My League - Drew Starkey

chapter thirty three.

DREW'S POV

After almost thirty years on this earth, you'd think I'd learn by now that good things don't last. If things seem to be too good to be true, it's probably because they are.

And for some reason, I haven't been able to accept that. I still have so much faith that one day Mallory and I will be able to live freely without having to worry about something disrupting our peace.

But for now, we're trying to navigate life the best we can while dealing with the pressure of publicity. For Mallory's sake, at least.

It's been hard for Mal. This is all still so new to her, it's been taking a lot for her to adjust to this lifestyle. I tried to prepare her and she knew what she was getting herself into when we first started dating. She was willing to accept my lifestyle and she has been handling the limelight pretty damn well. Up until this point.

She's dealt with fans approaching us in public, comments circulating on social media about her, some death threats here and there, miscommunication between the both of us. Rumors being spread by fans on the internet is one thing, and luckily there hasn't been much of that. But to have this article written about her? From one of Hollywood's most credited gossip outlets? And to include a "reliable source"? While she had put up with everything else in our relationship, I was afraid this was it. I was afraid this was her breaking point.

Could this be it? Could the spotlight and fame all be too much for her? I had no idea what was going on in her mind. We've barely talked about the article since we first saw it a week ago.

Mallory had been keeping to herself for the most part within the past week. She's been quiet. She hasn't done much. Luckily, there weren't many scenes she had to shoot this week so she stayed in her apartment. I wanted her to at least come to set and be surrounded by people who love her, or help Jonas and the production team with filming. But, she insisted she stay home. She wanted to be by herself. She told me she's gone outside for a walk here and there, to try and clear her mind, but other than that she's been isolating herself from all of us.

It hurt me so incredibly badly to see her like that. I've been trying to think of the smartest and safest way to go about this whole thing on the internet. I needed to clear her name. My fans trust me. They would believe the words coming out of my mouth over some article with a stupid source, right?

Mads even asked me the other day if her and the guys could say something on social media about all of this. As much as I wanted them to come to Mal's defense publicly, it didn't feel right to have them say something before her and I.

I spoke to my agent a couple days ago about the whole thing. He agreed that we needed to think about what we were going to do next, but we needed to do it fast. The longer we waited to say something, the more it looks like the article was telling the truth. By us not saying anything, it looked like she was guilty. That couldn't be the furthest thing from the truth.

Maybe when I head over to Mal's in a little bit, I'll try and talk to her about it and see if she would want us, or me, to make a statement tonight.

I've been spending most of my time off set with Mallory. I knew this was hard for her to go through, so I've been trying everything I could to take her mind off of things. We've gotten take-out a couple nights this week and watched happy, feel-good movies. We've tried cooking new meals and recipes together. Some moments we barely spoke and our presence was comforting enough as we laid in bed together. I wanted to do whatever I could to help her, I just wished there was more I could do.

What could I do to help her tonight?

As the thought left my mind, there was a soft knock at my door. It was already wide open, so when I looked over I saw Chase standing there, leaning against the door frame. Sweatpants hung on his hips, his chest was bare and from the looks of his damp hair, I could tell he just finished a shower.