2 (jaylor) ethereal daylight and golden epiphanies

chapter twenty two.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked as he sat beside Taylor in the dining room. They were both on the phone to Tree, trying to decide what they were going to do. They had until tomorrow morning to think about the situation, to think about what they were going to do. "Who told them?"
"It's an unnamed source," Tree answered. "So technically the two of you could deny it. And perhaps if we went down that route... perhaps you need to be seen out in public again. It's going to blow up, this news. Of course there have been articles in the past where they've said little comments like that," Taylor put her head in her hands. "But there hasn't actually been one where someone's come to them with a story, with what they call proof."
"But no one has any proof - and even if they do, the people that know about her wouldn't do that." Taylor sighed. "Could Joe and I talk about the situation for a bit and get back to you?"
"Of course. Call me back when you need me," Tree said, and Joe wrapped his arms around Taylor. He was glad that his parents and Patrick were here, because it meant that right now, he could focus entirely on Taylor, and know that Thea was okay.
Tree hung up, and he held Taylor close for a moment.
"There's something I need to tell you," Taylor murmured against his chest. "Please don't be mad that I didn't tell you sooner."
Joe felt panicked about what exactly Taylor was about to tell him, and hoped that it wasn't going to be bad. His heart rate increased, and he pulled away to look her in the eyes. "I would never be mad, my love. Whatever it is, you can tell me, and if we have to sort it out, we will."
"I know that I said that I'd call you if I really needed you when I was out... but I didn't." She sighed, her breath shaking. "I mean, it was all okay - nothing happened that I couldn't fix myself."
"Whatever it is, you can tell me," Joe told her reassuringly as he draped a hand across her waist, holding her softly.
"It turns out that... that Adam had another girlfriend," she told him, watching his reaction closely. "And he is treating her exactly as he treated me. She phoned me up and asked me if everything was true, asked how I got out... but then Adam came home and she had to hang up..." the words just tumbled out of her mouth. "And she phoned back a while later... and I told her to leave, told her that she needed to go to the police, to the hospital... that she just had to get out of the apartment... and he heard her talking and I think she fled... I think that she got out... but I just..." she paused, as a fresh wave of worry overcame her. What if she wasn't okay? What if Violet was - no, she couldn't think about that. "And then Adam picked up the phone... and proceeded to tell me that he'd go to the media about what happened in New York - but I... I wasn't going to let him get away with that." She told Joe, still watching his face to get his reaction. "I know something that he did - I have proof of something that he did one summer in 2017. I... kept it because you never know when something like that is going to come in handy, you know? No one else knows about it - not another soul. And I made it clear that if he ever went public about it... if he ever told anyone about it, that I'd go public about that. And believe me... what he did... what he did would completely put New York to shame." She still remembered that night, remembered feeling so scared when he came home, when he'd slammed the door. When he'd called out her name, when he'd hit her because she'd argued that he didn't need to drink anything else. When he'd stumbled over to her, her tears pouring down her cheeks. When he'd grabbed her by the neck and told her what he'd just done, why he needed so much to drink. When he'd been too busy choking her to realise that she had gotten out her phone and had pressed record. Because deep down she'd know that she was going to need it some day. When he'd told her what he'd done and she almost vomited because it was just so cruel. She hadn't listened to that voice recording since, hadn't listened to it because it made her feel sick anytime she did. She remembered the turmoil that she had that night as she lay awake, Adam asleep beside her. She didn't know what to do, did she go to the police? He'd made her believe so strongly that nothing she ever told people would be believed, that they would think she was lying, that they'd blame her.