All I Need {Sequel to We Belong Together}

Chapter 16: A Friend's Advice

Hi everyone! Once again, sorry for the delay. One of these days, I'm going to get a better schedule going, but life has been insane! My fiance and I moved just under 2 weeks ago into our new apartment, and it's been crazy getting everything situated, not to mention I've had a lot of homework and wedding stuff to deal with too. But the good news is that we're finally settled in, and things should be a little calmer. Not to mention, I'll be done with this semester in a month, and I'll have a lot of time to relax before summer semester starts, although I'll still have the wedding to contend with until May. Anyways... I know this is another cliffhanger (so I'll apologize in advance for that), but I hope you enjoy it anyways! :)

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Rupert was honestly shocked by how much Marisa had been blowing up his phone. Normally, the girl wasn't so clingy and trying to talk to him every waking second of the day. But today was different. Marisa had called him short of a dozen times, and had left him several text messages, all saying that they needed to talk about something. While Rupert didn't know what it was, he knew it had to be important for his girlfriend to have bugged him so consistently, especially when she knew he was filming. He stepped outside the studio, phone to his ear as he waited for her to answer.

"Hello?" Marisa's voice greeted him.

"Hey, Risa. What's up?" he asked. "You've been calling a lot. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, I dunno. Have you seen the tabloids?" the girl asked him back.

Tabloids? Why the hell did Marisa care about what the tabloids said? "Um... no?" Rupert replied. "Why? Should I see them?"

"Well... for all intents and purposes, they're saying Tom is cheating on Adrianna with Jade," Marisa explained briefly. "She's been trying to contact him for like half a day now, and he hasn't responded to her."

Rupert felt his heart sink. He had been here the whole time, Tom hardly leaving his sight. He hadn't seen anything that would even remotely look like cheating. Tom had never been the cheating type. Rupert was positive the tabloids were just trying to get under Adrianna's skin, and they were working. "I'll have him call her when he gets done filming this scene," Rupert decided.

Marisa was silent for a moment. "He's not cheating on her, is he?"

"No," Rupert assured. "Tom would never. Especially not with Jade. The tabloids are just trying to create drama where there isn't any."

"For Tom's sake, what you're saying better be true," Marisa practically hissed. "Dree is pissed, because Tom never even told her that he was going to be working with Jade. You know what I've had to deal with for the past twelve hours? All that girl has done is drown her pain in Supernatural! She's hardly eaten anything."

Rupert sighed. "I'll try to get this sorted out for you guys, because this is ridiculous. There's no reason for her to be so upset. Tell her to stop watching that emotional show and eat some pizza or something. Tom will call her soon, I promise."

"Alright, Rupert. Thanks for calling and filling me in," Marisa replied. "I'll let her know."

"You're welcome. You girls have fun now, okay?" Rupert said.

"Meh, the fun will start whenever Valarie gets here," Marisa responded. "She's bringing some Chinese food, and supposedly she's bringing an old game system, so we'll be kicking it old school."

Rupert shook his head, laughing slightly. "Well, as long as you girls have fun and don't get arrested, I'm cool with that."

"Well... as long as we keep Dree away from the tabloids, and from seeing Jared Pada-whatever-his-name-is, we'll be okay," Marisa assured. Rupert swore he heard Adrianna in the background, correcting Marisa, and he must have heard right because Marisa added, "Padalecki? That's what I said!"

"It is totally not what you said," Rupert couldn't help but point out.

"Who's side are you on, man?" Marisa questioned. "You're supposed to agree with me!"

"Eh, when it comes to this one, I'll side with the angry one," Rupert decided. "Talk to you in a little bit, mmkay?"

"Fine," Marisa replied. "Love you."

"Love you too." With that, Rupert hung up, stowing his phone in his pocket. He took a deep breath as he glanced back at the studio. Tom was about to be in some deep trouble if he didn't sort this issue out soon. Rupert hadn't really seen Adrianna angry, and surely he understood why she would be upset. Hell, he'd be pretty upset if Marisa was working with one of her ex's and she didn't tell him. The ginger boy shook his head. Regardless to whatever was going on, it needed to be sorted out before there was a rift between everyone.

He stepped back into the studio, where he noticed Tom was just finishing up the latest scene. Rupert let his friend take a sip of water before speaking to him. "Dude, where is your phone?" he inquired, trying not to sound as irritated as he was.

Tom shrugged. "I left it in my trailer. Why?"

Rupert glanced around, trying to see who was around before he said anything incriminating. Not too far away, Jade sat in a chair, conversing with another female co-star. "Erm... let's talk about it outside," he decided, definitely not wanting to talk about it while Jade was in earshot. Rupert led his friend outside, farther away from the building than where he was standing earlier. Once Rupert knew it was safe, he spoke up again. "So you left it in the trailer?"

Tom nodded. "Yea, I figured I wouldn't be able to use it much today. No point in bringing it, you know what I mean?"

"It wouldn't be a big deal if the tabloids hadn't gotten wind of this movie. They all think you're seeing Jade behind Adrianna's back," Rupert explained. "Plus you never mentioned to her you were going to be working with Jade, so she's freaking out and has been trying to get a hold of you for God only knows how long now."

Rupert saw his friend's eyes go wide for a moment. "That is ridiculous. Where do they come up with this stuff?" Tom sighed, completely annoyed with Hollywood and how quickly rumors were created.

"No idea, but you better call Dree soon. Marisa said she hasn't been eating right and has just been watching Supernatural nonstop," Rupert informed. "The girl's a wreck, mate. I mean, I know it's not your fault, but you at least got to ease her mind before she loses it completely."

"I'll call her as soon as I get back to the trailer," Tom promised. "Unless you don't mind me making a phone call on your phone."

Rupert reached into his pocket, more than willing to let Tom use his phone if it meant that this issue could be resolved faster. He tossed Tom his phone. "You go right ahead," he said. "Just get this sorted out before we have to put Dree in the asylum."

"Alright, alright," Tom replied, catching the phone. Rupert watched his friend flip through the contacts for a moment before placing the phone to his ear. Rupert took a deep breath, hoping that all their issues would be resolved momentarily.