I make it to the tree—Cara’s tree—and hold on to it for support, gasping for air until I realize I’m not alone.

Royce has followed.

“It’s about to get ugly.” I glance up at him through a waterfall of tears. “Please don’t look at me. How could everyone…have lied so much? How?”

“Robin. I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive us? We didn’t think how this situation would upset you so deeply or turn into something…so…inescapable,” he mutters, glancing over his shoulder as he walks closer. “There’s so still so much more going on that you don’t know.”

When all I can do is look at him and cry more, he runs a hand through his hair and adds, “To us, Adam having a secret baby, a surprise wife, and all of us having to cover it up for him until he was ready? That falls under the umbrella of what’s normal for us. Someone like you might not understand.”

“Someone like me.” Getting control of my voice, I pull in a long breath and throw his words back at him. “Why do you always say that, like it’s a wall? Like you think you’re all demi-gods and I’m too common to float in the clouds with you?”

“I say that with the opposite meaning, Robin.” He pulls at a low-hanging tree branch and pops off one leaf. “In my mind, Adam, Hunter and I are some sort of subhuman, messed-up, pathetic versions of how normal people are supposed to turn out. Guarderobe plus the fame, plus living under the watchful eye of the press and our fans’ social media postings, has trapped us into a world we can’t escape. Even if we stopped producing tracks right now, we’d always be followed, and photographed. We lie and make our crazy plans to try to escape that microscope. To have breaks from it. We lie to catch a few moments of what it might feel like to have a normal life.”

My tears start to fade. “I’m pretty sure no one has any sort of normal life. I know Sage and I don’t.”

“Maybe you’re right, but to me and to the band, it seems we live ‘abnormal’ on a larger scale.”

“Explain.” I wipe the back of my hand over my nose.

“Okay.” He glances up at the sky. “The first time the lies started flying between Guarderobe and the press was when Hunter, back when we were in high school, had to go hide in Colorado and get disguised as a nerd after his suicide attempt. Second suicide attempt. We had to cover for him while he hid out and got himself well, all while we took this Hunter look-alike, this dumbass-dude all the way to Paris. We held fake recording sessions there. We swore to the fans that we were locked into ‘creative mode’ while we paraded this stranger around who would hide under sunglasses and ball caps and wave and shit, pretending he was, in fact, Hunter Kennedy!”

“Okay…well, Vere told me some of that. And the fake Hunter going to Paris, that passes as a good example of very abnormal.”

“Even crazier, when the story hit that Hunter was attending high school in Colorado and everyone found out about Hunter and Vere being in love, because the whole world loves famous people in love, that story was so big, no one—and I mean no one—ever questioned us about the dude who was with us in Paris! It was like, poof, that dude, and our trip to Paris never happened. That’s how the press works. They all run to the biggest story while the little ones disappear. So that’s what we’ve been doing all week long, creating bigger stories.”

“How could Adam have hidden a relationship and a baby from you? Lied to his best friend, for almost two years and you’re not even mad about it? Explain that.”

“With Adam—the lies between us, him, and the press have been going on for years.”

“Because of how he runs away? Vere told me some about him, too.”

“Yes. He’s been taking off, or running away since we were kids and on the NewtTV shows. He’d sneak away for a few hours at first, that turned into whole days. As he got older he’d escape for weekends, then weeks, even months at a time. Now we know it’s because he’s an introvert. It’s like he needs to go away to re-fuel. But before he met Eve we didn’t understand him. We all thought he was depressed like Hunter had been. Everyone, especially me, was terrified he’d pull a suicide attempt. So, we let him have his space. We tracked if he was happy and stable when he did check in because in the end, that’s we care about. He’d always come back. Stay a week, work a week, hang out then go again. Adam’s almost five years older than we are. He owns his own home in London as well as he’s had his own place in New York City for three years. He only lives with us in the hotels while we’re doing shows or on tour. While we were in the Castle in Wales, he told us he was flying back and forth to his place in London.” He shakes his head. “Hell, he told us so much shit that year. We never expected him to be two towns over, falling in love, that’s for damn sure. After we left that castle, and when he kept disappearing we never assumed he’d be going back and forth to Wales, marrying a girl, and then having a baby with her.” He barks out a cynical sounding laugh. “But when he showed up and explained it all, it made sense. He only wanted to be normal and unnoticed. Live a regular life. And he’d done it.”

“Wow. Okay. I don’t want to understand because I’m mad at all of you, but I guess… I do.” I sniffle again.

“Right?” He laughs a little more, but his eyes are scanning my face like they hope I believe him. Like they hope I’m stable and okay. He continues, “It only takes one minute of knowing Eve and who she is as a person to like her and to understand the rest.”

I smile a little, remembering Adam all drunk and saying how much he loved cheese and girls with accents, but still unconvinced, I shake my head. “I still don’t understand. Lying is never, ever good in a relationship. Never.”

