Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Eighty-Three

    Local authorities were called in to help control the circus of spectators and paparazzi clamoring outside of the movie theater. Theater staffers seemed not to know what to do with themselves, and settled for alternating between proceeding with their daily work and staring shamelessly at Drake and Mia. A few workers and patrons walked by while listening to entertainment news reports on their phone. All entertainment news channels were reporting on was Drake. Even though it was too soon for them to have all of the facts, entertainment news personalities were running with the story, most likely at the request of the television or radio show producer.

    A few entertainment outlets were theorizing that "good guy Drake" had possessed rage inside of him all along, as if he'd chosen now to release years of pent-up anger. Reporters who didn't care for him were painting him as a jealous, psychotic villain, while other reporters knew better.

    Tank stood in front of Drake and Mia, and Chubbs held up the rear. They all stood near the theater entrance, staring at the faces of bystanders crowded outside.

    Mia glanced at Drake, who stood beside her staring out of the theater windows.

    Drake lowered his head and stared down at the floor.

    "Stay tight, keep together," Tank commanded over his shoulder. "I called C.J. and told him that we need a car here. He should be here any minute."

    Drake nodded, but a blank expression was on his face.

    Chubbs leaned forward. "Oliver wants you to call him when you get back to the hotel."

    "Right," Drake responded, sounding distracted.

    Mia nudged him. "Hey." 

    He looked at her.

    She stared at him, trying to read his facial expression.

    His dark eyes were haunted, which was understandable given what they'd just been through. He'd ended someone's life today. Knowing his personality, and just how much he held himself accountable for his actions, it was quite likely that he was analyzing every move he'd made. Chances were, he was trying to figure what he could have done differently. His facial features relaxed into a tired smile. "I'm fine," he said, answering her unspoken question.

    "No you're not," she contradicted. "But we will be."

    Tank's cell phone rang, but Drake stared at her as if the sound of the ringing phone didn't even register to him.

    "C.J. is here," Tank announced, pocketing his cell phone. "We're moving."

    Still holding her boyfriend's gaze, Mia lowered her eyes and held out her hand.

    Drake's eyes traveled down the length of her arm. He didn't hesitate before grabbing her hand.

    She raised his hand to her lips and brushed her lips across the back of it.

    Drake held her gaze a moment longer before turning his head and making eye contact with one of the police officers outside of the theater doors. He gave the slightest nod of his head.

    The officer drew the door open for them.

    Tank spread his arms, shielding them from the surge of reporters, photographers and fans.

    Drake and Mia stayed close on his heels, following his advice to keep as close as possible to each other as possible.

    "Drake! Mia!"

    "Is it true that you killed Trevor Riley?"

    "Reports say that you found Trevor and Mia getting it on in the bathroom - what is your response?"

    Mia felt Drake squeeze her hand to the point of nearly crushing it. She winced and held a hand up in front of her face to shield her eyes from the flashing cameras.

    "You don't have anything to say for what you've done?"

    "Look what you've done!"

    Drake stopped in his tracks at the sound of his own song lyrics being thrown at him.

    Mia gently squeezed his hand back. "Keep moving," she urged him.

    He wheeled around to the group of paparazzi that had been shouting at him.

    "Aubrey, keep moving," she repeated.

    His eyes went hard as he stared at the paparazzi.

    "Keep moving and don't respond to them," Mia told him.

    Chubbs touched Drake's shoulder. "Let's keep it moving, man."

    A muscle in Drake's jaw twitched. The determined expression remained on his face and at first it seemed that he wasn't going to listen to reason. His expression eventually softened, and he turned towards Tank.

    Tank forged a path through the collection of outstretched hands.

    The paparazzi continued snapping pictures as the entertainer, his girlfriend, and their security detail made their way to the SUV waiting for them at the curb.

    Once they reached the car, Tank opened the back door for Mia.

    Mia hesitated before getting in the car. She glanced back at Drake, whose sad, haunted eyes were breaking her heart. Her eyes slid over to the paparazzi trying to mow down the officers attempting to maintain the peace. Making a snap decision, she raised a hand to Drake's cheek, rose on her tiptoes, and kissed him. She was reluctant to pull back from the kiss, but knew that she couldn't stand here kissing him forever. "They're making you out to be the bad guy," she told him. "But you're not. You saved my life. A second time."

    His eyes shined with intensity and he lowered his head to kiss her back. Then he pressed his forehead to hers and wrapped his arms around her.

    Cameras clicked. Cameras flashed. Photographs were taken, capturing this one moment and immortalizing it forever.

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    "I can't imagine what you're going through right now." Oliver's voice carried throughout the room since Drake had him on Speakerphone. "How are you holding up?"

    Drake paced the length of the hotel bedroom, still fully dressed. He hadn't even bothered to take off his suit jacket. "I'm barely keeping it together."

    "I need to know everything that happened."

    Drake ran a hand over head and glanced towards the bathroom door. Mia had gone in there nearly twenty minutes ago and still hadn't come out. "Bey and Jay invited us for a night out. Dinner, and the movie premiere for the new Kevin Hart flick. We get there, and Trevor and Vanessa were there. Like a dumbass, I figure that we're in a public place so he won't try anything stupid. Bey, Jay, Mia, and I were enjoying the movie, but Mia had to go to the bathroom."

    "You didn't go with her?" Oliver asked.

    "Of course I went with her," Drake said. "She didn't want me to, but I insisted. But...Trevor was waiting in there for her."

    "Fuck."

    Just remembering the events made Drake's blood start to boil again. "I'm standing out there waiting for her, and Vanessa comes up asking if I've seen Trevor. Naturally, I freak out and head in the bathroom and Trevor has...has his hand..." His voice choked up and he stopped pacing. He raised his free hand to his hip and dropped his head down. "He was feeling Mia up. And he had this most disgusting look in his eyes. It was so fucking disgusting. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. Like...I couldn't. It took me a minute to even realize what he was doing. When I did...I went at him. We went at it for a while, and he was taunting me. Telling me that all I'd do was kick his ass and then he'd get back at Mia and take me out of the picture completely. And when I heard that, Oli...I just lost it. I fucking lost it. I couldn't let him walk out of there alive. I couldn't."