This was a lot harder to write than it used to be. In the past couple of months I've actually completely changed my writing style, but it's not like I can apply that to any new chapters of this story, so it was just really hard writing in this style and I feel like it's really robotic and boring, and for that I'm sorry. I also left a lot out of this that I shouldn't have for sake of being thorough and consistent, but my goal was getting the main of the story written out and posted for y'all, and I wrote bit by bit day by day so my storyline got a bit messed up along the way. I just hope it's decent enough for the couple of you that still read this.

Also, after this, there will only be two more chapters + an epilogue.

Chapter 21 – Clarity

"A clock ticks till it breaks your glass, and I drown in you again." – Clarity (Zedd)

And just like that, Jade was a freaking mess all over again.

She knew she had no right to get so upset over Kendall sleeping with another girl. She deserted him with no explanation and between all the articles about her and Bryan, he had no reason to hold on to her. But damn it, she knew the truth. And the truth hurt. She'd learned how to handle it, but now she had been ripped open again, she was vulnerable and miserable.

And there was a chance she'd run into the guys again.

She wasn't prepared for it. It had been hard enough when she ran out of the party and James had called after her. Like he was worried about her. Like he still cared. It took everything she had to keep running away. And now she had to go into avoidance mode. She hated that she had to work; she had a couple of hours on the movie set and then had to move to another studio to shoot a promo, which is what the guys were doing as well. They just weren't shooting the same promo, or in the same studio, thankfully.

Jade was sitting in her personal makeup artist's room, curled up in a chair, done for the day and hiding. She made the mistake of getting online on her phone; in the British celebrity tabloid section was an article about her and Kendall. She cried out at the picture of Kendall's back, carrying Jade away to the ambulance, yet she still read the article. When it closed with, "…once Schmidt was seemingly stopped from escorting Thomas to the hospital, it appeared that he had a panic attack of sorts before bandmates Carlos Pena and James Maslow rushed him away to a back exit. It's pretty safe to say that Schmidt never exactly moved on." She broke down. She knew how bad his anxiety could get, had witnessed fits and episodes, but it had never gotten bad enough to turn into a full blown panic attack.

"Jade? Is everything alright?" Jade had forgotten Sarabeth, her makeup girl, was still in there, and now she was making a show crying her eyes out.

The girl shook her head frantically. "No, it's not," she sobbed before jumping up and running out the door. She needed to be alone.

She rushed past Becca and her protests for Jade to stop and just talk to her, and ran straight for a stupid closet that had been her place of solitude in the past. She didn't realize she had been followed.

Once Becca made sure that was where Jade had gone, she rushed back, past Studio C, and all the way to Studio E, where a certain four boys were finishing up their solo promos. And just like Becca was the luckiest person in the world, she saw James crossing the hallway into the catering room, alone. That was exactly what and who she needed.

But she had to plan this carefully as well. If there were other people in the catering room, she couldn't very well just tell him what she needed of him. There were also cameras. She just couldn't have someone hear… She whipped out her phone and began typing away in her Notepad. She read over it, satisfied, and then made her way into the room, hoping James wouldn't give away too much if he recognized her from the night before.

"Hello James!" she exclaimed, relieved to see he was alone in the room. His eyes immediately showed that he recognized her, but before he could ask any questions, she pressed on. "I'm Becca. I'm with the tech crew, and I just wanted to run something by you quickly?" James seems to sense the urgency and secrecy behind her tone because his questioning expression disappeared, and he greeted her with a friendly smile, like they'd never crossed paths before, and took the phone from her hand.

She watched the curiosity melt from his face as well, turning into something more like, well, shock, as he read through the paragraph. "James, if you exit this door, turn right, go all the way down the hallway and turn left, go all the way down that one and turn right, and go into the second door on the right, you will find Jade (probably crying so be prepared for that). You need to talk to her. Make sure no one sees you go in, and tell her Becca sent you and that I said she needs to tell you everything. Everything. Now say, "Sure Becca, that sounds great!" or something of the sort, and give me my phone back."

James had the phone longer than Becca thinks it takes him to read it, and notices how tight his hand is clenched around it. His eyes scanned over the words again and again until he finally gave the phone back with a brilliant smile (wow he was a good actor) and said, "Sure Becca! That sounds really great!" He turned back to the food he didn't seem to care much about anymore and picked at it, his mouth twitching and his temples pulsing as he clenched his teeth, mulled things over in his mind. And then, "Fuck it," he mumbled under his breath before he brushed past Becca and hurried in the directions he had memorized from Becca's phone.

