Page 49 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

49. ACTION

CAMERON

Axel stood in front of Roderick Gaven. Bloodied, hurt, at his limit.

The mansion was in shambles, windows broken, glass shattered, chairs scattered and furniture flipped and bullet casings littering the ground.

The car Axel had driven through the front door still steamed.

Roderick was on his knees before Axel, blood streaming down his face, hands held out before him, pleading.

They’d just fought a battle. Axel had won. Cale was several feet away, passed out on the floor, and he hadn’t been able to check on him yet.

He needed to deal with this… trash first.

Axel snarled at Roderick.

“Well? You have anything to say for yourself? Your plan was shit,” Axel barked.

Roderick flinched, a pathetic villain who would meet a satisfying end.

Would it be at Axel’s hand? Or was his heart too pure to kill someone in cold blood? Should he wait for the cavalry?

“I—I–” Roderick stammered. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Axel cocked his head. What?

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Roderick said. “My actions were… foolish. Irresponsible. Immature. Insecure. If you have a dictionary, I can continue.”

Cameron felt the entire set shift as confusion spread.

“I was scared, and I let that fear take me over. I just wanted to make you mine in any way I could, because I was too afraid to ask you outright. I was afraid of what your answer would’ve been. That you were just using me until something better came around. I thought that something was her, and I thought… ‘this was it, the hail mary.’ The last chance to get you and everyone to see… me.”

Roderick got to his feet, and Cameron’s hand shook around the prop gun he held.

He searched the set over Roderick’s shoulder, finding River standing on the sideline, stressed and sweating and staring intently at the actor, lips moving along with the words.

“These past few weeks have been… awful. I miss you. It sucks without you.”

Roderick… glanced at his hand?

Cameron felt faint, the lights too bright, too hot. These were River’s words, and he was saying them loudly, in front of everyone.

Cameron was hyperaware of the people watching and listening on the sidelines, beyond the glare of the lights.

River was risking his career by messing with the lines, taking up time on set.

It was… brave.

Braver than Cameron had ever been, when it came to River.

He gulped. Now was his chance to change that.

After weeks of introspection and revelations, River had beat Cameron to the punch.

“ I’m sorry,” Cameron said, staring past Roderick to River. The words spilled out of him, every conclusion he’d come to in the past few weeks. “I valued the wrong things, like fame, and fucking strangers’ opinions, and the safety I found in consistency. I didn’t see how unfair it was to you, keeping us in a stasis that only benefited me.”

River stared, and through the lights Cam could swear there was a sheen to his eyes. It made Cam’s throat tight and his stomach ache, all the hurt he’d put River through.

“I was so selfish, thinking only of myself and my wants instead of considering you.” Bonding Ashley without even talking to him, when the only reason they had Ashley was River himself!

God, Cameron was such an idiot. An incredibly selfish idiot.

“I completely understand why you did what you did. I do see you. I’m sorry it took me so fucking long, that my actions drove such a wedge between us, and I was blind to it the entire time.”

As the words left him he studied River’s gaze, reading the understanding there, the acceptance and hope.

Roderick cleared his throat, frantically glancing down to his hand.

“Well… uh, okay, none of this makes sense now, except—” Roderick stepped forward, kicking the debris around their feet. “I won’t disappoint you again.”

Cameron’s heart pounded.

“I love you,” Cam said, staring right at River.

“Alright, cut!” the director shouted, his voice booming around the warehouse. “Very funny goof, guys. Did you have fun with that? Can we get back to business?” The entire world unpaused as he raged, and stage hands rushed around him to reset the scene. “I need five fucking minutes to myself so I don’t murder you, and then both of you come talk to me. Immediately!” he shouted, face red.

Roderick winked at Cam, and then shrugged before taking off.

He caught River’s eye, and he looked… part scared and part delighted.

Cameron rushed over, dodging the crew and motioning for Rebecca to wait.

“We need more time than this to talk, but… I’m sorry,” Cameron said. “Can we meet after? My trailer?”

River agreed. “I will, and I meant it. I’m sorry for betraying your trust.”

“I’m sorry for betraying yours, again and again. I’m a selfish jerk. You didn’t deserve that.” Cameron’s eyes were downright shining with the truth of his words. He meant them.

