Idylle de Lac; Merlin RPF
Title: Idylle de Lac
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings/Characters: Angel/Bradley, illusions to Colin/Katie, mentions of all the boys.
Warnings: RPF guys...
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: PG13
Summary: Angel really needs to learn to hang up her phone...
Author Notes: Written for my lovely, lovely friend mustbethursday3 who doesn't think I can win our bet. I'm determined to prove her wrong. And, according to the translator (because I'm SO bad at French) the title means Lake Romance. So there you have it!
My Merlin Prompt Table
The two girls returned to the hotel after the afternoon shoot. A lot of the cast and crew in turn had been in a bad mood during the morning. It was wet, it was windy and it scuppered a lot of the pans that they had had for filming that mornings. They were behind schedule as it was and they couldn’t afford to not shoot due to the time they had left to film the block in France.
Bradley had been in the worst mood out of everybody. There was a lot of pressure on him and Colin filming wise, they did a lot of work at the castle compared to everybody else and the nine month shoot was starting to take its toll on the pair of them. Especially Bradley.
“He’s normally unbearable but he’s just being a bit of a twat now. We get it, he’s got pressure on him, whatever, we all have it. At least all the fans like him.”
“This has turned from actor anger to character popularity in all of a second. I commend you Angel, good job.”
“Well it’s true. And it’s his fault they all call me a hussy anyway.”
“He said it as a joke,” Katie defended, “it’s not his fault that they picked up on it and continued to call you it. And you have to admit, Angel, Gwen is a bit of a hussy.”
“They blame me like it’s my fault. I didn’t write the script.”
“What’s this really about, Angel? You’ve never got het up over stupid reactions before.”
“It’s not about anything. I’m just fed up of his ‘woe is me’ act. We’re all wet. We’re all tired. I could keep going with that if he wasn’t so intent on dragging me down.”
“He does it out of love,” Katie poked with a grin fixed on her face.
“Don’t start that again,” Angel chided.
“You know - the way you argue - people would think you actually cared.”
“Well you’re wrong.”
“Denial is the first sign of addiction.”
“I’m not addicted to Bradley James.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You do a stellar job of hiding it then,” Katie replied patronisingly tapped Angel on the shoulder.
“Don’t start, Katie. I’m not in the mood for your outlandish ideas today.”
“Just invite him out, tell him you love him and the world will be a happier place. It would certainly improve his mood.”
“Like hell it will.”
“So you’re not denying it? You’re in love with him.”
“Katie, I’m not in love with Bradley. He’s annoying and overbearing and awkward and a serious pain in the arse and-“
“You like it.”
“I like it.”
“Well damn, I never thought I’d see the day. Me and Col knew there was something past the in-character eyes. Revel in those kisses a bit too much?” she teased waggling her eyebrows at her shorter friend.
“Katie?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
“Why don’t you just tell him?”
“What give him a call, “Hey Bradley, I love you, bye Bradley?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that.”
“Soooo many things,” but it was too late for Angel. Katie grabbed her bag and swiped her phone from the front pocket. Contacts. B. Bradley. Call, “Katie!”
“It’s ring-ing!” she sing-songed with a grin on her face, “Bradley hi, Angel just wants you to know she loves you,” Angel’s eye’s went wide in shock, “Chillax, I’m joking.” She put it on loud speaker and listened to it ring.
“Hello?” Angel grabbed the phone away from Katie and hit loudspeaker off and held it to her ear, “Angel?”
“Oh hey, err,” Think fast Angel “Katie’s, err, Katie’s organising a Crêperie trip later, she wanted to know if you’re in?” Katie hit her up side the arm with the back of her hand. Angel mouthed obscenities at her. Katie raised her eyebrow at her friend and crossed her arms angrily across her chest.
”Ordinarily I would be, but I don’t know when I’ll be finished,” he sounded downhearted. She knew he was annoyed at her but there wasn’t a lot she could do about it if he wasn’t willing to be flexible. Then again with his filming schedule and how much of a mood he’d been in that morning she was thankful he was declining.
