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“So. Big day for you and Hoechlin tomorrow, huh?” Holland asks absently while browsing the internet on her phone.
Dylan sighs. “Yes, yes it is, as anyone I've spoken to today has already pointed out.”
“Ready to turn Sterek into reality, then?”
“Hey, nobody can deny it's real at this point. We've spent the entire season building up to it. Remember the really unsubtle caressing from last week? Seriously, kissing is just the cherry on top.”
“You do realize, though, that fans will have huge expectations for it anyway?”
“All the fan-mail and the hour-long lecture from Jeff made it abundantly clear, I assure you.”
Really, how could he possibly be unaware of what everyone is expecting from him? Dylan is nervous already, he doesn't need Holland reminding him of the scene they're shooting tomorrow. Sterek is becoming canon – well, it's been pretty much canon for a while, what with all the pining and seduction – but tomorrow, they're sealing it with a kiss. Kisses. Making out and lots of groping might be more accurate. There is a lot of not-yet-resolved sexual tension there.
Holland smiles. “Feel ready?”
“As ready as I'll ever be.”
She leans closer, conspiratorily. "Just between us then. You have to tell me all the details. Is he a good kisser?"
“Who? Hoechlin?”
She glares at him, as if he's being purposefully obtuse. It's justified. “No, Jeff freaking Davis. Of course Hoechlin.”
“How would I know?”
“You mean... You haven't...” she looks at him for a few seconds, incredulous. “Are you telling me you haven't rehearsed at all? The most important part of the episode, and you haven't gone through it once?”
“Well, we rehearsed, but we skipped the actual kissing part.” That might have been his fault. When Stiles was supposed to lean in and give Derek a tentative kiss – or the other way around, their instructions were very vague - Dylan just waved and said something along the lines of “And then we suck face,” and then continued with the rest of the scene as if that was the least important bit. It would've been awkward for so many reasons, okay? That's his reasoning, and he stands by it.
She stares at him like he's just grown a second head.
“But... Why? Dylan, you're not seriously planning to have your first kiss with Tyler in character, in front of an audience, on camera, and expect it to go well?”
He shrugs. “I thought it would be more authentic?”
“More awkward and clumsy, maybe. 'Authentic' first kisses are bullshit. That's what rehearsing is for, so you can get it right on camera. Colton and I practiced, and as far as I know, so did Posey and Crystal. Hold on, I've got to text this to Ian and tell him to bring popcorn tomorrow. It'll make his day,” she says as she starts typing on her phone again and then continues: “I know you haven't exactly been swamped with romantic storylines, but you've kissed on camera before, surely you didn't just try to wing it?”
“It was... different then.”
“Because you didn't have a massive not-so-secret crush on your co-star?”
If he had a drink, he would spit it out in shock. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course you don't. Your blush is adorable, by the way.”
“I'm not... I hate you, and we're going to pretend this conversation never happened.” He liked it better when everyone was politely ignoring the elephant in the room that was Dylan's unacknowledged feelings for Hoechlin and his not-so-successful attempts to be hide it.
"If you say so. I'm just saying, purely theoretically, if you did have a massive crush on him, this would be the perfect opportunity to get a taste." She winks at him.
He splutters. Before he can string a coherent argument against her, she continues. “Regardless of that, you really should rehearse the scene properly. Trust me, it's not going to go well if you don't – I've seen some really embarrassing stuff, and I will say I told you so when it happens. Do you really want to have a bunch of takes of that scene in front of us, an audience and the camera? Just think about it. People have been waiting for this for a long time, and they're expecting it to be good, and Jeff will want to ensure it is. Not to mention there are many skeptics you still have to convince. Besides, if you do it well, you might stand a chance for some Best Kiss awards. I really wouldn't be surprised.”
“I know all of this,” Dylan says, resigned. “It's just...” He sighs again.
She looks at him, looking genuinely concerned for the first time in the duration of this conversation. “What are you afraid of? He won't say no.”
“You're more sure of that than I am,” he mutters. “It's not just that... I don't want him to kiss me because he feels obligated to.”
She shakes her head. “You're an idiot. I'm begging you, find him and ask him. You might be surprised.”
“Fine, I'll try. We were going to go through the scene once more this evening anyway.”
