Dedicated to Lauren and Sarah, my RL friends, who I go to for any advice on this story. Luff you
Picture of Jared on the side --->
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(Unedited)
All my life, I've tried,
To make everybody happy,
While I just hurt, and hide,
Waitin' for someone to tell me,
It's my turn, to decide.
~King of Anything- Sara Bareilles
"Can we talk about-"
"No."
"Are you sure you saw-"
"Yes."
"Are you sure it w-"
"Yes. And if it wasn't, it was his clone. Either way I'm terrified." I was almost hyperventilating now. Way too many people from the past are showing up. After everything, I figured I wouldn't see Jared again. He had been sent to live with a relative and, well, we hadn't really had any reason to keep in contact.
"You know, if you had just pressed charges, he would be rotting in a jail cell right now."
I shot him a flat look. "Kaden."
Okay, so I hadn't pressed charges and sent Jared to jail. There had been a lawsuit, but it had been Jared against his mother. It hadn't been easy convincing Kaden's parents to help me, then convincing Jared to actually do it, but in the end, it had worked. Jared's mother had gotten a two year sentence in prison and was forbidden to contact Jared unless he did so first.
Maybe it had been a stupid decision, but I had felt sorry for him. Nobody, not even Jared, deserved someone like his mother in their life. But just because I hadn't pressed charges, it didn't mean I was close to him anymore. I didn't regret it, but you know, I wasn't ready to hold hands and dance around a bonfire singing friendship songs.
And I guess it was also, just a little bit, because of Avril. Jared and his mother had reminded me of her, and how she had ran away because of her parents and how they treated her.
"Here," Kaden said, snapping me out of my reminiscing. He handed me a cup of tea and took a seat beside me.
"Thanks," I replied, taking a careful sip.
"You know, he could just be on a trip or something. It is New York," he said after a couple moments of silence.
"And I just so happened to see him?"
"Yeah."
I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, ‘just happened’s don't really work for me." When he just stared at me with a confused expression, I decided to elaborate. "Last time, Bells just so happened to get a flyer for an audition emailed to her, it was Kallie and Brett's movie."
He shot me a flat look. "That's because Kallie e-mailed her the flyer."
"Exactly! ‘Just happened’s are actually people scheming behind the scenes," I told him.
Before he could answer, his phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up and checked the screen. "Sorry, I gotta take this." Just as he said that, a knock sounded at the door as well. "Can you get that? It's probably Clark, or something," he told me before disappearing into one of the rooms.
I nodded even though he couldn't see me and walked to the door. I opened it.
...Then immediately slammed it shut.
"Kaden?" I called quietly, in case he was on the phone.
"Yeah?" he replied, his voice slightly muffled through the door.. Okay, good, I didn't interrupt anything then.
"You know that trip theory? It's not really working."
He walked out of the bedroom. "Is he here?"
I shrugged, looking as calm as I could. "Maybe," I replied. "Got anywhere I can hide? You can just tell them it was a robot or something," I said, pasting on an innocent smile when Kaden sighed and shot me a weird look.
"Fine, I'll humor you. Bedroom's that way," he told me, pointing to the door beside the kitchen.
"Cool, thanks." I waved slightly before scampering for the room, barely making it in before Kaden opened the front door. I carefully eased my door shut, then turned around. Whoa.
It was pretty big, as expected, but it was also pretty clean. I know, I know, it's stereotypical to expect guys to be messy, but in my defense, they usually were. At least, most of the ones I knew. He didn't have a lot in his room- a bed, a collection of mini posters of the movies he had done, two night tables, a bookshelf and a somewhat cluttered desk.
A picture on his desk caught my eye.
No, Raine, don't do it. I told myself.
I did it anyway.
It was the same picture Bells and I had in our living room. The one from the amusement park. Wow, I guess none of us really let that one go. I mean, I don't know if Brett, Kallie and Clark still have theirs, but already three out of the six people in the photo kept it, so...
I looked away from the picture, my eyes landing on a note resting on Kaden's law book. This is bad, Raine, bad!
I still read it.
I know, I know, but I'm a naturally curious person, alright?
