A constant vibration makes me stir from my sleep. I open my eyes and I'm wrapped up in Declan's arms. His bare chest is under my cheek, and he's sleeping peacefully. I smile up at him. He looks so innocent when he's sleeping. So cute.

I carefully unlatch myself from his arms and get out of bed. I have to pause every few inches to make sure that I don't wake him. I grab my phone off the nightstand next to his bed and sneak out into the living room.

Diana is asleep on the couch when I arrive out there. I carefully sneak past her and out the front door of Declan's guest house. When I'm outside I look at my phone and groan. I should have known this was coming. The second that tape leaked I should have called Peggy my PR manager. However, with someone holding a knife to my neck, my sex tape getting blasted at my friend's funeral, and breaking up with my fiancé all in the same night my priorities were on more important things.

I have thirty-six missed calls from Peggy. I'm just about to call her back when my phone begins to ring again. I can practically hear her frantic voice from Los Angeles. I can already imagine her pulling her hair out of her head and screaming into the dial tone for me to answer.

I take a deep breath and allow the phone to ring a few more times before I answer. "Hello?"

"Hello?" Peggy's frantic voice calls over the phone. "Hello, she says?!" She begins to laugh, but not in a "Briar you're so funny!" way. More like a "this bitch is ruining my life and I don't know what to do other than laugh about it" kind of way.

"Do you have any idea what the fuck kind of shit storm you brought down on us last night?! A sex tape, Briar?! A sex tape?! Not everyone is going to be Kim Kardashian, babe! It's been done before and now it's old school. I really wish you would have run this by me-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I interrupt her. "You think I planned to have my sex tape leaked at the church my parents attend? In front of the pastor that watched me grow up? At my friend's funeral?!" I put emphasis on those last words to get my point across. Peggy goes eerily silent on the phone. My pulse begins to quicken. I knew the backlash of this situation would be bad, but I didn't think it was thirty-six missed phone calls and a maniacal laugh bad.

"This isn't good," is all Peggy manages to say.

"Peggy," I feel my stomach bottom out and fall to my feet. A light sweat breaks across my forehead. "How bad are things right now?"

"Darren went rouge, Briar. He didn't call me either. One minute everything is fine and I was working on a brand deal with Coca-Cola, and the next minute you're trending on X, and your tits are on every major gossip site out there. He posted a story time the second TikTok found out about your adventure. Says that you were cheating on him, and that he loves you more than anything and he hopes that you can work it out, but right now he needs to find himself."

Betrayal. That's the only thing that flashed through me.

I know it's stupid to feel that way. I did cheat on the bastard. I know what I did was wrong. Just because he is an asshole doesn't justify that. I never thought he would be able to do that to me though the same night he almost watched me get murdered.

My hand instinctively goes to my neck and I wince as the sticky crude cut burns from my touch.

"Did he mention that I was almost murdered last night?"

A gasp escapes Peggy's lips. I can hear the gears turning in her brain at my words. It's one of the reasons we went with Peggy's firm. She's able to spin almost anything. Attempted murder far outweighs an affair. Even for an influencer couple. The fact that I was almost murdered and Darren's first thought was to spin a story to make himself look like the victim is enough to make the internet take my side in this situation.

"Okay, no he didn't fucking say anything about that super big piece of information!" Peggy screeches from her end of the phone. "God damn it, Darren," she begins to mutter something under her breath and then goes into manager mode.

"Tyler, I need you to call and set up a Zoom interview with whatever major morning show will have Briar. Kayla, your job is to get that tape scrubbed from the internet. I don't care how much it cost. Gavin, run and get me a coffee," She takes a deep breath. "Briar, I need you to tell me the story from beginning to end. Tell me what is happening in that small town, and what the fuck you did to make someone want to murder you."

So I tell her.

I leave out the threatening note that we found when Joel was killed. I leave out the part about whoever this is leaking my friend's secrets. What I do decide to tell her is how Darren has been emotionally abusive our entire relationship.

"Oh, kiddo," a sniffle appears out the other end of the phone. "I'm so sorry. We're going to take care of this. By the time I'm through, Darren Royal will be smeared across the internet so bad he'll have to do those cringe lives where he tries to compete with someone for more taps."

Tears well in my eyes and a light chuckle escapes me. "Thank you, Peggy."

"You're better than him, Briar. Keep your phone on. Post a video saying that you're going to expose the truth soon, but don't give too much detail. Maybe mention the fact there's a police investigation. Go get dicked down and relax by that hunky mystery guy, and lastly, stay off the internet. Doctor's orders."

"Thanks, Peggy."

She hangs up without another word, and even though I know I shouldn't the first thing I do is open TikTok. Darren's latest videos has over five hundred thousand likes. My thumb gravitates towards the comment section and instinctively presses on it to reveal what people are saying.

Kaylee Atwood: I always knew she was a fucking slut. You're better off without her, Darren.

