Back To You ?River Phoenix?

The brush moves swiftly through my curly hair, separating it into silky waves. I watch myself in the mirror, proud of how I pulled myself together at eight in the morning.

I had inexpertly applied a little bit of foundation and concealer, and applied some blush. (Did you know that they didn't have makeup brushes back then?) a little bit of lip gloss from the bottom of my overnight bag completed the look.

I was adorned with a striped black and-white shirt that was tucked into high-waisted red just-below-the-knee pants and converse. As I'm finishing the process of taming my hair, River stumbles into the bathroom.

And as much as I loved him, he looked like a mess.

He was shirtless with a backwards pair of jeans and his hair was such a tangled mess that it almost didn't look like his own hair. There were darkish-purple circles under his squinted blue eyes. Fingernail marks decorated his back and purple-blue spots were all over his neck and chest. He's holding a bundle that looks like a sweater.

"Somebody had fun last night." I muttered.

His eyebrows furrowed for a second, then they changed back to his other expression of squinty-post-sex River. "Yeah." His voice was rough and scratchy. "Did we keep you awake?"

"I managed to sleep through the worst of it." I frown at him, "also, the tag of the jeans goes in the back."

"Well, shit." He mutters, pulling at the band of his jeans just to check. "You look nice. Why are you up so early? Is that makeup?"

"Yes, it's makeup."I sigh, "I'm going out with Wil."

"Wheaton?"

"Yeah."

"W- like a date?"

"No." I scoff, why would River care? He obviously had a girlfriend that satisfied his needs. "Not like a date. It's always good to get to know cast-mates."

"So they casted you yesterday?" He asks another question as he pulls out his brush and begins to drag it through his knot of hair. "What'd you get?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Because we haven't spoken much."

"Right. They did cast us yesterday. I got the female lead, Mary, and he got the male lead, Danny. We're going back to callbacks so they can cast Oliver after we go out to eat or some shit."

"Sounds like a fun day." He sighs. We stay in awkward silence. It's rarely awkward between us.

"I should go."

"Y-"

A knock on the door causes excitement to bubble up in my chest. I burst out of the bathroom, not caring if River saw how excited I was. Wil stood at the door, signature grin plastered onto his face.

"You look beautiful." He smiles, glancing up and down at me. He wears a single-stripe sweater over a collared shirt that's tucked into a pair of jeans. He looks perfect.

"You look perfect- did I say that out loud?" I stuttered, cursing my brain for turning into mush around him. "I meant-you look pretty good."

"Oh, hey River!"

I turn around and see River leaning on the bathroom door, completely ready. His hair is brushed out and his sweater covers the marks. His eyes are more open and awake and the only thing that suggests his activities last night are the dark circles under his eyes and the mark on his jawline.

Curse him and his quick-change abilities.

"Hey, Wil! Long time no see!" They walk up to each other and do some bro-man handshake/hug. "Congrats on the part."