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[ B L A I R E ' S   P O V ]

       "You know, Blaire," Baxton starts off, "when I said that you were supposed to take care of Jackson, I didn't mean it like this."

He eyes us warily as both Jackson and I take a seat on the sofa in front of him, a little bit shamefully, to say the least. My cheeks burn from the things that both of us did on this couch last night. Jax turns and casts me a devilish grin, and I know he's thinking about it too.

I hug my robe tightly against my body, feeling very naked and vulnerable. Jax stiffens beside me, but his hand reaches out to take mine. He squeezes it tightly, somewhat to give me a little bit of assurance that I might not be getting fired today.

I honestly don't know how I would feel if I were to be fired. I guess it would suck, considering the fact that I won't have enough money to sustain Eden's and my life after the whole thing with the court blows over. But then again, I probably wouldn't miss the job much. All I basically did for the past few weeks was stand around waiting for Jax to finish his interviews and photoshoots, and shoving paparazzi and fans away from him on the streets. It's an easy—if not boring—job.

But if firing me also means that I'll be kicked out of the house, I'm doomed for sure. I would have to find a place to live and that would mean splurging on rent. And guess where that money will come from? The cash that I need to hire a lawyer and gain custody of Eden. I'm not willing to use that money other than for the sole reason that I stole it in the first place.

That and also, it would suck that I wouldn't be living with Jax anymore. I know—I once thought I would never say such a thing. But then again, I also swore to myself that I would never have feelings for Jax. And guess what? I did.

And he's all I can think about. Not being able to see him everyday half-naked in his bunny slippers would be devastating. Truly.

"Well, what did you expect?" Jax says to his dad, his lips thinning. "We all knew exactly how her being my bodyguard would turn out."

Baxton shrugs and looks away, but not before I see a small smile tug on his lips. "That's really besides the point."

"Take a look at this," he takes a stack of magazines from Hunter's grasp and throws it on the coffee table. And the moment I see them, I almost faint.

Most of the front pages of the magazines are plastered with the same picture. It's a photo taken of Jax and I kissing frantically yesterday outside the mansion. And the kiss doesn't look very innocent at all.

His hand is up my shirt and mine are sifted in his hair, and he had me pressed against the door with his weight on mine. I mentally curse myself for being this careless. How did I forget that there would be paparazzi trying to capture our every move? I'm his bodyguard, for fuck's sake. I am supposed to be more cautious about these kinds of things. I look at the pictures with embarrassment and I had to close my eyes briefly to take everything all in.

And the pictures aren't the worst part of the magazines.

Headings plaster over the top of the front pages. Jax Deneris Locking Lips With His Bodyguard! Deneris's Son Slumming It With The Help? First Heidi Klum, and now Jax Deneris—Can't Resist Sexing Up Their Bodyguards! Whitney Houston Would Be Impressed!

"Jesus fucking Christ," Jax leans closer to inspect the magazines. His whole face seems to be growing red, out of embarrassment or anger, or both, I wouldn't know.

Yeap, I think to myself. This is it. Baxton is going to fire me. He's so going to fire me right now and I'm going to be penniless, and I would have to pack my bags and go far, far away from here and away from Jax-

"It gets worse when you actually read the articles," Baxton shrugs. "I wouldn't want to read them if I were you, Blaire. It's really nasty."

I close my eyes briefly, trying to digest the shit storm that has come my way. I never thought that I would be the paparazzi's victim again. Back when my parents were alive, they desperately tried to keep me and Eden away from the spotlight because they wanted us to have normal lives. But regardless, there were bound to be articles about us. And everywhere I went, there were people who tried to take pictures of me.

Granted, I didn't have to worry about that after my parents died and Eden and I no longer became relevant anymore in the public's eye, but I still remember vividly how I felt when I was in the centre of it all.

I'm not going to read the articles about me and Jax. I know from experience that those articles ain't going to be pretty—they will make ridiculous assumptions and accusations about me that I will probably never live down. And I'm going to save myself all that trouble.

