Nathan

The sound of someone repeatedly knocking on my door wakes me from my sleep. With a quiet groan, I crack one eye open to look at the display of my alarm clock. It's already half past twelve.

There's more knocking. "Nathan! Are you up?"

My voice is muffled by my pillow. "No."

Chuckling sounds through the wooden door. "Come on, open the door."

"Can't. 'M too tired."

"Dude, I won't leave until you open the door."

I groan again, but knowing that I'll have to get up sooner or later, I finally muster the energy to sit up and get out of bed. As I shuffle towards the door, I catch a short glimpse of myself in the large mirror on the wall. I look like hell, my hair sticking up in every direction and my eyes reddened.

Bracing a hand against the wall, I turn the key and open the door.

Naira is standing in front of me in her pajamas, grinning up at me. "Good morning."

"Morning," I murmur and step aside to let her in.

"You look awful. When did you get home last night?" Naira asks as she flops onto my bed.

I follow her and sink onto the mattress next to her. "Around two, but then I couldn't sleep."

She frowns and glances at the bottle of sleeping pills on my bedside table. "You still have trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah," I say and shut my eyes again. Even though I'm sitting up, I feel like I'm going to doze off any moment.

I know that Naira probably has more to say on the topic, but she knows I don't want to get into it, especially not when I just woke up. So instead she asks, "Why'd you lock the door? You never do that."

"'Cause of Elijah," I reply. "Adrian already gave me the Stranger Danger talk, so I figured I should lock it."

She snorts quietly and I crack my eyes open to look at her.

"What?" I ask. "Did you meet him yesterday? What is he like?"

Naira crosses her arms. "I think complete asshole describes him best."

I blink at her in surprise. "Why? Did he say anything?"

"He said a lot, and all of it was dumb," she answers. "When I came home, he was sitting in the entry area wearing nothing but a bathrobe. He stole a bottle of champagne from the bar and was petting Neela, and while I normally wouldn't mind all of that, his entire attitude just made him seem like a huge dick."

I don't really know how to reply to that. "Oh."

"Yeah." She shoots me a curious look. "But you met him, too, didn't you? What did you think of him?"

"I don't really know," I say, leaning back into the cushions. "I only talked to him for a minute or two. He seemed alright then."

Thinking back to that moment, I feel a wave of embarrassment washing over me. Elijah must think I'm stupid after that encounter; all I did was blush and stammer like an idiot while he was completely calm and collected and exuding an air of confidence that only made me feel even sillier.

Naira doesn't seem too happy with that answer, but she quickly changes to a different topic. Rolling onto her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows, she beams at me and asks, "So, what's the plan for today? I was thinking movies and popcorn? We haven't watched Notting Hill in a while, but if you want we can also watch one of your oldies... Do we still have Psycho on DVD? I'd love to re-watch that one, I can barely remember what happens in it..."

I am suddenly wide awake as I remember the plans Kelly told me about in the car yesterday. "Yeah, we do. But I can't watch movies with you today," I say, giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm supposed to go out with Elijah today, you know, so that people can have a first glance at us together..."

The smile on Naira's face falters. "But it's Saturday."

"I know," I murmur, reaching out to squeeze her hand.

"We always hang out on Saturdays." She looks at me with such poorly concealed disappointment that it makes my heart clench. "It's tradition!"

"I know," I say again. "I'm really sorry. Maybe we can watch a movie when I come home?"

Naira looks down at her hands and swallows. "Alright," she says. "Yeah, maybe we'll do that."

"Nay, I'm sorry, really. Kelly scheduled it and she already told Elijah about it so I can't really cancel it-"

"That's fine." She gets up and offers me a smile that is not at all convincing. "Maybe next weekend."

Before I can say anything else, she walks out of the room and down the hallway. A few seconds later, I can hear the click of her door being locked.

