15

As Skylar waited around the City bus stop she kept her hoodie on hoping no one would recognize her. It was almost daylight. The drunks were making their way home and the shift workers just starting. She pulled out a cigarette taking a walk down the road a bit to clear her head. As a group crossed the road she heard a familiar laugh. Looking up she spotted the pink head in the crowd.

"Ash." She made her way over making sure no one was watching. "Hey." She touched her arm.

H turned around taking a moment to recognize the face. Her eyes widened as Skylar pulled her away from the group.

"Sky? What the fuck!" They stopped around the corner.

"You got any?"

H stood there looking at her. "You're dead!"

Skylar looked at her from under her hood. "No Jericho's dead. You got any?" H watched her a moment.

"You look like shit!"

"Shut up."

H handed her what she had. Skylar pocketed it. H put her hand out, waiting for her cash. Skylar sighed

"I can't pay you. Not yet anyway."

"Skylar!" H rubbed her head. "Fine." They looked at each other a moment. H could see she was a mess. She glimpsed over her shoulder at the group she had been with. She turned back to her old friend.

"You wanna come back to mine and smoke that up?"

Skylar's shoulders dropped in relief. "Yeah." H smiled getting a smile back.

"Come on then. Let's get you cleaned up."

Glasgow Arena.

Gabriella was trying to find the comfort in Alana's voice that she normally did in Skylar's. She opened her eyes to the applause.

"Thank my friend's guys."

The stage crew moved around them bringing in Gabriella's keyboard. She looked out at the crowd seeing all the faces looking at her. She closed her eyes a second. Skylar cupped her hands into a heart.

"It's you, babe." She heard her voice in her head. She took a deep breath pulling the plug from her ear. She lifted the mic.

"While I was on my way here to Europe, I found out my friend Skylar had been in a car accident. She was taking a later flight. She would be here tonight with me, singing to you."

The crowd gave her their love as a giant image of Skylar and her came to the back screen as she took her place behind the keyboard. She slipped her mic onto the stand. 'This song is for her." She glimpsed up at the screen seeing them together before she closed her eyes and began to play.

An apartment in Los Angeles.

Skylar was stoned. Through her half-open eyes, she could see H finishing off fixing her hair in the mirror.

"Jesus did you just hack it off with the scissors!?"

"There was a bum down an alley. I borrowed his knife then stole some hair dye."

H came around the front of her looking her over. "At least you look half decent now."

"Hmm, thanks." Skylar ran her fingers through her short hair taking in the image in the mirror. She didn't recognize herself. She saw H in front of her. She was just looking at her.

Skylar blinked a couple of times seeing Gabriella smiling back at her. "Fuck." She put her head in her hands. "What the fuck am I doing?" She got up finding her packet of smokes.

"If you wanna crash you can take my room." She heard over her shoulder, the tone of H's voice suddenly making her stomach flip. She closed her eyes shaking off the thoughts in her head. No, she had to stay focused until she got home. She looked out the window seeing it was morning.

"Ash, you still got that pushbike?"

"Ha yeah." H laughed. "Sky you're too stoned."

Skylar felt the movement behind her, a slow reaction to the fingers trailing down her arm caused her eyes to suddenly sober. She pulled away sharply giving the girl the dirtiest look.

H pursed her lips. "I can help you get over her..."

Skylar stepped back. Knitting her brow she walked around her grabbing her bag.

"She thinks you're dead!"

Skylar walked down her hallway seeing the bike in the laundry room.

"Hey hey!" H stopped beside her as she reached for the door. "Sorry ok. For everything."

Skylar looked at her a moment. She wet her lip and nodded. "Thanks for this, cleaning me up, and...I'll pay up for the smoke I promise."

"You can't ride like this."

Skylar opened the door. "I need to get home." She pushed the bike out the door. "I'll bring it back!"

H watched her swing her leg over the seat trying to get her foot on the pedal. She shook her head closing the door.

"Fucken crazy bitch." She said to herself.

Dayna took a big gasp of air as she sat on the floor holding her ribs. She could see the blood dripping from her lip. She heard the door open behind her and shoes walk in. She heard the chairs scrap and the table put back in its place. She turned around seeing only the Detective in the room. She prayed with a sigh of relief. Mae put her hand out.

"Ready to talk?"