“We were planning until going late anyway” she tried, unsure in herself why she was trying so hard to make him come, “you know what the crazy French are like.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, Aiingel, I thought you actually wanted me there,” What? No. Of course not- Of course she did. Why was he being such an arse about it? It’s Bradley James on default mode. Bring her down, annoy the hell out of her and make her want to smack him upside the head for being such an arse. He was awkward and annoying and there was nothing she could do about it apart from want to cheer him up and shake him vigorously until he saw what was right in front of him.
“Not particularly,” she joked, trying to make light hearted of the situation, “But if you want to come the offer is there.”
”Okay.”
“Bye Bradley.”
”Bye Angel.” she quickly slid her phone shut to hang up. Unbeknownst to her, her phone was having one of its temperamental moods and didn’t disconnect the call. On the other end of the phone still hearing something on the other end of the line Bradley listened. He called out her name but it fell of death ears and she stuck her phone down on the table.
“What the hell was that?” he heard Katie reprimand in the background.
“You forced it on me! What did you expect me to say? Just to lighten you up from the crap mood you’ve been in all day I thought I would tell you I’m in love with you? Think it through Katie. I’m not telling him over the phone.”
“You’re not going to tell him to his face either!”
“And it will stay that way. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“But it will hurt you.”
“I work with him, Katie, every day. He drives me insane but I love him for it. If it didn’t work I wouldn’t know what to do.”
And with that, Bradley hung up.
x
The girls phoned Colin not long after and invited him out to the small Crêperie next to their hotel so Angel’s fad of a story could ring true.
Every five minutes the older female checked her phone, waiting on a text or a call from Bradley to let them know either way. It was boarding on 9:30 if he was coming now he didn’t have much time left. They’d already eaten; their plates were left empty in front of them.
“Angel?” he male Irish friend called, waving his hand in front of her face, “Are you with us?”
“Yeah,” she smiled putting her phone back on the table.
“Really? ‘Cause you did just deny it when Katie said you were in love with Bradley,” he said with a glint in his eye.
She tried to laugh, and frowned, “No, what are you talking about?” she shook her head and laughed again, “That jokes getting old. I’m not in love with him.”
“Shame,” Colin said pausing to take a sip of his wine, “You’d have such gorgeous children.”
“So would you and Katie but you don’t see me pressing her onto you.”
“Katie and I have accepted this fact and should we choose to pursue it we shall in due course,” Katie cracked a smile and laughed at her friends, “However, I wasn’t talking about me and Katie.”
“No, he was talking about me and you,” Angel looked up from the table at Bradley who was doing seldom else but staring at her in such a fashion that he never had before. Out of character at least.
Katie looked between them, neither of them looking at anybody else than the other, “We should go,” she said abandoning a twenty euro note on the table and grabbing Colin by the scruff of his neck; pulling him towards the door.
Bradley didn’t sit down. He started nervously tapping away on the table top still looking at her.
“You missed dinner.”
“Yeah. Had a lot of thinking to do.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
“What about?”
“You, mainly.”
“Why?” she tried laughing it off as a ridiculous notion but the expression on his face stopped her.
“We should talk,” he looked around at the near full restaurant, “Somewhere quieter.”
“Okay,” she agreed leaving another ten euro note on the table and standing. He was awfully close. He paused for a few seconds before he made to move towards the door. He held it open for her and promptly crossed the empty village road towards the lake. She followed not far behind him as he started up the road past the hotel and away from the castle.
She could see the structure in the moonlight. It was stunning even three years in.
They’d explored these roads many times before, and she knew where he was taking her. They used to spend time sitting by the lake down one of the tracks just chatting. It was times like that that Angel realised there was quite a difference between in-front-of-others Bradley and on-your-own Bradley.
He remained a few steps in front of her for a time, until they were in the cover of the trees by the edge of the lake. He was headed for where they’d spent many hours of their time, sitting by the edge of the lake. He waited for Angel to sit beside him.
She really hadn’t prepared for an excursion and was only wearing a thin cardigan to Bradley’s thick hoody. She pulled it around her tighter as she sat herself on the cool woodland floor and looked out over at the lake. The moonlight hit the ripples of water, reflecting in their eyes as they both watched on in silence; neither wanted to break the silence.
But one had to make the first move and he’d been the one to take them there, he had to do it, “I heard what you said.”
“What I said to who?”
