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English
Series:
Part 2 of This Little Line
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Published:
2020-03-12
Completed:
2020-04-25
Words:
38,854
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6/6
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253
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The Line We Built

Summary:

Friends? That didn't capture the intimacy of what they were. Lovers? No, they were both too chickenshit to even think about crossing that line. So instead, they did what they did best: Tiptoed on the edge of the line, quietly wondering who would be the first to grab the other and pull them over. Until then, just walking the line was fine.

A series of short stories chronicling Shayne and Courtney's journey from friendship to a very, very grey and cuddle-filled area. Companion/Prequel story to Crossing The Line.

Notes:

Well, here it is! After writing Crossing The Line, I felt the need to try and put out a little more Shourtney material. This story will serve to show how they got to where they are in Crossing The Line. Expect lots of fluff. This chapter is inspired by my girlfriend, who loved giving me little snacks in college when we were starting out.

Chapter 1: Best Yogurt Mom

Chapter Text

Courtney remembered the first time she saw Shayne going to town on a cup of yogurt.

It must have been barely a week after her breakup, when days were bleak, and it took everything in her to put on a big smile for her friends and the camera. She’d come up with excuses on top of excuses to avoid joining them for lunch out, or snack breaks. That wasn’t to say she didn’t love her friends dearly and enjoy their company, and their earnest attempts at keeping her spirits up. On the contrary, her friends made the transition to singledom a lot easier to deal with.

But sometimes she just really needed a second to be alone, and that was one of those days. Olivia, Noah, and Keith went out to get some smoothies; it was a hot day, so she didn’t blame them. Courtney just said she was still stuffed from lunch, and promptly resumed going over the script she was working on. Shayne on the other hand, said he got his afternoon snack covered. He came back from the pantry with a yogurt cup in one hand, spoon in the other. He dropped onto a vacant beanbag chair with a satisfied sigh.

Courtney peeked over the side of her monitor to look at her friend. Shayne tore the lid off and dug in with gusto, a small smile playing on his lips. It was… a little cute, if she were being honest with herself, to see him so enamored by this little cup of cultured milk. The whole squad loved to eat, and Shayne was no exception. But he really liked this thing. Which was strange, because for as long as she’d known him, he didn’t like yogurt. He’d gone as far as calling it the devil’s milk.

Yet here he sat. A smile plastered on his face, and a smidge of yogurt clinging to the corner of his lips.

“I thought you hated yogurt?” Courtney broke the silence after a few minutes of watching his contented snacking. Shayne’s blue eyes shot up to look at her from across the room. He looked a little bit like a deer caught in headlights, like he hadn’t expected her to notice. Well, to be fair, she’d been quiet all day and not very engaging outside of shoots.

He swallowed and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“This is the first brand of yogurt that doesn’t taste like unhappy milk,” Shayne declared, taking another spoonful and swallowing before continuing, “A friend at the gym recommended it. Great bang for buck both money-wise, and for counting calories and protein.”

Courtney nodded along and soon found Shayne’s smile contagious. He was ridiculous. How good could a stupid cup of yogurt be to have him smiling that much?

“You want some? There’s not much left, but I see the way you’re looking at me, Miller,” Shayne teased.

“Shut up!” Courtney laughed but nodded along. She stood up, ignoring the slight heat in her cheeks at being caught staring. She plopped down on the beanbag chair next to Shayne and was handed the cup and spoon. Courtney sized it up.

It was a single serving cup, branded Macrogurt. It was named as such because of its supposedly carefully calculated macronutrients per serving. The perfect snack for the health conscious or muscle-building person. Horrible name aside, it did look pretty good. There were numerous little strawberry chunks mixed into the thick yogurt. There were a couple spoonfuls left.

“It’s not poisoned, Court, just get in there!” Shayne nudged her with his elbow after she took a moment too long looking at it. Courtney rolled her eyes but couldn’t bite back the smile at his jab.

“Well I gotta make sure you didn’t leave a bunch of drool in this thing, Shayne!” She fired back, earning a laugh from the man.

“Oh, you know there’s just mouthfuls of saliva in there!” Shayne then pretended to spit in her direction. She smacked him lightly.

