Red Carpet Romance - Chapter 38 (Patreon)

“‘And if there was a way, she would find it…’” Blake murmured while her fingers flew across the keyboard.  Once she reached the end of the sentence, however, her hands stilled and her progress stopped.

“But what’s she going to do?” she asked herself while leaning back in her chair and staring at the screen.  The blinking cursor mocked her, reminding her that she had no idea where the story went from here.  The main character had to figure out a master plan, something daring and unexpected, but both she and Blake had no idea what it would be.  Or maybe it was just Blake left in the dark.

The sound of keys in the front door drew her attention away from the screen.  Glancing at the time, she discovered that the day had slipped away in the midst of her work, as it often did when she pushed towards a deadline.  Wringing creativity from her mind was easy most of the time, but days like today proved otherwise.

Taking off her glasses, she rubbed her eyes in an effort to clear away the bright light of the computer screen.  Glancing at the word document one more time, she abandoned her glasses on the desk and sighed.

“Blake?”

When the office door opened and Yang poked her head inside, Blake turned away from the computer and smiled the moment their eyes met.  Like usual, Yang’s smile sent love spreading through her chest, as if the other half of her heart had just returned.  

And, like usual, Yang looked like she’d just walked off of a movie set, which was literally true in this case.  From her perfectly-styled hair to her casual-yet-chic outfit, she’d probably turned more than a few heads on the way home.  It was Blake, however, who was the ultimate beneficiary of Yang’s appearance today, just like every day.

“Sorry to interrupt...”

“Don’t be,” Blake said, shaking her head before Yang felt any regret.  “I needed a break anyway.”

“In that case.”  Leaving the doorway behind, Yang grinned and walked over.  As soon as she was close enough, she set her hand on Blake’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to her lips.  

Blake’s heart fluttered, like it always did when Yang was unexpectedly sweet and tender.  And the adoring smile currently aimed her way only added to her budding happiness.

“Hey there,” Yang said, leaving her hand on Blake’s shoulder while staring into her eyes.  

“Hey,” Blake replied while reaching up and weaving a hand through Yang’s gorgeous hair.  “You’re home early.”

“Because I nailed my lines.”  As soon as Yang heard the words out loud, her smile turned into a smirk.  “But you know I’m good at nailing things…”

Blake loved when Yang boasted - or showed so much confidence in anything related to their relationship - but she also loved to give Yang a good tease.  So, instead of immediately responding, she remained silent, and Yang’s smirk instantly disappeared.

“Right?” Yang added, and the hopeful, expectant expression on her face convinced Blake to give up the act and smile.

“Yes, you are.  And you delivered some lines beautifully last night.”

Bravado fully restored, Yang found one of those award-winning smiles in no time.

“Thought so,” she said before nodding towards the computer.  “Whatcha working on?”

Reminded of the partially-finished story still waiting for an ending, Blake glanced at the screen and sighed.

“It’s this story…”

“Uh huh…” Yang replied, prodding Blake to supply more information without being too bossy about it.

“My publisher wants a draft next week, but it’s still...not done…”

“You’ll finish it though.  You always do.”

Yang’s endless faith was reassuring because it wasn’t blind or disingenuous - she actually believed that Blake would finish by the deadline.  For Blake’s part, she wasn’t so sure.  But she appreciated having such a wonderful cheerleader by her side.

“I’ll do my best,” she replied with a smile that grew a little brighter when Yang beamed back at her.

“I know you will.”  After sharing that smile for another moment, Yang motioned towards the door behind her.  “Have you eaten?”

When Blake nodded towards an empty plate on the desk, Yang’s eyes followed before quickly returning to her.

“Good!  I’ll leave you to it, then?”  After grabbing the plate, Yang gave Blake a look that offered more company or more silence to work, whichever she preferred.  As always, the consideration was greatly appreciated.  

During the beginning of their relationship, she’d wondered what it would be like to live together.  Yang could be high energy - how would that translate to inhabiting the same space?