Glasgow

Gabriella wrapped in her towel walked out of the hotel bathroom after her shower.

"I'm ok mama." She said down the phone. Mama had not long found out about Skylar. "Yeah I know Mama, Rogers told me I can call off the last shows and come home but..." She looked out at the lights of Glasgow. Something was holding her back.

"I wanna finish them, Mama; it's just a few more days."

She heard her tell her the funeral was private and only by invite. Gabriella closed her eyes feeling them holding back the tears.

"Umm...I haven't heard anything from her family yet Mama. I'm sure I will." Her voice broke. This was becoming all so real. "I need to get some sleep Mama; I have a long day tomorrow. K I love you, bye."

She closed down the call and let out a deep breath.

"Oh god!" She sighed finally letting the tears fall.

Naomi knocked on the door before she slid the key card. "Ella it's just me!" She stepped around the door holding the pizza she'd brought them for their midnight snack.

"Gabriella?" She looked around seeing the trail of lights on. The sliding door to the balcony was open. That's where she started. She walked out into the dark onto the empty balcony. "Wow." She looked at the lights a moment before she turned around to head back inside. She heard a sniff.

"Gabriella?" Her eyes focused on the lump in the corner. "Hey." Naomi noticed her sitting on the ground in a towel.

"Ella? What are you doing?" She crouched down, seeing her shivering.

"I'm ok." She muttered in response.

"No, you not!"

Gabriella looked up at her. "Skylar s jersey, can you get me her jersey."

"What?" Naomi stood up running inside for Skylar s jersey. She knew which one because the girl wouldn't let it go. She found it and ran back outside. "Ella you're going to catch a cold or something. Come inside."

"I can't." She whispered.

"Why?" Naomi whispered back. Gabriella pursed her lips looking at the ground.

"Because I don't know if the funeral is real or not?" It took Naomi a moment to realize what she meant.

"Ohm." She sat down putting her hand on her leg. Ella looked at her, tears running down her cheeks.

"I don't know if she is alive or not Naomi. Is it only me? I mean you know she's alright right?"

Naomi looked away a moment. "Ah, to be honest, I don't know."

Ella wiped her cheeks. "What do you feel? In your gut, what is your gut telling you?"

Naomi shrugged. "You know I couldn't believe the stuff that was happening around me until I started paying attention. Skylar taught me that and I know she would do anything to protect you." She looked at her a moment. Suddenly she remembered seeing Skylar slip something into Gabriella's backpack.

"She put something in your backpack."

Gabriella instantly sat up as Naomi got up and found Gabriella's bag. Gabriella's hands flew up grabbing it.

"Where?"

"That side one." She fumbled with the zip pulling it open. She pulled out the mints tin. They looked at each other as Ella popped open the lid. She laughed. The smell hit Naomi's nose. Her eyes widened.

"That bitch stashed her pot in your bag!" Gabriella didn't know if she was laughing or crying. She tipped the three joints and lighter out into her hand. She could see Skylar s grinning at her.

"Cheeky bitch." She smiled putting them back in. The lighter got stuck on something. She slipped her finger in pulling out the paper. She glimpsed at Naomi as she opened it.

"What does it say?" Naomi saw her mood change. Gabriella turned it around.

"Must be missing me, huh! I'm thinking of you too. ❤"

She put her hand on her arm. "You ok?"

Gabriella smelt the joint under her nose. "Yeah." She sighed. "I have some thinking to do."

"Ok." Naomi stood up looking out around them. "And for Christ's sake don't let anyone see you! And put some clothes on, you'll get sick! It's a long flight home."

Ella looked up hearing what she said. A big smile came to her face. Naomi smiled back as she left her alone.

Home, Los Angeles

Skylar felt for the spare key. She let out a sigh of relief. Heading inside her ma wasn't home. As she stuck her head around the corner to the lounge she was sure she heard Gabriella's laugh.

"Ella?" Dragging her tired legs up the stairs she headed to her room. She blinked her tiredness away a moment seeing her in her room looking at her stuff again.

"Babe is that you?"

Gabriella turned around smiling her smile. "Come."

Skylar looked down at the hand out in front of her. She reached out to take it but her legs hit the end of her bed. As she crawled onto the bed Gabriella lay down beside her. Skylar took a deep breath from the pillow under her head. It smelt like her. She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

"I knew you would be here. You'll stay with me right?" Gabriella smiled. "Off course Sky."