“Stop!” Courtney laughed, and Shayne raised his hands defensively, shit-eating grin still glued to his face.

The spoon finally slid into her mouth, and Courtney found that it indeed tasted quite good. She wasn’t a huge fan of yogurt in general, but this thing was definitely winning her over. She closed her eyes and let out a satisfied hum.

“Oh my God, this is like… definitely one of the better yogurts out there.”

“Told ya!”

Courtney made to hand the cup back to Shayne, but he raised his hand up to stop her.

“You finish it up.”

“This is yours! I can’t.”

Shayne placed a gentle hand on her own, easing the cup back towards herself and away from him.

“You look like you could use it more than me today,” Shayne let the words come out softly, like he was afraid of spooking her. But why on earth would he be afraid of-

“How have you been holding up, Court?”

Oh, that’s why.

Courtney broke eye contact, shifting a little in the beanbag chair. She dug the spoon back into the yogurt and tapped the bottom of the cup a few times in consideration. Shayne had always been a great friend. He was one of the most considerate and caring people she knew. There was no harm in telling him she wasn’t feeling great. He of all people would know how to be accommodating.

“Well… I’m…” Courtney began. She looked up from the yogurt to turn to Shayne. She expected him to be looking up at her with those deep blue eyes of his that always seemed to see right through her, ready to console her and give sage wisdom. Instead, his eyes were locked onto the Macrogurt in her hand; he looked the tiniest bit regretful that he gave up his precious yogurt.

This stupid boy. This ridiculous yogurt loving boy.

She felt a lightness in her chest as a small laugh escaped her lips at the sight of him. Shayne suddenly looked up at her, frowning in confusion at her sudden mirth. The laugh turned into a full-blown giggle fit, now directed at his dumbfounded expression. She struggled to catch her breath and stop the giggles, but it started again every time she set her eyes on Shayne’s bewildered expression. After what felt like ages she inhaled deeply, a hand on her chest. It felt good laughing like this. Courtney wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d laughed like that, and at such a simple thing to boot.

“You’re so stupid,” Courtney bit her lip for a second, “I’m doing better now. Thank you for this, Shayne. I know how much it pains you to part with your yogurt.”

Shayne’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he laughed and settled on, “You’re… welcome?”

This oblivious boy.

Courtney grinned at him and took the last spoon of yogurt. She stood up from the beanbag chair and turned to face Shayne. She reached down to bop him on the head with the spoon. It earned her a mock offended look, but he said nothing.

After that, every day without fail, Shayne always had a Macrogurt cup in the afternoon. He’d be snacking in the middle of a writer’s meeting. Or cramming it in right before a shoot starts. Or while lounging in the staff room during one of the rare lulls in their schedule. No matter the day, Shayne got his yogurt.

Courtney couldn’t resist looking his way whenever he had his little snack. He just looked so damned content. Usually she got away with stealing looks his way. Other times, she wasn’t so lucky.

“Oh, Court, want some? This one’s got mango chunks and lots of my spit!” He once called after noticing her stare.

“That makes it taste more savory, right? Give it here!” She fired back, which had Shayne’s face scrunch up in disgust.

Other times, she beat him to the punch when he caught her staring.

“God, Shayne, Macrogurt again? Add some variety to your palette, my dude!”

“You’ll take my Macrogurt from my cold, dead hands, Courtney!”

But then one Thursday afternoon, after weeks of Macrogurt, Courtney noticed Shayne was acting just a little bit off. He joked a little less. He laughed a little less. He spoke up a little less. Generally, he didn’t seem like himself.

“You guys wanna come with?” Olivia asked, “This is a smoothie kind of day.”

“I’m good,” Courtney smiled, “Thank you though.”

Shayne leaned back in his chair, looking up at Olivia from behind his monitor. He seemed to hesitate before saying, “I got some stuff to do. Could you please grab me a Banana Blast?”

Courtney swiveled her chair to face Shayne halfway across the room. Neither noticed her scandalized expression. No yogurt for Shayne in the afternoon? Surely the planets were misaligned today. This hadn’t happened in like… weeks.

“Comin’ right up! See you guys,” Olivia waved as she stepped out.

