Ava had done her best to give Brendan what he had asked for. His old friend back. Not that she’d ever thought of them as friends, but with each passing day, she felt the old normalcy return. She was able to laugh and joke with him and share some of her thoughts without regret.

She watched the way he watched her when he thought she wasn’t looking. How he would try to tame his glances in front of her brother when she would pass by him in a nice pair of jeans that hugged her curves. Or how comfortable he became with placing his arm around her and casually stroking the ball of her shoulder. What she enjoyed most was how he would sweetly press his lips against hers in the most casual of kisses in public.

As comfortable as she was with Brendan, she’d be lying if she said there wasn’t a ton of weight on her as she walked around with the ring on her finger, telling lies to everyone. She’d become what she despised. How could she judge him anymore when she was no better than he was?

It was one thing to attend glamorous parties, nightclubs, and give interviews about their relationship and what Brendan the man was like, but lying to his family was an altogether different matter entirely.

Sitting in his grandparents’ apartment, she wanted to disappear between the cushions of the couch.

“I’m just so delighted you two finally figured out what we’ve all known all along.”

“What’s that?” Ava asked with a smile on her face, as she took a bite of one of his grandmother’s peanut butter oatmeal cookies. They still tasted just as good as they did when she baked them for them as kids.

“That you two belong together. You know we always knew you two would grow up and fall in love, especially when you got older. The way Ava always hung adoringly up under you and tagged along behind you,” his grandmother stated.

Brendan choked on the juice he had been sipping.

“Yes, son, we knew those shenanigans about you and the actress weren’t true. I don’t know what’s going on in Hollywood, but I kept telling your grandma that’s not our boy,” his grandfather input.

He grabbed the paper towel his grandmother passed to him and wiped his mouth. He could feel Ava’s eyes beaming into the side of his head, and he was reluctant to look her way. She had not wanted to make this visit, but he had to pull out all the stops. His grandparents had called and asked when he would be stopping by, and as luck would have it, some of the staff at the senior living community recognized him.

He had been stopped for autographs for someone’s daughter, niece, or granddaughter as he made his way to his grandparents’ residence. And he had obligingly given them what they requested. But he also realized that some of them would be inquiring into his private life, as was par for the course for a star. And as luck would have it, one of his grandparents’ neighbors asked him about the scandal and the pretty little thing at his side as soon as his grandmother stepped outside.

He was left with no other choice but to lie. He despised doing it and hated even worse to drag his grandparents into the fray. But he knew if he were to tell them the truth, they might accidentally let the truth slip. And he couldn’t have that. He feared that more than anything. The potential of this entire scam engagement blowing up in his face.

Brendan had yet to derive a reason for why their engagement would end. But he knew he would have to contrive some reason the public would buy, without tarnishing either his or Ava’s name. That was the greatest risk. Hurting her. She was too special for him to ever do anything to cause her harm, so he would have to be careful how he proceeded with this plan.

“So, when’s the wedding?” his grandmother asked, lifting the empty plate with only a smattering of cookie crumbs. She slowly made her way to the kitchen to retrieve more, and he felt that much worse. His grandparents weren’t getting any younger, and they deserved nothing but complete honesty.

Then he turned to look at Ava’s face, and she looked strained. She had always loved his grandparents, even visiting them long after he had left home.

His grandmother returned to the living room, and he made up his mind. “Grandma, I have to be honest with you. We haven’t set a wedding date, because there’s not really going to be a—”

“A date that’s good until we can confirm when Brendan’s parents will be in the country to attend,” Ava interrupted, grabbing Brendan’s hands in hers firmly and squeezing. “It’s very important to him that they be able to attend alongside you all of course,” she said.

He stared at her incredulously. Brendan could not believe she had lied on his behalf. That was so unlike her, and now he felt even worse. And as if she could read his mind, she leaned her forehead against his and pressed one palm to the left side of his cheek, while pressing a kiss to his lips. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to work out fine,” she whispered before pulling away.

It took Brendan a moment before he recalled where they were and what was going on around them. That’s right; it was all an act. Well, why did he have such a difficult time recovering from her kisses every time she was generous enough to share one with him?

Walking through Atlantic Station, hand in hand, they stopped in front of Victoria’s Secret. “I need to go in here for just a moment,” Ava stated, pulling the door open.