Once his hand was on the doorknob, he hesitated. The hurt ran thick through him again as he ridiculously remembered how his best friend abandoned him, and how her best friend cheated on him. But then he thought he heard footsteps coming around the corner and he realized answers might lie behind the door and then he heard soft sobbing and before he knew it, he was throwing himself into the closet.

"J-James?" Jade gazed up at him helplessly from where she was curled up in the corner, face flushed and wet eyes swollen. "James," she breathed out. But quickly she realized she sounded relieved to see him, which she was, but that couldn't fly, right? Jade didn't have her old friends anymore. Any of them. Her bottom lip trembled as she watched him contemplate what to say, as he stood there more awkwardly than she had ever seen him. "What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

With an aggravated huff, he fixed his eyes on her. "What are you doing here?" There were many layers to that question.

"I-I-I can't… James…"

He shook his head. "No," he said, and the girl slowly, shakily stood up in front of him. "No, Jade. Don't. Becca sent me here."

"What-"

"She said to tell me everything."

"W-What?"

James sighed. "She told me where you were, and said to tell you to tell me everything. I don't know what everything entails, Jade, but if it'll clear some things up, give me, give Kendall some answers, you need to tell me now."

Tears were streaming hot down her face all over again, and she cried out, "I didn't want to leave, James. I swear I didn't! They made me."

Silence dwelled between them as James let those words sit in his brain. They made me.

But then there were audible footsteps heading in their directions. Jade flinched back in surprise. "No no no," she murmured. "No one can see us together, James! They- They…" She frantically glanced around the dim closet. There was absolutely nowhere for one of them to hide, and as soon as James grabbed her, she clicked with the same idea. She nodded, silently agreeing as she pushed him toward the wall behind him.

But he shook his head and with firm hands on her hips, flipped them around, his body caging hers against the wall. He splayed a large hand across the side of her head, hiding her as much as he could. "Are they really as crazy as you're making them out to be?" he whispered with their noses pressed together, whoever was in the hallway beginning to jiggle the apparently stuck doorknob.

She glanced at the rattling door with worried eyes and back at her old friend. "If the door opens, kiss me."

"Jade-" he began to protest.

But then the door opened.

The kiss was hot—could've been really, um, hot had the pair ever had feelings other than platonic toward each other—and rough, all teeth and tongues and not matching up exactly the right way. Jade ran her hands across the back of James' head just as someone began sputtering in shock in the doorway. But then a familiar, unpleasant voice struck Jade's ears. "Looks like this one's occupied already. We'll have to find ourselves somewhere else."

Jade's grip in James' hair tightened at the sound of Bryan's smug voice. The bastard. At this point in time there was no one else in the world that she disliked more than him. Almost hitting her the night before and then forcing her back to the events after she'd collapsed were just the last straws for her. And all his acting like he cared all this time… Jade may not have reciprocated his supposed feelings but she had never technically lied to him. And here he was, looking for a closet for an urgent, casual fuck.

She heard the girl with him giggle. "Good to know we're not the only ones with this idea. Come on, Bry. Plenty of other dingy closets for us." The pair withdrew from the occupied space with a laugh, and just before the door closed, they heard, "Nice muscles, American boy."

James accidentally bit Jade's bottom lip in his surprised falter and her eyes watered with the pain as she shrunk under him, desperate for none of her to be seen while still holding his head firmly in place. "He's still listening," she whispered between sloppy kisses, and James growled, growled, caging her head with his arms against the wall, pressing her body into it.

But he stopped kissing her. They panted, open mouth to open mouth, until James licked his lips and flinched back slightly. "Shit, I think you're bleeding. I'm sorry," he murmured.

Jade let out a soft, hysterical laugh that she desperately hoped didn't sound too much like herself, and gripped his shirt in her fists for some form of purchase. She was shaking at this point, and leaned her forehead into the crook of her old friend's neck until footsteps outside the door finally sounded and faded away with giggles trailing after them. Jade exhaled and shook her head against James' skin. What had just fucking happened? Could she even face him after nearly forcing him to make out with her like that? And God, what about Kendall?

