*ding*
I picked up my phone to see a text message telling me my ride was here. I gathered my things and headed outside. I had already checked myself out and was waiting in the lobby. Right now I was heading to the table read, I had landed in Georgia this morning and slept up until a couple hours ago.

It is currently five o'clock in the afternoon and the read starts at five thirty. I was going to leave my luggage in this car and Matt or Ross's assistant was going to bring it into my room at the house. After the table read I would go with the girls to the house.

"Hello! I'm Emris Martinez, nice to meet you!"I greeted the driver.

"Nice to meet you too! My daughters are big fans of you."He chuckled.

"Aw that's so sweet, tell them I say hello and thank you!"I blushed. I settled down into my seat and looked out the window. We were in more of a city looking area, so there were lots of cars on the roads and buildings blocking the view of the sky. I could only think about what lies ahead of me.

"Miss, we're here. I will wait for someone to come get your bags."The driver unlocked the car for me to get out. I thanked him and stepped out being careful that no one would see me. I put my sunglasses on and tied my hair up just to be safe. I had been told to go in through the side door, this was being held at Shawn's house so it would be more intimate.

I snuck around to the side and saw a door. I could hear people inside, so I took my sunglasses off and let my hair fall naturally. Quietly, I walked into the house. I heard Millie's voice and followed the sound. They were in the kitchen.

"No no, the demogorgan would totally kill Noah first. I'd be able to hide from it!!"Sadie said.

"I feel like it would target me, cause I'm probably annoying."Millie argued.

"I could agree with that."Noah's voice chimed in. My stomach did flips at the sound, it was so deep. He even sounds more attractive.

I pushed those thoughts aside and made my entrance. "I don't know I think I'd get at least attacked first."I nonchalantly joined the conversation. Both the girls gasped and Shawn started laughing.

"SHUT UP!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"Millie shouted as Sadie ran to hug me. I giggled and nodded.

"OH MY GOD!"They squealed. I nearly fell over from the two of them hugging me at the same time. I noticed Noah was recording it on his phone.

Sadie and Millie pulled away from the hug but still stayed very close. "Wait so what exactly are you doing here?"Millie asked.

"I'm back for season four! Surprise!"I dramatically threw my hands up in celebration.

"Wait for real?"Noah joined the conversation. I nodded and they all cheered in excitement.

"Where is everyone else?"I asked.

"Gaten, Caleb and Finn are on their way. I don't know who will arrive first though."Sadie filled me in.

"Oh alright then. By the way ladies I will be living with you guys in the girls house!"I revealed the one last surprise I had.

"Yes! Thank god!"Sadie exclaimed.

"Well excuse you! I'm so excited though!"Millie exclaimed having been slightly offended by Sadie but laughing it off nonetheless.

"Sadie, Millie we need you in the living room for a moment."Matt called them in. They excused themselves and left the room, Shawn had gone somewhere else so now it was just Noah and I.

"Hey."He shyly greeted me. He had been part of the conversation but we hadn't fully acknowledged each other. We made eye contact and yet again my stomach did flips. I hadn't looked into those eyes in years. Instantly I was flooded with nostalgia, and I realized how much I had missed the way those eyes felt.

"Hi. How've you been?"I asked. I took notice of the island in this kitchen so I sat down at a barstool. He moved around to the opposite side of the island to have a better look at me.

"I've been good, trying to keep up with everything. I went and saw your movie, it was really good. You did awesome in it."He complimented me.

"Oh! Thank you haha, it's why I had to leave for a season and as much as I missed this show it was worth it."I replied. It made me wonder why he had gone to see it. Had one of his friends wanted to see it and he tagged along? Did he specifically want to see it because of me?

A minute or two passed by as I was deep in thought about him seeing the movie I had starred in. I realized in that movie I kissed a boy, I wonder how Noah felt about that.

"Hey um..Em?"He snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him only now realizing he had been staring at me the whole time.

"Hm?"

"We're all good, right? This won't be weird since..ya know. We're exes. We can just be friends right?"He asked. It was a bit of an awkward thing to be saying but I was also glad he brought it up.

"Yeah of course, it's been about four years since we broke up. I mean hey, we were just kids. We didn't know what love was."I brushed it off. His face seemed to fall for a moment, but almost instantly he smiled back at me again.

"Yea for sure. And for the record, I'm really happy you're back."He said warmly. Just as I was about to respond a loud gasp interrupted me.

"Tell me you're here for season four!"Gaten's voice boomed through the kitchen. I whipped around and ran over to him for a hug. He bear hugged me as we laughed.