As Skylar finally closed her eyes, her ma sighed. She'd had some confusing news about her youngest being in a car accident. She had seen the article but the name was wrong. And Gabriella was a singer?

She looked over her daughter taking in the short blonde hair. Why would she change her appearance so much? She tucked her in and headed downstairs, she needed to get a hold of Mae.

Mae could see the sweat pouring from Dayna's lawyer's forehead as he looked over the evidence. He sat back shaking his head.

"Seriously?!" He pointed to the photos. "What the hell!"

He looked at Dayna beside him who was quiet.

Mae had nothing left to say. Her phone beeped. Casually picking it up she saw her mother's thread.

-The kid's home-

She sat up in the chair glimpsing up at Lucy behind the glass. "I'll give you guys a minute."

Lucy headed over to the door seeing her sudden departure. Mae met her at the door.

"She's home." As they grabbed their stuff Mae quickly told their lawyer to set bail she needed a couple of days.

Glasgow

Gabriella didn't know how long she had been sitting there. She didn't care. Skylar was with her, sitting beside her, just looking at the view from the balcony. She'd had a joint like they did up in the stadium seats all these nights for the last few weeks. They were talking, even though

Skylar wasn't saying much but Gabriella knew she was listening. They laughed over the funny things that had happened. Even the bad things.

Gabriella found herself cuddling up to the side of the wall absorbing the scent of Skylar's jersey. She thought about the concerts she had ahead of her. She didn't know if she could do them. Her head wasn't in it. She felt the stronger pull to go home, back to the states.

If Skylar was alive she needed to find her. Even if she was gone she needed to say goodbye if that's what she had to do. Either way, she made the decision, she wanted to go home.

Los Angeles

After a good sleep, Skylar woke up feeling the comfort of her bed. "Yes, baby!" She stretched out enjoying this moment.

Then she stopped, her eyes locked in on the ceiling above her. Her mind went back to the last time she was here. She turned her head remembering Gabriella curled up there, naked under the sheet. She let out breath thinking about what H had said.

'She thinks you're dead!'

She heard those words. It was true she thought as she touched the space the girl had been lying. She was dead. She couldn't sing again, perform on Stage, sing with Gabriella, or... she rolled over feeling the tears coming to her eyes. She couldn't be seen with her, she couldn't see her girlfriend again.

She closed her eyes taking a deep breath trying to calm herself. Wiping her tears she sat up. Even though she had to forget about Gabriella she still had one more mission to do. One more thing she wanted to do for her before she made her exit.

But she needed some help.

Mae looked up hearing the squeak of the stairs. Her eyes almost fell out of her head as the short-headed blonde stepped into the lounge. Skylar stopped seeing both her and Lucy sitting there.

"Hey."

"What the hell happened to you?!"

It took Skylar a moment to click on what she was referring to. She looked between them before she answered.

"Ah hello, I'm dead!"

Mae met her at the breakfast bar. "Jericho's dead." Skylar turned around from the fridge. She opened the milk.

"Come on Mae you know Jericho was more me than me before this. Face it... I'm dead!" She took a swig of milk. "I loved my life and my look! Now... boom! Back to being a nobody and I have to look like a blonde Ruby Rose!"

"At least you look hot now."

"Fuck you, Luc!" Lucy laughed getting up to join them. She looked up at her mate.

"I wish I could have done more. Sorry Sky."

"It's ok." Skylar lent on the counter. "You didn't know."

Her eye trailed over to the Detective leaning on the counter with them. Mae caught the look.

"Hey seriously! I didn't know either!" She glimpsed at Lucy before she continued. "We have some news."

"Oh." Skylar took another swig.

"We brought Dayna in last night." They watched Skylar slowly put the milk down. Lucy continued. "She took a little while to crack but..."

"She confessed." Mae finished.

Skylar pursed her lips looking between them. "So where is she now?" Mae straightened up.

"She is out on bail for a few days. We need time to finalize this. We have agreed to keep this out of the media while we settle this out of court. For the moment anyway." She looked at her sister. "Mum messaged me. Told me you were home. I wanted to give you time to decide how this ends."