"This," James said, taking a small step back from her. "-never happened."

She was taken aback by his grin and showed him a relieved one. "I was really hoping you'd say that." Then she sighed and started sliding down the wall; James gently grabbed her hands to steady her—she was still shaking—and eased himself down in front of her as well.

"You know…" He bumped her knee with their hands and then let go of her. "I trusted you enough to make out with you on command…" He sighed. "Care to tell me why I had to hide you like that?"

Jade hit her head back against the wall. "I'm so sorry," she groaned. "And yeah-… yeah, I-I'll tell you… since Becca said-… I just… God, James they knew it was you, if Bryan had just an inkling that it was me, it's going to be a disaster." Or a lot of disasters. All interconnected.

"Wait that was Bryan? What the fuck Jade, aren't you two together-"

"No."

"What?"

"He and I were never together, James." And Jade had never felt more relieved to say words before.

With just that tidbit of information, things started to click into place for the man. "You said they made you leave…"

Jade nodded. "I mean, it's not like she physically forced me or anything… but she threatened Kendall's job, and then Logan's. If I continued to be uncooperative, she would've moved on to threaten you and Carlos too." James just soaked in the new information as he stared blankly at her hands that were fidgeting anxiously in her lap. "I-It wasn't just a 'no more BTR' kind of threat. She said she'd make it impossible for them to find work ever again and I-I panicked… she told me all of this less than 24 hours before y'all were set to come back from Germany and I just didn't know what else to do but go along with it-"

Her tears were back and James snapped to attention, taking her hands in his again. "Hey…" he murmured, shaking his head. "That was-… really stupid of you."

Jade pretended it didn't feel like she had just been stabbed instead of spoken to. "I know," she whimpered. "The longer I stay here the more it sinks in how badly I hurt everyone. And I hate myself for it."

"No, no, Jade, I-… I didn't mean it like that… you just should've talked to someone."

"I kinda did. I mean, I talked to Scott, who was on my side by the way, and even he was all 'just go and I'll get you outta there as soon as I can'," she droned miserably. "But I haven't heard from him. I shouldn't be surprised, I guess… he wouldn't have been able to contact me without being on her radar…"

James furrowed his eyebrows. "You keep saying she, her…"

"Take on wild guess," Jade sighed.

Without missing a beat, he answered, "Stacey Carter."

"Bingo. We thought she was a bitch before? She upgraded to psycho bitch and arranged all of this. She's convinced Kendall's going to be a giant star, that she's going to be responsible for it, and that I was too much of a distraction for him."

"That's insane."

Jade shook her head. "That's just the start."

She told her old friend about how Stacey Carter had people everywhere, how she tracked Jade through her phone—which she had luckily left in Sarabeth's studio—how she traced her phone and text records, which is why she could never call any of her old friends in secret, or answer their calls. How after she answered Kendall's payphone call, she couldn't even contact her family without someone else present. How she had been forced, with the same threats toward Kendall, to fake a relationship with Bryan and live with him. She told him about the closet. The staged and scripted dates and interviews. Her strictly enforced lifestyle. She even told him about letting herself get close to Bryan just because she wanted to feel something beside numb, and then how he almost hit her last night and forced her back to the event after they were done at the hospital. And lastly about her run in with Kendall and Lauren.

"Kendall told me what happened with Lauren last night." When Jade looked at him exasperatedly he held his hands up in defense. "I just wanted to make sure the stories matched up, okay?" And then he filled her in on what Kendall overheard after Jade hit the girl and ran out, which wasn't much, honestly, just provided him with more proof, and how Kendall dumped the girl on her ass when they all got back to the hotel. Jade did her best to hide the intense relief she felt hearing that piece of information. But even with a year separating them, James still knew her well; he saw it evident on her face. His lips curled into a grin. "Lauren had a pretty nasty bruise on her face this morning."

A part of him was still upset, still angry with Jade and what her leaving caused, but that would take time to go away. For now he soaked in the feeling of finally having answers, of maybe possibly having his best girl friend back.

Jade looked down bashfully. "My hand stung for like half an hour after that."

James laughed heartily, keeping in mind to stay somewhat quiet. "Don't feel bad. You just did what none of us could do." The girl gazed up at him curiously at that. "We hated her," he breathed out. "Kendall didn't even like her. He just wanted a distraction from- well… you know."

