"Hey, Dorothy. Do you know what's been bothering Chris these past few days?"

The elder woman turned to look at the young actress, flashing her a small yet genuine smile as she shook her head in response. "I'm not too sure, doll. I think he said something about feeling a bit feverish lately. Probably just not feeling too well, which is why he's not as cheery as before."

Naomi nodded lightly, returning the smile as Dorothy scurried off to the other side of the set. Naomi knew that Chris claimed he's been feeling a little feverish these past few days but each time she offered to accompany him to the doctor's, he'd told her it was fine and that he'd monitor himself before deciding to pay the clinic a visit.

Sure, that would seem like a reasonable explanation but her gut was telling her that he's been using this as an excuse ever since they started filming again after she returned from London.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Naomi began debating with herself on whether or not she should make her way towards Chris' trailer or her own. She hasn't been able to have a proper conversation with him ever since filming commenced, save for the minor chit-chats they would both have together with the cast and crew in between takes. But after they've all wrapped up for the day, Chris would scurry off to his trailer without so much as a word to Naomi.

And the thing that had the gears in her mind churning today was the scene they just had together. Their characters---Frank and Bonnie---were having a drink at the town's bar but after one too many drinks, they'd both stumbled back into Frank's home, shared a few kisses before everything turned into regret the next day (well, sort of).

The kissing scene was the hardest to film because Chris kept asking for breaks each time they locked lips with one another, up to the point where the director himself went to check on him to see what was really bothering him.

It couldn't possibly be the so called 'fever' he was having.

Pursing her lips, Naomi forced herself to rid her mind of the thoughts and decided against seeing him in his trailer tonight since the weekend was fast-approaching. She could surprise him on Saturday and get him to have breakfast or something with her before discreetly slipping the question into their conversation.

. . . . . .

Boston, Massachusetts

"Uncle Chris, you're back!"

Dropping his hand luggage on the oak-coloured wooden floor, Chris knelt down and scooped his nephew into his arms before his niece came barreling into the living room, snaking her tiny arms around his right leg. A smile broke out on his face as he hugged his nephew close to him while his right hand rested atop his niece's head, relishing in the comfort of their hugs because God knows he needed them.

"Chris?"

"When did you get back?!"

"What the h---"

"Don't even think about swearing in front of the children, Scott!"

A chuckle inadvertently slipped past Chris' lips, his chest lightly rumbling with laughter as he gently set his nephew down on the ground before giving his niece a proper hug. Dodger was nowhere in sight so Chris assumed he was out for his daily walk with his dad.

"Aren't you supposed to be wrapping up on filming? Why are you home so soon?" Chris' mother asked, undoing the knot on her apron as she moved to give her son a hug. She could tell something was wrong because whenever Chris came home unannounced, he'd come barreling through the front door with a smile as bright as the sun, his arm wide open for his niece and nephew to run into.

But this time, there was none of it.

"Is Naomi here, Uncle Chris?" his niece asked sweetly, tugging on the sleeve of his sweater as she peered behind him to see if Naomi was secretly hiding in the garden to surprise them.

Chris felt his breath hitch in his throat at the mere mention of her name but was quick to throw on a façade that his brother, sisters and mother caught on to. Chris shook his head in response, a small smile playing on his lips as he apologized to his niece. "Naomi's still in Georgia, peanut."

Carly shot Scott a worried look while Shanna pursed her lips, her eyes softening at the sight of her brother who looked as though he'd just gone through hell and back. His five-year old niece pouted as she swayed from side to side, "B-but why isn't she with you? Isn't she your girlfriend?"

Girlfriend, he thought sadly. He wished she was.

Just as Chris was about to answer her question, Shanna interjected by ushering the little one upstairs. "Come on now, peanut. It's time for your nap---"

"But I don't wanna nap---"

"Nap, now."

Chris shot his sister a grateful look before kissing his niece on her forehead, nudging her to go upstairs to take a short nap before dinner was ready. His nephew was also ushered upstairs by his sister, leaving Chris alone with Carly, Scott, and their mother in the living room. Chris---knowing he'd crack under the sympathetic look they had on their faces---looked away in embarrassment, brushing his nose with the back of his hand every now and then as tears threatened to cloud his vision.

"I'm, uh. . . gonna go upstairs and take a shower, okay?" Chris spoke up after a while, breaking the silence that had draped over the family like a thick blanket.

"Sure, honey," his mother replied, her voice soft and sweet as she offered him a smile. Chris nodded in response, picking his luggage off the ground before shuffling past his siblings who were standing by the doorway.

Just as Chris was starting to unpack some of the things he'd brought along with him, his phone vibrated against the hard wood of his bedside table and without a second thought, he swiped it off the surface and nearly had the wind knocked out of him when his eyes landed on the name of the sender.

New message from Naomi:
chris, are you home?
✓ READ

New message from Chris:
i'm actually in boston right now. why? what's wrong?
✓ READ

New message from Naomi:
oh. . . i didn't know you'd flown back home.
sorry if i'm bothering you. x
✓ READ

New message from Chris:
is something wrong? are you okay?
✓ READ

New message from Naomi:
no, no. everything's fine!
just wanted to see if you'd like to grab dinner later but that's alright. we can maybe get dinner together when you get back to georgia, if that's okay with you?
✓ READ

If that's okay with you? If that's okay with you?

It would have been more than okay with him if he hadn't learned about her supposed fling with Ben or the fact that these two were probably already in love with one another for God knows how long.

It would have been more than okay with him if she had just let him love her with all his heart.

It would have been more than okay with him if she'd love him the same way he did her.

But this wasn't a movie. This wasn't some made up fairytale where Prince Charming would inevitably end up with Cinderella, despite all the hardships they had to endure. This wasn't a book where the author would champion for his or her main lead to get together with his or her love interest, no matter the odds.

