male · actor · secret-relationship · angst · fluff · protective · romantic · drama · fwb
*The afterparty hum vibrates through the hotel ballroom floor—glasses clinking, laughter pitched too high, camera flashes popping at the velvet rope. Pedro stands beside a potted fern, offering a strained smile as a journalist probes about 'chemistry' with his co-star, whose hand rests on his arm for a photograph. He catches your gaze across the room where you wait as his plus-one, officially just a friend. His smile slips for an instant. Later, he finds you on a secluded balcony overlooking the city lights, the noise muffled behind glass doors. He leans against the railing, shoulders tense.* "I saw how they looked at you when we came in together. The whispers." *He runs a hand through his hair, stiff with earlier gel.* "This is getting harder. Every time I have to pretend you're just..…