They drove home in an unbearable silence. Terrance’s words hung thick in the air around them. Chelsea had so much she wanted to say to him, but she didn’t know where to begin. She didn’t know how to explain her record deal to him. It would look so strange and bizarre to outsiders, but it made sense to her.
At least Jamie was unhurt; that was all that really mattered. Her sister was alive and whoever had her didn’t even really want her. They were just using her to make sure the fight went on. But why Jamie? Why did they want her? Did it even matter? In a few days she could get her sister back and they could leave this town and never, ever return. But now that Chelsea knew Jamie was safe, all of the other problems came surging to the surface.
“I’m not embarrassed of you or being with you,” Chelsea spit out. She looked at Blue searching for his eyes, but they remained glued to the road in front of him.
“Your actions say otherwise,” Blue said, his voice oddly emotionless and flat.
“It’s complicated, Blue. There’s a lot of money at stake and it’s complicated. I get that your Mister Morals and Grand Ideals, but I’m not. I’m not perfect. I’m not even really good...” she trailed off, unable to say anything else. “I’m not as strong as you are,” she finally finished quietly.
“Yes you are, Chelsea, and that’s what makes this so infuriating. You’re smart and strong and confident and I want you to act like it. We’re not step-siblings and, even if we were, we weren’t raised together and we’re both adults. We can be together if we want to be.”
“But people are going to talk.”
“And you’d rather they talk about you and Ryan Baron?” Blue said with a frustrated shake of his head. “Ryan Baron!” he repeated loudly. “Why Ryan Baron of all people?”
“First of all, I have never even met Ryan. We’ve spoken on the phone, that’s all. What do you have against him anyway?” Chelsea demanded.
“A Soldier’s Story,” Blue spit.
For a moment Chelsea was confused, but then she remembered the war movie Ryan had starred in. Chelsea hadn’t actually seen the movie, but she remembered that it was about a solider fresh back from Afghanistan dealing with the transition back to normal life. It was what Blue was dealing with right now. Only on top of the normal issues he was dealing with his abusive father and illegal fighting pits and a thousand other impossible things.
“So you’re mad that he starred in a movie about soldiers?”
“No, I’m mad about all the press he did beforehand. He did two weeks in boot camp and spent a week at a base in the Green Zone and suddenly he’s talking like he’s knows what it’s like to be in war. He was talking about how he was practically a soldier and really understood what they went through. Three weeks, Chelsea. I was over there for years and he thinks he can tell my story after three weeks?”
“Blue, you can’t take stuff like that personally. It might not have even been him. It might have been his PR person.”
“And that’s a reasonable excuse for you?”
“Yes!” Chelsea exclaimed. “PR people, managers, agents, lawyers, these are all very real parts of life for Ryan and for me. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but that doesn’t change anything.”
“So you and Ryan are two peas in a pod. What does that make you and me?”
“Ryan and I are two people in the same business, that’s all,” Chelsea said, taking Blue’s hand. “You and I are constant,” Chelsea said. “We belong together.”
“As long as no one knows about it?” Blue asked, pulling his hand away. He pulled into the driveway of Chelsea’s house and turned off the engine as the two sat in the silent and dark car.
“Do you want them to know?” Chelsea demanded. “If we go public with our relationship you’re going to be on the cover of US Weekly and People. Gawker and Jezebel are going to write stories about you and I know you don’t want that. This is the reality of our situation, Blue, and I’m sorry you don’t like it, but you have to understand I’m doing the best I can. I don’t want to hide you and I don’t plan to. But you need to give me a chance. I have a lot of different plates spinning in the air and the tiniest thing can send them all crashing to the ground. I’m just asking for some time-”
With a huff Blue opened the car door and stepped out. Chelsea sighed and then followed him. Night had fallen quickly and she could see her breath in puffs of white clouds. Blue unlocked the door and she followed him inside and watched as he locked them all behind her.
“I’m gonna check the house,” Blue said, not looking Chelsea in the eye.
“All right,” Chelsea said with a sigh.
She walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet pulling out a clean glass and filling it from the tap. She could hear Blue in her old bedroom checking the windows and opening the closet. She needed to make him understand her decisions. She had so many people she needed to answer to. It wasn’t just Chelsea’s record contract; it was the producers and the co-writers and the session musicians. If Chelsea did rise to the level of superstardom her team expected, she was going to pull a lot of people up with her.
Chelsea put the empty glass in the sink and sighed as she looked out the window. Coming home had been a catastrophe. She had been worried that Snowbird would look different than she remembered; she had been worried it would look raggedy and worn down. But what she had actually seen was much worse. Her home town was overrun with gangsters and thugs and monsters that forced children to fight. She wished she had never come back and she hoped she would never have to come to this place again.
“Blue?” Chelsea asked as she heard the floor creak behind her, but she didn’t bother to turn around. She was staring out the window when a hand that wreaked of cigarettes and gasoline wrapped itself around her face and over her mouth.
Chelsea screamed, but the sound was muffled by the stranger’s hand. Suddenly she was pulled back against the strong build of whoever it was. She struggled, but her arms were weak and useless. She hit at the man who held her with every last bit of strength she had, but it did nothing. She could feel as he began to pull her towards the back door. She kicked with her legs and tried desperately to stop, but nothing worked and he continued to pull her towards to door.
He reached for the knob on the door and Chelsea fought even harder. She knew that if he got her out of the house she was screwed. Blue would have no idea where she was and no way to rescue her. Tears were streaming down her face and her heart was racing. Where was this man going to take her? What did he want to do with her?
Maybe I’ll see Jamie, Chelsea thought; it was the only comfort she had. She was screaming Blue’s name trying to make some sound, but the man’s hand was firm on her mouth and she knew Blue couldn’t hear her. Finally, her foot connected with the table and it lifted up and slammed down, sending noise through the silent house.
She heard pounding footsteps coming her way. Blue! She thought. The man had opened the door and was trying to pull Chelsea out. She grabbed the doorjamb with her hand and he pried her fingers off, but she just grabbed with the other and then suddenly Blue appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Let her go, Jimmy,” Blue said. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Chelsea flashed back to the party and the three guys who had picked a fight with Blue at the party.
Suddenly, Jimmy let go and Chelsea was barely able to stand on her shaking legs, but then Jimmy had her by the arm and he threw her into the backyard. She let out a scream and landed hard on her side as the wind was knocked out of her.
She gasped for breath and looked up in time to hear a sickening crunch as Blue launched himself at Jimmy and slammed his fist into the other man’s nose. Lying in the wet grass Chelsea looked on in horror at the bare knuckle fight as Blue pummeled Jimmy. Blue blocked all of Jimmy’s hits and replaced them with his own. Jimmy doubled over as Blue hit him in the stomach and the ribs and then finished it with an uppercut that sent the large man flying backwards in the moonlight.