chapter ✷ two
ˋ southern texas sunset ˋ

the crew had moved to the bedroom, RJ had the camera sat on his shoulder as Lorraine stood behind him, boom mic overhead as Bobby-Lynne and Jackson began to fervently go at it.
loud moaning and the bed rocking created a disturbance throughout the boarding house,
nearly driving the others insane as Bobby-Lynne's moans grew in volume.
"sometimes I think she's a little theatrical... y'know, for Jackson's sake." Dallas remarked, shaking her head as she felt the reverberation of the rocking bed frame under her feet. "actually..." Jake chimes in, Dallas looks at him confused, eyebrows raised.
"Really?" she questioned, Jake nodded his head,
"one time, I walked in on him changing... easily eight and a half." he spread his hands, mimicking the size. Dallas stifled a laugh, "you're kidding!"
"not at all! honestly, even I was kind of surprised!" Jake admitted.

"I'm gonna head out for a minute, 'kay?" Maxine informed Dallas as she walked by, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek, "okay, be safe, I'll go let Wayne know." Dallas said goodbye to her as she began to walk out the door, "and, uh, if you're not back in an hour, we'll send a search team for you." Dallas gently reminded her, disgusting her worry through a joke. she truly didn't trust Howard, he came off odd to her, and the way he'd been looking at Maxine just added more fear to the situation. Maxine waved Dallas's worry off, laughing as she exited the house, closing the door behind her.

almost an entire day passed as the sun began to set in southern Texas, meanwhile, Jake's boyfriend, Ryan, began to grow antsy when he hadn't heard from Jake in a while, so he decided to take manners into his own hands and drive up to the entertainment bar to see if he could find Jake.

he arrived at the bar, pulled into the gravel lot, and got out of his car. As he looked around, he noticed that the travel van wasn't in its usual spot, nor was it anywhere to be found in the parking lot.
Ryan found this odd but assumed the group had gone on a last-minute getaway for a new project, which was the closest conclusion to the truth.

he grabbed ahold of the doorknob and twisted it, the door opened with a creak, revealing a dark interior, not a single light on the inside apart from a faint yellow glow a couple of rooms over.

"Jake?" he called out, inching closer Into the hallway, barely breaching the doorway before a figure poked its head out of the dimly lit room.
"Hello?" the figure answered, Ryan was unable to discern a face in the darkness, "H-Hey man, I'm looking for Jake, Jake Rosemary?" Ryan asked,
"Ah, I see. You must be Ryan." The person assumed, taking a few steps closer to Ryan.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Ryan was surprised, wondering how this person knew his name, "Jake, he uh, talks about you all the time." He snickered.
As the person approached, Ryan was able to see his face, Dark hair, and eyes, he looked kind but you could tell he probably had a dark secret or two.

"I'm Evan Hayworth — Jake's manager." Evan stuck his hand out for Ryan to shake, which he did, "Oh, and Jake is away — work business... surely you understand?" Ryan was confused, wondering why Jake hadn't told him about his work plans.
"Right... where at, exactly?" Ryan asked,
Evan's eyebrows quirked up, "excuse me?" his tongue poked the side of his cheek.
"Where are they filming?" he repeated, Evan sighed heavily, "I'm unsure, but last I heard it was somewhere south of here, I believe Wayne left it on a post-it in my office, let me take a look." Evan excused himself, dipping back into the room.

papers rustling and drawers opening continued on for what seemed like hours, Ryan began to grow impatient until Evan popped back out with a pale blue paper square in his hand, "here you go. mind if I accompany you? I just wanna see how Jake's doing and make sure everything's going well." Evan added the assurance to his question, Ryan felt his throat tighten, as if he were afraid to invite Evan along. but his motions betrayed him, his head nodded a yes before he could have a second to think.

"great. we'll take my car."

Ryan and Evan arrived just in time, catching Maxine as she made her way back to the boarding house, hair wet and slicked back but she looked somewhat confused.

"hey! is jake inside?" Ryan yelled, Maxine looked toward him, eyebrows furrowed as she squinted to see who was calling out to her through the sun rays, unable to recognize him through the bright beams of light, she ignored them, making her way inside the building.

"you alright?" Dallas asked as Maxine came inside, her cheeks red from the heat and hair beginning to dry around the scalp. Maxine nodded, flashing Dallas a quick smile, "you ready for the next scene?" Dallas continued, propping her chin in the palm of her hand, watching Maxine as she looked around the room for her belongings. "I went ahead and put our stuff in the room, first door on the right..." Dallas trailed off as Maxine walked toward the bedroom, not uttering word back to her.

the front door opened not seconds later, Ryan and Evan stood there, "hey, sorry to show up unannounced." Evan mumbled as he approached the couch. "Is uh... Jake here?" he questioned, looking around the cabin. Dallas nodded her head, taking notice of Evan's longing gaze, she grew uncomfortable, folding her arms over her chest.
"he's in the bathroom getting dressed. he wanted to do a costume check to make sure everything fit right."
Evan mimicked her nod, taking a seat on the couch across from her, Ryan doing the same. "did the college kid ever finish the script?" Evan asked, his gaze following Dallas's fingers as she opened the pack of cigarettes, bringing one to her lips, Dallas realized her lighter hadn't been in the pack like before, Bobby-Lynne must've borrowed it.

