I woke up and instantly wanted to go back to sleep. My body ached. Head hammering with a pulse of its own. My throat hurt when I swallowed. A pinprick of pain stung my face. I reached up and found a small bandaid sitting across my cheek. It took me a long groggy moment to realize why I felt like the Hulk had thrown me around like Loki. The stalker.

I reached for my phone and called Tate. He answered on the fourth ring. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" he responded, groggily.

"No," I said rubbing my eyes.

"Three... AM!" he groaned. "Please tell me you are fine so I can go back to sleep."

"I'm fine," I answered.

"Good" he muttered.

"Hey, Tate," I called before he could hang up.

"Yeah?"

"How'd I get to the hotel room?"

"Just call him Laliana." Then Tate hung up like a little unhelpful, yet totally justified jerk.

I stared at my phone, and after a long pause, called Aiden. The person I had actually wanted to call. The phone hadn't finished its first ring before I heard him pick up. "Summers?"

"Hi," I said.

There was a long pause.

"Something wrong?" I heard him shuffling and then there was a gentle knock on the dividing room door I hadn't noticed before. I had forgotten that my hotel room had a door that attached two rooms together.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yes."

Aiden walked in, sporting a pair of sweatpants and a worn-out grey shirt. His hair poked up at odd ends. He hung up the phone and stopped a foot from my bed, silently taking me in. I still wore my clothes from earlier, my blond hair a wild mess of tangles.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"I wasn't sleeping well," he replied quietly.

We both stared at each other for a moment. I wasn't sure what to say. I just knew I had wanted to see him. But now the spontaneous phone call felt idiotic. Nothing good happens after 2 AM.

"Does it hurt?" Aiden asked, motioning to my cheek. To the small cut that the stalker had left behind.

I shook my head. "Not really." Out of all the things that had happened, the cut felt small. The cut was temporary where the fear felt like a permanent edition to my psyche.

"How'd I get here?" I asked rubbing my temples trying to calm my throbbing headache.

"You fell asleep in the car. I carried you up."

"Oh." It seemed to be the only word I was capable of saying. "Thanks," I added after another long pause.

He moved back towards the door. "Night Summers."

"Night Aiden," I echoed behind him, watching him go.

He stopped at the door, his back towards me. "I shouldn't have let you walk out there by yourself," he said quietly.

"I shouldn't have kept going the moment I realized I was walking by myself." My hands shook and I wove my fingers together to keep them steady.

"He can't hurt you anymore," Aiden said, hand on the doorknob.

"Does that mean you are leaving?" I asked into the darkness.

"You want me to," he replied before closing the door between us.

I flopped my head back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. "I don't though. Not really."

...

Aiden wasn't my bodyguard anymore. He wasn't my fake boyfriend anymore. But he was a celebrity in his own right. His face was everywhere. Tabloids showed pictures of him standing over the stalker, fist raised, ready to strike. Images of him holding me tight as flashes rained down on us. Videos of his heroics were all over the internet. How he had taken down his girlfriend's attacker and then held her until the police arrived. The ultimate chivalrous and heroic knight.

His name spread like wildfire and by the time I landed back in Los Angeles the following afternoon, Brandon had given Aiden his own set of bodyguards.

As dozens of guards swarmed us as we entered baggage claim side by side, I watched Aiden get ushered toward one car as Tate took me to another, neither one of us saying a word to the other.

Both cars moved into traffic and after we hit the freeway, I watched Aiden's car grow small, vanishing from view. I laid my head against the passenger window, tired. "Big day today," Tate said pulling me from my thoughts.

"You ready to jump into Seapunk Princess pre-production for the movie?"

I smiled. "After like five cups of coffee... and a nap.... and like five breakfast burritos."

Tate shot me a knowing smile, changing course. "Coming right up!"

...

My days were suddenly filled with movie meetings and writing chapters for my next book, while my evenings were packed with book touring. Sanders insisted that I keep at least one bodyguard with me just in case fans got out of hand. I insisted on Tate. I didn't get to control most aspects of my life, but that was something I could control. Tate had always been more of a buddyguard and that was how I liked things.

Aiden was out of the question with his level of popularity, and after I told Sanders that we were done pretending to fake date he vanished. He hadn't been in public since that night in Canada when he saved my life and caught the stalker. But his sudden disappearance only made people desperate for more of him.

I didn't know where he was, and I didn't allow myself to think about him. It was a challenge that I failed a lot. It was hard not to think about him when my fans assumed we were still dating and wanted to discuss him at every event.

Pictures of us were plastered everywhere, making him a constant reminder. And when the studio picked the cast for the movie, the leading man who played the captain had such a striking similarity to Aiden, that his popularity only grew.

