Invisible String

Chapter 11 - Delicate

A crew member handed him a hand towel, and he wiped his face off while reaching out to touch my shoulder with his free hand. "What happened?"

The backstage crew hovered nearby but were suddenly scattering as Alex looked around at their prying eyes.

"Nothing." I forced a smile on. "You were great!"

He turned his head slightly, then fell victim to my praise. He grinned from ear to ear like a child at Christmas. "It was pretty good."

"More than pretty good." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a long kiss. "Pretty damn good."

He brushed hair behind my ear while looking off behind me a little. Before I could see what he was looking at, he lifted my chin with his finger and kissed me again. It was a short kiss, but sweet, and it sent tingles through me. He led the way to the room he'd changed in earlier, and he quickly got back into his formal attire. After, we made our way back to our seats. It was loud, and the presenter's jokes were stale, but eventually, it came to the category his band was nominated for–Best Pop Vocal Album.

His hand tightened around my own, and I could see him sweating. I so badly wanted this for him. It had been far too long since they'd won an award, and in my opinion, they certainly deserved more than what they'd gotten in the past.

I squeezed his hand twice, and then Bruno Mars announced, "The Best Pop Vocal Album goes to..."

The drumroll rang out as he opened the envelope and pulled out the tiny card, "JADE!" Alex looked at me, shocked. He grabbed onto my shoulders and pulled me forward and kissed me firmly on the lips, then stood up and gathered the whole band.

They patted each other on the back and smiled proudly at one another before they finally went up to the stage to accept their awards. Once they got up there, Alex took the microphone and started off their 'thank you' speech.

"I have a lot of people to thank," he smiled brightly, completely surprised. "Obviously, I want to thank God first and foremost for bringing this band of guys together." They jabbed one another in the ribs and grinned. "And I want to thank all of our parents for being very supportive from early on. And everyone who ever gave us a chance. And all of the people who helped out with this album. It's been a process and a really hard one at times. But it's been beautiful, and it led to this. So thank you to everyone, our manager, our record label, our fans. Everyone. We appreciate you all and love you so very much!"

The crowd cheered as another member quickly said a few words, and Alex wrapped an arm around a bandmate and smiled brightly. He found my eyes in the sea of people, and my own mouth mirrored his, smiling widely. I mouthed 'I love you' to him. He looked down at the ground, his mouth still curved.

After a few seconds, he politely interrupted his bandmate and said, "I have one last thing to say real quick, sorry, Mike." His bassist smiled sincerely and ushered him to continue, "I really want to thank my date. If it weren't for her, I would've never written the song that made this album really stand out. I love you, Hannah."

My cheeks instantly reddened and the smile vanished from my face as people turned to look at me.

He backed away from the mic realizing his mistake instantly. They hurried off the stage not long after, and I sat still while people turned their attention back to the stage. Ten minutes later, Alex came rushing back and hurried to my side. At first, he acted like everything was normal, but I could tell he knew I was upset. He didn't try to touch me and he sat still next to me, quiet. Until the last performer got onstage, anyway.

Taylor Swift was performing her latest heartbreak tune, and he turned to me. "Hannah, I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to thank you."

I nodded along to the beat of the music and looked at him for a quick few seconds and didn't say a word.

"Don't do that. Please. I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear. "Really. I am."

He turned my face towards him and held onto my chin.

"Fine, Alex. It's all fine. I'm fine."

I smiled, and he squinted at me.

"You're fine?"

"I'm fine."

He didn't believe me, and he was smart not to, but I wasn't about to get into it here. Especially now. I grabbed onto his hand and danced around a little bit. It wasn't hard for him to get into the music with me. He couldn't help but smile again, and soon enough, we were enjoying ourselves like nothing had happened.

The 2021 Grammy's came to a close, and we decided to keep the fun going by attending an after-party. We had to do a quick change before we got there, so I changed into a short emerald green dress with the same diamond jewelry and heels from the last outfit. He lost the jacket and changed into a different button-down shirt.

When we arrived, it was nearly as packed as the Grammy's; the main difference was that once we were inside the venue, there were barely any photographers and no screaming fans. It was still loud, but the atmosphere was much different. The celebrities were indeed more relaxed. The ones who'd won were ecstatic, and the ones who'd lost were merely glad it was over.

Alex held me close to him the whole night, up until he went to get our coats before we departed. In those few minutes he was gone, Jaiden Bentley made a reappearance. He was hitting on some desperate girl across the way, and I turned, attempting to keep him from seeing me, but God knows, my luck could never be that good. Within a minute, he was behind me, and he touched my side and said, "This has to be fate."

I turned around quickly, but he caught my arm and tugged on it gently to pull me closer to him. I yanked back hard, then with my other hand–which still clung to my drink–I threw the liquid at his face. Vodka must burn like a bitch, because he did not react well.

While one of his hands shot up to his face, the other released me, withjust the slightest hint of a push. I flew into a wall behind me and hit my head on a windowpane. I slid to the ground, not entirely unconscious, but I did see something not unlike stars dancing above me.

Jaiden, realizing what he'd done, bent over to see if I was okay while furiously rubbing at his face. It struck me funny that he cared, even as loopy as I was. Suddenly, two big men nearby grabbed him by his elbows and threw him away from me—while a lovely woman I didn't recognize checked my head for wounds and called an ambulance.

She pulled her hand away from my head, and her previously white handkerchief was now red. I instinctively touched the back of my head with one of my hands, and it was the same result. Blood, and lots of it, covered my hand.

Alex showed up while she was on the phone, and he flew into a panic immediately.

"What happened? Are you okay?" I lifted up my hand and gave him a thumbs-up, but wound up only alarming him more. He looked at the woman on the phone, and she slightly shrugged and shook her head. He turned back to me, terrified. "Can you say something?"

I looked at him and said, "Ow."

He smiled feebly and turned to look around behind us. Jaiden was there, and the two big men were still holding him back. He was tiny, but he was giving them quite a bit of hell.

"Tell me if she's okay! I didn't mean to hurt her," he shouted, stupidly, to Alex.

Alex stood up, pissed off, and stomped towards him. "You did this?" he shouted back.

"It was an accident. A misunderstanding." He looked past Alex at me, and I lightly shook my head at him. It made me dizzy, but I tried to warn him.

Alex leaped over the big men's arms and tackled Jaiden to the ground. It was right around that time that I closed my eyes, not wanting to see more. The woman on the phone with 911 touched my shoulder, and I heard her say my name a few times before everything went quiet.