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"Put your PJ's on, switch off your phone

And we'll watch ten movies in a row
The dark days are better when we're together

I hope you know you're not alone"

You & I  - Anne-Marie ft. Khalid
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Chapter Four:

< James >

Something felt off, but I couldn't quite grasp what it was. As the weeks passed, Everly's mood seemed to shift unpredictably. Each night we spent together, she looked at me with an intensity that hinted at the fear of losing me. It was unsettling, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. In school, she became increasingly distant not only from me but from our entire friend group. It was as if she was withdrawing into herself, shutting us all out. Lydia couldn't even get through to her.

"Something's wrong James. Very wrong. We were all raised together since childhood. Even I can tell." Allistar sighed as he watched my girlfriend sitting on the steps by herself.

"I don't know what to do," I confessed, the weight of uncertainty heavy in my voice. "We promised each other no more secrets, but now she won't open up to me. Every night for last 2 weeks we've spent together, I can feel her slipping away. It took me years to finally get her, and I can't bare to lose her so quickly." I caught myself staring at her, turning before she looked up and saw me.

"I'm having a party tonight. Bring Evie. Maybe she's just stressed about her parents situation. I heard it's gotten worse." Allistar said.

"What do you mean?" I looked at him confused.

"She hasn't told you? Her father is over in America trying to blackmail her mother into coming home. I heard she was having an affair." Allistar said.

"No, she hasn't told me anything, which is frustrating considering I'm her boyfriend," I sighed, my irritation palpable as I observed Jasper approaching her and taking a seat beside her. "Alright, I've had enough. I'm going over there," I declared, rising from my spot on the steps and striding over to where they were sitting.

"What the fuck Jasper? Haven't you got anyone else to bother?" I asked him. He just smiled at me and looked at Evie.

"It's fine James, I told him he could sit here." She said unable to look into my eyes. What had happened to my girl?

"Evie, you and I have to talk." I said with concern. Again she wouldn't look at me.

"I can't right now, I have tutoring in the library." She said as she got up and walked away from me.

"Trouble in paradise Jamesie?" Jasper taunted me. I had a feeling he was behind whatever was going on with Evie. So I waited outside the library until she finished her session.

"Eve.." I said the second she opened the door.

"James...come on, I don't want to do this now." She pleaded with me.

"Why does Allistar know whats going on with your parents, but your boyfriend doesn't?" I interrogated her.

"My father must've spoken to his....I don't know...James..I can't do this right now, okay." Everly made up excuses as she stomped ahead of me.

"Evie... you're scaring me. Tell me what's going on. You've been distant, you won't talk to me. And every night you sleep over, it's like you know it's your last," I pleaded with her, my voice trembling with concern.

"I just...James I just need a break...okay. I need a break." She said as she turned to face me.

"From what?" I asked already unfortunately knowing the answer.

"This... us... I don't know, James. I just can't be with you right now," Everly admitted, unable to meet my gaze.

"Evie... this isn't like you. What's really going on? Who's making you do this? We were finally happy. Why do you want to ruin it?" I questioned, trying to understand the sudden change in her behavior.

"No one... James... everything good in my life disappears. Don't you know that? I'm a trainwreck, and sooner or later, you'll leave me like my mum did. So I'm just doing you a favor and pulling the plug first," she explained before running ahead of me. I chased after her, but her car pulled away before I could reach her in time. Everly was doing the exact opposite of everything we had promised each other; she was running away before we even had a chance. I was beside myself, but that didn't mean I had to sit at home and wallow in this feeling. I was going to drink my troubles away at Allistar's. Maybe he'd be able to offer better advice after a few shots of Patron.

- Later that night -

"James, clearly something's wrong. You should be kicking in her bedroom door right now. Where's the knight in shining armor she loved. This is not like our girl. I'm worried she's in real trouble." Lydia pestered me as I swallowed a tequila shot.

"She wants space Lyds, you should've seen Everly's face. I know when I'm not wanted somewhere. She told me I would leave her just like her mum did." I said as Allistar sat down next to us.