She brightens. “Awesome. In fact, I think I should go with you and watch, give you some professional tips.”
He shakes his head. That is about the last thing he needs in his life, Holland Roden watching and most likely taking pictures of him and Tyler making out and providing professional help. “No. Just no. I'm not that bad, thank you very much.”
She makes a face at him. “Aww. You're no fun.”
*
He knocks on Tyler's door later that afternoon and shuffles his feet, waiting for a reply. After standing there like an idiot for almost a minute he turns to leave, but in that moment the door bursts open and a half-naked Tyler is grinning at him. “Dylan!” he says, and Dylan thinks Tyler has no business being this excited when he's panicking. “Sorry, I was just changing.”
“And you didn't bother to finish?” It's taking a lot of effort to look pointedly into his eyes, nowhere else. Tyler chuckles and motions for him to enter, then closes the door behind him.
“How are you feeling about tomorrow?” Dylan asks to break the silence.
Tyler doesn't pretend he doesn't know what he means. “I think it's going to be great,” he says, smiling.
It's not helping Dylan's nerves that Tyler apparently has big expectations too. “Yeah, of course, definitely, same.”
“Are you all right? You don't look too happy.”
“It's just...” He sighs yet again. He's been doing that a lot lately. It's that kind of day. “What if it goes horribly wrong? Posey will mock me for months.”
“Come on, he wouldn't really.” After a moment's consideration, Tyler adds: “Maybe weeks.”
“No, but you can bet it's going to come up in some interview or other.”
“And you don't want people to talk about us kissing?”
“I just want them to be in awe of my superior lip-locking skills, not laughing at my pathetic failures.”
“So you're here to...” Tyler is being particularly unhelpful and is waiting for him to finish the sentence and state the obvious.
“Rehearse. The whole thing. Including the... Physical parts.”
He's fully prepared to launch into a detailed explanation of all his Perfectly Valid Reasons, but Tyler just grins and says "Okay."
"Okay? Okay then." He was expecting at least some token resistance.
“Yeah, I'll just put a shirt on.”
“You do that,” Dylan replies and tries not to sound too disappointed.
*
Tyler is only gone for a minute or two, but Dylan is back to panicking again. He needs to be good at this, he needs Tyler to enjoy it, even if he's not into him. He's not sure why that matters so much, but it does.
Then Tyler is back, still grinning. Dylan thinks it's a real testament to his acting skills that he can convincingly play the brooding, grumpy Derek.
“Okay, should we start from the beginning or go straight for the making out?”
“Beginning!” squeaks Dylan. He's so not ready for this. “Better for getting into character.”
His co-star nods and shakes the happy expression of his face, abruptly transforming into a conflicted, vulnerable Derek. It's really quite amazing.
“Stiles...” he says, full of longing.
“No, Derek, you don't get to pretend there's nothing here,” Dylan snaps, waving his finger from him to Tyler-Derek and back again, as if pointing to an invisible thread connecting them.
“That's not what I'm saying,” Tyler says, frustrated. “There are just so many reasons why this is a bad idea.”
Dylan steps closer. “So you don't want it? Don't want me?”
Tyler's eyes darken and his voice deepens. “You know I do.”
Another step closer. They're less than a metre apart now. “Then why are you being like this? Yes, you've got your issues and I have mine, but don't you see what we could be? Together?”
This is usually the point where Dylan stops, but not this time. Another step closer, and their faces are barely inches apart. Tyler's breathing is fast and shallow, and his eyes keep glancing towards Dylan's lips. This is it.
He closes his eyes, lightly parts his lips and waits for Tyler to kiss him.
Nothing happens.
He blinks his eyes open and sees Tyler is doing the same. He shakes his head. “Umm, what happened to the kissing part?”
Tyler looks bemused. “I thought you were supposed to initiate that. Stiles is trying to show Derek the potential they have together, after all.”
Dylan ponders that for a second. “Right, that makes sense. I just always thought of Derek as the more aggressive one, the go-into-action type of person. I guess I'll take the initiative then.”
He clears his throat and repeats his last line. Then he closes his eyes again, tilts his face slightly to the right and leans in. The problem is, Tyler does essentially the same thing, which results in a painful collision. Dylan backs away quickly, rubbing his nose.
“Ouch,” he says, looking anywhere but at Tyler. “Let's try that again.”
