It had been quite a while since Leia had actually been able to just take a night off and relax by herself. While she used to be able to do it almost every night, her list of appearances and different studio sessions had all been significantly higher with all of the increased media attention on the girl. So, having been granted the rest of the weekend off by her manager, Leia had made it her sole intention to spend her Friday night with her favourite snacks and both of the Camp Rock movies on DVD.

After running into Nick the afternoon before - and a long conversation with her sister spent gushing over how they had both been obsessed with him and his brothers after the first movie came out - she had gotten the urge to sit down and rewatch them. Not only were they classic Disney Channel films, but it was weird for her to see people that she had met in person starring in the film.

She'd managed to find them on a streaming site, thanking Adrian silently for booking her into a hotel with good internet for once. Leia had finished her first televised performance on Jimmy Fallon, and she had fallen asleep as soon as she'd entered the room the night before. Adrian had informed her that he and Riven had booked her in for a short interview on Good Morning America tomorrow, and therefore she'd be in New York for an extra day.

Snuggling down into the suite couch, Leia wrapped a blanket around herself as she turned her phone on to silent. As her weekend had been cleared of other obligations, she figured that no-one was going to try to contact her this late on a Friday night unless they were drunk or really bored out of their mind. Throwing it down on the other side of the couch, Leia dimmed the lights as she pressed play on the remote.

Laughing and singing along, Leia soon found herself at the end of the first movie. Deciding that she needed a re-fill of her snacks and soda the brunette threw her blanket off her as she scrambled up and off of her couch. While it was certainly nowhere near graceful, Leia was not expecting her phone to have been nudged in her movements and jumped as the device crashed against the floor.

Swearing slightly, she lunged herself towards her phone to frantically make sure that it was working. Leia was hopeless when it came to remembering to back up her phone, so the thought of losing all of her photos and videos was more terrifying than to those who were capable of frequently doing so. Holding her breath as she lifted it, she released it with a satisfied sigh as the phone appeared to be in completely normal condition.

Relieved that her phone was unharmed, Leia let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She gingerly picked it up and checked the screen for any visible damage. To her relief, there were no cracks or scratches. Reassured, she set the phone back down on the couch next to her before heading to the kitchen to fetch her snacks.

With a bag of chips and a can of soda in hand, Leia made her way back to the couch, settling in once again. As the second movie started playing, she allowed herself to fully immerse in the world of catchy tunes and teenage drama. But just as things were starting to get interesting onscreen, Leia's phone buzzed loudly on the coffee table.

When she had knocked it off the table, she must have accidentally turned the do not disturb off. She rolled her eyes, moving to flick the switch off before noticing the abundance of messages that were popping up on her screen.

Having turned her phone on silent during the film, she hadn't noticed that in the last forty-seven minutes she had received almost a hundred messages on a groupchat with the Haim girls that Este had seemingly made for that very purpose, and quite a few private messages too - most notably being the twenty-eight from her sister, Georgie.

Clicking on her sister first, Leia felt a wave on confusion flood her as she tried to understand what her little sister was typing. The first nineteen messages were basically illegible, just being capital letters all flung together in seemingly no order. Once her sister had seemingly calmed down her messages had became a little easier to read but the actual content was certainly not much clearer to the young singer.

WHEN YOU SAID NICK JONAS I DIDNT REALIED U MEANT U ARE A THING?'

'LEIA I S2G U BETTEER ANDER ME RIGHT NOW!'

Replying with a simple question mark, she swiped off of their chat and decided that the quickest way for her to most likely find out what was going on would be from the groupchat. While there was a lot of weird messages thrown in from all three Haim sisters, Leia could definitely see that there was a common name appearing throughout the chat and her other messages from friends. That common name just so happened to be Nick Jonas himself.

There was one last place that she knew she would find solid answers: twitter. Once checking Nick's twitter left her with just as much information as it did before she opened the app, the sudden thought of finding an update account to do with the ex-boyband member came rushing into her thoughts. While it took her a moment to find one that seemed credible enough, Leia only needed to scroll to the most recent tweet on the account to understand everything.

