by Kailin Gow
“How could you do that?” Danny turned to me when we were alone at last. “I can't believe you. I trusted you. Not to embarrass me in front of your friends...”
“They're your friends too!”
“Like hell they are!” he spat. “They're just waiting for me to fuck up so they can swoop in and play the noble hero, and win you away from me. Is that what Luc did? Swept you off your feet?”
“What are you talking about?” I reached out to take his hand, but he pushed me away.
“The most embarrassing, shameful secrets of my life – and you just tell everyone!” Danny was shouting. “What else did you tell him? About my mother? About Peyton?”
“I've never told anyone about Peyton,” I shot back. “I was upset – that night I found you and Roni together...”
“And you what? You stayed behind to talk to me like a rational adult? You asked me what was going on? No – you acted like a girl, like a silly little girl, and ran off without even granting me the dignity of letting me explain. Left me behind with Roni, who I want nothing to do with. Absolutely nothing!”
“I was shocked...I was hurt...” But his words stung. Deep down, I'd always felt that way. Like a little girl. The age difference between me and Danny, the difference in our experiences – everyone else saw me as a young ingénue unworthy of taking Peyton's place. Was he any different?
“I told you,” he said. “I wasn't interested in her. I never was. Is that what you think of me, Neve? That I'm a cheater? That I'd cheat on you while you were standing in the next room? I'm glad you have so much faith in me...”
“It's not like that, Danny...”
“But instead you ran off to one of your other options. One of the guys you keep around just in case you decide I'm not good enough for you.”
“They're my friends.”
“Friends you tell that I'm going behind my own father's back to bang my stepmother!” he cried. “How stupid do you think I am?” He turned his back on me. “Of all the things announced tonight, all those shocking news, this was the one that hit hardest, Neve. The one about you. All that, I couldn’t care less. It’s my father’s sordid style to shock, but you. I care so much about…everything about you, this cuts to the core.” He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep breath. “This was a mistake, Neve. I should have known you didn't trust me...”
“But I do!” I cried. But it was too late. Danny had already stormed out of the room, off the ship, and into the London night.
“Danny, wait!” I called out, looking around, panic in my eyes. I couldn't go back into the ballroom – couldn't face my band mates, face RRR, face this world that was crashing down around me. Twenty minutes ago I had my band; I had fame. I had the love of my life. Suddenly I had nothing. Tears began to stream down my face.
“Danny!”
I ran down the gangplank after him, reeling as my feet touched solid ground. I tried to remember where in this dense network of alleyways Danny had parked the Aston Martin, praying I'd reach him before he drove off. “Come back! Please!”
In contrast to the boat, the alleyway was deserted. A homeless guy in a hoodie was slouched in a corner behind some trash cans; other than that, the alley was dark, empty. I shuddered as I looked around for a street light – utterly lost. “Danny!” I called. “Danny – please!”
“Hey!” The homeless guy staggered to his feet, coming towards me. “Hey, you. Neve.”
I stopped short in shock. How did he know my name?
He stepped forward into a patch of moonlight and my heart sank. Standing before me, in a filthy hoodie, his eyes bloodshot, his face covered in cuts and bruises that spoke to a week spent on the streets, was Geoff.
“Geoff...” I whispered. All the breath had gone out of me at once as terror took hold. “What happened to you?”
“You thought you could fuck me over. Cinderella wasn't invited to the ball. But I'm here now. Still got my invitation. To the band mates of the Never Knights. Includes me, doesn't it? Or at least it did. Before Danny Blue took over...”
“Geoff – you're high.” I could see the familiar, terrifying glaze in his eyes. “You need to get some sleep – some medical attention, something...we can help you, but you have to commit to wanting to get off the drugs…”
“Just high on life, Neve! You think you can fuck me over? You've ruined my life, you know. Always teasing me, tempting me, showing off that fine ass, just so you can fuck with my head.”
