WebNovels

Chapter 13 - The Script We Didn’t Want to Read

The title read: Fade Before Bloom.

It was a short film. A ten-minute reunion piece written specifically for a streaming promo — poetic, dramatic, nostalgic. The producers said it would "bring the magic of Ashdres back."

They didn't know how ironic that sounded.

Andres got the script first. He read it once, in silence, under the harsh white lights of his condo. Then again, slower. By the time he reached the final monologue, his hands had gone cold.

He didn't need to reread the lines to understand.

They were them.

Ashtine's copy arrived the same night. Her manager forwarded it with a smiley emoji and an excited "It's SOOO you guys!"

She opened the file.

The moment she reached the line "You stopped talking to me and pretended that was normal", her throat closed.

This wasn't fiction. Not really.

It was everything they hadn't said.

Everything they couldn't.

They met on set the next afternoon.

Not in costume. Not in character.

Just them.

She greeted him with a polite nod.

He nodded back.

The director talked through the scene quickly. It was set in a half-empty café where two ex-lovers reunited by chance. The scene would begin in silence. Then a sudden conversation. Then a quiet implosion.

Sound familiar?

The crew laughed at how "naturally" the roles fit them.

Neither of them laughed.

The first take was supposed to be a warm-up.

They sat across from each other.

The café was fake, but the emotions weren't.

"Do you still write music?" her character asked.

"No," Andres replied. Not in character. Just truth.

Ashtine blinked.

"You stopped?" she asked, voice quivering.

"I stopped when you left."

Her jaw clenched.

"I didn't leave," she said.

"You did," he said quietly. "Even if you were still standing there."

The director said cut. But they didn't hear him.

Because the next line wasn't in the script.

"You looked away first," she whispered.

Andres's fingers twitched on the table.

"You didn't stop me."

Silence.

The room fell still.

Crew exchanged nervous glances.

The director stepped forward, unsure whether to intervene.

But something shifted in that silence.

Something raw.

Something real.

They tried to do a second take.

This time, sticking to the lines.

But Ashtine's voice cracked halfway through.

She blinked quickly, trying to stop the tears.

Too late.

Her lip trembled.

She looked down, away, anywhere but at him.

Andres stared at her.

Everyone watching thought: what a performance.

But he wasn't acting.

And neither was she.

By the end of the final take, there was a long monologue.

His character says: "I would've stayed if you asked me to."

The line was sharp. Too sharp.

Ashtine's reaction wasn't written.

She looked at him, really looked—eyes full of six months of silence, pain, and confusion.

And she said, off-script: "I did."

No one dared to cut.

The cameras kept rolling.

The director let it play.

And somewhere deep in that aching, blurred scene—two people remembered what it felt like to be close… and how terrifying it was to lose it.

When it was over, the crew applauded.

"Best chemistry we've seen all year!" someone shouted.

But Ashtine didn't smile.

And Andres didn't move.

They sat across from each other, hands trembling slightly, unsure if what they just said… counted.

If it meant anything.

If it changed anything.

They didn't speak as they left set.

Didn't even say goodbye.

But something lingered in the air between them that night—

The weight of lines they didn't want to read.

Because for the first time, they both realized:

They weren't the only ones still hurting.

They weren't the only ones still looking for each other in every word.

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