MOON

31

"Julia wants me to be in a public relations stunt."

That's the first thing Renee says when she enters my apartment again. I raise my eyebrows in shock. "Wait, what?"

"She wants me to date this man named Alec Montez. I have no fucking clue who he is but from the photo I saw, he's ugly as shit." She sits on the couch beside me, "I tried saying no but she's stubborn as hell."

"So.. you and Tatum can't date?" Vivian asks as she eats ice cream right out of the carton.

"I don't know. It's a PR stunt so it's fake, right? I mean, I don't know how these things work. I only saw these in magazines when I was little." She sighs and looks at me with a frown, "I can't lose you again, Tatum."

I shake my head and tuck her hair behind her ears, "You won't lose me. Not again, not like this." I smile softly at her in reassurance, "We will figure this out."

She nods, "I love you."

"I love you." I say back.

Renee's phone rings, it's Julia. She huffs and answers it, putting it on speaker.

"Alec wants to meet up with you tonight."

"I'm in Pittsburgh, Julia. Alec lives in LA."

"Which is why I booked you a flight. Pack your things and say goodbye to Tatum because you won't be seeing her for a very long time."

Renee looks at me and frowns, "I'm not going."

"Like hell you aren't, Renee. I'm in charge, not you. Say goodbye and get on that plane."

"No."

"Renee." I warn her, "Your career is on the line." I say quietly so Julia doesn't hear me.

"I'm not leaving you, Tate." She says sternly, "And I'm not going to date someone just for publicity."

"Tatum is fired." Julia says.

"What?" I say as I reach for the phone, Renee holds it away from me. "She can't fire me!"

"I have it handled." Renee says.

"Renee, a PR stunt isn't the worst thing possible! I need that job!"

She sighs and runs a hand through her hair, "Fine. Fucking fine, Julia, you got your way."

"Your flight leaves at 4." Julia hangs up.

Renee looks at me and sighs, "Happy? Now I have to leave." She rolls her eyes and gets up off the couch.

"That's not what I wanted, Renee, and you know that. I just wanted to keep my job." I try explaining to her but she just shakes her head.

"Maybe that's what you wanted, hm? Me to leave so you can go out and kiss all the girls and boys you want without me around."

My mouth drops in anger, "Are you being fucking serious?"

Renee goes into my bedroom to gather her things, also to ignore our conversation. I follow her.

"You don't trust me, do you."

"Tate-"

"You don't trust me!" I raise my voice now, Renee goes quiet and refuses to look at me. "Renee, I love you and I would never fucking cheat on you!"

"You already did!" She shouts. "You kissed your ex, Tatum! Did you forget!?"

I huff in frustration, "I didn't kiss her, she kissed me."

"Yeah, whatever." She zips up her suitcase, "Yknow what, don't bother calling me once I leave," She shoves a hoodie into my arms, "We're done."

"Renee, you don't mean that."

"Really?" She pulls out her phone and shows me as she deletes my contact. "Done."

"Nae.. come on.." My voice comes out weaker.

"It's what you wanted, right? You get to keep your job now, you just lose me in the process."

I sigh in frustration, "Renee, we can't keep doing this." I rake my fingers through my hair, "We have to learn how to talk about these things."

She sighs and drops her suitcase on the ground, "Fine, let's talk. I'm going to be in a PR stunt, we're breaking up again, and you get to keep your job."

"Only two of those things are true, Renee." I say boldly.

Renee frowns, "We aren't going to be able to make this work Tate.. can't you see that? I'm going to be in LA for three months straight with Alec Montez, we won't be able to be together at all."

"We'll figure something out, baby, we always do.." I say quietly as I try my hardest to fix this situation. "Renee, we can do this."

"Can we?" She looks at me with tears in her eyes.

I walk up to her and cup her face in my hands, she refuses to look me in my eyes but I talk anyways, "We can do this." I repeat. "I love you, Renee, we can do this as long as we do it together."

Renee looks at me and sighs, "I'm sorry.. I'm just so scared of what's happening.." She whispers.

I nod, "I know, baby, I know.. but I got you, okay? I love you so much and some PR stunt is not going to split us apart, okay?"

Her eyes close as a tear slips out of one, "It's going to be so hard.."

"It's worth it." I wipe the tear away with my thumb, "It's worth it because we get to stay together."

She looks back at me and nods, "It's worth it.."

"It is."

"I'm sorry, I overreacted," She pecks my lips, "I love you, I just got scared.."

"I understand.. let's just talk about these things in the future before breaking up, okay?"

She nods, "I'm sorry." She kisses me again, "Forgive me?"

I smirk and kiss her again, "Always."