Maria Bingle: It's very telling that she hasn't said a single thing since the video dropped.

Corrine Kaval: Sooooo....does this mean you're single now?!

Jesus Christ this is a shit show. I turn to walk back into the house, but I hear a noise like a twig snapping behind me. I jump and throw my body around. A squeal escapes me, and my body only slightly relaxes when I see it's Darren standing in Declan's Parent's backyard.

My body instantly tense up again when I see him pointing his phone at me.

"I told you guys!" he says loudly as he walks closer to me. His voice sounds sad, but an evil grin is plastered on his face as his many viewers are staring at me looking incredibly guilty. I look down at the T-shirt that Declan gave me to wear last night. That and a thong are the only thing covering my body at the moment. Thankfully, Declan's shirts are big enough on me it might as well be a dress.

"What are you doing here, Darren?"

"Showing our viewers what happened, Briar. You betrayed me with another man, and here you are wearing nothing but his shirt outside in his yard! Why would you do this to me, baby?! I thought we were happy."

His voice is so perfectly pathetic as he's talking to me, that if I were a viewer during this livestream I would never believe that he was grinning like a bad guy in a Disney movie as he spoke to me. He walks to where the camera is right in my face. "You ruined us. For what, Bri? Is he worth it?"

Don't give too many details away. Don't give too many details away.

"A small-town loser that flunked out of college. You gave away our entire life for a man who isn't even going to be able to support you like I can."

Control yourself, Briar. Hundreds, potentially thousands, of people, are on this live right now. He's doing anything he can to make you the bad guy.

"And now you're just staring at me while you wear this joke's t-shirt?!" he sounds appalled, and finally I've had enough. If he wants to bad mouth me, then, by all means, talk away. What he isn't going to do is speak poorly of Declan. Especially when all he's done is be there for me when Darren has screwed me over time and time again since visiting Grover.

"Declan Hahn is twice the man you will ever be, Darren," I tell him matter-of-fact staring directly into the camera. "He's kind, sweet, and generous. He would give the shirt off his back to help a friend. He's loyal. Even when you can't stand him," I say remembering all the ways he continued to show up around me during my time back in this God-forsaken town. "Since my friend was murdered he was the one who has been there for me. He has been the one to make me feel safe and secure during a vulnerable time. He has proven to me that he cares about me. You haven't done that in years."

"He recorded you having sex. He's clearly not a good guy, Briar-"

"Actually," I cut him off. "He didn't record me. Someone followed and taped a private moment between me and another person. Everyone on this live, I need you to listen to me. You're hearing one side of this story. Right now, Darren is upset-"

"I'm not upset!" he shouts.

"Darren is upset, embarrassed, and scared. He's trying to paint himself as the hero of this story. The only thing I'm going to say about that is there are two sides to every story. And Darren," I tell him no longer looking into the camera. "If you want to open up this can of worms we can do it. I might have done something wrong, but nobody is perfect in a relationship. You'd do well to remember that."

I turn back to the camera. "My story is coming out soon. It's going to expose a lot. I'm not allowed to talk about it though until a police investigation is completed."

I make sure to flash the cut on my neck to the camera for a good portion of that conversation. I need the topic to change from the affair to why the police are investigating. If people start worrying about the next big thing, Darren's big pity party is over.

I turn away from them and walk back into the house. Declan is sitting barechested on the couch that Diana was once sleeping on. A giant grin has spread across his face. "Kind, sweet, and generous? You flatter me with your words, Darling." He sends me a wink and I roll my eyes as a pounding on the door pops our flirty bubble.

"I'll handle this," Declan says as he walks over to the door. His abs are bulging out of his stomach as he answers the door. I see Darren's eyes widen a bit at the sight of Declan's physique, and then he quickly composes himself.

"I need to talk to my fiancé," he says.

He tries to push past Declan, but Declan puts his hand against his chest and shoves him back. "Damn, dude," he says with fake sadness in his voice. "You actually just missed her. Maybe you can find her in one of your lives!"

"Get out of my way you podunk, hillbilly, trash-" Declan throws his arm up like he's about to punch Darren, and I immediately reach forward and grab onto his arm.

"He wants you to hit him, Declan. Anything you do that makes him look like the good guy is helping him right now."

"I am the good guy. You're the cheating slut."

"And you're the man who decided it was more important to post a storytime about the fact I cheated on you rather than check on the woman he supposedly loves," I move Declan out of the way and begin to close the door. "Go back to LA, Darren."

The door slams in his face without another word and Declan scoops me up in his arms before I know what's happening. My legs wrap around his waist and my arms around his neck and laugh. He places his lips on mine, and my toes curl from the kiss. We stand there, bodies interlocked, lips dancing passionately over each other's until we hear a soft cough from behind us.

"Not that you two aren't hot or anything," Diana says from the bathroom door. Eyes wide in shock. "But, uh, maybe take it to the bedroom."

