| �This is amazing,� Rupert breathed, stepping out of the limo. �Oh? The hotel?� Terren sniffled, walking toward the front of the hotel, Rupert in tow. �No,� he said, sighing. �I�m staying here as well.� �Really?� she asked, her eyes widening. �I must be losing my touch. First Daniel on the plane, then�� but that was enough to make Teri�s eyes well with tears. Rupert put a comforting hand on her shoulder. �Let�s go,� he whispered, and they proceeded to enter the hotel. �Hello, Mr. Grint!� the manager greeted cheerfully. �Back from the premiere so soon?� �Yes,� he said, nodding toward Teri. The manager nodded and led them toward a back room. Terren was confused. They walked down a corridor and the manager opened a door for them, where they walked inside. It looked like a large living room. She could tell immediately that it was the employee�s lounge. �Sit,� he instructed gently, and she did so. She looked up, ripping a few bobby pins out of her hair. It cascaded beautifully down out and onto her shoulders, making Rupert�s breath catch in his throat. She was completely stunning. There was no denying it. He noticed it at the premiere, but that had been a fake kind of beauty, dressed up. But now that she was completely out in the open, her emotions on the skin and her hair falling out of its elegant style, he finally got to see the real Terren Made. It excited him in a way he had never known before. �Tell me, Teri, please,� he said softly, sitting in front of her. �What is wrong? Really?� Teri buried her head in her hands, not believing her ill fortune� and her good luck. She lost the chance to be with the person she always dreamed of, but there was another man sitting in front of her who was just as wonderful. He had cared enough to comfort her. The least she could do was share her troubles with him. She sighed heavily, pulling her hands away from her face. Rupert couldn�t help noticing the twinkle in her eye, though it was a tear. It put him off so much that he almost forgot where he was. �It was high school when Anya, Adrienne and I became really good friends. It was always the three of us, and still is. When we graduated, we promised to keep in contact no matter what.� She sighed, sitting up and looking down at her fingers. �Anya always had a knack for writing. She loved it more than she loved anything else. It was her escape sometimes.� Rupert frowned. �Escape from what?� Terren sighed, and continued as if she hadn�t heard Rupert. �Her first book became a huge success, after getting the rights from JK Rowling and everything. We were all so happy for her, I mean� She never lost touch with us, no matter what, like she promised.� Rupert repeated his question. �What did Anya have to escape from?� This time, Teri answered him. �Adrienne and I are great friends, and I love her to death, but we�re complete opposites. Everything I love, she hates, everything she�s into, I can�t stand. There was always one thing between us that drove Anya insane.� She paused and breathed heavily. �It seemed that everything� or everyone � that I was passionate about, she managed to take. I�m not sure how, but somehow, she was prettier, smarter� I don�t know how it happened, but it did. Right under my nose.� Rupert nodded in agreement, starting to fully understand. �I wanted Daniel Radcliffe� ever since the moment I saw him on that movie poster. I was completely obsessed with Harry Potter after picking it up off a friend�s desk to read. I was hooked� I got all the way through the series and was about to start over when I heard about the movie. I�m three years older than him, but it didn�t matter to me. The dream was beginning and all I could do was play around with it. �Adrienne, of course, thought I was completely stupid for liking something geared toward a younger audience. Anya was right with me. She was obsessed too, and that gave me someone to share it with. I was happy for once. Adrienne was always the one to steal that away. � �You�ll never meet him,� � explained Teri, becoming angry. �She would just roll her eyes and say, �Live in the real world, girls. There�s a fat chance three small town girls will meet celebrities like those, much less marry them.� It wasn�t like we were serious most of the time. By then we were fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. We knew enough of what was real and what wasn�t!� She was shaking her head. �Oh, I definitely started to dislike her back then. She was always so judgmental, like she knew more than us because of the way she believed. Anya and I always made sure not to talk about it in front of her. She�d just scold us for being �stupid.� I�ll never forget the look on her face the first time Anya mentioned the story she was writing. �Anya�s escape was always writing. She did it to get away from the fights that Adrienne and I would have about Harry Potter. She had tried to act as mediator the first few times but became so frustrated that she sat on her computer all night, writing to keep her mind off of it.