Love Will Save You

-Danielle-

The next morning, I woke up at 8am, so I decided to go get a cup coffee. I got out of bed, being careful not to wake Jamie up, got dressed and grabbed my bag, my notebook, and a pen, quickly writing a note to everyone before walking to a small cafe down the road from the hotel.

As I was sipping my coffee and doodling in my notebook, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and almost choked on my drink, "Damien!" "Hello again, Danielle," he smiled. "What do you want?" "I heard your friend Amy is dating my cousin." "Nash is your cousin?" I asked, confused. "Who's Nash?" "Amy's boyfriend.."

"You guys can pretend they're together all you want, but she's not getting away from me that easily," I heard a voice behind me say. "Oh, you again," I said, rolling my eyes as I looked at Lawrence.

Suddenly, it all clicked. "Wait," I looked at both of them, "You're cousins?" "Yeah," Damien said, as if it were obvious. "Well, I should have known since I guess being an asshole runs in the family. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to be doing. Like, getting ready for tonight's concert or watching my boyfriend's hair grow," I replied, getting up from my seat and starting to walk away.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Damien said, grabbing my arm, "I'm not letting you get away that easily either." "Let go of me," I growled at him. "I know things about you, Danielle. Things that will ruin your relationship with your little boyfriend and your life if you don't break up with him first and come back to me." I laughed bitterly, "And why would I break up with Jamie? You've got nothing against me." "I know you cheated on him with that Ian kid last month," he said. "You think I cheated on him...with Ian?" I laughed loudly, "You have gotten funnier since I last saw you." "Think I'm kidding?" he asked, pulling something out of his pocket with his free hand.

He showed me a picture of when Ian grabbed my hand and led me out of the restaurant the day we went out to take pictures. "That doesn't even look believable," I rolled my eyes, trying not to be bothered by how he could have gotten the picture, "Couples don't hold hands like that." Damien shrugged, "Doesn't mean Jamie won't believe it." "Yeah, because he'll totally believe you over me and Ian," I replied sarcastically.

"I also have this," he shrugged, pulling out another picture of Nash kissing the top of my head and hugging me from the night Sarah kissed Jamie when we were in L.A. before we made up. And it looked way more believable.

"How did you get that?" I asked, a little shocked, "I have my sources," he said smugly. "And would Nash believe Amy if I showed him this?" Lawrence pulled out a picture of himself and Amy kissing. "That's gotta be, what, three years old?" I asked, not buying it. "For all everyone else knows, this could have been taken last week," he smirked. "You wouldn't dare," I growled. "Try us," Damien replied, "and if you say anything about this to anyone, your relationship with Jamie won't the only relationship on the line." He tightened his grip on me and I screamed, "Let go of me!"

"What seems to be the problem here?" we heard Ryan's voice and spun around to see Ryan and Melanie walking up to us. "Not a word," Damien murmured, letting go of me. I quickly picked up my things and rushed over behind Ryan. Melanie looked at me and I tried my best to pretend I didn't notice, keeping my attention on Ryan and Damien.

Damien smiled, "Nothing, just chatting with Danielle." "She didn't really look like she wanted to chat with you. Why don't you just stay away from her, yeah?" Ryan said, his anger becoming more apparent with every word. "And what if we don't?" Damien smirked. Ryan took a step toward him, but Melanie held him back. "I guess you'll just have to find out," he replied.

"Well, it was lovely talking with you guys, but we really should be heading back to our room," Melanie said quickly, pulling on Ryan as we walked quickly away from Damien and Lawrence.

"What was that about?" Melanie asked when we turned the corner. "Why were you guys out?" I asked, avoiding her question. "We woke up and saw your note and thought you would want some company," Ryan said, "What happened back there?" "Um.." I trailed off. "I saw how he held your arm," Melanie said, "What happened?" "Nothing happened. I promise," I said.

We got back to the hotel room and I saw everyone sitting on the couch. "Shit," I mumbled, kicking my shoes off and taking off my jacket as they turned to look at Ryan, Melanie, and I. "Holy shit! Danielle, what happened to your arm?" Jamie asked, running over to me. I looked down at my arm and saw a bruise where Damien had grabbed me. I knew I had to come up with a quick excuse if I didn't want them to know about what happened.

