Maddie

I took the long way home with Izzy from the park, needing the walk to clear my head. My mind was whirling with all the endless possibilities of what this video leak would bring, and no matter what I did, my brain wouldn't shut off.

What if Katie decides to leak the video she has of me, too? My entire career will be over with. Most importantly, how is Cameron doing with this tape release? I haven't seen the sex tape, nor will I ever watch it, but this has to be bothering him. I love him too much to be mad at him for not telling me about it. Instead, I'm more concerned about his mental health. Across the world, people are watching him have sex with someone else, and there's nothing he can do to stop them. I can't possibly imagine how he's feeling.

I am hurt he's not answering my calls, though. We're married, and that means we handle these tough situations together. I'm sure he's on calls with his entire management team at this point to try and figure out what to do, but, of course, my mind is straying to the worst possible explanation.

Maybe he's leaving me.

Maybe Katie convinced him to coerce a fake engagement with her again.

And what will I do then? What will Izzy do?

God, Maddie, stop it! He is not leaving you, and he would never leave Izzy.

Letting out a deep breath, I stop outside the door of our apartment and fumble with my keys to try and open up the door. My hands are shaking, but after two attempts, I'm finally able to get it open.

"It's about time," a deep voice says when I step into the kitchen.

I practically jump out of my skin, a hand flying to my chest when Cameron pokes his head around the corner. He's standing in front of a pot of boiling water, stirring the macaroni around with a wooden spoon.

"Cam?" Blinking a few times to ensure I'm not hallucinating, my thoughts finally catch up enough to form words. "W-what are you doing here? You have practice. The team is counting on you, and—!"

"Fuck the practices," he says, setting the wooden spoon on the counter. Izzy is still in her stroller, and he winces, forgetting she was here. Thankfully, she fell asleep on the walk home. Cameron is standing in front of me in two strides, hands snaking around my waist. "You're more important, Mads. After everything that happened, I needed to see you. I needed to explain..."

"You couldn't have done it from a phone call?"

He arches a brow. "Are you mad I'm here?"

"What? No, are you crazy? I'm thrilled you're here, but I..." Heaving out a sigh, I wrap my arms around his neck. He's here with me. He's not leaving us. "I'm just confused. What the hell happened? Why wouldn't you tell me?"

Before he can reply, Izzy lets out a whimper from her stroller, and Cameron's eyes immediately drift to her tiny body, squatting down to be eye-level with her. "Daddy?" she asks tiredly.

"Hey, baby girl." He clips off her harness and pulls her against him, letting her head fall on his shoulder. "I missed you so much."

My heartstrings are pulled on so heavily at the sight of them together. Izzy looks tiny in Cameron's arms.

"You hungry?" he asks. "I'm making mac and cheese."

She shakes her head and lets out a yawn.

With a sympathetic smile, I add, "We got dinner from the food stand at the park. She's probably ready for bed."

"Leftovers, then," he whispers into her ear. "Want daddy to put you to bed?"

Izzy nods, snuggling closer into his chest.

"I'll finish the mac and cheese," I say, jerking my head to the stove. "Go. It's fine."

He bends down to kiss my lips, and on instinct, I grasp the sides of his face, pulling him closer. That same electricity thrums between us, almost a liveable and breathable thing, as he takes another step closer, causing my back to press against the fridge. "Let me...put her to bed," he pants. "Then I'll explain."

"And then?"

He smiles, his lips wet from our kiss. "And then we'll pick back up where we left off. Okay?"

When he disappears into her room, my heart is still beating out of my chest as I finish up the mac and cheese and put it into a container for tomorrow. Cameron is reading Izzy a story in the next room, and just for a second, I contemplate ending this program early. I'm so close to finishing, but I miss this more than anything. These nights when he's here with us, my life seems complete. I don't feel broken, and I'm not hurting. Despite the bomb dropped earlier this morning about the video, I'm...happy he's here. Mainly because I know we can get through anything together.

