HA! :D

[bluetears07]

Disclaimer: Ever so sorry boys…the stuff in here never happened.
Series: Preordained
Paring: Sean A./Elijah
Summary: AU: Some things are just meant to happen while others are simply ripples off of one small mistake that change us forever. (Read AU Description, and also AN; behind cut)
AU Description: Same as before. (Refer to the “Prologue’s” AN for information mentioned previously.)
Rating: R (over-all) Chapter Twenty-Six: PG
AN: :( Please don’t hurt me.
Guide: ‘Thoughts’
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Preordained

Chapter Twenty-Six: Walking The Red Carpet:
Part Two: Main Event

It was surreal.

Elijah may have been to scores of premieres and film openings, even a few indie film festivals, but the mundane continuity of the entire process had long since taken the intoxicating glitz and glamour out of the whole event. He quickly became disillusioned when he realized it was a rare occurrence that a member of the press, all jockeying for a closer position to bombard the stars with inquiries, would ask him, or any other actor, a question of real merit. The only thing the ‘journalists’ were interested in was something ‘juicy’ and frivolous to slap on the cover of some mass-produced teen rag to up their sales. And of course there was the constant flicker of camera flashes going off. The split-second burst of light always did a number on his retinas, which were already oversensitive from the contacts his agent was forcing him to wear for the sake of aesthetics in place of his much-preferred glasses. The quintessential hallmark of Hollywood: aesthetics.

However, like with any dream, faded from overindulgence and disenchantment, everything came back in blazing Technicolor when the young man saw it through fresh eyes; the vision of a true dreamer. A homecoming trip back to Oz after waking up in sepia-tone Kansas. The warm body beside him, humming with a tangible excitement and bottled-up, anxious energy, brought the old-time sparkle and shine back to the vibrant red velvet carpet rolled out especially for them.

“Ready, Sean?” Soft lips brushed lightly against the sensitive shell of Sean’s ear as he felt Elijah lace their fingers together in a tight clasp. A bit of the visible tension that had been coiling the muscles of Sean’s neck tighter and tighter ever since picking up Alexandra began to drain from the writer’s body. Drawing in a deep breath, Sean held the oxygen trapped in his lungs until they burned. Slowly, he let the air pour from his lips in a single, fluid rush. Shoulders slumped, he finally relaxed, lulled into a tranquil state by the familiar touch of tapered fingers carding carelessly through the strands of hair and curved lips against his flesh.

“Think so.” He murmured, gaze fixed straight ahead, before taking another deep breath. With a gentle pressure, Sean tightened his grip, a short squeeze punctuating the gesture, and pressed their entwined hands against the gap of stiff leather separating them. He glanced over at Elijah. “Yes.” The constant thrumming pulse of blood, pounding deafeningly in his ears, dropped several decimals, fading into the background. The sound was replaced by the disconnected resonance of his own voice while Elijah shifted closer. A short kiss was pressed against his temple.

Elijah heard the muffled giggles coming from the other side of Sean as Alexandra caught a glimpse of the display of affection. Mimicking Elijah, she placed a dainty kiss on Sean’s cheek before settling back down in her seat and trying her best to focus on what her father was saying. The young man heard only fragmented bits and pieces of the instructions Sean was giving his daughter. She must stay close to himself and to her mother, Christine, once the time came that evening when she would be with Chris for the remainder of the night. And of course, reiterating the pivotal instruction that not under any circumstance should she to let go of his hand. All the while, she kept glancing distractedly out of the tinted windows of the limousine, entranced by the beautiful succession of flashing camera bulbs. With a muted expression of awe, she watched the brilliant light bounce off the sleek body of the car, reflecting back to illuminate the crowd. She glanced over at the young actor’s face, wide-eyed, and smiled in naïve wonderment.

Everything slowed to half-speed, almost coming to a grinding halt before Elijah’s very eyes.