As it turned out, it was like this - peace and quiet whenever Blake requested it, granted by her ultra-respectful roommate (who just so happened to be the love of her life).

“Just for a little bit,” Blake replied.  

“Take your time.  I’ll grab something to eat, then hang out until you finish.”

“Thank you.” 

“No problem.”  Leaning down, Yang kissed Blake again and stepped away with a grin.  “Sexy -” she added with a wink before hurrying out of the room.

The compliment left Blake with a smile as silence returned.  Well, mostly silence.  Just beyond the walls, she now heard sounds coming from the kitchen - drawers opening and closing, silverware rustling, the microwave starting.  The background noise added a pleasant sense of life to the apartment.  It reminded her that she wasn’t alone, and that she had company just outside if she wanted it.

Movement drew her gaze to Bang - the fish swimming lazily in his bowl and reminding her that she wasn’t completely alone even when Yang was at work.  

He had a new palace sculpture to go along with the white and yellow pebbles in the bottom of the bowl, which he really seemed to like.  At least, Blake assumed he liked it by the way he swam circles around it.  Of course, he swam circles around pretty much everything, so ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ were hard to tell sometimes.

Opening one of the desk drawers, she pulled out his jar of food and carefully tapped some flakes on top of the water.  While she watched him swallow his food in big gulps, a small giggle slipped out.  Quickly silencing the sound, she held her breath, turned towards the living room, and hoped Yang hadn’t heard.  When several seconds passed and no one barged in complaining about their spot being taken by a fish, she turned around and whispered, “You’re pretty cute.”

She would have to accept several small air bubbles as acceptance of the compliment, because that’s all he gave her while finishing up his dinner.  While he did that, she put the jar back in the drawer and returned to work.

But after setting her hands on the keys and reading the previous few lines, she struggled to think of anything to add.  The resolution still eluded her, and the blinking cursor continued to taunt her.  It ran like a metronome, blinking at the same pace and in the same place, while her mind hit a roadblock it couldn’t get around.

Eventually, her thoughts drifted away from the scene.  Instead, she wondered what Yang made for dinner, and what she was doing now.  Reading?  Watching television or a movie?  Maybe practicing some lines?

Was she thinking about Blake too?

Realizing that nothing would get done with her thoughts stuck on Yang, she stood and stretched her hands high above her head.  When she twisted to the side, her back cracked in several places from sitting at the desk for so long, but she was done for the night.  She had better things to do, like finding out what Yang was doing.

Quietly leaving the office, Blake walked down the hall and found Yang lounging on the sofa while watching TV.  From the look of it, she hadn’t heard Blake yet, so Blake did what any reasonable person would do - snuck up on Yang from behind.

A slew of possible pranks flashed through Blake’s mind while she crept closer.  She could shout something and scare Yang half to death.  Or tickle her like a spider might, getting her to jump out of her seat.  Whatever she did, it had to be good - because it wasn’t often that an opportunity like this presented itself, and she didn’t want to waste it.  

When Yang giggled at whatever just transpired on the screen, however, Blake knew what she had to do.

Reaching the back of the sofa, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around Yang from behind.  Yang flinched at the unexpected contact, but quickly relaxed as Blake nuzzled her cheek and whispered a soft, “hey.”

“Hey you,” Yang replied in an equally quiet voice while setting her hands on Blake’s arms.  She turned her head when Blake leaned closer and accepted the kiss on the cheek with a hum of happiness.

Relinquishing her grasp of Yang, Blake walked around the sofa with the intention of sitting down beside her.  In that time, Yang reached forward and lowered the volume of the television to basically nothing, like she always did.  It was a simple gesture, but it told Blake that she was now the most important thing in the room.  

And she felt like the most cherished person in the room when Yang beckoned for her to sit down.  As soon as she did and snuggled into Yang’s side, Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her even closer.

As far as Blake was concerned, Yang was the best person to cuddle with - ever.  She was warm, soft, and always smelled amazing...just perfect.

“Done writing?”

“Mhmm…” 

“Stuck somewhere?”