I suddenly feel miserable. Between all my events, meetings and concerts and Naira's shifts at the hospital, Saturday is the only day of the week where we both have time to do stuff together. It's the day when I turn off my phone and forget about all the turmoil of my everyday life and spend the day lazing around in my pajamas with my best friend, watching movies and playing board games and eating so many sweets that we feel sick. It sucks that I don't have time to do that today, especially because I know that Naira always looks forward to this and I hate to make her sad.

Luckily, I don't have the time to dwell on this for too long because my phone rings and Kelly tells me that the stylists will be over in a few minutes.

I don't bother putting on any fancy clothes, seeing as I will be getting styled in a moment, so I only shower and brush my teeth before I head downstairs wearing only sweatpants and an old jumper.

As I make my way down the steps, I listen carefully to hear if Elijah is already downstairs, but everything seems to be quiet. This assumption proves to be correct as I enter the kitchen and the only one there is Adrian, sitting at the table with his laptop.

"Morning," he says, giving me a nod.

"Hey." I shuffle over to the coffee machine and select a large latte macchiato. "Did Elijah come down already?"

Adrian shakes his head. "No."

I pour some cornflakes into a bowl while I wait for the coffee. "Okay. How was your date yesterday?"

He only shrugs. "It was alright. She was hot, we hooked up, I went home. Nothing special."

I have no idea what to reply to that, so I just nod. What Adrian calls nothing special is something entirely unthinkable for me. Just the thought of having sex with a person I barely know, someone I don't even have feelings for, makes me cringe.

"You got any plans for today?" Adrian asks. "Are you gonna go out or is this another day wasted in front of the TV with Naira?"

Grabbing the steaming hot cup of coffee, I say, "I'm going out with Elijah."

"Oh? Where are you taking him?"

"I don't know yet. It has to be somewhere busy, so that people actually see us and we stir up some rumours before we officially announce anything." I sit down next to my brother. "Sunset Strip maybe, I'm not sure."

"Alright," Adrian says, before he focuses on whatever he's doing on his laptop again. Probably something for his online college classes.

I have breakfast in silence that is only interrupted by the occasional chirping of birds from the open window and the sound of Adrian typing away. He gets up at some point, probably to smoke outside. The calm doesn't last long because after only a few minutes, I can hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I know right away that it's not Naira; whereas she always moves slowly and deliberately, these steps are light and advance quickly.

Still, when Elijah appears in the threshold, I can't help but startle a little.

He seems to notice and flashes me what seems to be his signature smirk. "Morning, superstar," he says, his voice still husky with sleep and every syllable dripping with mockery.

"Hey," I begin, and then I suddenly don't know what to say. "Uh... Did you sleep well?"

"Fantastic."

I can't even tell if he's being sarcastic or not, so I choose not to embarrass myself by answering. Instead I rest my chin on my hand and watch silently as he walks up to the coffee machine.

He leans against the kitchen counter while he's waiting for his coffee to be done, his eyes drifting over to me. I involuntarily shrink in my seat as I feel his undivided attention directed at me. "So, I've heard we're going out?" he asks, his lips curled into a small sneer.

I avert my gaze and stare down into my empty bowl instead. "Yeah."

"And where are you taking me? Oh wait, let me guess. How about a little joyride to New York in your private jet? Or maybe we'll go for a spin to Hawaii? Or, I don't know, Paris is supposed to be nice this time of year..." he says. "What else... Oh, what's the most expensive place in L.A.? Do you think that's good enough for us?"

I look up and say, "I was thinking we could just go to a small coffee shop in West Hollywood."

Elijah's mocking expression turns into a surprised one, but he quickly catches himself. "Okay."

Before either of us can say anything else, the sound of the doorbell rings through the house.

I almost sigh in relief at the prospect of not having to spend any more time with him alone and quickly get up. "That must be the stylists."

Elijah snorts quietly as he grabs his cup of coffee and trails after me into the entry area. "Of course."

