Fame ***

Jem wrung his hands together as we approached the stretch of road where the first part of the music video would be filmed. I could almost feel the nervous energy radiating of him, and it took all the tact I could muster to keep from pointing it out and making him feel even more uncomfortable. Every so often, his teeth poked out from his mouth, latching onto the soft skin of his lip, making little red marks.

Swallowing, I put a comforting hand on his arm and whispered, “Hey, I promise they won’t kill you, okay?”

He snickered lightly and let out a deep breath. “I’m just not used to this meeting celebrities thing. I still get star-struck.”

“There’s no need. They’re just normal.” My mind flashed back to the moment where Harry threatened me to stay away from Niall, and I wondered for the first time if tagging along with Jem was a good idea. If Harry started something right there, in front of Jem and any possible press, there was going to be some major backlash for the both of us.

“Can I tell you something?” Jem interjected suddenly before I could express my fears of what could happen with Harry.

I nodded, my eyebrows pulling closer just the smallest bit. “What’s up?”

“I only like One Direction because of my sister.” Jem let out a short breath before running his hand through his hair, giving me a sheepish look. “There’s a pretty big age gap between us, seven years, and so I had no idea what we could talk about. When she started to get obsessed with One Direction, I kind of saw it as an opportunity, and I started learning facts about them and watching videos right along with her.”

“That’s…” I turned and grinned at him. “That’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

His already lightly flushed cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, his teeth nibbling on his lip again. “Well, thanks. I just figured I shouldn’t really get a reputation as a male Directioner when I’m really just humoring my sister and finding something the two of us can talk about when we get together.”

“So you’re so excited to meet them because…?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, about a thousand creases crisscrossing over the writing about a million different ways. It had the look of paper that had been opened and closed so many times that it had the feel of fabric, and I resisted my urge to reach out and touch it.

“It’s a letter my sister wrote them,” he explained. “She said she’d die if they read it, so I want to show it to them and get them all to sign it. When they do that, I can send it back to her. She’ll be so excited.”

“No, but seriously, Jem, I’m getting a cavity.” I stuck an elbow into his ribs and laughed as they called cut on the filming and released the boys for a lunch break.

My heart stopped when I looked over at Niall. His hair had grown out somewhat, his dark, dark roots poking out underneath his otherwise bleached tips. But his eyes were as bright as ever, and his smile was just as beautiful and easy as I remembered.

Before either of us could say a word to each other, Niall scooped me up into his arms, pressing my body tightly against his, kissing me harshly, communicating how much he’d missed me and wanted me without saying a single word.

I pulled away, desperate to keep the kiss from getting too deep, right there in front of Jem and Harry. Trying to hide how breathless and flushed I was, I leaned back, letting Niall’s arms stay wrapped around my waist, and introduced, “Niall, this is Jem Rogers, my co-star in my new movie project that is still untitled. Jem, this is Niall, my boyfriend.”

Niall released me, keeping his body so close to mine that I could feel the heat radiating from him, and reached to shake Jem’s hand. Jem, who was redder than I’d ever seen him, reciprocated the handshake and cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you, man. Lilah talks about you all the time.”

“I do not!” I defended, even though I kind of did.

Niall smirked sideways at me before admitting, “I’m not surprised, since I talk about her all the time, too.” Then, he put his arm around Jem’s shoulders and started walking him away from me, mumbling something about how the other guys couldn’t wait to meet him.

I sensed pretty strongly that I wasn’t invited to the group meeting, probably because Harry would have liked nothing more than turning my internal organs into a smoothie. So I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and tried to look like I was texting someone to keep the few members of the crew that still lingered from asking questions.

“Look, I’m sorry.”

The voice was so sudden that I jumped, although I could immediately place who it belonged to. Not many people had a voice as deep and British and pleasant as Harry’s. “Sorry about what?” I questioned, turning to face Harry with a mask of cool indifference.

“About threatening you to stay away from Niall.” Harry shifted uncomfortably, like he felt guilty that he’d ever let himself get that angry at me. “It was too harsh and too premature. And no matter how shitty you were to me, it’s obvious that you actually care about him and that you’re not just using him to score a couple headlines.”

My heart started to race as I remembered the original plan, and I could feel my hard armor weakening. It was in that moment, looking at Harry’s apologetic face, feeling how incredibly guilty he felt about labeling me as a fame whore, which is exactly what I was, that I realized exactly what I had to do. I had to stop Heather’s plan, tell her that the whole thing was off, that I could never hurt Niall that way. After all, destroying him would do nothing but do the same to me.

“It’s okay,” I accepted. “After the way I treated you, I honestly don’t blame you. And I’m sorry that I used you. Just…” I stopped and took a breath, making sure that my eyes connected with his to deliver with as much sincerity as I could muster. “Believe me when I say that I’ve honestly changed, okay?”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” His voice was soft, like he was talking to an upset child. “I can see it in the way you look at him. I think everyone’s noticed.” There was a short silence before he finished, “Kindness suits you, by the way.”

“This is how I used to be before I became famous.” I’d never admitted that to anyone before, as I usually tried to pretend that I’d been a bitch my whole life, but I really just adopted the personality so it didn’t hurt when I had to step all over other people to get my career. I should have dropped the persona when I reached a high status, but by then, it had become a habit.

It just took the right people to bring me back down to Earth.