Taylor had told her that it would start to seem like there was paparazzi everywhere but she hadn't really understood what the blonde meant until that moment. A sudden shiver crossed her spine as she began to understand everything that everyone had warned her about. The photos that had now became public to the world showed one story - and it couldn't have been further from the truth.

Nick's hands on her waist, her hands on his shoulders as he supported her from falling over - it looked like the perfect couple photo. They both had massive grins on their faces as they looked at each other and to anyone except the two of them who knew what was actually happening it would almost look as if they were about to kiss.

The headline that was splashed across the TMZ article that had been the first to post the photo hinted at exactly that, making Leia feel suddenly hot under the collar.

"A NEW YOUNG ROMANCE? NICK JONAS AND LEIA HUDSON WERE SNAPPED GETTING IT ON EARLIER TODAY!" was spread across the online news page, making Leia's hands shake slightly as she clicked on the link.

While the article did list that they never actually kissed, she knew that many people wouldn't even bother to click on the link to actually read it. That was why she hated 'news' sites like TMZ, they knew exactly how to spin a story without using facts to back it up.

Leia's heart raced as she realized the implications of the misleading photo. Panic set in as she thought about the consequences this could have on her career, her reputation, and most importantly, her relationship with her newfound friends.

Riven's name appeared at the top of her screen, the man frantically trying to call her as he tried to get ahead of this fake news that was sprouting across the internet. Ignoring him, with trembling fingers, Leia opened her social media accounts only to find her notifications flooded with messages from fans, friends, and even strangers, all wanting answers. She couldn't blame them; after all, she herself wanted answers too.

She quickly scrolled through the comments, her heart pounding in her chest. People were already shipping them and speculating about their relationship. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to handle the situation.

Her first instinct was to call Taylor. Taylor had warned her about the intense scrutiny that came with fame, but Leia had never fully comprehended it until now. She'd handled this so often, that Leia was sure she'd know exactly what to do, but as her finger hovered over the contact button, she couldn't bring herself to press call.

She didn't want Taylor to think she was using her. Riven called again. She breathed out, pinching her nose before clicking accept on incoming call from her publicist.

"Leia, thank God you answered!" Riven's voice sounded strained and urgent through the phone. "We need to address this situation immediately. The rumors are spreading like wildfire, and if left unchecked, they could do serious damage to your image."

Leia listened, her heart sinking as Riven explained the extent of the media frenzy. It was worse than she had feared. The misleading photo had ignited a wildfire of rumors and speculation, turning her innocent friendship with Nick into a scandalous affair in the eyes of the public, especially as he had a girlfriend.

Of course, even though he would have been the one cheating on his partner, it was her that was being plastered as a home-wrecker.

"We need to issue a statement, Leia," Riven continued urgently. "We have to set the record straight before things get even more out of hand."

As Riven rattled off suggestions for how they should address the situation, Leia's mind drifted back to Taylor. She remembered their conversation about fame, about the pressures and pitfalls that came with it. Leia took a deep breath, her fingers anxiously tapping against her thigh.

"But we also need to be careful," Riven cautioned. "The media thrives on controversy and scandals. We need to make it absolutely clear that you are not dating Nick Jonas, but we also don't want to create more drama in the process."

"I understand, Riven." She could feel the weight of responsibility settling on her shoulders.

"I'm setting up a meeting with Scooter Braun," Riven replied, as if it was the most obvious next steps to take in this situation. She furrowed her eyebrows, sitting up a little bit straighter in confusion.

As Riven mentioned Scooter Braun's name, Leia couldn't help but feel a surge of doubt. While she knew that Scooter was a powerful figure in the music industry and had worked with many successful artists, she couldn't shake off the feeling that involving him would only escalate the situation further. Why couldn't they just release a statement and call it a day?

"Riven, are you sure involving Scooter Braun is the best course of action?" Leia asked tentatively, her voice betraying her hesitation.

