She let out a breath, too small to count as a huff. His eyes stayed on her just a second longer than necessary—and god, she couldn’t have looked away if the entire room blew up behind her.
“See you around,” he mouthed, leading Max away. He gave Leah a polite nod as they crossed paths.
“Interesting panel, Cole,” Leah offered without breaking stride, hair bobbing over her magenta blazer. Her face was tight as she approached.
“Leah,” Emma said, running a hand over her forehead as if trying to rub her mind back into place. “Did I do okay? He caught me completely—”
Before she could finish, Leah pulled her into a hug so fierce Emma’s breath squeezed out of her. She gasped, finding herself wrapped in a cloud of auburn hair and exclusive perfume.
“My god, are you okay?”
Leah pulled back just as fast, clutching Emma’s shoulders and scanning her face as if looking for physical damage.
“I’m fine,” Emma laughed, still unsettled, but honest.
Leah shook her head, launching into an unbroken stream of commentary. “If I’d had any idea he’d spring that on you...But your reaction came out perfect. So genuine. And don’t even get mestartedon the chemistry—wait till you see the feeds, people are already going insane over this.”
Oh. Right. There had been people watching. Lots of them. Emma swallowed. She’d completely forgotten to maintain even a shred of professional composure when Darren derailed her.
“What are they saying?” she asked cautiously.
Leah looked at her, her expression neutral. “See for yourself.”
She unlocked her phone and handed it to Emma. X was already open, a steady stream of posts unfolding by the second. There were tons of photos of her and Darren together onstage—that in itself felt surreal—but it wasn’t just that. Emma zoomed in on one of the photos.
It had to be the moment right after he had dropped his reveal. She was looking at him, shock and pure joy lighting up her face. And he was looking back. Calm, not quite smiling, but his eyes glowing. Their bodies were tilted toward each other at nearly the same angle.
Emma’s cheeks flushed. “Oh my god, Leah. This is bad. I...I look completely in love.”
“You both do,” Leah said.
“Jesus . . . I mean, what if he has a girlfriend?”
Leah arched her brows, skepticism oozing off her. “You mean you don’t know? The woman who signed up for an evening physics course to make her light magic more plausible hasn’t googled whether her celebrity crush is in a relationship?”
Emma leveled her with a look. “I didn’t actually finish that course. And no, I’m not online stalking Darren Cole.”
Leah didn’t seem convinced, but it was the truth. Emma was well aware that her celebrity crushes were based on fantasy. She liked it that way. Didn’t want to know anything that might mess with the version she’d built in her own head. She’d spent countless hours watching Darren in character, but had barely seen a single interview with the real man.
“Well, for your information, then, Darren Cole is famously single. It’s the greatest bachelor mystery since George Clooney finally settled down.”
“Hm,” Emma said, as if Leah had given her tomorrow’s weather forecast, instead of disclosing something that made her spine go a little weak.
Not that it meant anything, she reminded herself. Single or not, he still lived in a different universe.
“Have you seen the posts?”
Emma closed the picture, scrolling through the feed. Apparently, Leah wasn’t the only one who thought they looked in love.
they’re not even fictional and I’d still sell my soul for this ship
Sry Lucen/Catlyn I just updated my OTP
THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER??! EMMA WHITEHART ARE YOU LIVING INSIDE YOUR OWN FANFIC WHAT IS HAPPENING??
She kept going.
Gifs already. Fan edits. Quote overlays.