Staring down at their hands that were still locked together after all the time talking had passed, Jade nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes again, but she forced her emotions down. Maybe James coming after her had been a horrible idea that was going to ruin all of their careers, or maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe they could do something to fix this now. After a couple moments of silence, Jade averted her attention back to James' face with teary eyes. "How have you been, James?" she asked tenderly. He had his own form of love disaster that they hadn't said one word about yet.

His expression fell and he shrugged slowly. "Both my girls left me…" He smiled sadly and Jade slumped, overcome with sorrow. "I had to try and pick up the pieces that was Kendall. Had to help him through all of the breakdowns. It definitely kind of took a toll on me I guess. And then when Leslie-…" Jade squeezed his hands supportively. "I've just felt pretty dead for the past month or so. Numb. Whatever."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so so sorry. Leslie and I both just… caused so much drama for you guys… y'all deserve so much better…"

James shook his head. "I'm not going to defend Leslie, because she did a shitty thing and I'm too far from and probably never will forgive her, but… I can defend you." Jade started to protest and he cut her off. "No. Look. What you did was beyond shitty… from an outsider's perspective. And we've all been outsiders without even knowing it. You had a reason. You didn't want people to lose their jobs. You were put in an impossible situation and you did what you thought was best. And you had no control after that. I get it, and I'll get over the other stuff. Kendall will too. We can make this all better."

Pursing her lips together as if trying to withhold emotion, Jade leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the man in a warm hug. "I love you, James," she mumbled.

"I love you, too, Jade." James sighed into her hair. "Platonically though, right? 'Cause I mean that kiss was pretty hot-"

Jade laughed and hit his arm as she pulled away. "Shut up, let's not make that whole making out thing even more awkward." She covered her face with her hands. "I can't believe I made you do that. It was just all I could think of on the spot!"

James chuckled and pulled her hands away from her head. "To be honest that was pretty much the only thing that would've been believable as far as getting people to go away and hiding you goes." He shrugged. "Just consider yourself lucky you've got a best friend that will make out with you when danger strikes." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Jade shoved at him but grinned sheepishly, warming all over at him calling himself her best friend. "Yeah you heard me," James shoved her back. "You're still my best friend."

And a little bit later, after much protesting, arguing, whining, and even some more tears, James left her with a command to stay in the damn closet while he ran out to do something as quickly and discreetly as possible. James promised he would be back as soon as possible.

James did his best not to break into a full out sprint to BTR's dressing room, hoping more than anything Kendall hadn't caught a ride back to the hotel yet. He'd been in that closet with Jade for well over an hour.

Just before he turned the corner that would put him a mere few feet away from the dressing room door, someone called after him with a smug "Hey!" James sneered, but cleared his expression before turning to face the guy. "Maslow, right?"

"Well I generally go by James, but uh, sure dude."

Bryan clapped the other man on the arm heartily. "Looked like you were having fun in that closet. Tell me, who was your closet-call?"

James could hear the suspicion in the Brit's voice, and he refused to give him any idea that it was Jade. He shrugged casually. "My hair and makeup girl."

With another clap on the arm, Bryan grinned a shit-eating grin. "Good that, chap. For a moment there I thought maybe you had stolen Jade away for yourself or something." James did his best not to tense. "I can't find her, you see, but of course you wouldn't smooch on her, being she's your best friend's ex-lover and all. That would be just wrong."

James scoffed. "Wrong, and impossible. I haven't even seen Jade since the Upfronts after party last night."

He realized Bryan wasn't smiling anymore, a flat expression in place instead. "Good."

"Bryan, are you harassing people again?" James had never been more relieved to hear someone's voice. He saw Becca approaching behind Bryan.

"Oh, cousin, I would never harass anyone. I'm sure you know that." Judging by the dirty look she shot at him, it was safe to say she didn't know that.

While the guy had his back to James, the latter made wide eyes at Becca, 'get him away' he mouthed just before Bryan turned back around.

"Sorry mate, got some business to tend to. So nice chatting, though."

James grunted and turned away, desperately hoping Becca could get the dude away, otherwise James wouldn't be able to go through with his little plan. He slipped in through the dressing room door, chancing one glance back at the retreating duo. They were heading both away from the dressing room, and the closet. Good.