� �While I was really obsessed with Daniel and convinced that if I ever met him, I would win him over, Anya had more creative things on her mind about Harry Potter. I dreamt about what was and she dreamt about what could be. She had this obsession with Ron and Hermione,� she said as Rupert laughed. �So she decided to put her obsession down on paper and when she let it leak in front of Adrienne, she had a fit. �Don�t waste your talents on something as idiotic as Harry Potter!� and Anya was seriously crushed. She cried for days straight and Adrienne finally got the picture. �There is nothing more sacred to Anya than her writing, no matter what. Adrienne backed off on the Harry Potter thing. After a while, Anya had written her story and when I read it, it was so good I cried.� Rupert�s eyes lit up. �Was that her first book?� Teri smiled brightly. �Yeah.� �Heart Spells,� they recited together. They smiled at each other and for a second, their souls matched. Terren only sighed, and within a few minutes she was talking again. �It was a total shock to Adrienne when the book was published. �I can�t believe they took it! It�s a spin off of a preconceived idea.� That didn�t stop her, though. JK Rowling told her that writing romance should be her thing, and gave her full permission to write strict romance about her characters. After one more book, Anya received a two tickets to see the premiere of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.� Terren shook her head at the memory. �I remember how jealous I was. We were only in eleventh grade when she got to go see it! I mean, her first two books had been published, she was making tons of money, and she was going to see the second movie in London. I wanted to strangle her I was so jealous. Adrienne calmed me down, still weighed down by the fact that I would never meet Daniel. �And for years after that, Anya published more books and got invited to all the premieres. She told me that she begged for extra tickets, but they wouldn�t give them to her until she made enough money to pay for all of them. �Then War of the Wands came out, and everyone thought she was done. But she kept on writing and recovered herself. She had been invited to Order of the Phoenix. I was still kind of jealous. She was very friendly with you and Daniel, who had been my goal for a while. She told me though, in confidence without Adrienne knowing. Adrienne had a knack for making us feel stupid even though we had defied what she said about our dreams becoming reality.� Terren straightened and looked at the ceiling. She was sure that she would finally get her chance to set this right in her head. �She gets everything I want, Rupert! It�s not fair! Why was it not me that he sat next to on the plane? How was I not even noticed as I sat there, waiting for him to say something� anything to me?� Rupert sighed, running his fingers through his bright red hair. �Maybe things don�t happen the way you plan them to.� Teri shook her tearstained head and wiped her eyes again. �Things have to happen this way.� �Sometimes,� Rupert grunted, standing up and walking toward the window, �they don�t.� �Well they have to!� she yelled at his back. He only scoffed at her. �What is that supposed to mean?� she said, suddenly becoming angry. Rupert didn�t say anything as he watched the sky in England become cloudy. Teri turned away from him and folded her arms. �You just don�t get it.� �Well, you might be surprised,� he said quietly. Terren didn�t appear to have heard him. �When you think you�ve been in love with the same person since high school, you start to become a bit attached. When your best friend ends up with that person� it hurts.� Rupert sighed heavily at the window. �Oh?� was his only reply. Again, Teri didn�t notice his petulance. �I wanted one thing, ONE THING! That wasn�t enough for her.� �I�m sure she didn�t mean to do whatever she�s done. If you told her how you felt, she�d understand,� he explained to her. Teri scoffed. �You don�t know Adrienne the way I do. She wouldn�t understand the way I pined for Daniel. She would think it was stupid.� Rupert stared at the water droplets hitting the window and grimaced. �I think you�re being thick about things.� He had finally found a way to grab her attention. She lifted her head up from her knees and stared directly at him. �Thick? What are you talking about?� He sighed, pushing himself away from the window. It directly reflected the way his spirits were melting at that moment. He rounded on Teri and stared straight through her with his piercing blue eyes. She was taken aback at how wonderful they sparkled when he was passionate. He entranced her in a way that she knew exactly why he and Anya were close. �You�re not giving your friend enough credit for your feelings. She deserves more than that. You said it yourself. She was never a big Harry Potter fan. I saw the way she looked at Daniel and didn�t even recognize him! She didn�t even know who he was in the movie for pity�s sake!� �You�re being awfully rude,� Terren commented. �I thought you were going to comfort me.� �Comfort can only go so far, Teri,� he said, walking toward her slowly. �I wanted to be here for you, but you�re being irrational.� �Irrational?� she screeched. �I can�t believe you!