K. Robinson - Tainted

I opened my mouth to tell him to go to hell, but then I stopped. What if he was right? During his shows over the summer, I’d seen girls glare at me thousands of times because I was sitting with him. I didn’t want to destroy his career just because I didn’t want him to leave me. He would never forgive me.

Brad smiled at me. “You know I’m right.”

I was still speechless when the door opened, and Drake walked back in.

He stopped instantly when he saw me. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Chloe isn’t feeling well though. Maybe you should take her home and do the studio tour another day,” Brad answered.

Drake glanced at me with a worried look. “You’re right. She doesn’t look good. Come on, babe, let’s get you home.”

I stood and followed him from the office. I never said a word when we left the building or on the drive home. I was in shock. By loving Drake, I was destroying his career. I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t take his dreams away from him just because I was clingy. I wouldn’t. He’d never forgive me if I took everything from him.

“Babe, what’s wrong? You haven’t said a word since we left Brad’s office,” Drake said as we walked into the house.

“Nothing. I just need to go lie down.” I climbed the stairs to head into our bedroom.

* * *

The next few days passed by slowly as I battled with myself about whether or not to tell Drake what had happened in Brad’s office and if I should go on tour with him. Drake continued to ask me what was bothering me, but I deflected every time. I didn’t want to tell him what Brad had said to me in his office. I knew it would only make Drake angry. When he was angry, he did stupid things.

Drake finally exploded a week after my visit to the studio.

“For fuck’s sake, tell me what the hell is going on!” He slammed the remote down.

We’d been sitting on the couch, watching a movie, for the past hour. I’d tried to pay attention, but it was useless. The guilt was eating me alive. I kept picturing Drake’s face when the tour fell apart because of me.

“Nothing,” I mumbled as I focused my eyes on the television.

“Bullshit. I’ve had it with this mopey Chloe. Tell me what’s going on inside of that head of yours.”

I looked at him with tears in my eyes. “I’m not going on tour with you.”

That obviously wasn’t what he’d expected me to say.

His eyebrows shot up. “Why not? Have I done something to make you angry? I swear I’m not using again.”

“No, you didn’t do anything. I just think it’s for the best.”

“There’s something that you’re not telling me. We had this all planned out. Now, you’ve suddenly changed your mind? I’m not buying it. You’ve been like this since I left you alone with Brad. Did he say something that upset you?”

I turned my head away from him. “No.”

He ran his hands through his hair. I knew he was getting seriously aggravated when he did that.

“Why do I think you’re lying? Tell me what he said.”

“I’m not lying,” I lied.

“Chloe…”

I sighed. “Fine. Yes, he did talk to me while you were gone.”

“And?”

“He made some good points.”

He growled, “Chloe, don’t make me drag this out of you. Talk to me.”

“You’re a new band, and you’re trying to build a solid fan base. A lot of those fans will be girls who like you because they want to sleep with you. It’s kind of hard to increase your following when you have your clingy girlfriend on tour with you.”

“Fiancée,” he corrected automatically.

“Whatever. You’re missing the point. You’re going to lose fans because of me. I don’t want to destroy your career because I can’t stay away from you for a few months.”

“Chloe, when it comes to music or you, I will always choose you. Always. I’d throw everything away as long as I knew that I had you. You’re my everything.”

“I won’t let you throw it all away for me. It’s not right.”

He cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. “What else did Brad say?”

I lowered my eyes. “He doesn’t understand why we aren’t married yet. I’m assuming he thinks I’m using you with no intentions of marrying you. I swear that I’m not though.”

“Do you want to marry me?” he asked.

My eyes snapped up to look into his. “Of course I do. I love you so much that it hurts.”

“I want to marry you, too.” He stood. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, already knowing and dreading the answer.

“To have a little chat with Brad.”

“Don’t! I won’t let you ruin everything for me.”

“I’m not going to ruin anything. Just stay here.”

With that, he grabbed his keys and walked out of the front door. I groaned as I settled back on the couch. I hadn’t meant to tell him anything, but it had all slipped out. I just hoped that he didn’t mess anything up because of me.

* * *

A few hours later, Drake walked back through the door. I could feel the tension rolling off of him.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“Wonderful,” he replied shortly.

“Drake? What happened?”

“I told Brad to go fuck himself.”

“Drake! You didn’t!”

“I did. He’s a fucking asshole for even thinking what he told you, let alone saying it to your face.”

“He’s your boss! You can’t do something like that because of me! You could lose everything.” I was so mad at him for doing this to himself.

“I don’t care. No one disrespects you. Besides, he didn’t do anything except for apologize.”

“Bull. There’s no way he backed down. I saw the way he looked at me when he was telling me to stay away. He doesn’t want your girlfriend tagging along.”

He looked up at me and smiled. “I don’t want my girlfriend on tour with me either.”

My eyes widened in shock.

“I want my wife on tour with me.”

“You’ll be on tour soon. We can’t plan a wedding before then!”

He ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck. As soon as we get back, we’re getting married. You can make plans while we’re on tour.”

