August 13th
Jaden's POV
I was on a plane ride to our next city on the list of the tour, Vegas. Mateo told me he sent Sky tickets for everyone to come, even Danielle- who I haven't talked to in months. My mind went back to the night when I made the biggest mistake of my life.
~Flashback~
Stella told me earlier that night someone had wrecked one of the upstairs rooms, and I decided to check it out. I ran upstairs and looked in every room and started to believe Stella just sent me on a wild goose chase. But I was drunk and my judgment was a bit off, and I know for a fact Stella doesn't do anything just because. I got to the last door- which was my room-and opened the door. Before I knew it I was being pulled in, and the door was shut behind me. I turned to see Stella leaning on the door with a smug smirk on her face-which I'm sure she got from me while we were together.
"Hey Jaden. I'm glad you came." She said
"You lied. No one trashed the house."
"I know. I just," she wrapped her arms around my neck, "I just needed an excuse to get you here."
I snatched her arms from around me and tried moving her out of the way of the door, but she shifted my momentum against me and turned me around, causing me to stumble and fall. Luckily I landed on my bed. She jumped on top of me and giggled.
"Stella, get off." I tried pushing her off, but she wouldn't budge.
"Please Jaden," she said with a soft voice, "Let me do this."
"Do wha-" Before I could finish my sentence, she crashed her lips to mine. All at once all the feelings I had before came rushing back. But none of those feelings were from love; but lust. Without even thinking, I kissed back.
Only seconds later, I heard the door open and a very familiar angelic voice snapped me back into reality. I knew the voice very well, and I knew at that moment exactly what I had done. "Find another room please, that's not in this house." Stella pulled away and looked at the girl standing in the door.
"Stella!?!" she exclaimed. I sat up and her facial expression saddened. My heart dropped, and guilt moved to the pit of my stomach. "Jaden?"
"Danielle?" A tear fell down her face, and she ran out of the room. "DANIELLE!!" I yelled pushing Stella from on top of me, running after Dani. "DANIELLE WAIT!!" I ran as fast as I could downstairs and out the door. I finally caught up at her car and my put hand on her shoulder, turning her around. "Danielle, it wasn't what it looked like. Please let me explain. Please, let's go inside and we can talk this out." I said pleading for a chance to explain what even I had no explanation for. I placed my hands on her waist and tried to pull me closer to me, but she pushed me back.
"You have 30 seconds." She said sternly. She said it with no emotion in her voice, as a tear ran down her cheek. I knew I'd broken her heart.
"Danielle ple-"
"15 seconds."
I tried to find the right words that would at least give me a fighting chance in the battle I know I'm about to lose. "I-I didn't mean for that to happen. Sh-she lured me, and pinned on the bed. Then she kissed me and I-I..." I paused.
"Did you kiss her back?" she asked softly; another tear falling.
My mouth started moving but nothing was coming out. Even more tears fell. "Danielle..." I took her hand and kissed it.
She snatched it from me. "Did. You. Kiss. Her. Back?" She said more sternly.
"I-"
"And don't you dare lie to me." She interrupted me. I knew there was nothing I could say to make this better, and any lie would make it 1000 times worse.
There was a long silence before I finally spoke. "Yes."
"We're done." She got in her car and started the engine, but I stood in front of her blocking her from leaving. "Danielle! Please!! Stop!" She put the car in reverse and created enough space between us, before shifting back into drive and swerving around me out of the driveway. I stood there, hoping she'd come back; knowing she wouldn't.
~End Flashback~
"JADEN SMITH!!" I heard Mateo yelling, pulling me out of the trance. Only then did I realize I was crying. "Dude you alright?" I nodded wiping the tears from my eyes. "Thinking about Danielle?" I nodded again. "It's alright man. I sent her a ticket. She'll be here tonight, and you'll get her back."
"I hope you're right."
