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• • • •

"Play it again," Cass said with a wide grin followed by a squeal, her outward emotions matching what Faith felt on the inside. She scrolled over, clicking once on her MacBook trackpad, butterflies erupting in her stomach once Chris' smiling face filled up the screen.

"Hey, Faith! It's Chris—I guess that's kind of obvious, sorry. Anyway, if you're watching this video then that means, congratulations...Omaze has officially named you the winner and you're going to be my Oscars date in a few months! I'm super stoked to see you again, hang out and have the best time during one of my favorite times of the year. I hope you're as excited as I am." He smiled wide, and then waved. Congrats again, see you soon!"

"'See you again'?! It's like you guys are old friends!" Cass was completely outdone, hopping up and down in Faith's living room. "You're currently living the reality of every Y/N fanfic ever created!"

Faith found it hard to keep her own excitement bottled in, and she leaped up from the couch, grabbing Cass's hands as they spun around in circles screaming and laughing. Of all the things in the world, the last Faith expected was for Chris Evans to know her name, let alone be excited about getting to know her.

Once they'd managed to calm themselves down, Faith grabbed her phone and immediately pulled up her iMessage thread with Hope, turned on all caps and began typing: GOING ON AN OSCARS DATE WITH MY FUTURE HUSBAND 😭😭🥳🥳

Hope replied within seconds: 🗣️🗣️WE OUT HERE!!

"Oh my God, hold on a second. What in the world are you going to wear on the red carpet?" Cass's voice brought Faith out of her reverie. That was a good question; one she admittedly didn't have anything close to an answer for just yet.

"I don't know, I wasn't expecting any of this!" She flopped back down on the couch, expelling a deep sigh. "Ugh, all of this is happening too fast. I need a minute."

"While you do that, I'm going to go check your closet."

Cass was already halfway down the hallway before Faith had a chance to shout out, "I can guarantee you there's nothing in there that's Oscars worthy! I'm a sportswriter!"

With her bestie gone momentarily, Faith found the quiet gave her ample opportunity to take a literal and psychological breather. Just a few short weeks ago, she was at her office just like any other day and sent out a tweet she never thought Chris would see, let alone reply to. And now she was going to be his date—his freaking date!—to probably the biggest event in Hollywood.

Cass was right. This was like every Y/N fanfic ever. She'd read a handful in her teen years, and it was one of those things that, looking back, a part of you inwardly cringed. Yet at the end of the day, it only took a bit of imagination; whether you were being adopted by Robert Downey Jr. or kidnapped by a member of One Direction, it was fun to get lost for a while in a world where you knew there was zero chance of it coming true. Escape reality, that sort of thing.

But this? Chris saying he couldn't wait to see her again, the way he'd smiled in the video like he couldn't wait for her to watch it and be excited? That went beyond any words that a thirteen year old on AO3 could ever conjure up. It was both exciting and sort of scary at the same time.

Faith sat up and grabbed her computer, going to Google the date for the Oscars this year. She knew they were typically held in February, but sometimes it coincided with NBA All-Star Weekend, in which case her editor would more than likely have her assigned to travel during that period. Jessica was a relatively understanding individual, but when she wanted something done, it was going to get done.

The Google result for the Oscars blared back at her: February 18, 2019.

She immediately checked her calendar on her phone to see what the All-Star Game dates were. The minute the page loaded, her heart sank. February 16-18, 2019.

Okay, there was no reason to panic—all she had to do was call Jessica and sort everything out. She'd understand, right? As much as Faith loved All-Star Weekend, there was no way she'd take that over a date with her favorite celebrity.

Faith pulled up Jessica's number and dialed it. There was no point in waiting until the last minute to get this resolved. It rang a few times before she picked up. "Faith. I've got five minutes."

"Hi, okay, I promise I'll be quick. I'm still on for the All Star Game in February, correct?"

"Correct. I've got Cassidy on standby for that weekend, too, but if you're still good to go for it then she won't need to even think about going."

"Yeah, that's the thing—I'm probably going to have to have Cass take my place."

"Why? You're not quitting, are you?"

"No, nothing like that," She launched into as brief an explanation as possible, not thinking it necessary to go into a ton of detail. "Is that manageable? I really don't want to have to pass up this opportunity."

