving her Oscar. Grace looked down at the tiny little golden man wondering if the real thing was this heavy. Grace smiled at the audience as she walked up to the microphone, holding onto the Oscar, and stepped on her mark.

“The thrill of the moment keeps me from saying what I really feel.” Grace spoke with her more Americanized accent. “I can only say thank you with all my heart to all who made this possible for me.”

“Thank you.” Grace concluded with a teary look in her eyes. The actor who was playing William Holden then proceeded to escort her off stage. In the film it would be where Grace Kelly met Marlon Brando who was being played by Alden Ehrenreich in that particular scene. It was a small two minute part in the film but apparently the actor was a huge fan of both Baz and Marlon Brando so he didn’t care how big of a part it was.

“Cut!” Baz yelled out and everything seemed to stop. The director told them that since the scene wasn’t overly complicated they were probably good with that take. Grace was glad because that was the fourth take and it wasn’t a very fun scene to film. The scene literally consisted of Grace getting up from a chair and then walking onto a stage. It was pretty boring for an actor who was excited to get to the more emotional bits and pieces of the film.

The day wasn’t overly exhausting for Grace aside from the fitting from earlier. She filmed a quick scene with Alden that required a few takes and then one scene that took place at Grace Kelly’s house before the Oscars. Everyone knew how long it took to have that dress specially fitted to Grace’s form so they decided to get the whole entire Oscars ordeal out of the way because they didn’t want to have to take as long the next day filming with that horrid dress. It was actually quite beautiful but Grace didn’t think she wanted to poked and prodded with needles again the next day.

Once Grace was cleared to return her hotel room she went straight to the costume trailer so that the costume people could tear the dress off of her. She was tired from wearing the dress as well as starving from not being able to eat all day. The costume people had been adamant that Grace not eat in her dress since it was likely that she would either get food stains all over it or it would screw up the measurements. Pedro had promised her some more takeout so she didn’t waste any time getting out of the dress. She left the trailer in the same clothes she had arrived in which was a pair of printed leggings and a Universal Harry Potter sweatshirt over it which Universal studios in Orlando had sent her when they opened the theme park. They had actually sent her hundreds of things and Grace was forever thankful being the Harry Potter fan that she was. She wore a pair of converse and put her hair up into a messy ponytail. At this point Grace didn’t care if she looked like a messy slob since she was exhausted from the fitting. Maybe she could even pass off as an American in this look.

“Ready to head back to the hotel?” Pedro inquired as she exited the costume trailer. Grace smiled because it was so sweet how he waited outside for her like that.

“Yeah, I’m starving.” Pedro smirked.

“I could go for something to eat although that pizza at lunch was delicious.” He teased and Grace glared at him.

“Well, not all of us are lucky enough to not have to film for another week. I wish I could be the bum on set like you.” Pedro laughed at her sarcastic tone.

“As much as I love working I have to say that it’s been equally as thrilling just sitting around and watching you work instead.” He replied but his face softened after a moment. “You looked beautiful today in that dress. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, princess.” Grace blushed at his compliment and brushed it off. She didn’t know why he was suddenly calling her princess even though she technically wasn’t one. No one had ever called her princess before… not even her father. Grace also didn’t know why she wasn’t correcting him.

“I would hope that I looked good. I couldn’t eat anything the whole day just because of that dress. Never again.” Grace said in a nonchalant tone and Pedro frowned. Yeah, he was definitely just going to come out about it to her. He didn’t think now was the time to have this conversation with her since she was exhausted from a day on set and she was also hungry. Pedro was about to respond when one of the security guards on set came running up to them.

“Miss Gallagher, I’m so glad that I found you.” The short but muscular looking man said to her as he approached both Grace and Pedro. He seemed slightly out of breath and he had a look of annoyance but it was clear that the expression wasn’t directed at them. Grace gave the man a confused look as she looked from him to Pedro. She wanted to know what was going on that had the usually calm looking man so worried but Pedro didn’t seem to know what was going on either.

“Well, you found me. Why? What’s happened?” The man gave her a serious look that nearly caused Grace’s heart to jump out of her chest.

“We’ve had a slight breach in security. I apologize on my team’s behalf.” Grace’s eyes widened and for a moment she thought that it might be Taylor. It was obvious that no fan could ever breach security on a set like this. It would have to mean that one of the security guys became very star struck and let a celebrity onto the set with no authorization. If it was Taylor, Grace wasn’t sure what she would do. She didn’t know if she would scream, cry, or beat the shit out of the popstar in a pure dramatic state of rage. All Grace knew was that she was nowhere near ready to face Taylor… or Tom for that matter.