"Don't worry about it too much, Blaire. My PA team will be able to do some damage control. It will be... expensive, but nothing I can't handle," Baxton leans forward, arms rested against his thighs. He casts me a crooked smile and gestures for Hunter to take the magazines away.

"Does this mean I'm fired?" I speak quietly.

His eyes widen. "No, of course not. What makes you think that?" He lets out a hearty laugh.

I clear my throat. "Um, because I'm... sleeping with your son. My client."

"Baxton, before you do anything-" Jax starts off but his father stops him with a wave of his hand.

"Jackson, no need to protest. I'm not going to fire you, Blaire. I don't have any intentions of doing so."

"But, I just destroyed Jax's reputation and quite possibly yours too. I mean... look at this." I gesture to the magazines in disgust.

"Blaire, shut up. Are you trying to get yourself fired?" Jax leans over to hiss at me "Because you aren't really helping your own case, you know."

That makes me frown. "No, I don't want to be out of job. But the facts are all there. I'm just trying to understand."

Baxton smiles. "I should fire you. I know I should. But... I'm not going to do that. You're good at what you do."

Bullshit. He knows any other bodyguard can do a better job than I can.

"That and also," he continues on, "I kind of knew you both would get together."

"Wait, what?" Jax and I both say at once.

"I'm not a fool, you know. I knew what I was doing when I gave you the job to protect Jax," Baxton shrugs. "Please, I know my son like the back of my hand. He's a ladies man and it's no doubt that he's attracted to you. So I knew that the both of you would get involved. I didn't realize it took this long to do so."

"You... you set us up?" Jax says, baffled.

"Sort of. But I was also serious when I said you needed to be protected. So I just figured I'd kill two birds with one stone—allowed her to be your bodyguard so that the both of you can spend time with each other and... learn not to kill each other. Which, looking at the both of you now, I'm glad to say has succeeded tremendously," Baxton chuckles to himself.

I can't believe he just said that. I can't believe he set the both of us up. Why the fuck would he do that? He ain't the goddamned cupid. It doesn't make any sense.

Baxton Deneris has completely defied all sense of logic.

"Anyway," he adds on, "don't worry about the bad publicity coming out of this. Bad publicity is still publicity. I'm not really bothered about it and you two shouldn't be too."

I only nod because I have run completely out of words.

"I need to be off," he says, getting up from the sofa. "I have to get to the studio soon. Meanwhile, try to lay low for a while after all of this blows over."

"Right," Jax says, shoving his hands inside his pockets. "And that means..."

"Not trying to fuck each other while the paparazzi are around," Baxton says nonchalantly. Hunter chokes on his own laugh.

I look away, my cheeks turning a ghoulish pink color.

Jax nods, looking embarrassed as well. "I got a couple of interviews I need to go to in the next few weeks. What am I supposed to say to them if they ask me about Blaire and I? Do I lie about it?"

"No, god no," Baxton says as he opens the front door. Before he leaves, he casts a warm smile to the both of us, as if giving us his silent blessing. "Just tell them the truth. About the both of you."

And with that, he's gone.

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I still can't believe Baxton had set both me and Jax up, even knowing that if it gets out—which it did—it would inevitably tarnish his reputation. He must have been really determined to get the both of us together. Which has me wondering: why? I don't think he'll ever tell me. Maybe Jax. I will ask him about it after his lunch appointment tomorrow with his father.

Regardless, the damage has already been done. The press are probably gunning for my ass at this moment. They would pounce on me at any given chance now that they know I'm Jax's... lover. I'm still not sure if they love me or hate me—probably the latter.

Not only will the paparazzi be tailing after me but Jax's army of fangirls too. After his recent photoshoots on various magazine covers, he has accumulated quite a lot of them. They've been following him and chasing after him for autographs. They worship the ground he walks on.

It's fucking creepy.

I stay away from social media too. My phone has been exploding with tweets, messages and calls. The mansion's mailbox has been flooded with hate mail—all of them directed at me. There were a lot of accusations. Apparently, I have 'taken advantage' of a poor, innocent celebrity. Either that or I have brainwashedJax into kissing me. Or corrupted him. Or that I'm some kind of witch and I have put a spell on him to make him fall madly in love with me.

