You're My Focus || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 5: War of Butterflies

"Run far away

So I can breathe

Even though you're far from suffocating me"

~"Catch Me" Demi Lovato

After a two hour phone call with Jason I was attempting to fall asleep, but I just couldn't allow my mind to relax enough. I had slept a lot right before arriving to Mexico, and I was also extremely anxious for the first scene tomorrow. When there were only a couple of hours left in the night, that's when I finally drifted to sleep. My alarm sounded dreadful as I felt exhausted now, accidentally revisiting dreamland. After a considerable amount of time I heard a few knocks on my door.

"Marlene?!"

I felt limp as I forced myself to get up, moving like a Raggedy Ann doll as I opened the door with my eyes already closing.

"Marlene, everyone's wondering where you are. We have to get into hair and makeup," Leo informed me, frowning when he saw my tired state. "Fuck, you're not even dressed yet!"

"I'm sorry," I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "I guess all I really have to do is change my clothes and brush my teeth. I'll be right out." I groggily glided into my bathroom, almost zonking out while using my toothbrush. I then changed into a casual outfit and met Leo out in the hall.

Eventually I was in the swivel chair facing my vanity, the stylists going straight to work on curling my hair and brushing makeup on my face. They even gave me a couple of eye drops that helped with my drowsiness. They joked this wasn't the first time an actor or an actress had showed up on set super tired. My hands trembled when I went into the room by myself to slip the robe on, nothing else underneath. Leo and I had just completed the scene we practiced the previous day, and it had gone smoothly, but now my heart was pounding and my mouth had gone dry. I wasn't even sure if I could speak.

"Hey, are you okay," Leo softly asked as the crew adjusted the cameras and lighting equipment.

I shook my head before I felt him place his thumb on my chin, holding up the bottom of it with his forefinger, so that I would look at him.

"Don't worry, you look beautiful even as a redhead. You're going to do great, Marlene. You're one of the best actresses I've ever worked with, and we've only done part of a scene together. Just keep your eyes on me, and you'll be fine. I promise." I slowly nodded as I felt a dash of a more positive mood.

"Thanks... You know, the hairstylists loved me, because it was so easy to dye my hair red. You know, since I had the platinum blonde before, so it was like a blank canvas, and..."

Just then the director was yelling for people to take their places, my heart thudding again as I stared where he was.

"Just pretend they're not here. Just pretend it's only me. I swear I meant it, Marlene, I would never laugh at you." I barely nodded before Leo had to hurry off to move the couch. I sealed my eyes shut as I pictured myself as the character, Rose, using every ounce of willpower to forget it was me who was performing.

I mustered all of my courage before confidently twirling the tassel on my garment in the doorway, Leo's soft yet warm smile as Jack making my nerves subside, yet it was as though they were being replaced with a similar feeling I couldn't quite pin point.

"The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a porcelain doll. As a paying customer..." I then gently tossed the silver coin into Leo's hand, him grinning up at me cutely. "I expect to get what I want," I finished. My subtle smile fell when I slowly slipped the article of clothing off my shoulders, my full front on display as Leo sort of tensed up and took a silent breath in. I just kind of stared at him before he was pointing to the sofa nearby.

"Over on the bed. The couch," he effortlessly corrected, me pausing as I side glanced at the director, wondering if he wanted us to redo the lines, but he waved us on. Leo awkwardly shifted in his seat as I got situated on the other piece of furniture, him softly telling me to lie down. "Yeah, keep that. Put your arm back the way it was," he explained as I got in the right position. One of my arms ended up being up above my head, while my opposite hand was right by my face.

"Now, head down. Eyes to me. Keep them on me," he seriously instructed, totally immersed in playing Jack, but I had to bite back a smile as how those words were similar to what he told me before we started. My heart rate was calm, yet the most horrible yet beautiful feeling was swirling around my stomach, a sort of mixture of butterflies in battle, and that's when I began freaking out, hoping it didn't show. B-butterflies? I-No, you can't fall for someone that fast, and it's just the thrill Rose is feeling. You're just completely into character, Marlene, stay that way. It's not Jack studying you while drawing but Leo doing random sketches. "And try to stay still," Leo added as my turmoil of thoughts only lasted seconds. I pretended I was struggling not to smile as I fell into my role again. Leo sighed loudly after I cleared my throat a bit, now intensely focused on peeking at me over the sketching paper with his blue eyes. They almost looked a bit green in this certain lighting, my brown eyes occasionally locking with his despite the cameras capturing him at the moment.

"So serious," I commented in a lower voice, Leo shooting me a small, half smile.

"I believe you are blushing, Mr. Big Artiste," I observed, the corners of Leo's mouth curving upwards slightly again. "I can't imagine Monsieur Monet blushing."

"He does landscapes. Just relax your face." I was in awe by his level of professionalism as Jack and an actor.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"No laughing."

I took a deep breath as I made my face relaxed again, surprised that after a short segment where Leo gave me the drawing, it was already over. I hugged the robe tighter around me as we were finally informed we could take a bit of a break.

"You did great," Leo told me with a minuscule smile.

"You did too," I reacted, looking away as the director waved us over to watch the scene back. I felt happy as I witnessed our accomplished work, no longer feeling ashamed or embarrassed of my body. What was odd though was how aware I was of Leo's breathing down my back as he stood behind, and the fact that when Rose told Jack he was blushing, Leo's own complexion was a bit pink. I glanced over at him as he just shot me a casual smile, but I didn't return the gesture as it dawned on me I had gone longer than an hour without thinking about Jason. I almost forgot about him. It had to be the anxiety of filming this part, right? Right?

A/N: Okay, so I am horrible at keeping the main characters from liking each other right away, but I think some of it is I can't imagine not liking Leo, so it's really hard to write about someone even just being friends with him. Anyway, the part where Leo told Rose to sit on the bed by mistake was actually what Leo accidentally said in real life, but the everyone liked it so much, they decided to keep it in the movie. That was the fact I just recently discovered. (X I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt like I was in the scene while I wrote this, since I was watching it at the same time to know what words they said. XD Please remember to comment, vote, and follow. Thank you so much! <3