"You'll never believe who showed up. Seems she's forgotten she broke up with you this afternoon James." He said pointing to Everly wasted to oblivion on the dance floor. "Alright, take our girl home and fix it. She needs you and the Patron clearly doesn't anymore." Allistar teased me looking at the half empty bottle and shaking his head at me. Everly was our girl...and the looks of concern on our friend's faces proved to me that I wasn't overacting about her out of character behavior.

"What is she doing here?" I asked Lydia as I got up to walk over to her. Everly wasn't just drunk she was plastered into another dimension. This wasn't her, who was making her act this way? I had a good guess but I needed to confirm it before I put my fist through the mirror in Allistar's guest bathroom.

"Evie..." I said as I approached her.

"Jamesie" She said cheerfully tugging on my face. "You're so right, Allistar's partys are fun." She slurred as she closed her eyes and spun around the dance floor.

"Everly...are you wasted?" I asked.

"Properly fucked up is more like it." She laughed as she grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor.

"Evie, maybe we should take you home. Considering you're trying to dance with me after you literally just broke up with me a few hours ago." I said to her.

"No...no...the night's just begun. And Oh did I? I really am a mess." She continued to slur her words as she grabbed a bottle of tequila from someone walking by. She downed it before I could get it from her.

"Everly what the fuck is going on with you!" I said pulling her off the dance floor and into the backyard.

"I'm so fucked up James. That's what...so fucked. And I mean that literally, figuratively and emotionally. I've destroyed my family and I knew if you and I stayed together I'd destroy us too."  Her tone was serious and her eyes were glassy.

"Eve, what? What do you mean you destroyed your family? That's it. I'm finally going to step up and finally play boyfriend here. I'm taking you home with me now," I said sternly. "I just have to find Lydia. Stay right here," I instructed Everly, who was far beyond understanding a word I was saying. That's how out of it she was. I walked into the house for just a moment, I swore it was only a minute. Then I heard his voice, and that horrendous laugh. Jasper had once again arrived, only to start trouble.

"Leaving the party so soon Evie!! Come on let's have some real fun!" I heard Jasper say. I sprinted towards the backyard as I heard Everly's shouts.

"Jasper... stop! Let go! No!" Everly's voice pierced the air as Jasper lifted her. Her cry echoed just before the sickening splash of her hitting the water.

Only our closest friends were aware that Everly couldn't swim. Since childhood, when she nearly drowned in the stream, she was too traumatized to learn. As soon as she hit the water, I dove in. However, in her drunken state, she panicked and began sinking instead of trying to stay afloat. I grabbed her, pulling her up and out of the water into my arms. Everly was coughing up water, shaking, and crying. I patted her back, attempting to comfort her, but it seemed futile.

As I carried her out, the entire party gathered around the pool area. "Evie, you're okay. Just calm down! I'm right here. I've got you," I reassured her, trying to soothe her as I made my way through the yard to where Percy had parked the car.

"Percy do we have a blanket in the trunk? Or spare dry clothes?" I shouted at him as I got Everly into the car. He frantically handed me my lacrosse sweatshirt.

"Put this on her, I have a blanket too." Percy said frantically throwing the blanket over Evie's shaking body. I pulled her wet sweater she had on over her dress off.

"Here, let me help," I murmured, gently pulling my lacrosse sweatshirt over her head to keep her warm. I tucked the blanket around her shivering frame before quickly moving around to the other side of the car to get in the backseat beside her. As soon as I settled in, she crawled into my lap and broke down in tears.

"Percy please drive us to Evie's. Tell my parents were staying there tonight." I said as Percy nodded.

"Evie... just a little longer... we'll home soon, okay? We'll get you cleaned up." I whispered quietly as I gave her scraped up knees the once over. Her body has just about hit the pool floor before i got to her.

"I feel sick... I feel sick..." Everly's voice trembled as she continued to cough up water. "James... don't let go of me. Please," she pleaded, clutching onto my hand with a desperate grip. It was a side of her vulnerability I had only witnessed one time before. When we were children and she lost her balance and fell into the stream. She was screaming for help, I remember hearing her from the house.