After the pot is in the dishwasher, Cameron comes back into the kitchen, letting out a deep breath. "I'm so sorry," he says.

"What happened? Did she call you?"

He comes to stand in front of me, leaning his back up against the island and crossing his arms over his chest. "My manager got an email from an anonymous sender with the video attached. Obviously, I suspected it was her, but my team could do nothing at the time. They thought it'd be best to let things play out, but..." Raking a hand through his hair, I fight the urge to do it for him. "She called asking me to agree to be on the cover of a photo shoot with her. When I refused, she leaked the video."

"And mine?" I'm almost too afraid to ask, but relief courses through me when he shakes his head.

"No, but she threatened to if I said no." His eyes lift to mine, searching for my reaction.

"You said no still, right?"

Silence.

God awful silence.

"Cameron," I seethe, taking a step closer. He winces from the use of his full name. "Don't you dare tell me you agreed to that fucking photo shoot."

"And have you lose everything you've worked so hard for?" He throws his arms up in frustration. "We will have gone through a year apart for nothing? I'm not going to let her ruin you, Maddie! It's one photo shoot. That's it."

"But that's never it with her, Cameron, and you know it! She's ruthless. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She knows I'm your weak spot, and she's using it against you. This is bull shit. She'll continue dangling that fucking video in front of your nose, knowing she has control."

"What do you expect me to do, Maddie? Tell her to release it? Is that really what you want?"

"Of course, I don't want her to release it, but—" My voice falters, angry, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. "I just wish you never met her. I wish you never decided to share yourself with someone else after me. I wish she never existed after me!"

It's not often that I lose my cool about this because I know he regrets his decision to be with Katie back in college, but what if we never split after high school? If we had just stayed together, none of this would be happening. We'd be happy, and Cameron would never have dated her in the first place.

Cameron pulls me tight against his chest, stroking my hair as I sob into his t-shirt.

"I-I can't live like this, Cam. She's going to hold this over our heads for the rest of our lives. We need to put an end to this. For good."

"And I promise you I'm going to work on it," he soothes. "I'm going to find a way to delete that video if it's the last thing I do, but until then, I'm going to keep your best interests at heart, too, and if it means doing a stupid photo shoot, then so be it."

"I hate her," I seethe. "It's going to kill me to see her hands on you. After the video came out, everyone is going to think..." I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. "It doesn't matter what anyone assumes about you two. What matters is she has you on a tight fucking leash now, and what if you decide to lie to me again and leave—"

Cameron places his hands on my shoulders, dipping his head down to meet my gaze, and as soon as those familiar emerald orbs meet mine, I'm grateful they bring me back to reality, away from my wayward thoughts. "I am never leaving you again, you hear me? If it comes to that, Katie can release the video. You and Izzy are my family now. Nothing is going to get in the way of that. It's the reason I took the first flight out when the video leaked. I know you, Mads, and I was afraid you'd get in your head. I wanted to be here in person to calm your nerves about all of this. To reassure you that I'll always be here. Always."

I want to believe him, I do, but all I can envision is Cameron's hands on Katie as they pose for their photos. I haven't seen the video, but what does it include? Did he stare at her with the vulnerability he does with me? Did he touch her as he touches me?

My vision is blurry from my tears, but Cameron always seems to know how to console me. He swipes them away with his thumb, and the expression on his face is enough to bring me to my knees. Guilt fills every inch of it.

"I'm going to fix this," he says. "The next couple of months will be hell for us with the media, but I promise you I'm going to fix it. For now, what can I do to get you to stop crying? What do you need from me?"

"You," I whisper, my bottom lip trembling. "I need you to remind me that there's no one else, Cam. I want you to make love to me until there aren't any doubts left in my head."

"Oh, sweetheart..." He wraps his fingers around my chin, tilting my head up, and I'm breathless from the lust filling his eyes. His brown curls are messy from the plane, and he's got stubble along his chin, more than likely from the stress of the past two days. I'm too distracted from the sight of him when he adds, "I fully intended on doing that anyway."