And something in River finally eased. “Thank you. We— I’ll be at your trailer.”

Cameron released a slow breath and nodded, wanting to throw himself at River and—this was about being brave, wasn’t it?

Cameron launched himself at River and wrapped his arms around him. He stiffened in surprise, and Cam heard the click of his jaw as he parted his lips to say something before changing his mind, hugging Cameron back.

“Okay,” River said, clearing his throat when they pulled apart. “I’m ready to go get my ass handed to me by the director.”

Cameron glanced over at the pacing, angry director. “Why don’t I take this one?” Cameron asked. “I think he’s got a soft spot for me.”

River had apologized in the most dramatic way possible, risking his career. Assistants had been fired for bringing the director the wrong coffee. What would happen to River for pulling… this?

Replacing the villain’s monologue with a confession?

Cameron blinked. River had chosen the villain to deliver his speech. Did River see himself as the villain of this story?

The thought of it made Cameron’s chest hurt.

I’ve been treating River like he was the villain .

“Let me take the fall,” Cameron said. “Please?”

“Why don’t we face him together?” River suggested.

Cam peeked nervously at the angry director. He really didn’t want River to get fired. “I promise it doesn’t lessen the apology, because I’ve already accepted it. Please don’t get fired for it. Oh shit,” he said, as the director headed his way. “Go,” Cam told him, and nudged River out of the way.

River relented, but lingered not too far away as the director began with a deep breath.

By the time he was done yelling about precious time and ruining a shot and wasting everyone’s money, Cam felt like he had windburn.

And yet he couldn’t help but smile to himself as Rebecca touched up his makeup. He shared a knowing look with Dylan and Ashley. Their support fluttered through the bond, and it strengthened him.

Cameron glanced around once more for River, and found him talking to the actor playing Roderick. They shook hands, and Roderick clapped him on the back before walking off, shaking his head ruefully.

River looked… tired.

Cameron could say the same about himself. His makeup artist was just good at hiding it.

God, he’d missed him. They still had so much to talk about.

He stepped on his cue, trying to ignore River’s warm gaze and the mix of confusion and longing and love in his chest, trying to find Axel again.

Someone who wasn’t selfish and hadn’t spent the last two years dismissing his partner’s feelings at every turn, someone who hadn’t betrayed the trust of their relationship and bonded with an alpha without considering how it would make him feel.

Sometimes, being able to escape, to pretend to be another person, was the best part of his job.

The only downside to the job meant that it eventually ended.

Cam sat in his trailer, waiting for River as soon as set had been dismissed. He’d given Ashley and Dylan an update, and they’d practically skipped off together, humming. Through the bond he could feel their excitement, their hope and joy, and it was fucking infectious.

He was still covered in dirty-looking makeup and his stupid stained tank top. He at least changed into a plain black one. Cameron wiped his sweaty palms against his thighs and put his phone away after sending a text.

River.

Cameron missed him so fucking much sometimes it was hard to breathe around it.

Missed him constantly tapping the keys on his laptop, his scent, his touch, his voice and the way his hair curled funny in that one spot behind his ear.

He wanted those things—that beta—in his life, and Cameron needed him to know how serious he was about it.

A knock on the trailer door startled him, and he stood up, hand shaking as he reached out to open the door.

He tried not to make it obvious that he was drinking in every inch of River from head to toe.

“Hi,” Cameron said, breath stuck in his throat.

“Hi,” River said, adjusting a stack of papers in his hands.

He stepped back, and River entered and it was… awkward.

“I thought I’d have time to… rehearse,” Cam said.

“Rehearse what?” River asked.

“My apology,” Cam offered. “Where do I even start? The beginning?” He winced. The past few weeks had been filled with memories, a new light shed on each of them. Times when Cam blew off River’s concerns, blaming his management, his fans, everyone but himself.

“We can start wherever we need to,” River said, and Cameron realized he was nervous. He hadn’t seen nerves on River in… well, probably not since they first met at the auditions, then the table reading.

“What are you holding?” Cameron asked, motioning to the thick sheath of papers.

River glanced down. “I’ve been working on something. I’ll get to it. First… I’m sorry,” he said, moving forward. “I want to explain a bit more, offer context to my actions. Not excuses!” he added when Cameron’s lips parted.

