The Beating of Our Hearts

I woke up the next morning to a gorgeous sight: Jared’s blue eyes.
“Morning.” I said, stretching, revealing a strip of skin from underneath my pyjama shirt.
“Morning to you to.” He smiled, leaning down and giving me a soft peck on the lips, causing my stomach to do back flips.
“Aaah, so last night on the beach wasn’t a dream then?” I blushed.
“Nope, and I’m damn glad of it.”
“Me too.” I looked away, still in awe that this was happening; not quite sure whether to believe it or not yet.

“IS IT TRUE?” Shannon came bursting into the room with Tomo at his heels. He was waving a magazine in the air; neither of them noticing me still huddled up in the covers.
“What Shan?” Jared asked calmly.
“This headline: Actor/Singer Jared Leto Caught Canoodling with Mysterious Brunette Beauty.” Shannon read of the front page.
“They like their alliterations, don’t they?” Jared continued to evade the subject.
“But is what they’re saying true? You took Riley to that party last night; did you two finally get it on?” Shannon pressed eagerly.

“I wouldn’t say ‘get it on’ was the right term.” I piped up, startling the pair stood at the foot of the bed.
“Holy shit!” Tomo pointed at me.
“You waste no time, little bro.” Shannon said to his brother.
“Shut up Shan, we didn’t sleep together. We just...slept...together.” Jared said, his words not coming out quite right.
“As in, we fell asleep in the same bed.” I helped out.
“Yeah.”
“So what does this mean?” Tomo asked, looking between the two of us.
“I don’t know, we haven’t really gone over that yet.” Jared answered.
“Oh, OK. Well we’ll leave you to it then.” Tomo said, grabbing Shannon’s arm when it looked like he was going to pursue the subject further and dragged him out of the room.

“Coffee?” Jared asked, lifting himself off the bed and pulling on the closest shirt.
“Coffee sounds good.” I answered, curling up once again in the warm bed, still tired.
“I’ll be right back then.” He walked out the door.
I closed my eyes, allowing a smile to stretch across my lips. Last night really had happened, and Jared had wanted it as well. My mood soared as I thought about his good morning kiss just moments before.

*Jared’s P.O.V.*
“Sooo, you and Riley, huh? Finally!” Shannon said as I walked into the kitchen.
“I’m not sure. I think so.” I answered him while putting the kettle on to boil.
“What do mean you’re not sure? You’ve had a major thing for her ever since you set eyes on her. Now that it’s finally moving forward, you’re not sure?” Shannon looked concerned.
“I know, and believe me, no one is happier that this is happening than I am. But I don’t know if I want to bring into our world, into the constant hassle of the paparazzi and the press. I want to be able to protect her from that, from the garbage they write, but if I know if anything happened, I wouldn’t be able to.” I spilled.

“You know she wouldn’t care about any of that.” Shannon tried to persuade me.
“But it would still affect her. Imagine if she saw something in the press about me when we were on tour. Something like what happened in New York. And I couldn’t be there to reassure her. What would I do?”
“She would know not to believe it.”
“And speaking of tour, how the fuck would I survive, knowing she was just sat in LA. It was hard enough as it was leaving her here when there was nothing going on. But if we were together, not being with her would drive me completely insane.”

“You’re acting completely insane now! Why are you trying to talk yourself out of this? Of being with someone who you actually care about.” Shannon grabbed my shoulders roughly.
“It’s because I care about her that I’m doing this. I won’t hurt her, I refuse to do it.” I shook my head to reinforce my statement.

“Getting her hopes up like this and telling her nothing can happen will hurt her you idiot.”
I knew that Shannon was trying to make me see sense, and what he was saying was logical. But I wouldn’t listen to him. I knew what I had to do, as much as it wrenched at my heart, I knew that not being with Riley was the best thing for her. So she could have a normal life, not blighted by cameras and people following her everywhere.

I finished making the coffee and proceeded back upstairs to my bedroom where I knew Riley would still be under the covers. I pushed open the door with my hip and took in the sight before me; Riley was fast asleep again, lying on her front with her shirt hitched up so that I could just see the smooth curve in the small of her back. Her hand was stretched across the bed to my side, as if waiting for me.
I put the coffee mugs down on the desk and made my way back to the bed. I didn’t want to wake her, I would just talk to her when we were both more awake. Signing contentedly, I gently lifted up Riley’s outstretched arm, slid myself under the covers and fell back into a gentle sleep with the most beautiful woman lying by my side.