I don't reply and only walk up to the door. When I open it, I'm faced with Kelly, one of my stylists and another woman I don't know. "Good morning," I say, smiling at them.

"Hello, Mr. Lowe," Kelly says and walks past me.

After her follows a woman I don't know. She's pretty tall, with curly black hair and different-coloured eyes that study me curiously. "Hello," she says with a grin. "My name is Elizabeth White. I'm the new stylist."

I nod and step aside to let her in. "Nice to meet you. I'm Nathan."

Elizabeth enters and I shut the door behind us. When I turn around, Elijah is leaning against the wall and staring at her with nothing but indifference.

"I'll be your stylist for the next few months," Elizabeth chirps, waving a hand at him.

Elijah nods and takes a sip from his coffee. "Cool."

I quickly clear my throat to break the awkward silence. "You can follow me to the salon if you want?"

Elijah's narrowed eyes meet mine again. "You have a fucking salon?"

"It sounds greater than it is," I say with a shrug. "Come on, I'll show you."

The two of them follow me as I turn around and walk over to the door that's adjoined to the entry area. What lies behind it is a relatively large room with a long row of vanity tables and mirrors on the left-hand side, and a bunch of cloth hangers and shelves filled with shoes and make-up equipment taking up most of the space. The smell of leather and fabrics and hair spray hangs in the air, mixing with a trace of Elizabeth's perfume as she rushes past me.

Her eyes are wide, sparkling with childish excitement as she slowly spins in a circle to take everything in. "This is amazing!"

Unsurprisingly, Elijah's reaction is the exact opposite; his eyes skim his surroundings cautiously and the only indication of any emotions on his face is a small furrow between his brows. He seems completely out of his element here, surrounded by the ridiculous amount of clothes and accessories which all just seem like a physical manifestation of the vanity and superficiality of Hollywood. He must hate everything about this; the fact that there's a salon in my house, that we're going to be styled professionally for a small trip into the city, that he's expected to wear something he doesn't want to wear and pretend to be someone he's not. They're all things that I've gotten used to years ago, but I can only imagine how repulsive they must seem for someone like him.

I quickly tear my eyes away from him and walk up to one of the seats instead. Elizabeth steps up behind me as I sit down, and puts her hands on my shoulders with a bright smile. "How are you doing, Nathan?"

"I'm doing really well, thank you," I say. "What about you?"

Just as I expected, she starts chattering immediately, insignificant small talk and questions she doesn't expect answers too, so I lean back in my seat and only focus on the feeling of her fingers in my hair as she starts styling it.

When she's done with me, she leads Elijah to the chair next to mine. I involuntarily stiffen, watching him through the mirror.

"Your haircut is pretty alright," Elizabeth comments, running her fingers through his curls,"So I think all we're going to be doing is make-up."

Elijah's head snaps around immediately. "We have to wear make-up?"

"Don't worry, sweetie, just some foundation and powder, nothing anyone will notice," my stylist laughs. "Though I will say that you would look super hot with some black eyeliner."

Elijah opens his mouth to disagree, but before he can utter a word, Adrian suddenly enters the room and all heads turn to him.

"Hello," he says and walks up to where Elijah is sitting, coming to a halt right in front of him. There's a hard line around his lips and a displeased set to his jaw, but I'm pretty sure I am the only one who notices those signs of resentment. The barely hidden glare in his steel-grey eyes as they regard Elijah, on the other hand, is hard for anyone to miss.

Elijah stares right back at him and stretches a hand out. "The name's Elijah."

Adrian takes his hand and squeezes it tighter than necessary, but Elijah doesn't even flinch. "I'm Adrian, Nathan's older brother."

"Oh my," Elijah drawls, barely restraining his smirk. "I'll have to watch out then, huh? Try not to hurt your baby brother and attract your fiery wrath?"

