Bubblegum

Part 4

A few days later, Eden opened the front door of her home to Jake standing there, his hair half pulled up, the rest blowing around his face in the gentle breeze, and small smirk on his face. In his hands was a tray holding two fast food drink cups and bag of food.

"I brought lunch. Figured we should go over some strategies for our plan." Eden grinned at the bag, knowing it was going to be exponentially better tasting than the frozen single meal she had been thinking of heating up. "I got you a chocolate shake, I hope that's okay."

"That's perfect." she ushered him in, closing the door behind him. "You can go ahead and set up in the living room, I'll be right in." Eden popped into the kitchen, grabbing some napkins and running back out after turning down the speakers playing music around the home. Jake already had the food setup, a cheeseburger and fries sat in front of the empty spot on the couch, and she bounded over to it happily.

"I was talking to Josh about it the other night," Jake began, popping a french fry in his mouth as he leaned back. "I want to make sure you're comfortable with what we're going to be doing." Eden rolled her shoulders back, nodding confidently.

"I went to a few years of performing arts college back home." she explained. "I can fake it 'til we break it." Jake nodded. He watched as she lifted the bun off her burger, pinching a pickle slice and putting it in her mouth. The hum of joy that reverberated in her chest made him smile.

"Well, we have a few ideas. Next Thursday, we have a show. I want you to come. We'll either have you backstage, but peeking out of the wings so people can see you, or put in a little VIP section in the crowd. You'll look like a devoted, supporting girlfriend." she nodded. "But after, we're going to have a fight in front of the fans. They usually wait outside after the show. They already don't care for you, so it'll really drive a wedge in there."

"Wait, your fans don't like me?" Eden asked, taking a full bite of her cheeseburger. Jake laughed at her shocked expression.

"Some do, some don't care. I'm sure you know yourself, the most vocal ones are the ones that hate." he shook his head. "They're really trying to figure out how someone like me ended up with someone like you."

"I can't imagine." Eden rolled your eyes. She sat back, tossing her auburn brown hair over her shoulder. "Most of my fans think you're hot. From what I've seen so far on the socials, they like you. They're worried for me, but they like you."

"I'm the bad boy with a heart of gold, baby." Jake grinned in jest, extending his arms out to his sides as if he was showing himself off to the world. Eden laughed out loud, making him grin wider. "So anyway, what should we fight about?"

"Ooh, good question." Eden hummed. As she thought, she popped the lid off her milkshake and swirled a french fry around in the cool treat. "What if I caught you flirting with a fan?" Jake scrunched his face while he considered it.

"Nah, I don't want to do that to someone." he shook his head. "It's a boundary I don't want to cross with fans." Eden nodded in understanding. "What if I'm spending too much time with my music? Not enough with you?" Jake was briefly distracted as an orange tabby cat made its way into the living room, pausing and studying him briefly, then running across the room and jumping up on its cat tree by the window.

"Would anyone believe that? We're both artists, we both live that life." she sighed. Fake fighting was proving to be more difficult than they thought. As both chewed and thought over what big fight they could get into, the doorbell rang. Eden's eyebrows furrowed as she got up and walked to the foyer. Opening the door she was met with a giant floral arrangement.

"Miss Beckett?" the delivery person squeaked. The small woman looked like she was about to buckle under the weight of the flower.

"Yes?" Eden confirmed. The woman handed over the large vase and had Eden sign for delivery before leaving. Eden herself struggled to carry what could only be described as a rose bush, into the living room.