They call me names too—slut, gold-digger, tramp, bitch—all that I'm too familiar with. It hurt like hell, but I try not to let it get to me. Jax tells me that they're all jealous of me, that the reason why they're attacking me is because they want to be me. But that doesn't make me feel better.

If anything, it just makes me feel empty.

"Hey," Jax pulls me into his arms, kissing my hair. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

"No, you don't have to be sorry," I sigh, burying my nose against his shirt, inhaling his musky scent. "I should have known what I was getting into. I mean, I'm dating a damn celebrity. This is all part of the package."

"True," he nods. "But it will blow over. Soon, some Kardashian will fuck up and make the headlines again. It's a vicious cycle."

"I know," I say, shrugging, "But they know who I am now. Everyone. I was be able to lie low after what happened with my parents but now I'm back in the spotlight again. It sucks."

"I'm sorry," he murmurs sadly. "You know, if we were in Boston right now, this would all go away."

"Why would going to Boston making it all go away?" I arch a curious eyebrow.

"Because I'm protected in Boston. The paparazzi can't touch me there. Baxton made sure of that," he tells me, stroking the side of my arm. "That's the reason why he didn't bring me to LA after he got famous, even though I really wanted to go with him." He takes a deep breath to steady himself. "He just... didn't want me to get dragged into this. I knew what I was getting into too when I came here for the summer. Knowing that I would be thrusted under the spotlight. And I still did it anyway."

"I can't blame you." I shake my head. "You needed to leave, didn't you? After what happened with Sienna? And you had no where else to go."

"Yeah," Jax says. "I'm actually kind of glad I did it." He smiles, a genuine one directed at me. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have met you."

"Aw, Jackson," I say, laughing slightly. "You are so... cheesy."

He gasps dramatically. "What? I thought girls like that kind of shit."

"Not me," I press a kiss on the edge of his lips. "But I value your valiant attempt at trying to make me smile. You know, you're much cuter now when you're trying to impress me than when you actually want to kill me."

"You're still intolerable at times, but nothing I can't handle." Jackson says gruffly.

"Ditto, Jackson. Ditto."

"Don't say ditto. It's so fucking lame."

"Am not!" I say sharply. "You're so fucking lame!"

"Jesus," he swears under his breath. "I can never win with you, can I?"

"Nope," I say. "Let's read another one." I start to reach for another one of the letters sprawled across the coffee table but Jax swats my hand away. "What the fuck, Jackson?"

"We're not reading anymore of this bullshit," Jax mutters, sweeping all the letters into a huge black rubbish bag. "It's not going to make you feel better."

"But it's fun!" I protest.

"I certainly don't think so," he says with a frown. "I hate what they're calling you. Absolutely hate it. You are not a whore, Blaire. Or a slut. Or a witch. Or a tramp. Or a fucking gold-digger. You are my damn girlfriend and I'm not going to let them call you names. I will sue everyone if I have to just to make it stop. Because you deserve much more than that." He says with much determination.

"You don't have enough money to sue everyone," I point out quietly, though deep inside, my heart is making fucking somersaults in my chest.

"I wish I did," he murmurs, weaving his fingers into my hair. "I hate that they don't see what I see instead—beautiful, funny and downright amazing. Absolutely amazing. And I'm crazy about you."

A small smile grows on my lips and I kiss him. "Okay, I take it back. I kinda like the cheese."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, woman. You confuse me sometimes," Jax says quietly. "I simply can't keep up with you."

I trail my finger over the seam of his lips and smile. "I'll wait for your fat ass to catch up with me, then."

He chuckles deeply and pulls me back into his embrace, resting his chin on the top of my head. "I'll chase you however long it takes, darling. To the stars and back."

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The next few days pass by in a blur. I'm so deliriously happy with Jax that I don't remember what day is it. Maybe it's because we haven't gone out of the mansion since Baxton visited us to tell us that I'm a social pariah ever since the pictures of Jax and I went viral. We've been told to lay low for a while and that meant trying not to go outdoors so that we won't expose ourselves even more. It's not like we were complaining—staying in the mansion does has his perks.