The car door was gingerly being pulled open by a valet in a dark suit. Sean glanced over at Elijah with a smile slowly spreading across his lips; the soft skin pulling back to expose blunt teeth and highlight the faint laugh lines at the corners of his mouth. Hazel eyes glinted with a brilliant sheen of exhilaration that Elijah had not seen in Sean’s eyes for a very long time. Transfixed and unable to move from where he sat in the backseat of the limo, the young actor watched, lips parted and eyes wide, as father and daughter stepped out of the elegant car in one fluid motion. He saw little Alexandra startle for a single instant, stepping out of the pathway of the blinking cameras to hide behind her father’s back before cautiously peeking out at the throng of media personal. The wheels were spinning overtime in her mind and, finally making her decision rather quickly, she jumped right back into the limelight without a second thought.

Another brilliant flashbulb went off, blinding Elijah for a moment, and before he could process what happened next, the limousine door was being slammed shut behind him by the valet and he was standing at the beginning of an endless strip of red, leading the way into the movie theater. From where they stood on the outskirts of the pulsating crowd, the couple could just barely see a third of the way down the carpet before the group got denser; beyond that was a sea of bobbing heads and indistinguishable moving bodies. However, a mass of costars and crewmembers that had already been caught by the ‘on-location’ swarm of interviewers from entertainment television shows and international networks made up majority of the clot that happened to be closest to them.

Sean’s hand pressed comfortably against the small of Elijah’s back, molding to the curve of fabric and cool, pale skin beneath, never letting him stray more than an arm's length away. On Sean’s opposite side, her little mitt securely clasping his hand, was the bouncing ball of energy, just waiting for her chance to shine in the spotlight. Another round of camera flashes went off. Elijah could not stifle the laugh that slipped through his lips as he noticed Ally’s eyes light up upon seeing the infamous couple of troublemakers, Dom and Billy, standing on the edge of the group waiting for them. Dragged along by Alexandra’s surprisingly strong grip on Sean’s hand, both men followed her lead and made a beeline for the familiar faces. As soon as they were within a foot of the group, they found themselves being pulled into the very heart of the cluster, bombarded on all sides with hugs, sloppy kisses and the first sincere congratulations of the night.

“Good to see ya back in the states, mate.” Dom laughed, grabbing a startled Elijah and throwing an arm around his neck. He pulled him close, planting an overzealous kiss to the side of his head. The warm presence of Sean’s hand against his back slipped away as Dominic tugged Elijah’s small frame into a proper hug while Ally pulled Sean’s attention in the other direction, towards Orlando. A quiet whimper died in his throat at the unexpected loss of contact between himself and Sean. However, the sound quickly morphed into a subdued reply from Elijah of, “missed you too, Dom.” Practically bouncing in place as soon as he released Elijah from his death grip, Dominic continued with a grin plastered on his face to rival that of the Cheshire cat’s. “We’ve all been missing those infamous baby blues around here, Lij.” The raw energy radiating from his friend seemed to fuel his own suddenly depleted resources, managing to draw up the corners of his lips in a small smile. Elijah played up the expression of loathing and disgust twisting his features while he hastily wiped the side of his face where Dom had kissed him. As he silently teased his friend for the display of unbridled enthusiasm, Elijah’s eyes remained fixed on Sean, now standing only a little ways away with Alexandra, the young girl speaking to an entranced Billy with the same animated fervency as her father. “Of course,” Dom began, his eyes closely following Elijah’s gaze. “Some of us gents more than others,” he whispered, worrying his lower lip and stuffing his hands in the loose pockets of his dress pants. The half-hearted smile faltered for a moment.

“I know,” he murmured, more to himself than in response to Dominic’s statement.

“A-aha,” the actor stuttered anxiously, noticing the unintentional affect his words had had on Elijah’s temperament. Pulling his hand out of his pocket, Dom snapped his fingers as a grin lit up his face; he knew exactly what to say to bring back Elijah’s naturally cheerful disposition. “But,” Dom began loudly, throwing an arm around his friend’s thin shoulders as he poked Elijah’s chest to emphasize he word. “You’re back now, and order has once again been restored to the jungle.”

“I think all the pretty flashing lights have gone to your bleached blond head, Mr. Monaghan.” Elijah laughed, playfully shoving Dominic away. Thankfully, the reminder that he was back home and Sean was only a few feet away brought the smile back full force as two men started to cross the short distance separating them from where Sean, Alexandra and Billy stood conversing. As they stepped closer, Sean’s gaze met Elijah’s and smiled. Warmth unlike anything Elijah had ever felt before sprinted up and down his spine, heating his blood and flushing his cheeks.