“Katie.”
“I’ve said a lot of things to Katie.”
“When you phoned me about tonight,” Angel didn’t reply; she didn’t know what he was getting at. She hadn’t said anything to Katie whilst on the phone to him. He noted her furrowed brow and her unfailing gaze on the lake’s surface, “I think you’d thought you’d hung up,” he said with his hands buried deep in his hoody pocket, his shoulders hunched.
She stopped looking at the lake then as she closed her eyes and bit on the edge of her lip.
Now she knew and worst of all: so did he.
“It would you know.”
“What?”
“Work,” neither was looking at the other, both opting to staring at the other’s distorted reflection in the water.
“You don’t know that.”
“We’d make it,” he extracted his hand from his hoody pocket and it was struck with the chill in the air as he hesitantly reached into her lap and took her hand in his own. Her hand was surprisingly warm given the chill that surrounded them, “I know you didn’t want me to hear. I should have hung up but I couldn’t. Then I heard too much. I thought I’d just ignore it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to,” he openly admitted, still not looking at directly, watching her every move in the water. Her loose hair flickered around her face.
“Bradley...”
He dropped her hand and pushed his own back into his pocket, “Forget it, doesn’t matter,” he sat for a second grinding his teeth, waiting for her to say something, anything. When she remained silent he stood up, brushed himself off and left her sat by the lake. He didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve for this very reason; he always got hurt.
She turned then, looking away from her reflection for the first time since sitting. She called his name but he was already gone; “Nice one Angel,” she rubbed her hand over her face in anger picking up the nearest pebble from the lakeside and throwing into the water causing a satisfying splash. She could run after him but she’d never catch up with him at the pace he’d taken off at.
She’d just have to hope she could find him back at the hotel.
She hadn’t counted on him walking slowly once he got back to the road. She could see his silhouette cast by the moonlight. He was hunched with his hands in his trouser pockets walking back to the hotel like somebody had just kicked his favourite pet; hard.
She thought about calling out to him but he’d only ignore her. She quickened her pace but the gap wasn’t closing, it was like he knew she was there following him and his pace increased with every step she took. She started to run, being the only way she deemed possible to catch him. He wouldn’t be so obvious to leg it away from her in the middle of the French village.
If he had been in-tune to her steps before he wasn’t now. She ran at a deft pace, wearing herself out. She didn’t run on a daily basis like he did. She wasn’t half as fit as he was. She hefted a breath and pulled on his shoulder.
He pulled it back out of her grasp.
“For god’s sake, Bradley, you’re just showing why it’s a really bad idea!”
“What, because you don’t want to admit it can work? Why are you saying something’s doomed before it’s begun? You tell me to stop thinking we’re our characters, it’s your turn, Angel. Give it a chance, that’s all I’m saying,” he said turning away from her again and walking the remaining hundred metres to the hotel leaving Angel watching after him. He looked at her as he opened the door, The ball is in your court.
“Hey Bradley,” Colin smirked as he noticed his friend re-enter the hotel reception. He and Katie had camped out on the sofas waiting for them to return. Bradley ignored them pointedly and carried on straight up the stairs, “Where’s Angel?” Colin said to Katie in a hushed tone, she shrugged only to have his question answered when the hotel door opened again, “She doesn’t look happy.”
“Positively fuming.”
“He wasn’t much better,” Angel looked at the pair of them, without her opening her mouth both of them pointed up and stairs and she nodded in thanks, “Unless it’s all a ploy to throw us off the scent.”
“I’d agree but he’s not that good an actor.”
Angel disappeared quicker than Bradley had up the stairs, bee lining to Bradley’s hotel room and knocked continuously.
Thirty seconds later and her hand was starting to hurt, “Bradley open the door,” nothing, “Look; I’m sorry okay. Can we please talk about this? Bradley?” She carried on knocking until the wood was pull from beneath her knuckles, “Finally.”
“I’m doing it for the good of the people who are trying to sleep,” he said, he sounded tired and worn.
“We need to talk about this.”
“I think you’ve said all you need to. I get it. I thought you wanted this that you thought I didn’t so you didn’t want to say anything so you didn’t look stupid or get hurt. But it’s just the other way around.”
“Would you let me speak?”
