Page 63 of Lexi Lets Go

"Someone like me?" Lexi asked, her smile finally starting to falter.

"Yeah, someone his fans wouldn't... expect him to be with, you know what I mean,"

"No, I don't."

"If I may speak candidly," she said.

Speak candidly? Lexi was almost afraid of what that would look like if she wasn't already speaking candidly.

"I'm not sure what is going on between you and Liam, he does this all the time. But I would just ask yourself if it is worth it. All these people love Liam. He means so much to them. His music and who he is helps people be who they truly are. He’s important and I would hate to see that damaged with another scandal."

Lexi just looked at her as the air huffed out of her lungs. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Well, if Liam is so important to his fans, then wouldn't they want him to be authentically himself," she asked.

"And you think you know what that is? You have known him for two weeks. Right now, he’s a man in desperate need of a little time off who’s making decisions based on that. I’ve been with him for years. Trust me, I know who he is, and his fans do too."

Lexi didn't know how to respond to that. Could she really claim to know him better? As much as it pained her to admit Jacinda was right, she might be. She had only known him for two weeks. That's not enough time to really know anyone, no matter how connected her and Liam seemed to be.

She turned her back on Jacinda and walked a few steps away and enjoyed the rest of the opening act. She couldn't wait to see Liam again, both on stage and off.

As the opening was clearing off and the crowd was getting ready for Liam, she pulled out her phone to check what time it was. She had four missed calls from Josh and a handful of texts. She opened them and her heart stopped.

Josh - Poppy and I were in a car accident. I am ok, but Poppy is in the hospital.

Josh - I'm sorry to bother you, but I just needed to talk to you.

Then a couple other texts with the hospital information for Poppy. Her heart was in her throat. She needed to get to Josh. Like right now. She turned to leave.

"Jacinda, I need to leave. My brother and his wife were in a car accident. Please tell Liam why I left and that I'm very sorry, but I have to go."

"Of course, I will, oh you poor thing. Go be with your family. Family is the most important thing."

Lexi nodded and made her way out of the box. She made her way through the whispering crowd of people who were trying to figure out if she was the woman from the photo, but she didn't care about them right now. All she could think about was Josh. This would be scary for anyone, but she knew Josh had to be freaking out. Losing their mother at a young age to a car accident left its fair share of trauma on both of them and having his wife in the hospital because of an accident must have him in a bad headspace.

As soon as she was out of the arena and on her way to her car, she pulled out her phone to call Josh. It went to voicemail.

"I'm on my way, Josh. I should be there in about an hour." They were in Glendale, so that was a little closer than having to go all the way to Mystic Falls. She texted him for good measure that she was on her way.

She got in her car and left Liam a message as well. Then she pulled out and made her way to the hospital.

Lexi made it to the hospital in record time. The concert would still be going on, but she needed to find them and make sure they were both alright. She walked right up to the nurse’s station.

"Hi, I'm looking for Poppy Turner."

She got the room number, and she was off through the maze of the ER to find Josh. She got to room 408b and knocked quietly. Josh answered the door with a panicked look on his face. She had grown accustomed to it over the years, but it still broke her heart. She also noticed that in addition to his expression, was a bump on his head and a tiny butterfly bandage over a small cut.

“You’re hurt,” she said as she reached up to his head.

“I’m okay. I’m so glad you came,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “I didn’t know if you would.”

“Of course, I came. I came as soon as I got the message.”

"I'm sorry to pull you away from the concert. I just didn't know what else to do. Poppy's family is here. They went to the cafeteria while they took Poppy to run some tests. They didn't want to leave me, but I just needed a second to breathe. I need to be here if they come back with any news." He collapsed in the chair, his head in his hands.

Lexi sat next to him and rubbed his back.

"How is she? How are you?"

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