The Orange Peel Theory
Angela Giarratana x Black!Reader
Synopsis: Angela is an unknowing recipient of the Orange Peel Theory when her girlfriend is constantly doing things for her. 5 times she doesn’t notice it and the one time she does 🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊
1: Wrong Lunch
The cast was eating lunch on day having ordered out. The restaurant messed up Angela’s order and the reader gave Angela her food without a second thought.
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Everyone was laughing at a pitch idea Spencer and Chanse had come up with when you first noticed it. The small nearly unrecognizable frown on Angela’s face as she stared at the salad in front of her. It wasn’t that the salad was bad, but you knew she didn’t really want it. It was her turn to pick lunch and she literally picked this place specifically for the wrap that you both had ordered. So without missing a beat you switched your plates. Angela looked up at you, blinking her eyes in shock before glancing between the salad and the wrap that now sat in front of her.
Gently squeezing her hand that was resting against your lap, you started to eat the salad. Angela getting the hint, she squeezed your hand back before picking up the wrap.
“No wait, that could actually work for the Bit City character Shayne has for the next week.” You laughed, still participating in the conversation happening around you. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Angela practically light up now that she had the right order.
2: Cold drinks
Reader having Anglea’s favorite drink hidden in a fridge by her desk giving Angela one before she even noticed they were out in the entire office
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Personally you thought all La Croix flavors were nothing but static in a can. But your girlfriend as well as many of your colleagues loved them. They drank them so fast that the kitchen fridge was constantly being restocked. So naturally you had a stash hidden just for your girlfriend in the mini fridge under your desk. Always her favorite flavors, phasing out whatever she didn’t like and replacing it with one she loved. You didn’t mind doing it for her, honestly you don’t even remember when it started. Maybe after an Eat It or Yeet it video, when she’d eaten something bad and needed something good to mask the flavor. Or maybe you just subconsciously noticed that her favorite flavors seemed to run out the fastest. Honestly you were almost positive she wasn’t even aware that you were doing it.
Appearing in front of her as soon as her last shoot ended right before lunch, handing her a can. Or sometimes if you were filming on a different set, then a cold can would be sitting in her desk with a note and a smiley face. She was always sure to thank you with a kiss and your favorite snack from the kitchen.
“God, are we really out of the strawberry peach already?” Courtney ground while looking through the fridge as Angela strolled into the kitchen with a cold can of strawberry peach in hand.
“Are we? I just got this one from Y/n. Maybe she knows where they are.” Angela softly offered earning a laugh from Ian. The man stood at the counter stirring his coffee and Angela furrowed her brow at him.
“As if anyone but you would be allowed to know where her secret stash is.” Ian explained with a shrug.
“She does not have a secret stash.” Angela denied and this time Courtney spoke.
“Ang is right, y/n/n doesn’t even like La Croix. Why would she have a stash.”
“Because Angela likes them.” Damien replied hearing the tail end of the conversation as he entered the kitchen. Angela suddenly felt incredibly flustered at the idea of you keeping a stash just because she liked it.
“You guys are ridiculous.” She laughed while shaking her head. She grabbed your snack before heading to the Smosh Mouth stage where you were directing a video.
3: Cue Cards
Reader goes out of her way to write out Angela dialogue on pastel blue paper with bigger than average font
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It was a live Smosh event and Angela had been stressing about being able to read her cue cards all day. But she was to in her head and she didn’t want to mention it to anyone as she told herself, she’d be fine as long as she wore her glasses.
“Selina, here are the cue cards we talked about.” You smiled handing her the stack pastel poster boards with thick overly outlined words. You wanted to make sure Angela would be able to read them from far away.
Sure, she didn’t specifically say anything to you. But you could tell from the first rehearsal that she was nervous. And with Ian out sick, she doesn’t have an alternate like everyone else. It was the least you could do.
From her first line, you could see her shoulders almost visibly relax as she read her cue card. You stood just off camera waiting for your own scenes, smiling proudly.
Angela had, without a doubt, the hardest job of the evening. But in the end she did wonderful.
(Smosh Hospital TikTok)
4: Glasses
Reader always has Angela’s back up pair of glasses in her desk for the days Angela forgets her glasses at home
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It was a gentleman’s shoot on the games stage. Today they were playing Mario Party and you could tell immediately that your girlfriend could barely see the screen. You and Courtney were directing today’s video since Spencer had to be in camera and couldn’t do both. You didn’t mind it though, you loved watching your friends be in their element as an observer.
You loved watching Angela even more. Watching Angela film videos was like watching her slowly heal her inner child one joke at a time. It was a beautiful thing to not only witness live but to be apart of.
However right now, the only thing you could focus on was the way your girlfriend kept squinting at the screen. She clearly couldn’t see it from where she was sitting but you knew she left her glasses at home. Lucky for her, you had her spare ones in your desk.