“The floor’s all yours.”
“Thank you,” he sat down on the edge of his bed like an audience. She felt like he would start heckling her if she said something he didn’t like, which potentially she could, “What you heard, you shouldn’t have heard.”
“If you don’t want to-“
“Bradley! Let me speak, please!”
“Go on.”
“It’s complicated. We work together. We spend a lot of time together. We’re constantly in each other’s ways. We play characters who are heading for a relationship together. It would be like mixing business with pleasure. I love you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Bit late for that.”
“I don’t want to hurt you more, then. If it went wrong-“
“Why must it be going wrong before it’s been given the chance? We’d be good together, Angel, you know it. Why won’t you just let yourself be happy? Ignore work. Ignore everything to do with Merlin and Arthur and Gwen. What would make you, Angel Coulby, happy?”
“To sleep past 8am on my days off because you or Colin haven’t taken away my ‘do not disturb’ sign?”
“Be serious.”
“I am!” they fell into silence once again, “I don’t know,” she said fiddling with her fingers and looking down at her hands.
“It’s pretty simple, Angel. Either you want it, or you don’t. Tomorrow on the dinner break I’ll be waiting around the right-hand side. If you want it, I’ll see you there. If not, then I guess you made your mind up the other way. I’ve got to be up early tomorrow, and I’d really like to sleep.”
“Right,” her brain couldn’t connect to her mouth, she couldn’t say anything more. Why couldn’t she just settle the ultimatum there and then? No, he wanted to sleep. She couldn’t keep him any longer, “Until tomorrow then.”
x
It couldn’t have been more awkward.
They couldn’t have planned their confrontations at a more inconvenient time. They spent their mornings being film looking at each other across the courtyard as one walked down the cloisters and the other came down the stone steps.
Once the cut-away shots were done they were in the hallways. They had to be professional. They had to act tender and completely in love. Bradley had to thread his fingers into her hair and she had to initiate the kiss for the camera. Luckily for them they didn’t have many lines. Names and nothing else and into the embrace.
“Great work guys. Really feeling it,” the only thing was; Angel didn’t feel like she’d acted her best. The first time on the job she hadn’t gave it her all but nobody knew the difference.
She had her answer. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.
x
The rest of the day dragged. Bradley had been ushered off to the outskirts of the village to film some shots with Colin, Eoin, Santiago and Rupert. Angel was on her own filming in abandoned corridors, running down them then hiding from guards before she ran again.
She needed the break to come.
She couldn’t handle not telling him anymore.
X
Bradley was in his element trotting across the field with the cameras behind them as they rode out of the woods towards the castle. When the cameras stopped rolling he got to mess around with his friends.
He took his mind off everything to do with Angel by throwing himself into his work. Colin threw him a few odd glances every now and again but it wasn’t a big enough problem that he couldn’t just ignore.
It was only when they packed away and headed back to the base camp in the minivan that he started to get a little jittery. He had his iPod in one hand and tapped his knee with the other supposedly in time with the music.
The four ‘knights’ split their separate ways in order to take off their chainmail and armour, leaving Colin to head for the dinner queue to select his vegetarian delight.
Stripped of his costume Bradley tucked his phone into his pocket and headed out to the canteen tent, skipping behind the queue down the side.
Katie saw him go and frowned, choosing to ignore it. It was Bradley James, he was a little bit odd sometimes; you learnt to let these things slide. Until you saw Angel Coulby disappear down the same route without barging you out of the dinner queue first. That’s when you started asking questions, ones she would happily wait for an answer for when she got to have a bigger helping of food because Angel hadn’t gotten there first.
If she’d looked or even paid the slightest bit of attention to her two friends stood down the side of the canteen marquee, she would have seen what she’d been expecting all along. With one hand on her waist and one in Angel’s hair her male friend smiled as he kissed her. A kiss so forward and demanding that they would never be able to air it at dinner time on a Saturday.
Had Katie paid attention ten minutes later she’d have seen the pair of them appear for their dinner hand-in-hand until they picked up their plates. She’d have noticed their feet under the table. And had she turned back to wave goodbye before she got in the car to the castle, she’d have noticed Angel’s head settled on Bradley’s shoulder as they sat in the back of the minivan back to the hotel.
