Bodyguard (YN x Beyonce)

Part Forty

Jay smirks like he's been waiting for that. "Don't get mad at me because you can't control your women."

Beyoncé's hand clamps around my arm before I can even think. "YN, no."

But it's too late. I already lunged forward, and Julius shifts instantly ready to intervene.

Solange, though? Solange does not wait.

She steps right into Jay's space, chin lifted, eyes sharp enough to cut. "Who the hell are you talking to like that?"

Jay laughs under his breath. "Here we go...."

"NO. Answer me!" Solange is full-volume now, finger in his face. "You wanna play puppet master, stirring shit up between married people, right?"

Jay shrugs like he's the reasonable one in the room. "The girl can't help how she feels." he says, brushing imaginary lint off his jacket. "All I said was she should be honest and talk to YN about it."

"What?" she says, stepping into his space. "So, you out here encouraging her to confess her feelings to a married woman?"

Jay lifts his hands like he's innocent. "Relax. Y'all makin' this bigger than it is."

I feel my stomach drop. "So you DID tell her to come talk to me?"

Jay smirks. "I told her if something was bothering her, she should get it off her chest. That's all."

Solange laughs once, loud and humorless. "Boy, shut the hell up. You knew exactly what you were doing."

Gabby tries to step in. "Jay didn't mean for it to be like this. He just wanted...."

"Yes he did." Solange cuts her off, waving a hand. "Cause nothing, he says or does is ever with good intentions. Not when it comes to MY sister."

Jay smirks at Solange, tilting his head. "You done?" he repeats, then adds, "Cause honestly, I don't know why you always barking the loudest. Maybe if you could keep a relationship longer than a radio single, you'd have something else to worry about other than your sister's business."

Gabby panics and tries to slide between them. "Okay...okay, can we please just calm..."

Before she can finish, Solange's purse swings without hesitation.

WHACK.

Gabby stumbles back, shocked. "Solange! What the hell?!"

The elevator erupts.

"Solange, STOP!" I rush in with Julius, both of us grabbing her before round two.

Jay's yelling, Gabby's upset, Solange is still swinging her free hand, Beyoncé's trying to pull me back behind her, and Julius has his entire body between Jay and Solange like this is a damn WWE match.

Solange is swinging her purse like a weapon, trying to get past everybody.

"I SWEAR TO GOD...SAY SOMETHING ELSE! SAY IT AGAIN!"

Jay shouts back, "I'm just telling the truth!"

"TRUTH MY ASS!" Solange snarls, still trying to get at him. "I WILL DRAG YOU IN THIS ELEVATOR."

Gabby screams, "Stop! Stop!"

The elevator is chaos... tight, loud, heated.

"Everybody BACK UP!" Julius commands, planting Jay against the wall with one arm.

Jay is still yelling, pointing across Beyoncé's shoulder like he's trying to call plays in a fight he's already losing.

"I told you she's an animal, Bey! You can't control her!"

I snap before Beyoncé can even react. "There's only one animal I see in here, and it's you."

Jay rounds on me, smirking. "Well your wife clearly didn't see it that way."

That's the last thing he gets out.

CRACK.

My fist connects with his jaw clean as hell. His head whips to the side, and the whole elevator goes silent for half a second.

"YN!" Beyoncé gasps, grabbing my arm.

Julius reacts fast—shoving me back against the wall, one big hand on my shoulder.
"Calm down," he orders... but he's hiding a smirk he can't completely suppress.

But Solange?

Solange steps right between them like she's stepping onto a stage.

She looks Jay dead in the face...then laughs. A sharp, unbothered, petty little cackle.

"That's what you get, nigga." she says, shaking her head like he just flunked a math test. "Stop playing with my sister-in-law."

Jay touches his jaw furious. "You gon' pay for that."

"Shut the hell up." Solange snaps, stepping forward like she wants round two.

Gabby panics and slams the elevator button repeatedly, like she's trying to escape a hostage situation. "Please, just... just go, go, GO!"

The elevator finally jolts back to life, descending too fast.

Jay keeps pointing at me, shaking with anger as Gabby grabs his arm. "Come on... let's just go." she begs, dragging him out the second the doors open.

Solange steps out after, smoothing her dress. "Well." she says over her shoulder, deadpan. "That escalated quick."

Then she keeps walking calm and unbothered.

Beyoncé steps out next.

She doesn't look at me right away... just inhales, resets her posture, and in two seconds her whole face shifts into Beyoncé mode. Perfect smile. Perfect poise. Perfect armor.

No sign she was just in the middle of a family brawl.

But I know that look. Her jaw's tight. Her eyes don't meet mine. She's hurt. She's mad. She's trying to hold it together.

And it makes my chest drop.

I follow behind her, matching the fake smile, matching the step, matching the performance we suddenly have to put on.

Flashes go off immediately. Cameras everywhere. "Beyoncé! YN! Over here!"

Bey touches my back lightly... just enough for the cameras to see, just enough to look like love.

But it's stiff. Controlled.

And the whole time, I'm thinking.... I messed up.

As we step through the lobby lights toward the car, that fake smile burns on my face, and inside I'm spiraling.