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Ryan and Oliver have been working together for around 4 years now. And as much as Ryan may hate to admit it, he's become quite fond of his co-star, Oliver Stark. He hasn't given himself any time to think about his feelings for Oliver, using his two children and his former partner as an excuse. But here he is, in his hair and makeup chair, thinking about all the possibilities he could have with Oliver. If Oliver wasn't straighter than a board. "You alive over there, Ryan?" Ryan looked over at Oliver, who was giving him one of his best "puppy dog eye" looks. "I'm fine, Oli. And you really should work on the puppy dog eyes 'cause they aren't working." He checked his wrist, knowing that he didn't wear a watch, and said, "Oh, would you look at the time? I gotta head to wardrobe."
"Ryan? What're you talking about? You aren't even wearing a watch!" Ryan was out of the hair and makeup trailer before he could hear Oliver finish talking. He ran back through his script. It's for the first kiss scene between Buck and Eddie. And Eddie's supposed to be the calm one in the scene. Buck's supposed to be freaking out about kissing Eddie and whatnot. "You ready to head to set, mate?" Ryan looked up from his script to see a very giddy Oliver standing in front of him. "Yeah, let's go. I just heard the director call us."
"Is this about the scene that we have to film?" Ryan stared at Oliver blankly before shaking his head. "No, of course not."
"Because if kissing me is an issue for you, I can get them to write it out of the script and make the kiss happen 'off-screen' if you want." Ryan shook his head again. "No, it's not kissing you that's the problem." It's kissing you without it meaning anything between us that's the problem. Ryan didn't finish that thought out loud, though.
"Okay, well you'd better calm down 'cause you're redder than a tomato right now." Ryan was wishing he could go hide in wardrobe and have the writers kill him off-screen or something. While he was mid-panic, Oliver decided to bring a very concerned Gavin over to Ryan. "Ryan? Why's Oliver telling me that you don't wanna kiss him on set?"
"Oli. This is between you and me. It doesn't concern Gavin, okay?" He said it through gritted teeth. "Gavin, why don't you go see if Corinne can help you out with your tie?" Gavin nodded and walked over to Corinne's trailer with the help of Angela. Oliver mouthed a silent "thank you" to Angela and Corinne.
"Alright, I got filming for the kiss pushed to tomorrow. Wanna tell me why you're freaking out about it?"
"Because this is the first time I'm kissing a man!" Oliver stepped back. "Oh. I wish you'd told me sooner, Ryan. 'Cause I can get someone else for you to kiss first."
"You think I don't wanna kiss you?"
"Do you?"
"Well... It's complicated. I haven't felt like this for a while. And it's the first time I'm feeling something like this for a guy. Not to mention, a guy who's straight." Realization dawned on Oliver's face. "Do you wanna talk about what you're feeling?"
"You're seriously not trying to psychoanalyze me right now, are you, Oli?" Oliver shook his head, chuckling. "No. I just wanna know how you're feeling so I know how to act around you."
"You don't have to walk on eggshells around me if that's what you're thinking. I'm just finally having my long-awaited sexuality crisis, just like the character I'm playing."
"Is this because of the 'Buddie' kiss?" Ryan nodded. "But it's not what you think. I do want to kiss you, Oli. More than I should."
"I mean, yeah. You've got a girlfriend, who just so happens to be the mother of your two childre-"
"We broke up, Oli. It was mutual. We both wanted different things, well, different people."
"Who do you want, Ryan?" Ryan shook his head. "I can't tell you, Oli. You'd want them to replace me or you on the show. Probably me so you'd still get to be on the show."
"What're you talking about?"
"I want you, Oliver! I have for the better part of the past two months, and Chrysti was the one who helped me figure it out." Ryan took a deep breath after confessing to let Oliver react. He expected Oliver to yell at him and call him disgusting, or to walk away. But Oliver just helped Ryan sit down on the couch in Ryan's trailer before attacking his mouth. Ryan pushed at Oliver's shoulder, slightly.
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted this." Oliver started pouting. "I do, but you don't have to act like you want it too, just to please me, Oli."
"I do want this, Ryan. And since when did you think I'm straighter than a board?" Ryan started chuckling. "Since when should I have started to believe otherwise?"
"Maybe when I wore a full-on prom dress to set?"
"I thought you were doing it just for fun. By the way, you need to wear it again 'cause it really brings out your eyes."
"I was wearing it to get your attention. And it looks like I actually did." Oliver leaned back in for another kiss. This time, Ryan didn't push him back. He let himself melt into the kiss as it got deeper. "I love you so much, Oliver."
"I love you, too, Ryan." Ryan remembered something about Buck and Eddie. "Will you still have my back, Oli?"
"Yeah, every day, babe."