"Princess, I made a promise, and I intend to keep it," I whispered as we arrived at her house. Doing my best to explain the situation to a very concerned Mimi, I carried my soaking wet girlfriend through the front door. "Don't worry, Mimi, I've got it from here," I assured her leaving a puddle of water behind us as I carried Everly up the stairs to her room.

"Very well Mr. Beaufort, please let me know if you need anything." She said as I put Evie down on her bed.

"Alright, let's find you some dry clothes," I said, rifling through her pajama drawer. A smile spread across my face as I noticed one of my lacrosse tees was the first shirt in there.

"That one please..." Evie said as I held it up.

"You wear this one a lot?" I asked as she pulled my sweatshirt and her wet dress off. She nodded.

"It smells like you," she said as I walked over to her with it.

"Here let me..." I said as Everly sat on her bed in just her bra. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Even in her most raw and soaking wet form. I slid the t-shirt over her head with one hand, unclipping her bra with my other. I planted soft kisses on her skin from her shoulder to her hand, as I helped her get her arms through the sleeve holes.

"You saved me again, James... how do you do it?" Everly asked. As I stared at her in nothing but my tee shirt, dawning my last name in capital letters and my number across the back. I knew I had my girl back, but I had to get to the bottom of why she tried to disappear in the first place.

"You found me, Evie. You went to that party for a reason. Maybe deep down, you knew you needed saving from yourself this time." I kissed the top of her head, offering reassurance. I laid down next to her.

"You're right I'm going through it, James... and instead of letting you be there for me, I ran. I just didn't want to get you involved because if you got hurt again, I wouldn't live through it," she said as she looked at the little cuts that were still healing on my nose. I remembered I needed to tend to her scraped up knees.

"Speaking of hurt... does it?" I asked, pointing to the dry blood all over her knees.

"Not as much as the humiliation I'm experiencing or the hangover that's about to hit," Everly sighed as I walked into her bathroom to look for the first aid kit.

"Here let me see." I said as I walked back in the room with the kit. "Alright first we're going to clean these cuts off. Then unfortunately it looks like you're out of dino bandaids. So we'll have to use a few boring regular ones." I teased her. Everly just smiled and shook her soaking wet hair out on me like a wet dog.

"Hey! Hold still!" I laughed as I cleaned off her cuts with solution.

"It stings!" She yelped.

"The dangers of pregaming before a party." I joked as she stared up at me. "See, all better." I said planting a kiss on each of her bandaged knees.

"My hero." Everly smiled up at me. I was so happy she was letting me in again, I really didn't want to ruin the moment. But I needed answers.

"Eve, what's going on, sweetheart? As much as I would love to pretend this morning didn't happen, you know, when you shattered my heart in front of the library, it did. And I just need to know why," I asked her.

"James far be it from me to believe I shattered your heart. I mean you're James Beaufort. I was just surprised you weren't at Allistar's with Ellie when I arrived. I went to that party because I was so angry with myself....for treating you the way I had. I knew I had to explain. But I couldn't do it sober. Not after the day I had." Everly said back to me.

"Everly Calloway. I love you. I've never felt like this before. Frankly, it's scaring the living shit out of me. I would do anything for you and anything to protect you. But you just won't let me. Do you have any idea how fucking infuriating that is for me?" I said as I stared into her glassy eyes. "Evie...you nearly drowned right in front of me. And I've never seen you that intoxicated in my life. I had to pry the tequila bottle from your hands. And to top it off, I never expected to see you at Allistar's after you broke up with me this afternoon. Right now, I only have one question I care about. And it's not even if you love me back. I need to know, if we actually broke up?" I asked her, my confusion evident.

"James, when you and I made a decision to be together, I told you no more secrets and I lied. I lied that day when I ran into class after you. You asked, no in fact you begged me to tell you what happened. And I said it was nothing but...it wasn't. When you walked into class, I went to my locker to grab my books. I felt someone pull my ponytail and it was too hard for it to be Cyril playing around. By the time I turned to look, Jasper had pinned against my locker...his body towering over me. He told me if I didn't break up with you in as humiliating of a way as I broke up with him....he would hurt you. He would ruin me. I tried to push it away, so if I seemed distant all those last few nights we spent together...I was. But I was also holding on for dear life because. I love you James. And I can't let you clean up my messes anymore." Everly started to sob. I wrapped my arms around her.