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings/Characters: Angel/Bradley, illusions to Colin/Katie, mentions of all the boys.
Warnings: RPF guys...
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: PG13
Summary: Angel really needs to learn to hang up her phone...
Author Notes: Written for my lovely, lovely friend mustbethursday3 who doesn't think I can win our bet. I'm determined to prove her wrong. And, according to the translator (because I'm SO bad at French) the title means Lake Romance. So there you have it!
My Merlin Prompt Table
The two girls returned to the hotel after the afternoon shoot. A lot of the cast and crew in turn had been in a bad mood during the morning. It was wet, it was windy and it scuppered a lot of the pans that they had had for filming that mornings. They were behind schedule as it was and they couldn’t afford to not shoot due to the time they had left to film the block in France.
Bradley had been in the worst mood out of everybody. There was a lot of pressure on him and Colin filming wise, they did a lot of work at the castle compared to everybody else and the nine month shoot was starting to take its toll on the pair of them. Especially Bradley.
“He’s normally unbearable but he’s just being a bit of a twat now. We get it, he’s got pressure on him, whatever, we all have it. At least all the fans like him.”
“This has turned from actor anger to character popularity in all of a second. I commend you Angel, good job.”
“Well it’s true. And it’s his fault they all call me a hussy anyway.”
“He said it as a joke,” Katie defended, “it’s not his fault that they picked up on it and continued to call you it. And you have to admit, Angel, Gwen is a bit of a hussy.”
“They blame me like it’s my fault. I didn’t write the script.”
“What’s this really about, Angel? You’ve never got het up over stupid reactions before.”
“It’s not about anything. I’m just fed up of his ‘woe is me’ act. We’re all wet. We’re all tired. I could keep going with that if he wasn’t so intent on dragging me down.”
“He does it out of love,” Katie poked with a grin fixed on her face.
“Don’t start that again,” Angel chided.
“You know - the way you argue - people would think you actually cared.”
“Well you’re wrong.”
“Denial is the first sign of addiction.”
“I’m not addicted to Bradley James.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You do a stellar job of hiding it then,” Katie replied patronisingly tapped Angel on the shoulder.
“Don’t start, Katie. I’m not in the mood for your outlandish ideas today.”
“Just invite him out, tell him you love him and the world will be a happier place. It would certainly improve his mood.”
“Like hell it will.”
“So you’re not denying it? You’re in love with him.”
“Katie, I’m not in love with Bradley. He’s annoying and overbearing and awkward and a serious pain in the arse and-“
“You like it.”
“I like it.”
“Well damn, I never thought I’d see the day. Me and Col knew there was something past the in-character eyes. Revel in those kisses a bit too much?” she teased waggling her eyebrows at her shorter friend.
“Katie?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
“Why don’t you just tell him?”
“What give him a call, “Hey Bradley, I love you, bye Bradley?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that.”
“Soooo many things,” but it was too late for Angel. Katie grabbed her bag and swiped her phone from the front pocket. Contacts. B. Bradley. Call, “Katie!”
“It’s ring-ing!” she sing-songed with a grin on her face, “Bradley hi, Angel just wants you to know she loves you,” Angel’s eye’s went wide in shock, “Chillax, I’m joking.” She put it on loud speaker and listened to it ring.
“Hello?” Angel grabbed the phone away from Katie and hit loudspeaker off and held it to her ear, “Angel?”
“Oh hey, err,” Think fast Angel “Katie’s, err, Katie’s organising a Crêperie trip later, she wanted to know if you’re in?” Katie hit her up side the arm with the back of her hand. Angel mouthed obscenities at her. Katie raised her eyebrow at her friend and crossed her arms angrily across her chest.
”Ordinarily I would be, but I don’t know when I’ll be finished,” he sounded downhearted. She knew he was annoyed at her but there wasn’t a lot she could do about it if he wasn’t willing to be flexible. Then again with his filming schedule and how much of a mood he’d been in that morning she was thankful he was declining.