“Hmm?” Blake asked, craning her neck so she could meet Yang’s eyes.  “How do you know?”

“Because this is what you do when you’re stuck,” Yang answered with a soft chuckle while weaving her hand through Blake’s hair.  “Need help?”

Blake already knew that Yang would make the offer, but she turned around to catch the wink.  Yang’s winks were such a guilty pleasure of hers...

“Exactly what type of help are you offering?”

“Oh, you know...the helpful kind.”  When Blake playfully rolled her eyes at the non-answer, Yang laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

“Any help you need,” she added in a less teasing tone.  “Seriously, anything.”

Yang didn’t need to say it for Blake to know it was true.  She felt that it was true every day.  Every time Yang looked at her in that serious and somewhat-protective way.  Every time Yang smiled at her for what seemed like no reason at all.  

She still loved it when Yang said it out loud though…

“Thank you,” Blake replied while rubbing Yang’s arm.  “But I think I’ll leave it for now.  Inspiration should strike sometime soon.”

“It always does, doesn’t it?”  

When Blake nodded, Yang smiled and gestured towards the television.

“In the meantime, wanna watch a cheesy rom-com with me?”

“Mmm...that sounds perfect.”  Snuggling even closer, Blake felt her contentedness rise in kind.  Realistically, she could easily fall asleep like this - safe, warm, and surrounded by love.  She had fallen asleep like this more than a few times in the past, only to wake up and find that Yang had fallen asleep too.

“What movie is it?” she asked while Yang turned up the volume and pressed play.

“It’s called ‘A Fool to Love.’”

“Never heard of it.”

“Me neither.”

When Yang’s gaze moved back to the screen, Blake’s followed.  There, she found two way-too-beautiful actors having what looked like a very serious conversation.

“What’s going on?” Blake asked when one of the actors abruptly left the conversation.  She wasn’t particularly interested in listening to them talk.  Listening to Yang, however...

“Ok, so that guy -”  Yang pointed towards the man wearing a delivery uniform.  “Is actually a prince.”

Blake scoffed at the response, then silently rejoiced when Yang clutched her closer.

“Did you pick this one?” she asked.  “Or is this another one the TV picked for you?”

“Uh...the TV picked it for me…”

This time, Blake laughed and shook her head.  

Yang was probably the only person willing to blindly follow suggestions from a computer algorithm.  No matter how cheesy, corny, or awful the covers and descriptions were, she would watch it.  ‘They know me!’ was her trademark response, and the only legitimate reason she could think of for going along with whatever popped up on the screen.

Blake pretended to mind but, whether the movie was good, bad, or awful, they still found a way to enjoy the time together.  And, as an added bonus, Yang was more than willing to grant some pretty spectacular rewards as ‘repayment’ whenever they landed on a particularly atrocious one.  

Last time that happened, Blake had cashed in for one of the most spectacular nights of her life.  So...she didn’t mind if the computer suggested less-than-stellar movies.

“Wow.”  

The word slipped out when a gorgeous young woman appeared on the screen - one of those actresses with classic, natural beauty the rest of them couldn’t hope to match.

“Gonna try not to be too jealous,” Yang teased before kissing Blake’s temple to reinforce that the words were only a joke.  “But that’s the girl he fell in love with!  He’s going to propose...”

Her sentence trailed off when a group of masked men suddenly appeared, breaking up the storm of flirting between the two main characters before kidnapping the prince-in-disguise.  The sequence left the damsel very much in distress while trying to figure out what just happened.

“Huh.”

Turning around, Blake smiled when she saw Yang’s perplexed expression.  

“That was...unexpected.”

“Guess the proposal has to wait,” Blake said, and felt her smile grow when Yang laughed.  

“Apparently.  That’s a bummer though - he had the whole thing perfectly planned out.”

“Maybe being kidnapped is part of the plan?” 

Yang froze at the suggestion, with one of her hands midway along its path weaving through Blake’s hair.  Without moving, and without a word, she watched the prince’s muse rush to the police station to find help.  One of the officers immediately came to her aid, and the two of them flew back to the crime scene to search for clues.