Dallas shook her head in silent frustration, Evan held his hand out, a lighter between his fingers with a flame flickering out of the top.
leaning forward, she lit the cigarette on the exposed flame, "he did." she smiled, taking a drag from the cigarette.
Evan hummed as he grabbed the stack of papers from the coffee table, flipping it open to the first page.
"Would you say you see a lot of potential in him?" Evan questioned, leaning back on the couch as he read from the paper, flipping to a new page.
"Pardon?" Dallas's eyebrows furrowed. Evan looked up, an annoyed expression on his face. "Do you see potential in RJ's work?" he repeated, placing the open script down onto his lap.
"Oh, uh, absolutely," Dallas agreed. Evan raised an eyebrow, his eyes following her as she brought the cigarette back to her lips. "You don't seem too confident in your answer," he snickered, shaking his head. "I just don't want to see Jake's career go down the toilet because of this... dumpster fire," Evan remarked, his attention falling back to the script.
"Hey! RJ worked really hard on this... and our careers are ridin' on this too!" Dallas defended, hurt lacing her voice. "I'm sure they are, but none of y'all are my clients—only Jake. So whether or not y'all tank in this doesn't matter to me."

their conversation was cut short by the return of Jake, who stood there in a pair of white jeans with a matching white button-up shirt, exposing his bare chest. "there he is; the man of the hour!" Evan hooted as Jake walked closer to them, looking confused. "what are you guys doing here?" he asked, Ryan got up from the couch, pulling Jake into a hug. "I was worried sick, but Evan-" Ryan began, only to be cut off by Evan, "I wanted to make sure that everything was going well here."
Jake nodded, sighing, a smile appeared on his face.
"everything's fine—great, actually."
Dallas excused herself, "i'll leave y'all alone" she mumbled, heading towards the back room to find Wayne.

the crew moved out to the barn, setting up props and the camera, "farmer's daughter, take one" Bobby-Lynne spoke to the camera as she closed the clapperboard, the two pieces coming together to make a loud smacking noise.
Jackson entered the frame, repeating the written dialogue to Maxine as she sauntered around carrying a bucket of 'fresh' milk.
Dallas watched closely, her thumbnail resting against her bottom lip, Wayne's arm around her shoulders protectively. "we're gonna make millions with this one." Wayne whispered, gently kissing Dallas's temple, she looked over at him, smiling proudly.

"you nervous?" Jake asked, stepping closer to Dallas, she shook her head no, "not at all, It's just work." Dallas laughed, covering her mouth to not interrupt the filming as it had progressed into the steamier portion, Jackson laid on top of a pre-placed sheet on the ground while Maxine was on top, moaning almost as loud as Bobby-Lynne.

"you don't think they'll catch us, do you?" Ryan asked, his hand running through his hair, Wayne shrugged "don't think so, but if they do, we'll just run like hell."

"so how many daughters does this elusive farmer supposedly have?" Evan questioned jokingly, arms folded across his chest as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. "three, RJ tried to even it out, but really, how many girls would one dad have before he just up and stopped tryin'?" Wayne snorted, Evan nodded his head in agreeance,

The scene came to a slow halt, Jackson had Maxine bent over in front of him as she fakes an orgasm, the camera stopped filming as they sat up, cleaning themselves off.
"you were incredible." Wayne praised as Maxine approached them, cheeks flushed once again and her eyeshadow a little smudged. "thank you" she replied, a cheeky smile on her face, "you feeling okay?" Dallas asked, brushing stray hairs from Maxine's face. Maxine nodded, "of course I am, babydoll."

the group knew they had to act fast and get this last scene out of the way to wrap up filming so they could leave in the morning, everyone had gathered back in the living room, Dallas and Jake dressed for their respective roles, the corny 'milkman and woman of the house' something out of a newspaper comic strip.

"you ready, sugar?" Wayne asked, wanting to ensure she was still okay with the filming just like he had a million times before, knowing it was especially necessary due to them being in a new filming location that wasn't the back of a van or a random field somewhere.

Dallas reassured him, muttering a "I'll be okay" to ease his nerves. Wayne sighed, holding his hands up, "okay, okay" he chuckled, stepping back behind the camera as RJ gave the signal.
"and... action!"

the sun had almost completely set, and everyone had turned in for the night, relaxing in the living room, enjoying the company of one another as they cooked slices of bologna to put on sandwiches.

