There weren’t a lot of things that Jack and Ned disagreed on. It was part of why they made such a good team—they were so often in sync. Though there were a few issues on which they differed strongly. Ned loved Indian food and hated Chinese. Jack was the opposite. Ned liked to have candles burning around the house to give it mood lighting and a pleasant aroma. Jack just wanted to plug in a scented air freshener and use electric lighting. Jack loved promoting a film.

Ned hated it.

Jack loved it because he got to talk to anyone and everyone about his story, about the camera angles, soundtrack, casting choices, the layers to the film, the script, and the creative process. He finally got an audience with whom he could giddily share this thing he’d made, like a five-year-old coming home to show his mom his macaroni portrait.

Ned, on the other hand, saw promoting the film as a scheduling nightmare. Jack needed to be in three places at once all day, every day, and shuttling him from interview to interview to the editing room to make some final adjustments was exhausting. Shuttling to the producer’s office to talk about distribution, to the photoshoot to do God knew what just made Ned break into a sweat. This was what he was good at, this was what he did, and he liked knowing that he could pull it off, but man, was he ever glad when it was over.

Usually, there was one benefit to this whole promoting thing: Jack would often have interviews that included his actors. Ned would get to see the actors that they’d filmed with, get to chat with them and see what they were up to, and since in the previous two films half of the actors had been people they’d gone to college with, it was kind of like a reunion. This time around, though, Ned hated that part most of all, because it meant he had to see James again.

James handled it well, from what Ned could tell, by which he meant that it looked like James had completely forgotten about him. James didn’t announce his sexuality to the world but he made it pretty clear which team he played for by flirting with the various male production assistants they dealt with on the interviews. He and Dex even made a few jokes about “shipping” their characters, although they were quick to clarify with interviewers that such a relationship would be unhealthy and to please not take it seriously. It was clear to Ned that James had moved on, which just solidified for him the knowledge that James hadn’t really cared all that much in the first place.

It stung, it really did, but Ned refused to let it get to him. He was still determined to find a way to make it up to James, romantic interests aside, because he had messed up, and he was the kind of person who cleaned up his messes.

During the interviews, Ned stood to the side and waited out of sight while everyone chatted on camera. This time they were all on one big couch with the interviewer on a comfy chair next to them. Jack was closest to the interviewer, with Mandy next to him, then Dex, then James. Jack had insisted that Jerry was a main character so James should get treated the same as Dex and Mandy, despite his face not being shown and having no dialogue. The four were remarkably in sync, joking and playing off of each other.

“So tell me,” the interviewer said, “James, Dex, you two have joked about the ‘romance’ between your two characters.”

“Oh, God, don’t take that seriously,” Dex cut in. “That would be such an unhealthy relationship, guys, don’t get any ideas.”

The interviewer laughed. “No, I was just wondering about subtext. Was there any particular subtext that you two were playing? Since James’ character is masked and silent, you must have had to rely on it a lot while filming.”

“Well, I mean, other than Dex’s obvious crush on me,” James joked, which made Dex stick his tongue out at him, “I think the biggest thing we were going for is the idea that Jerry’s trying to intimidate Tyler. ‘I know what you did last summer,’ that kind of feeling. Tyler’s trying to get Jerry to mess up, to show a chink in the armor.”

“Literally,” Dex added, referencing a scene involving a Bowie knife and some stabbing.

It was a good thing that Ned knew for a fact that Dex was straight and dating someone, and that James wasn’t interested in him anyway, otherwise he would have been envious. He was actually wishing he could banter with James like that, even in a friendly way. He missed their blatant flirting and the way that James had looked at him like he was something precious. James had been all of his dreams come true and now, Ned had to watch him, so close and yet so completely out of reach.

“If you want to talk about subtext,” Dex went on, “ask these two.” He nudged Mandy and Jack, who did a good job of acting betrayed. They’d all agreed beforehand that people were going to find out about Mandy and Jack’s relationship eventually, so they may as well just out themselves and be done with it.

“Oh, man,” James laughed. “You should have seen them on set, it was awful.”

