Chapter 19

19

T he next few weeks went by in a blur. Jake stayed by Claire's side through everything. He attended the doctor's appointments as if the baby was his own. She finally let go of the fear that he might leave. He was all in.

Claire hadn't received any communication from Charles. He stopped speaking with the tabloids and things had become quiet on that front. With the quiet, she began venturing out to the VIP section to watch the concert with an agreement from the security team.

Seeing the guys perform was a high she had missed. So much energy radiated around them. She even swore she felt the baby kicking in time with the beat.

The crowd screamed, and Claire danced along to the music. No other family members or friends were there, so Claire and Celine were the only people occupying the private viewing area that was off to the side and fenced off from the fans. Fans could still see them and take pictures, but they couldn't get to them. Lonnie was one of the security guards beside the fenced-in area doing crowd control. They were almost butted up to the stage, so the guys could easily see them, and they had, arguably, one of the best views in the arena.

Jake's eyes strayed to her constantly, and she blushed every time. Celine even stopped pointing it out because of how often it was happening, but Claire knew Celine continued to notice, despite glances she shared with her own rockstar.

The guys had certain areas of the stage they usually stayed on for specific songs, but Jake wandered in her direction often. She hadn't seen the show enough times to know if it was normal for him to be over there, but she suspected it wasn't. Especially with how often Ben looked toward Jake with a raised eyebrow.

The guys were only halfway through their set when Claire got a sudden chill up her spine. She stopped dancing, and Celine put a hand on her arm.

"Are you okay?" Celine shouted into her ear.

Claire met Celine's eyes. "I don't know. I feel weird."

"Is it the baby?"

Claire shook her head. "No."

Then she looked around. The fans were all dancing to the music, and no one's eyes were on her until suddenly someone's were.

Her eyes met his through the crowd. She didn't even know how she spotted him, since there were thousands of people in the arena. Perhaps it was because he wasn't dancing, and his eyes were fixed on her.

She reached out and gripped Celine's arm.

"Claire, what's wrong?"

"Charles," was all Claire could get out.

Celine moved quickly to the fence to get Lonnie's attention, but Claire didn't take her eyes off Charles. She knew she should run. But where? She was inside a fenced area and needed an escort to leave. She needed Lonnie to get her out.

Just as she turned to see where Lonnie was, pain exploded through her left shoulder. She rocked back and hit the ground hard just as a flurry of motion happened around her. Several people were suddenly in the fenced area, the music stopped, people were screaming. Claire stared up into a pair of worried eyes belonging to Celine. Only a moment later, Jake's panicked face was above hers.

And then all went dark.