“Lijah!” A distinctly feminine voice called out his name, rooting him to the spot where he stood. He tore his eyes away from Sean’s, not moving, startling Dominic with the abrupt halt in motion. Elijah quickly spun around and was instantly greeted with the familiar sight of unnatural tangerine hair that was at the moment carefully pulled back into a strategically messy bun with accompanying chopsticks to secure the brilliantly colored strands.

“Hey, Julia,” Elijah replied with a huge lopsided grin as she caught up to the actor and enveloped him in her arms. She gave him a short little squeeze before letting him go and stepping back in order to give his classic outfit a thorough once-over. “I’ll be there in a sec, okay?” He said, turning his head towards Dominic as the other man nodded before going on ahead.

“I see that you made it back in time to get yourself cleaned up rather nicely, Mr. Wood.” Julia commented finally, nudging Elijah in the side with a playful smirk pulling at her painted lips. Running a few finger over the dark, expensive material of the suit coat’s finely shaped lapel, she smiled to herself. After hearing her friend, Marie, the film’s costume designer, complain for almost a month straight about the agony of having to wait for Sean to make up his mind and pick a fabric, she finally got the chance to see the finished product on the warm body it had been made specifically for. She knew exactly the needless amount of time Sean had spent obsessing over the perfect material to use for the embellishments and chic trimmings that were to be added on the old suit coat Elijah would be wearing for the film’s world premiere.

“You too.” The young man replied, motioning to her little black dress with the hem cut high above her knees to bring attention to the nearly thigh-high boots she was also wearing.

“What, you mean this old thing?” Julia said in a falsetto with a smirk, waving her hand in a mock dismissive gesture, meaning to brush off the compliment with a leisurely flick of her wrist. “Actually,” leaning in, she cupped her hand around Elijah’s ear, the sound of her metallic bracelets chinking together reverberating rather loudly in his head for a split second before he could focus on her voice. “Orli had it already picked out by the time he picked me up at the airport.” She whispered, with a conspiratorial undertone curbing the obvious amusement in her voice.

“Don’t worry about it, Jules,” he said placing a comforting hand on Julia’s shoulder, a good-natured laugh lacing his words as he glanced over at his writer. “Sean had this all ready for me at the airport too,” Elijah replied before pausing to consider the possible implications his simple statement made; the offhanded reference to the similarity between his own relationship with Sean and Orlando and Julia’s. However, despite the fact she had yet to say anything out-and-out concerning the suspiciously close relationship between the costars, Elijah was sure she already knew; she had to after their conversation on the long plane ride.

He did nothing to retract or amended the statement.

Something inside shifted; he felt a little lighter than he had since the first time had met Christine face-to-face.

“Hey Jules, come here,” Orlando’s distinct accent somehow managed to carry over the fluctuating noise of the crowd, waving his arms around in a strange attempt to get Julia’s attention. Staring at her boyfriend for a moment, biting her lip hard to hold back the snicker of laughter dancing in her eyes, she and Elijah could just barely make out his voice saying something about her “wearing the most fabulous, yet stunningly simple black, spaghetti strap Dolce and Gabbana dress and matching short coat.” A faint blush heated Julia’s cheeks, tinting them a light pink beneath the rouge.

“Oh,” she murmured, perplexed, watching as her boyfriend begin describing, rather articulately and in very fine detail, how perfect her little black dress suited her body type, as well as the accompany locks of orange hair. She could almost hear the echelons of squealing fangirls going nuts over Orlando’s refined taste in the hottest designer fashions. “Sorry, Lij, got to go, fashion calls…and, well, he gets a little fussy when I’m not there…” Julia said, moving to follow Orlando off for a short interview with some brunette from Access Hollywood. As she turned, she glanced over the young man’s shoulder to where Sean was holding Ally’s hand as she spoke to Dominic, who had kneeled down to be at her level. Billy, of course, was chatting with Sean about his rather obvious choice and preference to wear a traditional kilt to the film premier despite the strong chance of a nice summer breeze that evening. Pausing for a moment, she noticed Elijah’s eyes once again drifting over to where Sean still stood with his daughter.

