"Zeth, I need you to tell me what you believe because now Kim and Blackfox... Zeth?" Jade asked once she closed the door of Evie's apartment. "Zeth!"
"Why is Alex unconscious two floors below and why didn't Evie tell me?" Zeth grumbled, peering down from one of the hall's arcade arches, "And Frank is carrying him bridal style. Maybe I should go check that out," Zeth said, watching Frank and Evie carrying Alex through the vaulted ceilings of the lower floors, "Evie!" Zeth shouted and she looked up, palming her face, "Oh yeah! I caught you! Wait there! I'll tell Everett to pick up Alex and take him to the Solar."
Jade was already getting sick of this.
Zeth said they should talk, but instead they stayed in Evie's living room while Zeth spent several minutes on the phone with Egor and a few other important people while Jade sat waiting in an elegant couch.
And now he was calling Everett on the phone who was not answering as usual.
"FUCK! Evie! Everett's not answering!" Zeth shouted from above.
"I can carry Alex, Zeth," Jade heard Frank shout.
"We will enter the Solar through the kitchen balcony!" Evie shouted too.
"Fine! I'll meet you at the Solar and I want an explanation!" Zeth grumbled, turning to face Jade, "Fine. Shall we go?"
"Shall we?" Jade rolled her eyes, walking towards him, "Zeth, I need to talk to you about..."
"Wait, I got a message from the hotel," Zeth said, his eyes on his phone.
"Zeth, I'm tired of you ignoring me," Jade said, walking down the long hallway with Zeth by her side, still looking at his phone, "Every time I ask for five seconds of your attention, your mind is on what you need to do next, not on what I'm telling you."
"I'm just replying a message from the hotel manager, it will take a second," Zeth texted at full speed, "I'd send an audio but the manager's brain works as a list." The rest of the way out of the hallway was silent, and once they reached the Heart of Lyonfort, Zeth's phone buzzed again. "Perfect, the first three trailers have already arrived at the hotel, now I just need..."
"Zeth," Jade grumbled, stopping short as they reached the massive stairs that would take them up and straight to the Solar door, "Zeth, I'm breaking up with you."
Zeth stopped walking.
He turned back slowly, eyes half-shut.
"What?"
"You never pay attention to me. I think I've had enough," Jade crossed her arms over her chest.
"No, wait. You don't understand..."
"Yes I do! You were so excited last night when you fingered me, Zeth! And now you don't even look at me!" Jade snapped. She was trying to keep herself calm so as not to lose it, but the fact that his phone buzzed again wasn't helping at all.
"It's not like that! I can't get distracted right now, Jade, my job is important," Zeth finally spoke, his voice hardening, "My life is stressful, okay?"
"Then maybe if you weren't always busy working then your life wouldn't be as fucking stressful!" Jade threw out her hands, "Maybe then we could have some fun together! Maybe then you'd be interested in me more than your job!"
Zeth blinked, his jaw slightly dropping before his expression twisted into something ugly.
He took a step closer to her.
Jade's breath hitched at the sudden change and she tried to swallow around her rising emotions.
"Fine. I will respect your decision then, I am not going to force you to stay with me," Zeth nodded.
"What? No! We're not done!" Jade protested.
"What the fuck do you want then, woman?" Zeth raised an eyebrow, "If you're going to stand here arguing with me that we should break up but then you say you don't want to, then we can't have a conversation."
Jade glared.
"I didn't come here to argue with you, Zeth." She took the phone from him quickly, putting it behind her back, "Having a girlfriend is not about arguing."
"Give me my phone back," he reached out but she took a step back, "Jade, I'm serious. I need the phone."
"Then get a new phone! And a new girlfriend too!" She snapped and started walking away without another word.
She wasn't sure where she was going if she was being honest. All she knew was that she needed to get away from him.
"Jade, stop!" Zeth shouted, but she did not, "Jade! Don't make me use my powers on you!"
She stopped.
"Now you are threatening me?" She looked over her shoulder at him, "Do you know something, Zeth? I used to think you were perfect, you were my idol, my crush, and when I met you I was disappointed. But you acted nice to me for two or three days, and I changed my mind. And now you are being an asshole again."