“I’ll be right back.” You whispered handing Courtney your clipboard and they nodded
You quickly and quietly walked off set and rushed to your desk. Pulling the top drawer open you pulled out the hard plastic case and opened it. Inside was a pair of Angela’s wire framed glasses. Smiling you snapped the case shut before speeding back to set.
Walking back onto the games stage you immediately had Angela’s attention and you waved the case in the air.
“What is that?” She asked squinting at you.
“Why, I do believe that fair lady had brought you your glasses good sir!” Spencer cheered in a jokingly posh accent. You walked over as Angela stood up.
The only part of you that the camera could see, was your hands as you slid the glasses onto her face. She bowed towards you before going to sit back down.
“Why I do believe that was by far the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!” Angela announced copying Spencer’s accent as she winked in your direction.
“Wait, did you go to her car?” Trevor asked looking at you over the edge of the cone around his head.
“I keep a spare pair in my desk.” You said as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Angela froze, looking fondly at you for a moment.
Spencer quickly making a joke to not only fill the silence but also remind her she was in camera.
The video continued with ease.
5: Homemade Pasta
Angela had been craving a pasta that her mom used to make her as a kid. She’d tried the recipe a few times but it never came out right. You literally went to her mom and asked her to teach you how to make it
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It had been a rather long and stressful few weeks so you wanted to do something nice for your girlfriend. She had a late shoot today and wouldn’t be home for hours so you thought what could be better than a nice home cooked meal.
Her mother had come over to visit a week prior and you asked her to teach you her famous pasta recipe. So now armed with all the ingredients and your cooking playlist, you got to work. Hand making the noodles and shredding your own cheese. You wanted it to be perfect.
By the time Angela got home, the pasta was nearly done and so was the homemade garlic bread. She entered the kitchen with wide eyes as she looked around.
“Babe it’s smells amazing in here. What are you-No Way!” She exclaimed when she noticed the pot you were stirring on the stove. Rushing over she wrapped her arms around your waist while looking over your shoulder.
“Is that my mom’s recipe?” She asked hopefully and you nodded
“I asked her to teach it to me when she came over for a visit last week. I knew you’d been craving it and I wanted to make it right.” You explained as if it was the easiest thing in the world. And to you, it was. But to Angela…well let’s just say she didn’t know she could fall anymore in love with you.
“God, how did I get so lucky.” She murmured before kissing your cheek. She then stayed practically glued to you for the rest of the night.
It was as if holding you was the only way she knew how to thank you. Like the words she wanted to say didn’t exist.
+1: Oranges
Sitting in the Smosh kitchen you watched Angela stare longingly at an Orange before shaking her head and walking away. So you peeled one, and took it to her desk for her
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It had been a few weeks since the homemade pasta night. And Angela was slowly starting to notice that maybe your coworkers were actually right. You were taking care of her, in little ways, silent ways. You did it without being asked and almost like you weren’t expecting a thank you for it. Like you hadn’t expected anything at all.
Of course this made her spiral a bit, thinking of why you weren’t expecting doing it. Did you think she couldn’t take care of herself? Was she a terrible girlfriend because she wasn’t doing things for you in return? Well not to say she didn’t do things for you, of course she did. But this felt different somehow.
She was currently in the kitchen looking for a snack when she noticed a bowl of oranges.
“Ooo oranges!” She cheered but frowned quickly when she looked at her nails. She’d just painted them last night. In fact she’d also just painted your nails in a matching color as well.
Not wanting to risk chipping the paint she grabbed a granola bar instead and left the kitchen. What she didn’t notice somehow was you standing with Shayne, Damien, and Chanse. You had watched her go to the bowl of oranges, frown, then pick something else.
“I’m not painting myself again.” Chanse joked in response to something Shayne said. You all laughed as you walked over to the bowl of oranges and grabbed one. Standing over the trashcan you started peeling it immediately.
“Oh come on, it could be fun.” You smiled glancing over at him.
“That orange paint took forever to get off last time, I thought I was gonna look like a Cheeto for the rest of my life.” He complained and you nodded
“Ok, I’ll think of something else. Maybe we can paint Ian this time.” You offered knowing the man seemed to be pretty much down for anything. You turned your focus back to the orange, meticulously picking all the stringy fleshy bits off.
“Dude, you look so intense right now.” Shayne laughed referring to the way you were staring at the orange in your hand. You were sure it looked like the fruit had personally offended you.
“Oh hush, I have to get back to my desk. That Pitt video isn’t gonna edit itself.” You shrugged grabbing a napkin to warp the now bald orange in as you left.
Humming to yourself as you first made your way to your desk, grabbing a La Croix from the fridge. Then you practically skipped over to Angela who was working on TNTL bits.