“Hey,” she murmured, gently placing her hand on Elijah’s shoulder as he had done for her only a few moments ago, drawing his attention back to her. “He looks better than he has in a long time.” In her eyes and smile, Elijah could see the smattering of bittersweet melancholy that had been twisting her expressions every time he had inquired about Sean’s health during the plane ride begin to ebb and fade away.

“Jules!” Orlando called again with a pained expression, motioning frantically for her to come to him. She made a face, rolling her eyes and sighing dramatically, knowing she would give in to him sooner or later.

“See you later,” Elijah laughed, giving her another short hug before letting her slip away.

“Yeah, later, Lij,” she said, wiggling her ringed fingers and disappearing back into the sea of people, blending in flawlessly with her black dress, but sticking out like a sore thumb thanks to the shock of orange hair. With a smile still playing upon his lips, Elijah turned his attention back to the spot where the filmmaker had been standing chatting with anyone and everyone who would listen for the past quarter of an hour. Elijah began to make his way through the crowd. Politely as possible, showing his remorse by gently touching someone’s shoulder or holding their gaze long enough for them to see the earnest regret, Elijah had to excuse himself several times for having to cut conversations short after bumping into Anne and several ladies from the make-up crew. After nearly ten minutes of wading through groups of people, Elijah managed to reach the open section of carpet where Sean stood waiting for him with a bright-eyed Alexandra balanced on his hip.

“Hey,” Sean said, gently hooking his fingers around the back of Elijah’s neck. The metallic snapping of a thousand fluttering shutters working overtime dominated his senses as the young men felt a slight tug on his body, pulling him towards Sean. A flashbulb sent out a vibrant flicker of white light across the moving crowd as the cameramen all zoomed in on the couple. Short hairs at the nape of Elijah’s neck stood on end as he felt warm lips press against his cheek.

Completely unexpected.

Simple.

Sweet.

Sean.

Synapses fried; completely overloaded, sparking uselessly as they tried to fire the unintelligible thought waves through his brain. Elijah felt his every last nerve-ending short-circuit until all he could feel was the ghosting of warm breath against his skin as Sean pulled away from him. As soon as he regained coherent thought long enough to remember that Sean had spoken to him, he replied with a breathless, “Hey.” The warm hand glided down the soft material of Elijah’s suit coat, idly fingering the cuff for a moment before linking their fingers together. Brushing past several costars being interview, Sean was caught off-guard when a high voice practically cooed his name.

“Oh, oh, Mr. Astin!” A thin-wristed hand, weighted down by several gaudy rings and a mass of copper bangles, shot out from the jostling crowd of press members. The hand clamped down on Sean’s shoulder, gripping rather tightly judging by the way her knuckles paled to a sickeningly white hue. Fake acrylic nails, painted a violent red hue, dug into his tailored suit coat, tearing slightly at the expensive fabric as the woman dragged the writer closer to where she stood. She looked emaciated and skeletal, and Elijah was quite frankly surprised by the secret cache of strength she must have had to catch and control his writer, but then again something in the back of his mind reminded him that Sean looked lighter than he had ever seen him.

“Sean, no,” Elijah tugged anxiously on the writer’s hand, trying to whisper something of a warning in his ear about what network the woman was representing, but Sean was immediately roped in by the woman’s quasi-intellectual question. The writer’s entire demeanor changed as soon as he heard the woman’s inquiry. It had been something about the conversion from an ‘artfully written piece of literature to more visual-based screenplay’ and his struggle with doing so. Sighing, Elijah gave in as soon as he saw the old glimmer from back when Elijah had first meet Sean exuded from his entire being as he began to describe the process and the challenges he faced.

A few minutes into the interview, Elijah felt the familiar sensation of slightly callused fingertips rubbing tiny circles into the tense muscles on the side of his neck. He unconsciously leaned a fraction of an inch into the calming touch. Nothing but an idle caress, so casual in its intimacy despite the obvious camera focusing its lens upon them, which made the actor unsure if Sean realized he was even doing it. However, as soon as the action registered in Elijah’s mind as something Sean should probably not be doing on television right before the premiere of his first film, the interviewer caught the infinitesimal flinch. Something glinted in her eye as she began her next question, this time directing it towards, “that sweet, little Elijah Wood.”