"Jade, I'm working. You and Finn are acting like dramatic teenage book characters."
"And you're acting like someone who's not in a relationship with me, you know?" Jade scoffed, rolling her eyes, "I am your girlfriend. You know that, right?" She held up her hand before he could speak, "No. I don't want you to talk. I am the only person that matters right now."
"And what about the band? Do you think this whole show..." he shut his mouth before he said anything offensive.
"Zeth, I understand you have work to do, but I don't like being ignored," Jade said, his phone vibrating in her hand, "I don't think you care enough about me because you never have time. It's that easy. I respect your work, I respect you as the leader that you are and I know that thanks to you Monster Mash has grown exponentially, but I want a boyfriend, I want you to be my boyfriend. I want your attention and not just your presence. So, you must choose. Your job, or me?"
"What?! You will make me choose?!" Zeth threw up his hands, walking in circles, "Do you think I have time to follow you everywhere? Because I ain't a Romance Book Millionaire! To begin with, his company would have gone to hell for wasting so much time with his 'Submissive' but of course! That's fiction!"
"If you think that's what having a girlfriend slash boyfriend means, you're very wrong. I don't expect you to be a millionaire stalker with a lot of free time, I just want you to put your work aside and give me the attention that I deserve for being your girlfriend, Zeth." Jade stepped towards him, but his eyes were glowing gold, "What are you doing? Will you use your powers on me? What for?"
"Give me my phone, Jade," Zeth's eyes returned to their normal sapphire tone, and he shook his head, holding his temples, "You're acting just like Finn. And I'll tell you the same thing I told him... You don't know me, and I don't know you."
"And you're the only one to blame," Jade roughly put the phone on Zeth's chest, "No one knows anything about you because you don't want to."
"That is not true! You can ask Evie or Draco, they know everything about me. My past is not a secret, I just don't talk about it because I have a lot of work to do," he immediately checked the messages on his phone, "This job is why we are all who we are now, Jade."
"Do not think I owe you anything, Zeth Rahman. I will not allow that." she shook her head, taking a step back, "I know what you're capable of and that's why I know you can make your own decisions. But you should think about how I feel, not about what you're doing."
"Because of this job we have money, because of this job Lyonfort is now a better residence than it was when Draco and I and our people moved here in 1918, because of this job we have no worries. This is the best place for Monsters and because of this job..." he blushed and looked away.
"What?"
"I met you, and the guys too," Zeth looked at the top of the stairs, as if he were looking at the Solar, "And it's because of this job that I keep my mind busy and away from my demons."
"Oh! Now you will play the victim with me," Jade said crossing her arms, "Well guess what, Zeth?"
"Hmm?" He hummed in response.
"I don't care about your job anymore. I am not your girlfriend anymore, and I have nothing to do with you," Jade said firmly, "I'm not going to separate you from your work, I'm just going to distance myself, I'm going to put a healthy boundary between you and me. I know there's a lot at stake, and I'm not going to get in the way of that, but I'm not going to let you get in the way of my happiness either. I don't know you, that's true, I don't know anything about you. This job is tearing you apart, everyone and..."
"Then fucking leave!" he shouted, and even when her heart hurt, she stood strong, "If you don't like my job, guess what? You can leave now and forget about us because this job will forever be a part of our lives! And yours now too!"
"I'm not going to give up on everything for a blank page like you," she looked him up and down, "I love Frank, Draco and Alex, Finn and Everett and even Kevin. Evie and Blackfox and even Kimberly. And you know something? It's stupid! It's absurd that you say you don't know us, it's absurd that you don't let anyone in." She paused for a moment, letting the words sink in. "But I guess that's just who you are. You hide your pain away by pretending you're fine, you push everyone away because you don't want anyone to see you crying. Well you're not fooling me, I see right through you, all of us can," she took a long, well needed breath.
"And I know you want to help me," he nodded, "But maybe Finn is right. I should never have committed to a relationship. It's not even a worth it."
