maniac | timothée chalamet ✓

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MANIAC,
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"YOU KNOW, PEOPLE think there are some sparks flying between the two of you during filming. Just like old times, huh?", the woman asked. Timothée and Elliott were filming an interview. Both their management teams thought that it would be good for everyone to see the two playing nice after their rocky start. Plus, it might help distract from Elliott's recent bad press. They were doing a 'Timothée Chalamet and Elliott Hemsworth answer your intimate questions' sort of thing, so they'd basically volunteered to be put on the spot. This ought to be good.

Elliott laughed. "I wouldn't say all that."

She laughed. "Okay, well, I'm pulling a fan question. The way this works, your fans submitted a bunch of questions that we've put in this bowl. Some are innocent, some aren't. You can always decline to answer", she grinned, reaching into the red bowl and pulling out a slip of paper. "Jemma wants to know: Timothée, what's one thing that Elliott does that you find ironically attractive? Specifically one that you haven't told him."

"Hmmm, that's a hard question", Timothée stated, rubbing his chin. Truthfully, he'd never thought about it. Well, he had, but he was in high school back then. That had been ages ago. Things were different now. "Oh, he does that car thing that girls are always writing about in their little Wattpad novels."

"What car thing?", Elliott asked in confusion. He also sounded a tad amused. He turned to face Timothée, brow raised.

"Yeah, I'd like an explanation on that too", the woman giggled. She was nice. Elliot liked her. It was like talking to an old friend. He hadn't felt this comfortable in an interview in a really long time.

"Okay, so, like, he does this thing when we're together where if he's reversing - cause he drives when we're together, not me. I don't drive. He doesn't let me anymore cause he thinks it's dangerous. So like, he'll put his hand on the back of my seat and like look behind us while still controlling the wheel with his other palm. That thing."

"Really?", Elliott asked in surprise. "That's your answer? Of all the things? That's what does it for you?"

"Yes. I was like 'why do girls like this' and then I got it", Timothée nodded. In his defense, it was the most innocent answer he could give.

"Okay, Elliott. Same question." Elliott was silent for a moment before leaning back and over and whispering something in Timothée's ear. His positioning - leaned back with his sharp jawline on display - was definitely ended up in a couple TikTok edits that week. It just looked quite intimate. Timothée laughed as he pulled away. His cheeks were tinged pink. "You're not gonna share it with us?"

Elliot shook his head, a cheeky grin on his face. "Nope."

"You don't want him to, trust me", Timothée laughed. "He drank a Red Bull today. He's being out of pocket."

"I don't even actually like Red Bull. Steph just has it all the time, and I drink it as a result", Elliot chuckled.

"Alright, that's fair." She pulled another question. "Elliot, Max wants to know how you know when you're in love."

"When you suddenly turn into Stephanie Davis and Thomas Brodie Sangster", he grinned. "Listen, they are so mutually in love. And I don't think I've ever experienced that before. So, I'm probably not the right person to ask." Timothée wanted to interject, but he knew he shouldn't. Of course Elliot wouldn't think that what they had way back when was mutual love. But it had been. It may have started in a really fucked up way, but it was real. It was real to him. Elliot crossed his leg over his thigh. "I think you know you're in love when a person goes from being a maybe to being a yes. When you've never been more sure about anything before, then you're in love. That's the way I look at it, anyway. My brothers have had great love lives, I think. I've watched them fall in and out of love a lot. I think it really affects my view of love. I look up to them, especially Chris. That's what I aspire to have one day. Even just looking at Steph and Thomas, like they're the epitome of love to me. They never go anywhere without each other, and when they do separate they still give each other the love and care they need, but from a distance. You know you're in love when it's healthy and real and raw."

"Well, that was a beautiful answer." It wasn't to Elliot, but he would take the compliment anyway.

"He always randomly has something deep to say", Timothée chuckled. He was still trying to ignore that deeply unsettling feeling in his stomach. When he first came back into Elliot's life, he was just hoping they could manage to be friends or something. He knew that what he did had hurt him, and he could understand if Elliot never forgave him because of it. But he had forgiven him. And they'd made real progress as the result. He would argue that they were friends again. After everything, they'd managed to become friends again. It was like they never stopped talking in the first place. They'd just fallen right back into easy banter that was so them. And that was what Timothée had wanted.

So why didn't it feel like enough?

Deep down, he knew why. He knew that it didn't feel like enough, because he wanted more. He was jealous of Percy, in a way. He had gotten to experience being loved by Elliot in a deeper way. It wasn't high school puppy love. It was deep and raw. Mature. And Percy had messed it all up.

If Timothée had the chance, he wouldn't fuck it all up.

But he didn't have that chance. He might never have that chance again, because he had fucked it all up. Young Timothée had been an idiot. But he wasn't that stupid little kid anymore. He was a grown man. He had learned how to love safely and maturely. He had learned how to give all of himself, not just the good parts. After all of that, Timothée had learned how to love in a way that was healthy. And he would prove it. If he ever got the chance, he would prove it.

OCTOBER 22, 2023