𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝗺 𝐲𝗼𝐮𝐫𝐬 | 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐞 ✔︎

Eyes wide open

{ 𝙀𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 ~ 𝙂𝙤𝙩𝙮𝙚 }

𝙍𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙫.
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He hastily pressed a finger down on the attached link, bringing him straight to a popular, gossip news artical, purely centred around making celebrities lives hell. That was their sole purpose, everyone knew that. But he'd never thought he'd be a victim in their life-destroying gossip antics.

His eyes immediately caught the headline, big and bold at the centre of the digital screen.

NHC: latest girlfriend spills all on what it's really like dating the famous member of the renowned boyband.

What a cliche, was that the best title they could come up with? It didn't slip his mind that the anger rising up in him wasn't a direct result of a cliche title. No, it was simply the fact that it told him absolutely nothing. No hints as to what private information lay behind.

He scrolled down slowly, holding his breath as he read through the dragged out sentences, lies dripping from each one. He finally reached Ana's section, breath hitching in his throat as he read through it, tempted to tear his eyes away, not wanting to see what's she's fed the drama- hungry media.

He raised his eyebrow as her words were highlighted, names plastered in big bright letters that he knew she would have demanded to have, deeming it as necessary.

Reece Bibby: The Young heartthrob, now revealed as a cheat.

He felt amusement flow in through his veins, relief hitting him slightly as he read through the endless paragraphs. It was just like any other magazine, so full of lies and deceit. Ana's words were almost completely based on lies, how he cheated on her again and again with..with another woman?

He felt himself freeze, confusion entering his mind and completely taking control, overwhelming any other feelings that he may have had. A woman. She's lied, she didn't tell them about how he was with George.

He'd expected her to rant endlessly about it, how he'd gotten with her as a distraction and used her to suppress his own sexuality. But no, there was nothing. It wouldn't have been much of a big deal, considering he had unofficially announced his love for his bandmate in front of multiple cameras. But he still hadn't officially declared his sexuality, he still wasn't entirely sure of it himself. Did she..respect that?

He shook his head as he continued scrolling down, analysing over the text and relief flooding into him with more and more power as he read the whole thing, finally reaching the end.

He was a cheater, and that for the most part was technically true. He had kissed George when with Ana. But nothing was ever black and white.

But that's all the media knew. There was no trace of leaked information regarding George, his mental health struggle that had been brutally going on behind the scenes. There was nothing about how he'd dumped her for a boy. All the things she had bluffed and bragged about spilling to the closest news agency, all the things they'd spent days dreading the revelation of.

They weren't there. They didn't know, they didn't know anything.

All the world knew was that he was a cheat. And he had never been happier, joy filling up quickly inside of him, finally letting out the breath he'd been holding do dearly to escape through his lips, full of relief.

He quickly got over the wave of relief that has washed over him, clicking out of the article to move on to Ana's contact. He let out a sigh of relief as he realised that she wasn't blocked and vice versa. He needed to know, he desperately needed to know if this relief would be short lived. He couldn't get his and more importantly, George's hopes up.

He quickly pressed down on the call button, something he'd never imagine himself doing after all the trouble Ana had brought into their lives. But he needed to focus on his priorities. And yeah, he hated her to an extent. But this, this overtook that hatred.

"Hello?" Her penetrating voice rang out, splitting his ears as soon as they picked up on it.

"Is that it? Are you done?" His voice was sharp and he hoped that it came across how he wanted it. Serious, gruff and sharp. But he just knew that wasn't the case, tone laced in desperation as he cut her off.

"Hmm, sorry I don't know what you're talking about." She chuckled through the speaker, playful and mocking. It was as if any part of this situation even held anything remotely similar to humour. He didn't laugh.

"Ana, for once in your life just tell me the truth, stop playing these childish games. Are you done?"

"Oh reese take a joke would you. But to answer your question; yes. I'm done, I've already told them everything they needed to know. Everything the fans needed to know about you."

He frowned in confusion, hand pressing the phone closer to his ear as if to strain them to hear a hint of mocking in her tone, anything to indicate that she was joking. But no matter how hard he pressed, it didn't come. She was serious, and he'd never been more relieved.

"B-but what about all that stuff you said, about George and his- his mental health? Was that a bluff? Or did you actually tell them?" Once the questions sprout out of his mouth, there was no stopping them as they filed endlessly off his tongue, amplifying by the second. He had so many questions, and yet he doubted he'd get a decent answer for any. Or at very least, one that made sense.

"Oh calm down. I was planning on telling them, but I decided not too. Out of kindness, of course." He huffed out a breath, exasperated as he looked around him. This has to be a fucking dream, there was no way she hadn't attempted to ruin their happiensss with all her power. He was so convinced that she would break all the moral barriers if it meant they'd be miserable for even a minute.

But she hasn't.

He strolled up and down the small bus space, pacing back and forth as he processed everything. But his mind faltered then, for there was nothing complex to wreck his brain. It was surprisingly simple. She acted on kindness, or at least the closest she could come to it.

"S-so that's it? You're done trying to ruin our lives?" He cringed as the words left his mouth, forgetting to filter his words as they flowed straight out of his mouth without so much as a thought. He couldn't make her mad, that would blow the whole damn thing, straight out the window.

"I'm not the monster you paint me to be Reece. I'm not heartless, you do know that? It wasn't my fucking life mission to sabotage your life! You just tricked me into thinking I could be apart of it, when all along, you knew. You knew I was nothing more than a decoy. A distraction." He felt the guilt hit him, hard. So much so he sat down hastily, phone clutched in his grip impossibly tight. She was right.

"But you didn't care. And sure I'll admit, I'm no angel. But you didn't have to make me the hated villain in your precious story." And with that the phone call ended, leaving him shocked and speechless as he stared at it, tempted to ring back and apologise.

To say he was sorry, it was the truth. He wasn't sorry that he dumped her, of course not. But perhaps he'd been in the wrong too, constantly dragging her around like a prop. A symbol that read, hey look! I'm not a closeted gay that's ashamed of myself. He trailed her around like dirt on his shoe, and when he didn't need her anymore. He simply brushed her off.

Perhaps he'd been looking at it all wrong.

Perhaps, he was the antagonist in this story.

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I'm on a roll this is crazy, I don't know where these chapters keep coming from. I'm not writing them all in the one day tho so don't think I'm weird haha.

This hurt me to write, but one of my biggest regrets in this story is making Ana a typical jealous, obsessed girlfriend. It too late to give her a character arc but I feel like we should try to understand her a little?

Thank you guys so much for reading! The comments and votes make me so unbelievably happy, I apprentice every single one!!! xxx