Page 54 of Saving the Rockstar

He nodded, his expression softening with understanding and compassion.

"I know how hard this is for you, how much pressure you're under to be the perfect star. But I also know what it's like to hide, to pretend to be someone you're not out of fear, shame or obligation."

He paused, his eyes distant as he seemed to drift back into some painful memory, some ghost of his past that still haunted him.

"When I was in college, I dated this girl. She was rich, from a powerful family with a lot of connections. And at first, it was great. We were happy, in love, planning a future together. But then, she started to pull away, to distance herself from me in public, to act like we were just friends or acquaintances when we were around her family or her social circle."

I felt my heart clench at the pain in his voice, at the way his eyes seemed to cloud over with a mixture of anger and sadness.

"She was ashamed of me, Ash. Ashamed of my background, my family, the fact that I wasn't from the same world as her. And it broke me, in a way that I never thought I could be broken. It made me feel like I was less than, like I wasn't worthy of love or respect or acceptance."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, my hand coming up to cup his cheek.

He leaned into my touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a brief, sweet moment. "I don't want that for you, Ash. I don't want you to have to hide, to pretend, to feel like you're living a lie every moment of every day."

I felt my own tears begin to fall then, hot and fast and unbidden down my cheeks.

"I want that too. But I'm not ready, not yet. I need time to build up the courage to face the world on my own terms."

I took a deep, shuddering breath, my heart pounding in my chest as I forced myself to meet his gaze, to lay bare the truth that I had been hiding from for so long.

"I love you, Jared. With every fiber of my being, with every beat of my heart. And I promise you, I swear to you, that one day soon, I will stand beside you in the light, proud and unafraid and unashamed of the love that we share."

I squeezed his hand, my voice dropping to a whisper as I leaned in close, my forehead pressed against his.

"But until then, I need you to be patient with me, to stand by my side and hold my hand and remind me every day that I am loved, that I am worthy, that I am enough, just as I am."

Jared was silent for a long moment, his eyes searching mine. And then, slowly, tentatively, he nodded, a small, sad smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

But even as he held me close, I could feel the distance growing between us, the weight of the secrets and the lies and the fear settling like a wall of ice around my heart.

Over the next few days, as we moved through the motions of our life in the villa, I could feel Jared continue to slip away from me, his focus unwavering even as his heart seemed to break with every passing moment.

He busied himself with security protocols and media monitoring, his eyes always on his phone or his laptop, his mind a million miles away from the sun-drenched terraces and the warm, salty breeze of the Mediterranean.

Slowly, the villa began to feel more like a prison than a sanctuary, I began to wonder if perhaps it was already too late for us. But still, I clung to hope, to the desperate, irrational belief that somehow, someway, we would find our way back to each other.

But all that changed with the sudden and unexpected arrival of Dylan and Mason, their voices ringing out through the villa, shattering the stillness and bringing with them a whirlwind of chaos and laughter.

They burst into the living room like a pair of overgrown children, their arms laden with bags and their faces split wide with mischievous grins.

"Asher, my man!" Dylan crowed, dropping his bags on the floor and sweeping me up in a bone-crushing hug. "I hope you're ready for some grade-A entertainment, because Mason and I have been working on a little something special just for you and lover boy over there."

I raised an eyebrow, my gaze darting between Dylan's eager face and Mason's long-suffering expression.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," I said dryly, "but what exactly do you have in mind?"

Dylan's grin widened, his eyes sparkling with barely contained glee.

"A play, of course. A tale of love and loss, of passion and heartbreak, of two souls yearning to be united against all odds."

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open in a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"You wrote a play? About me and Jared?"

Dylan nodded, his head bobbing up and down like a dashboard ornament.

"And not just any play, but a masterpiece of the theatrical arts, a tour de force of emotional depth and raw, unbridled talent."

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