"Where the hell have you been?" Logan nearly shouted, seemingly more annoyed than James had ever witnessed.

"First of all, shut your fucking mouth!" James whispered harshly. He glanced around the room like there was going to be someone lurking in the corner. Then he pulled up a chair in front of the three guys sitting on the couch. "Second… I was with Jade."

"Seriously?" was Carlos' response, while Logan's expression fell clean from his face and Kendall looked as hurt as a kicked puppy.

He focused his attention on Kendall, leaning forward. "I got all of the answers we've been looking for. She didn't want to leave. You were right."

Kendall's eyes widened and looked like they could fall out as James started his quick, shortened version of what Jade told him. As the story drug on, the blond's face emoted relief and clarity, like a light bulb had been lit in his brain. He was pacing, running his fingers through his hair anxiously by the time James finished his spiel.

"I knew it. I fucking knew it," he mumbled into the silence. And then he was staring at James. "I have to- I have to see her. Show me where she is…?"

Logan narrowed his eyes, speaking for the first time since after James walked in, "Just like that, Kendall?"

"W-What?"

"Just like that, you're going after her, fucking trying to get her back?"

Kendall's mouth fell open in disbelief. "I-… yeah? Did you hear any of what James just said? She didn't want any of it. She was forced into it all. She saved my job, and yours too, by the way, in case you missed that part-… whatever, my life, my choices. James. I need to see her."

The brunette in question glanced between his friends uncertainly before answering Kendall. "…Yeah, just… let me make sure the coast is clear, alright?"

Before he could even stand, Logan was on his feet. "Do what you want. I get that you still care about her with all the one true love shit, but this just isn't even remotely right! Maybe you missed what she put you through for the past eight and a half fucking months, but I didn't." He barely even took a breath. "You're just now getting back on your feet, only to dive right back into depression."

"Logan-"

"She's not going to be able to get out of her movie contract, dude. What the fuck is going to be different after this?"

"Just knowing-"

The mere expression—like Kendall was the most hopeless case he had ever witnessed—shut the blond up in a second. And then Logan stormed out of the room. Carlos seemed uneasy as ever, staring after him until he just got up and followed without a word. James moved his eyes to Kendall, who appeared somewhere between dumbfounded and crestfallen.

The group was obviously split on feelings toward Jade.

James watched the battle work itself through Kendall until his mouth set in an obvious firm decision. They stared at one another for a long moment until the brunette nodded and told his friend to wait where he was, then walked to the door and peaked out. With impeccable timing, Becca rounded the corner—alone—and headed for him. "Did you get rid of Bryan?" he whispered.

She nodded. "Sent him home, where he knows Jade won't go, so it won't look suspicious as it normally would if she doesn't show up for a while."

"What about Jade being tracked through her phone? It's in her makeup girl's room I think… but if someone goes looking for her…"

"I'll take it to my place," Becca confirmed. "All they'll do is call if she's needed and I can say she's in the loo or something."

Now James nodded. "Thank you."

With a smile, Becca spun on her heels and trotted away.

Jade was getting restless. She had been in a closet for hours with only her thoughts swirling around her mind to occupy her without James there. She still couldn't believe all that had happened. She knew she trusted Becca, but sending James to Jade was going beyond anything Jade ever expected. She was so torn though. It made her ridiculously happy to be around James again; it wasn't quite Kendall but it was normal—minus that whole kissing debacle that they're never talking about again—and it was right. And it just made her miss everyone even more. But if this little meeting backfired, they'd be in huge trouble. And her disappearing to London and suffering through all of the crap she had suffered through would be all for nothing.

Maybe I should send James away when he gets back. Maybe I should stop letting my hopes raise. It's not like they're gonna sweep me up and away from this place-

Her thoughts were cut short when the door cracked open and a body slipped through. She scrambled to her feet, preparing herself for any possible situation.

Or at least she thought so until she saw Kendall standing there.

"Kendall?" she murmured in disbelief.

"Jade."

She whimpered, "Kendall."

And then his soft, warm lips found hers in the dark space, guiding himself more by memory than sight as one of his hands grazed across the nape of her neck, pushing her hair away and holding the back of her head, while his other arm snaked around her waist, clutching onto her for dear life. She clasped his hand on the back of her head, lacing their fingers desperately, touching his face all over with her other. His jaw, cheek, eyebrow, ear, and she ran her fingers through his now short, darker hair, then gently slid her fingers down his face, finding his eyelashes and cheeks wet. Only then did she realize tears were streaming uncontrollably down her own face.