"you were amazing out there! now i know why Wayne left his wife for you." Bobby-Lynne praised, a giggle in her voice. "so do I." Jackson admitted, shaking his head as he strummed his acoustic guitar, Bobby-Lynne playfully swatted his shoulder, scolding him "careful." her 'playful' scold a reminder that she could be psycho if she wanted.
"told y'all she was somethin' special. X Factor." Wayne agreed pridefully, the comment about him leaving his wife not affecting his mood as he took a seat next to Maxine, waiting for Dallas to get out of the shower.
"thanks baby" Maxine smiled as Wayne placed the plate on the table, sandwiches piled high on it, snatching his own from the stack. Maxine noticed Lorraine staring hard at her, and it made Maxine grow increasingly uncomfortable, having already expressed her feelings to her partners but nothing had been done.
"what are you looking at?" she snapped voice remaining measured, Lorraine jumped in her seat, surprised at the bluntness of the question. "wait, come on now." Wayne attempted to defend Lorraine's behalf but Maxine wasn't having it,
"no, Wayne. Anybody ever teach you not to stare?
It's rude. You got somethin' to say to me or what?" she continued, leaning forward from the couch.

the commotion had caught Dallas's attention as she exited the bathroom, damp hair wrapped in a towel on top of her head, "what's going on?" Dallas asked, utterly confused. nobody answered her question, instead everyone felt as if they were standing on eggshells in this moment, afraid uttering one word would make Maxine snap on them as well.

Lorraine swallowed thickly, shaking her head, "no." before she took a second deep breath, eyes falling to the floor, "well, i do have a question." she admitted, "see? she's interested, is all." Wayne reassured Maxine, hand patting her bare knee.
Dallas's eyebrows furrowed, curious as she took a seat next to Maxine and Wayne. "what's on your mind, church mouse?" Wayne asked, his free arm wrapping around Dallas.

"Isn't it strange watching her doin' it with him?" Lorraine queried, scooting to the edge of her seat, Wayne shrugged as he admitted, "it's just business"
"as long as the camera is runnin'." he pointed a finger towards Jackson, looking around the room.
"anybody seen Jake?" he questioned, Dallas shrugged "last i seen him, he went outside to have a private talk with Ryan." Bobby-Lynne recalled, pointing to the front door.
"so the camera changes things?" Lorraine added, head tilting to the side as she attempted to understand Wayne's reasoning.
"that's right." Wayne nodded, RJ interjected "It's not real life, Raine. It's just a movie." Lorraine sighed, "I know that. Just sayin'. What about love?"

"What about love?" Maxine questioned, eyebrows furrowed as she began to overthink how Lorraine actually perceived her; probably thinking Max was a drugged up, ran through whore, when it was actually innocent curiousity. Maxine's overthinking spiraled, she began to grow defensive and snappy "What about love?" Lorraine nodded, "well, don't y'all believe in it?" Maxine sighed, shaking her head,
"of course we believe in love."

Lorraine brows knitted together in confusion, mouth falling slack ever so slightly, "How can you love someone and still be with other people?" Maxine only continued to grow frustrated but her physical actions didn't show it, only her voice. "You think we don't have no morals or somethin', is that it?"
Lorraine tried to backpedal, almost afraid to venture further down this path of questioning,
"No. No, I just..."
Maxine realized how snappy she had gotten, instant regret panging in her chest, "Take it from me,
letting outdated traditions control how you live your
life will get you nowhere. I don't know about you,
but I got better places to be than where I came from." Bobby-Lynne nodded, "amen to that."
"And besides, it's just sex. You can decide who you wanna love, but not who you wanna screw. Attraction's out of our control. It ain't healthy keeping those feelings locked away inside." Maxine added, speech muffled as she packed away bits of sandwich into her cheeks.
"I seen you sneaking a few long peeks at Jackson over here." Bobby-Lynne playfully teased Lorraine, shoulders swaying, Lorraine's eyes shot up to meet Bobby-Lynne's, growing flustered Lorraine shook her head no, "No, I... I wasn't looking..."
Bobby-Lynne laughed, "It's okay. He don't mind none." Jackson nodded, a smile forming on his face as he placed his guitar off to the side "She's right. I don't mind. No offense." he admitted, apologizing to RJ who sat there, looking confused and hurt, wondering if his girlfriend had really been staring at Jackson so much that the airhead, Bobby-lynne noticed it before he did.