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
In: Tuesday. Out: Saturday.
Heart attack, unconscious.
What? UCLA was in California. And who had a heart attack and was now in the hospital? It could be Kaden, he looked compeltely healthy and he had been here Tuesday. Same with Kallie.
Oh god, what if it was his girlfriend? No, wait, that wouldn't make sense. If he agreed to the fake dating and if what Kallie said was true, then he couldn't really, right? Why did I even care? And why had girlfriend been the first person I had thought of? Why not friend, or relative, or something.
His phone was beside his textbook.
I really, really, really shouldn't.
I shouldn't...
I'm going straight to hell for this.
Okay, Kallie said his passwords were January. I carefully typed it in... And oh my god, it worked. It wasn't that I had thought Kallie was lying or something, it's just, I hadn't expected it to be true, either.
It immediately opened up onto a conversation on Messages. There wasn't a name, just a number. Kaden’s last couple of message had been near identical- Error 38572: The number you are trying to reach is no longer in service. Except the numbers after 'Error' were somewhat different. Who was he trying to avoid?
The other person, I think it was a girl, had sent messages like 'No! Baby, you didn't change your number!'. Oh god, I think it is a girlfriend. I mean, baby?
This is so bad, I thought, scrolling up slightly- Oh my god! Inappropriate photo! Inappropriate photo! The girl had sent him a picture of her chest. Naked. Along with 'Hope this changes your mind on going out with me'.
I quickly tapped on the back button, multiple times, wincing at the memory of when I had seen. So had it been a fan then? Who had been desperate to get Kaden to go out with her? I get that he's a celebrity, but sending a picture of your chest is just a little extreme.
As I repetitively pushed the scarring image out of my mind, a phrase caught my eye.
Sorry, but I like someone else.
It was under the name Jillian King. So either he had asked her and she had rejected him or she had asked him and he had rejected her. Either way it would have been pretty dumb. I mean, Kaden and Jillian were both huge stars. They would've made the Hollywood It couple or Power couple or whatever it was called.
Raine, you should stop. Put down the phone and step away.
I clicked on the conversation.
This is the worst thing to do. I am looking through someone's conversations. Can you say stalker, creep and violation of privacy much?
It was Kaden who rejected her.
I hit the back button before guilt could swallow me whole.
I was about to put down his phone, for real this time, when I noticed a name. Mine. Or someone who shared my name. The only thing it said under it was 1 Photo Attachment. I don't remember sending him anything or getting anything from him, so was it someone with my name? Or did someone take my phone and send him something or look at something he sent me?
I tapped the conversation and was greeted with a photo of me. From me. I recognized it immediately. It was one of the photos Kaden had taken of me when we had been setting up my Twitter. The one I hadn't used because it looked too... Too much like I was a million worlds away. I know I never sent him that photo of me, and I know I deleted it the day after because I hated have photos of myself by myself on my phone.
"Raine!" Oh my god, he has laser vision, he can see me going through his phone. "You should probably come out now, the robot excuse isn't really working!" Okay, never mind. I quickly returned to the conversation with the girl then shut his phone and put it down, making sure everything looked like I hadn't touched it.
Then I turned around to leave and realized I had a bit of a problem. Kaden had three doors in his bedroom. All white, all pretty much beside each other. Great, I love the guessing game.
First door.
Nope, closet.
Second door.
Nope, bathroom.
Third door.
Jackpot.
Not really, though, since I was now in a room with my ex, the guy who tried to rape me, the guy who helped him and... "Devon?" When I had opened the door, it had only been Blake and Jared. If Devon had been there, I hadn't seen him.
He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Hi."
"You know stalking is punishable by law, right?" Kaden said before I had the chance to ask what he was here.
"We aren't stalking you. Or Raine," Blake replied calmly.
"Yeah, that's not really believable considering you're sitting in my living room," Kaden stated, his humorous tone evaporating.
"Yeah, how did you guys find me?" I asked slowly, ever so slightly creeped out. On the way here, I had checked in the rear-view mirror to make sure no one was following us, so that was out. And as far as I knew, neither Devon, Jared nor Blake was psychic. I don't think any of them planted a tracking device on me either.