~*~
Danielle's POV
Today the gang is going to see Jaden's concert in Vegas. Sky and I were in our room while she was packing.
"Are you sure you don't want to go?"
"Yeah, there's not really a reason for me to go, is there?"
"Well of course there is. You can get things straight with Jaden. You said yourself you're still in love with him."
I thought about situation. I never truly let Jaden tell his side of the story, and even if I feel like things won't work out, at least he and I would have talked it out. Plus it's Vegas. "Okay, I'll go."
"Yaay!!" Sky screamed in joy.
I laughed. "Wanna help me pack?"
"Actually, wait one sec." Sky scurried off to the closet on the far side of the room, and brought out my multi-colored suitcase-the same one I used when I moved back to Cali. She sat it on the bed and opened it up, revealing multiple outfits of mine. "I already packed for you."
"You knew I'd say yes, didn't you?"
"I had a hunch." She smirked. We both laughed and I helped her finish packing her own bag.
~*~
We were on the Smith's private plane on the way to the concert tonight. Sky was sitting beside me while Moises and Madison were in front of us, and Chresanto and Willow were across the aisle on the row next to us. Everyone was in an intense conversation about God knows what, but I just couldn't focus well enough to stay attentive.
"Hey Dani," I heard Chresanto say to me bringing me out of my gaze, "Can we talk for a bit?"
"Yeah sure." We walked to the mini kitchen like area of the plane, and he sat in front of me. "So what did you want to talk about?" I asked.
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night at the park. I told you I'd always be there for you, and I shouldn't have tried to discourage you from sorting things out with Jaden. That's why I'm here today. Whatever happens I'll be there to help you in any way possible."
"Thanks, that means a lot Chres." We stood up and hugged each other.
"Like I said, whether you're ready to move on or not, I'm here. You can't get rid of me that easily."
~*~
Jaden's POV
I was in the middle of my interview with TMZ when I heard my father call for me to get ready for the sound check. The woman had just asked me about Danielle, but I ended the interview telling her that's a question for a different time. I headed for my dressing room and as I reached the door, I heard very familiar voices on the other side. I quickly opened the door and saw exactly what I expected; all my friends. They all looked at me with smiling faces and all came to hug me. "Guys, what are you doing here?"
"We thought it was time we paid you a visit, seeing as you haven't even called in months." Moises said.
I laughed. "I'm sorry. I should've called."
"Damn straight you should've called." Sky said.
"My apologies." I replied. "You know, I think Teo is out there on stage doing sound check. You should go see him."
"Say no more, I'm there." She quickly walked out of the door, and towards the stage.
"So Jaden, how's the tour going so far?" Madison asked.
"Pretty good. The fans are so amazing, they have so much energy. It's way different from touring with JB."
"I remember those shows with Justin," Willow said, "I also remember that time you pranked me on stage. I'll get you back for that big brother, just wait."
I laughed. "We'll see."
"Jaden," I turned to see my father standing at the door, "Get dressed for the Meet and Greet."
"We'll let you get ready for your show, and we'll see you afterwards." Madison said. They all walked out the door, closing it behind them.
As they left I realized something: Danielle wasn't there. "I guess she didn't come." I said to myself in disappointment. "I don't blame her." I took off my shirt beginning to undress myself when I heard the door open. I turned to see Danielle in the doorway, and Chresanto standing right behind her.
"Guys, I'm a bit hungry." She said, then realizing I was the only one here. "Oh, Hey Jaden."
"Hey."
"Where did everyone go?"
"I don't know, but the snack bar is right down that hall to your right, if you're hungry."
"Thanks." She smiled and turned to leave.
"Wait, Danielle!" I said before she walked out. Chresanto whispered something in her ear, and continued down the hall.
"What's up?" she asked.
"I just wanted to talk. Maybe straighten things out and-"
"Jaden," she said interrupting me, "We'll talk about it later. You need to focus on you show."
"Okay." I nodded.