“I’ll do the same. I’ll tell you every thought I’ve had the past few weeks, if you want.”

He sat on the tiny daybed and motioned for River to sit across from him, in the bench seat to the left of the door.

About six feet separated them. Cameron’s heart was pounding, and he wanted to reach out so badly.

He watched River stare down at the papers before the beta cleared his throat.

“The director really chewed you out, huh?” River asked.

Cam’s lips almost twitched before pulling back down, because this was serious and he wasn’t in the clear yet. “Worth it,” he said, shaking his head ruefully. “I meant what I said,” he continued, lifting his gaze. There was the slightest hint of a smile on River’s lips.

“As ridiculous as it was… I meant it, too—what Roderick said.” He sobered. “I love you, Cameron, and what I did was fucked up.”

Cameron sighed. “I just… I didn’t understand at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how far I had pushed you.”

River ran a hand through his already messy hair. It had a bit of a sheen to it, and Cameron wondered how long it’d been since he washed it. “I was just… insecure. I mean, your management didn’t take me seriously as a partner, and the longer we acted like it didn’t bother us, I started feeling like maybe you didn’t take me seriously as a partner, either.” River’s throat bobbed with a swallow as he looked up. “And then the heat. When you wanted an alpha instead of me, it just felt like confirmation.”

Regret welled up in Cameron. “That morning, after the heat—I knew something wasn’t right, but I just… overlooked it, because it didn’t benefit me to push, to ask you how you really felt. What kind of partner does that? I’m sorry, River.”

“I’ve never been in a relationship as serious as ours,” River said. “I never got the chance, because I was always on the back-burner until someone else came along. When we talked after the heat, I really thought, This is it. This is when it becomes real. ”

“I promised you,” Cameron whispered. His stomach twisted.

“And then the interview happened and I was hurt . I started feeling like I was just… tiding you over until Ashley got here.” River shook his head. “And I made a stupid, emotionally-charged decision that fucked us all.” He groaned. “Ashley and I talked, and we came to an understanding. I just—I’m gonna regret it forever. I exposed our private lives to the public. It was a breach of our trust, and I’m sorry. I fumbled the best thing in my life. You and Ashley and Dylan, and the pack we could’ve had. And at the very least, I want you to know how sorry I am.”

Cameron stood, as if to say fuck it to himself , and sat beside River on the couch, facing him, within arm’s reach. “I’m sorry I treated you so poorly that I drove you to do something like that. I’m sorry that even when it all seemed to work out, that I fucked it up further by bonding Ashley without considering where you would fall, or how you would feel. I’m sorry I made you feel like you weren’t worth it. I’m sorry I ignored your feelings and concerns for so long. I love you, and I want you in my life, and if you can forgive me for being so incredibly insensitive for so long, I will love you how you deserve to be. Not hidden. Not a secret.

“Once the secret was out, it was so… easy to adjust. Management, the fans, all the obstacles I’d used as excuses crumbled, because they weren’t what was holding us back. It was me. I was the problem. I thought just because we’d ended up in the same place it didn’t matter how we got there, but that wasn’t fair to you. To the relationship we’d built.”

River parted his lips before closing them, gaze falling to the short table before them.

Cam’s heart was pounding.

“I’ve also been working on this. With all my free time,” River said. He gingerly pushed the stack of papers on the table a few inches over, in front of Cameron, before retreating across the space. “Even if you don’t make it with me, it deserves to be made. It’s a good story.”

Cameron studied the stack of papers, thinking back to a memory. Years ago.

Cameron sighed, collapsing against the cozy, fuzzy couch in their shared apartment. “I’m tired of action.”

“What?!” River gasped, opening his arms and letting Cam lay against him. “Has hell frozen over?”

Chuckling, Cameron shook his head. “I don’t know. I miss working on a smaller set. With people who just want to tell a story, not worry about what action stunt will have the most shock value.”

“What would you write if you could?” River asked, breath rustling the hair at the back of Cam’s neck. He shivered before stilling, leaning his head back on River’s shoulder, resting his hands over the ones on his belly.

“I think I’d write… a romance. Something slightly tragic, something that makes your heart hurt for the characters. I want people to feel things that they’ll think about for months to come.”