She ripped her lips away from his, choking on a sob that had been building in her chest since their reunion. She frantically pulled him by the back of his neck, just wanting him to hold her as tight as he possibly could. He tucked his lips and nose into the crook of her neck, planting continuous kisses there until he was shivering uncontrollably. Jade's worry escalated as she felt the tremors roll through him, but then, right before the first few tears hit her skin, she realized he was full-on crying, sobbing. She had never seen this beautiful man cry, though she had come pretty close the day she left him.

She grasped frantically at his back as if she couldn't get him close enough, repeating "I'm so sorry," over and over again, crying harder the more she said it. Eventually her words faded into, "I love you so, so much, Kendall. I always will."

"S-Stop, just stop." Kendall pressed his nose into her soaked cheek as he meshed his mouth against hers in a puzzle-completing way. "This isn't goodbye anymore," he cried. "Not now that I know. So stop talking like it is." He kissed her deeply, placing his hands over hers when she cradled his head. "I love you, too. Always."

Jade shook her head, tears cascading down her cheeks in rivers. "I don't deserve this, I don't deserve you. I should've told you-"

"You were protecting us, Jade. I get it, I forgive you." He ran his hands soothingly up and down her arms, still leading up to his face where his tears were slowing, but still plentiful.

"You shouldn't," she whispered. "You should be furious with me."

Kendall's eyes slid shut as he took a deep breath. "I've been furious, and hurt, and confused for eight months, and twenty-six days. You left, yeah, and it was probably the worst thing I've ever gone through… but I know you. Better than anyone. I know what you felt you needed to do. And there was a part of me that always knew you didn't want to leave. I could see it in you that day, I was just too… blinded by everything else. But I just-… I love you, and I'm bringing you home no matter what the cost."

Throwing her arms around his neck and holding him close again, she squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't deserve this."

"You said that already." Kendall actually sounded amused as he rubbed his hands up and down her back slowly, eventually slipping under her shirt as if it was an old habit he never broke. He reveled in the way she slipped her arms under his and snuggled against him more and he dropped a kiss to her shoulder. "I tried so hard to just… hate you for choosing career over me." Jade stiffened. "But I just couldn't. I couldn't hate you, Jade."

They were rocking back and forth now, in a music-less slow dance. "Do you know how much I hated myself for even pretending I chose my career over you? It will always be you. Nothing else matters as long as I have you."

They pulled back just enough to be face to face, cheeks brushing before their lips met softly. And soon they were moving, Jade being led backwards until she was pressed into the wall and Kendall was nipping gently at her lips, pleading entrance that she happily granted. Everything was slow, sensual. There was no desperate hunger in the kiss. It was more like a quiet urgency, the need for the contact but wanting to savor each moment as if it was their last.

When there was a break, when their foreheads were resting against each other, Jade murmured, "We should probably be talking instead of kissing…"

Kendall nodded but didn't stop himself from kissing her deeply, a kiss intense enough to take their breath away with the sheer passion behind it. "Okay," he whispered eventually, like he had just needed a little bit more before they talked like she said. "Let's sit?"

They settled, Kendall with his back against the wall and Jade straddling his thighs—where nearly a year ago this would've easily led them first to intense kissing, followed quickly by—probably overly—passionate love-making, here, now, it was only about being close, cuddling and still able to see each other properly.

Jade soaked in everything about him as if she were just seeing him for the first time. She caressed a hand down his face and raked fingers through his short, completely different hair. He looked so different, yet exactly the same. She traced a finger over his lips and his eyes slid shut as he took a deep breath. "You look good," the girl breathed, touching his hair again with a small smile gracing her face.

Opening his eyes slowly, Kendall gazed up at her through his eyelashes, leaning into her touch. "I was tired of it hanging in my face all the time. Wanted something different."

Jade hummed. "They let you get rid of all the highlights too." He nodded. "I like it."

"Yeah?"

"Nah…" Kendall's eyes widened in disbelief, and the girl grinned. "I love it." Suddenly his grin matched hers and he leaned upward for a chaste kiss. After a moment of peace, Jade spoke up. "How much did James tell you?"