Jax fulfilled his promise of fucking me on every single surface of the house. We've done it in the kitchen, his bedroom, my bedroom, the guest room, all three bathrooms, the stairs and the living room. We've pretty much covered everything and Jax is really proud of it. He's fucked me to the point of exhaustion; I could barely lift my legs out of bed. He has officially destroyed me—every part of me—from the inside out.

Apart from the sex, we do have a lot of good moments together when we're not touching. We like to banter with each other a lot—sometimes they turn into arguments, but most of the times, we're able to laugh it off. It's very fun getting Jax all riled up. He gets super into the banter—always eager to 'win'. But eventually, I always get the upper hand. He doesn't really mind, though. He says as long as it puts a smile on my face, then he's happy about it.

It's nice seeing this side of him. I never knew he had a romantic bone in his body, except for the one he packed in his pants. He talks a great deal about wanting to fuck me, but an affectionate and tender element to when he actually does it. He smiles more too when he's with me, and I find myself doing the same around him too. It's crazy—how being with someone can do that.

Provide happiness.

And I am. Happy.

So happy that I feel guilty.

Which is why I'm here by the bench outside of Caffeinated with my shades, waiting for Ben to arrive.

I'm so nervous. My palms are sweating and I keep fidgeting in my seat. I haven't seen Ben ever since I met with Belle over coffee last week and even then, I barely spoken even a few words to him. It's time I really talk to him. We've been long overdue for the talk for so long anyway and now that the entire world knows that Jax and I are together, I need to be able to set things straight with him.

I can't help but feel bad that I'm happy while I have no idea how Ben's feeling. Unrequited love sucks and I hope it won't be hard for Ben to hear that I'm with Jax now. I don't ever want him to feel like shit. He deserves much more than that.

I see his figure approaching me and I stand up eagerly, my lips parted open slightly in an 'O', still reeling over the shock that he's here. He looks up, then smiles, ever so small, to me and he combs his dark locks to the side so I can see his eyes.

"You don't have to stand up for me, Blaire. I'm not the queen," he murmurs as he takes a place next to me. "I thought we were better than that."

"I know, I just-" I pause, then slowly sit down and place my hands over my thighs, blowing out a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I get that stuff has been weird between us," Ben shrugs, then his eyebrows arch in confusion. "Why are you wearing shades?"

"Because I can? And it's summer?"

He shakes his head. "You never wear shades unless you want to hide from someone."

I rest my head on the arm that is placed on the bench and frown. "Well, I don't know if you've seen the magazines and blogs but I'm practically a social pariah right now after..."

Suddenly everything clicks into place for him and his face falls. His lips are replaced with a grim line and he looks almost sad. "Oh. Right. You and Jax are..."

"...together," I say almost instantaneously then mentally slap myself for being too eager. "Sorry, I-"

"Blaire, shut up. You're worrying me. You said 'sorry' twice. In less than five minutes. And you've never even apologized to me before."

"I don't know... I'm just... really nervous." My palms are covered with so much sweat when I rub them together, they slide off easily from each other. "Ben, I don't even know where to begin. I felt like I should explain myself to you—that's why I called you here today—because I didn't want you to look at those magazines and think the worst of me—"

"Why would I think that?" Ben says. "I knew you had feelings for Jax, Blaire. The minute you started mentioning him, I knew then that you were going to fall for him. And I also knew then there was no chance in hell that you would be with me. Sure, the magazines painted you as some kind of whore who made out with a celebrity for fame and money, but I'm not the one to believe all that kind of shit. You know that. I know you like him, Blaire. Maybe even love him. And... I accept that."

"So... you're okay with it?" I ask cautiously. "That I'm with Jax now?"

"Yeah, I mean—when I saw the pictures, it wasn't easy for me... but..." Ben shrugs. "As long as he makes you happy, I'm okay with it. I only want what's best for you, Blaire. Always have and always will."

"Oh, Ben," I lean against his shoulder and sniff. "I'm so sorry. I don't deserve you at all. You're too good to me."

