𝐱𝐢.

With the new year came new opportunities. For Faith, it meant a chance at a promotion—but not at The Athletic. She'd been offered a job at ESPN, which was probably the biggest upgrade someone in her position could ask for. It meant that her work as a beat writer for the Celtics had been so well received that they felt it would be the same on a national level.

"That's amazing," Chris exclaimed once she'd relayed the news to him. It was a couple hours past midnight on New Year's Day; they sat in a far corner booth inside South St. Diner, having just finished their usual patty melts with onion rings, and were now sharing a slice of warm apple pie á la Mode. "So, you're gonna go for it, right? I mean, I'd expect nothing less."

As she reached to get another spoonful of ice cream, Faith's expression was pensive. "I want to..."

Chris's eyebrows knitted together. "I sense a 'but' coming along..."

"Not so much a 'but'. Just something to consider. ESPN wants to hire me, and my first job is most definitely going to be the All-Star Game next month. Which is the same week as the Oscars. I was going to try and work something out with Cass for that weekend, but she's not part of the equation now."

Realization of what the predicament was settled in on his face. "Okay, so then your decision should be even easier than I originally thought. Go to All-Star weekend."

She scoffed almost instantly. "And miss out on being your date? Absolutely not going to happen."

"Listen, you said before that getting a job like this is something you've been hoping for ever since you graduated. We're friends, and there'll be other opportunities for us to go to the Oscars together. Don't sacrifice your dreams for me."

"I also don't feel like I need to choose between my dream job and someone who means a lot to me," She responded. "I can tell ESPN yes—and if All-Star Weekend is offered, then I'll say I had a prior commitment. Boom, problem solved."

He acquiesced to her reasoning, letting out a soft sigh. "You just can't get enough of me, can you?"

A slow smile spread on Faith's face, shaking her head. Though he was joking around, he wasn't too far off. "I mean it. I've never wanted to have to sacrifice parts of my personal life for a job, and vice-versa. There's room for it all to coexist."

"Yeah, yeah. Just admit you can't bear the thought of not going on a date with me."

She rolled her eyes, then reached for the plate of pie and moved it closer to her side of the table. "You wish. By the way, this is mine now."

Twenty or so minutes later, Chris was driving to drop Faith off at her apartment. Thankfully, she hadn't encountered anymore paparazzi since the first incident, but in the event that she would in the future, he made sure she knew that his door was always open. "I can't believe we're in a new year already."

"Neither can I. Good part is, there's a lot of great stuff on the horizon for both of us," He turned the radio down a little bit. "Your GMA interview is next week, right?"

"Mhm," Faith replied with a nod. "I'm so nervous, I keep thinking I'm going to say the wrong thing."

"You're gonna be perfectly fine. Besides, if you need tips, I'm your guy. I've got some experience in that department."

"I'll take any advice I can get." She said, chuckling softly.

"You're definitely going to feel a little out of your element, since you're always the one who's in the interviewer's chair—but you gotta remember that it's just like having a conversation with one of your friends."

"Except in this case, my friend is Robin Roberts, which is a sentence I've never had to say before."

He chuckled. "Yeah. She's super down to Earth, though, so you should be good. You won't even notice the cameras once you get started."

Faith figured she would notice, at least a little, but in the long run she knew he wouldn't steer her wrong. "Thanks. Anything else I should remember?"

"Just relax and be yourself. They'll love you."

As she scrolled through her Instagram feed, liking some of her friends and colleagues' posts about the new year, an ad for the Oscars popped up. They'd recently announced Jimmy Kimmel would be hosting again after last year's ceremony—Faith didn't really find him funny, but that was neither here nor there. What was on her mind was just how close they were getting to the big night. When she'd first won the contest, it had seemed so far away. Now with just a little over a month left, Faith was amazed at how far things had come.

With the GMA interview and now her promotion, she knew that her name and face would start to be on everyone's radar, extending beyond the network she'd built here in Boston and with the Celtics. She wasn't one to shy away from change, but that didn't make it any less daunting. Especially when she also had to contend with her growing feelings for the man sitting next to her.

"You okay?" Chris's voice pulled Faith out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see that they had reached her apartment. "We're here."

She blinked and let out a sigh. "Yeah, sorry. Thanks for the food."

"Anytime," He answered. "You sure you're okay?"

Faith nodded, and then an idea popped into her head. "Could you come to New York with me? I know you aren't getting interviewed, but I'd feel better having you there."

He seemed surprised by the question, almost as if he could tell that she was holding something back when asking. But, as she'd gotten used to, he wasn't going to pressure her for information unless it was something she wanted to talk about. "Um...yeah, I'd love to. I'd just have to check my schedule to make sure I don't have anything else coming up."

"Awesome." She smiled and then grabbed her purse. "Just text me when you find out."