“You’re an evil genius.” 

Smiling at the response, Blake settled into Yang’s arms and sighed in content when Yang resumed playing with her hair.  Time would tell if her guess was correct or not.  A legitimate kidnapping seemed rather inappropriate for a romantic comedy, but it could serve as a clever ploy to play on unsuspecting viewers.

It seemed even more likely when the cop conveniently found the only piece of evidence leading directly to the kidnappers’ lair.

“That’s probably too much though, right?”

“What?” Blake asked while turning to catch Yang’s gaze again.

“For a proposal,” Yang explained.  “Faking a kidnapping - too far?”

Feeling her cheeks warm at the question, Blake turned back to the screen and blew a soft breath past her lips.  

“I think so,” she eventually replied.  “But that’s just me.” 

With Yang’s soft “hmm” in response, they went back to watching the movie.  At least, Yang went back to watching the movie while Blake stared at the screen and tried to slow her heart.

It was just an innocent question, she told herself.  There was no intent behind it other than discussing the movie.  Yang was only curious about the plot twist and whether it had Blake’s approval or not.  As an author, she should expect questions like this.

Or Yang was genuinely concerned and invested in Blake’s answer for...other reasons.

Blake could only come up with one reason, but she couldn’t decide if it was a reasonable assumption or hopeless wish.  

Honestly, before she met Yang, she never thought about the word starting with a capital ‘M.’  She was still young - why tie herself down?  Why rush into that big of a commitment and potentially make a substantial mistake?

Why?

Because she’d never been so sure about something in her life.  Because she loved Yang more than she ever thought possible.  Because when she thought about spending the rest of her life with someone, she thought about Yang.

So maybe she was focused on the idea and hope that Yang would eventually bring it up or possibly even ask, but...maybe that was reasonable.

“Damn, I think you’re right,” Yang said when the movie cut to an image of the prince tied up but looking none the worse for wear.

“You think?”

“I mean, damn, of course you’re right.”

When Yang laughed, Blake smiled and felt her heart grow warmer.  She loved when they spent time together like this.  No work getting in the way, no responsibilities forcing them out the door.  No interruptions -

As if on cue, Yang’s phone rang.

Sighing at the sound, Blake tried to get up, but Yang’s arms tightened and held her in place.

“That’s your phone,” she pointed out.  

“I know.”

“It’s ringing.”

“Yup.”

After several more rings sounded, to no avail, Blake realized that Yang had no intention of disturbing this moment.  In that simple way, she said that this was more important than whoever was on the other end of the line, be that her agent, director, coworkers, advertisers - it didn’t matter.  

With so many people clamoring for Yang’s attention on a daily basis, it was nice when she gave every bit of her focus to Blake.  And this happened far more often than anyone might expect - a fact Blake felt very grateful for while snuggling back into Yang’s arms for the rest of the movie.

At least, that was the plan until Yang’s phone stopped ringing and Blake’s phone started immediately after.

“Dammit…” Yang grumbled when Blake sighed and stood up.  Very few people had both of their numbers, so for them to call Yang and then immediately call Blake implied it was important.  Important, or an extremely unlikely coincidence.

“It’s…”  Looking at the screen, Blake frowned at the unknown number.  “A wrong number, I guess.” 

“Answer it!” Yang yelped, much to Blake’s surprise.  But she did as Yang instructed, even though it went against her better judgement.

“Hello?” she asked after raising the phone to her ear.

“Hey Blake!  Sorry to bother you, but I need some advice.”

“Ruby?” she asked, shocked by the upbeat voice on the other end of the line.  Before Ruby responded, Yang gestured for Blake to put the call on speaker.

“Hold on,” she said before tapping the speaker button and setting the phone on the coffee table in front of them.

“Ruby, you’re on speaker,” Yang said while pausing the movie.  

“Yang?  Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“Why are you calling Blake?” Yang retorted.

“I called you first and you didn’t answer!  So I figured I’d see if Blake was around.”

