Fake It 'Til You Make It - Hamliza

Chapter 23: Fight Scene

“So what scene are we shooting today?”, Eliza asked as they walked in the building. “Scene 89.” Eliza’s eyes widened. “But-but I’m pregnant! I can’t fight!”
“That’s why you have a stunt double.” Alexander kissed her cheek. “Besides. I wouldn’t want to fight you regardless.” Eliza blushed. “We are also doing scene 90, where Charlotte realizes Dylan is in fatal condition from the fight, so make sure to think of sad things before we go on.” Eliza nodded.

"Am I in this scene at all?" She asked, going over her script and realizing she. barely had any dialogue. It was mostly just the fighting. Alexander looked it over and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it's better if you sit and rest though." He tried, only making Eliza more upset. "I don't need to rest. I'm fine." She snapped. 

“Eliza… you need rest. You’re pregnant-“
“Which is also your doing. Sometimes I wish this stupid baby never existed!”, she cried, Alexander knowing that she did not mean that, it was the wave of emotions going through her head. “I know, but you still need-“
“Shut up, Alexander! Just forget it!”, she yelled, walking away to her trailer. “Eliza-“
“GO AWAY!”, she finally screamed. She sat in the chair in front of the mirror in the trailer. “Woah. What’s wrong?”, Diana asked, getting a sephora makeup bag out. “I’m trying not to murder the father of my unborn child right now.” She smiled angrily.

"Girl, trust me. I know the feeling." Diana laughed a bit and ruffled Eliza's hair a bit. "Now, what should we do? You're gonna ruin the make up anyway so how about we do something light but fierce, y'know?" She suggested and Eliza nodded, wiping her eyes. 
Diana did Eliza's make up and put her hair half up/half down.
"It's gorgeous!" Eliza gasped and tried not to cry yet. She didn't want to ruin it but the thought of ruining it made her want to cry more.

She wore a red dress, and walked outside, seeing Alexander. “Look, Eliza-“
“Alexander, I don't want to hear it! Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m weak! You’ve been acting like that ever since we found out!”, Eliza blinked to stop the tears from popping out of her eyes. “Eliza, you are unbelievable.” She used all her strength not to slap him. “So I’m unbelievable?”
“Yes! Yes you are! You’re so hard to work with!” Eliza froze, not believing what she was hearing.

"I'm sorry I want to work to be able to provide for MY son and new baby. I don't want to sit around doing nothing! I'm not weak, I'm not useless and I will not sit by while you do everything for me!" She shouted at him. Diana cheered from the trailer door and Alexander took a step back.
He didn't understand why she didn't understand why this was so important to him. He didn't want her to lose the baby.

“So you’re being ungrateful-“, he blurted out, before the director said, “places!” 
“3….2…1…ACTION!” Eliza/Charlotte pushed Alexander/Dylan on the ground, getting some of her anger out. It hurt, but Alexander didn’t choose to complain. Eliza/Charlotte pointed a prop gun at him, “you’re not going anywhere…” Alexander/Dylan jumped up and pretended to slap her, but he accidentally made his fingers brush against her face. “Cut! Now, Beth! It’s your turn to continue the scene!” Eliza angrily stepped off the set and sat down.

Alexander/Dylan continued to fight with the stunt double and finished the scene. "Cut! Moving to scene 90!" The director called and everyone moved to a different set.
Eliza was back on and sat on the floor next to where Dylan's body would be. As soon as Alexander came out of his trailer with fake blood and make-up bruises, Eliza's anger washed away. It looked so real. Alexander laid on the floor in a dead position and Eliza's mind took over. She started balling her eyes out since she couldn't stop thinking about how real it looked.

