T W E N T Y

With a tray of four coffees in one hand and a bag of baked goodies in the other, I knock loudly on the studio door. Tyler is the one to open it, his blonde curly hair disheveled like he's been running his hands through it. It must be one of those days. "How's it going?" I ask him, peeking inside to get a glimpse of Beau.

Tyler shakes his head. "Not great, I'll tell Beau you're here." I offer a small smile and a coffee. I've learned not to take Tyler's quiet personality personally - even with the guys, he's a man of few words. Throw in an afternoon of babysitting Jace, and well, who can blame him?

Tyler thanks me for the coffee and heads back into the studio, letting the door close momentarily. When it opens again, Beau's crazy hair and smudged eyeliner greet me instead, turning the corners of my mouth into a big smile. "Long day?" I ask, handing him his coffee and leaning my head against his chest.

He grunts, taking a long sip and reaching into the bag for the food he knows I've brought him.

"You're welcome," I tease, worried about the dark circles under his eyes but deciding not to bring it up.

Beau rolls his eyes and rubs a tattooed hand over his face slowly. "Today sucks - Jace is being an asshole."

I grimace. "When is he not?"

I was hoping for a smile, but his face remains flat as he chews his muffin mechanically, his eyes blank. "If we don't get this shit finished, we'll have a tour with no new music," he stares at the wall behind me and I notice the paleness of his usually tan skin. "That'd be a lame fucking tour,"

"Well, how're you doing? How're the lyrics going?" I lean against the wall and gaze up at him, wishing I could help somehow.

"My lyrics are fine, Jace is the one fucking everything up." Sensing his temper rising, I tilt his chin down towards me.

"Hey, you guys will be great." I promise him softly.

Again, he rubs his palm over his eyes. "Fiona's been up my ass."

"When is she not?" I smirk and kiss Beau lightly on the cheek, feeling his jaw unclench slowly. "I'll let you get back to it, then." I hand him the remaining coffees for Jace and Zach.

Beau lets out a deep sigh. "I'll see you at home?"

Home. I agree and give him a quick hug goodbye before making my way back to my car. Home. I try to remember the last time Beau spent the night in his hotel room, but I come up empty. Ever since we returned from LA a few weeks ago, Beau has been crashing at my apartment. I laugh at the memory of his first visit, how odd it was to see him, the Beau Lewis, in my little living room.

Now, the apartment feels empty when his long limbs aren't dominating my space. I've grown used to his hair tickling me awake in the morning, to sharing my bed and my breakfasts.

Surprisingly, I haven't needed to be the one to ask Beau to stay. The very first night after LA, I had secretly hoped he would. Partly because we'd been drinking wine with dinner and I didn't want him walking by himself, but mostly because after spending a week in a hotel with him... I didn't want him to go.

When I'd thought the night had been winding down, Beau made his way to my bedroom, snuggled under the covers and looked at me as if to say, "Well, what're you waiting for?"

The routine has stayed the same every night since then but even still, there are moments when I can't believe this is my life now, so different from just a few short months ago. I turn into the coffee shop parking lot, in the space specifically designated for the apartment renter.

I head inside to meet Gemma for a quick coffee before she's off on some DIY project. The familiar door bells jingle overhead as I step inside and fail to locate the fire-station red hair Gemma sported the last time I'd seen her.

"Emmy!" Her voice calls from the reading corner and I'm met with a silvery shade of blonde instead.

I smile, hugging her petite body closely. "You look good," I tell her, unable to hide my amusement that she's changed her hair once again.

"Uh-uh. You look good! Look at you, all fancy shmancy," she makes a show of twirling me around in some of my new wardrobe and I blush, still uncomfortable with the lavishness of this new life.

I head behind the counter and make us our drinks, grabbing a sandwich for us to split. When I return, Gemma dives into a full blown explanation of how she's redo-ing her room and I listen animatedly, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all the right times. But out of the corner of my eye, I notice some girls from our high school class watching us intently. I can't ignore the stares for much longer when they stand, grabbing their things to leave.

I relax a little bit, glad to have some peace. They walk by, and Chloe, the one with the long, dark hair and curvy figure, whispers to the others, "Slut." just loud enough for me to hear.

