AN: Okay, this one got bigger than I wanted. 3.3k words. And as usual, let me know if there are any mistakes.
C'mon guys, lacking powerstones.
--
The paparazzi straightened immediately inside the parked car the moment the resort doors opened again.
"Well, finally," he muttered while snatching the camera off the passenger seat quickly enough to nearly knock over the half-empty soda sitting beside the dashboard.
Jack stepped outside first, dressed in loose beach clothes this time, a white linen shirt hanging open at the collar with the sleeves rolled casually to his forearms. Haley followed beside him in a light blue sundress that shifted softly in the ocean breeze.
The paparazzi zoomed in immediately.
Click. Click. Click.
"Oh, these are good already."
The irritating part was how natural they looked together.
Haley slipped comfortably against Jack's side while he rested one hand near her lower back and guided her toward the beach path without even seeming to think about it. Neither of them looked remotely aware of the camera hidden across the street behind tinted windows and a badly parked SUV that practically screamed suspicious if anyone bothered paying attention.
Jack leaned down slightly and said something near Haley's ear.
She laughed instantly.
The paparazzi snapped several more pictures in rapid succession.
"Perfect," he whispered while checking one of the shots. "Young Hollywood golden couple walking into the sunset. Audiences eat this stuff up."
He lowered the camera briefly and watched them continue down the beach walkway lined with palm trees and decorative lights beginning to glow against the darkening evening sky.
For a moment, he considered staying where he was.
Then Haley rose onto her toes and kissed Jack lightly near his jaw while they walked.
The paparazzi immediately sat upright again.
"Oh no," he said while grabbing the steering wheel. "We're absolutely following that."
Keeping his distance near the beach turned out easier than expected.
The waterfront had already filled with tourists by then. Families wandered close to the shoreline, couples sat beneath umbrellas watching the sunset, and music drifted from nearby restaurants while waves rolled steadily against the sand. The paparazzi moved carefully through the crowd while keeping the long camera lens lowered whenever somebody glanced in his direction.
Jack and Haley walked near the waterline without the slightest hint of urgency.
Most celebrity couples performed whenever cameras appeared nearby. He had spent years watching forced laughter, carefully staged affection, and publicists hiding twenty feet away pretending not to exist while secretly coordinating "spontaneous" romantic moments.
This felt different.
Annoyingly different.
At one point, Jack bent down and picked something out of the sand before holding it toward Haley with an easy grin.
The paparazzi zoomed in again.
A seashell.
Haley looked at it like the guy had handed her a diamond ring.
"Oh, come on," the paparazzi muttered while taking another picture. "You two are unbearable."
Jack said something else that earned an immediate laugh from her. Haley shoved his shoulder lightly before slipping her hand back into his.
Click. Click. Click.
The lens briefly shifted toward the sandcastle kids again while he adjusted focus.
Thirty minutes later, the two of them settled near a quieter stretch of shoreline where the sand looked mostly untouched compared to the crowded sections further down the beach. Haley tucked herself comfortably against Jack's side while both of them watched the sunset spill deep shades of orange and gold across the ocean horizon.
The paparazzi crouched behind a nearby rental shack and carefully adjusted the camera focus.
These photos were costly. A young, successful actor and his girlfriend, a rising star in the fashion industry, enjoyed a romantic trip to Miami while in a happy relationship. Audiences loved the idea of fantasy. However, while happy relationships sold magazines for a day, scandals kept them in the spotlight for weeks, even months.
The paparazzi lowered the camera slightly while studying them again.
"Come on," he murmured quietly. "Nobody's this perfect. I need something juicy."
As though the universe decided to reward his patience, movement near the nearby seaside café suddenly caught his attention.
Two familiar figures walked barefoot along the shoreline, carrying their sandals in one hand while laughing about something. The paparazzi narrowed his eyes immediately before zooming in harder through the lens.
"No way."
Emma Stone.
And beside her...
Willa.
"More scoop for me."
The lens immediately focused again.
Emma wore a simple white shirt and shorts while Willa walked beside her in a white sundress that shifted gently in the ocean breeze. Both of them looked relaxed and completely unaware that a camera lens several yards away had already locked onto them like sharks spotting blood in the water.
The paparazzi straightened slightly in his hiding spot behind a cluster of decorative plants near the beach walkway.
"Oh, now this just got interesting."
Emma spotted Jack first and immediately lifted a hand while laughing about something. A second later, Willa followed her gaze and smiled too.