"Everly..." I stared at her speechless.

"James...please let me finish." She continued. "When I was sitting alone on the steps at lunch and Jasper came over to me. He told me today was my last opportunity to break up with you before he made both our lives hell. But my life already has been. I didn't care what he would try to do to me, The only one person I really cared about protecting was you. Early this morning I received a letter from my Mum. At first the sight of her handwriting made me smile. Until I read the content it contained. She went on to say I was a disappointment to her and that she knew I was somehow responsible for my father finding her. She concluded the letter by saying she no longer had a daughter and she wouldn't be coming home." Everly's tears poured down her face.

"Evie..." I continued to hug her and rub her back.

"I don't know what I've done to make my life such a mess. I have done everything I could possibly do to be a dutiful daughter. James...my responsibilities have been piled on since I could talk. Nothing I do will ever be good enough...not for my father....not for my mother. And I know I'm not good enough for you." I pulled her closer to me, till I was cradling her whole body in my arms.

"Evie...I don't even know where to begin. I want to start with Jasper; that problem is officially off your plate. It's mine now. Don't worry about me getting hurt, think of what could've happened to you tonight. I can't even think about it, Everly. You wouldn't have been able to stop me if it had been worse. It's like he knew....you couldn't swim." I shook my head with disgust. "He put his hands on my girlfriend. It will not happen again," I told her as I kissed her head. "Now let's talk about that letter from your mum. You know she is just lashing out because she's made mistakes that don't only affect her anymore. She's taken your entire family down with her. And your father isn't a forgiving man. Who knows what story he told her when he found her. He could've lied and said you helped him somehow, to show your mum how alone she was going to be," I said, running my hands through her damp hair. "Everly, you have done everything to be the perfect daughter. You've got the top marks in our class, volunteer countless hours, are captain of the Maxton Hall cheer team. And saying you're not good enough for me is laughable. If anything it's the opposite...I will never be good enough for you. But I will spend every day trying. I love you and I will be there to hold your hand whenever you need it. And I'll stand behind you when you don't. But I can't promise....I won't kick Jasper's arse again. You're mine....not just my responsibility...you're the love of my life." I noticed tears were now falling from my face too.

"James, I have loved you...from the first day I saw you. Only because we were just children I didn't know what that feeling meant yet. I just knew you were going to be a large part of my life. And I...would've never dreamed it would lead us here. I love you and I mean that with every fiber of my being. And it scares the living hell out of me too. Because to lose this..." She said as she held my hand. "To lose you...I couldn't live through it. Thank you for being you." Everly said as tears fell from her eyes. "I spent so much of my life locked away in my tower. I've learned to find comfort in my independence. But you've made me hate being alone. I'll admit I was scared to belong to you...to belong to anyone. But now it's all I want James." Everly said as I cupped her face with my hands.

"Evie, let me start off by saying I love you because I know you'll never belong to me...you weren't designed to belong to anyone. You are fiercely independent, and you have been your whole life. It's part of what made me fall for you. As your boyfriend I don't want to make you feel like your still in a tower. I want to make you feel like a queen, I have to help you with every problem and take care of you in your moments of need. But I need you to let me. All of this stuff you are keeping from me...they are things I should know. Especially if it involves Jasper Wellington." I begged her.

"You still want to be my boyfriend after all of this?" Evie asked.

"It takes a lot more than than this to make me run Eve." I said as I kissed her.

"You are full of surprises James Beaufort." She said as we got into bed together.

"And you Eve, your a mystery I look forward to solving." I said as she hit her lamp light off. She pulled me on top of her.

"You'll be the first one who ever does. So start by solving this," she whispered as she pulled her thong out from under the covers and threw it on the ground. I smirked as her lips met mine, fitting like two missing puzzle pieces. As Everly fell asleep on my chest that night, I could help but feel like a storm was coming. Whether it was Jasper or her parents turmoil, I had to find a way to protect her...not just from all of the chaos ensuing around us but from the chaos inside her own mind. That would prove to be my most difficult responsibility yet.