Fame ***

Niall’s fingers laced through mine, our arms swaying back and forth gently as we walked, after the shoot ended. Throughout the day, the boys treated Jem like one of their own, showing him the different equipment, explaining how certain effects worked, answering questions about what it was like to be on the road and chased by hundreds of screaming girls. I couldn’t help but grin when I thought about how easily they folded Jem into their mix, and I wasn’t sure how to put how much I appreciated it into words for Niall.

So I just went for the basics. “Thank you so much for that, Niall.”

“For what?” he asked absently, his voice taking on a somewhat sing-song tone.

“For bringing Jem on set and making him feel so at home. I think this was probably one of the most important things in the world for him.”

“Oh, it was no big deal. He’s a cool guy. And that letter he showed us, the one from his sister?” I nodded to show that I knew what he was talking about. “That was just the cutest thing. I wish I could see the look on her face when she gets it.”

“Me, too.” I took a small breath and stared up at the dark sky. Because of the LA lights, no stars were really visible, but the near-full moon was clear and bright in the distance, keeping the space in front of us from behind shrouded in complete, thick darkness.

“Is your driver coming back to get you?” Niall asked, his lips suddenly close to my ear, his breath warm on my neck.

I shivered subtly and tried to hide the goose bumps that rose on the back of my neck. “Why? Do you want him to?”

“I’m just wondering, since I figured that we were going to spend some time together. Just the two of us.”

“Well, since Jem did insist on calling a taxi…” I bit my lip just enough to make his eyes drift down to my mouth before pulling out my cell phone and dialing my driver’s number. “I think that can be arranged.”



As we walked through the front door, our hands intertwined once more, I nibbled at my lip and wondered how he was going to approach the upcoming events. Was he going to expect some kind of small talk, where I asked him what he wanted to drink, and then we chatted about nothing important for an awkward twenty minutes before he made a move? Or would he go straight for the kill?

My palm grew slick as my heart raced at the possibilities, but before I could say a word, I was pressed against the wall, and Niall’s lips were on mine.

I relaxed under his touch, my arms snaking around his neck and pulling his face down to my level. His fingers played with the hem of my thin shirt, brushing against the sensitive skin of my lower back and stomach, making me shiver against him.

“I missed you so much,” he mumbled as he pulled away, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear and pressing a kiss against my nose.

“I missed you, too,” I responded in a soft voice.

And with that, we were together again, so tightly that it was almost like we’d become a single person. The sweet, romantic kisses were gone, as something far more lustful and needy had taken their place. In what seemed like seconds, our shirts were on the floor on top of one another, our more sensitive skin finally touching as I wrapped my legs around him, making the distance between us almost nonexistent.

“Niall,” I breathed as his lips ventured down to my neck, his hands exploring without any kind of hesitation.

“Yeah?” he muttered against my skin, his slightly calloused hands tightening on my waist.

“We should probably move this into my bedroom. The window is right there, and the curtain isn’t drawn. You have no idea how easy it is for good paparazzi to get pictures of me up here.”

He brought his head up and faced where I’d mentioned, blinking his blue eyes like he’d snapped out of a trance and had never seen anything like the bay window before. Maybe he hadn’t noticed it when we’d first walked in. It wasn’t a crazy idea, since he’d probably been focused on more important things.

Or maybe he was in the middle of realizing what I had: that I was actually asking him to get out of the limelight, away from the cameras, so we could carry on our relationship. I wasn’t milking our situation, angling him or myself to make sure the pictures would be flattering when they were pasted on the front page of every tabloid imaginable. I just wanted him.

A fire lit behind his eyes, and a grin spread across his face. “As you wish.”

I wanted to laugh and point out the quote, which was so obviously from Princess Bride, but he scooped me up into his arms and carried me into the bedroom before I could say another word.



I blinked a couple of times, forcing my eyes to adjust to the darkness and focus on the boy sleeping next to me. His chest rose and fell with every deep breath, his mouth fallen open just slightly, his blonde hair mussed from a mixture of tossing and turning in his sleep and me running my fingers through it before we'd gone to sleep.

He was so beautiful. Though he looked young and innocent in sleep, with a sort of silvery glow coming through from the window, he still looked attractive to me.

I took a short, calming breath before picking up my phone and tip-toeing out of the room. Although I probably should have gotten something to cover up so I wasn’t walking around my house naked, I didn’t have the motivation to find the robe I’d lost during a certain encounter about six months earlier.
I dialed the number I knew by heart and held the phone to my ear as it rang. I knew she’d answer, since she never really seemed to sleep, and after four rings, I was proven right.

“Lilah?” Although she sounded confused, her voice didn’t have any hints of grogginess, which would have been a sure sign she’d been sleeping at three twenty-seven in the morning.

“I can’t do it,” I whispered, hoping to God that Niall wouldn’t wake up and come looking for me. “I can’t betray Niall like that, and I won’t do it.”

“Oh, God. You’re getting feelings for him, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am? I’m not going to tell lies about him to the tabloids, and neither are you. It’s done. Get over it and move on.”

“Lilah, you can't do this. I already have the e-mail typed up to send to People and InTouch. It’s too late to back out now.”

“It’s not too late. You can delete the e-mails.”

“Lilah, you cannot do this!” Her voice had gone from confused to full-blown screeching, and I gritted my teeth to brace myself for the hysteria. “Do you realize how long I’ve been planning this?! This will be the ultimate move for your career! No one will ever say, ‘Lilah who?’ ever again! This has to go through. As long as I work for you, this plan is happening, no matter what your hormones want.”

“Then you’re fired.”