chapter fifteen | the fans know

🚨TRIGGER WARNING🚨: panic attacks and alcohol! proceed with caution!

MILA AND GRACIE have been pretty secretive when it came to their relationship. When they would go out in public, they tried to stay in the less populated places, the places where paparazzi never dared to follow people. It was the type of places where they never thought celebrities to visit. They've never even told anyone outside of their families and friends.

Sure, they talk about each other a lot on their social media, but it wasn't anything to give off relationship vibes. They made sure to be careful about this so they could announce it when they were ready.

They wanted to tell people eventually, but they wanted to just enjoy each other's company first. However, Mila had woken up one morning to discover that someone had ruined that for them.

For the last hour, Mila had been on the phone with her manager and best friend, Adam Santiago, trying to figure out who could have done something like this. All they know is that someone had made a post on a Twitter account that used a fake name. It wasn't a big deal that someone had announced their relationship, but they wanted to do it themselves. Now, they would never get that joy.

"I just don't know how this happened, we were being so careful," Mila spoke, soon letting out a frustrated breath and running a hand through her hair. She paced around her living room, frustration and confusion running coursing through her veins. "It's not a big deal, but this was something that we wanted to talk about."

"I know, and you still can." He responded, insinuating that there was a way to get what they wanted and let the fans be happy about it. "You two could just go on Instagram live and confirm the rumors because that's what they are right now...rumors."

Deep down, she knew that he was right, but she couldn't help but feel stressed about the situation. This relationship meant the world to her and she wanted to wait until both of them were ready to announce it so they didn't feel rushed. The last thing she wanted to do was mess up something that was going so well for her, that's all she did before she met Gracie, and now she was trying to be better.

Just as she was going to speak again, her front door had opened which made her cut herself off. She looked over her shoulder to see that her girlfriend had decided on a surprise visit. "Adam, I'll talk with you later. We'll talk more after I talk to her about it." She spoke, soon ending the call before he could get another word out.

She let out a sigh as she plopped down on the couch, soon gently waving at her girlfriend. Gracie flashed her a concerned look as she approached her. "What was that about? Is everything okay?" She asked her curiously, taking a seat next to her.

"Oh yeah, everything is fine. It's just that our relationship has been completely exposed."

"Love, I understand your frustration here, but we were going to announce it anyway. I don't see the issue here."

She let out a sigh and rested her head on Gracie's shoulder, soon feeling an arm wrap around her. "I know I'm being silly about this, but I just thought that we would be the ones announcing OUR relationship to the public, not a fan who somehow figured it out." She replied honestly.

"I know, but everything will be okay, I promise." Gracie comforted, her hand slowly gliding up and down her back in a comforting manner. She then planted a kiss on the top of her head. While she did expect to be the one to talk about her relationship with Mila, she wasn't too worried about this.

The only thing that would make her worry about it is the possible negative rumors that could come from this. She didn't think anything like that would happen though.

At least she hoped not.

Later that day, Gracie and Mila took a short visit to see Mila's family. This would be Gracie's first time seeing them and a good distraction for Mila. Considering the current circumstances, a distraction was needed for her.

The small group sat around the dining room table, laughing as they talked about whatever they were talking about and took sips of their drinks. Mila, Gracie, and Mila's mother shared a bottle of wine, while Mila's siblings either drank water or grape juice. Dinner was almost finished, so they decided to have small talk before they ate.

Mila let out a laugh as she told a story about Gracie from the tour, soon seeing an embarrassed blush creep upon her cheeks. "You'll never guess who I saw while I was at the mall with my friends, Mila," Lila spoke up, catching her older sister's attention.

She flashed her a curious glance, now motioning for her to continue, and took another sip of her wine.

"I saw your ex, Tessa." The second she heard what her sister said, she almost choked on her drink. Tessa was her first love, the ex that made her despise relationships for so long. She was pretty popular when they were first going out, and she continued to grow since they had broken up for good. A month after they broke up, she had even moved out of the country.

She stood up from the table after placing her glass back down onto the table, quickly excusing herself and making her way toward the bathroom.

Once she had walked inside, she closed the door behind her and locked it, her breath quickly picking up. She never thought she would have to hear that name again, let alone think about it. Tessa had put her through hell and here she was once again, back in the country. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her just when things were finally good for her.

She sat on the floor, leaning her back against the bathtub as she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. The tiles of the bathroom floor felt cool beneath her, this was a strategy she used to keep herself grounded during situations like this. She wiped her tears away, trying to control her breathing, but was unsuccessful.

After a few minutes, she heard a knock on the door and then a soft-toned voice. "Mila, pretty girl, are you okay in there?" She questioned with a tone of concern. She tried opening the door, only to discover that it was locked. "Will you let me in?" She spoke again, unsure of what was happening. She had never seen Mila like this before, this was new for her.

She wiped her tears away once again, soon getting up long enough to unlock the door before returning to her spot.