“Hi Angel.” You greeted causing her to look up with a smile. Setting her pen down she turned in her chair to face you immediately.
“Hi- is that an orange?” She asked when she tried to grab your hand but couldn’t because you were holding something. You nodded proudly while sitting the fruit and the can on the desk.
“You peeled an orange for me?” She questioned. Her tone far softer than the words needed it to be. She stared at the fruit on her desk with watery eyes before she slowly picked it up. Holding it as if it was glass.
“Of course I did, I could tell you really wanted it.” You replied simply your eyes shifting from her tone far softer the unopened granola bar on her desk. She looked up at you for a moment, silently studying you.
Then in a flash she was on her feet. She pulled you to an empty conference room closing the door behind you both. She was facing the door as if she had to gather her thoughts, then she turned.
The orange still in her hand as she looked at you.
“You-you do things for me.” She said suddenly and you nodded in agreement but said nothing. She wasn’t done talking and you could actively see her mentally trying to pick the right words to say.
“You switch lunches with me when I get the wrong order. You keep La Croixs in your mini fridge even though you don’t drink them. You rewrite my cue cards so I can read them. You learned my mom’s pasta recipe because you knew I wanted it but kept messing up the recipe on my own. You have a spare pair of my glasses in your desk. You kiss me when I’m sick even if that means you’ll get sick too. You do all these silent little things for me every day and I can’t help but think that maybe…maybe I’m not doing enough for you?” She expressed sadly. You lead her over to the table and you both sat down.
“Angel…I don’t do these things because I expect something in return. I don’t even do them because I have to. I want to do them because I love doing things for you.” You confessed as if you were sharing an unspoken secret. Angela hanging onto every single word you said.
“But why? It’s not…it’s not because you think I can’t. Right?” She asked almost nervously and you couldn’t stop the soft giggle that fell from your lips as you shook your head.
“Baby, you are a grown woman. You have been taking care of yourself for a long time. I never doubted your ability to do so and I never will. It was never about you not being able to do it, it was about me being able to help make it easier.” You explained in a low but soothing tone. Your thumb gently tracing shapes on the back of her free hand.
“Make it easier?” She repeated
“Of course. You being happy makes me happier than anything in the world. I love seeing you smile. So yeah, I’ll switch lunches with you so you can get the wrap you’d been raving about. I’ll stock my mini fridge with your favorite drink even though I hate the taste of them. I’ll write your cue cards on pastel paper with giant block letters so you can see them for live shows. I’ll keep a pair of your glasses in my desk drawer so you can see and you don’t have headaches as frequently as you used too. I’ll spend my day off in our kitchen learning recipes with your mom so you can have the meals you ate as a kid again. And I will peel a damn orange jut so you can have the fruit you want when you want it. Angela it was never about you not being able to do it. It’s about me being able to do the things I want for the woman I love. I love you through my actions so that when words don’t work anymore, you never have to question the way I feel about you. Honestly my love for you runs so deep that I don’t even think all the words to express it actually exist in any of the languages we are fluent in. I know that accepting compliments is not something you are good at so I’m loving you in a way that you are. In a way that can make you feel seen and feel appreciated without making you want to run away. Because I love you and because I know you. I know that you are my person and you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I know that is an insane thing to say at 9am on a random Tuesday but it doesn’t make it any less true. I love you. I am so deeply and irreversibly in love with you. Taking care of you is the easiest more fulfilling thing I have ever done.” You rambled passionately while looking deeply into her brown eyes. Angela’s bottom lip trembled as her eyes watered and she tightened her grip on your hand.
“Oh my god.” She breathed in a whisper before letting out a wet laugh. Within seconds she threw her arms around you and was crying against your shoulder.
“I love you so much. Shit! That is like the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said about me.” She cried happily as she pressed her face against your neck and you smiled. Gently rubbing her back as you hugged her.
She slowly stopped crying after a few minutes and you gently wiped the streaks of mascara from her face.
“God I’m sure I look like shit.” She attempted to joked while wiping her face with her sleeve. You only smiled at her, leaning back in your chair.
“You look beautiful to me.” The door opened and you both turned to see Shayne standing there.
“There you two are! It’s time to film Try Not- are you guys okay?” He asked looking between the two of you with worried eyes.
“She peeled my orange for me!” Angela yelled holding the fruit up as if that would explain everything. And somehow it did, because Shayne smiled immediately and nodded at her.
“Good for you Ang.” He replied before walking away. You and Angela stood hand in hand and slowly followed after him.
“I love you too by the way. I didn’t say it earlier when you did but I uh, I love you a lot. I want to spend the rest of my life with you too.” She whispered in your ear. You squeezed her hand three times in response.
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