"No, you're the one who's not worth it, Zeth!" Jade turned red with fury, "Do you really think I wanted to date a guy with such horrible manners, or such shitty attitude, or with a personality like yours?!"
"Hey, hey, hey." Zeth rushed to grab her arm, stopping her from storming away, "You think I am not a worth it?"
"You said I wasn't," she pulled away from him.
"No, I said a relationship is not even a worth it," Zeth corrected himself.
"Yeah? Well then, maybe a relationship with you isn't worth it."
Zeth clenched his teeth.
"So this is over?" he muttered under his breath, "You and me?"
"For something to be over, there must have been something first." Jade walked past him, not looking back at him once.
"Jade!" he shouted, "Jade!" he called again, but she was already going up the stairs, "Jade! For the first time in thousands of years I think I am wrong!"
She stopped ascending.
Had she just heard correctly?
"What?" She just couldn't believe it.
"I hurt Finn, and now I'm hurting you," he said, rushing up the steps, "I understand you want attention, I get it," he stood a couple steps below her to be eye level, "And I know that this problem does not come from my job, but from having agreed to have a relationship knowing that I don't have the time."
"No. My problem comes from the fact that you are supposed to pay attention to me even if you have a lot of things to do." She looked down at him, unable to tear her eyes off of his, not until he lifted his hands and placed them on her hips, pulling her into his body.
"Do you realise that you are asking me to put aside my responsibilities just to make you happy?" Zeth lowered his eyebrows, "Do you think you are the protagonist of a book and that money just falls from the sky?"
"Don't try to manipulate me now," she whispered, closing her eyes, trying to avoid him. "You are mine, you belong to me just like the other guys. You are all supposed to always be aware of my needs regardless..."
"Hey! Are you even listening to yourself?" he grunted. "Are we just trophies for you?"
"Boyfriends are supposed to pay attention to their girlfriends, Zeth."
"And a girlfriend shouldn't make her boyfriend choose between his responsibilities and her," Zeth looked very disappointed, "You can't make me choose between my job and you, and I'm not going to let you talk about my friends as if they were objects that you own."
"Then what would you do if you were me?" she opened her eyes, staring straight at his, "Tell me, Zeth, what would you do if you were in my place?"
"I'd understand me and my job," he replied, "Finn was angry that I agreed to have a relationship without having time for it, and he's right. But why does it seem that you are only interested in living your Wattpad Fantasy? Where does this protagonist syndrome come from?"
"It's not a protagonist syndrome, Zeth. Just give me some time and space to clear my head." She took a step back, turning away from him.
"Jade, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin everything," he sighed.
"You haven't ruined anything, Zeth. There was never anything between you and me to ruin," she mumbled, walking closer to him.
"I love you," he said.
Jade closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"And I need you in my life." Jade sighed, putting her hands around Zeth's neck, "But I'm not ready for a relationship with someone who can't put aside his job to be with me. I don't know anything about you, so I don't know if I can make a commitment to someone like you. I thought we had a connection, Zeth, and I know that you've got a lot of things to deal with. You gotta deal with the band and monster stuff and all that, and you can't take a break because everyone depends on you. But you don't let anyone help you with anything either and if you do, you do so reluctantly. You can spend more time with me if you delegate, you know?"
"It's not always easy for me, Jade. Sometimes I can't control it, sometimes I don't know how to stop," Zeth sighed.
"Let the guys help you so that you can pay attention to me," Jade put her hands on Zeth's shoulders, "Everett has a great memory, he can help you a lot with dates or things you have forgotten, and have you seen how he jumps? He could save us a lot of time carrying things too! Finn is a very capable boy, he has all the potential to solve problems and manage time, he was literally in charge of scheduling this entire day and everything is going perfectly well, and you said that he was able to put together the entire show last night so he's good at improvising. Draco is very creative so he can help you find solutions that maybe you didn't see like last year with the strip club idea, and he is very good at writing songs and giving life to the lyrics. Kevin has the gift with words so he can help you with public relations. Frank is an expert in robotics, and he can greatly help you lead staff members to set up everything for the shows, from lighting to audio and screens. Alex is an expert at flirting, have you thought that maybe he would be useful to handle social media and fanmail?"
