Page 90 of Rescue

“Because we’re going home. And we haven’t really talked about what happens next…”

Lennon frowns. “I assumed we’d be together. Isn’t that… isn’t that what you want?”

A flash of relief goes through me. “Of course it’s what I want.”

Before he can respond, Daltrey sticks his head out of the greenroom door. “You coming, Len? Dad’s getting pissy.”

“Story of my life,” he mutters, rolling his eyes at me. It’s a small gesture, but it makes me happier than I can say to see him acting a little more normal. “See you later?”

“Definitely.” He kisses me softly, just for a moment, and then releases my arms. I watch him go until he’s through the greenroom door. For the first time in the last few days, I feel a little bit hopeful. Maybe this will all work out okay. We’ll be home soon, and he’ll talk to his family. They’ll help him figure out what’s going on, why he’s having so many nightmares. Help him figure out whatever the hell his mother was talking about when she said he needed to remember. He’ll be back near his doctors, and they’ll help too.Everything will be fine, I tell myself again as I head back to my dressing room. It has to be.

I barely manage to suppress a groan as I walk into the room and see Louis sitting on the little couch. He’s alone, all of my bandmates nowhere to be seen. Awesome. I’d been waiting for his lecture about my unplanned trip. But when Louis looks up at me, my stomach drops. He doesn’t look the way he usually does when he’s about to lecture me. He looks… worried.

“We need to talk,” he says, standing up to shut the door behind me. “Sit down with me, okay, Haylee?”

He’s being too nice. He never talks to me like this. Something bad happened. I don’t know what, but I know something bad happened.

“Haylee,” he repeats, taking my arm and leading me to the couch. Why is there pity in his eyes? “Come and talk to me.”

“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to fight down the fear that’s rising in my chest.

He doesn’t torture me with anticipation. Instead he looks straight into my face, his eyes steady and so sad. “Haylee, your mother gave an interview, and it’s going to be published tomorrow.”

My throat goes very dry. “What kind of interview?”

“She spoke to one of the gossip magazines. After the Paris show when you guys started to get so much attention…”

Oh, God. “What did she do?” But I already know the answer. I know exactly what my mother is capable of selling for a little fame and some cash.

“She talked to them about Randy.”

The room seems to go very still around me. I open my mouth a few times, but no sound comes out. Glancing down, I realize that Louis is holding my hand. The sweetness of that gesture brings a lump to my throat. “She told them… everything?”

“Mostly everything. She shared details about the stalking and the… abduction.”

I hate her, I think dully. I really do. She knew how much that affected me. Knew how impossible I found it to talk about. Knew how hard the label fought to keep so much of it hidden, to keep it away from the press.They tried to protect me better than she ever did, I think. My bosses took better care of me than my own mother. A few details got out, like these things always do. But no one had heard of us back then. It was only a blip.

“She also talked about how you’ve… dealt with the stress of the situation.”

My head snaps up. The pity in his eyes is far greater now than it was before.

“What do you mean?”

Louis closes his eyes briefly. “She told them about some of the problems you’ve had since the attack.”

“Like what?” My voice is so cold, so sharp, it hardly sounds like my own.

“She said that you had to cancel the tour that year. And that you have panic attacks in crowds. And that… you’ve turned to drugs and alcohol.”

You would think after all this time that I wouldn’t be surprised by her behavior. That she couldn’t hurt me. Sure, theeffectsof her behavior could hurt, but I thought I outgrew being hurt byher. By knowing that my own mother cared so little about me. So I’m surprised by the pain that runs through me at his words. “She told them that?”

“Haylee, I’m so sorry. The label is behind you, I want you to know that. They’ll release a statement, downplaying everything she said. We can say that you have little contact with her, that she’s not close enough to the situation to speak with any authority. The label can minimize this, I promise.”

Everyone will know. Everyone will know what happened to me. How I dealt with it. It’s entertainment now, something to gossip about. People will read about it in the glossy pages of magazines while they stand in line to buy groceries. The worst thing that ever happened to me is about to be an entertaining diversion for someone.

And it was my mother who made that possible.

“I’m going to go back to the hotel,” I say, standing up. Somehow I manage to keep my voice steady, but my hands are shaking. I shove them into my pockets so Louis won’t see.