"It's okay..." He strokes the back of my hair and I see him smile sadly. "I'll always be your friend, Blaire. Whenever you need me, I'll be here for you. I don't want things to be awkward between us anymore."

"Thank you, Ben," I look up to smile at him. "I've been so worried about what you might think... and now after hearing you say that, I feel much better."

Ben smiles back, a real genuine one. "Come here, Blaire."

I lean over to hug him and I feel the last of my burden wash away the moment his arms wrap around mine. There's nothing romantic about the gesture, neither is it awkward. In truth, the hug was really what I needed from Ben. It symbolizes the mending of our friendship.

When he finally pulls away, he grins. "So, now that we're okay... I think I deserve a little update on what is happening in your life."

      "Alright, what do you want to know?"

      "Have you been stealing again?" His eyes grow serious as he folds his arms across his chest. I kind of knew that I was going to be hit with that question. I hadn't expected to be hit so early.

      "No. Not lately." I shake my head. "After the whole Mr. Jenkins thing, I thought it would be good not to strike again anytime soon. And between that and what's happening right now with the media and Jax... my life has been hectic. I need to sort it out one problem at a time."

     Ben nods, even though he seems uncomfortable with what I just said. I think he's unhappy that regardless of everything that's happening, thieving is still part of my life. It might not be my first priority right now, but it's still lingering at the back of my mind. I still need to hire Mr. Forman as my lawyer to represent me and I can't do that unless I make some mula.

    But for now, that can wait. Mr. Forman is out on a business trip for the next two weeks so that will give me some time to get my life back in order. I'll figure out the rest as I go.

     "I'm not happy about you wanting to steal again, but I know I can't stop you from doing it, so I'm just going to let it slide," Ben tells me.

     I laugh. "It's not like you have a choice anyway."

      "That's true." That earned him a small smile. "By the way, you look ridiculous in your Ray-Bans, Blaire. You should put them away."

"And risk media exposure again? I can only handle one scandal a day, Benny-boy. And I think Jax feels the same way."

"Speaking of Jax..." He looks around cautiously and purses his lips. "Does he know that you're here? With me right now? "

"Yeah." I nod. "He wanted to come too but... I told him not to."

"And he listened?" Ben seems baffled. "He seemed like the type of person who doesn't listen to anyone. Ever."

"I have my ways of making him comply."

A lie.

Jax was really adamant on showing up with me here today and the only reason why he didn't come with me was because I handcuffed him to the bed.

It was supposed to serve as a punishment for not listening to me, but Jax probably thinks it's some kinky shit that's about to happen.

Sigh.

That's what you get when you have a horny as fuck guy as a boyfriend.

"Right," Ben whistles. "Well, I'm... happy for you, Blaire. That you have him. I hope he makes you happy."

He has made me deliriously jovial these days, but I'm definitely not going to say that out loud.

"He does," I say instead.

A beautiful smile graces his lips again and he extends his hand towards me. "Come on. I'll walk you home. And you can tell me the story behind that photo with you and Jax that's been taking the entire world by storm."

I laugh but take his hand anyway, using it as a crutch to stand up. "It's a long story, Ben. I'm not sure if you want to know."

"If Belle could handle it, I think so can I," he says and I nod.

"Alright, then," I slide my fingers into his and the both of us walk side-by-side along the pavement. "So, I kissed him first... "

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A/N: Dedicated to ThatReeader for being my cheerleader by the sidelines, constantly fangirling with me about the Perfect boys.

So JAIRE is as happy as they can be. FINALLY I can spend a few chapters writing about how they work together as a couple. I can't wait for you guys to read it! They're a pretty eccentric couple, but I love them nonetheless.

Anyways, if you haven't read the Perfect Boys joint interview in the Wattpad Block Party - Summer Edition book, you can do so now!

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/218375504-wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-ii/page/5

So what do you think of JAIRE now? My prediction is that they'll be happy. But it won't be for long....

Anyways, see you the following FRIDAY! Meanwhile, KEEP CALM AND LOVE JACKSON!

Love, Claudia.