Jack noticed them almost instantly and sat up straighter from where he and Haley had been lounging near the shoreline.
Haley turned curiously before recognition crossed her face.
"Oh, hey!"
The four of them started chatting.
The paparazzi immediately raised the camera again.
Click. Click.
Emma hugged Haley first while already talking before the greeting had even fully finished. Jack laughed at something she said while Willa stepped closer afterward, smiling warmly at both of them.
The entire interaction looked friendly.
Unfortunately, friendly sold far fewer headlines than suspicious.
The paparazzi kept shooting anyway while carefully weaving through the crowd for a cleaner angle.
After several minutes of talking near the shoreline, Emma pointed toward an open seaside café farther down the beach where strings of LED lights already glowed against the evening sky. Even from a distance, the paparazzi could tell she was suggesting drinks.
Jack nodded with a smile.
Just like that, all four of them started heading toward the café together.
The paparazzi's grin widened immediately.
"Ohhh," he whispered excitedly while grabbing his car keys again. "Now we're getting somewhere."
The seaside café sat almost directly beside the beach with open seating facing the ocean. Warm lights hung overhead while soft acoustic music drifted through speakers near the bar. White curtains swayed gently in the evening breeze beside crowded tables filled with tourists, influencers, and wealthy resort guests trying very hard to look accidentally photogenic.
The paparazzi repositioned and quickly adjusted the camera lens again.
Inside the café, the group settled near the outer patio overlooking the water.
Emma dropped dramatically into her chair first while Haley laughed and sat beside her. Jack pulled out a chair near the railing while Willa settled comfortably across from him.
Click. Click.
The lens zoomed in tighter.
Their drinks arrived quickly afterward, bright mocktails served in expensive-looking glasses decorated with fruit garnishes and unnecessary amounts of mint.
The conversation looked relaxed.
Jack laughed at something Emma said before Willa leaned forward slightly to add something quieter toward him. Jack turned his head a little to hear her better over the music and surrounding conversations.
Click.
From the camera's angle, the moment looked closer than it actually was.
The paparazzi immediately felt his excitement return.
"There we go."
Haley still looked completely comfortable sitting beside Emma while animatedly talking with her hands moving everywhere. Willa occasionally joined the conversation while Jack listened with an amused smile resting on his face. After that, they took a group selfie.
Then the opportunity appeared naturally.
Haley stood from the table after saying something to Emma and headed toward the restroom hallway near the back of the café.
The paparazzi straightened immediately.
"Ohhhh, perfect timing."
Emma became distracted almost right afterward when somebody near the bar recognized her. Laughing, she stood and wandered toward the counter to greet them.
And suddenly, Jack sat alone with Willa near the patio railing.
The paparazzi tightened his grip on the camera.
"There it is. C'mon, do something stupid."
Willa brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear while saying something quieter this time. Jack leaned slightly closer so he could hear her properly over the surrounding music and conversations.
Click.
Through the lens, the angle looked intimate...
...Very intimate.
Willa laughed softly a moment later and briefly touched his arm while smiling.
Click.
"Oh, that's usable."
The paparazzi clicked another one.
Jack answered casually while Willa looked up at him with the exact kind of soft expression tabloids loved turning into relationship drama.
Click. Click.
"Is Jack Preston getting too close to his Narnia co-star while his girlfriend steps away?" the paparazzi whispered dramatically to himself while grinning. "Yeah, people are absolutely clicking that."
A couple walked up to the guy and told him not to take their kids' picture. The way this creep was acting and smiling after every shots, it kinda made the nearby people uncomfortable.
"What the hell are you talking about? I ain't got time for kids. Go away," He replied.\
The couple took their kids and walked the other way.
Willa leaned closer again to say something quieter over the music.
Jack leaned in slightly to listen.
The paparazzi nearly laughed out loud.
"This is gold."
Reality didn't seem important anymore.
What mattered were the angles, the timing, and the context, which could be changed later into something more complicated than the truth.
A successful young actor, a beautiful co-star, and a girlfriend who was conveniently missing from the picture.
The paparazzi quickly checked the pictures while adrenaline buzzed through him harder than caffeine.
"Oh, editors are gonna love me tonight."
A few moments later, Haley finally returned from the restroom before naturally sliding back beside Jack. Without even thinking about it, he rested one arm around her waist while continuing the conversation exactly where they had left off.
The paparazzi lowered the camera slightly.
"Hm."
That complicated things a little.
Still, when he looked back through the earlier shots, Haley was nowhere in sight.
