This is Real

Sticks and Stones

It was one thing to be the brunt of both the best and worst ends of the spectrum of the fandom of a show. It was another to feel the same way about her costars.

Sasha Pieterse had felt her smile falter when she heard the comment from her costar Shay Mitchell about the latter wanting Paily to last forever. Sasha tried to force herself to think that it was only because it would make her look a little bad, always promoting Emison to the fans when the actress of the other half of the ship didn't think the same. She didn't know how that was going to make her look. People already thought she was a bit of an outsider where the four main actresses were concerned. She was simply a backstory.

It didn't bother her most of the time. The opportunity to even play Alison and be the face everyone was simultaneously adoring and hating on television was a privilege. She was the youngest of the cast, and certainly the most inexperienced but she got the part for some reason, and she believed that wasn't just luck on her part. She knew she had skill.

And Sasha definitely didn't have the same issues as her character. She was confident about herself. Admittedly, she had gone through that phase in her current teenage years where she questioned everything about herself, questioned whether or not she was good enough. But she was relatively well adjusted, considering that she was now constantly under the scrutinizing eyes of the media.

But Shay's comment had made her recoil a little bit. It hurt, she admitted, as she closed the window and got up looking around her trailer van. She was only putting in a few hours today, solo scenes for Alison for the next season. Her costars were already shooting. In a few minutes her makeup artist would knock on her door telling her to get ready, so she did.

She was sent to the set after she was done up, and she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Sasha!"

Sasha turned towards the voice, and as was the inside joke between them, she smiled sweetly. Exactly the kind of smile Alison always directed to Emily.

"Keep that up and I might fall in love with you." Shay grinned at her as she approached, giving the slightly shorter girl a one armed hug.

Sasha laughed, breaking out of her character's persona. "Would that be a bad thing?"

Shay's grin widened. "I'd have the media vultures following me around if I do. What do they call as again?"

"Sashay," they said together, laughing.

"I haven't seen you in days. How long are you staying in the set for?"

Sasha shrugged. "I have a few hours here today. But they're all Alison's scenes alone. Sixth season and she's still as alone as ever."

"Aww." Shay slung her arm around Sasha's shoulder to give her a one-armed squeeze, pressing the side of her face against Sasha's. "Don't worry. It won't be long. We all know Alison and Emily are going to be together eventually. Then you'll get sick of having scenes with me."

"I thought you're a Paily shipper." Sasha gave her a sidelong glance, smirking.

Shay's eyebrows furrowed, before her expression cleared. She nudged Sasha. "I have Paily fans that want to be happy, too."

Sasha made a face. "Those fans have been harrassing the Emison ones. Not that their helpless. This shipping war happening is ruthless. I can't believe most of it. Some of those girls have thought about Alison more than I have."

"I'm captain of that ship."

Sasha raised her eyebrows in challenge. "Uh-huh. We both know I'm the real captain. And I'm making you walk the plank for that Paily comment."

Shay laughed. "You're adorable." She pressed a playful kiss to Sasha's hair before pulling away.  "Get to work, captain."

Sasha tried to convince herself that the tug she felt on her chest wasn't a skipped heartbeat. What a cliche, Sasha thought as she walked away from Shay feeling all tingly inside.

A/N: I've been thinking about starting a sasha fic because... feels. So here it is.