Mandy gave James a look that Ned knew very well stood for if you and Ned were still dating, I could wipe the floor with you right now. Ned and James had been the two annoying ones on set, always sneaking off to go make out, touching each other every chance they could, and staring at each other like lovestruck idiots when they couldn’t.

That made Ned’s chest feel tight again, so he turned and left to go sit in Jack’s dressing room. Jack had a separate one, luckily, so Ned didn’t have to worry about running into James and dealing with James’ icy silence. He didn’t know if he could bear it.

He took the opportunity to double-check Jack’s schedule—how he was going to get through the next couple of weeks, he didn’t know—when the door banged open and Dex entered.

“Shit, wrong room, sorry,” Dex said, starting to back out, and then pausing. “Actually, you got a sec? I wanted to catch up and see how you were doing.”

There was a calculated carefulness in the way he said it, and Ned sighed. “Yes, I’m fine. People break up all the time.”

Dex closed the door behind him. “Look, I don’t know what happened, but I know that you two were head over heels for each other. That doesn’t just go away with a snap of your fingers.”

Ned stuffed his phone into his pocket. “You’ve been dating the same girl for nine months so I’m going to pretend that you’re an expert on this sort of thing instead of throwing your ass out of the room.”

“Much obliged.” Dex grinned and grabbed a chair. “So what happened?”

Ned explained as simply as he could, and by the end of it, Dex was nodding thoughtfully. “I’m an actor,” he said, “so I can see why James is upset. I’d be pissed too. Mostly about you not telling him when you had the chance, but then, I’m not the one who just had a big career opportunity snatched away.”

“If Laura had done that to you, would you forgive her?” Laura was Dex’s girlfriend.

Dex thought about it. “If we were at the point we are now, dating for nine months, then yes. But you and James were only together for what, a couple of months? Three tops?”

Ned nodded. It had felt so much shorter than that, the time flying by what with filming and all and not getting the opportunity to really spend all the time together that they wanted.

“Yeah, at three months, my relationship with Laura wasn’t on such solid ground,” Dex admitted. “you two haven’t had a whole lot of time to yourselves because of the film. I think I would have been a bit less trusting too, if I was James. But,” he added, obviously seeing the distress on Ned’s face, “that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t be open to reconciliation.”

“James isn’t,” Ned replied. “He won’t answer my texts or phone calls. He clearly doesn’t care enough to want to mend things.”

“You know that you’re his first serious relationship ever, right?” Dex pointed out. “I mean, I don’t presume to know the guy better than you do, but we talked a lot. You were the first person he ever really fell for who liked him back. You know what it’s like to have someone you love and then be hurt by them. James was probably—is probably still—too busy being hurt to even think about how to fix things. It’s just how you are with your first real relationship. Fighting for each other and trusting that you’ll come out the other side together is something that you learn over time.”

Ned thought about how tactile James was, how eager, and how he’d done things like bring Ned flowers. James really was a little behind the curve on relationships, Ned realized. “Fair point.”

“Have you thought of doing something to prove your intentions? Actions speak louder than words and all.”

Ned nodded. “I want to try and give him a role that would replace, so to speak, the one that I took from him. You know what I mean?”

Dex got thoughtful at that. “You know…” he said slowly, drawing the vowels out until it almost sounded like he had a Southern drawl, “I just did an audition for an award-winning director.”

“Who?”

Dex gave him the name, and Ned’s jaw dropped. The director was known for his science fiction and technology based films that tended to leave your brain in a pile of mind-bending mush by the end of it. He’d done this one film about space travel that Ned had to watch three times to understand, and another one about memory that Ned and Jack had made the mistake of watching while high. Not only had they been unable to understand the film but Ned was pretty sure the experience had given him a complete psychological breakdown for a week.

“Did you get it?” Ned asked eagerly, glad for a change of subject even though he wasn’t sure why Dex had brought it up.

“Nope.” Dex shook his head. “Brace yourself on this one. This film is a period drama.”

“A what?” That was about as different from this director’s other films as you could get.

“Yup.” Dex nodded. “It takes place during World War II, and it’s about a fighter pilot.”

“If he’s blond, named Steve, and dies while crashing his plane to save the world, tell him that DC and Marvel have both already done that one.”

