𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄, xolo maridueña

seven. i can take constructive criticism

          "being a bad driver is definitely a valid reason for me to dislike you, fyi," maeve clarified as she climbed into the car, wrapped in a large jumper and looking no more well rested than she usually did.

          "good morning to you, too," xolo smiled, pulling his sunglasses down over his face and turning on the radio so that taylor played in the background. maeve's eyebrows furrowed.

          "you listen to taylor swift?"

          "who doesn't?"

          "insufferable men, usually." she crossed her arms over her chest, but couldn't hide the tapping of her feet to the beat. xolo smiled a little at that.

          "so, what happened with your car then?"

maeve left it a long moment before she responded.

"it wasn't actually me. my little brother alex just finished driver's ed. him and his boyfriend wanted to take my car out so i let them."

"is alex a bad driver?" xolo questioned, only half focusing on the road and more on how easily maeve seemed to be opening up to him despite usually being cold as ice. she was fairly open on social media— xolo had done his research— but he wasn't aware she had siblings. she spoke about them with such affection it made his heart warm.

"oh, he's a fine driver. he's just a fucking dumbass. he thought it would be good to let our little brother have a stab at driving. ollie is fourteen, and motherfucking insane. he took out two road signs without even lifting his foot off the clutch."

"oh wow," the man laughed, imagining the situation, and a car left in the hands of two mini maeve's.

deciding he'd probably pushed his luck in getting the girl to open up, they spent the rest of the journey in silence, humming along to taylor. in truth, xolo hadn't really listened to the pop sensation any more frequently than on the radio or with his younger sister, but he understood the hype. it made a lot of sense for maeve to like her, too.

arriving on set, the two parted ways for makeup, hair and costume, but not before maeve looked at xolo for a long moment.

"thank you for the lift."

"get used to it," xolo smiled, not even caring about the way she rolled her eyes.

☆☆☆

the scene today was one of the final ones only featuring angel and nico. in just a couple of days, lacy, as well of many of the smaller featured actors would be on set, and the quality time the two were spending together was coming to an end.

this specific scene was to take place in angel's bedroom— a simple set with blue walls and a bed with checkered sheets, adorned with posters that adrianna and the set designer had let xolo pick out.

the cameras were all set up as xolo entered in costume— a simple navy crewneck and some light wash jeans. he flopped down on the bed, following the blocking instructions of the choreographers before the cameras started rolling and maeve entered in character.

"hey, you," nico smiled, pushing her hair behind her ear and sitting on the bed beside him.

"hey." angel offered her his hand, and she took it, wrapping an arm around him where he was lying on the bed and resting her head on his shoulder.

there was a tension that hung in the air, a knowledge that something had changed, but neither addressed it.

"how has your day been?" nico asked, brushing one of angel's long curls behind his ear with the tips of her fingers, tracing them over his cheekbone in a way that made angel (and xolo) blush.

"not so bad," angel shrugged. "abuelo was delighted to spend so much quality time with me. how was your day with lacy?"

nico tensed up at that, extracting herself from the embrace and wandering across the room, picking up angel's guitar and sitting at the other end of the bed, strumming a gentle tune (the composing of which was entirely maeve).

"it was good. really good." nico didn't elaborate, which angel picked up on, sitting up and turning to face her, but not pushing it.

"i'm glad you guys are getting along. it means a lot to me," he admitted, pressing his fingers to the frets on the guitar and changing the chords his girlfriend was playing, which made her laugh softly.

"i love you, you know that?" nico ran a finger along angel's jaw before kissing the corner of his mouth gently. "that's not changing."

"and i love you," angel nodded with a tight lipped smile, tilting her head up and kissing her gently. "that's not changing."

when adrianna yelled cut, xolo was quicker to extract himself from the closeness than maeve was. maeve was very professional about it all, with the choreography and the intimacy coordination and making sure they had the right shot before she tuned back out of the moment.

xolo, on the other hand, would rather die than let her know how fast his heart was racing if he lingered a second too long.

"very nice!" adrianna called, clapping her hands together with her usual enthusiasm.

"i was just thinking, though. xolo, can you sit further away from maeve, maybe? less of the close contact when she's playing the guitar? i'm not sure how i felt about it."

xolo felt his heart drop. he loved his job, and he loved getting it right. he wasn't a fan of making mistakes, particularly not in front of maeve, even though that was never something she'd make a comment on. this time, however, she surprised him by chiming in.

"i really liked how xolo did that actually. i just felt it really showed angel's character, and how he's not sensing any distance between them. and what he is sensing, he would rather deny than confront. so by him sitting as close to nico as usual, if not closer, it makes more sense for who he is as a person."

adrianna glanced down at her notes, mumbling something to the choreographers before looking back up at the two.

"you know what, maeve? you're right. i perfectly agree. xolo, try that again exactly as you did it? maybe even closer? you guys are excellent, i'm so honoured to work with such incredible young talent."

with maeve still being sat so close to him, she noticed how deeply he exhaled. he noticed her watching him, and realised that being pressed this close to her, a guitar spanning both their laps, suddenly didn't seem as tense as it had.

"uh, thank you for that. you didn't have to defend me like that. i can take constructive criticism."

"i didn't defend you, i defended your acting." maeve clarified. "your personality has nothing to do with how good you are at your job."

"okay," he laughed loudly. "watch yourself, tanner. that almost sounded like a compliment."

"bask in it," maeve cocked an eyebrow before hopping up and resetting for a second take.