� �LISTEN TO YOURSELF!� he screamed finally, venting his frustration. �You�re feeling sorry for yourself and I�m not going to allow you to do that. It�s not fair to you or to me. You don�t know what Adrienne�s going to say about this! She�s probably just realizing what�s happened.� Terren leaned back into the couch, more tears spilling down her cheeks. �She was talking to him all night, how would she notice?� Rupert closed his eyes and pressed his cold hands to his warm forehead. �You�re not getting the point. Maybe you�re not meant to be with him.� �Maybe?� �Okay, fine. You�re not meant to be with him. There. Is that what you wanted to hear?� �NO!� �Well it�s what you�re going to get!� he yelled. �You saw the way they looked at each other. They were right by each other�s sides throughout the entire movie. All you could do was stare over there hopelessly. I bet you didn�t even see the film.� Teri said nothing. �Why can�t you accept the fact that that�s what was meant to happen? Maybe you and Daniel are supposed to just be friends.� �Friends?� Terren screamed hysterically, sitting up. �Friends? I�m supposed to accept that?� �TERREN, you didn�t even know him! And YES, you are going to have to accept it because Adrienne has found someone. Get over yourself and be happy that your friend is happy.� Terren�s lip trembled and more tears spilled down her cheeks. �You�re right� you�re right. I�m being selfish. I just wish I knew where to go from here.� Rupert was calmer as he stepped toward her, whispering, �Maybe the answer is right in front of you.� Teri looked up quickly and sighed. �You�re crazy. I don�t know of anything so obvious.� �Maybe the answer is staring you right in the face,� he repeated, bending closer to her. �What are you talking about?� �Let me make it simpler for you,� Rupert said. He bent all the way forward, grabbed Teri�s hands, and pulled her to him. He stared into her blue eyes for a few seconds before putting his right hand on her cheek, pulling her closer by the waist with his left hand and pressing his lips onto hers. Teri was completely taken in by the kiss, almost unaware of what was going on. She didn�t realize that power until her fingers wandered into his brilliantly soft, red hair. Her free hand was encircled on his right arm as if she was clutching for dear life. She pressed her lips onto his with a fervor she had never known. He pulled away and put his forehead on hers. Terren was sure her eyes were dried of all their tears. In actuality, she was crying again, but Terren knew these were different tears. Rupert noticed her crying as well. His hand gently caressed her cheek, his thumb wiping away the tears. �What is it? What�s wrong?� he asked softly. She sighed and half smiled. �There�s nothing wrong,� she answered honestly. �I just realized within a few seconds how stupid I�ve been. There you were, in front of me the entire time, but I never realized it.� �Well, don�t worry about it anymore,� he said, brushing the stray hairs out of her face. �I don�t intend on going anywhere.� �Rupert,� she sighed as he placed his lips on hers once again. They folded into a passionate embrace for the next few seconds until Terren gave a start. �Oh my God! The premiere! Adrienne, Anya! They don�t know where I�ve gone!� Rupert laughed at her, managing to pull himself away. �Maybe if we�re not too late we can get out of here and go back.� �Do you think it�s not too late?� Teri asked, looking at the digital clock on the table. �It might be,� he said. �But you know, you lot are smart enough to meet up here.� He took her hand and stopping a second to realize how right it felt, they left the lounge and walked down the hallway. Hand in hand, they stepped into the lobby where the manager greeted them with a large, plastered smile. �Did you get everything worked out, Mr. Grint?� he asked, watching the two walk toward him. �Everything�s perfect,� he said, glancing at her profile for a second. She really was exquisite with her hair down on her shoulders, loose and wild. It made her entire aura seem more relaxed and real. He glanced at the excited manager and asked, �You didn�t happen to see Daniel Radcliffe or Anya Bisbee pass through, did you?� The manager stopped in thought for a few seconds and then answered, �As a matter of fact, I did see Mr. Radcliffe arrive with a rather beautiful young woman a couple of minutes ago.� �Do you know where they went?� Terren jumped in. He shook his head. �All I know is they got on the elevator and went up.� �Thank you,� Rupert said, slipping the manager a generous offer before retreating to the elevators. They stepped onto the first available, still holding hands. Rupert reached forward and pressed the button for his floor as Terren did so for hers. Their eyes met and in a few seconds, their lips as well. Of all the surprises Teri could have encountered that evening, this was the biggest of them all. I always thought it would be Daniel, but falling for Rupert somehow makes more sense. She drifted into the bliss a little more. I�m in love with Rupert Grint. |
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