“So,” the woman began with a blatantly suggestive drawl that sent off warning signals and red flags in Elijah’s mind. Elijah, and he was pretty sure Sean as well, knew exactly what the interviewer was about to hit upon. “I hear you two have a pretty intense scene together,” she paused, thankfully using a euphemism for Alexandra’s sake. But to make up for it, she emphasized the suggestive cocking of an eyebrow for the camera’s sake as she grinned at the two men with an obvious leer. Red lips pulled back against gleaming teeth as she smiled, waiting patiently for the answer. Sean glanced over at the younger man beside him with a sly grin tugging at the corners of his lips. Something had gotten into the other man, and Elijah could not deny that he was very intrigued by his behavior. Neither said a single word. “Well?” She pressed anxiously, widening her eyes, the silent gesture imploring them to divulge the secret.

“Jennifer,” Elijah began with a teasing grin that matched Sean’s flawlessly. “You’ll just have to wait and see the movie for yourself.” The tone he used implying that the statement was probably one of the most obvious things in the world at the moment. “I can’t go spoiling all the fun right now, can I?” He added, winking at her with a brazenly sexual overtone to his actions. On that note of intrigue, sure the hint would pull certain men and women to the box office, Elijah made the decision that the short interview was over, and found his chance for an exit. A quick goodbye and thank you exchanged, the young actor was pulling Sean and Ally with him away from the rest of the reporters waiting to shower them with more questions concerning ‘their scene.’

‘Let them see it for themselves,’ Elijah thought as colors began to swim before his eyes, all blurring together, pouring into one another as they made their dizzying way down the remaining strip of carpet. Finally, they reached the entrance to large theater, where Christine stood, accompanied by Viggo.

“Mom,” a yelp of excitement echoed over the crowd, much like Orlando’s voice had carried before when calling for his girlfriend’s attention. The ball of blonde curls managed to wiggle her way out of Sean’s grip and sprinted over to Christine, dodging and surprising several crewmembers in the process.

“Hey sweetie,” Chris murmured into the blonde strands of hair, scooping her daughter up into her arms as the little girl wrapped herself around her mother. Picking her up, holding the small body against her waist as Sean had done, Christine turned to speak with her ex-husband. She already knew exactly what was on the top of his neurosis’ list and was already prepared to respond.

“Chris, you know-” Sean began nervously before being cut off by Christine’s soothing voice.

“I know, Sean-don’t worry, I’ll cover her eyes and ears during those scenes.” Carefully, Christine masked the twinge of pain that swam just below the surface of her eyes. She gave him a small smile, the one she knew would tell him without words that no matter what she would protect their daughter. “Everything will be fine.” Placing a delicate hand on his forearm, she made plans with Sean to drop Alexandra back off at the house on Monday at some time around five o’clock.

“We’ll see you on Monday, okay All?.” Sean said, speaking for both himself and Elijah, giving his daughter one last kiss on the forehead, smoothing her blond curls down as he did so. The two men began walking into the theater after Sean gave Viggo a quick congratulations on his amazing work on cinematography.

“Elijah;” for the first time, Elijah was at a loss; he could not pinpoint what emotion, or combination of feelings, was causing Christine’s naturally beautiful voice to sound so odd in his ears. A hand cautiously pressed against his arm; Christine had never, ever touched him before. He could feel her hand trembling against his bicep. “Can I talk to you?” Christine requested, placing Alexandra back on the carpeted ground, nudging her back towards her father. Glancing over at Sean, Elijah furrowed his brow in uncertainty, but was only met by the mystified glaze fogging over Sean’s hazel eyes. She pulled the young man away from the small group, just out of earshot.

“Listen, Elijah,” Christine paused for a moment, worrying one side of her lower lip as he glanced away from the young man’s face. Wringing her hands, fiddling with the thin strap of a champagne-colored purse that matched her tastefully simple dress of the same hue, she glanced up with remorse contorting her once smiling face. “I-I,” she stumbled over her words before taking a deep breath and regaining her composure. “I understand now, and…I’m sorry…f-for everything.”