“We were planning until going late anyway” she tried, unsure in herself why she was trying so hard to make him come, “you know what the crazy French are like.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, Aiingel, I thought you actually wanted me there,” What? No. Of course not- Of course she did. Why was he being such an arse about it? It’s Bradley James on default mode. Bring her down, annoy the hell out of her and make her want to smack him upside the head for being such an arse. He was awkward and annoying and there was nothing she could do about it apart from want to cheer him up and shake him vigorously until he saw what was right in front of him.
“Not particularly,” she joked, trying to make light hearted of the situation, “But if you want to come the offer is there.”
”Okay.”
“Bye Bradley.”
”Bye Angel.” she quickly slid her phone shut to hang up. Unbeknownst to her, her phone was having one of its temperamental moods and didn’t disconnect the call. On the other end of the phone still hearing something on the other end of the line Bradley listened. He called out her name but it fell of death ears and she stuck her phone down on the table.
“What the hell was that?” he heard Katie reprimand in the background.
“You forced it on me! What did you expect me to say? Just to lighten you up from the crap mood you’ve been in all day I thought I would tell you I’m in love with you? Think it through Katie. I’m not telling him over the phone.”
“You’re not going to tell him to his face either!”
“And it will stay that way. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“But it will hurt you.”
“I work with him, Katie, every day. He drives me insane but I love him for it. If it didn’t work I wouldn’t know what to do.”
And with that, Bradley hung up.
x
The girls phoned Colin not long after and invited him out to the small Crêperie next to their hotel so Angel’s fad of a story could ring true.
Every five minutes the older female checked her phone, waiting on a text or a call from Bradley to let them know either way. It was boarding on 9:30 if he was coming now he didn’t have much time left. They’d already eaten; their plates were left empty in front of them.
“Angel?” he male Irish friend called, waving his hand in front of her face, “Are you with us?”
“Yeah,” she smiled putting her phone back on the table.
“Really? ‘Cause you did just deny it when Katie said you were in love with Bradley,” he said with a glint in his eye.
She tried to laugh, and frowned, “No, what are you talking about?” she shook her head and laughed again, “That jokes getting old. I’m not in love with him.”
“Shame,” Colin said pausing to take a sip of his wine, “You’d have such gorgeous children.”
“So would you and Katie but you don’t see me pressing her onto you.”
“Katie and I have accepted this fact and should we choose to pursue it we shall in due course,” Katie cracked a smile and laughed at her friends, “However, I wasn’t talking about me and Katie.”
“No, he was talking about me and you,” Angel looked up from the table at Bradley who was doing seldom else but staring at her in such a fashion that he never had before. Out of character at least.
Katie looked between them, neither of them looking at anybody else than the other, “We should go,” she said abandoning a twenty euro note on the table and grabbing Colin by the scruff of his neck; pulling him towards the door.
Bradley didn’t sit down. He started nervously tapping away on the table top still looking at her.
“You missed dinner.”
“Yeah. Had a lot of thinking to do.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
“What about?”
“You, mainly.”
“Why?” she tried laughing it off as a ridiculous notion but the expression on his face stopped her.
“We should talk,” he looked around at the near full restaurant, “Somewhere quieter.”
“Okay,” she agreed leaving another ten euro note on the table and standing. He was awfully close. He paused for a few seconds before he made to move towards the door. He held it open for her and promptly crossed the empty village road towards the lake. She followed not far behind him as he started up the road past the hotel and away from the castle.
She could see the structure in the moonlight. It was stunning even three years in.
They’d explored these roads many times before, and she knew where he was taking her. They used to spend time sitting by the lake down one of the tracks just chatting. It was times like that that Angel realised there was quite a difference between in-front-of-others Bradley and on-your-own Bradley.
He remained a few steps in front of her for a time, until they were in the cover of the trees by the edge of the lake. He was headed for where they’d spent many hours of their time, sitting by the edge of the lake. He waited for Angel to sit beside him.
She really hadn’t prepared for an excursion and was only wearing a thin cardigan to Bradley’s thick hoody. She pulled it around her tighter as she sat herself on the cool woodland floor and looked out over at the lake. The moonlight hit the ripples of water, reflecting in their eyes as they both watched on in silence; neither wanted to break the silence.
But one had to make the first move and he’d been the one to take them there, he had to do it, “I heard what you said.”
“What I said to who?”
“Katie.”
