Stuck With Him

Chapter twenty - six [ 26 ]

Chapter twenty - six: Paparazzi

After I finished singing the first there was quiet in the room until Jax decided to speak up. "The song was amazing, Harper", he complimented me.

I was a little startled to hear his voice. "Thank you."

Mason nodded distractedly. "Yeah, it was cute. Now do it again so we can film it from other angles", he hurried us back to starting position. All I had to was sing, play guitar and ignore Mason and that was what I did almost every day anyway so it wasn't exactly difficult.

And that's what I did for an hour and a half while Mason made funny faces at the camera and then reviewed the tape and made us do it all over again. Mason hates work but he is really passionate about filming which is why it's pretty much the only thing he does take seriously. And because it's one of the few things he does take seriously I never complain when he makes me do something again.

Finally, late in the night the footage we had filmed met Mason's standards. Mason, the great director, was napping against the wall so I walked Jax to his car. My grandparents live in a big ranch so knowing your way around might not be that easy for a newcomer.

"Here we are", I said once we reached his car. He didn't reply, but looked really pensive.

"I hope you find what you're looking for, Harper", Jax said suddenly.

I turned to look at him, smart remark ready on my lips but I swallowed it when I saw that he was being completely serious. After a little pause I was able to reply: "You too."

He was quiet for a while, deep in thought before speaking up again. "You know, it wasn't that bad living with you after all."

I burst out laughing. "Not that bad? You threatened to kill me in my sleep!"

He smiled back. "I was just tired. And just so you know, you're looking at the proud new owner of Taylor Swift's Red album. Your brainwashing apparently rubbed off on me because there is one song by her I can't get out of my head."

"I Knew You Were Trouble?" I guessed. I wonder why that would get stuck on his head. It would have nothing to do with the fact that he had to listen to Taylor Swift nonstop for nine hours.

Jax chuckled. "Excitingly enough, no. Actually... it's Everything Has Changed", he confessed looking a bit shy which was a strange look on him since Jax Wilde was never ever shy.

I smiled at him. "It's a great song."

"Our song."

"No, Our Song is from the album Taylor Swift, dummie. You've still got a lot to learn", I said. I wasn't sure if he had meant 'our song' in the sentimental sense but I had grown used to repelling romance from my life. Better safe than sorry, I didn't want to burn again.

Jax shook his head at me. "And you are not very good at dodging."

"Oh but I am", I said smiling smugly. I was not prepared for it when he reached out, pulled me close and caressed my cheek.

And that was when the world I knew was torn to shreds.

Flashlights, thousands of them it seemed, blinded me. Instictively, I stepped out of Jax's embrace and just stared at the road that was suddenly swarming with paparazzi. Where the hell had they come from? The bushes?!

"WHO IS HE, NATALIE?"

"WHAT ABOUT ALEX?"

"ARE YOU CHEATING ON HIM?"

I grabbed Jax's hand and started to run back to the premises where the paparazzi couldn't follow. Jax would just have to stay the night.

In the middle of all the craziness I could feel my phone vibrating. Dumbstruck, I dug the phone from my pocket and put it to my ear. "Hello?"

"That'll teach you to ignore my calls. Bitch", Dahlia's voice hissed to my ear venomously before hanging up.

I slowly pulled the phone from my ear. "So, Jax... you might have been onto something with that whole 'Dahlia is a psycho stalker' thing", I said quietly as we reached the front door of my grandparents' house and we could finally slow down.

Jax snorted. "Well, smack my ass and call me Judy. Who could have known?" he replied. "Oh wait but I did. I told you so."

My mind was starting to wake up from its haze and I felt damn near insane."This is a nightmare. Mary is going to kill me. Again", I muttered, terrified while an evermore loud chorus of 'oh God no, oh God no' was ringing through my head.

And what Rusty and Alex would do I didn't even want to think about...

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Ida 💋