“What kind of breach? Who did you let on set?” Grace questioned, not wasting anytime. Pedro was taken back by her tone which was demanding and snippy. Usually Grace was so polite and kind but it was clear that something had her worried. He was also curious about who could’ve possibly been able to breach security.

“One of my guys is a really big Harry Potter fan so he let her through but I’ll make sure he is reprimanded for the mistake.” Grace’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion because she knew it couldn’t be Taylor. Who the hell was he talking about?

“I don’t understand.” Grace replied but before the security guy could respond a familiar figure popped around the corner. Grace spotted the figure from the corner of her eye and looked up only to be met with one of the last people she would’ve expected to see that day and in LA of all places.

“Understand this, Gallagher, a concerned friend of ten years has decided to kindly visit you on set.” The agitated voice said. A furious looking Emma Watson stood in front of both Grace and Pedro, arms crossed as her brown eyes glared at the blonde actress. Grace gave the brunette a surprise look, not having expected to see one of her best friends show up at her work. A friend that she hadn’t seen in a timeline that spanned over four months. Pedro had to admit he was a little star struck at seeing the famous twenty something year old actress. Everyone knew her from her work in Harry Potter of course but Pedro was also a fan of her work in ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’. He snapped out of his state of wonder before looking between her and Grace. Grace had told him weeks ago that she had been avoiding all of her friends so he guessed one of her very concerned friends finally decided to come in and check on her.

“Emma? What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in ages.” Emma responded, still in a state of confusion. No one could’ve prepared them for what happened next because everything happened in a flash. A loud, cringe worthy smacking sound was heard, skin on skin contact, as Emma slapped Grace harshly across the cheek.

“Don’t you dare act like you haven’t been avoiding me! Four months, Grace! Four damn months!” The slap had thrown Grace’s head to the side in response and the blonde’s eyes started watering from the contact. Her cheek was already reddening from the abuse. The security guard grabbed Emma’s arms as he pulled her away from Grace. Pedro glared angrily at the brunette actress before wrapping an arm around Grace. He cupped her face gently in his hands and analyzed the redness of her face. He looked back to Emma, truly pissed off by the display of violence against Grace.

“Who the hell do you think you are?! Coming in here and treating Grace like that. I don’t give a shit what she did. I don’t care if she murdered your cat. It doesn’t give you a right to-“Pedro started to tell Emma in the heat of the moment but Grace stopped him, putting a hand on his chest . She looked up at him with a look in her eyes that told him that she was fine.

“It’s okay, Pedro.” She murmured and that pissed him off even more. He scoffed angrily as he snuck another glance at Emma who looked confused at the close proximity of her best friend and the strange older man who had yelled at her. She still looked angry but slightly less now.

“The hell it is! She can’t just walk in here like she owns the place and touch you like that.” Grace looked back to Emma with a guilty expression on her face.

“Yes she can… She had every right to. I completely deserve it.” Grace told him but she stared at Emma the whole time she was speaking. The blonde glanced at the security guy who looked determined to keep Emma restrained and away from Grace. “You can let her go. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, Miss Gallagher?” Grace gave him a small nod.

“Yes, I am. Please don’t let that other member of security get in trouble because of me. It’s fine. This was probably long overdue.” The man nodded before letting go of Emma. Grace convinced him briefly that the situation was completely diffused and he quickly left after that, not one for celebrity drama. Grace thanked him as he hurried away. The two actresses stared each other in the eyes for what felt like an hour but was probably just a couple of minutes. Grace bit her lip nervously before speaking up again. “I suppose we should carry this conversation on in my trailer.”

“That sounds nice.” Emma said quietly, she seemingly calmed down from her earlier action. Grace glanced at Pedro who looked slightly weary of Emma still. She placed her hand in his briefly before giving him a comforting squeeze.

“You should head back to the hotel. I’ll catch up with you later.” She told him softly but Pedro still looked concerned.

“Are you sure? You said you were starving?” Grace shrugged.

“I can wait.” Pedro glanced at Emma, who was staring at their adjoined hands, before looking back to Grace. She gave him a reassuring look and he knew that it was probably best that she worked things out with her friend.

“I’ll order you something. It’ll be waiting for you when you return to the hotel.” Pedro told her and she smiled.

“Thank you.” He gave her a curt nod and she let go of his hand.

“Text me if you need anything.” Pedro said before departing from the two actresses. Grace watched him leave and knew that she was finally going to have to face Emma after spending months in solitude. She wasn’t sure how it would end but she knew that Pedro would still be there for her waiting in the hotel. It was going to be okay. She turned back to Emma and gave her friend an awkward smile before leading her back to her trailer. Everything was going to be okay… it just had to be.