Page 73 of Beyond the Fame

“But your parents... they were horrible to you.”

“Shh.” He kisses my forehead, my cheek, my mouth. “My parents are only good for one thing. They love legal shit like this. Especially if it’s getting traction. Anything to get their name out there more. They’ll do this for me. For you.”

“I can’t accept their help. Not after everything they’ve put you through.”

He releases me, holding me out by the arms. “You said you needed me earlier?”

I nod.

He briefly closes his eyes before saying, “Not many people need me. Let me help. Please.”

I scan his face, looking for any sign that he’s bothered by doing this for me. All I see is concern.

I cup his jaw and scratch his beard. He closes his eyes and groans. Okay, he loves getting his beard scratched. Noted.

“You’re a good man.”

He smiles. “Finally. Lana has been trying to tell you I'm nice. Gram even said it that one time.”

I laugh, and his face lights up at the sound. I'd tell a million jokes if it meant I could see him smile beautifully like that again.

After charging his phone for thirty minutes, Jensen got to work making calls. Mylan and Lana showed up after I responded to her texts. She said the tabloid also contacted them for their side of the story, but they didn’t get the emails until this morning.

Now they’re here in our suite while we deal with this scandal.

Lana sits at the table with me while Mylan and Jensen pace the living room floor. I’ve been making calls myself for the past couple of hours. I had my publicist release a statement saying everything I’d mentioned to Jensen. I never told anyone about the death threats, but now it’ll be reported by every single entertainment publication and TV show.

I also told my publicist to contact my lawyers about Jensen’s parents taking over. She gasped in my ear when I told her the Jack and Julie Boliver were on the case. I didn’t realize they’d represented dozens of A-listers.

We ordered room service: greasy comfort food from the resort’s restaurant.

I’m picking at my fries, separating the crispy ones from the soggy ones, when Lana reaches out and rubs my forearm. “It’s going to be okay.”

I pop the crunchiest of fries into my mouth and smile. “I know. It’s just... I was thinking maybe the article is right. Maybe I'm a difficult and horrible person. The things I said to you when you didn’t want to be a part of the movie anymore...”

“Rebecca,” Lana warns. “You apologized.”

“I should have never said them in the first place. That makes me a bitch.”

“I’ll kick your ass if you keep calling my friend that.”

I roll my eyes. “I told you that you never loved my brother. That was a bitch thing to say.”

Lana frowns. “Fine. It was. But I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I didn’t believe it either. Writing the book and having it turned into a movie helped me grieve, but I never considered that it’d be the opposite for you. I was holding you back from moving on. Then I convinced myself you abandoned me all because I couldn’t deal with my grief. You were all I had when Tyler died. My parents weren’t there for me. I’m pretty sure they wished I had died—”

“What?” Lana nearly screams.

“Yeah. Anytime I wanted to talk about Tyler, they’d make up an excuse. Most of the time, they’d say they were too sad to talk to me.”

“I didn’t know, Becca. I’m so sorry.”

“It got to a point where they just didn’t seem interested in anything I said. It was almost as if me being around reminded them Tyler was no longer here.”

Lana scrunches up her nose, a look of disappointment at what she’s hearing crossing her face. “Grief is brutal, and everyone handles it differently. I am not excusing their behavior. What they did to you is wrong, but it had nothing to do with you. I hope you realize that.”

I nod, not entirely sure I believe that. My parents are not the same ones from the time Tyler was alive. I’ve accepted that. I no longer let their lost love affect me. Or at least, I’m working on trying to not let it affect me.

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