“Do we really have to?” he groaned.

“Rest assured, I’ll do nothing to embarrass you, Brendan.”

“But a ladies underwear store?”

“Not like you’re going to see anything worth seeing,” she quipped. “Come on, I just wanted to check out a new scent that’s just been released. Is that okay?”

He paused for just another moment before he reached out and grabbed the door, holding it for her.

He looked around momentarily, overwhelmed by the feminine items on display, ranging from fragrances to underwear. Brendan had been considering the perfect gift to give Ava for Christmas and hoped he could draw some inspiration from their shopping trip today. The problem was, he didn’t know how she would react to a gift from Victoria’s Secret from him. He continued to gawk at the array of items a woman could choose from before he was instantly flooded by fans seeking an autograph.

The first thought that rushed through his brain was the field day the media would have if they got their hands on a picture of him in this store. He had given them more than enough to talk about lately and didn’t want to bring any more negative publicity to his band. The other guys just didn’t deserve it, no matter how they had taken this mess with Misty in stride.

Somehow the hushed whispers and little squeals of glee had escaped his notice. He had become accustomed to such things when in public but had not thought about its impact on Ava. His eyes searched the crowd for her, only to see her standing beside a table fingering a pink bottle of cologne with a white top, and the letters “VS” etched in fancy script across the bottle.

“Brendan! Please sign this for me?” a young teen in all white asked, shoving a napkin and pen at him, drawing his gaze away from Ava, who wasn’t paying him attention anyway. He spent the next several minutes completing similar requests before he looked up and realized a small crowd had gathered. Some of the people in the store were only there because they had wandered in to see what all the hullabaloo was about. Upon seeing him, they stopped to get autographs, as well, and still others went outside to announce his presence.

What had started off as a simple stroll turned into an eventful ordeal with the small crowd gathering around him, and he quickly lost sight of Ava. One customer approached him, pushing a newly purchased lacy bra towards him. “Brendan, sign this, please. You’ll forever be close to my heart.”

Ruefully, he honored her request. Looking at the woman, he realized she was probably in her mid-forties. His fans spanned a large generational gap. They weren’t just comprised of young girls, teens, and young adults.

“Brendan, is it true you’re getting married?” one young teen asked.

He smiled at her and shook his head. “Yes, sweetheart. Had I not met her first, I’m sure you would have stolen my heart.”

She pressed her hands against her cheeks, turning red and looking at her friend who stood beside her. The pair of girls had a giggle-fest as he slowly began making his way through the crowd. Not spotting Ava anywhere, he turned in circles until his eyes landed just beyond the store. She was standing right outside the doorway, waiting patiently for him.

He looked at her and mouthed the words “Run.” Nodding, she took off in what he hoped was the direction of the car. Still flocked by fans, he made his way towards the exit, patiently answering questions and signing a few more autographs. As soon as he could make a break for it, he pushed through the doors and jogged to the car that Ava had the foresight to bring around.

She pushed the door open for him, and he hopped in, slamming it closed as a couple of fans tried pulling at the handle.

“Go!” he shouted.

“I can’t they’re blocking my path,” she cried out, extending her palm towards the windshield, where a couple of fans were imploring him to leave with them.

“Just start driving, very slowly. They’ll move,” he promised.

She began blowing the horn and slowly moving forward inch by inch. The crowd disbursed, and she was free to make an escape.

Looking in the rearview mirror, she said, “Bren, some of them are still running behind us.”

“I know,” he sighed. “They’ll stop once the car is out of sight. Just keep driving,” he stated in an aggravated tone.

They drove in silence for several minutes before pulling onto the freeway. She finally broke the silence, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Is it always this way for you?”

He noticed a note of sympathy in her voice. The edge that she usually spoke to him with was gone. “Yeah,” he muttered.

“Isn’t that the point of it all?”

“Nah, I enjoy entertaining my fans, bringing them a measure of happiness and singing songs they can relate to. But I don’t like being put on a pedestal or worshipped. You see what happens with that. And sometimes it can become so lonely in this world,” he declared.

Brendan became lost in his thoughts, only pulled away from them when he felt her soft, tiny hand covering his. He turned his hand over and held hers, staring at it for a moment before looking into her eyes, soft with wonder.

“I guess that can be rather difficult.” Her tone was compassionate.