I unlatch my legs and Declan sets me down gently onto the floor. I kiss him on the nose before turning back to face them. "I need to go post a response video about all of this mess before Darren runs me off my platform. Give me thirty-ish minutes and I'll be back."

I walk back to Declan's bedroom door and close it behind me. I quickly take my hair and put it into a ponytail. I look into the mirror that he has on his closet door and groan as I see the state of my makeup. This doesn't look good.

It looks like I went on a bender last night.

I walk over to the bathroom attached to his room and quickly scrub the makeup off my face. I look over the completely natural state of my skin and resist the urge to shudder. Darren would never let me post without make-up on. Even when I was doing a get ready with me video I still had to have a base on before I was allowed to put anything else on.

I flinch at the deep bags under my eyes from lack of sleep over the past few days. I am breaking out on my chin, and my eyelashes are far from desirable as I didn't get them refilled before I came back to Grover.

"Girl, what are you doing?" I ask myself. I shake my head and remember all those years ago when Maggie walked up to me as a freshman in high school.

You're like really pretty.

"Thanks, Mags," I whisper to myself before I turn and go back to the bedroom.

I sit down on the bed and pull my phone out. I go onto my TikTok and take a deep breath before I tap on the create a video button.

Don't give too much away.

"Hey guys," I say into the camera. I don't give it the usual charming smile I've perfected over the years of doing social media. I need them to know that it's serious. "There's a lot of rumors going around about me and my relationship with my ex-fiancé, Darren. I'm here to clarify a few things for you."

Fuck it.

"Firstly, I did cheat on Darren. There's no excuse for what I did. I know that cheating is wrong, but not everything is black and white. Darren and I had a relationship that was full of greyscale, and unfortunately, it just didn't work out the way it was supposed to. That's not what this post is about though."

You got this, Briar.

"I returned to my hometown to honor my best friend from high school who tragically passed away the summer of our senior year. Since being back in my hometown, another one of my dear friends was murdered, and there was an attempt on my life. Everything that has happened over the past couple of days has been a direct result of these situations. I can't go into any more details about it until the police investigation is cleared up. I just wanted to be upfront and honest with you guys." I make a show of turning my neck just enough to see the gash in it on camera.

"I appreciate your support and respect for both Darren and I's privacy during this time," there that wasn't so hard. "Love and light."

I end with my normal sign-off and post the video before I have time to second-guess it.

It's the fastest video that's gotten interactions on my account ever. I sit there floored as hundreds and thousands of comments and likes pour onto my notification screen.

Natalie Angles: Briar, I never doubted you! I can't believe you're going through this!

Heather Sinclair: This is absolutely insane! Are the police doing anything about this! Besties, Mother is in DANGER!

I scroll over the supportive comments. Relief fills my body, but then something catches my eye. An account with no profile picture, and a generic username isn't normally something I notice in the comments, but this one said something off-putting.

Anonymous248275819248: Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead! But if I know the secret doesn't that make three? I guess two of you will have to die to keep this one under wraps, Briar!

The comment ends with a pregnancy emoji.

My face pales. No way means what I think it means. The only people who know about this who can tell anyone about Maggie's pregnancy are Declan and myself. We never told anyone.

Well, I've never told anyone.

"Declan," I call out into the living room. "Declan!"

He runs in, face flushed with worry. I can't talk. I just hold out my phone to him with the comment pulled up on the screen. His face pales and sits down on the ground. "She had an abortion before she died," he whispers. "If the police know that I was the one that fathered the baby-"

"You didn't tell anyone?"

"Of course I didn't tell anyone!" Declan gasps. "What kind of question is that?! Who wants to blast out their greatest regret to everyone about the dead girl?" 

Jealousy fills my chest, and I do my best to cool it as old wounds get hashed open again. With tears in my eyes, I lift a hand and caress his cheek. This psycho will not win. I am not going anywhere this time. "There's no way that whoever this is can prove that you were the father, Declan. Her autopsy showed evidence of an abortion. There wasn't even a way to link your DNA."

I'm going to be there this time. Six-year-old wounds can't hurt me anymore.

At least I think they can't.

"You deserve better," he whispers.

"I deserve what I think I do," I whisper. "And we've both done shitty things in our life, Declan. You choose to look past it and keep going. If I can forgive you for six years ago then you can forgive yourself."

He leans over and kisses my hand. "Thank you," he says.

"We do, however, have to tell the others. They deserve to know before the rest of the world does if this psycho decides to pull the trigger."

He nods knowingly and takes a deep breath. His hands go to his face and he drags them down as he sighs deeply. "I never thought this was going to come out again."

"Unfortunately we're dealing with someone who knows what they're doing. But the one thing they can't take from us is each other. Our friendships and relationships have lasted the last six years because we're strong. We can get through this, Dec. We will get through this."

Because it seems the only other option is to die.

I will not die.