Gracie immediately opened the door to see the state of her girlfriend. She quickly shut the door once again and sat next to her, pulling her into a tight yet comforting embrace. Once Mila's head made contact with Gracie's chest, her tears began to spill. Every memory of her ex had suddenly come back to the forefront of her mind, reminding her of every horrible thing she had experienced with her. "I know, it's okay." Gracie calmly spoke, doing whatever she could to comfort her. She pressed kisses to the top of her head, holding her as close and tightly as she could.

Gracie's fingers gently combed through Mila's hair, her touch as steady as her breathing. She didn't rush Mila or press her with questions, she just stayed there. She showed her that she wasn't alone.

"This is honestly so stupid," Mila mumbled, her voice muffled against Gracie's chest. Her breath hitched as she tried to stop her tears. "It was so long ago, I shouldn't be this upset about it."

"Hey, stop that right now." Gracie softly spoke, her voice firm but kind. She pulled back just enough to lift Mila's chin, making their eyes meet. "It's not stupid, not even a little bit." Her thumbs wiped away a stray tear on Mila's cheek. "You went through something, Mila. Just because it happened a long time ago doesn't mean it stops hurting."

Mila sniffled, her brows knitting together. "I thought I was over it."

"And you are," Gracie reassured her, cradling Mila's face in her hands. "But sometimes these things sneak up on us when we least expect it. It doesn't make you less human or anything, it just makes you human."

Mila shut her eyes as she let Gracie's words sink in. She felt another tear forming, but she or Gracie didn't wipe it away this time, they let it fall.

Silence filled the room for a moment, the faint sound of conversation and the clinking of dishes from the dining room could be heard. Gracie rested her chin on Mila's head once it rested against her chest once again, her fingers still slowly trailing through her hair. Her touch was patient like she had all the time in the world to sit with her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gracie asked after a while, her voice quiet but comforting.

Mila hesitated for a moment. Part of her wanted to say yes, but she wasn't ready for that yet. She knew that Gracie would be there, but she just wasn't ready to open that can of worms yet. "No, not yet," Mila replied, soon earning an understanding hum from Gracie.

"That's okay, I'll be here whenever you do."

"Thank you," Mila whispered, her voice small but sincere.

"Anytime," Gracie spoke, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her girlfriend's head. "You don't have to do this alone, okay?"

Mil nodded against her. She then let out a breathy laugh, wiping her face with her sleeve. "I probably look like a mess right now."

"Wrong," Gracie said with a playful nudge to her side. "You look perfect, but I might be a little biased."

The two let out a laugh from the statement, Mila finally letting out a genuine laugh. "You're so corny."

"Yeah, well," Gracie leaned in, brushing their noses together, her eyes shining with mischief. "You're in love with me, so who's really the fool here?"

The two laughed once again. Mila was now starting to feel a little bit better. Once Gracie had noticed this, she stood up from the floor, soon holding her hand out for Mila to take. "Let's go out there and get something to eat unless you'd rather wait a second."

"No, I'm okay." She confirmed, being pulled off the ground once she grabbed onto Gracie's hand. "I knew the fans called you "Gracie ABramS for a reason, but damn, you are incredibly strong."

That statement made the two laugh once more, this one more genuine than the last. That was what Gracie loved to hear, that was one of her favorite things about Mila...her laugh. She would do anything to hear her laugh all the time and see her smile. With that, they went back to the dining room to join Mila's family once again.

This would be a dinner for the books.

Once they had gotten back to Gracie's apartment, they sat in the living room scrolling their social media. Since the first rumor from this morning, it had spread like wildfire. Almost everyone was talking about it now. At least people were doing the work for them that they planned to do anyway.

All they had to do now was confirm it, but they were going to leave that to be a future problem. Now, they were just enjoying seeing everyone's reactions.

While a few were bad, the others were mostly positive, but they didn't care regardless. They were happy and that was what mattered, they wouldn't let something like this determine how they felt about each other.

"Have you guys seen what people are saying about you on Twitter?" Gracie's best friend, Audrey, questioned as she joined the couple from her bedroom. "They're all going crazy." She continued and plopped herself next to her best friend.

"We were just talking about that," Gracie spoke up, soon wrapping an arm around her girlfriend. "We're still not sure who spilled the beans though, or even how they got ahold of that information." She admitted, soon shrugging.

"No idea, but the people are loving it. They ship you guys."

"They do, don't they?" Mila questioned. The thought of it made her smile. After the horrible news she had gotten earlier, this was definitely helping her a little bit. "What can I say? Gracie and I just make an adorable couple."

Gracie then nodded in agreement, now planting a kiss on Mila's cheek.

From that point, the small group continued to scroll through the various posts, showing each other each one they found. This was a good ending to a horrible day, and Mila couldn't have asked for better people to spend it with.

She was doing better than she thought.

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AUTHORS NOTE!

okay so this might be

the longest chapter

now. i hope you all

enjoyed and thank

you all for the wonderful

support i've gotten with

this story so far, it means

so much to me like you

have no idea. anyway,

i hope there's no mistakes!