A Love that Endures 2

by Forrest, Bella

  “I smashed the camera, Katy,” David replied. “The thing was in pieces.”

  “But that doesn’t mean you destroyed his files,” Katy countered frantically, trying to choke down even more tears. She readjusted the hem and neckline of her shirt, trying desperately to make herself look more decent, shaking in the evening chill. “He could still have every picture he took of us.”

  David shook his head but didn’t speak further, lapsing into quiet like she’d seen him do when he was stressing over something. He continued to stand protectively beside Katy as she straightened her tousled clothing. Only when she had finally slipped on her ankle boots did David take a breath.

  Katy couldn’t single out an emotion to feel. Too many things swirled in her mind for any one of them to take center stage. But the maelstrom of negative feelings was draining and frightening; it felt like she was sinking into a dark pit.

  She noticed that David kept looking over at her and figured that he was trying to gauge her emotional response to the incident. But even Katy wasn’t sure how she felt yet, so David wasn’t going to have any luck.

  With his shirt straightened out and his jeans buttoned, David defeatedly turned back to Katy, his eyes searching her face for emotion. But Katy simply bent down and began to gather her things.

  “I just need to get back home.” I need to get far away from here. Tears were threatening to pour down if she spoke too much. David began to help her, gathering food and drinks and blankets and lanterns that, just moments ago, had been comforting and romantic. But now, at least to Katy, they were all tainted.

  Neither of them spoke as they worked. The horrible reality of what had just transpired was slowly sinking in.

  Mama and Papa. They’ll find out. They’ll be alerted by PR and our lawyers as soon as the photos start getting shopped. Maybe they’ll even see the photos. They’ll assume that they know exactly what David and I have done. And they’ll be right.

  “Katy, I’m sorry this happened,” David said again. His tone was gentle, but it shook just a little bit. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, David. But it happened . . . and now . . . I just want to get home,” Katy replied. “Let’s hurry. Please.”

  When the last of their things were packed away into the picnic basket, they stood and began their journey back to campus. The silence during their walk back home was deafening. He must be processing everything, too. This isn’t only going to affect me. But it was difficult for Katy to comprehend anything outside of her own personal horror at the moment. She couldn’t get the image of her parents’ shocked and disappointed faces out of her mind.

  When they reached the street again, Katy took a deep breath. Now she just had to hold it together long enough to make it home. David looked over at Katy in the yellow glow of the streetlights and then reached down to take her hand, holding the basket limply in his other hand.

  Katy looked over at him when their hands connected, tears glistening around her eyes.

  “It’s going to be okay,” David said firmly. He squeezed her hand in his. “We’ll get through this together.”

  Katy nodded and looked down at the asphalt, grateful for David’s presence and touch. “I hope so,” she replied. “Because if those photos are still good . . . then things are about to get really bad.”

  And you might not know how bad yet.

  Their walk continued in silence, as Katy struggled to find the words to express herself. When they reached her shared house, David followed her up the stairs and paused outside her door. Katy inhaled and turned to face him.

  “Do you want me to come up?” David asked. “Because if you don’t want to be alone right now, then I want to be with you.”

  David’s features were soft and handsome in the dim light. In a way, Katy wanted nothing more than for him to come up and spend the entire night by her side. She didn’t want to be alone. It was late, and she was so anxious that she felt like she might be physically ill. At the moment, David might’ve been the only thing in the world that could make her feel better. But . . .

  “I think I need to be alone right now,” Katy said slowly.

  David stared for a moment. “Are you sure, Katy?”

  She nodded. She wasn’t sure, actually. But she needed time to think about her next steps. And she wanted to talk to her best friend.

  She had to tell Cassie.

  David looked down as Katy grabbed the picnic basket from him. When he met her gaze again, he held it for long seconds.

  “You can call or text me at any time tonight, Katy. And I’ll come back.”

  Sounds like neither of us is planning on getting any sleep.

  David leaned forward and kissed her, a gentle brush of his lips, the touch lingering comfortingly. When he pulled back, he told Katy the only thing that could’ve possibly made her feel better.

  “I love you, Katy.”

  Katy’s breath caught as she stifled a sob. If this had to happen, she was grateful that it had happened with the most wonderful person she had ever known. But even that could only help so much. “I love you, too. And I’ll call if I need you.”

  With that, she turned and entered her home. But the familiar sights and smells—even the pleasant warmth—didn’t console her. The tears came flooding: hot and wet and involuntary. She wiped her cheeks, sat the basket down by the door to deal with later, and quickly made her way to her room, hoping not to awaken her roommates.

  But Cassie wasn’t asleep. Thankfully. As Katy walked in, Cassie turned from her laptop to look at her from her bed.

  “How was your date?” she asked cheerfully. But then she saw Katy’s face.

  Katy crept to her friend’s side as the first sob escaped her chest.

  “Katy! What’s wrong?”

  Katy collapsed on her cousin’s bed and quickly felt a strong but tender hug envelop her. Katy leaned in and let herself sob. Cassie held her, not asking questions until a few long minutes had passed and Katy had regained her composure as well as she could.