"Yes I am!"I squealed. He cheered and ruffled my hair. Seconds later Finn and Caleb entered the room together.

"Yo is this for real?"Finn froze when he saw me.

"Seriously?!"Caleb exclaimed.

"Yea she's back for season four!"Millie filled him in. Once again I was engulfed in big hugs from boys that were much taller than me.

"We missed you so much last season it was depressing."Caleb kept his arm around me. It was like having a bunch of big brothers..except for Noah.
(sWeEt hOmE aLaBaMa k sorry I had to guys)

"Hey kiddos sorry to interrupt your long awaited reunion but we gotta get goin on this table read. This is gonna be a shock but we would like to start filming tomorrow so we wanna give you enough time tonight to go over lines for the first episode."Shawn waved us in. We all scurried to the room and found seats at the table. I was greeted by all the adults I had missed like Winona, David, Joe, Cara, Charlie, and Natalia. I quickly introduced myself to Maya since I hadn't met her yet.

"Hi! I'm Emris Martinez, I play Ally Fox. I wasn't here last season but I'm back now. Nice to meet you!"I shook hands with her.

"Oh yes! I heard so much about you last season, I'm so happy to finally meet you! I'm Maya Hawke. I play Robin Buckley."She warmly smiled at me. She was so sweet and bubbly I loved her already.

~After the table read~

"Millie! Sadie! Bathroom, now!"I rushed out of the room to the downstairs bathroom. My mind was racing with dread and anxiety. Quickly the girls footsteps followed and I locked the door.

"Freaking out huh?"Millie asked. I nodded and started pacing back and forth.

Noah and I were still a couple in the show, and we have to kiss quite a few times. Not wild kisses, nonchalant. But fans loved our couple the most, so we have the most kisses this season. And we're exes!! And we have to act like a couple!! I have to kiss him tomorrow!!

"I haven't seen him in years and now I gotta kiss him! Isn't this weird?!"I asked them. They shrugged.

"That depends, do you have feelings for him still?"Sadie whispered. My eyes went wide.

"GOD NO! Well...I don't know. I barely know the kid now! We were thirteen and now we're seventeen! I don't think he'd want to get back together anyways but..ok that's besides the point!"I rambled. We all just looked at each other in silence.

"I guess I have to do this huh?"I sighed. They slowly nodded. I groaned not wanting to accept my fate. Just as I was about to vent some more someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Let's just go, I'll be fine."I said. Millie and Sadie pat my shoulder comfortingly as I opened the door to walk out.

Noah was on the other side of the door looking quite anxious himself. "Hey there."He said. I gave a small wave and quickly moved past him feeling too anxious to talk to him now.

"Em! He looked like he wanted to talk to you!"Millie scolded me.

"I can't!"I rushed out of the house to get in the car. Once I did I groaned and held my face in my hands.

Good grief, tomorrow will bring quite a lot of anxiety.

That night at the girls house

I tossed and turned in my bed unable to sleep. It was about one in the morning, and I was wide awake with thoughts of tomorrow.

I reached to my nightstand and turned the light on. I picked up the packet of lines. If I was up I may as well get some work done. I couldn't quite get comfortable in bed so I headed downstairs. There was a lovely porch attached to this house with a cute swing, so I thought it might be nice to sit there.

Before I went out I boiled myself a cup of chamomile tea to hopefully help me get sleepy. I read over the lines as I waited.
Once it was done I poured it, fixed my hair and glasses, and went outside.

It was March 3rd, so it was still chilly. I sat on the swing and slightly rocked back and forth. I put down my mug of tea on a little table next to the swing. I tucked my legs up to my chest and started reading. Luckily the dialogue between Noah and I wasn't too bad, it was cute but not that mushy.

The cool nights breeze went perfectly with my warm tea and cozy sweater. I started feeling more relaxed and at peace. I still felt just as nervous about the next day though.

I looked across the road to see the house the four boys were in. There were only a few lights on, but I doubt anyone was awake. We all seemed pretty set on getting good sleep tonight. The girls were asleep inside.

I was about halfway through the booklet of lines when I heard a creak on the porch step. Feeling very startled I immediately looked up.

"H-Hi."

I was filled with relief but then also shock. Noah stood in front of me with a hoodie and sweatpants on, and glasses. Since when does he wear glasses?

"Hey..you wear glasses now?"I managed to say. He chuckled with a nod.

"Yea, got em not too long ago. Sorry to interrupt you. I just couldn't sleep and noticed you were out here, and I did wanna talk to you so I figured why not come on over."He awkwardly explained. I scooted over so he could sit down next to me.