“You think people don’t think about Axel?”

Cameron shrugged. “Don’t know.”

Did he even think about Axel? Outside of shooting?

Cameron supposed he did. Sometimes. “Axel would like that,” he’d think when seeing a leather jacket in a store. Did that count?

“Who are the characters in this story you want to tell?” River asked.

Cameron decided to humor him. “Hmm. Two men. Queer.”

“Do they end up together?” River asked.

“Of course. Gay men deserve happy endings, too.”

“Good. How do they meet?”

“Don’t know,” Cameron said.

“What’s the conflict?” River’s lips twitched against his cheek.

“Don’t know,” Cameron answered.

River snickered softly, the sound warming Cameron to his core. “You sound just like a writer.”

“Learned from the best,” Cameron murmured.

River’s arms squeezed tightly, and ? —

The memory faded as Cameron stared down at the thick manuscript.

“You wrote it?” he asked, voice soft with disbelief.

River nodded. “I finished it. And if you want to do this project, continue our art—it’s in your hands.” From the raw expression on River’s face, this wasn’t the only thing in Cameron’s hands.

“When you get a break one day from the franchise, maybe you can return to indie films, like you want. If this only serves as a reminder, that means it’s served its purpose.”

Cameron flipped through the pages, catching a few names and lines.

Aster

(stepping from beneath the awning)

“Dance with me!”

Ren

(glancing at the sky in disbelief)

“What? But it’s raining!”

Aster

“That’s what makes it fun!”

—

Aster

(pointing overhead)

“We want the stuffed bear. The big one.”

—

Ren

“Here, try this.”

A shared spoonful of fudge and ice cream. A swipe of a thumb across a lip, a lingering glance.

He flipped to the end, ever a sucker for spoilers.

And they lived happily ever after.

THE END.

It had all of Cameron’s favorite silly romcom moments—dancing in the rain, winning the most ridiculous item at a fair, sharing dessert.

This was a fucking love letter, in the form of a whole-ass script.

While Cameron reeled, his head spinning and heart pounding, River cleared his throat and stood, taking a step toward the door. “If you hate it, I’d really rather not know, so I can just fuck off and?—“

“Don’t—“ Cameron blurted, reaching for him.

He loved River. Hadn’t stopped, even while he was hurt and mad and confused.

“I love you,” Cameron said. “I’m sorry I was so scared to tell the world about us.”

River shook his head. “I hate being a secret.”

“If I had loved you right, you wouldn’t have felt the need to…“ Cam closed the distance, cupping his face, which was reddening by the moment. Was his heart thumping like Cam’s was? “I miss you. Please give me a second chance. Give me an opportunity to tell the world about us.”

River looked comforted by the declaration, and hope threaded through Cam’s ribs. How he would love to have River in his nest again, where he belonged. Home.

“How did you feel about things… after? When we were playing pack?”

River swallowed. “I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more had I not been eaten alive with guilt.”

Cam’s fingers twitched against River’s cheek. “Want to try it again? Without the guilt, this time?”

River’s hand shook as he placed it on Cam’s chest. “I can make you smell like me?” he asked, shifting closer.

Cam nodded, breath catching.

“I can kiss you in public?”

He nodded again.

“We can go to dinner together? Hold hands across the table?”

Cam agreed eagerly, reaching down to grab his hand now.

River’s lip trembled before he bit down on it, and Cam’s own swell of emotion spilled over.

“I can come home?” River asked.

Cam’s heart cracked into a hundred pieces. “I’m sorry I told you to leave.”

River leaned forward. Their lips were wobbly in the kiss, so Cameron pressed in harder, until their teeth clacked. They winced and pulled back. Cameron’s hazel met River’s green, and a chuckle spilled out.

They pulled each other into a hug, tight, tighter, until Cameron could bury his nose in River’s neck and breathe in his scent, could feel his heart beat against his own.

“I love you,” Cameron said, the words whispered into his throat and stamped to his skin.

“I love you, too. All I’ve ever wanted was to make you mine.”

Cameron didn’t know how long they stood there in each other’s arms, embracing so tightly neither of them wanted to let go.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he smiled against River’s skin before pushing back, running a hand through his hair, adjusting it.