“What’s that?”

“You know…”—she looked at him and then back at the road—“…going out in public. Doing minor things like shopping, having a meal at a restaurant. I mean, you can’t even go to an amusement park with responses like that for crying out loud.”

Shrugging, he replied, “It comes with the territory. Sometimes, it’s not always so bad. Except when I’m with someone who isn’t used to it. Speaking of…are you okay?” he asked, scrutinizing her closely.

Her cheeks turned red. “Yeah, why?”

“Just wondering. It can be overwhelming for people, and I didn’t warn you about it. I wasn’t really thinking when we left my grandparents and you said you wanted to come here. I should’ve warned you this could happen.”

“It’s okay,” she said, going silent again.

Brendan watched her as she continued to concentrate on the road. Ava was an enigma he couldn’t figure out. One moment she was brittle and cold, and the next she was almost like an open book. He wished he knew what all the mood swings were about.

“Did you get what you wanted to buy from the store?”

“No, but it’s okay. I’ll just go another time.”

“Why not?”

“Well, in case you didn’t notice, two of your adoring fans were supposed to be working the cash register, but they joined the long line of people seeking your autograph.” She laughed.

He grimaced. “Sorry about that.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. I eventually grew tired of waiting at the registers for their return, so I just walked outside and hopped on my phone.”

He wondered if she had a boyfriend or someone special and if this was impacting their relationship at all. He had not considered that when they first asked her to be a part of this plan. He wanted to broach the subject, but every time he thought about it, he felt a strange feeling inside. A part of him didn’t want to know, especially if the answer was going to be “yes.” But he had to ask the question, eventually. Even if just for the sake of consideration of her feelings.

“Um, so were you on the phone talking to anyone, or just surfing the web?”

“Surfing the web. Oh, speaking of which, there’s a new story out about you and Misty now.”

He whipped his head around, staring at Ava. “What story?”

Her jaw clenched slightly, and she turned to briefly gaze at him, a look of concern in her eye, before turning back to watch the road. “Well, they’re saying she’s pregnant with your child.”

Brendan pulled his hand from hers and slumped back in the seat, smacking his forehead. Biting her bottom lip, Ava said, “I didn’t want to tell you. I saw it on my phone just before you came outside, while I was waiting for you outside the store. You were in there for almost half an hour after we first entered the store,” she stated, trying to change the subject.

“What site did you see it on?” he asked with a slight bitterness to his voice.

“Originally it was on Twitter as a picture of her coming out of a doctor’s office, and they meshed it together with some picture of you. It almost looks as if you were both coming out of there together, but that could’ve easily been photoshopped. I started to skip it, thinking it was the same story, but I decided to click on the link to see what was going on. That led me to the blog, Blog Girls Today, and then I saw it again on Music Celeb Magazine’s website.”

Brendan felt a headache coming on, and he had to calm down. He wanted to punch something right now. When would they stop with the verbal attacks? Hadn’t they forced enough blood from Misty as it was? Brendan wasn’t worried about himself, but he knew Misty couldn’t possibly take another attack. She was under a lot of strain with the divorce and the arguments over custody of their two-year-old daughter.

She had shared with Brendan she was willing to share custody of their daughter, Christina, with Nick, but he wanted full custody, stating that with all her travels she just didn’t have the time to raise their daughter. It didn’t matter that it had been his suggestion they hire a nanny to take care of the child, even when Misty hadn’t wanted to. Now he was using that one decision against her. Brendan tried not to form an opinion or judgment about what they were going through, but he hurt for Misty and couldn’t help but be angry at Nick’s assertions that she was an unfit mother.

He could only imagine how this new claim would look to Nick and how he might try to use that against her in the custody battle, as well as the divorce. He had to make a phone call to his friend, but he couldn’t do that in front of Ava. No matter how sweet she may be, and no matter how much he trusted her, Misty trusted him just as much to keep a wrap on what she was going through. And he would do that, even at the cost of his own good name.

“Can we head home now?” he asked. His jaw one taut muscle, working back and forth.

“I thought…,” she began to say, her voice filled with what sounded like disappointment. “Sure. Whatever you want.”

He had promised to take her to dinner at an exclusive restaurant for what she had done for him at his grandparents. But all he wanted now was to call Misty and speak with her. He would have to make it up to Ava another time.