Page 108 of I Knew You Were Trouble

Meredith grits her teeth. ‘Oh, ten. Definitely. He’s mad. Worried. Freakingout. What the hell is Aidan gonna tell him?’

‘I don’t know,’ I say, a panicky quiver in my voice, looking around for my shoes. ‘I need to get up there.’

I can hear Ziggy before I even get inside the suite. The door is already open.

I walk in with Meredith on my tail to find the rest of the band watching on as Ziggy lays into Aidan. Aidan stands stoically with his legs apart, arms crossed over his chest, his shirt crumpled, his cheeks slightly red. In contrast, Ziggy’s face is puce, droplets of saliva spraying out of his mouth as he rants.

‘…What am I supposed to do, Aidey? Eh? You don’t have your phone on… your bed hasn’t been slept in, what am I supposed to think? In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve had fans running riot around this hotel, tryna track you boys down! So, tell me what I’m supposed think, Aid? Tell me.’

A muscle throbs in Aidan’s jaw. ‘I don’t have to tell you where I was,’ he sighs.

‘I was about to call the fuckin’ coppers, weren’t I?’ Ziggy explodes. ‘Bodhi was on red alert! You know the drill: you tell him or his team if you’re planning on going out and about!’

‘I told you. I didn’t leave the hotel.’

‘Well, your bed wasn’t blimmin’ slept in! I had to get someone to let me in!’

Ravi’s looking at me. Something dawns on him. He looks to Cal, then looks back at me. Cal’s mouth goes into an ‘O’ shape. I am doomed.

‘Ziggy, could I have a word, please?’ I pipe up and Aidan turns his head, his eyes flashing, only just realising I’m in the room.

Ziggy holds up one hand towards me but doesn’t look my way. ‘Not now, Lexi, I’m in the middle of an incident here.’

‘It’s just that—’

‘WHERE WERE YOU?’ Ziggy explodes at Aidan.

‘He was with me!’ I blurt out at full volume and Aidan’s head whips around.

Ziggy looks my way. Cal’s already sniggering.

‘He was with me,’ I say again, in a more measured tone. ‘Aidan was with me the entire night.’

Ziggy frowns at me. Aidan’s suppressing a grin. I glance around. J.B. and Ravi look ecstatic. Cal and Miller are hysterical. Even Bodhi looks pleasantly surprised.

‘So, what… you two are…?’ Ziggy questions, pointing a finger between us, Aidan blushing.

‘I know you told me to stay away,’ I say, trying to formulate an apology, ‘but—’

‘We’re together, yes,’ Aidan says, coming over to me, taking me gently in his arms.

‘I know you said you didn’t want trouble…’ I say to Ziggy.

Ziggy’s still frowning. ‘What do you mean by “together”?’

Aidan looks down at me.

‘He your boyfriend, or what?’ Ziggy asks in my direction.

Tears sting my eyes, a lump sticking in my throat, because I haven’t been able to say those words in a very long time. ‘Yes, Ziggy. I guess he is.’

I hear the other boys’ whistles of approval and feel my cheeks flush. Meredith’s clapping her hands like a seal. Aidan’s expression is elated. He crushes me in his embrace.

Ziggy glowers. ‘Great. Just next time, don’t kidnap him, alright? Nearly gave me and Bodhi a bloomin’ heart attack this morning.’

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘Won’t happen again.’

I’m still caught in Aidan’s arms. Ziggy’s tense exterior begins to relax now that he knows the truth. He rolls his eyes in a playful way, inhaling deeply. ‘Yeah, you always tell me that,’ he says, and gives Aidan a hard slap on the back.

---