After giving Blake a look - both of them equally miffed by the unexpected conversation - Yang let out a soft huff.

“Sorry about that - what do you need?”

“I’m having a bit of a crisis, and hopefully you guys can help.”

“What is it?” Yang asked while scooting closer to Blake and holding her hand.

“I’m going to Weiss’ studio tomorrow, and I don’t know what to wear!”

When Yang laughed, Blake looked at her and smiled.  Based on that response and their dinner the other day, she didn’t see the obvious attraction between Weiss and Ruby.  And Blake didn’t want to be the one to spill the beans so soon.  Plus, it was possible that she was just reading the situation wrong.  Unlikely, but possible.

“That’s what you called about?” Yang asked.  “Ruby, what if we were in the middle of something??” 

When silence extended on the other end of the line, Yang winked at Blake.

“Were you?” Ruby finally asked.

Recognizing the mischievous look in Yang’s eyes, Blake elbowed her in the side before she said what Blake knew she was going to say.

“Yeah!” Yang said anyway.  “In the middle of a movie!”

“Ohhh what’re you watching?” 

“A Fool to Love.” 

“That’s a good one!  That twist ending though…” 

“Don’t you dare ruin it!” Yang shouted, and Ruby burst into delighted giggles that made Blake smile.

“Seriously though,” Ruby added once she stopped laughing.  “You guys need to help me!  I’ve never been to a studio before!  Should I dress fancy?  Casual?  Fancy-casual?  And what types of clothes are in all of those categories?”

“Just wear what you usually wear,” Yang answered with an offhand wave.  “No one should have a problem with that.  And if they do, they’re not worth the trouble anyway.”

While the advice was good from a ‘life’ perspective, Blake realized that wasn’t at all what Ruby was really asking.  What Ruby wanted to know was what she could wear to make a good impression on Weiss while also fitting into the studio environment.

“I guess…” Ruby said, confirming Blake’s suspicion that Yang’s response wasn’t quite what she wanted.

“I think studios have a collection of people wearing lots of different things,” Blake added before turning to Yang for confirmation.  “Have you ever been to one?”

“Yeah, once.  It was mostly a big building with a bunch of people running around trying to keep stuck-up singers happy.”

“And what were they wearing?”

Tapping her fingers on her leg, Yang thought about her experience for a few seconds before responding.

“General office stuff, I think?  But the ‘talent,’ as they like to be called, wore crazy stuff or normal stuff depending on who they were.”  Laughing at the memory, Yang leaned towards the phone.  “So you could wear a clown suit or something, Ruby!  People will just think you’re a singer and try to get you bottles of water.”

“Or,” Blake cut in.  “You could wear something casual but a little upscale, like a nice jacket and a pair of dark jeans.  Something that shows you put some thought into your outfit, but you didn’t try too hard.”

“A nice jacket and jeans…” Ruby mused.  “Oh!  I think I have the perfect things!”

“There you go.”  Yang smiled and shrugged at Blake.  “Problem solved.”

“Yeah!  Thank you for the help - especially Blake.  Yang, you weren’t helpful at all.”

“You’re lucky we’re talking over the phone right now,” Yang playfully grumbled, shaking her head while Ruby laughed.

“I still love you!  But go watch your movie and let me know what you think of it!”

“If we ever get to the end of it,” Yang teased.  “Goodnight, Ruby.”

“Goodnight!” Ruby called out before the call disconnected with a single beep.

As temporary silence descended upon the apartment, Yang and Blake smiled at each other - both probably feeling the strange combination of curiosity and happiness from Ruby’s call. 

“She’s lively,” Blake finally said, and her smile grew when Yang laughed.

“That’s one way of putting it.”  With one last laugh, Yang motioned towards the phone with a vaguely-apologetic expression.  “Sorry she called you though.”

“Don’t be.  I’m honored she wanted my advice.  It makes me feel...accepted.” 

“As my handler?” Yang joked.