"I wasn't paying attention and I ran into a door. You know how easily I bruise," I replied, shrugging nervously. "Danielle," Melanie said. I sighed, "Or I didn't.." "Then what did happen?" Nash asked as Jamie pulled me over to the couch, retaking his seat and sitting me in his lap. "Damien," I mumbled. "Damien did that to you?" Jamie asked quietly, but his shock was obvious. I barely nodded and Maggie asked, "Why?" I shrugged again. "Danielle, he hurt you. Tell us what happened," Ian said sternly. "I can't tell you," I said quietly, moving to stand up. Jamie pulled me back down and whispered, "Why not?" "I have relationships to protect, okay? That's why," I said, a bit loudly. "Who's?" Melanie asked. "Nash and Amy's," I murmured. "Ours?" Amy asked in a small voice. I stayed quiet and Ryan asked, "Wait, you said relationships. What other relationship?" I looked down and replied in a barely audible voice, "Mine." I felt Jamie let out a breath against my neck as Nash said, "You can tell us. Whatever is going on, we need to know. We're not just going to let you put yourself on the line for us, Danielle."

I looked at Jamie and he leaned in, kissing me softly before pulling away a few seconds later and whispering, "We need to know, babe." I nodded reluctantly, but told them about the pictures and everything.

"He said that if I didn't break up with Jamie and go back to him, he and Lawrence would post those pictures everywhere and ruin our relationships," I finished. "We'd never believe that though," Ryan said. I shook my head, "It's not you guys believing it that I'm worried about. It's your fans." "They wouldn't believe it either," Nash said. "I don't know, Nash," Ian said hesitantly, "You said it yourself, our fans do get a little crazy." "Yeah," Amy jumped in, "You do have the fans who won't believe a word of it, but all it takes is a few jealous fangirls to cause a whole lot of shit." "Well, why can't we just tell everyone it's not true before it does get to that point?" Jamie asked. "Amy's right though," I said, "Even fans who don't believe it will go along with it if it means one of you guys becoming single. I mean, look at Melanie and Ryan. They will say anything to get them to break up. The only reason it hasn't happened as often anymore is because they've finally warmed up to her. I'm afraid that with Amy being the newest girlfriend, those crazy fans are now more likely to target her and Nash."

Nash's grip on Amy's hand tighten as he said, "I'm not letting that happen." She blushed lightly and kissed his cheek. "I'm just saying, Nashy. They haven't gotten used to you actually having a girlfriend," I smiled innocently at him. Amy giggled and Nash rolled his eyes, but smiled as well.

Ian chuckled and shook his head, but then became serious, "He's not getting away with this, Danielle." "That asshole hurt you twice already. We're not going to let it happen again," Nash agreed. "It's not that big of a deal really. I can take care of myself," I shrugged. "It seemed like a pretty big deal when you screamed at him to let go of you earlier," Ryan said. "I could've handled it if you hadn't interrupted," I replied, getting slightly frustrated. "Danielle," Melanie yelled, "Look at what he did to your arm! I know you bruise easily, but this is serious shit!" "You don't always need to be the brave one. It's okay to admit when you need help," Maggie added.

I looked at Jamie, noticing he hadn't really been saying much, and saw he looked worried. I leaned my forehead against his, "I'm gonna be fine, Jamie. Stop worrying." "And what if you won't be?" he let out an aggravated sigh, "What if something happens to you and I'm not there to stop it?" "Nothing is going to happen to me," I replied, then looked around at everyone, "Nothing."

"Look," Amy said, "I just don't think you should be out alone anymore." Everyone nodded and I sighed, "If I agree to that, will you stop treating me like a little kid? Melanie is the baby of the group, not me." Melanie looked at me and yelled, "By four months!" "You're still the youngest," I replied, sticking my tongue out at her. "You're still the second youngest out of 8. We've got you beat," Ryan chuckled. "You all suck and I hate you," I said, crossing my arms over my stomach. "I lo-" Jamie started before I put my finger on his lips, shaking my head, "No." He looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I tried to keep myself from smiling, putting my hand back in my lap, "I hate when you do that." "You only hate it because it works," he grinned, grabbing my hand and kissing me. I rolled my eyes, but smiled, laying my head on his shoulder. "He's not touching you again, babe. Not while I'm around," Jamie said, kissing the top of my head. "So, forever?" I asked. "Forever," he smiled.