Skylar was quiet a moment. "Yeah..." She sighed nodding to herself. "Yeah...I'm not finished with that bitch." She stood up. "I have one more thing I wanna do..."

She turned to Lucy. An evil smile came to her lips.

"And I'm going to need your help."

Lucy and Skylar pulled up outside Hayley Kaneko's apartment block. Lucy slipped her visor up.

"I can't believe you are making me do this!" She heard Skylar laugh as they got off the bike. Skylar slipped her visor up.

"Whatever! You've been dying to get in her pants again!"

"Ah her good books not her pants."

"Liar!" Skylar smiled grabbing her file out of her backpack. "Look all I need is for her to believe me. Then, I can let this take its course." Lucy watched her fluff her short hair out.

"You think this will work?"

Skylar stopped and looked at her oldest friend. She sighed. "Luc, Dayna has not only fucked with Gabriella but ruined my god damn life." She chucked her bag over her shoulder. "Damn right I'm going to fuck hers up! That bitch has got this coming. Besides..." She cupped the cross necklace around her neck.

"I owe it to Gabriella."

Glasgow Airport

"Are you sure? It's not too late to change your mind." Naomi stepped out of the shuttle walking up to the plane with Gabriella following. Gabriella pulled Skylar s cap down hiding her face behind her shades.

"Naomi," They headed up the stairs. "I wanna go home. I can make it up to these guys. But I need to know where Skylar is. I'm worried about what Dayna is doing behind my back."

They stopped at the top taking a look at a couple of fans that figured her out. Gabriella sighed.

"Skylar is my priority at the moment and I'm eleven hours away from home. We need to go."

Los Angeles

Lucy knocked nervously on the apartment door. It opened.

"Hi." She smiled.

Hayley's eyes fell on her then the blonde.

"What do you want Lucy?"

"Umm..." Lucy's nerves were showing. "Can we talk?"

"What she's trying to say..." Skylar stepped closer. "Can we have a minute? It's important."

Hayley looked over her for a sec. She seemed familiar. "What's this about?"

Lucy and Skylar looked at each other. Lucy pulled out her badge.

"It's about Gabriella Diaz."

Mama Diaz stood outside Detective Inspector O'Connor's office. She was here for two things. An update on Gabriella's case and Skylar's. She couldn't get her head around the lack of exposure to her death. There just seemed to be something wrong.

She knocked.

"Come in."

Hayley looked at the old photo of Skylar Morgado and the photo of Skylar Jericho. Her eyes fell on the blonde again.

"I knew you looked familiar but..." She held up the old photo of Skylar. "We only met once or twice when..." She raised her eyebrow at her ex-girlfriend. "We were going out."

She knitted her brow. "I still don't get it...your dead!"

Skylar sat forward. "Hayley I need to tell you some things that you don't want to hear. Gabriella needs your help and..." She paused. "I'm no longer in a position to protect her."

Mama walked in seeing the woman with her head down writing. Mae looked up hearing the door close.

Green met older brown.

Mae jumped up! "Mama Diaz!"

"Mae?"

"Ah, Mrs. Diaz." Mama knitted her brow confused. "What...is this?" She looked around the office.

"Mama..." Mae sighed indicating to the seat.

"Please. We need to talk."

Hayley got up and paced. This was too much!

"Dayna did that! Thee Dayna Lawrence!" Lucy and Skylar nodded. Skylar got up closing the gap between them.

"Hayley I know this is a lot to absorb and I'm sorry I have lumped you with this. Dayna is dangerous and I don't know if anyone else has carried the same fears Gabriella has. But it has to stop! She has to pay for what she has been doing!" She put her hand on her shoulder. "No one needs to know about Gabriella. All I'm asking is for your help to...take Dayna down a peg or two. From the inside."

Hayley stood there a moment. This was insane! She'd only just agreed to be on Dayna's next tour. She sighed looking at Lucy.

"Is this real?"

Lucy saw the look in her eye. She was asking her as her ex. She got up from the couch taking her hand in her own.

"Babe I've seen the evidence. I was part of the team that brought her in and...I was there when she confessed. This is real."

Hayley took a deep breath. Her eyes fell on Skylar. Those green eyes blend in with her blonde hair.

Her lip curled a little.

"You and Gabriella ever...?"

An instant smile came to Skylar's cheeks. She laughed. "Yeah well if I wasn't dead she'd still be my girlfriend."