‘You’re not in Prague anymore, young man.’

The bottom of Elijah world had definitely fallen out from under him.

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For such a prestigious venue, the aisles were cramped; this was so that more people and members of the press could sit in on the film, and the seats felt as if they had recently been stuffed with something similar to foam core. Sean strategically chose the aisle seat of the very last row in the house. By his side was an excited Elijah, looking nearly ethereal in his suit, his pale skin glowing with warmth. However, Elijah’s presence and the condition of the seats and the logistics of the theater made no difference to the overwhelming anxiety that washed over Sean as soon as the lights dimmed. The dark appeared to provide cover, yet at the same time only helped to expose himself in a nearly thirty-foot tall replica for all to see and judge. A cool sheen of sweat was gathering in the basin of his palm as he restlessly rubbed at the tense muscles with the callused pad of his thumb. Sucking in the side of his cheek, Sean compulsively chewed at the unusually dry skin.

The calm music trickled out of the expensive surround-sound speakers embedded in every wall as the screen faded from an incandescent silver tone to black. His heart started hammering against his chest. A thousand possible ‘what ifs’ began racing through his mind as the production company’s name flashed upon the screen. There were so many ways he could have fallen flat on his face, missed something crucial for something unnecessary in the storyline. So many little details readers might cherish above the story as a whole.

Had his breathing always been this loud?

Sean knew the order of the opening credits by heart, and he had precious little time before his name would be forever attached in the public eye to the film. The carefully chosen melody of the score built into a spiraling crescendo as the final letter of the last name before his own faded from the screen. His breath caught in his throat, eyes zeroed in on the scrawling script fading into focus in the very center of the larger than life theater screen. Written in an elegant off-white font, the color magnified ten-fold as it was set against a flawless pitch-black background was I name; directed, screenplay written by and based on the novel by Sean Astin.

His stomach churned and he suddenly felt ill. But he fended it off long enough, past Orlando and Anne to finally Elijah Wood.

As soon as Elijah’s name had morphed into Dominic’s, Sean silently slipped out of the theater. In the back of his mind, he could feel Elijah following him silently towards the bathroom, offering only his presence as comfort. After knowing Sean for quite some time, the young man had realized it was best to wait for the writer to speak first, which he eventually did after emptying the nonexistent contents of his stomach with a series of painful dry heaves.

“What,” he stumbled over the short word as he tried to catch his breath, an abrupt rush of air filling his lungs and clipping the syllable short. Elijah propped himself up on the countertop where the sinks lay embedded in the marble slab. Running his hand under the stainless steel spigot, Sean splashed his face with a handful of water before attempting to continue speaking. A tiny bead of cool water, warmed to a more temperate degree by the flush blooming just beneath Sean’s skin, trailed down the sharper than usual line of his jaw before slipping beneath the pristine collar of his tuxedo. The delicate fabric of his cuffs were stained a darker color than before, damp from splashes of water. “What if they hate it?” He turned to stare at Elijah, hazel eyes wide and scared. “What if I completely fucked up the translation?” Sean swearing was definitely not a good sign.

“Sean, listen to me,” Elijah whispered in a soothing voice as he slipped off the cold surface of the countertop. Pressing his forehead against Sean’s, tapered fingers tangled themselves in the short, soft hairs at the nape of the writer’s neck, a thumb soothing over the thrumming pulse working overtime. “They’re still your words.” A soft kiss against trembling lips. “They’re your characters, and you’re the only one who knows them inside and out.” Pulling back, he looked into Sean’s eyes, pouring ever ounce of conviction left in his body into his eyes. “Anyone else would have fucked it up.” The writer gave him a halfhearted grin, closing the distance between them once more, pressing a lingering kiss to Elijah’s flushed lips. “Come on,” Elijah teased, brushing away the hairs from Sean’s face. “Don’t you wanna go see us flirt on the big screen? I promise it’ll be hot.” A broken laugh bounced off the bathroom’s titled walls as the younger man pulled Sean back into his reality.

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AN: Hugs and kisses for empressaurelius. Thank you for still beta reading. *hugs tight*