"Annabelle," Blake responded.
"He manipulated our best friend," Devon said. "For him!" He flung an arm out and pointed at Jared.
"Why are you here?" Kaden asked, turning to Jared.
"I need to talk to Raine," he replied hesitantly, glancing at me.
"So talk then," Kaden instructed after a couple of moments of silence.
"I need to talk to her alone."
"No." He was using his hard voice. The voice that was calm, but cold as ice. It was kind of, really creepy, since it wasn't often that Kaden used that tone. At least, I don't think I've heard him use it a lot the times I've been around him.
"I wasn't asking you."
"Stop!" I exclaimed, stepping between the two guys. "Firstly, this isn't a soap opera, so stop with the laser glares. Secondly, I can make decisions for myself. So sit. Both of you." After a couple more stare downs and some not-so-gentle nudging from me, they sat down. Yay, okay, phase one of plan I have yet to formulate complete.
"Question before we start." I turned to look at Devon.
He raised an eyebrow. "We're not playing kindergarten, Raine," he interrupted.
I ignored him. "Why is Devon here?"
"Thanks, I feel so wanted," the guy in question remarked sarcastically, not answering.
"He was at me and Shawn's apartment when Jared came," Blake told me.
"Okay, cool. Alright, down to business." I sat down on the corner of the couch facing the TV so I could see them all. "Are you going to kill me?" I asked, looking at Jared.
"No, I-"
"Kidnap me?" I continued, cutting him off.
He sighed. "No."
"Try to..." I trailed off, not really wanting to say the word.
Luckily, he got it. "No."
"Are you going to do any of the above to someone I know?"
"No."
"Okay." Now, I have no idea what to do.
Kaden snorted. "Raine, he wouldn't admit it if he had sinister plans, that'd be stupid."
"Let's go with trust for now, shall we?" I didn't really know what to do. I wanted to know what Jared wanted to talk about, I mean, it had been three years. Why now and what did he want to tell me that is so important enough that he track me down in New York?
Kaden sighed and crossed his arms, but didn't argue.
"Now, if we were to talk, where would it be?" I asked, continuing with my questions.
Devon shot up. "Raine, you cannot actually be considering this!"
"Sit down." I waited for him to do so before turning back to Jared. "Answer the question."
He shot me a weird look. "Does it matter?"
"Yes, because if it's somewhere like an abandoned warehouse, I'm not going."
"I don't know, it can be a popular restaurant if you want."
Kaden shook his head. "Paparazzi."
"Your place or something?"
"Annabelle." This time, it was Blake who disagreed.
"My hotel."
"Hell no." And Devon had to have a crack at it as well.
I sighed. "Kaden, don't you know somewhere that's public, but away from the paparazzi?" Whoa. I'm actually considering this.
"Yeah, but I'm not going to encourage this talk by giving you the address."
"Well, it's either that, or his hotel." Did I really just say that?
For a minute, we simple stared at each other.
Then he caved. "Fine."
"What the hell?" Devon demanded. We ignored him, which made me feel kind of bad.
"Did you help him again?" Kaden asked, looking at Blake.
"Again?" Devon repeated. Right. He doesn't know that Jared had help, and he definitely doesn't know that the help was Blake. He didn't need to know, though, it had been three years ago, and Blake had saved me, and he could be going out with Bells now, and Blake had changed.
"It's noting," I told him.
Kaden scoffed. "I wouldn't call helping kidnap you nothing," he said, either ignoring or missing my 'don’t-you-dare-say-anything' looks.
"What?" Before any of us could react, Devon's fist was driving into Blake's face. "You went out with Bells!"
"He what?" Kaden demanded.
Okay, and now hell breaks loose.
I decided to ignore Kaden for now, since Devon was currently trying to turn Blake into a squished bug. He hit Blake's nose, causing blood to gush out. "Devon, Devon, stop!" I yelled, grabbing his arm before he could hit Blake again.
"Why?" he asked, shooting me an incredulous look. "He kidnapped you!"