“Come with me?” he asked.

River frowned in confusion before agreeing. “Yeah, sure. Where to?”

“Just outside. The little coffee cart has a great macchiato.”

“Are you trying to ply me with treats?” River asked.

Cam waved a hand in the air back and forth. “Kind of.”

The door creaked as they left the trailer, and Cam took River’s hand. The look on River’s face as he glanced down at their joined hands would haunt Cameron forever. The surprise and awe and depth of meaning there made Cam even more determined to prove to River that he was worth telling the world about.

Cam was glad he’d sent that text earlier.

Cam squeezed his hand and pushed open the exit, the sunset making the lot golden and beautiful.

“I think you deserve your own headline,” Cameron said, and leaned up to kiss him, threading the hand not occupied through his hair.

The sunset was interrupted by a flash, the mechanical click of a camera lens.

River gasped, and the kiss broke, and he jerked his attention to the photographer with… a lanyard.

“I gave her access,” Cam said, turning to the girl, who studied the photos at the back of the camera. She often worked for queer- and pack-friendly magazines, and they’d crossed paths a few times.

“Now that’s a front-issue photo,” she said. “How do we feel about ‘Secret’s out: Action star spotted getting cozy with screenwriter on set’?”

Cam cleared his throat. “I think that’ll certainly get clicks. How do you feel?” Cameron asked River.

River leaned closer. “She seems much more competent than my guy,” River muttered.

A laugh spilled out of Cameron at the joke, and as a smile curled across River’s lips, twitching his mustache, a burst of affection bowled him over.

He wrapped an arm around River’s waist, holding him tightly.

“Jas, this is my longtime partner, River.”

They shook hands, and Cam didn’t bother letting go of River as they did so.

“Thanks for trusting me to do you justice,” she said, nodding to Cam. “My boss will go feral for this story.”

“If you need anything else,” Cam said, “you know where to find me. Or Manny.”

Jas nodded. “Stay cute, lovebirds.”

River practically vibrated at his side, and as they walked away, River squeezed his shoulder.

“You did it,” he said, half in disbelief.

Cam smiled up at him, a pang slicing through him. He still had a long way to go to earn River’s trust again, and Cam wouldn’t take that lightly.

“Just wait until the premiere,” Cam said as they entered the warehouse again. “Will you walk me down the red carpet?”

River pulled him to a stop, and Cam was aware of Ashley and Dylan and PAs and crew still walking around. He didn’t care.

“I can kiss you in front of the reporters?”

“You can kiss me now,” Cam suggested.

River’s grin was wobbly as he leaned down, and did just that.

“Who’s Manny?” River asked a moment later, when they broke apart.

“New management. I’m happy to report he’s nothing like Christian,” Cam said.

He spotted two familiar tall frames waiting near his trailer.

“They’re not dead,” Ashley teased, and Dylan glanced up from his book, though Cam had the idea he’d clocked them far sooner.

“Excellent. I still have a job, then,” Dylan drawled.

Ashley scoffed and kicked Dylan’s knee. “How did it go?”

“We talked,” Cam said, eyes on River. “I apologized.”

Ashley and River shared a look before River nodded.

“I accepted it,” River said after a moment, that utterly soft smile back on his face.

Ashley rolled her eyes before launching herself at the beta, hugging him in delight. When River hugged her back, she purred, and Cameron chuckled at the relief in River’s expression. Seeing them together made Cam’s chest tight, overwhelming fondness filling him to capacity.

“We missed you, is what she’s trying to say,” Dylan offered with a casual shrug and not as if he was trying not to crack a smile himself.

“I missed you, too,” River said once they extracted their arms from each other. “Even you,” he teased Dylan.

“Come here,” Dylan said, and tugged River in for a hug as well.

“You don’t even hug me, ” Cameron pointed out, which only prompted Dylan to release River and turn that affection in his direction.

Cameron guessed Dylan’s scent wasn’t too bad this close up. He could see why Ashley liked it so much.

“Ready to go home?” Ashley asked, and jingled a set of keys.

Cameron sighed and grabbed River’s hand as Dylan prepared to lead.

“Yeah, we are,” Cam said, and River squeezed his hand.

It was time they got their happily ever after, too.