There was only Jack and Willa sitting close together beneath warm lights beside the ocean, and they looked close enough to create questions. And questions created clicks.
A slow smile spread across the paparazzi's face.
"Oh yeah," he muttered under his breath. "This is front page material."
The pictures looked exactly the way tabloids loved them. One carefully written headline and suddenly the internet would do the rest of the work for him.
He angled his camera again.
Willa's hand rested lightly against Jack's arm while she laughed at something he said.
"Perfect."
What he failed to notice was how many people around the beach had started noticing him first.
A woman sitting nearby with her husband lowered her sunglasses slowly while watching the man repeatedly hiding behind plants and pointing a massive camera lens toward groups on the beach.
"That guy's been taking pictures for almost an hour," she whispered.
Her husband frowned. "Of who?"
"Everybody."
A little farther down the beach, another tourist noticed the same thing after spotting the camera pointed toward a family building sandcastles with two small kids near the shoreline.
"Okay, that's weird," the man muttered while stepping closer toward his wife. "Why's he photographing children?"
The paparazzi stayed too focused on his camera screen to realize how many irritated looks were starting to spread around the beach.
One teenage girl sitting near the café finally pulled out her phone. "I'm calling beach patrol," she said quietly to her friend. "That creep keeps taking pictures of random girls."
Her friend nodded immediately. "Yeah, I saw him too. He was hiding behind that shack earlier."
Within minutes, multiple calls reached the nearby beach police station.
One complaint mentioned a suspicious man secretly photographing women.
The second complaint mentioned possible pictures being taken of children near the shoreline.
That second complaint changed everything instantly.
...
Near the beachfront patrol station, Officer Ramirez lowered the radio slightly while listening to dispatch repeat the report.
"Male subject. Mid-forties. Large camera equipment. Multiple complaints from beach visitors."
Officer Ramirez exchanged a look with his partner. "Children involved?"
"Possible photographs," the dispatch confirmed. "Witnesses are unsure."
That was enough.
"Alright," Ramirez replied while grabbing his flashlight and moving toward the patrol ATV. "We're heading over now."
...
Back near the café, the paparazzi remained completely unaware of what was coming.
He snapped another picture through the patio railing while Jack laughed at something Emma said. Haley rested comfortably against his side now, completely relaxed again after returning from the restroom.
The paparazzi sighed dramatically. "You people really need to cheat more."
A voice suddenly called out from behind him.
"Sir."
The paparazzi froze.
Slowly, he turned his head.
Two beach police officers were walking toward him through the sand with serious expressions already written across their faces.
Officer Ramirez pointed toward the camera immediately. "Mind telling us what you're doing out here tonight?"
The paparazzi reacted fast.
"Just photography," he answered quickly while lowering the lens. "Public beach. Totally legal. And I know the law."
"Public photography's legal," Ramirez said firmly. "Harassing people, stalking them, secretly photographing minors, that's where your problems start. We've had multiple complaints tonight."
"That's ridiculous," the paparazzi scoffed while taking a small step backward. "I'm media."
"Good for you," Ramirez replied. "That badge doesn't exempt you from Florida stalking laws. Now lower the camera and let me see the photos."
The paparazzi tightened his grip slightly.
Ramirez's expression hardened.
"Sir, right now you've got witnesses saying you've been hiding behind structures, photographing women, and pointing that lens toward children. So either cooperate, or this gets a lot more difficult for you."
The paparazzi's grip tightened slightly around the camera.
That hesitation answered enough already.
Officer Ramirez noticed it instantly. "Sir, I'm gonna ask you one more time."
The paparazzi looked around quickly.
Too many people nearby were watching now.
A few beach visitors had stopped walking entirely. One mother near the shoreline pointed toward him while talking quietly with another parent. Even some café guests had started noticing the scene unfolding nearby.
Jack and his group also shifted their attention toward the mess.
The paparazzi cursed internally. 'Darn it! If they learn I'm stalking Jack Preston, I'm done. Fuck!'
"This is unbelievable," he muttered while slowly backing away again. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"Then stop moving and cooperate," Ramirez said firmly.
The paparazzi glanced once toward the parking area beyond the beach access path.
Then he bolted.
"Oh, come on!" Ramirez shouted immediately before sprinting after him.
The paparazzi shoved past a couple near the boardwalk and nearly lost his footing in the sand before scrambling toward the parking lot with the camera bouncing violently against his side.
"Stop right there!" the second officer yelled behind him.