It didn't seem to matter that he wasn't there. He was being remembered whether he wanted it or not.

"He must hate it," Tate said one morning as he walked me to the studio for the movie's first table read. I didn't respond, scanning the script I had already read three times still in disbelief that the movie was actually happening.

It was strange to see pieces of my words quilted into a story that had changed. The story was more than just mine now. But the scriptwriters had still somehow kept the heart of my story intact.

"Northern Cal," Tate said when I didn't respond.

"Hmm?" I asked glancing up.

"Aiden. He's north." He offered me a sad smile. "Just thought you'd want to know."

I shook my head as we walked into the studio lobby. "You don't have to tell me."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I know. But you can think better when you have a bit of information about him." He gave me a friendly pat on the back. "Just trying to help you focus."

I shot him a grin. "Thanks. But I'm pretty sure you keep tabs on him just as much for yourself as you do for me."

He laughed. "Nothing wrong with loving your cousin!" Just then the secretary walked by and stopped, staring at Tate wide-eyed. Then she walked away horrified by his not-so-secret declaration of love for his cousin.

"No! Wait! I'm not in love with my cousin! That was out of context!" Tate shouted after her.

I started laughing, doubling over. "You did that on purpose Laliana!" Tate groaned. "She thinks I'm crazy now!"

After taking in a calming breath, walked into the conference room and I giggled quietly. "Better that she knows that upfront."

"You suck!" He hissed as the door closed between us. He wasn't allowed inside studio meetings. So I got to watch him glower through the glass wall between us, enjoying it more than I should have.

Seapunk Princess's movie director, a woman in her late forties with kind eyes and short-cropped hair gave me a tight hug that enveloped me in a kind warmth. "Laliana!"

I hesitantly hugged her back, still growing used to how comfortable she was with everyone she met. She was a bundle of focused energy. It wasn't a personality I was accustomed to. But it felt nice being around others who were so expressive.

"Hi Jamie," I said taking my seat next to her.

"You ready to have your words come to life?" Jamie asked wiggling her eyebrows.

I laughed. "I think it's all of our words now. You guys have made some awesome changes."

She waved her arm, looking flustered by the compliment. "My gosh, you are sweet. I forget how much nicer book people are."

I tugged on a strand of my hair, looking away. "You all seem really nice."

The others shuffled in, taking the seats around the table. Jamie leaned close whispering. "They are actors dear. It's their job."

Three familiar faces shuffled into the room, giving me a flash to my past. They instantly spotted me and smiled in unison. "Oh my gosh," I said standing up, a large grin on my face.

"What are you three doing here?!?" I asked walking around the table to hug my old roommates. I had gone to high school with Belle, Kristie, and Amy before being transferred to my boarding school. They had surprised me before my move by sending in my short story assignment into a magazine, getting it published.

I wrapped all three of them into a large hug, enjoying the sound of their laughter as my question made my voice go up two octaves, like an excited child.

I took a step back and took in Belle, Kristie, and Amy. All three of them had similar brown hair that landed in large curls on their shoulders. Belle was the tallest of the three and had sharp green eyes and a round face. Kristie's face was all sharp corners and light blue eyes. Amy was the shortest, coming up to my chin and had deep brown eyes. "Are you acting in the movie? That's great!"

"We are assisting with the table read," Amy corrected.

I blushed, embarrassment leading me to tug on a strand of my hair. Great, foot in mouth already. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. I just assumed you knew who all the actors were," Amy replied.

I snorted. "Nope. First table read. It's the first time I'm seeing everyone."

Belle, Kristie, and Amy all exchanged glances. "Oh. We assumed you were more involved," Kristie said.

"How long has it been?" I asked, changing subjects.

"Seven months ago," Belle chirped. "We all had a catch-up lunch, remember?"

I ran my fingers through my hair, letting out a breath of disbelief. "It feels way longer than that. I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch."

Kristie shrugged giving me a knowing smile, "It's fine. You are a big shot these days. But we do expect you to do better in the future." All three girls laughed. It sounded odd, leaving me confused. I chalked it up to nerves.

"Take your seats and let's begin!" Jamie called.

I waved goodbye and moved back to the other side of the table, thankful to have space between us. They left me self-conscious of their word choice. It was the words do better that seemed to sink into my brain, tugging on a memory I couldn't quite grasp. Like a dream. The harder you tried to remember, the faster it tried to flee.

All three of them stared at me from across the table, their smiles bright, but something was off about it. Why didn't it reach their eyes?

Jamie's words came back as a warning. They are actors dear. It's their job.

---

Have you ever lived with roommates? Did you enjoy the experience? Hated it?