The Truth is... {Sequel to I May be Famous But They Don't Know That}

Epilogue

It is pretty astonishing just how many people make a living off of exploiting my life. The amount of camera flashes is overwhelming, it's hard to tell which way to look so I just go for my old standby and pick what I think is the middle of the crowd and put on a disarming smile. The sun is setting over the Sunset Strip, casting a golden glow across the red carpet. As I slowly make my way down the red carpet people call out my name in attempts to get my attention. It may have worked if everybody wasn't doing it. Pretty soon my costar, Shawn Burns arrives on the red carpet looking dashing as ever. Shawn and I work a lot of movies together, for some reason people always envision us as the perfect, all American couple. Not that I can complain about that. A job is a job, and it doesn't hurt that Shawn is extremely hot. Although my days of wanting to date him are over, it's just nice having him as a friend. After all, good friends are hard to find in this industry.

Shawn walks towards me, his sandy blonde hair is carelessly messy. Some might think that he has just rolled out of bed to come to the premier, but I happen to know that he probably spent hours trying to make it look like that, "Hello there Sam." He says with a easy smile as he gives me a brief hug, "You look lovely tonight." I smile at him before we turn to face the cameras, "You don't look too bad yourself. Although I do have one question? How long did your hair take you?" He laughs under his breath, "Oh Sam, nothing gets past you does it. And I didn't do it, some stylist did." I nod, smirking with amusement, "Yeah, sure, blame it on the stylists why don't you." he shrugs, "I'm not too concerned, at least they did their job. I think they outdid themselves with you though." He glances sideways at me, giving my long curly hair an approving glance, "Although they don't even have to try with you. They could put you in a trash bag with holes for your arms and head and people would still fall in love with you." I laugh and try to hid the blush creeping onto my face by looking towards another portion of the paparazzi. Maybe I was over the idea of dating Shawn, but he may not be over the idea of dating me. Well if Chase ends up disappearing like Will did maybe I will have an spot for Shawn in my life anyways. I immediately regret thinking that. Now I can feel the dark coils of fear and disappointment taking hold of me and making my chest feel tight, "Hey are you okay?" Shawn asks, only I can detect the concern in his eyes, otherwise he looks perfectly happy, "You look really pale. Are you sick or something?" I force myself to plaster a fake smile as I reply, "I'm fine, I just felt a little light headed there for a second, it has passed now though." he looks relieved, "Oh good. We don't want you passing out on the red carpet, now do we? That could make for some interesting headlines."

I smile and look away from him down towards the end of the red carpet. I can see the director of the movie and a few of the supporting actors and actresses posing for pictures at that end. They appear to be waiting for Shawn and and I to make our way to their end before they can continue on into the theater, "I think we should step it up a little bit." I whisper to Shawn, "They are waiting for us down there." Shawn waves at some screaming girls and doesn't look at me as he replies, "Oh we are fine. They can wait a little longer." He continues to wave and glances impatiently down towards the beginning of the red carpet, "Are you waiting for someone?" I ask. He shakes his head slightly, "No, I just want to give all these nice people an equal opportunity to take our picture." I roll my eyes, "Yeah, because it's not like they take pictures of us every day already." He shrugs, "All part of the business Sam." We very slowly make our way to the end of the red carpet. Shawn stops frequently to sign autographs and I give in and do the same. We are just about to meet up with the rest of the cast and crew when movement at the beginning of the red carpet catches my eye.

At the other end a car pulls up hastily on the curb. The driver hops out and tosses his keys to one of the valet people that were waiting to park celebrity's cars. Then the figure starts to jog down the red carpet. I frown, squinting at him and trying to make out who it is. However the lighting is bad and all I can see is a silhouette running towards me. Who on earth would run down a red carpet? The whole point of the red carpet is to have your pictures taken. A few of the photographers yell, "Hey, slow down!" but he doesn't stop. That's when the lights start to pick up his features. His chiseled chin and sculpted cheek bones, but most of all I recognize his clear blue eyes which are locked on me, "Chase." I whisper, "And this is my cue to leave." Shawn says. I look up at him and see a smirk on his face. Was he in on this?" I look back to Chase who is now ten feet from me. He slows to a walk and drinks in my appearance. I can see complete adoration sparkling in his eyes. I can only imagine what I must look like to onlookers right now. Never before had Chase seemed so dashing. He wore a black tailored tux and his usually shaggy brown hair was slicked back, making his already amazing features seem even more put together.

He stopped a few feet from me and for a moment we simply stared at each other, both of us afraid to speak. Finally I can't bare the silence, "Chase, what are you doing here? How did you get here." He smiles at me, "Well I tried to call this morning, but you didn't answer, so I called Mike and he pulled some strings along with the help of Shawn." I glance back at Shawn and he gives me a thumbs up. Everyone is watching Chase and I now. He takes a few strides towards me and takes my hands, "I need to apologize." I stop him, "It's ok Chase. I know, sometimes we just have to step back and take a hard look at our life. I know I've done it before." Chase shakes his head, "Not just for that, for everything. I've been so distant to you this whole time, it's a miracle you haven't left me for someone better already. I mean look at you. You are world famous. You can have anything you want. I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore. All I am is a broken guy who can't seem to get over the loss of his best friend. You are beautiful and incredible and strong. You deserve so much better than I can give you." He looks at the ground with sad eyes, it breaks my heart, "Chase no. The truth is, I'd give it all up if that was what I had to do to be with you. You are all I need to be happy. No amount of fame could ever replace how I feel about you. I love you Chase, nothing will ever change that." He closes the distance between the two of us and kisses me. I smile and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Everyone around us starts clapping and cheering. Even though my eyes are closed I can see the flashes of the cameras that are going off. But I don't care. All there is is Chase and me, despite our scars and broken memories we have each other. And we always will.