“I’ve said a lot of things to Katie.”
“When you phoned me about tonight,” Angel didn’t reply; she didn’t know what he was getting at. She hadn’t said anything to Katie whilst on the phone to him. He noted her furrowed brow and her unfailing gaze on the lake’s surface, “I think you’d thought you’d hung up,” he said with his hands buried deep in his hoody pocket, his shoulders hunched.
She stopped looking at the lake then as she closed her eyes and bit on the edge of her lip.
Now she knew and worst of all: so did he.
“It would you know.”
“What?”
“Work,” neither was looking at the other, both opting to staring at the other’s distorted reflection in the water.
“You don’t know that.”
“We’d make it,” he extracted his hand from his hoody pocket and it was struck with the chill in the air as he hesitantly reached into her lap and took her hand in his own. Her hand was surprisingly warm given the chill that surrounded them, “I know you didn’t want me to hear. I should have hung up but I couldn’t. Then I heard too much. I thought I’d just ignore it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to,” he openly admitted, still not looking at directly, watching her every move in the water. Her loose hair flickered around her face.
“Bradley...”
He dropped her hand and pushed his own back into his pocket, “Forget it, doesn’t matter,” he sat for a second grinding his teeth, waiting for her to say something, anything. When she remained silent he stood up, brushed himself off and left her sat by the lake. He didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve for this very reason; he always got hurt.
She turned then, looking away from her reflection for the first time since sitting. She called his name but he was already gone; “Nice one Angel,” she rubbed her hand over her face in anger picking up the nearest pebble from the lakeside and throwing into the water causing a satisfying splash. She could run after him but she’d never catch up with him at the pace he’d taken off at.
She’d just have to hope she could find him back at the hotel.
She hadn’t counted on him walking slowly once he got back to the road. She could see his silhouette cast by the moonlight. He was hunched with his hands in his trouser pockets walking back to the hotel like somebody had just kicked his favourite pet; hard.
She thought about calling out to him but he’d only ignore her. She quickened her pace but the gap wasn’t closing, it was like he knew she was there following him and his pace increased with every step she took. She started to run, being the only way she deemed possible to catch him. He wouldn’t be so obvious to leg it away from her in the middle of the French village.
If he had been in-tune to her steps before he wasn’t now. She ran at a deft pace, wearing herself out. She didn’t run on a daily basis like he did. She wasn’t half as fit as he was. She hefted a breath and pulled on his shoulder.
He pulled it back out of her grasp.
“For god’s sake, Bradley, you’re just showing why it’s a really bad idea!”
“What, because you don’t want to admit it can work? Why are you saying something’s doomed before it’s begun? You tell me to stop thinking we’re our characters, it’s your turn, Angel. Give it a chance, that’s all I’m saying,” he said turning away from her again and walking the remaining hundred metres to the hotel leaving Angel watching after him. He looked at her as he opened the door, The ball is in your court.
“Hey Bradley,” Colin smirked as he noticed his friend re-enter the hotel reception. He and Katie had camped out on the sofas waiting for them to return. Bradley ignored them pointedly and carried on straight up the stairs, “Where’s Angel?” Colin said to Katie in a hushed tone, she shrugged only to have his question answered when the hotel door opened again, “She doesn’t look happy.”
“Positively fuming.”
“He wasn’t much better,” Angel looked at the pair of them, without her opening her mouth both of them pointed up and stairs and she nodded in thanks, “Unless it’s all a ploy to throw us off the scent.”
“I’d agree but he’s not that good an actor.”
Angel disappeared quicker than Bradley had up the stairs, bee lining to Bradley’s hotel room and knocked continuously.
Thirty seconds later and her hand was starting to hurt, “Bradley open the door,” nothing, “Look; I’m sorry okay. Can we please talk about this? Bradley?” She carried on knocking until the wood was pull from beneath her knuckles, “Finally.”
“I’m doing it for the good of the people who are trying to sleep,” he said, he sounded tired and worn.
“We need to talk about this.”
“I think you’ve said all you need to. I get it. I thought you wanted this that you thought I didn’t so you didn’t want to say anything so you didn’t look stupid or get hurt. But it’s just the other way around.”
“Would you let me speak?”
“The floor’s all yours.”
