His eyes widened, but he didn’t say a word. I took his silence as encouragement to continue. “It was sloppy. I fell down. And when he went outside, I puked on his slippers.”

“That’s...bad,” Oakley replied with a sympathetic wince.

“What’s worse was that it was all caught on video. I was about forty pounds heavier. The fat shaming was really intense,” I admitted. The act of what I’d done was enough to scare me. My whole career was built around developing reputations, and that single act ruined mine. But the comments. The snickers. The hashtags. It was a lot.

“Is that why you’re...picky about food.”

“It’s why I’m picky about my entire life. It’s why I moved here. It’s why I stopped partying and started dieting and took a fuck ton of hours to graduate early.”

Oakley seemed to chew on my words for a bit. He stared at me intently, his eyes penetrating my soul. His prolonged silence let my insecurities run wild. He was probably thinking that he was an idiot to trust his image and career with someone who fucked up her own so badly. Oh God, he probably didn’t want to be with me anymore either, because how could he risk having someone find out about my past and have that reflect poorly on him? Not that it mattered, we couldn’t be together anyway, but maybe this was what was going to actually convince Oakley of that.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized.

This was it, this was where he was going to tell me that he’s sorry, but he can no longer work with me. Running all the way to Texas didn’t erase my past; I was never going to be able to leave it behind.

“I understand,” I said solemnly. “I’ll work with Dr. Haynes to get you a new publicist as soon as possible.”

“What?” Oakley asked, bewildered. “I don’t want a new publicist. I’m sorry that I was such an ass.”

“Huh?” I not-so-elegantly mumbled. Now it was my turn to be confused.

“You worked so hard, completely turning your life around. And then you got stuck with me. I almost got you fired from your internship, and then I have been dragging you to bars and after-parties,” he said genuinely. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “And I’m done partying.”

I blanched. “You’re done?”

“Done. If I had known how uncomfortable they made you, I would have never suggested it to you. It all makes sense now.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug, and I let him. It felt good to be comforted in his arms. It was a relief to stare the thing that had been haunting me for the last few months and feel...grace.

“Is it too soon to ask to see the video?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Too soon, Problem.”