People scattered out of the way as the man sprinted across the beach path like a panicked raccoon escaping a trash can explosion.
One tourist blinked in confusion. "Is that guy stealing something?"
"He IS the suspicious thing!" somebody shouted back.
A couple of guys tried to tackle him, but he dodged them like a freaking weasel. The way he ran and dodged, it looked like he had faced this type of situation many times in his life and probably has multiple legal cases and restraining orders in his name. So, yeah, he wasn't taking another risk.
The paparazzi reached the sidewalk first and practically launched himself over a decorative hedge before stumbling toward the badly parked SUV near the curb.
Officer Ramirez was gaining ground fast behind him.
"Sir! Stop running!"
"Nope!" the paparazzi yelled back while fumbling wildly for his keys.
He nearly dropped them twice before finally unlocking the SUV. The door flew open hard enough to smack against the side mirror as he threw himself inside.
Ramirez reached the vehicle just as the engine roared alive.
"Turn the car off!" he shouted while slamming a hand against the hood.
Instead, the paparazzi hit reverse violently.
The SUV jerked backward with a loud screech before swerving sharply into the road. A horn blared nearby as another car slammed its brakes to avoid getting clipped.
"Jesus Christ," Ramirez muttered while stepping back quickly.
The SUV shot forward down the road a second later, tires squealing as the paparazzi sped away into Miami traffic.
Officer Ramirez immediately grabbed his radio while staring after the disappearing vehicle.
"Dispatch, suspect fleeing northbound from Oceanfront Access Road in a black SUV." He narrowed his eyes while reading the plate quickly from memory. "License plate KJX-4719. Repeat, KJX-4719."
The second officer finally caught up beside him while breathing heavily. "You get the number?"
"Yeah," Ramirez replied while watching the taillights vanish into traffic. "And if that idiot photographed minors like the complaints said, he's about to have a really bad week."
Back near the café patio, most people had already returned to their conversations after the excitement faded.
Jack mumbled, "What do you think that was about?"
Haley shrugged lightly while stealing a fry from his plate. "No idea. Probably some crazy paparazzi trying to get some scoops. Anyway, so where were we?"
"Jack was talking about buying his first house," Emma replied.
"Oh yeah," Haley nodded.
"So, give us the juicy details," Willa said as she elbowed Haley lightly. "Are you planning on asking Haley to move in with you? I mean, young love, full of raging hormones, just trying to... rawrr!" She made a hand sign.
"C'mon, stop teasing them," Emma chimed in, but she really wanted to know the details.
"Girls, really?" Jack said with a sigh.
"Yeah," Haley nodded. "I want to know too."
Well, as much as Jack loved Haley, the idea of her moving in with him at this point in his life felt both exciting and terrifying in equal measure. Marriage? He had thought about that more times than he would ever admit out loud. Late-night thoughts, quiet daydreams, plans he kept tucked away somewhere private in his mind. Haley was already part of the future he imagined for himself.
But this?
Living together right now?
That was different.
They were both nineteen. His life barely slowed down long enough for him to remember what city he woke up in some mornings, and Haley was finally building momentum in her own career too. And when two people who're madly in love live together under the same roof without anyone to watch over them, well, certain mistakes might happen, and Jack wasn't ready for that yet. He was somewhat confident in his self-control, but Haley? Oh, no, she was bad at holding back her sexual desires. Just when they were walking toward the beach, she already told him her plans tonight, which involved shower sex before dinner and sex on top of the dining table after dinner.
So, the thought of sharing an actual home together suddenly made everything feel far more real than teasing jokes over drinks at a beach café.
And for the first time in his life…
Jack Preston, professional actor, bestselling writer, and somehow confident in front of millions of people, had absolutely no idea what to say.
So naturally, he chose the mature solution.
He panicked and ran.
One second he was sitting there surrounded by three dangerously curious girls.
The next...
"Oh my God, what is that?!" he blurted suddenly while pointing dramatically behind them toward absolutely nothing.
All three girls turned instinctively.
Jack immediately bolted out of the café.
There was a full second of silence.
Then Haley gasped. "Did he just..."
"He did," Emma confirmed, already laughing.
Willa nearly choked on her drink. "Oh my God, he actually fled the scene."
"Does your father have a gun?" Emma asked a baffled Haley, who was really excited a moment ago.
"No, but my grandpa has one and..." Haley replied as Gloria's face flashed before her eyes. "Gloria might have a couple of guns for all I know."
"Huh? That explains it all," Emma said, patting Haley's back.
//
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