“Shayne! How could you cheat on Macrogurt!?” Courtney exclaimed, a hand going up to her face and adding to her melodramatic flair.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Shayne grumbled in an uncharacteristically irritated tone. He put his chin in his hand while focusing on the monitor. Courtney watched Shayne click away, occasionally typing out edits. She pursed her lips in consideration. Her slow steps towards him sounded loud in the mostly empty room, but she paid that no mind. Shayne pulled her out of her funk loads of times, and Courtney would be damned if she couldn’t do the same for him.

“Hey,” Her gentle voice called out as she eased herself onto the edge of his desk. Shayne saved his work before leaning back to look at Courtney. He shook his head. Courtney knew that look, and that little shake of the head. He was upset with himself for being snippy.

“I’m sorry. Been cranky today, I know.”

Courtney nodded in understanding and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Daddy didn’t get his juice?” She asked with a playful smile, which successfully earned a chuckle from Shayne.

He made a face, but affirmed, “Yeah, it’s been sold out at my grocery place for a while now. I used up the last of my stock yesterday.”

“Try hitting up any other grocers yet?” Courtney suggested.

“No luck with any of the nearby ones,” He sighed.

Courtney bit her lip. This just wouldn’t do. Contented-yogurt-eating-Shayne had become such a consistent tiny source of joy the rough past few weeks. To see him so crestfallen because of his afternoon snack pained Courtney. This wouldn’t do at all. She was going to see him smiling into a cup of yogurt again if it was the last thing she did.

“Tell you what,” Courtney placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “I’ll keep an eye out for your Macrogurt, alright?”

Shayne looked up at Courtney with a mixture of gratitude and amusement, “You don’t have to go out of your way, Court.”

“Hey, what are friends for, right?”

True to her word, Courtney hit up one of the nearby grocery stores on the way home. Unfortunately, she wasn’t so lucky on the first try; this chain didn’t stock Shayne’s brand. But she wasn’t giving up so easily just yet. She’d try again over the weekend. Friday came and went. Shayne was in better spirits, but it still didn’t sit right with Courtney. It just wasn’t the same without him beaming into a cup of yogurt like a kid opening a Christmas present.

So, over the weekend, she checked out all the nearby grocery chains. She’d go in and head straight to the dairy section. If they didn’t have Shayne’s brand, she’d buy a couple of miscellaneous items she needed to stock up on for the coming week. Rinse and repeat. At least she was being productive either way. And being productive, she’d learned in the weeks following her break up, was the key to keeping your mind off your damned broken heart.

Courtney lucked out on her third visit. This one was a fifteen-minute drive away from her apartment, which wasn’t bad all in all. She was faced with a wide variety of fruity flavors on the shelves. She automatically grabbed a strawberry flavored one, remembering it as the first one they shared. She dropped it in her cart, but then her hand hovered by the shelves for a moment longer.

She couldn’t get him just one cup, right? On the one hand, it’s not like it was her job to be his yogurt dealer. But on the other hand, she couldn’t put a price on Shayne’s giddy, yogurt-eating smile. All the better if that price included a good buy-two-take-one deal…

Courtney grabbed several cups at a time and added them to her cart. She made her way over to the counters with a spring in her step, ignoring how strange she must have looked smiling by herself and pushing her cart of yogurt along. Who cares? She got what she came for and could not wait for Monday.

On Monday, she’d kept it in a brown paper bag and left it in the fridge so it would go undetected until she was ready to bring it out. A couple shoots and meetings later, the afternoon had rolled in. Any minute now, Olivia would right on cue ask if they wanted to stretch their legs and go with to buy snacks. Courtney slipped out of the office and into the pantry before she had the chance. Retrieving the brown paper bag and a spoon, she returned to their office just as Olivia, Keith, and Noah made their exit.

Shayne leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk as he took a break to scroll through his feed on his phone. Courtney had always prided herself with her acting abilities. Part of that was being able to maintain a poker face during shoots, even when just being around her friends made her want to burst out laughing. Today, her poker face was nonexistent, and she knew it. She wore a wide smile on her face as she strutted up towards Shayne. He looked up from his phone curiously as she sat on the edge of his desk.