"You're all good, just startled me a little. Talk away."

He sat down next to me which alone made my stomach fill with butterflies. He hesitated a bit seemingly having trouble with what he wanted to say. "We should...we should kiss. Now. So it isn't awkward tomorrow."He blurted out. My jaw dropped for a moment.

"I won't be able to sleep afterwards if we do that."I said feeling flustered.

"Why?"

"You're my ex boyfriend! Do you remember what happened last time we did a practice kiss?"I asked.

"We started dating, but that was different. We're older now. We can handle it I would think."He tried to convince me. I thought on it for a moment. He did have a point. Awkwardness isn't really tolerated on set for very long, and it's embarrassing.

"Ok fine! Fine. But can we talk a bit first? Like catch up? I haven't seen you in years and now I suddenly have to kiss you."I laughed a bit.

"That would be great. What have you been up to?"He asked. I took a breath to gather my thoughts after that surprise.

"Well I had the movie, I live in Los Angeles but after we film this season I'm hoping to go back to New York. That's my true home. I've been single for the most part, had a couple short term boyfriends..not that it matters. My mental health is a lot better. I went to therapy twice a week for a year and it really helped me get things together, now I go once a week. How about you?"I asked. He seemed really intrigued and genuinely interested in what I was saying.

"That's good, I'm really glad. I checked up on you a few times on social media and you seemed to be doing well. As for me I've been putting as much energy as I can towards school. I learned French for a bit. I had some girlfriends too..not that it matters either. I got accidentally addicted to TikTok, so that's been funny. I travelled a bit with my family. Went to summer camp. Things like that."He filled me in. As he was talking our hands touched, I didn't react because I didn't know if it was intentional or not.

"Yea I saw you started a YouTube channel as well?"I asked.

"Yea I did! We should film the Exes Tag. It's just a trend where you and your ex answer a bunch of questions."He suggested. It was in that moment he nonchalantly slipped his hand into mine. Our fingers naturally locked together like old times, and it made me feel all different kinds of emotions.

"Totally! That'd be really fun, we should do that tomorrow during our break."I agreed.

"Good idea! Man I can't believe how long it's been since I last saw you. We were so little. Remember Christmas at your house? That was so fun."He reminisced on an old memory of our relationship.

"I know, I loved that day so much. We always had fun together. Just stupid kids in a dumb middle school kind of relationship."I joked. He laughed along with me.

"Was it dumb though? It was real to me, always has been. I think to this day you were the biggest crush I've had."He got a bit closer to me. I pushed the hair behind my ear thinking for a moment.

"I suppose you're right, it was pretty real. You're definitely the biggest crush I've had. I liked you a lot, I always wondered if it was love."I stared into his eyes. Soft brown eyes, I had missed them looking at me this way. It was different now though. He looked at me with maturity and desire.

"Yea, me too."He answered. This time I ended up moving closer. All we were doing is looking into each other's eyes secretly trying to figure out how we were feeling in each other's presence. I suddenly wanted to kiss him. I wanted to feel more of him which scared me because this was my first time seeing him in forever, but it's not like he was a stranger.

"Em?"He almost whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you now?"His voice was shaky. I slowly nodded.

He placed his other hand on my cheek cupping my face. With both of us leaning in our lips met. Just like before my stomach filled with butterflies only now I felt it through my entire body. His lips were warm and soft, more than they were when we were kids. We moved our lips together, slowly but not deeply. It felt magical. We were actors, but this felt like something out of a movie. My hand went to the back of his neck feeling some of his hair. It was longer than it used to be. All at the same time he felt like someone I've been in love with for years and a completely new person at the same time.

After a minute we pulled away. Both of us were smiling. "That's a pretty good practice kiss, right?"He teased. I laughed and rested my head against his shoulder. He hugged me and we stayed like that for a few minutes.

"What does this mean Noah?"I broke the silence. He deeply inhaled.

"I don't know. I think as of right now we just missed each other, and there was unfinished business. So how about we stay friends? Like old times?"He suggested.

"Yea, that's a good plan. Don't want to rush into anything."I agreed.

We practiced lines together after that and chatted about whatever came up. It became less strange and more like we were friends. The kiss didn't mean too much. All I knew is it felt good, but I didn't know if I had feelings for him yet.

After about two hours we both got tired enough to head to bed. We went our separate ways and said goodnight. By the time I got in bed it was three in the morning, and I was much less nervous about the next day.

I fell asleep peacefully on a high from what had just happened.

A/N: surprise again! How we feeling about this?