Archive of Our Own ^beta

The moment the five foot eight blond kiwi walks through the door and into the small room, Aidan Turner knows he’s fucked.

Rob’s replacement for Fili has been cast pretty quickly, and now Peter wants him to run a few lines with Aidan to see how the pair get along, see if there’s any chemistry. The problem with Rob was that he and Aidan didn’t quite click together, so there wasn’t any palpable “brotherly love” onscreen between the descendants of the line of Durin. It all felt too fake.

But as soon as the man - now sitting next to Aidan - offers him his hand to shake and introduces himself as “Dean O’Gorman, very pleased to meet you”, with a warm smile plastered on his face and adorable as fuck dimples, something inside Aidan turns, and he instantly knows that they’re gonna get along great.

Turns out that “get along great” is the understatement of the year.

Dean O’Gorgeous - how Aidan now secretly calls him - is the nicest fucking guy he has ever met. Everyone on set warms up to him really quick. The way he can get a smile out of literally everyone makes Aidan’s heart melt a little.

As the days pass, he gets to discover more and more of his new co-star. Dean and him grow inseparable within the first couple of weeks of having met - “Like ketchup and mustard!”, Ken says one day -. Which is good for the characters, Aidan thinks, since it makes the bond between Fili and Kili seem more real and all that shit.

But it’s also really bad, because the Irishman knows he’s falling, and he’s falling hard.

They spend literally almost every waking moment together, let it be sharing stories, drinking, eating out or even watching movies and playing Xbox in Dean’s trailer.

In between scenes, they sit side by side, sometimes in a comfortable silence, just checking their respective phones, and sometimes revising their lines or complaining about the unbearable temperature and the uncomfortable prosthetics and costumes.

Aidan learns about his new friend that he’s a painter and a photographer, he knows karate and has a little brother called Brett. But those are not the only things he’s learned.

He has learned that whenever Dean’s flustered, he looks at his feet and smiles one of those cute little smiles. That he’s one of those people that start laughing at their own jokes before they’re even finished telling them. That he likes to touch people when he’s talking. That he’s a terrible liar because his mischievous smile gives him away.

Those are the little things that Aidan shouldn’t have noticed, but has anyway because even if he knows he’ll never have a chance with Dean, he still loves pretending there’s hope.

Certainly, everyone has noticed the closeness between the both of them. And Aidan has noticed that they noticed.

At some point, Richard and James start grinning like idiots whenever they see the pair together, just cracking jokes and chatting animatedly like they always do. Adam and Stephen have been finishing their lunches early, lately, so that only Dean and Aidan remain on the table. Graham pats Aidan on the shoulder with a knowing smile when he catches the younger staring at Dean like he holds the answer to the fucking universe or something.

Basically, everyone knows they’re in a relationship. Except Dean.

On one particularly hot day in the beautiful and sunny New Zealand, the company of Dwarves gets a day off, which they all spend together. The set for the barrels scene is being rearranged, the cameras are being placed on strategical points and Peter is making sure everything looks the same as in his sketches.

The actors have been told to stay close to the set, though, just in case Peter needs to tell them something. The experienced director always needs everything to be perfect, just like in his head. With that condition, it isn’t exactly a day off, but at least they don’t have to spend three hours in makeup, so they’ll take what they can get.

So, they’re all sitting at the river’s shore, nearby the lake, laughing about nothing and everything. Richard and his charm are obviously the life of the party, Dean and his dimples are close behind.

If Aidan were to be asked at an interview if there’s anything he’ll miss after being done filming the trilogy, he’d say in a heartbeat that Richard’s charm and O’Gorman’s adorable fucking dimples would be the things he’ll miss the most. He really hopes the friends he’s made here will last forever, as lame as that sounds.

Aimlessly dabbling his feet in the water while laughing at something Jed said, Aidan feels the man sitting next to him get up on his feet. He looks up only to witness one of the world’s most beautiful sights.

Dean O’Gorgeous taking his shirt off. God. Damn.

The kiwi without a shirt is definitely a sight for sore eyes. Aidan has to swallow the sudden impulse to say “Nice guns, mind if I touch them? Also, can I bury myself in your chest?” He just doesn’t think that’s a thing normal best friends say to each other. It would make things weird between them, probably, considering Dean is as straight as a ramp.