“Try to see things from our side. We have a skewed view of the world. We’re not allowed to fall in love outside of the spotlight. We can’t get married quietly in a little stone church, we can’t just go out and milk cows each sunrise, ride horses, take walks along coastlines, propose on a sea cliff with only the wind and waves watching. Those are all things that Adam did get to do. If we tried that stuff—if one paparazzi gets wind that we’re dating someone, and worse that we’ve fallen in love, there’s helicopters and strangers trying to come watch the show.”

“Sounds sad.”

“It is sad. And it’s why Adam and I had nearly stopped dating anyone. As Adam fell for Eve he also fell in love with the quiet life, and the whole town he’d discovered along with her. He wanted to tell her, but he also wanted to have a wife whose ‘baby-bump’ and pregnancy was not once analyzed or put into a tabloid. Our celebrity friends have wives and girlfriends who have gone through hell with scrutiny like that. Adam got to do things like go to the beach, hike, go to town fairs and he went to places like coffee shops and pubs without random paparazzi appearing and ruining everything.” His face lights up with longing. “We’ve been in this job as long as Bieber’s been in it. We never get to do simple stuff like that, and so how could I be mad at Adam when I was happy that he’d had the chance to actually live that life?”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Don’t think he didn’t pay for the lies. Eve is one tough woman and Adam almost lost her.” He chuckles again. “He’d done such a good job lying to her that he was an apprentice cheese maker, that she didn’t even know he could sing—until—well,” He glances at his phone as it buzzes and buzzes into his hand. “We’ll save that story for another time.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I still think Eve could have brought the baby with her. I would have.”

“Eve’s mom’s stroke was caused by viral meningitis. It’s contagious and Eve didn’t want the baby to be exposed, just in case.”

I sigh, all of the angst and anger going out of me. “Fine. I would have done the same. Poor Eve. Here we think we had a bad week, and she’s been dealing with all of that? I’m so happy her mom is okay.”

He leans closer, pulling at another branch. “You’re the most considerate person I’ve ever met,” he says quietly. “Really, Robin. You’re beyond nice. How is that?”

“You don’t know me.” I pull in a ragged breath, deflecting his compliment. “You agreed to be a fake-dad for your best friend’s baby? That’s pretty nice, too.”

He sighs. “Again, to me—that wasn’t nice, that was just my life. If you could think of us like we’re all standing on different parts of some sort of giant spider web. One person wiggles in the web and the rest feel it and run in the direction of the wiggle to stop the crazy, or worse, stop someone from getting caught because of that wiggle. Like when the whole PR team, Vere and Hunter stepped in that day I had to go ride the rides at Universal Studios because Adam lost his mind?”

I nod.

“That was a little web-wiggle. Standard. We usually don’t mind it, because we love each other and because we chose to be here doing this Guarderobe thing, but we also understand that this web traps people who might not want to be part of it, like it’s caught you now. It’s why, the day I met you, I begged them not to hire you. And I acted so badly trying to push you away, not because I didn’t like you, but because I did like you, very much. I didn’t want us to tangle you up inside of our mess. I’m so sorry, but now… I worry you’ll never get out.”

He’s looking at me with such sadness and regret that my chest twists.

More tears creep out of my eyes. “Stop looking at me like that. I’m fine.”

“I’ll believe that, maybe, if you can stop crying for more than five minutes.”

I shrug as a few more tears fall, and damn-him, but I start crying again. “I guess…” I sniffle. “I was holding the ones about my dad back for so long that they built up, and now, I can’t seem to stop. These tears are not about you guys. Okay? So you can stop worrying…”

“Can I hug you?” He blinks, voice dropping to a low whisper. “I’ve been wanting to put my arms around you since I came out here, but I was afraid to ask. Please.” He opens his arms.

I nod, and he pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me. The warm contact, the comfort, and the way he’s repeating, “I’ve got you, and this is all going to work out fine,” over and over against the top of my head calms me some.

After a long moment, he whispers, “Do you know that Mrs. Perino and Angel called Gregory and Mrs. Felix this morning, asking for us to help you? Mostly asking if they would call our lawyers for some basic advice on how maybe they could get custody of you and Sage. But when the newspaper article came out, the advice went from basic to complicated. They’ve been working on a way out for you all day.”

“Can your lawyers help?” I blink up at him. “I’ll do anything. Anything.”

He pulls back a little, surveys my face, then wipes my cheeks very gently with the back of his hand. “Why didn’t you say your father was M-I-A? Ask any of us for help from the beginning?”

“How could you possibly help me with that situation? You’re in a band and the last time I checked, none of you owns any spy planes or drones.”

He sighs and pulls me close into the hug again. “I know why. You wouldn’t even ask me for concert tickets. Holy shit, Robin. How could you have carried all of this sad-weight and pressure inside your body all alone?”

