Chapter 28

Rocky’s P.O.V.

“What the hell?” I shout, pushing Alice away from me but the smirk on her face tells me I messed up, big time.  

“I was just collecting what you owed me,” Alice says, prancing off to her car without another word and I notice that someone else is now sitting in the passenger seat of her car.  I contemplate running after her but decide that that could just create more trouble for myself.  

“Fuck!” I exclaim, slamming the front door behind me, running a hand though my hair before walking into the living room to be greeted by Ross and Ryland playing Xbox.  

“How’d the fake date go?” Ross asks, his eyes still glued to the TV screen.  

“I fucked up big time,” I state, plopping down on the couch and leaning my head back, closing my eyes.  

“What do you mean?” Ryland asks as Ross pauses the game, my brothers turning their full attention towards me.  

“Well the night was as fine as I would have imagined it.  I was as nice as I could be and allowed her to take pictures that I’m sure she already posted for everyone to see, but that’s okay because that’s what I expected.  What I didn’t see coming was the kiss she just gave me outside that would have been completely fine since I pushed her away so fast, except for the fact that I’m pretty sure she had someone take a picture of us.”

“Oh shit, dude,” Ross says, understanding the predicament I’m in.  

“I have to talk to Mary,” I announce, realization striking me that Alice could be posting that picture at any second and I want to be the one to tell Mary about it, not her twitter feed.  

“They’re not home,” Ross tells me right after I stand up.  “After Elizabeth and I got back all of the girls took Nicole out to try and get her mind off of everything.  They left about thirty minutes ago.”

“Of course,” I sigh, falling back down on the couch, deciding to call her instead as I pull my phone out of my pocket.  After hearing the fourth ring I know that I’ll have to leave a voicemail and sure enough I do, telling Mary to call me as soon as she gets the chance.  

“Is it really all that bad that Alice got a picture of you guys kissing?” Ryland asks me after I hang up.  “I mean, if it keeps her off of your back, isn’t it for the best?  She can use the picture to distract the fans and then you and Mary can hide behind all of that crazy shit the fans will stir up.”  

“I hate it when you’re right,” I tell him, shaking my head but knowing that what he said was actually true.  If anything that picture will just solidify the rumor that Alice and I are back together and she’ll gain back all of that fame that she craves so bad.  The only problem is that at the same time, Mary and I might have to be even more careful because if a fan spots us together and word gets back to Alice, we’re screwed.  

“I thought I heard your voice,” Riker says as he walks into the room and sits next to me.  “What the hell happened tonight?”

“Well, I went on a date with Alice because I don’t want to be blackmailed by her and she kind of abused the night but it may be for the best.  I still haven’t decided yet,” I tell my older brother.  

“She’s already posted all about your night, just so you know,” he says, showing me his phone which was opened to Alice’s twitter account.  So far she’s only posted pictures from the Ferris wheel and her most recent tweet was 47 seconds ago, claiming that tonight was the most unforgettable night of her life followed by a heart emoji.  When does she plan on posting the picture of the kiss? I wonder.  

“Nice to see you out among the living,” Ross comments as I hand Riker his phone back.  

“Yeah, well, I figured moping around in my room won’t get me anywhere so…” he trails off.  

“Do you plan on talking to Nicole?” Ryland asks while I stay silent, not wanting my brother to get hurt again but knowing he needs to talk to Nicole.  Her side of the story still isn’t all that great but it’s a hell of a lot better than the prostitute idea that Riker has in his head.  

“I know I have to.  Eventually.  I’ll possibly talk to her tomorrow,” he says, grabbing another controller to add himself into the game, obviously showing that he is done with the conversation.  I join in, knowing the best thing for right now is to get my mind off of everything as well.   

              __________________________________________________

Just as my guy is about to die in the game, my phone starts to ring.  I pause the game, hoping it’s Mary and am glad to see that it is.  

“Saved by the bell,” I say as I stand up and walk into the kitchen, glancing back to watch as my brothers continue the game and my portion of the screen goes black as my player dies. 

“Hey,” I say, answering the call.

“Hi, sorry, I just got your call.  We were at the movies,” Mary apologizes.

“That’s okay.  Was the movie any good?” I ask.  

“Yeah, it was just a cheesy chick flick.  We all guessed how it would end five minutes in,” she laughs to herself.  “So what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“I’d rather tell you in person.  Are you guys on your way home yet?”

“We’re just getting in the car now so I should be home in about ten minutes.”

“Can you come over then?” I ask, digging through the fridge as my stomach growls. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon Rocky,” Mary says, hanging up as I reach in and grab an apple after failing to find anything else.  Then I sit at the island and wait.  Wait for Mary to come over and wait to tell her about everything with Alice.

Elizabeth’s P.O.V.

Five days later I sat in Ross’s dressing room waiting for him to finish up a live taping for Austin & Ally.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be on set watching, but right now my friends are more important and I have some damage control to take care of.  

“I mean, I get everything that happened on their date and I really appreciate him telling me about it but this anticipation as to whether or not Alice will post that picture is driving us crazy!” Mary exclaims as she sat across from me on Ross’s black couch.  “It’s all either of us can think about and it’s really driving a wedge between our relationship.”

It’s true – I’ve seen it firsthand how heavily this Alice drama is hanging over their heads.  They’ve spent a lot of time together and gone on an official date, just the two of them, but there’s always a weird tension between them.  I can tell that Rocky is nervous about Alice posting the picture of their kiss and what the fans will say.  While Mary is just nervous about seeing the picture, even though she’s well aware that it’s fake, she still had a tough time looking at any of the pictures Alice posted from that night.  But she’s a strong girl and I know she’ll be able to get past this.  Both of them will because I know their relationship is stronger than any drama.  

“I know, it sucks.  But this is what she wants.  She wants you guys to squirm and create an unstable relationship because that leaves an open window for her to climb through,” I tell her.  “So just try your hardest to get past it and forget about it.  At least show her that it doesn’t bug you guys.”

“And Nicole,” I say, turning towards the blonde girl sitting next to me.  “What’s wrong with you and Riker?  I thought you guys talked about everything?” I ask, wondering why she was complaining to me over the phone earlier today about needing advice, which led to my best friends coming down to the studio.  

A couple of nights ago, Riker agreed to talk to Nicole and she shared her side of the story.  It was pretty obvious that he wasn’t pleased with the truth, but you could tell that it was a whole hell of a lot better than what he had originally heard from Nate.  They seem to be taking their relationship a little bit slower now but I think it’s for the best.  

“We did and everything seems to be going great now.  I’m just afraid that something bad will happen again between us and I really don’t want that to happen,” she pouts.  

“Do you have any secrets that you’re keeping from him?  Because that was the whole problem you guys had to begin with.”

Nicole seems to take a moment to mull it over. “No, not that I can think of.  I mean, obviously he doesn’t know every little thing about me but there’s nothing drastically huge that I’m keeping from him or anything.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” I say, glad that her problem wasn’t anywhere as near as pressing as she made it sound.  

“You’re right,” Mary says, “we don’t have anything to worry about.  But I think you do.”  She hands me her phone which is open to Instagram and displays a blurry, yet distinct picture.  Right away I recognize the floppy blond hair and the hard back, with his hand intertwined with the one of a tall brunette.  

“Of course,” I sigh, “when one problem is resolved, another one has to arise.”