Page 6 of Between Never and Forever

“You think Dimitri will go visit her? Keep her safe?” Her dark eyes were the exact same color as Kee’s and just as full of life most of the time. Why did they look so damn dejected now?

“Safe from what?” I ground out. Dimitri didn’t have to keep my girl safe from anything. That was my job. “Where’s Kee now?”

“Her bedroom.” She stood up to escort me back, but I loved that woman about as much as I loved my own mother.

“Sit down, Anela. Can I get you some water or something?”

“Of course not, honey.” She chuckled and sat down at her kitchen table. Grabbing her phone, she pulled her glasses from her shirt and pointed to her screen. “I’m going to just do some internet warrioring for a bit. Tell these trolls to leave my Keelani alone.”

“Mrs. Hale, can younotgo on Instagram today?” Keelani’s bald headed manager whined from behind me, having entered the room with Keelani’s father.

Anela winked at me and tilted her head toward Keelani’s room before she started bickering with Mitchell. “Why shouldn’t I go online today? Everyone has something to say about her. Well, so do I. I am her mother after all.”

I took the opportunity to beeline down the hall of pictures that showcased Keelani smiling on stage, waving to crowds, dancing in skintight leotards. She was beautiful when she performed, but it was nothing compared to her standing in sweats at home without makeup.

Keelani’s big doe eyes looked up from another suitcase she was packing, and she didn’t race up to me like she normally did, didn’t hug me like I was everything to her now. Her movements were stilted as she took a shirt, folded it deftly, then placed it in the suitcase.

“Kee?” I murmured, not sure what the hell was happening.

She breathed out a long sigh before glancing out the window and then back down at the suitcase. Suddenly that long dark hair that I loved served as a shield to block me out, hiding her features from me. Then she said the words that would gnaw at my soul for years to come. “I’m leaving.”

“What?” I frowned, not sure I’d heard her correctly. “Wait. Now? Leaving for where? You don’t have a tour for—”

“No.” She shook her head and folded another shirt. “I’m leaving for good. Moving to Nashville.”

“Nashville?” I glanced around her room like there might be some clue I’d missed. “But you have college here starting in the summer—”

“I’m finishing last semester of senior year online, Dex, and then I’m not going to college. Trinity wants me in Nashville right now before the tour and—”

“You’re screwing with me,” I cut her off, shaking my head. My mind couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. She was the damn love of my life. Nashville was too far.

“I’m not.” Her tone was clipped and stiff but that was her only indication of pain.

I stared at the girl I loved, willed her to look at me. “You’renotleaving.”

She finally looked up and those deep-brown eyes of hers filled with tears. “How can you honestly think there would be any way for me to stay, Dex?”

“What’s stopping you?”

“The news! You… You shouldn’t have saved me, Dex.” Her voice was broken and full of pain as she said it.

“I’ll always save you, Kee. Don’t you get that?”

“But it’s ruined us instead of saving us! I have to leave now.” She threw up her hands.

“You don’t. You can’t. Gabriella’s still in the hospital. Dimitri’s all jittery as hell about getting in a car. You can’t leave now. You’re going to college here in the fall and—”

And me. You’ve got me here, I wanted to say.

“They’re writing about us,” she whispered, like I should care.

“So what?” I threw out the words harshly. It was the last thing on my mind. We were coping with trauma, trying to mend our bodies and minds. None of us should have had to worry about the public right now.

She spun around to grab her phone and then held it out to me, pointing her finger at the screen. “They’re writing about ustogether.”

Her and her fucking secrets. “Let me get this right. You’re leaving because the secret’s out about us. Who the fuck cares?”

She shut her eyes like she was in pain, and it crushed my damn soul. Her pain was because we were out there in the world, not because she was leaving, not because we were imploding in slow motion. And even still, I wanted to hug her, to tell her it would be all right. I didn’t step forward though. Not when she was breaking my heart.