"Everybody likes sex. It's a gas. We're just not afraid to admit it. queer, straight, black, white...
It's all disco. You know why? Because one day,
we're gonna be too old to fuck. And life's too short,
if you ask me." Bobby-Lynne's words were true, hitting with each member of the group, earning a couple of hushed laughs, "roger that." Jackson agreed. "The fact of the truth of the matter is, we turn folks on. And that scares 'em." Bobby-Lynne continued, Maxine chiming in, "They can't look away neither." "that's right, we're like a foxy car wreck." Wayne chuckled, "Which is how I know that this new home video market is set to explode. Finally, people are gonna get to see what they desire in the privacy of their own homes, free of judgment. We're gonna give that to them before anyone else. Porn ain't only gonna be for perverts no more."

Bobby-Lynne faked sympathy, pouting "Aw. Toast to the perverts. They've been payin' our bills for years." they all joined in, holding beer cans up to cheers, hooting and praising the perverts of america. "To livin' a life of excess, being young and having fun till the day we die." Jackson added. RJ followed behind, "To the power of independent cinema." Maxine sighed, thinking what she'd like to add before finally coming to her conclusion, "To living life on our own terms. And never accepting what self-righteous naysayers have to say."

"I don't know if I agree with all of that, but I did like
what I saw today. I didn't think I would, but I did." Lorraine admitted, a bashful smile creeping up on her face, "cheers to that!" Dallas applauded Lorraine's confession, ecstatic that she was finally coming around.

"y'all didn't start without me, did you?" Jake asked, looking around the room as he entered through the front door, Ryan and Evan close behind. "you're just in time, sit!" Bobby-Lynne patted the spare seats next to her as Jackson began to strum the guitar.

the song began to wrap up, the musical notes no longer filling the air, leaving them in a silent room.

Lorraine broke the silence, "i wanna do a scene in the movie." Everyone turned to look at her surprised, caught off guard by the sudden confession. "what?" RJ questioned, making sure he'd heard right, "I wanna be in the movie." she repeated, clearly she had given this thought while Bobby-Lynne had been singing.
"no." RJ chuckled, brushing off her statement,
"well , why not?" Lorraine asked, placing her beer can onto the tabletop beside her.
everyone remained silent, eyes darting between RJ and Lorraine, assuming this wouldn't end well for either.

"well... B-Because... no." RJ stuttered, confused as to why she would even ask this, Lorraine just stared at him deadpan. "did y'all put her up to this or somethin'?" RJ asked, referring to the film stars,
the room suddenly filled with outcries of defense, 'Hey!' 'No way!' 'are you crazy?!'

"take it easy, they didn't do nothin'." Wayne defended, his tone growing deeper as RJ snapped on them. "nobody put me up to anything. I've been thinking about it all day. And... Well, I'm young.
And if we really are makin' a good dirty movie,
then I don't wanna just carry the equipment. I wanna be in it." Lorraine resumed, Rj began to grow more annoyed, "Well, you can't." Lorraine looked around the room, "says who?"
he Scoffed, shaking his head "It's my film, Lorraine.
I mean, it wouldn't make any sense. We've already shot half of it. The story can't just suddenly change midway through."

"why?" Lorraine persisted, not satisfied with RJ's fumbling reasons as to why she 'shouldn't' be in the film. "Because it just isn't done." he grumbled, his voice snapping between every other word.
"What about in Psycho? You love that movie." she reminded him, shoulders raising. "Well, Psycho is a horror film. And that plot was a MacGuffin to build suspense. And I'm not making that kind of movie." Rj's defenses grew weaker as Lorraine began to push his buttons, pushing the issue regarding her future in this film.

"Oh, come on, RJ. Nobody's comin' to see this film for the plot. They're comin' to see tits and ass. And a big dick." Lorraine pointed out, "Lorraine!" Rj snapped, leading everyone to snicker at her commentary. "It's the truth. Why not just give the people what they're payin' for?" she said matter-of-factly.
"Because I'm making something better than that." he firmly stated, Lorraine tilted her head to the side, "when did you become such a prude?" she repeated his words from their arrival, his expression faltered, falling flat before Wayne interjected.
"alright, hold on. I am the executive producer,
which means I get a word. So, why don't we just
take a step outside before anythin' gets said
that someone might regret."

Wayne and Rj returned from their talk outside, finding Maxine and Bobby-Lynne assisting Lorraine with her makeup and lines, overall preparing her for the role, Jackson was on the floor doing push-ups, while Jake and Dallas began rearranging the room to fit the film's aesthetic, removing most of the material they had brought such as suitcases, linens, etc. Rj hadn't spoken a word, but instead stated at Lorraine with contempt, sighing through his mouth.
Lorraine had done the same, but with no contempt, just confidence as she removed her crucifix necklace. Lorraine was going to do this whether Rj liked it or not, he couldn't control her no matter the state of their relationship, and he could feel Lorraine slipping from his grasp inch by inch.

—— if pure smut is what you came here for i'm sorry to disappoint you lmao but smut just isn't my forte.
i love this trilogy but i don't write smut :')