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26.Laney

The house is too quiet.The kind of quiet that makes you want to turn on music, a fan—something to distract you from the heaviness sitting behind your ribs.

Eddie’s duffel is by the door, his travel hoodie slung over the back of the kitchen chair. He’s double-checking his phone, tapping through boarding passes and schedules and messages from his tour manager.

I’m watching from the island, gripping my coffee mug like it might anchor me in place.

He glances up at me. Our eyes meet.

And just like that, it’s real.

He’s leaving.

I set my cup down and cross the room to him. He meets me halfway, arms sliding around my waist like they always do, pulling me close. My forehead rests against his chest, and I feel his heartbeat thudding through his t-shirt.

He kisses the top of my head, breath shaky. “I’m not letting you come to the airport,” he says quietly.

I knew this was coming, but it still feels like a small punch to the heart.

He pulls back slightly to look at me. “It’s going to be chaos. Cameras. Crew. Label people. I don’t want that to be our goodbye.”

I nod, though part of me aches to be near him until the very last possible second.

He presses his hand to my cheek, thumb brushing lightly beneath my eye. “Promise me you’ll stay here. In the house.”

I blink up at him. “I feel weird just… being in your space while you’re gone.”

“I want you here, Laney. Knowing you’re in this house, in our bed, waiting for me to come back, that’s the only thing making this bearable.”

My chest cracks.

He leans in, pressing kiss after kiss along my jaw, my lips, my cheeks. “I love you,” he murmurs between each one. “I love you. I love you.”

The tears finally come, warm and slow. “I love you, too.”

He wraps me up again, holding me so tight it feels like maybe I won’t fall apart. “I’ll call every day. Or FaceTime. Whatever you need.”

I nod against him, wiping at my cheeks. “I’ll be okay. I’ve got the kidney donor event to finish organizing, and… I told Sam I’d go back to the hospital. The peds ward asked for help.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I say, forcing a smile. “I need to be useful. Busy. It helps.”

It’ll keep me from falling apart every time I walk into a room and you’re not there.

He pulls back, eyes searching mine. “Come with me real quick. Before I go.”

He takes my hand and leads me down the back porch steps, across the lawn toward the horse barn. The sky is overcast,clouds soft and gray like the morning is holding its breath right along with me.

Inside, the barn smells of hay and cedar and memories. Eddie guides me past the tack room, toward one of the end stalls that’s always been empty.

Only now, it’s not.

There, sitting right in the middle of a pile of fresh hay, is a tiny German Shepherd puppy. Big ears, oversized paws, and a soft pink bow tied around her neck.

My breath catches.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, stepping into the stall like I’ve forgotten how to walk.