My pulse hammered in my ears as I thought about planning a wedding. I couldn’t do something like that. I had no idea what I was doing. I would have to find a venue, find a caterer, make a guest list, pick colors, decorate, find a dress, and so many other things I couldn’t even think of. I wasn’t good at this kind of thing.

“Are you okay? You look like you’re about to have a seizure,” Drake said, his voice full of concern.

“What? Yeah. I mean, no. Oh shit, I can’t plan a wedding, Drake. I just can’t.”

“Of course you can. It can’t be that hard.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Or maybe you could ask Amber for help. She likes girlie stuff like that.”

That was actually a pretty good idea. Amber was far better at being a girl than I was. I knew she wouldn’t mind. She’d probably be thrilled about it.

“That might work. She’d probably do it all for me just so I don’t have a panic attack.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?” he asked, completely baffled by my reaction.

“Um, yes. I don’t want anything big, but you’re a rock star. It’s kind of required.”

“Says who? I don’t care where or how we get married. I just want you to have my last name.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that simple. A wedding is a huge deal. I just… I need to get my head straight and figure out what I want.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not sure if you want to marry me?”

“No, I definitely want to marry you. I just need to figure out what I want when it comes to the wedding.”

“Whatever you decide, I’m behind you all the way. I just want to be able to tell the world you’re mine.” He said as he kissed me softly.

I smiled. “Me, too.”

The album’s release went off without a hitch. From the very beginning, the band and the label knew that they wouldn’t break any sales records since the band was new, and they were right. Sales were slow at first, but with each passing day, they grew. Drake was constantly stressed out about it, but after he said Brad was happy with how things were going, I decided I wasn’t going to worry about it. I tried to keep Drake distracted, and personally, I thought I was doing a pretty good job.

Jade had decided that we needed a girls’ day, and I agreed. I loved the guys, but it was nice to get away from them. Even though Jade and I spent part of the day shopping, I still had fun. I even picked up an outfit to wear to bed for Drake. The lingerie did the trick, and he was successfully distracted for a few hours.

As the first tour date quickly approached, there was a charge in the air. I tried to stay away from it, not wanting to interfere with something that I technically wasn’t part of, but it was useless. Every conversation the band had was always about the tour. When they left for their tour last summer, all of them had been relaxed and excited. This time, it was completely different. All of them felt pressured to make sure each and every show was perfect. They were too new to screw up, and everyone knew it. Yes, they had a deal, but they still had to work their asses off to make sure their music reached every person possible.

A week before we were scheduled to leave on the tour, Drake decided he needed a break. I thought it was strange because he never quit living and breathing his music, but I didn’t argue. I knew he was freaking out over this tour, and if a break was what he needed, then that was what he would get. We booked a flight to the Pittsburgh International Airport. Drake still had some stuff stored at his uncle’s house, so we were going to sort through it and ship what he needed back to L.A.

I had suggested that we take the label’s plane, but Drake refused. Instead, we flew first class from L.A. to Pittsburgh. Drake told me to make sure to bring sunglasses and a hat, so I could hide in case anyone spotted him. I thought he was nuts, but I didn’t argue. He also told me to dress nice in case any photographers were around. I’d found a pretty white sundress while shopping with Jade, so I decided to go with that. It wasn’t super dressy, but it was a lot nicer than what I normally wore.

Once we landed in Pittsburgh, we rented a car and began the almost two hour drive to Morgantown.

I was starting to get used to L.A., but it was nice to be going home. I’d once considered Morgantown to be a large city, but after my road trip with Drake and spending the last few weeks in Los Angeles, I realized just how wrong I had been. The country had a lot of amazing places, but nothing compared to the hospitality that could be found in West Virginia.

Drake had been quiet on the plane, and he continued his silence while driving to Morgantown. I tried to get him to talk, but anytime I started a conversation, he would give me one-word answers. I was seriously starting to worry about him. Drake was never quiet. I decided to give up, hoping that he would start talking on his own.

I was confused as we passed the exit we normally took to get to his house. When I asked about it, Drake cursed and apologized for not paying attention.

When we passed the rest of the Morgantown exits, I knew something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then, he turned onto I-68. This would take us to his house, but it was a longer drive to get there.

When he took the exit leading to our spot by Cheat Lake, I asked, “What are you doing?”

“I thought we could stop by our old spot while we’re in town.”

“Oh, okay. You could have just said that, you know.”

“Sorry.”

I was getting pissed. Drake was purposely being short with me, and I’d done nothing wrong. I huffed as I sat back in my seat and watched the trees go by. When we entered the clearing, I knew something was going on. There were four cars parked off to the side. As many times as we’d been here, I’d never seen another car, let alone four.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

Drake smiled as he parked the car. “Get out and find out.” He chuckled and stepped out of the car. “Ha! That kind of rhymed.”

“Whatever you’re planning, I’m going to kill you for it,” I grumbled.

“I seriously doubt that.”

I got out and followed him to the trail leading to the water. Once we made it down the trail to where I could see through the trees, I stopped. Amber, Logan, my cousin Danny, and the band were all standing together, waiting for us. Amber was grinning from ear to ear as she ran to me and hugged me.