Page 55 of Falling

24

Dylan

Blue Phoenix isfront and centre in the media again and we have to leave the UK. I wasn’t planning a return to the States so soon, but I’m suffocated again after days of media invasions. I never thought I’d say I preferred the media in the States, but the girl who died is pretty fucking significant. The police investigations are dropped after a long and intense week. The autopsy reveals a drug overdose, and Jem’s story is backed up by the fact he wasn’t there at the time she died. CCTV showed him leaving the hotel and other footage of him at a nearby nightclub confirms he was away in the window of the time she died. Drugs were found at the scene but when they arrested Jem, he was clean. I don’t know what the fuck happened and so far he refuses to tell me, which pisses me off because I was dragged straight into the middle of the mess.

Tina strongly advises we get Jem out of the UK before the funeral. This suits me, but I need to find somewhere to lie low. We’re besieged again and Sky hates being holed up here as much as I do, which leaves the question of Sky and me unresolved. I thought we’d have at least a month together without outside interference to work through things and take some new steps in the right direction.

Returning to the States and a different media scrutiny isn’t going to cut it; I want to take Sky somewhere special. Mind-blowingly, pretentious rock star special. Time alone forged us originally; if we can disappear for a while, this may help before she runs screaming from my fucked up life again.

The whole Jem situation has magnified her awareness of this shitty world we’re part of. I explained why she couldn’t get in touch with me, that my phone was switched off while I extricated myself from Jem’s mess, and I received a pointed comment about Myf being with me at the police station. She accepts I wasn’t thinking straight at the time, and told her Myf called me, otherwise, she wouldn’t be involved. I think she’s okay with the Myf situation; I hope so.

Sky interrupts my inner debate as she walks into the kitchen. Back in her skinny jeans and sloppy blue jumper to match her eyes, I’m back to imagining her naked in my bed from a couple of hours ago. When I look at Sky, for the first time in my life, I see a girl as more than what’s beneath her clothes. Sure, the way her skinny jeans cling to her gorgeous, squeezable ass and the way her breasts squash against my chest as she hugs me, fires the desire to lift her onto the kitchen counter and make her scream my name, but the burn for her is deeper than that. She’s seared her name into my heart and wrapped herself around my soul and as long as she remains there, she keeps my demons away and I soothe hers.

Sky kisses me softly and her lips taste of mint. “How’s the crazy today?” she asks me.

“Do you mean the outside world or Jem?”

“Both. How is he?”

Jem is back now, or as ‘back’ as he ever gets. His constant drugged state hasn’t changed and the events around Liv’s death have no effect on his use. He needs to get into rehab. Now. Liam and Bryn attempted to back me up on this, but he refuses. Most of the day, he’s locked away in a room and whatever else he says, this guy hurts.

“He needs treatment. Where are his parents? Family? Aren’t they worried about him?” she asks.

“Not really. They never have been.”

Jem has no idea who his dad is and his mum spent her life in and out of bad relationships, a string of men who came in, destabilised her and Jem’s world, and then left again. He had a stepfather for a few years in his early teens, but a new male moving into the house of an adolescent teen boy caused issues. Following frequent arguments, the guy kicked Jem out of the house, and he’d regularly sleep on our sofa. Mum was more of a mother to him than his own was, making Jem my surrogate brother. Mum’s death hit Jem hard too.

Sky doesn’t reply, and however much Sky dislikes Jem, I think she realises how fucked up he is too.

She pulls a chair out and sits, propping her head on her hand, elbow in the table. “Don’t hate me for this, Dylan, but I don’t think I can stay here right now.”

“Exactly what I was about to say to you.” A look of shock crosses Sky’s face. “No, I’m not asking you to leave—I want out too and wondered if you felt like a Christmas holiday to somewhere un-Christmas?”

“Where?”

“A surprise?”

“Oh, that look.” She bites back a smile.

“What look?”

“Big kid Dylan look.”

I cross my arms. “Well, if you want to stay here instead.”

Sky stands and wraps her arms around my waist. “Get me out of this fucked up world for a few days, please.”

I pull her close and stroke her hair, closing my eyes against the fucked up world she’s talking about. “Think of it as a really long date?”

“That sounds good to me. But then what?” She slides her hands into the back pockets of my jeans.

“When we get there?” I grip her hips and pull her against me. “Lots of rock star sex and—”

“Umm. No, Dylan, I meant, what happens when we get back?”

I screw my face up. “Yeah, me, Steve, and the guys need to talk. I know I keep saying it but this time, I will.”

One thing shocking, but not entirely surprising to me is Steve’s reaction. He agrees we need to get Jem into rehab, but after the tour finishes. The guy goes down in my estimation every day. The fact he’s more bothered about the Blue Phoenix brand over a person sickens me. He argues that touring and the band is the one thing keeping Jem alive, but either he’s deluding himself or is more ruthless than I appreciated.

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