For You, I'd Do Anything- Rini One Shots

Tangled up in pickup lines

Summary: Josh tries to win Liv over with lame pickup lines. It doesn't go very well.

Tw: About as fluffy as a marshmallow
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The filming of season three of High School Musical: The Series is well underway when he decides that he finally wants to tell his co-star that he wants to be more than just friends. They've been dancing around the possibility of a relationship for the past three years and he's finally fed up enough that he wants to tell her now. Plus it's legal now, so what the hell, right?

He thinks about the best way to go about this because it's Olivia and they're best friends and coworkers and he has to be careful about this in case she doesn't feel the same way because he won't be able to handle it if he messes up what they already have. Because it's already amazing, but it could be so much better and he's never wanted anything so badly in his entire life. He's twenty-one and a rising celebrity and he's starting to figure out that there are certain people that mean more to him than anything and everything else.

He knows two things about Olivia:

1) She likes guys who make her laugh.

2) Stupid things make her laugh.

Therefore, he figures, he should say stupid things to make her laugh, and it stands to reason that maybe she'll finally fully reciprocate those feelings towards him. He wonders what kind of stupid things he should say to hint at what he wants, because regular Olivia jokes aren't going to cut it.

Dumb pick up lines, he thinks. They're lame enough that if she maybe doesn't feel the same way he can brush it off as just another joke, but if she blushes or gets flustered he'll know he might have a chance. He knows her well enough by now that if any of them make a move, it'll be him because she's too shy and maybe even a little oblivious as to how much he obviously likes her. He spends a sad amount of hours trying to make some up, and then he asks everyone he knows and Google for ideas. A few days later he's got a list and he sets out on his mission.

LINE BREAK

He's alone with her for a few minutes as they wait for Matt and Larry to join them for lunch and he decides that it's now or never and opens with his first line.

"Hey Liv, did you just fart?" he asks, grinning when her jaw drops. "Because you just blew me away."

She narrows her eyes. "Ew, Josh." she says. "That's terrible. Don't tell me you honestly tried that on a girl."

His face falls because she's obviously not getting it. "Really? I thought it was stupid enough that you'd like it."

She shakes her head. "It's gross. Don't ever say that to someone. Unless you're trying not to attract them."

He wants to groan in frustration because she doesn't know that she's the one he's trying to attract and he's failing miserably.

"Thanks for the tip" he grumbles, and then she launches into a story about her most recent photo shoot and he's distracted for a while because she's so excited and smiling and happy that these big, career changing things are happening for her. He's happy for her, too because she's so talented and beautiful and smart and she deserves this more than anyone.

Plus, he appreciates any photos that result from said photo shoots- not that he'd admit it to her. Well, at least not yet.

"Things are changing, aren't they?" she asks, resting her chin in her palm. "I mean, the show's going to be over soon, maybe in another year, and we probably won't see each other that often after that. It'll be weird after so many years of constantly spending every minute together."