This is somewhat oddly formatted, so I hope it doesn't confuse you. I was just experimenting a little. In case you don't get it, bold font is what he's narrating to the audience. Italicized font is what he's saying to himself. If it's both bold and italicized then he's saying it to both himself and the reader. Anything in normal font is what is happening or dialogue. Enjoy!

It Must Be

I had never really been a strong believer in fate. Despite the optimistic fantasies I often sang about, I couldn't be more of a realist if I tried. Believing in the stars or whatever just sounds stupid to me, and the concept of love was too big for my mind to comprehend. The word was just thrown around so much that it simply lost its meaning to me. That's right, I said it. I don't think I truly believe in love, either.

I did lead sort of an enchanted life, though. Alex and I were born into fame, after all. My dad is a famous jazz musician and my mom is a well-known director and actress. Everyone in my family had something to be proud of; the Wolff brothers were undoubtedly going to follow in that path.

After a great deal of thought, Mom, Dad, Alex, and I finally developed the ideas behind a TV series parodying our lives. I can't begin to explain how excited I was. Two of my preschool band mates, David and Thomas, were able to join us. Of course, we needed more members. That's how Qaasim came into the picture.

Then there was the girl who was supposed to play my crush: Allie DiMeco.

Trying to avoid a mix up in names between her and Alex, the producers changed Allie's named to Rosalina. This wasn't too much of a problem to anyone except me because I could never get her name right when we weren't filming. It was embarrassing, really. There she was, an amazing person, and I couldn't even get her stupid name right. She was so smart and sweet and talented and beautiful and-

Hold up. I didn't mean it like that. I mean, yeah she's pretty and everything but that doesn't mean that I see her like that. We're just friends, okay?

Anyway, I can never get Allie's name right. She probably thinks I'm a fool or something like that. I sure feel like one whenever she's around. I don't know why I try so hard to impress her sometimes. It probably makes me look even stupider.

But it's really hard, you know? Allie's character is so much like Rosalina. Then again, so are all of our characters.

Except for the part about me having a crush on her. That's all made up. I swear.

Just because I get butterflies in my stomach whenever she's around me or I get all sweaty when I'm around her doesn't mean that I have a crush on her. I'm just afraid of embarrassing myself, that's all. If I can't even get her name right, who knows what other nonsense might pour out of my mouth?

That's why I like talking to her on set more than I do normally. At least that way I know exactly what I'm supposed to say and how she's going to respond. Alex thinks I like it on set so that I have an excuse to flirt with her without rejection.

What a joke.

I didn't need an excuse to flirt with her. Even if I did, who says that I would get rejected? I bet I could flirt with her successfully anywhere and anytime.

Not that I'd want to or anything. Just friends, remember?

None of the guys believe me when I say that. They always say that "Fate has brought us together" or something stupid like that. So what if we both get along really well and we just happened to be on the same TV series? So what if I just happen to get butterflies in my stomach when she's around?

It's luck. That's all it is. There's no such thing as fate. It's all luck.

Great. She's looking this way. I hope I wasn't staring at her.

Then again, she probably already thinks I'm an idiot anyway. I don't think it could get much worse.

Oh man, she's coming this way. I'm starting to get sweaty again. There's another one of those million-dollar smiles.

No! No! No! You don't like her like that, remember? TV Nat loves Rosalina, and Real Nat is friends with Allie.

Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie.

"Hey, Nat," she says to me, taking a seat next to me on the floor.

"Oh. Hi Rosa-"

She raises her eyebrow in amusement, but gives me a chance to save myself.

"Hi Allie."

Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie.

"What did you say?"

Oh, man. Did I say that out loud? "Oh, it's nothing."

"Oh," she sighs. "Alright then." After an awkward moment, Allie glances down at her shoes.

"Is something wrong?"

She shifts uncomfortably and wrinkles her nose in a way that makes her look adorable.

Just friends.

"Sean just broke up with me," she finally said.

I had always hated that guy. He was so possessive and manipulative of her. Allie deserved so much better than him, but she had been so taken by him that I never had the chance to tell her that. Even now, it seemed like a bad time for me to bash on the jerk who was her boyfriend until about five minutes ago.

"Did he say why?"

"Sort of." Her voice cracks and she looks up, trying desperately to hold back her tears; she had never liked to cry in front of other people. "He just said that it wasn't working out since I was always on set and he never got to see me. I told him that he could always come to visit and that every minute I didn't spend on set was spent with him. I never even get to see my parents anymore, but he still said it wasn't enough."

What did I tell you? Possessive.

"I mean, I know that we've been fighting a lot lately, but this just took me by surprise, you know?"

"I know what you mean." I didn't really, but what else could I have said? "Are you okay?"

"I just feel so stupid! What was I thinking? I mean, how could I have expected myself to be in a serious relationship when I'm still so young? I know I'm just going to bounce back a week from now and this is all teenage drama, so why am I letting him hurt me so badly?"

"You'll never know what it means to be happy unless you get hurt first, right?"

Her tears are already beginning to dry; I admire strength like that. She looks at me a bit skeptically and raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"We have to get hurt know that we're real. We bleed just to know we're alive."

Allie flashes another one of those gorgeous half-smiles and looks at me with her beautiful eyes. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Nat."

"You're welcome, Rosalina."

"Allie."

I'm an idiot. "Right."

What's wrong with me? That was the cheesiest speech I had ever given in my life, I just got her name wrong again, and I think my sweat glands are starting to act up, as usual. Great. Now I'm stupid, awkward, and unhygienic. How does Allie even stand me?

"Hey, Nat?"

"Yeah, Ro...Allie?"

"You stole that line from a Goo Goo Dolls' song, didn't you?"

"Oh, man. I did, didn't I?"

She laughs at me, and I start laughing, too. Just as she stands up to leave, I feel those butterflies in my stomach again.

Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie. Nat loves Rosalina, not Allie.

"Did you say something?"

Why do I keep doing that? "No," I blink.

"Alright, then. Bye, Nat, and thanks again."

"Yeah, um, bye."

Yeah, that was smooth, Nat.

She gives me a kiss on the cheek and I'm about to explode. What was that just now? Gratitude? Friendship, maybe? Fate? Luck?

It's those stupid butterflies again. I hate you, stupid butterflies.

Allie pauses and turns around, a smirk on her face. "Oh, by the way, Nat."

"Yeah?"

"I get butterflies, too."

She leaves quickly and I'm speechless.

Remember that thing I said about being just friends? Yeah, well forget that. I still don't believe in Fate. It's not just luck, either.

It must be love.

AN: This is me taking a break from "Where We Left Off," which will be updated very soon. This is something that's actually very different from my usual style. I usually try to avoid senseless fluffiness like this and almost never use the word "love." I just wanted to experiment a little. This is one of the very first things I have ever written without a lot of underlying drama behind it. It was hard and probably won't happen too often, but, in the end, it was fun. I hope you liked it.

Also, the line was stolen from a Goo Goo Dolls song. "You bleed just to know you're alive" is from the song "Iris."