My eyes widen at the same time as Gemma overhears them giggling at the comment. She stands, slamming a tiny fist on the table and making the girls jump. "Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say?"

I stand, too, but only to calm Gemma down. "G, it's fine. They're hardly worth it," I roll my eyes as Chloe looks me up and down, her turned up nose scrunched in disgust.

"Oh, the whore speaks," One of Chloe's minions, Jenny, I think, snickers. My own temper flares finally.

"What is your problem?" I snap, just as Gemma nearly lunges over the table but ultimately is unable to escape my long arms.

"Nothing," Chloe shrugs, an evil grin spreading across her face. "I just think it's funny that you turned into such a slutty sell-out."

"That's it," Gemma grunts, flinging herself past me and nearly getting her hands on Chloe, except that Nadine has stepped in and blocked her path.

She turns Gemma's small body around and I pull her behind me, as Nadine addresses the other girls calmly. "It's time for you to leave. Please don't come back, you're no longer welcome in this shop." She points to the door.

Chloe almost stomps her feet, "You can't ban us, you're the only coffee shop in town."

Nadine rests her hands on her hips, "I just did. Off you go, now," She swats the girls away like flies and they rush out the door, shock written all over their faces.

"Thanks," I say over my shoulder, still holding Gemma back until the girls are out of sight.

"You should've let me slap that bitch," Gemma grumbles, settling back into her seat finally.

I shake my head and let out a deep sigh. "I've heard worse, Gem. It's really okay."

"No." Nadine eyes me intently, her arms folded across her chest. "It's not." Her eyes are full of concern, but another customer at the counter draws her attention away from me. Guilt eats at my insides and I'm suddenly too ashamed to even meet Gemma's eyes.

"Hey, do you mind if I get going?" I blush, grabbing my things and standing quickly.

"Sure, Em. Call me later, okay?" Gemma's voice is soft and I can't bear to hear the concern from her, too.

"Thanks, I will." I rush through the glass door and run up the outside stairs to my apartment, shaky hands almost dropping my keys as I unlock the door.

I throw myself on my couch, suddenly grateful that Beau is in the studio today. I need to be alone. The realer Beau and I became, the weirder it felt to accept the money. But he always reminded me that it was the label paying me, not him and that had always made sense to me somehow.

Still, Chloe's insult rings loudly in my mind. A slutty sell-out - is that what I am? Is that who I've become?

I grab my laptop, drafting an email to Fiona in my mind. I can't do this anymore. I'll still be with Beau, of course, but it will be real. And I have modeling now, the pay isn't bad for that, either. It will all work out.

I drum my fingers nervously on the keypad as the screen wakes itself up. Instantly, my fingers still when the page fully loads, stuck on the college application page I've started a million times. Not now.

Clicking on the second tab, I'm brought to the tuition page on the college website, and my stomach drops. "Shit," I sigh, guilt twisting my insides even tighter as I close my laptop and push it as far away from me as I can. Maybe Chloe was right.

I curl into a ball on my couch and snuggle into a blanket, trying not to hear her words as they repeat themselves over and over in my mind.

"Em?" Beau's deep voice startles me awake to a completely dark apartment. "Close your eyes I'm turning the light on," I do as I'm told, seeing the brightness even through my eyelids. "What're you doing on the couch?" Beau asks, throwing his denim jacket onto the counter.

"I must've fallen asleep." I rub my eyes and sit up, raising my arms to him for a hug. I breathe in his scent, the slightly smoky Beau smell, and pull him closer to me. "You know I care about you, right?" I whisper into his neck.

"What're you talking about?" Beau leans back, dark brows knitted together over his tired eyes.

"You know, right?" I plead, holding his face in my hands.

Suspicion crosses his features. "Yeah, why are you being so weird? What's going on?"

I shake my head and pull him into me again, feeling a little bit better. "Nothing, let's just go to bed."

Beau nods, uncertainty still clear on his face. But he stands and takes my hand in his anyways, leading me into my bedroom.

In bed, I lose myself in him, his touch, his smell, the way we fit perfectly together. All my negative thoughts from before melt away, only one thing clear in my head: I am exactly where I belong.