I don't like the direction this conversation is taking. Directing my brother's attention back to me, I clear my throat. "Adrian, can I introduce you to Elizabeth?" I say, gesturing at her. "She's the new stylist."

Adrian's expression smoothes out immediately, even making room for a little smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he says. He's speaking in a voice I know all too well, raspy and deep and laced with seduction. It's something I usually only hear when we attend parties together, and it's always a sure-fire indicator that he won't be driving home with me. "Are you new to Los Angeles?"

Elizabeth nods. "Yeah, I only landed here this week."

I exhale a quiet breath of relief at the averted crisis and turn back to look in the mirror.

"Ah, so you probably haven't seen much of the city yet, have you?"

"No, not really. Why?" she laughs. "Would you like to show me around?"

Through the mirror, I can see Adrian smirking. The hunt is on and the prey has taken its bait. "It would be a shame to let a girl this beautiful wander the streets all alone, don't you think?" he asks, leaning against the vanity next to Elijah's. "Besides, I can take you some places you won't want to miss."

Elizabeth smiles back cheekily. "I'll only believe it when I see it. How about tonight at ten?"

"Perfect," Adrian says victoriously. "Mind if I save my number in your phone?"

Elizabeth obliges all too quickly, pulling her phone from her back pocket and handing it to him. Elijah watches this exchange with a raised eyebrow and a slightly displeased curl of his lips.

It's Kelly who saves us from the awkwardness of the moment, as she gets up from her seat and asks: "Could you hurry along a little? The chauffeur will be here in fifteen minutes."

After that, there's little talking as Elizabeth focuses on getting us ready in time and Adrian heads to his room again. By the end of it, not a single hair is out of place and every imperfection is covered up. I change into tight-fitting jeans and a plain white shirt, while Elijah gets to keep his Radiohead shirt after a brief discussion with Elizabeth, and gets dressed in heavy black boots, ripped jeans and a leather jacket.

Once we're done, Elijah and I say good-bye to Elizabeth and Kelly and walk outside. My chauffeur is already waiting, so we get into the car quickly. Rodriguez, my personal bodyguard, is already sitting in the front seat.

The car ride is a little awkward; no one is saying anything, and being this close to Elijah makes me too nervous to start a conversation. His face is turned away from me, watching Beverly Hills glide by and eventually fade into West Hollywood. He takes his phone out at some point and I do the same, checking for any messages from Naira. There are none, so she's probably still sulking. I send her a text asking what movie she wants to watch tonight.

After around twenty minutes, we pull up in a rather busy street near the coffee shop we're going to visit. There are groups of people rushing down the sidewalks, and even though I'm still hidden behind the tinted windows of my car, I already feel like I'm being stared at.

"I am going to wait here," the driver says.

I thank him quickly, then I take a deep breath and look at Elijah. "Ready?"

He replies with a shrug. "Sure."

I don't think he's aware of just how challenging a simple trip to a coffee shop like this one can be, but I won't tell him now and make him unnecessarily worried.

Rodriguez walks around the car and opens the doors for us and we get out. A few heads start to turn to us immediately; under normal circumstances this would be the moment for me to duck my head and put on my sunglasses, but I can't do that now. After all, we're here to be seen.

So I straighten my back and start walking. Elijah is next to me in a heartbeat, close enough for our arms to brush together.

"Are we going to that coffee shop?" he asks.

"Yes," I answer. A group of girls on the other side of the street stops in their tracks, putting their heads together to hectically discuss, eyes darting our way every few seconds. I keep walking, pressing a little closer to Elijah.

He looks at me with a surprised glint in his eyes. "Nervous?"

"Kind of," I admit. "I don't usually go out without a disguise."

"It'll be fine," he says confidently. "Your bodyguard is here."

"I know."

Still, when the coffee shop comes into view, I can't help but feel relieved. Elijah opens the door for me and I hesitantly enter. I don't know if it's paranoia or if people actually turn to look at us; either way, I feel my skin crawling under the attention.