  “What happened, hon? Was it David? Did you two break up?”

  Katy shook her head. “No, no.” She took in a shaky breath, trying to determine how to explain things. “Cassie, there was a photographer. Out in the middle of the park.”

  Cassie shook her head. “Well, that’s okay. People already know about David anyway, hon. Were you kissing? What did the pap see?”

  Katy couldn’t answer. Instead, she looked long and hard at her cousin, hoping to convey that what the photographer saw was bad. And not even because he had seen much! But because of what it looked like.

  Cassie’s eyes scanned her face for moments; then they widened as she took in what that silence meant. “Oh, no. Katy.”

  “We were just kissing. But for some reason, David’s pants were unbuttoned and my shirt was raised up, and the way I was clutching the blanket it looked like I could’ve been unclothed entirely . . . Cassie, those photos are going to be everywhere.” Tears began to fall again, and Cassie pulled Katy in for another tight hug.

  Unlike David, Cassie understood what Lorria was like. She knew what the king and queen would think and say. Cassie was well aware that things weren’t going to just be okay. So she didn’t offer any false confidence. Instead, she asked a question.

  “How did they know you were there?”

  Katy sniffed and shook her head. “I don’t know. They must’ve followed us from the street. There’s no other explanation.”

  Cassie stroked Katy’s hair as she held her. But as her questions continued, Katy stopped feeling comforted.

  “Did you see someone following you?”

  Katy thought about the walk from campus to the park, and then deeper into the wooded area within. She was sure she hadn’t been followed. Earlier that day, she had worn a hat and big sunglasses to drop the things off in the woods. She wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be disturbed. And then from campus to the woods, she had also felt confident that no one was nearby or had recognized he
r. “No,” she responded. “But . . . they must have been following and I just didn’t see them. There’s no other explanation.”

  “Unless someone tipped them off,” Cassie offered, her voice low.

  Katy sat up and turned to look at her cousin. “I was the only one who knew, though. David didn’t even know until after we got there. It was a surprise.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Cassie went on, changing her tone. “Unless . . . maybe . . . maybe he could’ve sent the location from his smartphone. Once you two got there.”

  Katy’s eyes went wide as she realized what Cassie was implying. “David?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why would David have tipped anyone off? What did he have to gain from such an invasion of privacy? And how could he possibly hurt her that way? He loved her!

  “No, of course not,” Cassie replied. “You’re right. I’m just trying to think of how it could’ve happened. I’m sorry. About everything.”

  Cassie leaned forward again and grabbed Katy in another hug, pulling her close. But Katy no longer felt reassured in her cousin’s arms.

  Of course David wouldn’t have shared their location. She’d seen the surprise on his face when the flashbulbs lit up their evening. She’d heard the fury in his voice when he realized they were being spied upon. She’d felt the love and compassion in his touch as he consoled her afterward.

  But if not David . . . then who?

  20

  David

  David had no one to talk to.

  He knew that Katy wasn’t in the mood to talk in the immediate aftermath of the incident. And he respected her choice, even if he had desperately been hoping that she’d ask him to stay, to comfort and hold her through the night after the terrible end to the evening. But Katy, no doubt in a dark frame of mind, had wanted to be alone. So David retreated to the Wolf Club by himself, trying to shake off what had happened like a bad dream.

  He was a little disappointed to find that Zeke was already fast asleep. Even if David wasn’t usually much of a talker, the emotions swirling inside of him at the moment definitely needed to be released somehow. And without Katy or Zeke, David wasn’t sure who he could talk to. Joseph and Cerise would be asleep by now. Besides, as well as they had gotten along, he wasn’t sure he could talk to them about something like this.

  And upon further consideration, he wasn’t sure he could talk to anyone about something like this. The whole problem was that a photographer had caught something so personal, so special, and made it into something frightening and dirty.

  David could still feel the passion and exhilaration of his encounter with Katy. She had looked so beautiful in the yellow lanternlight, her skin warm and glowing, even in the chill of the late-winter air. But then the flashbulbs had lit up their night. David didn’t think he’d ever felt so taken advantage of. It was a new and uncomfortable feeling. And what had coursed through him first had been a rage that was so intense it was almost frightening. What would’ve happened if Katy hadn’t tempered his response? Would he have hit the photographer?

  But even worse than his own anxiety and discomfort was the reminder that Katy was hurting, too. Probably much worse than David was. After all, there were only a few people in the world whom he really cared about. But she had an entire country that looked up to her and held her to a certain standard. If the pictures ever leaked, she’d be devastated.

  If.

  David had smashed the camera. He didn’t care if it was illegal or if he was going to be sued. What mattered to him was saving Katy from any further embarrassment. But now that he’d had some time to think, Katy was right: just because the camera had been broken didn’t mean the files were corrupted. So there was still a possibility they could be published. And that was a frightening thought.

  In the absence of anyone to talk to, and his uncertainty about even being able to speak of it, David resigned himself to silence and painful introspection. He stripped out of his clothes and fell back onto his bed in his boxer shorts. He was exhausted, and it was already very late, but he knew that sleep wouldn’t come easily.