When Dean looks down at him with a dumb grin, Aidan actually forgets how to breathe for a moment. The blond stomps his way into the water like a little kid, soaking Aidan from head to toe. He’s so full of life and energy, all smiles and rainbows, that when he yells “Aidan! Care to join?”, the taller can’t resist to follow him into the cold waters of the river.

The rest of their friends happily ignore their calls to get in with them in favour of letting them spend even more time alone together. Aidan bitterly thinks that the gesture would have been nice of them if Dean and him were actually dating.

Which they’re not. And it sucks.

It’s been three months of Aidan crushing hard on Dean like a sixteen year old nerd drooling after a hot cheerleader when the Irishman decides to just tell him and get it over with. He’s a grown man, for fuck’s sake.

He spends about two weeks planning how he’s gonna tell him, trying to find the best moment. But every time he thinks they’re alone and he’s about to confess, someone interrupts them. The funny part is that they don’t really know they’re interrupting anything, so Aidan can’t be mad at them. Just at his bad luck.

The first time is when they’re lying on Dean’s couch, just playing Call Of Duty. Aidan stops the game, earning a confused look and a raised eyebrow from the blond. “Dean, I–”. Suddenly, Martin opens the door to the trailer and grins at both of them. “Stop being lazy fucks and get your asses out here. We’re having some drinks.” Aidan sighs.

The second time, they’re alone at some cheap restaurant, eating pasta and drinking coke. Aidan opens his mouth, but whatever he was going to say gets cut by the sound of his phone ringing. “Guys,” says Adam’s voice through the device, “Peter says he needs you both for a makeup test.”

"How did you know I’m with O’Gorman, mate?" Aidan asks, only to receive a laugh from the other end before hanging up. He rolls his eyes so hard it hurts.

Third time’s the charm, Aidan thinks optimistically when he knocks on Dean’s door. After not getting an answer for five minutes, he decides to call him. Dean doesn’t pick up, so Aidan starts to get scared. It’s only an hour later when Richard sees him and tells him that Dean’s shooting some scenes for The Almighty Johnsons and he’ll be back in two days.

After so many interruptions and failed plans, Aidan gives up. Dean will never like him as more than a friend, he won’t try to push it.

Aidan’s heart stops when on the sixth month of having met, Dean invites him to his trailer, closes the door behind him and sits down on the couch with the words “We need to talk”. The scariest words in the English language.

The younger sits next to his friend and starts fiddling with the hem of his shirt, looking at the floor and feeling sick. This is it, he thinks, he’s realised I have feelings for him and it makes him uncomfortable and he doesn’t want to be friends anymore and it’s gonna be awkward and—

"I think I’m in love with you."

Aidan’s thoughts screech to a halt and he looks up, eyes widening because, holy shit is this some kind of joke or is it actually happening.

Dean seems to get scared by his reaction, though, because he suddenly starts speaking really fast and Aidan isn’t understanding half of it.

"I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. I’ve been head over heels for you since the first time I laid my eyes on you. Like, you were just sitting there, smiling at me and God, I tried so hard to resist. I didn’t want it to be awkward between us since we’re shooting a fucking trilogy, fuck, and that’s too much time spent together and I didn’t want my stupid feelings to fuck things up. And now you’re my best friend and I have so much to lose if you don’t take this well but God dammit, Aidan, I needed to get it out, I–"

Dean’s nervous speech is cut short when Aidan’s lips find his. It’s brief, just short and sweet, but it’s perfect. Dean smiles bright and Aidan shakes his head, laughing. “We’re so fucking stupid.”

"Are we?" Dean cocks an eyebrow, still grinning stupidly like a child on Christmas shopping.

"Yes! I feel the same, fuck. Can’t believe you had more balls than me, though." They burst out chuckling like the five year olds they are and spend the rest of the day -and the night - together.

The next day, it’s like the whole cast just knows. Everyone is smiling more than usual. Some congratulate Dean, some congratulate Aidan, and Martin just says “About fucking time, Christ. Took you long enough.” It’s better than anything Aidan could have ever asked for. And it’s perfect.