Page 51 of True Blue

“Doubt it,” he says, eyes following his character on the screen. “Looks like it’s her turn to be the evasive one.”

His words make me sit up, looking over at him. “What do you mean?”

He pauses his game, turning toward me. “She hasn’t responded to any of my texts or calls since you left. If I know J, she’s freaking out about last night.”

“Why are you just sitting here?” I ask, jumping up from the couch.

He joins me, tossing the controller aside. “I was waiting for you to come back. She seems to respond better to a tag team effort.” He smirks and I shake my head, already grabbing my keys and walking out with Axel at my heels.

We get down to the sixth floor quickly, flying down the stairs rather than using the elevator. I walk straight up to Mira and Janette’s door, banging my fist against it hard as my heard pounds wildly. No way am I losing this without a fight just as it begins.

The door stays closed but we can hear the floorboards inside creak with a repetitive motion. I know Mira’s not home, so Janette must be the one freaking out on the other side of the door.

“Come on Blue, open up,” Axel calls, knocking again.

A minute passes before we hear the lock twist, and the door opens slowly. Janette stands on the other side, curls in disarray and eyes rimmed in red as she stares up at both of us cautiously.

“Hi,” she croaks, throat scratchy with the words. I step in immediately, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into my chest. Axel follows closely, shutting the door behind us before coming around and wrapping us both in his own arms, squeezing Janette against me from behind her.

Her arms stay at her sides and my breath hitches with the stab to my chest.

“Talk to us, sunshine,” I whisper. She has her eyes closed with the side of her face laying against my chest.

With a sigh, she pulls her head back, resting it against Axel’s chest as she looks up at me. “This isn’t going to work.” Mystomach plummets and all the air leaves my lungs. Axel's arms tense around us. The panic in Janette’s eyes grows as she starts to ramble. “I don't see how it can! People won’t understand and once my mom finds out, she’ll do everything she can to ruin it because it won’t look good for her career. The press will be brutal and I’m sure it will get even worse with how much your parents are already in the spotlight.” She nods her chin at me, and I grit my teeth. “I don’t want this to hurt you. Either of you.” She twists her neck to look over her shoulder at Axel. “You know how Mom will be. Best case scenario, she cuts me off altogether, but then we’ll be defenseless when the public finds out. I don’t want all of us to suddenly become some scandalous spectacle.” She breathes heavily when she’s done, squirming out of our grasps, and taking a few steps away. “We should end it now, so none of us get hurt.”

I clench my fists at my sides, gnashing my lips together to keep the anger swirling in my chest from running down my tongue.

“Aunt Sandy’s opinion doesn’t matter in this right now. Neither does the public’s, in my opinion. I don’t care if anyone else ever understands it, honestly. I want this and I’m already in too deep to not be hurt right now, Janette.” She winces when Axel uses her full first name, pain lancing through his words. He looks over at me. “What about you?”

I unclench my jaw, still staring at Janette. “I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks or if paparazzi try to destroy this. My parents’ have never cared about who I'm dating as long as I'm happy and they have a whole PR team for a reason. If, and when,wedecide we want to be publicly open about this, they will help us if we ask.”

“Seriously think about this, guys.” She pleads, leaning toward us a little as she hugs her arms around her torso. Her eyes meet mine. “Neither of us have experienced the real lack of privacyour parents have. My mom can’t go anywhere in Georgia without planning it in advance. My school had to get extra security to keep photographers off campus.”

The flashes of the cameras at graduation play in my mind, the claustrophobic feeling crowding my throat. I swallow past it, reminding myself and her, “The Coast has a no press policy. We’re safe here.”

Janette shakes her head, saying, “If they get wind of this, that will change. I know it will. The second we step off campus there’ll be photographers and people wanting to make a spectacle of us.”

I step toward her. “We’re not our parents. People don’t care what we’re doing.” Janette starts shaking her head.

Axel holds up his hands. “Do you want an out?” he asks. “Because it sounds like Bentley and I are prepared to fight for this, but you don’t want to do the same.”

Her eyes water, a few tears escaping as she stands across from us. “I want this,” she whispers. “Please believe me. I do. But I’m scared of what will happen because of it.”

Axel reaches her first, placing his hands on either side of her face and swiping her tears away with his thumbs. “We don’t have to figure it all out right now, Blue.”

I step in behind him, rubbing her upper arm to try to soothe her. “We literally started this less than twenty-four hours ago.”

She laughs shakily, watery eyes darting between the two of us as I speak.

“Let’s just explore this together for a bit before we go thinking about other people’s reactions and going public globally.” I roll my eyes a little at the idea, silently grateful I chose not to tell Mira yet now that I can see Janette’s panic over the idea.

She sighs, pulling her face out of Axel’s hands and swiping her own under her eyes. “I’m sorry I freaked out.” She laughsagain, the sound shaky and not at all like the one I already love hearing. “I panicked way too early, didn’t I?”

Axel shrugs, letting his hands fall to her waist. “I already knew Aunt Sandy’s new world view had fucked you up a bit. But you’ve got both of us here for you, now.” She reaches out and squeezes his upper arm. “Please just come talk to us next time you start spiraling, though. That way we can avoid the pain of the last few minutes. We make decisions about this together, got it?”

Janette nods, reaching out to take my hand. I pull our intertwined fingers up to my mouth, kissing her wrist. “And for the record, I am also in too deep to not get hurt at this point,” I add.

She smiles more normally than before, eyes still a little misty. “It killed me to think about ending this. I was bluffing when I tried to make it seem like walking away wouldn’t affect me.”

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