i want to write you a song, brandon arreaga

thirty-three

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚　˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
march 31, 2020

adele stared down at the text message with a wide smile on her face. at first, she'd left him on read, not knowing exactly what to say. though after a while, she figured a heart emoji would suffice.

it was safe to say she'd never felt so deeply in love with someone, hence why she didn't know what to say to the message. she knew the love had started to build the moment she met him, but the feeling had only caught up to her recently.

curled up against the bed of her hotel room in amsterdam, adele wondered if it was a good time to call brandon now. but before she could make a decision, a knock had appeared on her door.

melanie stood still before adele, frowning at the girl in front of her. adele furrows her eyebrows. "hey, love. what's up?"

melanie steps inside, closing the door behind her and letting out a sigh. "have you seen the tabloids, adele?"

her smile drops almost instantly, and she'd immediately recognized the situation, "..how did they figure out?"

"there's pictures of you two in the lobby." she informs, "holding hands..kissing.."

"shit."

and just as those words left her mouth, her phone began ringing. melanie frowns, stepping back and allowing her boss to answer the call.

adele hesitates before answering the call, "scott..please let me explain."

"do you see what they're calling you, adele? you've been on fucking tmz for two hours now, everyone insulting you for blatantly cheating on your loving boyfriend. do you understand what you've done?"

she takes a shaky breath, nodding although the man couldn't see her. "you've ruined your name, adele. and i don't know what to do to fix it."

"i'm sorry." she murmurs, feeling herself tearing up. "i'll try to fix it—"

"how?" he questions harshly. "how could you hook up with some random so easily? without even bothering to hide it?"

"h-he's not random." was all she could say, feeling pathetic. "i never wanted this relationship in the first place, scott. i told you."

"what you want and don't want is not important right now!" he exclaims, and she hears him take a deep breath from the other side of the line. "i-i'll call you later..i can't do this right now."

"i'm sorry."

brandon stared at the multiple pictures of him and adele displayed on the tv screen, followed by some sort of commentary from 'e news'.

"you told me you wouldn't fuck up." mitch says, narrowing his eyes at the boy in front of him. though brandon paid no mind to him, continuing to look at the screen. "don't you think it was important to tell me who you were seeing?"

the rest of the boys piled up at the top of the stairs, listening in on the conversation that was only supposed to be private to the two.

"do you realize what've you've done, brandon?"

no response.

"you've helped a girl cheat on her boyfriend. and not some random girl, a very famous star who was in a very public relationship. this brings just as much controversy to this band as zion's ignorants comments!"

silence.

"she and abel reign were one of the biggest power couples in the industry and you were the one that ruined it."

the edges of brandon's lips dip downwards as he holds himself back, curling his fingers into a fist. "i know."

"how long have you two been talking?"

"november."

mitch throws his head back, "oh, god. are you serious?"

brandon nods slightly, getting himself to look away from the tv. "look..i'm sorry."

"how is sorry supposed to cut it?" he asks. "it's my responsibility..all of this. i don't even know what to do. but it's best you don't engage in contact with her."

"what?" he scoffs, "that's so unnecessary—"

"this is your career you need to focus on." he cuts off. "she's been distracting you long enough. if the media sees any other interaction between the two of you, you'll be dragged even further into the dirt."

he continues, "she's bad news. she's a cheater to the media, and it'll be held against her for the rest of her career. you don't need that for your image, brandon."

and once again, silence filled the room.