"I will." They got out of the vehicle and Chris walked her to the lobby door, as he'd been doing of late. It was more than a kind gesture for Faith, it made her feel safe. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Mmkay." She opened her arms for a hug, and he pulled her into his embrace with ease. "Happy new year, Chris."

He pulled away only to press his lips to her cheek. "Happy new year, Faith."

• • • •

notification

chrisevans posted a photo.

• • • •

Production assistant Maggie peeked her head in the green room just as Faith was getting the finishing touches done on her makeup. "Miss Beaumont, we're gonna need you seated in two minutes."

"Okay, thank you." After the makeup artist had finished, Chris watched as Faith hopped out of the chair and walked to stand over by him, near the TV which was naturally tuned to Good Morning America. Michael Strahan was finishing up a segment on the latest Trump administration craziness. God, Chris couldn't wait until that lunatic was out of office permanently.

Redirecting his attention to Faith, he asked, "How you feeling? Good?"

"Yeah, surprisingly enough. I'm actually excited now that it's almost time." She smoothed out the wrinkles in her outfit. "How do I look?"

Chris took the opportunity to give her a once-over. She always looked beautiful to him, but today especially so. She wore a yellow pantsuit with a lace blouse that perfectly accentuated her skin. Her locs were pulled into a bun and adorned with gold jewelry that glistened when the lights bounced off of them. "Amazing."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You look the part and now you're going to knock 'em dead." He gave her shoulder a squeeze before Maggie came back in the room and whisked Faith away.

Chris had mostly been by himself in the green room, aside from Faith getting ready. His decision to come to New York with her had been a no-brainer, although when she'd first asked last week, he couldn't shake the feeling that she was holding something back. But the last thing he wanted to do was pressure her into admitting something that may not even be an issue.

The broadcast came back from commercial as Chris eased himself onto a nearby couch and settled in to watch. The chyron appeared onscreen as Robin Roberts set up the story:

"For our Pop Culture segment this morning, I have a question—what would you do for the chance to be your favorite celebrity's date to the Oscars? Not many of us are granted that opportunity, but I'm here with a young woman who's getting her chance to do just that—with none other than everyone's favorite superhero, Chris Evans."

As the camera cut to Faith, his stomach did a backflip. She looked absolutely radiant. "Beat writer for Celtics division of The Athletic and probably one of the luckiest women in the world, Faith Beaumont is here with us today. Thank you so much for joining us."

"Thank you so much for having me," She answered brightly.

"Okay, let's dive in: how the heck do you even get into something like this? You won a contest, right?"

"Yeah. From time to time, Chris will be part of contests where proceeds go to one of the many charities he supports, and a few months back he tweeted about one for the Oscars. I wasn't even going to enter, but I sent out a tweet about it he replied."

They showed the tweet onscreen and Chris smiled at the sight of their first Twitter interaction. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and it demonstrated just how far they'd come since then.

Robin continued, "And we see the tweet there, so what was your reaction? Because I'm sure he gets like a thousand mentions a day at least."

Faith laughed. "When I first got the notification, I was at work, so I was screaming on the inside a ton. But once I got home it was pure chaos."

"I can imagine. So, you end up entering the contest and then a few months later, you win—but you and Chris had already been building a friendship."

"Yeah, it was somewhat of an unexpected thing. We happened to meet at a Celtics game and then we wound up exchanging numbers a little bit after that and it just grew from there. I can honestly say he's one of my best friends."

So, Faith was making it her goal to make him grin like an idiot all day, huh? She was succeeding with flying colors.

"That's amazing. And I'm sure you two have to deal with dating rumors all the time, especially with all these articles being posted whenever you guys are seen together. How are you able to navigate something like that? Does it put a damper on you guys' relationship?"

Nodding along with the question, Faith let out a small sigh. "Sometimes it is difficult, but Chris has really been supportive, and helping me to navigate those challenges. I'm still getting used to it, but it's easy to just block out the noise and focus on reality."

"I think it's really cool that you guys have developed this connection outside of the parameters of this contest. And speaking of, the Oscars are indeed next month—have you picked out a dress yet?"

"I have."

"Has Chris seen it?"

"He hasn't, I wanted him to be surprised when he first sees it."

"I can tell from the look in your eyes that he's going to love it," Robin responded with a light laugh. "Who are you most excited to meet during the award ceremony?"

"Definitely Viola Davis. She's like, the Queen."

"Excellent choice. I'd just like to wrap things up by asking one last thing – and absolutely no pressure to answer – but just to clarify for everybody, you and Chris aren't dating?"

"No, we aren't. But, you know, who knows what the future holds? Never say never."

It was like the air had been stolen from his lungs.

She could've just given Robin a firm no and left it at that. But never say never? That wasn't a denial.

That was the sound of a door being opened. A chance being given.

All Chris needed to do was take it.

• • • •

hi loves! i'm sorry this took so long—was getting over a few minor health issues the past week and a half but i'm feeling better :) we're so close to 11k reads and i'm still shook by that, haha. you guys are the best!

next up: the oscars!