The blond shrugged. "I think mostly everything. He just didn't give a whole lot of details for sake of time I guess. But I got the basics. You've been living in hell, pretty much. All the stuff in the tabloids about you and Bryan was staged. You live in a closet. Everything you do is tracked. Bryan's a fucking asshole. Stacey Carter is evil."

"That's about the basic, yep."

"I'm sorry." His eyes reeked of sincerity.

Jade scoffed unintentionally. "Do not apologize. Like, ever again. Don't-"

Kendall shook his head. "I just meant… for what you had to go through. I mean I went through my own personal hell and had a girl planted in my life but it was still nothing like the shit they put you through…" He stroked the back of his hand down her cheek. "I can't even imagine…"

"Trust me I've been a lot more worried about you all of this time." She felt like crying at the brief glimpse of remembrance, depression, that crossed his face. "Words…" She slipped her hands under his collar, rubbing her thumbs into his skin. "-could never explain how sorry I am." She shook her head. "I'll never be able to make it up to you."

By then it was as if distance wasn't an option anymore, literally; if their foreheads weren't touching while they spoke, their noses were, their old magnetism trickling its way back in easily. "You will," Kendall murmured. "Just come back. That would be more than enough."

Squeezing her eyes shut, Jade whispered, "Kendall, if they find out about you and James- and me… you could lose your job. And my movie contract-"

"So we'll figure something out, okay?" Kendall grabbed her face firmly. "Look, they can't blackmail you like that. Let's just… come up with something. Anything. We can work this out. It's us."

After a lengthy, emotionally deep kiss, the old couple started formulating a plan.

They would wait a week. Kendall would fly back to America the next day as planned. Jade would go on with her normal work schedule. Only this time, in any meetings she's drug into, or in any run-ins with Bryan, she would record everything. They figured a wire was too much of a risk, so they settled that her phone would do. Jade was sure she was bound to get something incriminating enough to work things in her favor, so at the end of the week, she would go to Stacey Carter, who was set to be in town then, and basically, blackmail her just as she did Jade. Unless they fired her, she would still have to continue the movie, so then she would demand they fly Kendall out—since he had the next two months off—to be with her. And they would work out the rest from there.

The pair's little secret meeting ended much the way it began, with a teary-eyed, touchy make-out, more spoken 'I love you's, and Kendall's desperate "See you soon" as he nearly couldn't let go of her hands.

Jade stayed in the closet for another half hour before finally slipping out and calling a car to bring her to Becca's. She had restored hope in her heart, but there was still worry, and doubt. This could all go wrong. She couldn't be happy yet.

The week passed successfully, if by that, one meant Jade being constantly berated was successful… for once it was, in her book. She had plenty of incriminating evidence to hold against Stacey Carter and her minions. Between a conversation with a photographer looking to stage Bryan and Jade's next date, Stacey Carter belittling Jade and using Kendall as a weapon—as usual—against her, and Bryan actually threatening to hit her… she was pretty much guaranteed Presidency from these people, really.

So she set up a meeting, as planned.

"Stacey," Jade said firmly as she planted her feet in front of the woman's desk.

The robot woman sneered. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Whatever. This meeting will be quick."

"Good."

Jade rolled her eyes, and hit play on her phone. Bryan's threat to hit her. As soon as Stacey tried to cut in with her drone-like voice, Jade smirked and switched over to the same stupid voice plainly stating the girl is obviously not there on her own will. Stacey's glare was enough to fuel Jade's fire. "This is going to be simple. Kendall has the next two months off. Vacation. His vacation will be here. London. If not, the press gets a hold of these recordings."

"You've got it all figured out, don't you?" Jade didn't like the tone of the woman's voice.

"I do. And I also have a recording of one of the plans for a staged date with Bryan. I think that about sums up the hell you people have put me through. So. Kendall comes here. As soon as possible."

Stacey Carter clucked her tongue and tapped her fingers on her desk. All too nonchalantly. "Well how am I supposed to get him here if they're leaving for a month and a half long signing tour in just a week?" Jade froze. "Oh, did your little Kendall not tell you he had a tour? Told you he would spend every possible waking minute with you?" The robot grinned, a sickening sight for her. "Revenge is sweet, isn't it?"