Dex laughed. “See, moments like these, I can definitely see why James fell for you.”

Ned tried to smile in return, but his face felt frozen. His chest tightened, and he took a deep breath to try to steady himself.

Dex seemed to have noticed the mistake he’d made, because he grimaced. “I’m sorry. I just meant…anyway. So it’s a war film, drama, big deal, and he’s apparently sick of Hollywood. He’s seen every ‘known’ and ‘experienced’ actor, and I guess he’s tired of all of us. He wants someone completely unknown.”

An idea started to form in Ned’s mind. “By ‘completely unknown,’ I assume it’s okay if the person went to college and majored in theatre and was, say, cast in a film where he didn’t speak and his face was completely covered but it meant he got experience working on a film set?”

“I think it would be perfect,” Dex said with a grin, “seeing as the pilot character has to wear a mask that covers half his face. Apparently it was to help him regulate his breathing and not pass out or something.”

Ned’s face started to hurt, and he realized that he was grinning. “Please, please tell me that you know how to get in touch with this guy.”

“Not him directly,” Dex acknowledged, “but I have the number of his assistant.”

He handed Ned the phone. Ned hesitated for a moment, fingers hovering over the keys. Should he do this? If James botched the audition, Ned’s head would be on a pike for suggesting him to the assistant. It was a huge risk to put himself out there like this, calling someone he didn’t know, an assistant to a powerful director, and convince them to audition a nobody actor who’d been in one feature film.

But wasn’t failing to take risks what lost him James in the first place? Maybe he stood by his decision not to let Jack cast James as their lead, but maybe James had a good point overall. Maybe Ned needed to take more risks in his life. Dating an actor that you were working with was certainly a risk. Being in a relationship at all was a risk of your heart. Maybe it was time to start putting himself out there more and not let logic rule the day so much.

Ned’s fingers were shaking as he dialed the number into his own phone, pressing the phone to his ear once he hit ‘talk’. It rang a couple of times, and someone picked up.

“Hello, Donna Bankman’s phone, how can I help you?” The assistant was a woman and sounded nice.

“Hi, Donna. I’m Ned Hollins, assistant to Jack Wallace.”

“Oh, hi!” Donna switched from professional to more genuinely cheerful. “What can I help you with?”

“Look, I know that this is probably really unorthodox, but as one assistant to another, I was hoping that you could do me a huge favor that I will definitely return at your earliest convenience,” Ned said.

“Okay, now I’m curious.”

“I heard that your boss is looking for an unknown to play the lead in his latest film, and I think I have the actor for you. He’s got experience on a film set and graduated from a theatre program, but he’s got no audience recognition and he’d be a complete unknown to those watching.”

“Have you worked with him?”

Ned nodded and then realized that she couldn’t see his face. “Yes. He’s professional, hardworking, talented, and good at conveying emotion without saying anything or even without seeing his face.”

He heard the sound of a pencil scratching on paper and barely resisted the urge to pump his fist into the air. If Donna was writing this stuff down, it meant that she was interested. “What’s his name?”

“James Novak. You can ask my boss, Jack, and he’ll testify to his skill and professionalism.”

“I can’t get him the job, you know,” Donna cautioned.

“I know. I just want you to see him audition, to get your boss to see him audition, I mean. He’s just the type of guy you’re looking for, and I know that your boss wouldn’t get a chance to see him otherwise.”

There was a very long pause during which Ned felt like he was going to throw up from nerves. Dex was leaning forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, his eyes wide and locked onto Ned’s phone, like he could will Donna to say what he wanted if he just stared at it hard enough.

“All right,” Donna said finally. “I’ll get him the audition.”

“Thank you,” Ned said, trying not to scream and jump up and down in celebration. He rattled off James’ contact information, thanked Donna again, and hung up.

“He got the audition?” Dex asked.

“He got the audition!” Ned confirmed, yelling.

Dex had leapt out of his seat, whooping, when Jack walked in. “What did I miss?” Jack asked. “Did one of you win the lottery?”

“Even better than that,” Ned assured him, drawing his bewildered friend into a hug.