So I Married A Rockstar - Season 2

Ch. 24: Fangirl Rumours

Jude called a couple of hours later, letting us know that Cole would be okay.

"He hasn't overdosed?" I asked.

Jude shook his head. His chocolate curls were scraped back in a tight knot, but a couple had escaped and were hanging around his face.

"Fucking angel dust," he said.

Finn's expression cleared. "That shite always fucks him up."

Jude nodded.

"So he'll be okay?" I checked, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders.

I'd only met Cole briefly at a party at Jude and Camden's old loft, but he'd been so wasted I doubted he remembered. I didn't know him. Maybe it shouldn't have mattered so much to me but somehow it did. I loved his music, I loved his dad's music, but more importantly, I couldn't bear the thought of Cole dying young, like his dad before him. He'd been born into this life – the drugs and the drink and the chaos had been all he'd ever known, so it was hardly surprising he'd turned out the way he had, but I still wanted to believe he could overcome this. I wanted to believe there was a future for him. I couldn't forget that desperate hope in his voice when he'd asked Finn if they could talk later. Finn had said Cole wouldn't remember that, and he was probably right again. After all, he knew the guy a lot better than I did.

But I wanted Cole to survive this.

"What happened to the groupie?" Finn asked.

"I sent her home as soon as I got here," Jude said.

"You checked her phone first?"

Jude snorted. "Of course. I'm not an amateur."

For a moment I was confused, then realisation dawned on me. Cole's drugged and drunken antics always made for juicy headlines, especially the occasions when he'd collapsed in public. That groupie had been alone with him for hours – who the hell knew what kind of photos or videos she might have taken in that time? Maybe that was cynical, maybe that kind of seedy shit hadn't even occurred to her, but I couldn't blame the guys for thinking the worst. They'd seen so much of it.

"She didn't have anything," Jude added.

"Good."

"I'll probably have to stay at Cole's overnight now. It'll be getting dark soon, and Camden will kill me if I walk back in the dark."

"The dust?" Finn asked.

"Flushed it, and all his weed too."

Finn smiled grimly. "He's not going to be happy when he realises that."

"Tough fucking shit," Jude muttered. "I'd rather be at home with my wife than babysitting his sorry ass, but we don't all get what we want."

"I'll call Camden," I said, and moved away from Finn.

Jude would already have let her know what was going on, but I still needed to check in on her.

"Hey," Camden said when she answered. She tried to sound bright, but I could hear the flatness underneath.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

My sister sighed. "I'm okay, I just wish this wasn't so shit."

"Me too."

I hesitated, because something had just occurred to me and I wasn't sure how to phrase it. "This may be a stupid question, but is Jude . . . safe there?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, Cole obviously has a substance problem, and Jude said he'd thrown away all Cole's drugs, so . . ."