Before I could scream, he'd grabbed hold of my wrists, pinning me against the wall. “I should have known you'd try and find a way to get out of it. You can be the perfect little cock-tease, but when push comes to shove you think you can play the princess card and get out scot-free. But I know what you are, Neve. I know what you’d like guys to do to you. Girls as hot as you ask for it all the time.”
“How dare you?” Anger took hold of me, and as I struggled I spat in his face.
He stepped back, laughing with shock. “You want it rough, huh? You want to be feisty? Well, I'll give it to you rough, no doubt about that...”
“Geoff, no...”
He cut me off with his large frame, his lips pressing against mine, shoving me against the wall so hard that I bled. His mouth tasted like filth – unbrushed teeth, slime, and plenty of cheep booze; I felt vomit rise in my throat as I struggled against him, trying to kick and scream and shout at once. I didn't care about the tabloids – the paps. All I cared about was getting out as quickly as possible. How could Geoff sink so low? Back in the days when he was a band member and my friend, I would have felt guilt for not helping him with his drug problems, but now, I felt only fear.
He punched me clear in the face, making me see stars as blood began to scream from my nose. “Don't scream...” Geoff was tearing at my dress, his fingers finding my panties. I was paralyzed with terror, praying for help, praying for deliverance.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the steel cover of a trash can. It was a risk – but it was the only chance I got. As he buried his head in my breasts, his sickening mouth leaving agonizing bites on my flesh, I turned my head.
In a single, swift motion I leaped for the cover, grabbing it in both hands and striking him with it, causing him to stumble back. Blood now dripped from his temple. But he was still standing – albeit staggering – and he wrenched the weapon from my hand.
“You're going to wish you hadn't done that...” He grinned, showing yellow teeth. “Because I'm going to make you sorry.” He lurched closer. “So very, very sorry.”
“Are you?” From behind me, I heard a curt voice – chilling in its anger. “Are you really?”
Relief flooded through me. Standing in the alleyway, a silhouette in the moonlight, was Danny Blue.
Chapter 18
“I'd let her go if I were you,” Danny said, walking to face Geoff, getting straight in my face. “I've just dialed 999 – the police will be here any minute. So either you run – or you wait for the Metropolitan Police to take you into custody.”
“You fucking...” Geoff never bothered to finish his sentence. He ran headlong for Danny, tackling him with a furious, brute force, whaling on him – his movements savage, primal, animalistic.
Geoff might have been taller. He might even have been stronger. But he was also high – and his motions were imprecise, clumsy. Danny expertly grabbed hold of Geoff's wrists, flipping him over with a strangely beautiful grace. It was the sort of move I'd expected to see in martial arts films, not here in a seedy London alleyway. But Danny clearly knew what he was doing. He blocked Geoff's punches, responding with a few kicks and blows of his own, before sending Geoff spinning to the floor.
“Haven't we seen enough of you, yet?” Danny shouted as he began to hit Geoff. “Can't you just leave Neve alone?”
He had subdued Geoff, but his anger had not stopped. Geoff was lying on the floor, groaning with pain, but Danny kept kicking.
“Danny, stop!” I shouted. “The police...”
&nbs
p; “Fuck the police!” Danny cried, still punching Geoff. “You little coward – you don't deserve to be treated as well as they'll treat you.” He landed a kick square on Geoff's chest. Geoff coughed up blood. “You think you can hurt her, do you? You think you can....”
“Danny – no!”
It was only when the first flashbulbs went off that I realized someone else had come. Not the police. The paps. I looked up, blinded by the light, as ten different flash bulbs went off in my face. My heart sank as I looked over at Danny, at the picture that had been taken.
Danny Blue, assaulting a homeless guy in a hoodie. Danny Blue, assaulting a former band member. Whichever way the story played out, it certainly wasn't good.
Geoff may have been high, but his wits were far from addled. “Help me!” he began to cry, wailing piteously. “He attacked me – out of nowhere...”
I could see the police lights in the distance; I could hear the sirens. My whole body was sick, shattered. My nose was still bleeding profusely. But the police were coming – the police were here – I was safe...but weak from hunger, from being attacked, from all the emotional blows of tonight. I was so so tired.
