My tears are blurring the words on the page. The words are printed out in regimented order, nothing was out of place and the black ink never wavered in it's block colors - the ink creaming out with its information in boldness. The sinking feeling in my chest never lifted, as though a weight was dropped onto it and my arms were too weak to pick it back off.

I was too weak. As my eyes scanned the devastating article, I knew I hadn't been strong enough. Strong enough to push him away, to create diversions. Instead, my non-existent strength had left me gasping for air and wishing for some life to come back into my body. For something to happen so that I could disregard the words in front of me - the cruel, ruthless words that were ripping my life apart by the seams, one letter at a time.

My laptop screen shouted for my attention, the screen expelling light and casting a shadow across all of the other papers laid out in front of me. There must of been over fifty of them, the small spark that the one article had lit was now turning into a wildfire. The worst one I've ever come across and the fumes were poisonous for my relationship. There was no stopping it, it would've been a waste to try and stop this.

The city that never sleeps seems to be sleeping now as a breeze makes it through the window I opened when I was practically hyperventilating. The city is quiet and the lights are dulled down, much like myself. All at once, I feel alone. There's no-one in in this whole city who can help me, our situation is our own and trying to ask for help would be like asking me to perform brain surgery in the morning - it would be downright dangerous and fatal.

I put my hands on top of my head and force myself to take a deep breath, the air feeling foreign against my straining lungs. I know I have to call him, I know I do. But looking across the table at the time that reads just past two am, I don't want to. I don't want to burden him with this news because I know once I tell him, this news becomes official.

Reaching a shaky hand over, I pick up my hot phone that's been buzzing with notifications and dial his number. He picks up at the last second and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to put my messy thoughts into words.

"Hello?" He asks, his voice groggy in a way that makes my heart melt.

"Hey, um, we've got a situation." I say, my voice cracking despite how hard I tried for it not to.

"Oh yeah? Are you okay?" He asks and I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, trying to keep the tears inside.

"Not really. Will you come over?" I ask, a tear trailing its way down my cheek.

"Oh course. I'll see you soon, Gorgeous." He says softly before hanging up.

It takes everything inside of my to not break down at that point. To not let my tears break free of the prison my eyes are keeping them in. I sit on the sofa for ten minutes, keeping my eyes on the plain roof above me. No matter what, I don't let my eyes hit the table or else I know I will break down.

A knock on my door interrupts my jumbles thoughts and I stumble my way to the door. Opening it, Theo stands in black joggers and a t-shirt with his favorite navy beanie on. He looks concerned but when I practically fall into his arms, he remains strong as his arms wrap around me, supporting me.

"Whoa, okay." He laughs, just simple holding me against his body - bringing me more peace than I could've imagined.

"I missed you." I murmur, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"I missed you too, is this what it's about?" He asks, his time turning serious as his questions brings me shattering back to earth.

I shake my head in disagreement before untangling myself from him. Grabbing his hand, I lead him into my living room and his eyes widen at the appearance of the mess.

"What's going on?" He asks as he sits beside me on the sofa.

I don't reply, instead I simply lift my laptop and hand it to him, curling into his side as he reads it.

...The couple that have been rumored about for years, have been outed. Not by a cast member or a friend. No, Theodore Williams and Alexandria Woods have been confirmed by none other than a cab driver.

Mr Clark, who has been driving cabs for five years now, has come forward with new information about the couple.

"Alexandria was with a group of her friends. I was driving them home and they were all a bit tipsy. She gave me her address and then turned to talk with the group. When talking about a certain man, one of Alexandria's friends went say, 'Theodore Williams, Alexandria's dream man'."

"From there on, Alexandria just gushed about him, saying to her friends that she hopes they find someone they love as much as she loves Theodore. She seemed to be madly in love with him."

This revelation, no matter how shocking, is undeniable. The couple has to be together and with Alexandria sounding pretty in love, it's only a matter of time until the pair announces it.

We've reached out to the pair's representatives but have heard nothing back. But for now, lets look back at the evidence that proves that Theodore Williams and Alexandria Woods are together...

The article goes on but Theo pushes the laptop away, putting it back on the table. Re-reading it has made my stomach turn, nausea setting in. Theo leans back and covers his face with his hands, obviously feeling the same way I do.

"What are we going to do?" I ask, my voice cracking yet again as another tide of tears washes in.

"What can we do?" He asks. "Jesus, did you not think of the cab driver listening?"

