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When Justin found out they’d be filming the new Adam Birkholtz movie in a town twenty minutes from where he lived, he’d calculated the statistical probability he had of meeting the man. It was unlikely. When he found out there was an open casting call for local extras his chances expanded exponentially.
Which was how he ended up in a coffee shop turned set, less than five minutes away from meeting his celebrity crush. They’d told him to act natural, take occasional sips of coffee, talk to his seatmate - the mic wouldn’t pick up what they were saying anyway, ignore the cameras and the funny, kind, beautiful faced man who’d be walking through the door.
He was seated with a guy named Bitty, and once the director called for action they began making smalltalk. It took literally every ounce of willpower he had not to look out the window and watch for Holster’s approach. He did turn his head when Adam walked in, but Ransom wasn’t even thinking about the movie anymore. Holster’s gaze roved the coffee shop, stuttering on Ransom imperceptibly enough that he may have imagined it, before he made his way to the counter to place his order. Bitty tapped Ransom’s arm gently, bringing his gaze away from the movie star less than ten feet from him.
“You might want to close your mouth hon,” he said with a consolatory pat on the wrist.
Ransom felt his face heat. He needed to pull himself together if he didn’t want to get himself kicked off set. He was doing an admirable job of focusing when Holster walked by and tripped over nothing, crashing into Ransom. Adam’s elbow was jammed into his ribs and his head knocked into Justin’s chin hard enough to bruise. It was the best six point four seconds of his life.
“Oh my god,” Holster said, getting up off Ransom’s lap. “I’m so sorry bro.”
Bro Adam Birkholz just called him bro. “It’s fine,” Ransom said, voice only just barely squeaking. “No harm done.” Luckily the coffee cup he’d been holding was filled with water so he was only slightly damp instead of burnt and sticky.
“I’m Holster,” he said, stretching out a hand.
“Justin - well my friends call me Ransom.” He had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from rambling as he took the proffered hand.
The director had called cut and they’d begun to reset the scene, but Adam stood there gazing at Ransom. They were still holding hands. An assistant or PA or someone finally came over and dragged Holster away so they could redo the scene.
The next time they shot the scene, Holster made it to his seat without incident and Ransom successfully managed not to stare at him as he walked. He was talking to Bitty, telling him about this time in college where he and Shitty had pranked the Lax bros, and feeling quite proud of himself for acting so natural.
“So they were naked, locked outside of their house just as the soccer girls were coming home from their game,” he said, laughing at the memory.
Bitty laughed. Holster laughed from Ransom’s side and turned to him with a wide smile. “Did they get you back for it?” he asked.
“Cut!”
“Shit,” Holster said, throwing a sheepish glance at the director.
They reset the scene once more and Ransom let Bitty direct the conversation. Clearly Ransom was not a very good extra. He probably should be talking about something boring. Bitty smiled at him, talking about pie and jams for a long while. Ransom glanced at Holster out of the corner of his eye and saw him keep glancing at the door. He was supposed to be stood up in this scene - or something - Ransom wasn’t quite sure.
“Sorry for talking your ear off,” Bitty said with a smile. “So you mentioned a lacrosse team and soccer team lived near you in college. Were you on a team too?”
Ransom nodded. “Yeah I played hockey.”
“Nice, I play too!” Bitty said. “What position?”
“D-man.”
“Me too,” Holster said, turning to face Ransom with a shy smile. “Do you - shit. Shit. Sorry everyone,” he called, standing up to redo the scene once more.
They filmed the scene a dozen more times. The first time the barista sneezed just as Holster was ordering, in another take one of the other extras was being too exaggerated with his hand motions. There were several takes where Ransom wasn’t quite sure what went wrong, only that he was told to switch to a table on the other side of the room.
It wasn’t as much fun on the other side of the room. They’d put him at a table by himself so he was just supposed to be tapping on a laptop and eating a muffin. The muffin was kinda gross, but Ransom was hungry so he picked at it. At least this time he was facing Holster’s chair, so any time he glanced up it’d be only natural for him to look at Holster.
They were most of the way through the scene when he looked up and caught Holster’s eye as he was scanning the cafe. Holster smiled at him. Ransom smiled back. The director called cut. They did the scene twice more with similar results. By the third time Ransom was determined not to look up from his computer. It wouldn’t be that weird for someone in the background to be really focused on the computer.
He was doing a good job of being hyper focused on his laptop and more than half eaten muffin when the director called cut again. Ransom looked up and caught Holster staring at him, cheeks flushed pink.
“Why don’t we take five.”
Holster nodded sheepishly and left the room. When they reset a few minutes later they had Ransom sitting at a table by himself behind Holster where they wouldn’t be able to see one another and Ransom wouldn’t be speaking.
They shot it perfectly in one take.
Some of the extras were asked to stay on to help film another scene after later, but Ransom wasn’t one of them. He still got to eat lunch though, and they’d pay him $50 for the day - so all in all not a bad deal. He was planning on sitting down with Bitty to eat when there was a tentative tap on his shoulder.
Ransom turned and couldn’t help but smile when he saw it was Holster.
“Hey,” Holster said, “Do you want to eat with me over there?”
Ransom nodded. “Definitely.”
Holster asked him the questions he’d tried to during filming, and they talked for so long that Ransom worried Holster would be late to film his next scene. It was clear neither of them wanted to be the one to stop though, especially once Holster mentioned that he’d almost enrolled in Samwell the summer before he got his big break.
“We would’ve been D-men together,” Ransom said in wonder.
He was trying to picture how different his life might’ve turned out had Holster not gotten his first role. Was it selfish of him to wish the man hadn’t? Because now that he’d talked to him, Ransom knew for certain it wasn’t just the celebrity that he liked, it was the real Holster too. The shy dorky guy who tripped on set. The guy who was so excited he kept messing up the scene to talk to him.
“I know.” Holster nodded. “I never once second guessed my decision to skip college and take that part.”
Ransom nodded. He figured as much. The man was rich and just famous enough where his entire life wasn’t displayed in the tabloids. He played characters who meant something to him. He had the life most men dreamed of.
“I’m kind of regretting that decision now.”
Ransom whipped his head up to look at Holster. “What?”
Holster shrugged. “I just - if I’d gone to Samwell we’d have met five years ago. We’d definitely be besties and maybe -” Holster’s gaze drifted away from Ransom’s shyly. He cleared his throat. “Maybe something more.”
Ransom bit his lip. Nope, not dreaming. “We still could,” he said, no idea where the forwardness came from.
Holster smiled, bright and full of promise. “I’d like that.”
It a fit of wild courage Ransom leaned across the table and kissed him, soft and chaste. Ransom had only started to pull away when Holster chased his lips and drew him back in for another kiss. When they finally parted a full thirty seconds later he was dazed. Holster’s face was flushed and his lips were parted in invitation. Ransom couldn’t quite stop himself from kissing him again.
They showed the blooper reel at their wedding.