Courtney licked her now unusually dry lips. She hadn’t really thought about how to broach the subject up until this moment. The days leading to this, Courtney figured she’d just… hand it over. Now that she sat before him, ready to deliver her little gift, she felt unusually shy. But she was being silly; she mentally scolded herself. She was just giving Shayne some yogurt. No big deal.

“Got you something,” Was what her bashful voice let out as she ducked her head the slightest bit. She held the bag out with a reserved smile.

Shayne took his feet off the desk and reached for it, “What’s this?”

He set the cold bag on his lap and peered in. A smile instantly broke out onto his features.

“You did not!” Courtney giggled and nodded in response to his exclamation. Shayne freed the contents of the bag and turned to look at her with his unreasonably wide grin.

This stupid boy and his yogurt. And his stupid happy smile that brightened her day.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Shayne bowed his head appreciatively and wasted no time popping the lid off, “I hope this wasn’t any trouble.”

“Oh, I had to beat an old lady with a stick to get the last one,” Courtney rolled her eyes and waved him off, “You know how it is. Yogurt business is brutal.”

Shayne laughed into his yogurt, “Yeah, real vicious old ladies. That’s why I never go to the store without a taser.”

“But you’re in luck. There’s more where that came from,” She winked.

They eased into their regular line of conversation from there. Stuff about work, YouTube drama, their friends, anything. But throughout the whole thing, Courtney couldn’t help but just unashamedly watch him happily dig into the cup. His infectious happiness gave her life. If she’d known that feeding Shayne would make her feel this good, she would have started at their audition.

The next day, another cup of Macrogurt sat in the fridge, waiting for the afternoon to come in. It was around noon when Shayne sidled up next to her. They were standing off the set for their latest EBE and watching Ian and Ryan instruct Keith and Noah. He nudged Courtney with his elbow, earning a confused glare. Shayne made an act of looking around with shifty eyes.

“So… you got the goods?”

Courtney snorted out a laugh but turned to face his gravely serious face. She cleared her throat and glanced around for any would-be eavesdroppers.

“Yeah, man. I got you covered.”

“Mm,” Shayne hummed, “What uh, what do you have in stock?”

Courtney conspicuously glanced over her shoulder and then leaned in close, “Mango.”

“Tight tight tight tight,” Shayne said rapidly as he took a step back to overtly-casually put his hands on his hips.

“You’re so dumb,” Courtney giggled.

The week went on and so did the yogurt cups. Halfway through the week, when it was clear that Courtney had stockpiled Macrogurt just for Shayne, was when he started feeling a little bad for getting so much free food. It was a short, friendly argument, and Shayne eventually dropped it. Courtney, of course, would never tell him that she did it because feeding him made her heart swell with happiness she hadn’t felt since long before her breakup. Even she didn’t fully understand why it had such an effect on her. The only thing she did understand was that Macrogurt was affordable, and Shayne’s happiness was more than worth it.

When the next Monday came, and the Macrogurt of the day was stashed in the fridge, Courtney sat at her desk. Coffee in hand, she went over the script she was helping Ian write. Olivia and Noah were already in, but as was usual for them (and the whole squad in general), they were quiet since the caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet. Keith was late, but that wasn’t unusual either. Shayne was present, ever the early bird. Upon noticing her arrival, he swiveled his chair to face her and began pushing off the ground to wheel his chair to her desk.

“Goooood Morning, Courtney,” He grinned. It was cute. He was always the first one to really wake up in the office, but even he usually wasn’t this chipper. She offered him a nod in greeting.

“Sleep well?” She asked, frowning briefly at her own choice of words, and how her almost dreamy sigh slipped out in her voice at the sight of his dumb happy self. Get it together, girl.

“I mean – you just seem so – like you’re in such a good mood, you know?” She stuttered to Shayne, who just looked at her with a mix of amusement and confusion.

“I did, thanks,” He laughed slightly and waved a hand to brush the topic off, “But! I just wanted to return the favor.”

Courtney tilted her head at him and tried to muster up the you shouldn’t have. Instead, all that came was a shy smile, followed by “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I know how fast paced your mornings are, but coffee alone doesn’t count as breakfast. You know that right?”

She rolled her eyes but agreed just the same.