I shake my head. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't think and we were just having a good time and I was so stupid but I just thought that-"

Theo places a gentle hand on my mouth and I let my shoulders deflate, my body giving up. I look up at him to see him with a small, reassuring smile on his face.

"I know, Gorgeous, I know." He smiles, releasing his hand.

"We're so literally trapped. I mean look, these are all the ones I've printed off. There's over twenty and the article has only been up for two hours." I shake my head, helplessness setting in.

"This is out of our control, we can't stop people making copies of what they want. What we can do is contact our publicists and gain some control. Shoot them down and say that Mr Clark twisted and added words. It's been done before, we can do it again." Theo nods, his face becoming serious as his brain visibly clicks into business mode.

"You're right, we can do this." I nod, sitting up from the sofa and arranging all of the paper articles into a stack on the side. Shutting my laptop down, I'm relieved to see the light disappear from the screen - the light that was blinding me with agony.

My living room falls into darkness and I lean over and switch a lamp on, a golden glow spreading across the room. The corners remain in darkness, but I don't mind. I like the small feeling right now, it makes me feel as though we're the only ones dealing with this and no-one else can impose.

Digging his phone out of his joggers pocket, Theo dials his publicist. He talks fast and the murmur on the other side sounds just as frantic. I've already sent the article to my publicist, so I know he's on it already. Theo stands up and paces back and forth as he talks and I follow him with my eyes, not wanting to do anything until I know what we're planning on doing.

"Okay, great. Thank you, I'll call you later with updates." Theo agrees, hanging up the phone.

"What are we doing then?" I ask,

Theo sits on the opposite side of the couch, frowning. A spear of anxiety pierces into my chest at his expression.

"Okay, well, I don't know about you publicist, but mine has said to leave it. We just need to monitor the situation for now. They're going to start building a statement to release that will work for both of us, but until then there's nothing we can really do." Theo nods solemnly.

"Okay, well now I feel like shit. What? We're just supposed to sit here whilst every single news outlet picks up this story?" I question, my rage not directed at Theo but instead at the situation we're in.

Theo realizes this easily and gives me a small smile. Reaching out, he spreads his arm wide as he says, "Come here, my publicist also said to get some sleep - tomorrow's gonna be stressful."

"You mean today in a couple of hours." I finally joke, realizing it's close to three am now.

"Yeah, I do." Theo nods.

Moving over, I sit in between Theo's legs, his chest to my back. Leaning my head against his chest, Theo's arms wrap themselves around me as we lean back.

"I love you." He murmurs.

"I love you more." I answer back.

"Not possible."

A smile makes its way across my face but my mind continues to whirl with possibilities. By the sound of Theo's breathing, he's fallen asleep. I shut my eyes too and allow myself to slowly drift off, knowing that I'll need the energy for the battle tomorrow.

