Rise To Fame

Chapter 27

(Jamie's POV)

"Okay, just breathe."

I rub my hand gently on her back as she gasps for air, leaning against the brick wall for support.

Her hands are shaking but she crosses her arms over her chest to try and hide it.

"It's okay," I say, trying to calm her down. "You're okay. You're safe. I've got you."

She grabs me and pulls me into a hug, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight.

This seems to help because, a few moments later, her breathing is back to normal and she's not shaking so bad.

"I'm sorry," she manages to get out. "I don't know what that was."

"Panic attack," I say, before leading her to sit down on a bench under a shaded tree. "That was a panic attack."

"Why?"

I know she means why did it happen, but I'm not sure.

"What were you talking about with Martin?"

She looks at me but doesn't quite meet my eyes.

"Nothing important."

"Okay, well what about with Lily? I saw you coming out of that room with her and you didn't exactly look happy."

She sighs and sags against me.

"We were talking about you."

"Me? Why?"

"You upset her when you said you'd never hurt me cause you love me, and she thinks that you never loved her."

"I didn't mean it like that when I said it, but why did that make you upset?"

"That didn't get to me, it's what she said after."

I sit and look at her, waiting for her to tell me.

"She still loves you."

"Oh. Well I suppose that's sort of understandable, right? I mean, you love Martin, there's nothing weird about that."

"No, Jamie, you don't get it. She's still in love with you."

I blink a few times. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, not sure what to say or do.

"Just to be clear," I say, "I'm not in love with her."

She smiles weakly, "I know. And I'm not in love with Martin."

"I know."

I nudge her shoulder gently. "Hey. It's alright. It'll all get sorted. Besides, only a few more days of filming and then it's done."

"And then there's the interviews.... And the parties..... And the reunions..... And the meetings with the fans," she points out to me.

"And after all that I don't have to see her again."

"Until you get cast in the same movie or show because of your amazing chemistry."

I turn to look at her, "Y/n, what are you trying to say?"

"I don't know," she sighs. "I'm just not sure I can be around her while I know she still feels that way for you."

"Hey, nothing's changed. No-one's going to start acting any different, we'll just deal with it. Like adults."

She leans her head against my shoulder. "I suppose so. It's just weird. Every time I look at her now, that's all I'm gonna be thinking about. What if she tries to make a move? Am I supposed to hate her? Am I supposed to see her as a rival? What might happen if I'm not here one day?"

"Nothing's going to happen with me and her, regardless of whether you're here or not. I get why you'd think that, but I really have changed. I wouldn't do that to you."

"I know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just such a weird situation, like where do we go from here?"

"We act normal. Pretend it never happened."

"Is it that easy?"

"It is if we make it that easy. And we can only do that if we actually go back inside and get on with it."

I know it sounds harsh, but it's true. And she nods in agreement.

"You're right. We don't need to turn this into a big thing, we can just move on. Act normal. Pretend it never happened."

"Exactly," I stand up and pull her up with me. "Come on, it's your turn to act now."