  And it didn’t.

  * * *

  When David woke the next morning, Katy was the first thing on his mind. Which wasn’t unusual, these last few weeks. But this time, his gratitude that she was in his life and contemplation of her sparkling smile were immediately constricted by worry about her well-being.

  He rolled over to grab his phone. Nothing from Katy.

  Damn.

  His fingers were hovering over the button to call her when he heard his roommate’s voice.

  “Late night, huh? Better tell me the juicy details.”

  David turned to look at Zeke without even a trace of a smile or good humor on his face. Zeke’s brow furrowed, and he changed his tone.

  “Hey, I was just joking. I know you’re not the kiss-and-tell type.”

  David shook his head. He didn’t want his friend thinking that he had said something wrong. If only I was upset about something so simple.

  “No, it’s not that,” he told Zeke. Then he stopped, wondering how to proceed. How much did he want to share?

  Zeke picked up on his friend’s hesitancy. “You can talk to me. Did you and Katy get into a fight? Or did another one of those invasive articles come out?”

  David took a deep breath. Zeke didn’t need to know everything, but David did need to get some things off of his chest. “Katy planned a picnic for us last night. But it was ruined when a paparazzo showed up.”

  Zeke was quiet, probably waiting for David to provide more details. But that was all David wanted to share, and after a few moments his roommate got the hint.

  “Okay. Well, I’m sure that has to suck. But Katy is probably used to it by now. And I bet you will be soon enough.”

  David nodded, looking away. He couldn’t expect his friend to respond adequately if he wasn’t getting the whole story about what the photographer thought he was actually seeing. Still, the prospect of “getting used to” anything like this was a horrible thought. He didn’t want this to become his reality.

  “How’d they find you, anyway?” Zeke continued.

  “He must’ve seen Katy and followed us.” Realistically, it could’ve happened either time that Katy made her way to the park, either to set up, or when she took David for their date.

  But as David considered it further, the theory began to seem suspect. Katy had grown up hiding from hounding photographers and sneaky paparazzi. If she was trying to stay hidden, she had probably done a good job of it. She’d managed to hide at Harvard in plain sight for months, after all. And when David and Katy had walked to the park together, he hadn’t seen anyone nearby, much less following them.

  David looked back at Zeke to see that he was watching him closely, as if to gauge his reaction. He must have been wearing a pensive expression.

  “What is it?” Zeke asked.

  “Well,” David began, thinking his statement through carefully. “Someone could’ve followed her. But if not, then . . . maybe she was traced.”

  “Traced?” Zeke repeated, his eyes wide. “You mean like, her phone could be bugged? Wouldn’t that be illegal for paparazzi to do?”

  “I guess you’re right,” David replied. He couldn’t imagine the press pulling a stunt like that, even if they were unethical in plenty of other ways. As unlikely as it seemed, David and Katy must’ve been followed. Otherwise, how could they have been discovered—not just by a random hiker, but by a man with his camera at the ready?

  “In any event, I’m sorry that it didn’t go as planned,” Zeke went on sympathetically. “But I’m sure you guys can get through it. You two are great together, and that’s worth fighting for.”

  David felt his chest swell with appreciation for his good friend, and the hint of a smile passed over his face. Zeke’s words raised his spirits, a flash of the sun peeking out of the clouds that had choked his sky since everything had gone to hell the night before; they were a nice reminder that no matt
er what happened, as long as he and Katy were together, things would be okay.

  But now he needed to be there for Katy—he wanted her to be able to feel the same way.

  “Thanks, mate,” David said simply. “That means a lot.”

  Zeke nodded, and David turned back to his phone. He needed to hear Katy’s voice, make sure that she was doing better.

  “Hey,” she answered softly on the third ring.

  “Katy,” David breathed out. It was already such a relief just to hear her voice, even if it didn’t carry its usual cheerfulness. “How did you sleep?”

  That was a dumb question. If she’s anything like me, then she barely did.

  “I’ve slept better,” she replied flatly.

  Obviously.

  “How are you this morning?” David went on. It was another question that he knew wouldn’t have a good answer. He caught himself. “Actually, you don’t have to answer that. I know. Can I come over to see you?”

  If he could only see Katy and hug her, they could start working through things together. He just wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her that things were going to be all right.

  “Yeah. Cassie’s having breakfast with a friend from class, so it’s just me here right now. I’d . . . ” Her flat voice wavered just a bit. “I’d rather not be alone.”

  I know the feeling. “Okay, I’ll be right over. Can I bring coffee?”

  “I think someone in the house already brewed some. Or maybe we could walk to the coffee shop together,” Katy answered.

  She obviously wanted David there as soon as possible, and he didn’t plan to disappoint.

  “I’m on my way,” he replied. “See you soon.”

  David hung up the phone and got dressed as quickly as he could, grabbing his coat off the desk chair before leaving. He didn’t care about anything at the moment except getting to Katy.

  “Let me know if you need to talk later, man,” Zeke said as David walked out of their room.

  “Thanks, mate!” David called back.