"Oh no, Egor already takes care of social media and we all check the fanmail," Zeth said and Jade cocked her head, "Is everything okay?"
"Well, you're lying," she blinked rapidly, "Because there is fanmail in the library and no one has checked it. Zack Zquatch told me that some letters arrived to his room last year and no one cared."
"Letters?" Zeth looked at Jade with eyes filled with sapphire blue terror, "What do you mean... Letters?"
"Well, it's fanmail according to Zack Zquatch," Jade moved her shoulders, "Why?"
"Because no one knows we live here Jade!" Zeth raised his hands and she stepped away.
"Okay, then you tell me who sent those letters and I'll call the police." Jade crossed her arms, leaning against the railing to support herself.
"Follow me, we will take the north hallway that leads to the Bigfoot Tower and turn left to go to the library," Zeth said, walking down the stairs quickly, but when Jade didn't follow him, he pointed a finger, "It's this way, Jade."
"Who can know we are here?" Jade asked, slowly walking down, "Who could have told anyone we're here?"
"No idea, but you say the letters arrived last year?" Zeth asked and Jade nodded, "That doesn't make sense. The angry blonde didn't know about this place yet, only you..."
"I didn't say anything," Jade was offended that Zeth thought about her being the snitch.
"Come on, come with me," Zeth extended a hand, and Jade reluctantly followed him.
"Do you think those letters have anything to do with the murderous waiters?" Jade asked walking quickly alongside Zeth down the dark hallway with large arches, which was very similar to the hallway that led to Evie's room. In fact, she could see that one from here, to the right.
"If that were the case, we would have more waiters at the door already," Zeth turned left into a hallway of stairs, very dark and grey, "But I'm sure it has something to do with it." Zeth took out his phone and started dialling, and immediately someone answered, "Hey, hello. It's Zeth. Excuse me, did fanmail arrive at the hotel by any chance? Thank you very much. The letters arrived by crow? Do you think you can open one and send me a photo to this number? Please have the other letters ready for when I arrive at the hotel. No, no, that's all. Thank you." Zeth then searched through his contacts and found who he was looking for, speed dialling, "Clyde? Hey, quick question, can you ask your dad if any letters have arrived at Kade Fort? The university, that's what it was called before. Okay, send me a message as soon as you can and a pic of an open letter if any arrived. Are you at the hotel? Oh good! Please make sure the instruments have arrived in one piece as well. Thank you!"
Zeth hung up the phone, and continued running down the stairs with Jade following close behind him.
As they reached the bottom, Zeth ran across the hall to the entrance of the library, but just before reaching it, Jade caught up to him and grabbed his black tank top shirt, pulling him to a sudden halt.
"What?" Zeth asked, "Are you okay?"
"Do you think we're in danger, Zeth?" Jade asked and he nodded.
"I don't know what those letters could be about, but I think they are definitely related to the Hunters who have tried to kidnap us all year long."
"What does that mean?"
"That it will be urgent for us to get new identities," Zeth took out his phone, "I'll tell Evie, I need people to believe that we are human, to make the world believe that our names are stage names and that Draco and I took inspiration from some old book for ours. It will be difficult to explain at airports though."
"Zeth, are you afraid?" Jade had never seen him shake or even tremble, but the look on his face made her feel uneasy.
His phone then buzzed.
"Hello? Who is this? Maddox? Oh! Clyde and Jeyk's father! Right. Thanks, I will save your number," then he hung up, swallowing hard, "It seems that another bunch of letters actually arrived at the school, just when the world tour started. Maddox will send me a photo, he has them in his studio."
"Zeth," she put her hand on his shoulder and he flinched, "Why are you so afraid?"
"I can't run from the past anymore apparently, it is coming straight at me," he said, looking at her, "There are so many things I wanted to tell you, but I can't do it while we're standing here in the dark. Come on, I need to know what the letters say."
He turned, opening the wooden doors, and he stepped inside the library.