“As someone she can call if she needs help,” Blake corrected.  “Because of course I’ll do my best to help her.  She’s -”

‘Basically family’ nearly slipped out, but Blake held the words back and settled upon something else.

“She’s important to you, so she’s important to me too.”

Not exactly the same, but Blake watched happiness, joy, and delight flit through Yang’s eyes before finally landing upon the emotion Blake coveted above all others - love.

For a few brief seconds, it looked like Yang didn’t know how she wanted to respond, as she opened and closed her mouth several times.  Eventually, however, she smiled and said, “That’s so freaking adorable.”  She then reached out, curled one hand gently around Blake’s ear, and used the other to pull her forward for a kiss that said far more than those words ever could.

Long, slow, and filled with love - it was a kiss that could easily turn into anything from hours of light, fluttery kisses to deep, passionate kisses that led into much more.

This time, however, they stopped with just the one, and Yang pulled away with the same look of gratitude in her eyes.  Blake wanted to say that Yang didn’t need to feel grateful for anything.  Of course she accepted Ruby into her life, just like Yang accepted Blake into her life.

And, secretly, Blake had always wanted a little sister.

“Let’s watch the rest of the movie?” she suggested, nodding towards the frozen scene still on the television.  

“Definitely.”  

Leaning back on the sofa, Yang gestured for Blake to rejoin her, and the two of them returned to the positions they’d been in prior to Ruby’s call.  When Yang clicked the play button and the film started again, Blake settled into warm arms and sighed.

After a day like today, when it felt like everything on the page conspired against her, this was just what she needed.  No matter how stuck she found herself in a story, she never felt that way with Yang - their relationship was too easy to ever feel ‘stuck.’

Feeling Yang nuzzle into her hair, Blake leaned into the gesture and smiled.

“I love you,” Yang whispered in Blake’s ear before kissing her temple.  And, if possible, the words made her even more content than she’d just been.

“I love you too,” she answered before a teasing smile tugged at her lips.  “Are you sure you mean me though?  Or are you blinded by the other brunette in the room?”

After nodding towards the television, where the too-beautiful actress was helping draw out the kidnappers, Blake turned around to see Yang’s reaction.

“Her??” Yang asked, her eyes widening and voice rising in surprise.  Blake laughed at the response and nodded.  

“Yes, her.”

“No way.”  Several emphatic head shakes accompanied the answer.  “The only reason she’s attractive is because she sold her soul to the devil.”

Blake scoffed at the response, but her smile disappeared when Yang didn’t back down from the comment.  With the tease effectively destroyed, Blake fell back into Yang’s arms and sighed in defeat.

“Figures…every celebrity I find attractive ends up being a jerk.”

“Sorry, did I ruin another hot actress for you?”

“Just a bit.”

“Maybe that’s my plan,” Yang whispered in Blake’s ear before hugging her close.  When she heard Yang’s soft laugh, she smiled and returned her attention to the screen.

Ultimately, she trusted Yang’s opinion on these people, not that it mattered very much.  She already knew she made the right choice, but sometimes she couldn’t understand how she’d been so lucky.  Running into the girl of her dreams in the bathroom of a bookstore?

Technically, Yang was the one doing the running that day…

“Ok, you’re right,” Yang suddenly said, drawing Blake’s attention back to the screen.  The prince, who’d just been ‘saved’ by the damsel, promptly got down on one knee and proposed.  Unsurprisingly, the answer was ‘yes’ followed by a very passionate kiss.  

“We should go gambling together or something,” Yang added with a laugh.  “Because apparently you can tell the future.”

“I’d call that more of an educated guess.”

The credits started rolling, so Blake sat up and stretched her arms in front of her.  She couldn’t get too far though - not with Yang wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her in place.

“How do you feel about another movie then?” Yang asked.  “The TV has more suggestions for us.”

When Yang waved towards the television with its lists of recommendations, Blake couldn’t help but laugh.

“Another romantic comedy?”

“Anything you want.”

When Yang pressed the remote into her hands, Blake looked at their options and smiled.

“Which one of these looks worst?”