Being cast as Rachel Elizabeth Dare was never something she thought would come with opinions.

Well—opinions from strangers, at least.

When the announcement dropped, there were threads and edits and comments everywhere. Some people loved it instantly. Others… not so much. She didn’t look exactly like the version people had carried in their heads for years. And for a moment, that scared her. She worried she’d have to prove something every single day on set.

But she didn’t.

Because once filming started, the cast became a kind of shield.

Dior was the first to pull her into the group chats, sending her memes at three in the morning. Aryan always saved her a seat at lunch. Leah treated her like she’d been there from the very beginning, looping her arm through hers between takes. Charlie and Tamara made everything loud and chaotic and normal. It stopped feeling like a job and started feeling like a place she belonged.

And then there was Walker.

At first, he was just Percy. The lead. The guy everyone already knew. He was friendly in that easy, slightly awkward way—cracking jokes when the cameras were down, offering her his jacket when Vancouver decided to be freezing for no reason, explaining inside jokes from season one without ever making her feel left out.

They spent a lot of time together without meaning to.

Early call times, sitting on the floor of the soundstage with coffee cups between their knees. Long shoots where they waited for lighting to reset, talking about everything and nothing—music, how weird it felt to see yourself on billboards, how fans could be intense but also incredibly sweet. Walker listened when she talked about the pressure of stepping into such a loved character, and she listened when he admitted he still got nervous before big scenes.

Somewhere along the way, it stopped being just friendship.

It was subtle. The way he’d look for her first when they wrapped for the day. How she’d end up next to him during group hangouts without even realizing she moved. How the rest of the cast started exchanging looks when they laughed a little too hard at each other’s jokes.

One afternoon, filming wrapped earlier than expected. The whole group sprawled around set—Dior and Aryan arguing over a card game, Leah scrolling through her phone while Charlie leaned over her shoulder, Tamara half-asleep on a couch.

She sat beside Walker on the steps of the set, legs pulled in, script resting forgotten in her lap.

“You were really good today,” he said casually, like it wasn’t a big deal.

She smiled. “You say that every day.”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, glancing at her. “Because it’s true.”

There was a quiet beat between them. Not awkward. Comfortable. The kind that felt like something warm settling in your chest.

She caught him looking at her—not Percy looking at Rachel, not actors rehearsing—but Walker looking at her. And for a second, it felt like the rest of the set faded out, like it was just the two of them sitting there in between takes, in between labels.

Best friends, maybe.

Or maybe something that was slowly, inevitably becoming more.

And neither of them rushed it—because some things, especially the good ones, were worth letting grow.