Elijah gives me a less than gentle shove towards one of the tables. "You go save us a seat, I'll get us drinks. What do you want?"

"Uh... a chocolate milkshake?" I say. Normally I would order a coffee, but I am already jittery as it is and I don't think it'd be a good idea to consume any caffeine and make it worse.

Elijah only nods before he turns around and walks up to the counter.

I stay back and glance around, searching for a free table. There are a few left, so I choose one in the corner where I can sit with my back to the wall. It makes me feel a little bit less on display and I take a deep breath to relax myself. From the corner of my eye, I can see Rodriguez sitting down at a table a few feet away from this one, but I do my best not to look at him.

Elijah returns quickly, carrying one drink in each hand. There's a frown on his face as he comes to a halt in front of me. "What the fuck are you doing?"

I jump, blinking up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

He rolls his eyes and jerks his chin towards another table close to the big window. "Honestly, did you already forget what the plan is?" he asks in an irritated tone, trying to keep his voice down. "We're supposed to be seen. Stop hiding in the corner and take the damn window seat, Lowe."

After a few seconds of him staring me down, I reluctantly get to my feet and walk over to the table closest to the window, Elijah trailing behind me. I end up sitting so that my face is visible to passersby on the street, with him right opposite from me.

Elijah sets the drinks down and pushes the chocolate milkshake towards me.

"Thanks," I murmur. "How much did it cost?"

Stirring his coffee, Elijah says, "None of your concern."

"Come on, let me pay," I insist.

He stares right past me, eyes fixed on the sidewalk instead. "No."

Now it's my turn to frown. "Why not? You're my guest and I invited you here. It's only fair if I pay-"

"I don't want your charity," he says firmly. "I'm trying to be nice and make this work. Just shut up and accept it."

I lower my eyes, trying to suppress a smile. Hearing him say that he's trying to be nice while he's shooting me a death-glare is strangely amusing to me. "Okay."

"Okay."

There's a short moment of silence that I use to sip my milkshake.

Finally, Elijah says, "I'm curious, superstar. How did you end up in L.A.? Like, I know about all that casting show stuff but what happened before that?"

I glance up from my milkshake to look at him. He looks genuinely interested, so I decide to humour him. "I came here four years ago and before that, I lived in Chicago. Uhm... I always loved music, so I used to write a ton of songs, and I would teach myself to play instruments. Sometimes I would play at school events or stuff like that. I loved that, standing on a stage and playing music and knowing that some people were listening." I trace a finger along the rim of my cup. "So, when I was seventeen, I auditioned for that casting show. I didn't want to, at first, because I was scared of... I don't know, failing and making a fool of myself on national television, I guess."

"But that didn't happen," Elijah comments.

I shake my head. "No. It went better than I ever would've expected and after I won, I was offered a record deal from Saturn Records. I wasn't sure if I should do it, but everyone told me to. Naira... well, you've met her. When she sets her mind on something, she won't stop 'til she's gotten it. And in this case, she wanted me to take the record deal," I chuckle.

"Wait, so you've known her that long?" Elijah asks, sounding surprised.

"I've known her since I was sixteen," I say. "We went to school together. Anyways, she wanted me to do it, and so I did. It took some convincing to get my parents to allow me to do it, but Adrian helped a lot."

"Adrian is your brother?"

"Yeah."

Elijah only nods, and I can tell by the look on his face that after his first encounter with Adrian, he isn't a fan.

"Okay, where was I?" I continue. "Right, I got signed, and then, when I turned eighteen, I moved to Los Angeles with Naira and Adrian and I started making music in earnest. And that's where we are now."

"Huh," he murmurs thoughtfully. "That's interesting, how you were just a regular kid and then all of this happened and now here you are."

"I'm still just a regular kid," I mutter.

"A regular kid doesn't own a mansion and two Porsches."