“…ACTION!” Remembering her lines, with real tears, she kneeled next to Alexander/Dylan’s “body” on the floor. “Dylan I’m so sorry…”, she whimpered. Alexander couldn’t help but notice that those tears seemed very real. “Help!”, Eliza/Charlotte screamed. “Somebody!” An actor that played a pedestrian ran over. “He needs help!”, Eliza/Charlotte cried in between tears. The actor felt Alexander/Dylan’s chest and then the side of his face. “He doesn’t have a pulse…” Charlotte/Eliza screamed. “Cut! That was incredible!” Alexander was about to get up when Eliza wrapped her arms around him, laying down in tears. “I-I’m s-s-so s-orry…”, she cried, burying her face in his chest.

Alexander held her close. "It's ok… it's alright my love…" he whispered and pet her hair gently, pulling her into his lap and chest. "I didn't mean to yell at you… I didn't mean anything I said." She whispered and clung to him like a koala to a tree.
Eventually, the director made them move onto another scene that Charlotte wasn't in so Eliza moved to her trailer to fix her make up.

“Half hour break!”, she heard the director call. Eliza was curled up on the couch in the trailer, crying, and knowing Diana would have to do her makeup again wasn’t helping things. She heard a knock on the door. “Diana… I’m sorry I want to be alone.”
“Not Diana”, she heard Alexander’s voice. She really wanted to talk to him. “Come in..”
He shut the door behind him, and sat next to her on the couch. “I’m sorry”, she said for the millionth time, hugging him. “It’s alright.”
“No. It’s not alright. I treated you like shit.” She cried harder and cried into his chest.

Alexander didn't care that she was getting make up on his shirt. It could be washed and changed. Her feelings, however, could not.
"Eliza, my angel, you have nothing to be sorry for. We just didn't see eye-to-eye and that's ok. It happens to everyone. I just.. i just wish that you could see it how I do and vice versa, yknow?"

“Y-yeah.” She looked up at him. “Oh- I got mascara on your shirt.” He chuckled. “That’s alright.” He pulled her into his lap, cuddling her. “And I’ve been thinking about it when I was here… I’m so sorry, Alexander. You were only trying to protect me and the baby.” He ruffled her hair, “yeah. I was, but it’s alright.” She started to cry again. “What’s wrong?”

"I can't do anything right! I get my lines messed up, I argue with you all day, I'm not being good enough for my baby-" Alexander had to cut her off. "Stop saying that about yourself. None of it is true." He said and pulled her closer. She stopped crying but kept sniffling like a tired child. "I want to go home… maybe I should rest…" she whispered.

“Yeah… maybe. Even though the directors an asshole, I think he’ll understand. He actually earlier asked me if I wanted to go home early.” He took her hand.
It was too early for Pip to be picked up from daycare, so they went straight home, Alexander holding Eliza on the couch. “Alexander?”, she asked him. “Hm?”
“I- think it’s time we talk… about my past husband. H-how he used to treat me…” she sniffled.

“Oh…” Eliza nervously nuzzled her face into his neck. “H-he would yell at me for little things… he would sometimes yell at Pip too… when he was drunk, which was pretty much all the time, he was a lot worse. He would hit Pip and I…” she broke down into tears, and Alexander hugged her tighter. “H-he made me feel like a useless human, and… Alexander… in the past, I tried it.”
“Tried what?” Eliza looked down, and Alexander realized. “O-oh…” she cried harder. 

"I'm so sorry! I just… when you were mad at me, it was bringing up all the memories from all those years ago… I'm sorry!" She sobbed into him. 
He didn't say anything and just held her. How could he be so stupid and not realize what he was doing? Pip told him how bad his dad was but he didn't think it was this bad.

She stopped crying after a while. “It’s alright, Eliza”, he finally said. “You know what? I’m sorry too.” She looked up at him. “…why?”
“Pip actually told me a while ago… but I didn’t think it was this bad!” He had tears in his eyes, and Eliza hugged him. “It’s okay, Lexi-“
“No. I’ve been triggering you even while knowing you went through trauma!” Eliza placed a hand on his chest, slightly feeling his heartbeat. “No, Alexander. None of this is your fault. You don’t mean to trigger me. You make my days amazing. I have no idea what I’d do without you.” She kissed him gently, and he kissed her back.