A battle that might just break our relationship.

~~~~~

A rattle wakes me up and the adrenaline that shoots through me makes me alert in a matter of seconds. Raising my head off of Theo's chest, his breathing remains steady as he sleeps, uninterrupted from the noise. Our legs our tangled as we spoon on my couch, squished together due to the little space we have.

The rattle comes again and I glance at the clock, realizing it's nearly six in the morning. Knowing that Clara's returned from her night as her friends house, I slowly dis-tangle myself from Theo and make my way over to the door. Realzing there were keys in the door and that's why she couldn't get the door open, I open it for her.

Clara stands looking more awake than I expected her to, the blessing of coffee obviously reaching her and not me. She smiles at me and I open the door wider, gesturing for her to come it.

"How come you wok-" She begins but  interrupt her by putting a finger on my lips in a silent plea for her to be quiet so she doesn't wake up Theo.

Making our way to the living room, Clara's eye-brows furrow when she sees Theo on the couch, but she nods regardless and gestures me into her room.

Once inside, I let out a breath of relief and go and sit on the bed. Evidence of her moving is obvious and the walls that were once coated in posters and reminder, now stand bare. The room feels empty but I don't allow myself to wallow - knowing that my emotions are on high alert already.

"Good night I guess." My voice quiet as Clara shuts the door and then joins me on the bed.

"Yeah, really good. There were cocktails that you would've loved. I'm pretty sure I'm still drunk." She nods, smiling.

I smile back and we lapse into silence, Clara reaches forward and squeezes my hand with hers, sending me a questioning look that I read easily.

"The taxi driver overheard us talking about Theo and has gone to the press with it. It came out at like midnight last night and we still don't know what we're going to do." I blurt, my eyes already becoming misty despite my efforts to keep them clear.

"Oh Jesus, I'm so sorry, Alex." She sighs. "I feel so guilty, I shouldn't of said anything."

"We should be allowed to say what we want. It's the taxi driver that should of minded his own goddamn business." I shake my head, fury swirling with exhaustion and grief.

"Shouldn't there be a code that stops drivers from talking about what their passengers said?" Clara asks.

"I don't know," I shrug my shoulder. "Even if there was, we don't want to sue him or anything - that would just make this whole situation more public."

"I'll track him down." Clara volunteers and I crack my first smile in what feels like days.

"It's fine, we're going to figure it out. Get some more sleep, I need to talk this over with Theo." I say, standing up off of her bed and making my way back to the living room.

Crouching down beside the couch, I'm eye-level with Theo as I trace along his forehead. I feel cruel waking him up from his stress-free sleep but I know we need to address this situation before it grows arms and legs and I can't do that without him.

Leaning forward, I press my lips lightly to his and I feel him smile against them. Unable to comprehend how Theo makes me feel as light and happy as he does in a situation like this, I lean back and return his smile. Cracking a brown-eye open, Theo spreads his arms wide. Clambering back into his arms, I sigh in content.

"Why did you leave?" He asks.

"I had to let Clara in from her night away." I say, shutting my eyes.

"Ah." Theo sighs in understanding, resting his head on top of mine as we lapse into silence.

It's broken immediately by a ringtone. One that shatters our silence and shatter my heart because as I look at it fearfully, the one name that I didn't want to appear is shining in bold writing- waiting to be answered.

"Shit." Theo murmurs and he sits up, sitting beside me as we stare at my phone. Knowing we can't turn it down, he looks at me with warm eyes. "You've got this, Gorgeous."

I feel my whole body tremble, shaking as it shuts down. Clicking the green button, I almost break down when I hear his voice.

"These rumors better not be true, Alexandria." Doug says, a cold tone sweeping through his voice.

"What? You mean some taxi one?" I ask, choosing to play dumb.

I praise my voice for staying steady, when in reality if I wasn't sitting down I would've crumpled. Theo senses the mood and hops off of the couch, coming to crouch beside me on the floor. He lays a comforting hand on my thigh and my eyes flicker to his before moving away. I don't have the emotional reserves to look at him through this phone call.

"Yeah, those ones," Doug scoffs. "The ones where a Taxi driver is quoting you where you discuss the subject of your relationship with Theodore Williams."

I squeeze my eyes shut, a tear leaking out against my will. I take a deep breathe before answering, trying to cling onto my composure. "Doug, it's the media. It's made up. The driver wanted attention and so did that outlet. Honestly, it's all lies."

It's not and I'm breaking down right now.

"I'm gonna have to look further into this, Alexandria. I cannot have you breaking your contract." Doug sighs.

"I know, that's why I haven't. It'll pass Doug, it's all made up." I say, atually shuddering as the words come out of my mouth.

"We'll see. I'll speak soon, Alexandria." Doug says.

I don't even say good-bye, I just hang up. Silent tears stream down my cheeks, my chest raising and falling sporadically. Theo stands and takes me into his arms, sitting down on the couch so that I'm cradled in his lap.

"You're so brave." He whispers into my hair, rocking us as I will the tears to stop.

"I know the phone call was expected, but he was so mad." I whisper.

"We'll get through this, we will. I promise." Theo says, his rocking slowing down as my tears dry up.

"Yeah, we'll get to the other side." I say, trying to join in on the upbeat spirit.

The spirit remained low, however. Our world was going down in flames, our walls of protection stripped away by a few measly words. All we could do now, was hope that the flames didn't reach our relationship.

~~~~~
Authors' Note:

How I felt after writing this chapter:

Anyone else?! What did we think of this chapter? Did anyone see the taxi driver thing coming?

Plus, the madness continues in chapter eighteen! There's a rowdy interview, lots of denying rumours and it's boys night - which means more of Noah :)

It's available for FREE right now on Inkitt! All you have to do is go to my profile and click on the link. There's instructions in my bio for it and the site is AD FREE!! I hope you check it out!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite its somber mood. Make sure to leave it a vote if you did :)

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Much love,

Jade x