He has a point there. "Well, yeah... I mean, I did buy the house, but the cars aren't both mine. One was a gift from my manager and the other is Adrian's. It was my birthday gift for him last year."

Elijah doesn't look like this makes any difference to him, but for once he doesn't say anything about it. Instead, he leans slightly forward and says, "There's still something else we need to talk about."

"What is it?"

"I need to know your limits," he calmly says.

Shaking my head slightly, I ask, "What limits?"

"I need to know what you're comfortable with in this relationship," he clarifies. For once, there's no impatience or teasing in his voice. "So that I know where the boundaries are before I can accidentally cross them."

"Okay..." I softly say, resting my chin in one hand. After a moment of silence, and with Elijah's attentive eyes never leaving my face, I swallow and start talking. "I don't want any type of sexual contact with you. And I don't really like too much touching, uhm... " I lower my gaze, running a finger along a dent in the wooden table. "I would prefer not to kiss you, at least not on the mouth. Cheek kisses and stuff are fine. Hand holding and hugging, too."

There's a moment of silence, so I eventually dare to look up. I expect Elijah to look insulted or annoyed, but instead it seems like he's only waiting if there's anything else I want to say, his expression serious and thoughtful.

"That's all," I mutter.

He nods. "Alright. Thanks for telling me, I'll remember that."

"What about you? Is there anything I should pay attention to?"

Elijah considers it for a second, then he shakes his head. "No, nothing I can think of right now. But if I ever feel uncomfortable, I'll let you know. So should you. If you ever don't feel good about something I'm doing, I want you to tell me right away."

"Okay," I say. I actually feel really relieved now that we've gotten all of that out of the way. Even though Elijah can be intimidating (bordering on terrifying), that genuine concern and attention to consent makes him seem much more trust-worthy.

I get ripped out of my thoughts when something bangs against the window right next to our table. Flinching, I look up to find the source of the noise, only to see a bunch of men with cameras pressing against the glass. A flash goes off and I blink into the bright light, suppressing the urge to turn away or duck my head.

Elijah's eyes are narrowed slightly as he sees what's going on outside. "Is that normal?"

I glance at my watch. "Yeah. We've been here for over an hour. That's enough time for the paparazzi to find out about this."

Elijah nods slowly. "Okay. What are we doing now?"

"We're leaving," I say without hesitation and get to my feet. "Let them have some pictures of us when we go back to the car and then we're done for today."

He nods and follows me towards the door. Rodriguez catches up with us and is the first one to step out onto the street. I take a deep breath before I follow him. Shouts erupt the moment I do and then the photographers push closer. My heart is racing in my chest as I quickly follow Rodriguez. I can't believe how many photographers there are and that they've come here so quickly. They swarm around us, not coming all too close but still following us at a small distance.

There are yelled questions and blinding flashes, but I'm used to this. Elijah is not. I glance over my shoulder to see if he's doing alright; he's keeping up, but he's distracted, eyes darting from one photographer to the other. His jaw is set and his eyes are wide and if I didn't know better I would think he's scared.

"We're almost there," I say over the turmoil around us. "The car shouldn't be far."

Elijah meets my eyes, and then he suddenly reaches for my hand and clasps it tightly.

The noise around us gets louder as they realize what's going on, but I'm too focused on the unfamiliar feeling of fingers intertwined with mine.

"Come on," Elijah mutters and tugs me along.

We walk quickly, only letting go of each other's hand when we reach the car and have to get in on different sides.

Once I drop onto my seat, adrenaline rushing through my veins and my heart racing in my chest, I glance over at Elijah. "That was smart of you to take my hand," I say, a little out of breath. "I hope someone got a good picture of that."

"I'm sure they did." Elijah looks over at me, eyes sparkling and his lips curved into a wild smile. "Let's write headlines, superstar."

++++++++++++++++++++

P.S.: I'm going to put Elijah in some eyeliner, if it's the last thing I do