Those were the last words I could make sense of before everything went black.
When I came to I was lying on a hard, cold bench.
“Y'all right miss?” A cop was sitting next to me, offering me a glass of water. “You had a pretty nasty scare out there....”
“Fine...” I looked around. Where was I? Some sort of office – no, a police station. Metropolitan Police. I shook my head, the world coming into focus. “I mean, not fine, but...”
“We're going to need to take a statement about what happened. Did you see Mr. Blue commit the assault – did he hurt you, too?”
“Me?” My eyes widened with shock. “No – Danny didn't do anything. He was protecting me...”
Or at least, that was how it had started. But it wasn't what the cameras had caught. It wasn't what the police had seen. They'd seen a furious, out-of-control Danny whaling on an unarmed man. I swallowed hard. Whatever happened to Geoff, the outcome wouldn't be good for Danny.
A door opened, and Geoff staggered out. His face was covered in blood, his nose clearly broken. Danny had clearly taken a toll on him. But not even his black-and-blue bruises could hide the smug look on his face.
“This isn't over,” he spat as he passed me by, led by a cop to another room. “I know everything about you, Neve. I know all I need to know.”
His words sent shivers down my spine. I looked around in fear – where was Danny? I caught sight of him through a window – he was in one of the interrogation rooms, giving a statement. He too was bleeding, but he looked almost preternaturally calm, collected. Drained.
My heart went out to him. I wanted to rush to him, to thank him, to apologize, to explain. To take him into my arms. I'd hurt him – and he'd repaid me by saving me. Tears fell down my cheeks. I rose to go to him.
But before I could make it to Danny's side, someone else did. Clarence Blue, apoplectic with rage, strode past me and into the interrogation room, shutting the door behind him. I couldn't hear what they were saying – but I didn't need words. The sight of their two faces – mouths open in shouts and screams, fury on both faces – told me all I needed to know.
“Come on,” a voice made me turn around. It was Steve, and he wasn't smiling. “I've been sent to pick you up and take you home.”
“Thank God...” I said, hugging Steve tight. But he was stiff, almost awkward.
“We've got to get on a plane in five hours,” he said. “Back to California. And, probably, back to obscurity and Luc's basement.” He wasn't looking me in the eye. His face was tight with anger. “Probably better this way,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Steve said stiffly, “that in the last few hours, I've had to comfort a sobbing Kyle as he threw up over the side of the boat, deal with an utterly heartbroken Luc, watch you fight with Danny on the boat, watch Danny get into a fist-fight with Geoff, and now apparently deal with the fact that RRR is run by your biggest nemesis.” He sighed. “You really do know how to create drama, Neve...”
“It's not like that,” I insisted.
“You know – I was supportive of you and Danny. I really was. As the one person in this band who apparently doesn't want to sleep with you, I just figured you were happy, and that was great. But I don't know what you're playing at, Neve. With Luc – with Kyle. I just want to play my drums and play some music. Not get involved in a fucking soap opera.”
“It's not my fault...” I protested.
“Fine,” Steve sighed. “Maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. Maybe if you weren’t so friendly with the guys, maybe if you weren’t so sexy, they wouldn’t have fell for you. I don’t know what I’m saying. But they did, and now it’s tearing the band apart. Look, Neve, I don't want to fight, okay? I just...I just want to pack my bags, go home, and pray to God whatever beef you have with Danny's stepmom doesn't hurt the rest of us. Remember that whole “no dating in the band thing?” The thing you were so set on? Yeah, well, it was there for a reason.”
He turned away from me. “Sorry,” he said, after a pause. “That was mean. I mean – Geoff...what he did, it was awful.” He squeezed my hand. But I knew that what he said was true. My actions – my relationship with Danny – had done exactly what I hoped it wouldn't do. It had gotten between us and the band.
