Paparazzi Boy

7. Malibu

"It's nice to take a day off," Rain mumbled, while laying on her towel. "We've been going so hard at it lately, I don't remember the last time I've truly been outside for my own enjoyment."

Belle agreed, "I feel that. This tour has been pretty busy and wild."

Rain rolled over onto her stomach in order to evenly tan. The entire team was on the beach in Malibu, as they were finally leaving the state overnight and heading to Arizona. Three shows in and everyone felt like they needed a day off to decompress. "Max told me you guys are writing a new album together."

Belle couldn't help but laugh. "No, we kind of wrote a song together but definitely not in the process of writing an entire album again. I would lose my shit."

"You? If you are capable of writing three albums in a year, I'll die." They both laughed.

"But how was it with him? You never told me what happened that night."

"Well, we were supposed to go out but I decided I wanted to stay in and write a song because I had something stuck in my head. We wrote the skeleton of a song."

Rain waited. "Bitch, and?"

Belle rolled her eyes, "I don't know. He was going to kiss me but we got interrupted by Scarlett. She wanted to spend some time with me but she saw Max there and dipped."

The surprise in her eyes were clear as day, "You guys were going to kiss?"

She nodded, "He was so close too. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You're too hard on yourself."

"I don't even know Max. Not really, anyway. Not enough to have him in my trailer alone or to be writing personal songs with him." Belle tightened the strap above her neck, holding her bikini top.

Rain sighed. "Not everyone is going to be like Jacob."

Months later and that bruise was still raw, that cut was still bleeding. She was running out of bandages. "I know. I just don't know if I want to find that out for myself yet."

"You guys would be so cute together."

That made her smile. "He is really cute, I'm not going to deny that."

Scarlett came to sit with them, everyone else enjoying the splash and movement of the waves. Belle could see Max with the backup dancers. He and Orlando had gotten pretty close throughout the beginning of the tour, and it was reassuring to Belle that he was making friends. She wanted him to be comfortable - comfortable enough to stay. Too many people had left already.

"Ugh, they're here," Scarlett scoffed, pushing her sunglasses down to cover her eyes.

"Who?" Belle turned around and immediately knew who she was referring to. The flashes became stronger the closer they got. Paparazzi. About five of them were running down through the sand.

"Did you want to move somewhere else? We don't have to stay her-"

"No," Belle interrupted. "It's fine. They would just follow us anyway."

Belle watched as Max was waving at Orlando and started approaching her. Her stomach fluttered. He was constantly trying to make time for her.

"I see paparazzi is here to see what you are up to," he said, finding himself a seat next to her. She had done well all day in not staring at him shirtless, and she wasn't going to ruin that now.

"They were going to find me regardless."

"I'm surprised it took them that long."

She smiled, squinting her eyes since the sun was so bright. "It's my luck, I guess."

They were quiet for a moment. "What do you think about that profession?"

"Being a paparazzi?"

"Yeah, I'm curious to know your thoughts on them."

She had to think about it. "I'm usually a very reserved person so I don't tend to like them. Most of the time, they're not good people either. They can be greedy and they don't have any respect for me. Why should I share something they can't give me?"

He shook his head, a small smile on his face. "I think it would be cool to be a paparazzi."

She was taken aback by his response, "Really?"

"Yeah, what is cooler than following the people who inspire you?"

She looked at the crowd of cameras. "These people aren't inspired by me, Max. They're inspired by the money they can make off of me. I'm not just a business opportunity, I'm a human being."

He went quiet and for a moment she wondered what he was thinking about. He could be hard to read sometimes. His hair was falling into his eyes and she found it hard to not focus on the fact that he was shirtless next to her again.

"I would follow you around anywhere," he joked, putting an arm around her.

"Whatever, Max."

His arm was wet around her, "So, how is the song going?"

"It's coming along, I'm almost done," she said, shifting back, closer to him.

"You should let me come over again, to see the rest of it."

She looked up at him, "Whenever you want."

Suddenly, she felt the vibration of a cell phone go off in one of the bags, the ringtone following just seconds later. Max stood up and grabbed his backup, pulling out his phone from the front pocket. He looked at the screen and Belle could feel him give her a side glance. He inched away from her as he answered the phone. Why was he always walking away when he was on a phone call? Jacob used to do the same thing. She tried to shove her thoughts away and laid down, trying to even out the rest of her tan. She didn't want to think about who he was talking to or why he wasn't next to her anymore.

He was laughing for a few minutes on the phone before he finally hung up and came back. She ignored how giddy she felt that he always came back to her. He suddenly grabbed her off her towel and threw her over his shoulder. She could hear the flashes of cameras grow with more intensity. This is what they wanted. Max was giving them what they wanted.

"Max, put me down!" She screamed, and he only laughed as he ran towards the beach, throwing them both into the waves that were running towards the shore.

They both fell in but he was still holding her. His arm was around her waist and his other hand was holding onto her hip. The water was warm, and it felt nice to freshen up. He grabbed her thigh and wrapped it around his waist and she did the rest for him. She wasn't shaking anymore, she wasn't afraid. She wanted this. For once, she was willing to admit that she wanted him.

He pulled them deeper into the ocean and she couldn't hear the flashes anymore. But she could feel the stares of the group. They were trying not to look but it was evident that they weren't expecting this. She wasn't either.

He lowered himself next to her, his cheek next to hers. "Anabelle?" It was hard to hear him with the crashing waves.

"Yeah?"

"I like you, Anabelle."

She pulled away to look at him. All of her worries had washed away. She wanted this. She wanted him. She had been sure since that day in her trailer.

"I like you too, Max."