Riven paused for a moment, clearly surprised by Leia's question. "Leia, Scooter has dealt with countless scandals and controversies throughout his career. He knows how to handle these situations and protect his artists' reputations. Trust me, he's the best person to guide us through this. He also happens to be managing Nick at the moment, so naturally we do need to have him involved."

Leia bit her lip nervously, unsure of what to say. She didn't want to undermine Riven's expertise, but there was something about Scooter's reputation that made her uneasy. Taylor and Selena hadn't said much, and Karlie was signed to Scooter, but there was still something off about it all.

"Okay," Leia said, her voice filled with determination. "Set up the meeting. I trust your judgment, Riven."

____

Adrian had managed to postpone her GMA appearance, stating that she was sick. She was sure no one would believe that after the news the night before, but she didn't care. She'd go back next week for her rescheduled appearance.

As she entered the meeting office, she knew there was something going on from the moment she had walked in, especially once she had realised there was seven glasses in the middle of the table instead of the four for her, Scooter, Adrian and Riven.

Sure enough, the doors to the otherwise unoccupied room soon swung open and Scooter entered with not just Adrian and Riven in his wake but also two other official looking men. Following behind them was nothing other than the man himself: Nick Jonas. Furrowing her eyebrows, she sent him a small but confused smile that the man returned as he sat down in the seat beside her.

"Let's get straight into it then boys," Scooter started, having poured himself a glass of water instantly and was beginning to spread stacks of paperwork out around the table. Adrian shared a look with Nick's manager as they watched the man work quickly. "I personally don't want to be in this stuffy meeting room all day."

Leia zoned out as they all spoke other each other for a while, talking about Nick and Leia's candid photographs and what statements they were going to release on them. Leia wasn't sure why this was such a formal matter or why it was such a big deal, and Nick seemingly wasn't understanding it either.

Turning his head to look at Leia, he nudged the girl with his foot as the others in the room continued with whatever negotiations they had started to do. Leia spun her chair to the side, noticing in the corner of her eye that the others hadn't even realised that the two had zoned out of the legal chat.

"My brother's girlfriend messaged me after she saw those photos last night, asked if I could tell you that she is obsessed with Be The One," he murmured to her, taking a sip of his water as he smiled in her direction. "Got to say, I do really like it too!"

"Thanks! Not going to lie, my little sister went insane when she found out that I had even met you - we were in love with Camp Rock when we were younger," Leia joked, causing Nick to stifle a laugh as he thought back to his Disney days.

"I forget how big that used to be," he informed her, a humble grin on his face as he remembered that it was one of the most memorable Disney channel films to exist.

They fell back into a comfortable silence between them as Nick thanked her and went to pour himself another glass of water. Watching as the professionals seemed confused on how they were going to spin the photos and the unfortunate portion that they had been snapped standing in, Leia realised that they would probably be here for a while.

Leia leaned back in her chair, twirling a pen absentmindedly between her fingers. She glanced over at Nick, who was now engrossed in a conversation with his manager, his brows furrowed in concentration. Despite being a seasoned celebrity, he seemed genuinely affected by the situation. She couldn't blame him; after all, it had been her photo that sparked this whole mess. Leia couldn't help but wonder what his girlfriend thought about all of this. Was she hurt? Angry? Or did she brush it off as just another gossip column?

"Leia," Riven's voice broke through her thoughts, snapping her back to reality. "We need your input on the statement."

She straightened up, instantly refocusing on the task at hand. She took the paper that Riven handed her and skimmed through the carefully crafted words. It was clear that every line had been meticulously thought out to protect both her and Nick's reputations.

Leia scanned the statement, her eyes moving quickly across the page. As she read through the carefully chosen words, she couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. On one hand, it was comforting to know that they were handling the situation professionally and doing their best to mitigate any potential damage. But on the other hand, Leia couldn't shake off the feeling that it was all too calculated, too artificial.