“I’m sorry, Steve,” I said. “All I did was because I cared for the guys, but with Danny…” I gulped back tears. “It’s like the floor fell out from me when I first met him.”
Steve’s expression softened. “Guess it’s real then.”
“Must be,” I said mournfully.
“Come on,” Steve said gently. “Let’s go.” He led me outside and into a cab back to the hotel our band had called home for the past week or so, where I slept like the dead.
The next morning wasn't much better. I woke up to room service knocking at my door at six in the morning – my bags all packed and ready for the taxi to Heathrow.
“Miss...” the maid said. “I've got a letter for you.” She handed it to me. “He seemed pretty set that you read it.” She handed it to me; I took it with shaking hands.
Dear Never,
It was Danny's handwriting. Clipped, clear, and neat. And painfully formal.
I must apologize for not being at the hotel to see you off. I hope you have recovered from your injuries – and please believe me when I say I could not be more grateful that I was able to be in a position to help you avoid far worse. I am happy to be able to inform you that I have guarantee that the photographs of all of us will not be reaching the press. My father was kind enough to purchase the rights to all photographs from the photographers, and these have summarily been destroyed. Your reputation – and all of ours – is safe.
However, I am afraid I have less fortunate news. My father has reminded me of my duty to Blue Enterprises, and of the debt I owe to my family, and of the responsibilities I hold as his son. It is thus with great regret that I must inform you that I can no longer fulfill my duty as the lead guitarist of the Never Knights to the best of my ability...
I felt tears begin to stream down my face; I felt myself begin to sob – violently, savagely. I could read between the lines – I knew what he wasn't saying. The price Clarence Blue had extracted from his son for getting our names out of the press. Danny's resignation from the band.
The rest of the letter was curt, formal, perfunctory. Nothing about our relationship – nothing about the time we'd shared. Only I wish you the best in seeking a new guitarist, and have every confidence that he or she will be a far more suitable candidate than I...
And the one sentence – the only sign of the loving, kind Danny I had known:
I believe with all my heart that the Never Knights will see its dreams fulfilled – and that you, Neve, will achieve yours.
Yours Sincerely,
Daniel Blue
Not only had I lost the man I loved, but I lost one of my band members. And the band. I had never felt so much pain.
The flight back to America was sickeningly awkward. Steve evidently felt bad about his harsh words from the night before, but news of Danny's departure did little to disprove his main point. The band had imploded – and everyone, from Steve to Kyle to Cassandra Curry, who was short with me than usual, seemed to know exactly who to blame.
We sat in silence – me, Kyle, Luc, Steve, and Cassandra. We didn't talk about it – but the shadow of Danny's departure had fallen over us all.
We'd survived a lot together, the band and I. But could we survive this?
Chapter 19
The next few days didn't improve matters much. We all went home to our respective houses – to watch, to wait. We didn't talk much; it felt as if there was nothing to say. The day we arrived back home Cassandra Curry called to deliver the news we'd all been expecting – due to the restructuring happening at RRR, the Never Knights' American tour had been indefinitely put on hold. “Until we can resolve this through the proper channels,” Cassandra had said. It fell to me to pick up the phone and shamefacedly beg the dean of USC to let me re-enroll for the upcoming semester. I'd had my moments of stardom, but now it seemed I'd fallen to earth. I was just another college student, just another normal kid. Nothing special. The band had fallen apart. And I was single – or at least it seemed that way. Danny wasn't returning my calls. His mobile was perpetually off; I tried to call his office, but a rather curt and snooty woman called Marcie intercepted me to inform me that she was his secretary and no, Mr. Blue wasn't in right now, nor could she say when he would be back. After the fifth or six such phone call, I gave up.
So, was this how we broke up? Danny walking off in a huff and never speaking to me again? I wasn't sure whether to be devastated or furious. I knew I had inadvertently betrayed Danny by telling Luc about his relationship with Roni, but his response seemed to me to be beyond out of proportion to what I'd done. He hadn't even tried to forgive me, to talk it out. He'd just quit me – and the band – in one fell swoop.
