Page 194 of Dream On

Rudy gives me a salute. “Keep him in line, Stevie. I’m counting on you.”

“I got you.” I salute him back, my tears reflecting back at me on the screen.

“We’ll be in town to tie up loose ends,” Lex adds. “We can do dinner or something.”

“Bring Stevie’s sister, and it’s a date.”

With a final farewell, Lex disconnects the call and pockets his phone, pulling me to his chest. “Sorry that was sudden. I don’t know if it’s forever, but…I think I need a break. Some time to sort out what I really want.” He lifts my cheek, finding my eyes. “You good with that?”

“I’m so good with that. Take all the time you need.”

His eyes change, fusing with something deeper. “You’re with me?”

I sit up straighter, pressing my fingertips to his jaw and tipping his facetoward mine. He tries to look away, but I pull him back. “Lex, I’m with you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“It’s just—”

“Nojusts. You won’t hurt me. You won’t scare me away. I’m in this, with you, one hundred percent. Whatever you want to do, whether it’s going back to Hollywood and creating more masterpieces, writing or producing behind the scenes, or…even buying a farm and living a quiet life away from the spotlight.”

He frowns curiously.

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “You have me.”

Nodding, he glances down at his bobbing knee. “You were right when you said this is new, so I just…I don’t want you to have any regrets, Nicks. We’ve been through a lot. I’ve fucked up, more than once, and I can’t promise you I won’t do it again.”

“Lex…” I tip his chin, our eyes clinching back together. “That’s what love is. It’s the ups and downs. The in-betweens. The dark, the ugly, the beautiful, the surreal. It’s in both the perfect melodies and the off-key notes. The hardships make us stronger. Braver. That’s how love grows.”

Sighing, he presses his forehead to mine. “I never thought we’d make music again.”

Tears fill my eyes as I press a kiss to his lips and whisper back, “We never stopped.”

***

It’s no surprise we end the night up here.

Lex sits beside me on the rooftop while starlight bathes his face in an ethereal glow. We’re those two teenagers again, lost, misplaced, finding glimmers of belonging in the quiet, unassuming moments together. We both lean back against the dormer window and let the early-December wind blow icy kisses on our faces.

“This is the place I’d always come back to whenever I couldn’t sleep,” Lex says, his breath puffing out in smoky white plumes.

The stars flicker from a million miles away yet feel so close I could reach outand pluck one from the navy sky.

I turn to him, our shoulders fused together. “Me too.”

His eyes are closed, a peaceful smile drawn on his lips. “I’ve missed your rooftop, Nicks.”

“Way better view than my apartment.” I smile. “We don’t ever have to leave.”

“Sounds like a dream.”

I think about dreams. How they change, sway, manifest into something we never saw coming. Sometimes it’s in a blink, a single sharp breath, and sometimes it’s an aching, tugging slow burn, growing quietly until the dream evolves, blooming into colors that redefine us. Things far beyond what we ever could have imagined.

And maybe that’s the real magic of them—how dreams can still surprise us.

I glance at the man beside me, atmydream. No award trophy, no big paycheck, no stage to dance and twirl. Just a girl with pins in her knee and love in her eyes and a boy with songs in his heart and ghosts I’m determined to scare away for good.

When he catches me gazing at him, he turns to look at me, our eyes meeting through the dark night. His brows pinch together, his tongue poking out to wet his lips.

“What are you thinking about?” I ask softly.