“Thank you,” he sat down on the edge of his bed like an audience. She felt like he would start heckling her if she said something he didn’t like, which potentially she could, “What you heard, you shouldn’t have heard.”
“If you don’t want to-“
“Bradley! Let me speak, please!”
“Go on.”
“It’s complicated. We work together. We spend a lot of time together. We’re constantly in each other’s ways. We play characters who are heading for a relationship together. It would be like mixing business with pleasure. I love you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Bit late for that.”
“I don’t want to hurt you more, then. If it went wrong-“
“Why must it be going wrong before it’s been given the chance? We’d be good together, Angel, you know it. Why won’t you just let yourself be happy? Ignore work. Ignore everything to do with Merlin and Arthur and Gwen. What would make you, Angel Coulby, happy?”
“To sleep past 8am on my days off because you or Colin haven’t taken away my ‘do not disturb’ sign?”
“Be serious.”
“I am!” they fell into silence once again, “I don’t know,” she said fiddling with her fingers and looking down at her hands.
“It’s pretty simple, Angel. Either you want it, or you don’t. Tomorrow on the dinner break I’ll be waiting around the right-hand side. If you want it, I’ll see you there. If not, then I guess you made your mind up the other way. I’ve got to be up early tomorrow, and I’d really like to sleep.”
“Right,” her brain couldn’t connect to her mouth, she couldn’t say anything more. Why couldn’t she just settle the ultimatum there and then? No, he wanted to sleep. She couldn’t keep him any longer, “Until tomorrow then.”
x
It couldn’t have been more awkward.
They couldn’t have planned their confrontations at a more inconvenient time. They spent their mornings being film looking at each other across the courtyard as one walked down the cloisters and the other came down the stone steps.
Once the cut-away shots were done they were in the hallways. They had to be professional. They had to act tender and completely in love. Bradley had to thread his fingers into her hair and she had to initiate the kiss for the camera. Luckily for them they didn’t have many lines. Names and nothing else and into the embrace.
“Great work guys. Really feeling it,” the only thing was; Angel didn’t feel like she’d acted her best. The first time on the job she hadn’t gave it her all but nobody knew the difference.
She had her answer. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.
x
The rest of the day dragged. Bradley had been ushered off to the outskirts of the village to film some shots with Colin, Eoin, Santiago and Rupert. Angel was on her own filming in abandoned corridors, running down them then hiding from guards before she ran again.
She needed the break to come.
She couldn’t handle not telling him anymore.
X
Bradley was in his element trotting across the field with the cameras behind them as they rode out of the woods towards the castle. When the cameras stopped rolling he got to mess around with his friends.
He took his mind off everything to do with Angel by throwing himself into his work. Colin threw him a few odd glances every now and again but it wasn’t a big enough problem that he couldn’t just ignore.
It was only when they packed away and headed back to the base camp in the minivan that he started to get a little jittery. He had his iPod in one hand and tapped his knee with the other supposedly in time with the music.
The four ‘knights’ split their separate ways in order to take off their chainmail and armour, leaving Colin to head for the dinner queue to select his vegetarian delight.
Stripped of his costume Bradley tucked his phone into his pocket and headed out to the canteen tent, skipping behind the queue down the side.
Katie saw him go and frowned, choosing to ignore it. It was Bradley James, he was a little bit odd sometimes; you learnt to let these things slide. Until you saw Angel Coulby disappear down the same route without barging you out of the dinner queue first. That’s when you started asking questions, ones she would happily wait for an answer for when she got to have a bigger helping of food because Angel hadn’t gotten there first.
If she’d looked or even paid the slightest bit of attention to her two friends stood down the side of the canteen marquee, she would have seen what she’d been expecting all along. With one hand on her waist and one in Angel’s hair her male friend smiled as he kissed her. A kiss so forward and demanding that they would never be able to air it at dinner time on a Saturday.
Had Katie paid attention ten minutes later she’d have seen the pair of them appear for their dinner hand-in-hand until they picked up their plates. She’d have noticed their feet under the table. And had she turned back to wave goodbye before she got in the car to the castle, she’d have noticed Angel’s head settled on Bradley’s shoulder as they sat in the back of the minivan back to the hotel.