This was reality.

This was the harsh truth.

This was the harsh reality of an unrequited love, and he knew he had to swallow it.

New message from Chris:
sure. i'll text you and let you know.
✓ DELIVERED

Rereading the texts they'd exchanged one last time, Chris screwed his eyes shut, locked his phone and casted it aside on the bed before burying his face in his hands. The distance he'd put between them was tearing him apart from the inside out but he knew he had to do this, to save himself from embarrassment, to save himself from a gut-wrenching heartbreak.

. . . . . .

As soon as the Evans family were done with dinner, Chris was the first to rise from his seat to help his mum out with the dishes but the second he started collecting the used plates and cutleries, his ten-year old nephew tugged furiously on the hem of his sweater and practically pulled him away---with all his little might---from the table and towards their front porch, not even allowing the poor guy to grab a drink from the fridge first.

"Woah, buddy," Chris chuckled at his nephew with an amused look plastered on his face. "Slow down now, otherwise you're gonna tear my arm off."

"I need to ask you something, Uncle Chris. . . " the little boy muttered, coming to a halt before crouching down on the porch as he began to tug on his shoelaces.

Chris frowned at his nephew's nervous tic, reaching out to ruffle his hair a little to draw his attention towards him. "What seems to bothering you, bud?"

The little boy nervously bit the inside of his cheek at the sound of his uncle's question as he continued to aimlessly tug on his shoelaces. "Well. . . there's this girl in my class. . . " he trailed off as Chris listened to his nephew attentively, nudging him to go on. "And she, uh, well. . . she's really pretty but I don't. . . I don't---"

"You don't know if she likes you," Chris softly said, finishing his sentence for him as he earned a small and shy nod from his nephew. Chris chuckled lightly, studying the little one before averting his gaze to the velvet sky that was spread out above them.

"When did you know that Naomi liked you?"

Chris sucked in a harsh breath, tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip as he furrowed his eyebrows and let out a pained chuckle, one that his nephew didn't seem to notice, thankfully. "I, uh, I didn't," he answered, earning a confused look from the ten-year old.

"B-but if you don't know when Naomi liked you then how am I gonna know if Greta likes me?" the little one whined. "You have to tell me your secret, Uncle Chris!"

"Well, you could, uh," Chris started, tilting his head a little as he tried to rack his brain for a solution, "you could always write her a note. You could ask her, in the note, if she likes you and put two checkboxes at the bottom; one 'yes' and one 'no'. Pass it to her and wait for her reply."

The ten-year old furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and cocked his head a little as he turned to his uncle. "Can I ask her if she loves me then?" Chris' eyes widened at his nephew's question, a hint of amusement dancing in the blue of his eyes. "Because there's this boy in my class, Nate, and he says he loves this other girl in my class, Indie---"

"Bud, you're too young for love," Chris interrupted, chuckling as he pulled his nephew close to him, both of them now gazing at the sky. "You usually start off by liking the other person," he explained slowly.

"Loving someone. . . well, loving someone is a little more complex than liking someone. Love has more depth, meaning and complexity as compared to taking a liking in someone, you know? It's anytime more complicated than just having a crush or liking them. There are always. . ." he trailed off, "these. . . signs, you know? I'd---I'd call it. . . 'first signs' of love. There are always these first signs of love when you begin to genuinely love someone but the thing is, you won't know you love them until you start noticing these signs, and it could take forever before you figure them out."

Once again, the little one furrowed his eyebrows and jabbed his uncle with his index finger to pull him out of his daze. "So, what are the first signs of love?"

"Well," Chris said, shuffling a little on the porch as his nephew peered at him, awaiting his answer, "one of them is when your heart starts beating uncontrollably in front of the person you admire dearly and deeply---"

"I'm telling you, Chris," Sebastian sighed over the phone for the umpteenth time. "You need to man up and tell her how you really feel. Nobody would just suddenly feel drawn towards one another and have this mutual feeling of wanting to kiss each other---"

"We're not even sure if she really wanted that kiss to happen," Chris interjected as he flashed the studio guards a genuine smile before walking past the gates. "Plus, everything's good between us now and I don't want to ruin that---"

"Declaring your undying love for her isn't going to ruin anything, Evans! Keeping your mouth shut and locking your feelings away like they mean absolutely nothing will," Sebastian pressed on. "Come on, what's stopping you? Are you not sure of your feelings toward her or something?"

Pushing past the double doors of the set, Chris waved and smiled at the crew members who were already present. "I'm pretty sure I know how I feel towards her," he replied in a hushed whisper.

"Then, what's stopping you?"

Just as Chris was about to give his friend an honest answer, a sweet giggle erupted from the other end of the set, causing Chris to crane his neck a little to see who it was.

As he neared Naomi's trailer with a cup of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, he felt his heart begin to race at the sight of Naomi dashing out from behind her trailer with little Mckenna Grace and Octavia in tow, bright smiles plastered on their faces.

He knew they were playing 'Tag', what with Mckenna having her hand outstretched as Naomi ran around the set. Seeing her on a daily basis was the highlight of his day and he knew, he knew it deep down that he was falling for her already.

"Chris is right there! Tag him!"

"And the other?" His nephew quizzed, reeling him away from one of his many memories.

Chris pursed his lips for a moment, hesitating a little before he finished his sentence, "---and the other is when you find yourself hurting over them because love isn't all sunshine and rainbows," Chris softly admitted, struggling to maintain his composure. "But the thing is. . . even when you're hurting, you still love 'em with all your heart."

---
a/n; the end

lmao jk this isn't the end 'cause we still have around 10 chapters go :-) maybe more, maybe less :-)