“Because I’m used to it by now. Because I had to try, right?” I press my ear against his chest, because I just realized I can hear his heart beating. After another long pause I say, “I’m assuming if Mrs. Perino told you stuff about us. Then you know Sage and I were broke and homeless the day I jumped into your limo. We’d just stolen our lunch from the pool deck, and I was actually running from that human resources lady, trying to get to Sage. I thought we were going to get arrested.”

“Angel told me. No wonder you decked me in the eye and yelled at me that day. You really did have somewhere more important to go and you had problems way bigger than me and my concert issues.”

“So you know the Perinos—they aren’t our family friends like Angel told Gregory that day? That same day, we were all strangers. I was lying to everyone as much as you were lying to me. Angel figured out we were living in our car, and he and his mom were so kind. They offered us a place to stay. Mrs. Perino offered to watched Sage for free so I could take the job. We’d be sunk without how much they helped me.”

“I know. I know all of it, and I’m glad they stepped in, but I doubt that you’d be sunk. You’re not the type.”

“Oh I’m the type. Worse, I’m a coward. Even today I couldn’t tell Sage the truth of what’s coming for us next.” I gasp and move out of his embrace, pressing my fingers into my temples. “Oh God. What’s coming next is that any judge that might have had sympathy for me is going to lose that when they read the paper that says I was here in Orlando working as a paid prostitute.” I blink over at him. “That’s going to happen to me now, isn’t it? That’s why you keep saying I can’t escape?”

He nods, his silver eyes going dark.

I’m unable to talk for a moment as a new rush of tears hits. Like he knows I’m about to collapse he picks me up easily into his arms and walks me over to one of the decked-out picnic tables so he can sit me on his lap, which is fine with me, because I think I don’t have the strength to hold myself up.

“Are you listening?” He’s whispering against the top of my head again. “I’m going to fix this. We are going to fix this. Mrs. Felix knew what to do right away. When she suggested it this afternoon. I panicked, called her crazy, and we had a huge fight until I finally agreed to it. I’m sure you will act the same when you hear what we have planned, but after hearing the details, and holding you, and knowing you even a little bit more—Christ—I never thought I’d feel so right about what we’re planning today. Robin, it’s going to take time, it’s going to sound insane, but we can fix this. Save your brother from being separated from you. We can.”

All I can do is cry and shake my head. He’s crazy. These people are crazy. There is no way to fix this. He glances at his phone, which is blowing up in his hand like it always does, but then as he’s staring down at it trying to read what’s coming in, the screen goes black.

“Shit. It’s dead. Dead. Of course it’s dead.”

With a heavy sigh he pockets it, moves me off his lap so I’m sitting on the bench. Then he gets down on one bent knee in front of me, takes both of my hands in his, and whispers quietly while staring into my eyes, “If we do this plan, the band, you, and I will have to tell so many more lies than ever before. Bigger, crazier lies. We can tell no one what we’re up to. Not even Sage for a little awhile. Will you be able to handle that? If you can, we’ve got a plan so the people from North Carolina can’t take you back with them. It’s lies that will keep the Perinos out of the news-spotlight and keep your brother with you, and it also saves our band from the prostitution-ring rumors.”

I shake my head. “Uh, in case you didn’t notice, this big eighteenth birthday of mine did not make any hidden powers appear. I’m not a secret princess, didn’t find a genie lamp inside a cave full of gold, and neither of us are magic. Which to me, is the only way you could fix all that you’re promising.”

“If you agree to play along and trust me, we’ve got this. Can you do that? Trust me?” His last question is a whisper again.

I shake my head ‘no’ because what he’s asking is impossible, but again I’m picturing Angel’s face asking me to trust people only an hour ago.

Did Angel know about this ahead of time? Is this what he meant? I’m supposed to trust Royce Devlin?

“Why are you down on your knees?” I whisper back.

“Because…I’m begging you to try to believe in me. Believe in the next plan?” His eyes have lost their shadows and as I look into them, I see only intense, pleading sincerity there.

“I will try but whatever you’re thinking is not going to—”

“Shh.” He reaches up and places a hand on my lips. “Believe. That’s all you have to do, and we will do the rest.” For some reason the earnest, scrunched up expression on his face makes me laugh. “I feel like I’m meeting you for the very first time today.”

“Actually, you are. This is the real me. Finally.” His grip on my hands tightens and there’s a catch in his voice. “I only hope you like me, Robin, because you and I are going to be stuck with each other for quite some time. We’ll also have to fast-track our way into being friends after this. Real friends. Can we also be that? Starting now? Because if we can’t, then none of what’s planned next will work.”

I laugh again, pulling at his hands as hard as I can. “Yes, but only if you get up. Yes. Yes. I will. I will.”

He stands, but hasn’t let go of my hands as he pulls me to my feet. “I won’t disappoint you this time. I promise.”