"Three years ago! And no one wants to hire a child psychiatrist with a murder record!" I exclaimed.
"There's no such thing as a murder record," Kaden told me. Come on, seriously?
"I wasn't going to kill him," Devon said at the same time. It was kind of hard to believe him, though, with the glare he was looking at Blake with.
Luckily, Devon hadn't managed to land too many hits before I stopped him, so Blake didn't look too bad. Other than the blood gushing down his face.
"Are you okay?" I asked Blake, who groaned and straightened slightly, hold a hand to his nose.
"Don't ask him if he's okay!" Devon exclaimed.
I shot him a flat look. "Can we be reasonable?"
"Yeah, and can you guys take this somewhere else? Brett already had a nosebleed last week. If I call in again to get blood removed from my carpet, people are going to start thinking I'm a serial killer," Kaden said, eyeing Devon and Blake warily. I sighed. Worst time to worry about carpets and what people think, Kaden.
"We're coming with you if you go," Devon announced, stepping away from Blake and shaking out his fist. A couple drops of blood dripped off, narrowly missing said carpet. Kaden groaned and tossed Devon a box of tissues, then Blake a cloth from the table.
"This isn't a party, I need to talk to her alone," Jared said.
"I'm not leaving you alone with her!" Kaden exclaimed, glaring at him.
"Can we stop talking about her like her isn't in the room?" I demanded, interrupting before another fight could break out. "Okay, you two," I said, pointing at Devon and Blake. "Are going to go somewhere and sort out that fight."
Devon opened his mouth to protest, and I shot him a 'don't-you-dare' look. He spoke anyway. "Bu-"
"And when I say sort out, I don't mean by beating each other senseless," I continued, slightly louder this time to cut him off and so he wouldn't try to argue again. Within ten minutes, there had already been a bloody nose, I didn't want to see what would happen if we continued with our lovely discussion. "Because I don't want to have to bail you out of jail," I finished.
Devon sighed and nodded, not looking happy about the arrangement.
"Kaden can come." This time it was Jared who opened his mouth to disagree. Like Devon, I also glared at him. Unlike Devon, he wisely decided to accept it and shut his mouth. "Like I said, Kaden it coming. But, he is sitting at a table across the room from us." And knowing what was coming, I gave Kaden a hard look, daring his to say something.
He didn't.
"So everyone good with that? Yeah? Okay, let's go," I said, not really giving them time to answer. Not really wanting, an answer, actually. I got one anyway. They nodded grudgingly and muttered something under their breaths.
I rolled my eyes.
Boys.
***
Kaden took us to a small, casual Italian diner. It was relatively empty, the only customers other than us were an old couple and the waitress that took our orders. As discussed, Kaden sat at a table across the room from us, but given the size of the restaurant, it ended up only being a couple tables away.
It wasn't until I was sitting across a table from Jared that I noticed that his eye was swelling.
"What happened?" I asked, gesturing to the said part of his face.
He grimaced. "Your friend has a killer left hook."
I winced. "So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, changing the subject.
Jared sighed and remained silent for a moment. "I want to say sorry," he finally said. "I know sorry isn't enough, especially so late, but I owe that at the very least." I stared at him, dumbstruck. What the heck? He was saying sorry? Now? "Raine, say something, please."
"I don't know if I can believe you," I told him hesitantly. "I mean, why now? It's been three years, why are you doing this now?"
He sighed and pulled out his wallet. He opened it to reveal a picture of a little girl with short blonde hair and blue eyes that looked almost identical to his.
"Raine, this is my daughter."
-READ ME-
WHAM! And it gets weirder. Who saw that one coming? :3
Vote, if this chapter surprised you.
Comment, if you totally did not see the Jared having a duaghter thing coming.
Fan, if you found the part where Raine's trying to order all the guys around just a little bit funny.
Teaser: "So, ready for our first date?"
Update: Aiming for Sunday. Latest Wednesday.
Question: Do I leave a lot of cliffhangers? Like, I know the past two-ish chapters ended with a cliffhanger sorta, but overall in this book, do I end chapters with a lot of cliffhangers?
~JJ