She shyly smiled as I watched her leave the room.
~*~
Danielle's POV
We're in the middle of Jaden's show, and I have to admit, he's killing his performance. He started off with his song Hello, and continued with a variety of songs-some I knew, some I didn't. He was performing MSFTS Anthem Part 2-the last song of the night and the crowd is going wild. He finished the song and thanked the fans for coming before walking off the stage. He came backstage and hugged everyone; including me.
"So I'll meet you guys back at the hotel?" he asked.
"Yeah man. We're going to have a bonfire." Moises answered.
"Bonfire? Since when do we do bonfires?"
"Chresanto kinda got us into it." Moises said pointing to Chresanto-who was standing behind me; considerably close. He just shrugged.
"Alright. See you later." Jaden said, and walked back to his dressing room.
We went back to the hotel, and set up the bonfire. Willow brought her guitar, and we all were singing different songs. Halfway in, Jaden showed up and sat beside me. At 12 we decided to head in. As I was walking in the hotel, Jaden called me back.
"Danielle, can we talk?"
"Yeah, sure." I turned around to Chresanto, who was waiting on me. "I'll be inside in a sec." He nodded and walked inside.
Jaden and I began our walk. It was silent until we got around to the lake in the back of the hotel. "So how have you been?" He asked stopping at one of the docks.
"Pretty good. I'm back at school now, full time."
"That's good." There was another silence. "Danielle, I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'm going to get straight to the point: I really messed up with you. I know it was my fault. I can't blame it on anyone else. I just want you to forgive me." I looked at Jaden, and his eyes were set on me. They were a brighter brown than I've ever seen before, glistening in the moonlight.
"How do I know that if I take you back, you won't do the same thing again? After all, you did say Stella would always be your star."
"Danielle, in the process of breaking your heart, I broke mine as well. And here we are 5 months later, and I'm still hurting. And everyday is worse than the last. Nathaniel Hawthorne said it best, 'In our moments of suffering, we don't realize how much we hurt. It's only afterward that we feel the worst pain.'" He took one step closer, taking my hands in his. "I'm not over you, and I'm starting to think I'll never be over you."
We stood there as I contemplated giving Jaden another chance. "I forgive you."
Jaden sighed and smiled, like a huge load was lifted off of his shoulders. "I promise I would never hurt you again. I love you so much."
He stepped closer to hug me, but I stopped him. "Just because I forgive you, doesn't mean we are automatically back together. I still don't know if I can trust you."
"That's fine, I'm just glad to be back on your good side." We both laughed. "But there's something else. What's up with you and Chresanto? You guys seem tied at the hip."
"Well, we aren't together if that's what you're thinking. He's just there for me whenever I need him. Maybe he likes me and maybe he doesn't, but I don't feel that way about him."
"Maybe he sees the same thing I see in you." he said, causing me to blush.
"We should get back before they think we've been kidnapped."
"Alright." We walked back to the hotel, and stopped in front of my door.
"Sky in there?" Jaden asked.
"No, Willow is. Sky is with Teo." We both laughed knowing exactly what that means.
"You know, we're going to take a break in about a month, and I'll be home for a while."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Jaden chuckled. "I'll prove you can trust me and I'll get you back."
I smiled. "Is that a promise?"
"It's a promise." He assured me. "See you later." He said before kissing me on the forehead. I opened the door, saying my goodbyes before entering the room.
As I walked in, I saw Sky, Willow, and Madison all sitting on my bed. In unison they all said, "We want details." Which I happily gave to them.
~*~
A/N:
HIIIII!!! Sorry I'm so late on updating, I was experiencing some technical difficulties.
But, here it is. Thank you to all who read every chapter, it means so much!! I hope you like this chapter, and PLEASE keep reading.
I love you all. Thank you for reading. Thank you for being different. Thank you for being yourself.
Smilies, Hearts, Roses, and All That Good Stuff.