It was silent on the other end of the line for a few seconds longer than Faith would've liked. She glanced up as Cass returned to the living room with a handful of her outfits draped over her arm. "Well, it's not exactly ideal. We booked hotels and other accommodations super far in advance so I'll have to see what can be done. I'll check and email you no later than Friday."

Her heart fell a little, but she was determined not to lose hope entirely. "Alright, thanks. Keep me posted." She ended the call and let out a deep sigh, tossing her phone to the side.

"What was that all about?" Cass asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I forgot I was supposed to cover the All-Star Game and of course it's the same week as Oscars night."

"Oh, crap. What did she say?"

Faith rattled off a quick summary. "And now I'm trying not to freak out about the whole thing before it even starts."

"You're absolutely not allowed to freak out. I'll make sure of it," Cass unceremoniously dropped the clothes she'd been holding on an empty spot on the couch and sat on the arm. "I'll talk to her if I have to."

"If you think it'll help..."

"It will."

• • • •

"Dude, will you just press 'send' already? You've been staring at the screen for like, five whole minutes and barely blinked," Scott exclaimed with an eye roll, giving Chris a not so gentle shove in the shoulder.

From where he sat on a stool near the bay window that overlooked the spacious backyard of his younger brother's home, Chris scanned over the contents of the direct message he'd yet to send to Faith and sighed. "I don't know, man. I don't want to come off as creepy or anything."

"How is it creepy?" Scott replied, making his way over to the counter by the stove to refill his coffee mug. "You said you thought you guys hit it off well before the game, right?"

"Yeah, we did." Merely at the thought of their interactions all those weeks ago, he surreptitiously hid a soft smile behind his hand.

"Okay, so then you're in the clear. If you really want to get to know her, I don't think you asking for her number is going to send her running for the hills."

Chris knew Scott had a point—still, this was one of those days where his anxiety had the upper hand. He unlocked his phone and read the message he'd drafted in the notes app for the umpteenth time: Hi! 😊My handler usually takes care of correspondence, but I wanted to reach out and ask if you'd be cool with us exchanging numbers? I figured it'd be cool if we got to know each other outside of Twitter—only if you're comfortable with it, of course! No pressure either way :)

"If you don't send it right now, I swear to God I'm gonna do it for you," Scott warned.

"Alright, chill. Doing it now..." Chris copied and pasted the short paragraph into Twitter and pressed the arrow to send it. "There, I sent it. I guess we'll know sooner rather than later whether or not she's gonna turn me down."

"You're overthinking. If she's as interested in you as she seems to be, you'll be perfectly fine."

He heaved a sigh, walking over to the fridge to grab a beer. "I guess you're right. She seems like a huge fan, though, which is cool. She probably wouldn't dream of saying no."

"Now you're getting it. Besides, being a big fan doesn't necessarily mean we're dealing with a Fatal Attraction type of situation."

Chris groaned as he unscrewed the cap and took a swig. "Dude, don't even put that idea in my mind."

Scott laughed. "I'm kidding. She seems really sweet. And her write ups on the Cs are always on point in my book."

"Oh, really? You've done a little digging?"

"Yeah, mostly just her IG. If I wasn't embarrassingly gay, I'd give you a run for your money."

"Sure you would," Chris chuckled and shook his head. "And look, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you don't have to scope out what she's like for me. I'm not trying to date her."

"Aren't you, though? I mean, judging from the way you blush almost every time you bring her up, I'm inclined to believe otherwise."

"Shut up," Chris muttered, taking another sip of beer in order to avoid putting his foot in his mouth. The goal was a friendship, right? Right. It made sense that they'd get to know each other on some sort of personal level before the big night, which was still a few months away. No harm in that.

His phone trilled with a notification, and Chris set his bottle of Coors down on the counter before checking to see what it was. His heart almost leaped from his chest. Faith had replied already.

Chris subtly angled his body away from Scott's direct line of sight as he opened up Twitter. The smile on his face would be way too easy for his brother to make fun of.

Chris sent his number shortly thereafter, and Faith did the same. He messaged one final time that he'd text her to make sure he got the number correct.

Oh, boy. If the racing of Chris' heart was any indication, maybe his brother had a point after all.

• • • •

this was my favorite chapter to write so far! thank you guys for over 1k reads, i'm so happy you're enjoying this as much as i am writing it. keep the comments and votes coming! <3

(also pls ignore timestamps on the latter social media stuff, i know at the top it says october but when we get to chris' half, it's november)