She Restrained A Renegade

Ten

10-Zoe

Even though it was a warm day, I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. It had been two days since we left the police station, cameras flashing in our faces. The following day, our picture was everywhere and Justin's phone hadn't stopped ringing. His manager was pissed. His publicist was pissed. His bandmates were pissed, but only because they'd been left out of the "action". The band was currently having a powwow in the kitchen. Yes, that's right, the entire band was now here and the town was going crazy.

The Kenner Plantation was once an isolated place, but there were now news vans camped out by the mailbox and Justin had been forced to call in his security team to keep the town's people off the property. He didn't want them arrested, but he did want some peace and quiet. Speaking of quiet, I thought as I heard a loud crash come from the kitchen and then shouts. I turned just in time to see Justin and Blaze, the lead singer, come flying into the living room in a heap of anger limbs.

Justin pinned Blaze to the floor, as the other band mates came running after them. Justin growled, "One more fucking word like that and I'm out."

"Out?" Kid, Axel, and Gil blurted at the same time, wide-eyed, while Blaze just glared up at Justin.

"Out of the band." Justin declared and shoved to his feet.

Blaze jumped up, "You'd quit over a woman?"

Now I felt sick. Why would Justin quit the band because of a woman? Who? Me? Justin simply nodded and said, "She's not just any woman. I know you won't be able to understand that, considering you're all about a different woman every night."

Blaze snorted, "So were you until one fucking week ago and you'd give this up, after a fucking week?"

"I'm in love with her." Justin declared and then froze, spinning around and nailing me to the floor with just one look. He stalked toward me, cupped my face, and repeated, "I'm in love with you, Zoe. I know it happened fast, but I think I might have fallen a little bit in love with you on the night of our high school Graduation."

Tears stung my eyes and I swallowed passed the lump in my throat, so I could say, "I love you too, Justin."

"Well this is fan-fucking-tastic. Numb-nuts here comes to Timbuktu, falls in fucking love, so where does that leave the band? We just made it, you asshole, and now you want to quit?" Gil glared at Justin and me both, equally, making me wince. I hadn't asked Justin for anything, so why was the band mad at me?

Justin tucked me against his side, "No, I don't want to quit. I just said that to make a point. I won't have any of you badmouthing Zoe. She's not a groupie. She didn't ask for any of this. I stormed into her life. It wasn't the other way around."

Blaze rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me, "I'm sorry for what I said about you, Zoe."

I frowned, "Well, since I don't know what you said...you're forgiven?"

Blaze smiled and I could see why so many women had jumped onto the Blaze train. He was good looking anyway, but that smile...definitely panty melting. He shook his head and said, sheepishly, "I might have said something about Ace being blinded by an easy lay." I grimaced, considering that's what a lot of people in town thought, thanks to Owen. Blaze shook his head and continued, "It wasn't right to say that. I don't even know you and I shouldn't have judged you. You seem like a nice girl. I blamed you because I've never seen Ace act like this and I thought you were breaking up the band."

Justin sighed, "What a cluster-fuck?"

I felt like crying, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn't gotten mixed up with Owen in the first place..."

Justin interrupted, "No! This isn't your fault. The guy conned you. You thought he was a good guy, because that's the guy he showed you at first. When he came at me, at the dance, I didn't have to behave the way that I did, so that's on me. I don't give a shit what the papers are saying. I'm more worried about how this will affect you. I'm also...God, I don't want to leave the band, but the idea of leaving you here alone doesn't sit well with me."

"So she can come with us." Axel offered.

Justin looked at me expectantly, but didn't comment. Did that mean he wanted me to come with him? To what extent? Did he want me to permanently live with him or just until things blew over? I wasn't stupid. Yes, I had been telling the truth when I told him that I loved him, but what if the novelty wore off for him? He was used to a lot of random sex, so would he soon get bored with me? We'd only been together a week. Could we seriously make it for the long haul? I lived here. My whole life was here. I loved my job and my family was here. Could I really give it all up and live on the road with a band?

"Um..." I said, suddenly unsure of everything.

Justin sighed, "Guys, can I get a minute alone with Zoe?" The band filed out without a word and Justin said, "Talk to me, Zoe. What's going through that mind of yours?"

"It's just so fast, Justin. I mean...a week! One week! That's seven days."

Justin smiled, "I know how long a week is and it was long enough to realize that I love you."

"But for how long? I mean, you think you love me now, but what happens when you go back on the road and girls start throwing themselves at you. Do you think you'll really be able to turn them down?" I asked, feeling panic rising up my throat. Shit, was I going to vomit?

Justin frowned, "You don't trust me?"

"I trust you, but I don't trust the world. A lot of women won't care that you have a girlfriend, if that meant getting to sleep with a member of The Renegades. They'll still tempt you and what happens if you they catch you in a weak moment?"

"A weak moment?" Justin asked, through clenched teeth, giving me the first indication that we were on thin ice. He growled, "So you don't really trust me then. If you think that, in a weak moment, I'll just jump into bed with someone because they're there and convenient, then maybe we shouldn't try this?"

"So what are you saying?" I asked, but I knew.

"I'm saying, I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me."

"Justin, you can't expect me to instantly trust someone after one week. Yes, we knew each other from high school, but we never talked until that one night and then you left the next day. Blind trust, then, is that what you're asking me for?"

"I guess...I don't know." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

I was starting to become angry, "You know what. You ask too much. I didn't ask for any of this. I was just fine until you came storming into my life. Now you want me to blindly trust you. Well, you need to have a little patience with me."

"Fine? You were just fine? Zoe, you were living with your head in the sand. You need to get out and experience life. I get it, Owen fucking you over, but you can't hide from the world forever." Justin growled, sounding just as angry.

Blaze suddenly poked his head inside the room, "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but...Harry wants us back in California, like, uh, yesterday. He says he can manage the shit-storm in the media better if we're all back home."

Harry was their manager. I'd heard him on the phone, yelling at Justin, and knew that Harry didn't think very highly of me getting one of his band members involved in this "shit-storm" as he called it. One word stuck in what Blaze had just said. Home, for Justin, was California and I didn't know if I could bring myself to live there. I liked living in a small town. I didn't want to become just another number in a crowd, but could I handle giving up Justin in order to stay here? Justin didn't seem very willing to find some even ground and if he wasn't willing to work with me, then did we even have something worth saving?

Blaze ducked back out and Justin said, "Look, Zoe, I want this to work with you, but maybe I should go back and get the media under control. Then we'll figure something out from there."

I nodded, feeling sick to my stomach, and said the only thing I could, "Ok."