𝖇𝖆𝖌𝖘; 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖐𝖎𝖉 𝖑𝖆𝖗𝖔𝖎.

𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊: 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖘𝖊𝖊 𝖒𝖊?

I peered at the phone with a frown. It was a picture of Laroi and I, our arms around each other as I gazed up at him, both grinning.

"This is a... cute photo, who took it?" I asked, looking at it with a smile.

"Um... well, I'm not really sure." Laroi scratched the back of his head.

"You don't know?" I frowned, looking at him.

"Swipe off the image." He told me, cracking his knuckles from nerves. So, I did.

"'Laroi seen canoodling with his supposedly secret girlfriend outside of Calvin Klein'." I read the headline before proceeding down the article. 

"I'm so sorry." Laroi bit his lip, rubbing his forehead. 

"No, it's okay," I assured.

"No. It's not." He sighed, "I don't want you to be... bothered. Because I... fucking stupidly chose to take you out in public, when we're not even official yet-," 

"Laroi." I stopped him, putting my hand on his again, "It really is okay."

"It starts off like this, and then it worse, it really does. It goes from harmless pictures and articles, to... full-on stalking. Paparazzi are stalkers!" Laroi pointed at me with his free hand, his eyes wide. 

"How flattering." I frowned.

"I'm sorry, Lana. I really am." He sighed again. 

"It's okay." I repeated with a smile, "So, they're interested in us dating. If they wanna make assumptions, they can." I shrugged.

"I just don't want you to get... harrassed. And I really don't wanna ruin what we have." Laroi looked up at me with his eyes, his head hung slightly. 

"A few pictures and articles isn't going ruin what we have. We're... stronger than that." I assured him.

laroi's pov.

You thought the same thing about Katarina, right?

Shit, this was my fucking fault. She was gonna leave me before we'd even started. All I wanted to do was show Lana how special she was, how much she was worth. I'd ruined everything.

katarina's pov.

"Whatever, Tyler." I laughed, pushing his head off me. He got up with a grin, going over to the kitchen counter to grab his phone. I got my own from the coffee table, and started to scroll through Instagram. My face fell into a frown as I came across a suggested post. Tyler noticed it.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Laroi's got a new girlfriend." I pursed my lips.

"Fuck off." Tyler grinned. I gave him a look and his face also dropped, "Wait, for real?"

"Yes, for fucking real." I rolled my eyes, showing him my phone. He looked at it with a frown.

"Well... er, that's great for him, I guess." Tyler chewed his tongue. 

"Pretty fucking great." I huffed, examining the article further.

"I mean, you're over everything, aren't you?" Tyler pulled a face, "I'd hope so-,"

"Yes, I'm over it." My eyebrows furrowed together, "Her names Lana. Her accounts private." 

"You found her socials already?" Tyler smiled, amused, before frowning again, "Why do you care so much?"

"I don't. I'm just interested?" I looked at him again, "What? Like you aren't?"

"Not really." He shrugged.

"Whatever." I sighed, pressing the button to request Lana. 

lana's pov.

My phone pinged, making me jump.

"Don't tell me that's you getting an alert for the article too." Laroi sighed.

"I don't think so." I smiled, taking my phone out to look at it, "Just a request on Instagram." 

"Shit, are people already finding your account?" Laroi frowned. I shrugged while I went onto her account. She had quite a following, extremely pretty. She just seemed like an influencer, LA was full of them. I accepted her and followed her myself, "I don't think I even follow you."

"How dare you, Charlton?" I grinned, putting my phone away again. 

"I'll make sure to." Laroi smiled. He looked at me for a few moments, "You look really pretty."

I felt myself go red. It felt different to the times he had said it before, where I had been complaining or insecure or in need of reassurance. He sounded like he really meant it. I let myself smile for a moment before he got his phone out and angled it at me. I indistinctly covered my face.

"Oi, take your hands away. I want a picture, you look so pretty." Laroi laughed, swatting at my hands while I giggled.

"I don't like pictures." I pouted, grabbing his free hand. 

"You will after having me as your photographer." He shrugged.

"How humble." I scrunched my nose at him. 

"Two hamburguesa con lechuga y tomate." The waitress approached us with a smile. I gave Laroi a frown.

"Our food." He translated with a nod and an amused smile. 

"Oh, yeah. Thank you very much." I nodded and Laroi laughed. 

katarina's pov.

"She accepted me." I accidentally said out loud as I looked at my phone. Tyler perked his head up, giving me a funny look.

"Who did?" He frowned, "You're not still going on about Laroi's girlfriend are you?" He sighed.

"Obviously not." My eyebrows furrowed together, turning my phone off, "My cousins girlfriend." 

"Luke's?" Tyler asked, raising his eyebrows. 

"Mhm." I nodded, "Anyways, what are we ordering?"

"Oh, I'll go get that Chinese menu that was posted through the door the other day." Tyler smiled, getting up and going to the kitchen.

I grabbed my phone and looked at Instagram again, she had followed me back. I clicked onto her account, but there was no posts.

"Bastard." I frowned. She had one highlight, which was just for places she'd travelled, no sight of her in any of the photos, though. Her profile picture barely had her face in it either. I went back onto the article and looked at the photo of her and Laroi closely. It didn't make her untraceable, though.