“I figured you could use your own little pick-me-up in the morning,” Shayne revealed the small plastic wrapper he’d been discreetly holding. It was a chocolate granola bar. Yet Courtney swore it was one of the sweetest gifts she’d ever received. Whether it was because it was from Shayne, or because it was food was anyone’s guess. Courtney sure as hell didn’t know the answer herself.

“Shayne,” Courtney let out a small laugh, “You don’t owe me for the yogurt! You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Shayne gave a shy shrug of his shoulders, placing the bar in her open hand, “Besides, that’ll go well with your coffee.”

“They’re so sweet, what the hell,” Noah’s barely audible voice whispered to Olivia. Courtney felt the heat creep up onto her face as she mouthed a quiet “Thank you,” to Shayne.

He was right; the granola bar tasted divine. Courtney shut her eyes as she savored the flavor. She let out a satisfied moan, “Oh my God, this is amazing.”

On the drive to work the next day, Courtney couldn’t help but smile to herself. Shayne’s yogurt sat next to her on the passenger seat. She didn’t want to go ahead and assume that Shayne got her another granola bar that day just yet. For all she knew, he just got her the one bar. Yet she wondered just the same what flavor it might be, and there she went, grinning like an idiot by herself in her car.

All because of that stupid yogurt loving boy and his stupid smile and gift of granola.

It turned out that the assumption was a safe one that day. And the next day. And the days that followed. It became a tradition. Shayne got her granola bars in the morning. Courtney got him yogurt in the afternoon. The rest of the squad teased them over it the first couple of days. But when days became weeks, they hardly noticed the exchanges. It just became that thing they did.

Naturally it wasn’t “just a thing,” to Courtney. It was what helped pull her out of her post-breakup slump. She was joking freely again, she was laughing again, she was going to the gym again, she was writing more scripts again. She was back in full swing thanks to Shayne and the rest of the squad’s unwavering support.

She could never tell you why Shayne’s contented smile, corner of his lips smeared with yogurt, filled her with such a quiet, deep running joy. Or why seeing him happily digging into the snacks she gave him made her heart feel so full and content. Courtney eventually stopped questioning it altogether, choosing instead to simply enjoy it.

Another workweek rolled in. The squad all went to Disneyland together the last weekend to loosen up and have fun before the shooting for Summer Games started the next week, tiny budget or not. Courtney bumped into Damien of all people exiting the smoffice as she arrived. They exchanged a brief greeting before he was on his way.

It all made sense when Courtney plopped down at her desk and set her coffee down. Waiting for her was a brown paper bag with a yellow sticky note.

Hey Court, guess who got a stomach bug? I should not have tried to keep up with Olivia’s churro-eating.

Courtney let a hand come up to stifle her giggle. She glanced at Olivia, who stared blankly at her laptop while it booted up. Morning sleepy haze aside, she seemed fine. She’d be happy to know she out-ate Shayne so badly he had to call in sick.

Anyway, as my pet, I needed to make sure you stay fed, because who knows what you’d do without me?

She scoffed out a laugh, shaking her head fondly.

Got your favorite, and a little something from over the weekend. I’ll see you in a day or two.

- Shayne

Courtney reached into the bag, pulling out a familiar chocolate granola bar and setting it down on the desk. She huffed out a laugh at the sight of what she pulled out next. It was a customized Oscar award souvenir undoubtedly from Disneyland. Courtney made a face at the customized title plate at the figure’s base.

BEST YOGURT MOM

COURTNEY MILLER

“What the fuck, Shayne?” Courtney said quietly as a small flutter began at her stomach before spreading throughout the rest of her body. She set it down on the desk to admire it, beaming ear to ear.

This ridiculous boy.

Courtney bit her lip in thought. She’d definitely pay him a visit after work to drop off his yogurt. Maybe put together a care package for his bum stomach while she was at it. Perhaps she’d get the squad to pitch in for his care package.

Courtney booted her laptop up, sparing another glance at her Oscar while waiting for the desktop to load. She got to work with a small unshakable smile on her face, some granola in her tummy, and of course, the image in her head of Shayne’s dumb grin that he likely wore while penning that note. All that she was missing was the man himself.