"It's a good statement," Leia began, her voice laced with hesitation. "But it feels... impersonal. Like it's lacking authenticity."

"We understand your concerns, Leia," Scooter said smoothly, his voice calm and composed. "But in situations like this, it's important to strike a balance between honesty and protecting your image. We can't afford to give the media any more ammunition."

Leia nodded, understanding Scooter's point. She knew the importance of damage control, especially in a situation like this. But still, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her hesitate.

"I get it," Leia replied slowly, her mind racing with possibilities. "But wouldn't it be powerful if we could address this scandal in a way that not only protects our reputations but also showcases our vulnerability? People connect with authenticity, and I think this situation calls for a personal touch."

The room fell silent as everyone contemplated Leia's words. Adrian, who had been scrolling through his phone, looked up with curiosity written all over his face. Riven leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Alright," Scooter said, although she could tell he was irked at her for stepping in. "I see where you're coming from. Let's try rewriting a few lines, shall we? Riven, take note."

_____

"So, you're not dating Nick Jonas?"

Leia rolled her eyes as she fell on to the couch, her phone pressed to her ear as she gently lifted her glass of wine from the couch. The girl on the other end of the line laughed, the noise so genuine that it made Leia almost feel like she could breathe again.

"No, trust me, I'm not dating Nick Jonas," Leia replied, taking a sip of her wine. She leaned back against the plush cushions, feeling the weight of the day slowly melting away. "Those pictures were taken out of context. We were just talking, that's all."

Taylor chuckled, her hand absentmindedly stroking Meredith as the cat lay beside her on her sofa. She had no idea where Calvin was, and she was beyond caring. She just had a gut feeling he was out screwing some model somewhere, expecting her to be sitting with open arms for him when he came home. She wanted to tell Leia, but she figured the girl had been through enough already today.

"Can't even have a normal conversation without the world assuming you're dating someone. I feel you, Leia. That's the thing with the media, huh? They can twist any interaction into something scandalous," Taylor replied, her voice filled with empathy. "But don't worry, Leia. They'll find some other carcass to pick at by tomorrow."

Leia sighed, feeling a sense of relief wash over her as she confided in Taylor. A silence fell between them, the weight of their unspoken experiences lingering in the air. Taylor let out a breath before speaking again, her voice low and filled with caution.

"Leia, listen to me," Taylor said, her voice serious and low. "I know you're new to this industry, and I don't want to scare you, but there are people in here who only care about their own interests. Scooter Braun is one of them."

"What do you mean?"

Leia frowned, her wine glass freezing halfway to her lips. Taylor sighed, a mixture of frustration and concern evident in her voice.

"Scooter may seem like he's got your best interests at heart, but trust me, he's a master manipulator. He'll do whatever it takes to further his own agenda, even if it means using someone like you as a pawn."

"Taylor, did something happen?" Leia asked, confused on why she felt so passionately about this. She knew the woman didn't like the man, but she hadn't realised she felt so strongly about it. "Did he do something to Karlie?"

"No," Taylor replied, almost immediately as if it was a reflex. "He's just... there's something shady about him, Leia. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Leia's heart skipped a beat as Taylor's words echoed in her ears. She trusted Taylor, admired her honesty and integrity in an industry that often seemed void of it. And yet, she found it hard to fully comprehend the depth of Scooter's potential deceit. After all, Scooter had been the one who guided her through today and was looking after Karlie. He'd seemed genuinely nice.

"I appreciate your concern, Taylor," Leia said softly, her voice tinged with worry. "But I need to see it for myself. I can't just dismiss someone without solid evidence."

There was a brief pause before Taylor responded, her tone drier than Leia had heard it before.

"I get it, Leia. Sometimes we need to experience things firsthand to truly grasp the reality. Just promise me that you'll be cautious and trust your instincts, okay? I need to go, but I'll see you next week?"

"Yeah, see you then," Leia mused, sighing as Taylor ended the call.

What the hell was that about?

.

.

.

originally published: september 2018

rewritten: february 2024