"Suck." Hayley pouted. "She thinks you're dead?"

Skylar dropped her eyes. "Yeah." She ran her fingers through her short hair. "I have to stay away from her, the industry...all of it." She tried to fight the tears but it was all so raw still.

She let out a shaky breath. "Please Hayley. Will you do this for me, for her?" Hayley felt Lucy's hand squeeze hers. She looked up at Lucy.

"I'll do it." She turned to Skylar. "I'll do it for love."

Skylar laughed. "Thanks."

Mama sat there a moment taking in what Mae... Detective Mae had just said. "Dayna has been doing this?"

"Yes," Mae said blankly. She was trying to keep this formal but...it was Gabriella's Mama. She'd been in this woman's kitchen.

Mama shook her head, putting her hand to her temple.

"I can't believe that girl would do this! My daughter adores her!"

"Well, Gabriella is amazingly talented. I guess for Dayna she's become a threat to her celebrity statics."

"So what happens now?" Mama asked, holding her handbag in her lap.

"Well..." Mae sat back. "She is out on Bail for a few days. Because of who she is we have kept it out of the media in the meantime. We need to discuss with all the parties involved as to what the outcome should be."

"All the parties?" Mama questioned.

"Yes. Yourself, Gabriella, and my informant."

Mama noticed the look on her face. "Skylar," Mama said her name. Mae dropped her eyes.

"Your sister was your informant wasn't she?"

"Yeah." Mae gasped her hands together on the desk not sure what she should say.

Mama wet her lip. "My condolences Mae."

"Thanks." Mae nodded wanting to leave it at that.

"When is the funeral?"

"Ah..." Mae wasn't prepared for that. "The um folks are still finalizing the details, so..."

"Gabriella needs to say goodbye."

Mae looked up at her. "She is in Europe. I'm afraid we can't keep her that long."

"She is on a plane at this moment."

"Oh." Mae looked away. She let out a breath. "Mama, this is hard. Um, when is Gabriella due?"

Mama sat back. "Tonight." She looked at Mae seeing her hesitation. "Those girls had a bond. Gabriella is lost without her. She needs to say goodbye. She loved her to bits."

Mae could see the concern in her eyes. She hated lying like this. "I will try to find out more for you. I'm sure Skylar would want Gabriella to have the opportunity to say goodbye to her."

Somewhere in the air

Gabriella was watching back her tribute last night. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She was coming to terms with the fact that Skylar was gone. It had been four days now and she hadn't heard anything from her.

She pulled out the letter she had started on the balcony. She wanted to write something. Something to say to her, something to give her if she could. She needed her to know how she felt.

Los Angeles

Emilia looked at Hayley like she was crazy!

"You're pulling out of this tour?!"

"Yes," Hayley said with no hesitation.

"But Hay, Dayna has got the power to make you a star!"

"Look I know you and Dayna go way back and you consider her a friend but..." She paused a moment. "I have been told what she's capable of doing to even people she considers friends. Someone I know, actually two people I know and she has ruined their lives and...I believe in them. Dayna is dangerous to people's careers that she feels threatened by and I'm going to achieve my goals without her assistance. I don't need her."

Emilia held her eyes a moment. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

Hayley looked at her a moment. She wanted her to understand. "You believe they had a thing right?"

"Gabriella and Skylar?" Emilia laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I kinda did."

Hayley pursed her lips. "It was real."

Emilia's eyes widened before a grin came to her face. "Actual?"

"Yes." Hayley nodded. "Dayna was jealous of Skylar and the exposure the two were getting together. She tried to make Skylar jealous, knowing Gabriella would do anything for her. She set up that sleepover to push Skylar's buttons. She gate crashed Gabriella's interview on Ellen to rub it in." She leaned forward. "You ever notice those times something would go wrong when Gabriella performed?" She paused, letting it sink in.

"Dayna?"

Hayley nodded. "She knows Gabriella has got what it takes to knock her off the top. I wouldn't be surprised if Skylar s car accident had something to do with Dayna."

Emilia sat forward. "Hayley, that's a serious allegation!" Hayley sat back, crossing her arms.

"Emilia, she's dangerous! You do want you to want but I'm on Gabriella's side. She has my full support and I'm going to be there for her when she gets back."