He repeats the line about their issues, then leans in again – eyes open this time - and takes the necessary step closer. Unfortunately, closer happens to be on Tyler's foot. Tyler jumps away, yowling and Dylan struggles to regain his balance.
“Oh, come on,” he sighs. This is not going well. “It's a kiss. It can't be that difficult.”
They try again, but by now, they're both really tense and Tyler seems so hesitant and uncomfortable that when he's supposed to kiss him, Dylan instead desperately tries to lighten the atmosphere and whispers: “Take me. Take me now.”
Tyler whacks him on the head, but he laughs, and that's precisely what he was trying to achieve.
"Sorry, I'm clearly awful at this and should never be allowed near other people," Dylan says dejectedly.
"No, don't be ridiculous, it was my fault. I'm sorry."
"No, not really, no more than mine. On the bright side, at least this didn't happen on set."
“Yet,” says Tyler ominously.
Dylan takes a deep breath and tries to regain his composure and dignity. It's more challenging than it should be. “Okay, let's try again. Seriously this time.”
“You were the one joking around the last time,” Tyler says petulantly.
Dylan sticks his tongue out at him and settles back into Stiles' mindset, then starts again. “Why are you being like this? Yes, you've got your issues and I have mine, but don't you see what we could be? Together?”
He's stupidly nervous again, struggling to gather up the courage to attempt another kiss, but then Tyler's sick of him, and he catches his face between his hands and doesn't give him time to react before he plants he plants his mouth on Dylan's.
And it works! Dylan is ecstatic. Body parts are where they should be, no one is saying stupid things. It's progress. Actually, soon, it's more than that – Tyler's mouth is soft and warm and yeah, he's definitely a good kisser. Dylan wraps his arms around his waist and holds him tight, and fuck, that feels really nice. It feels right.
When they break apart to breathe, Dylan speaks. “That was an improvement.”
Tyler nods, smirking. “You could say that.”
“But I think we really need to get it right tomorrow, so let's try that again. We could try to finish up the scene too?” No ulterior motives there at all.
Tyler agrees, and everything goes surprisingly smoothly this time. They both know what to expect, and it's like they've been practicing kissing for years, instead of a couple of minutes, it feels that natural. Dylan stops thinking about it, simply does whatever feels good. He slides his hands lower, brushing over Tyler's ass, squeezing.
Tyler moans. “Dylan...”
Dylan's brain takes a moment to register the words, and then he freezes. “Umm. Stiles. You're meant to say Stiles. It says so in the script.” And wow, the situation is back to being unbearably awkward instantly. It doesn't help that they haven't actually stopped embracing each other and his hands are still feeling up Tyler. It actually feels like moving them would make it worse, because it would only serve to emphasise they were there in the first place.
“Right. Sorry. I... forgot.” Tyler Hoechlin is blushing. It's kind of cute.
“You're sorry.” Dylan continues, and he almost dares to hope, which shows in his voice. “Because you forgot we were acting?”
The look Tyler gives him is speculating. “Sorry I broke character,” he says. “I'm not sorry I said your name. You... You must know that.”
Dylan gapes at him. “How would I know that?” He feels a vague sense of deja vu. He's said that before today. Why do people keep expecting him to know everything?
“Don't tell me you honestly haven't noticed how I look at you? All the signs and the flirting?” Tyler's eyes are wide, and one of his hands is still on Dylan's face, the other wrapped around his neck. Dylan feels hot all over, even more then when they were actually making out. Could he really have missed something so huge?
“No,” says Dylan, indignant. “You're really not that obvious. I'm the one everybody knows has a thing for you and they're just nice enough to pretend I don't, because you haven't shown any interest before!” His grips around Tyler tightens in frustration.
“What? Are you blind? I thought you didn't want to... You made it quite clear, you avoided practicing this scene for ages!”
Dylan is about to fight back, but then he realizes what they're doing is really dumb. “Why are we arguing about this? It seems we're actually on the same page.” He leans his forehead against Tyler's, who laughs – Dylan can feel it all through his chest - and it sounds relieved and happy.
Tyler smirks at him. “You're right. I think it would be a lot more productive if we practiced some more.”
“You have a point,” is Dylan's reply, and afterwards, there's no talking for a long while.
*
The next day, they nail the scene.