Page 132 of Fame & Rhythm

“Annie… baby, please,” he says, reaching for my hand.

I let him take it.

For a moment.

Then I lift my other hand and brush the tears from his cheek, my fingers trembling. “Don’t cry for me,” I murmur. “I’m not worth it.” I pull away before I can change my mind and move toward the door.

“Annie, you are,” he says, his voice breaking. “You’re worth everything.”

I pause at the door, forcing myself to turn back and meet his eyes one last time. “Forget me, Aston,” I say, my voice barely steady. “Forget us. This… this was a mistake.”

“Annie, don’t go,” he pleads, his eyes begging me to stay.

I swallow hard, my throat tight, and turn away before I can falter.

The door opens, and I walk out.

“Annie!”

I don’t stop.

I can’t.

I make my way down the narrow passage toward the main cabin, my arms wrapping around myself like they can hold me together. Tears blur my vision, but I wipe them away quickly as I reach my seat.

The engines roar to life—too loud, too much.

“You okay?” Ella asks softly, rubbing my arm.

I look at her, biting my lip as my composure finally cracks and I shake my head.

The tears come anyway.

She leans in without another word, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me close. I press my face into her shoulder, crying quietly as the jet lifts into the sky…

Anna, Aston’s mum, heads down to the office. I saw her look at me as she walked past, but she didn’t say anything. I wonder how much Aston has told her about us? She was always Team Astonie, as she would refer to us. But I guess she will hate me now too. I just hope this doesn’t affect her and Mum’s relationship. I know they’re best friends, so hopefully I won’t cause a rift between them. Another ten minutes later, she walks out with Aston following her. She looks at me briefly as she passes—a look of complete and utter disappointment. Aston, on the other hand, looks terrible, and even though he knew he was walking past me, he didn’t acknowledge me at all.

From then on, I knew he’d given up.

We arrived in Ireland, and I was so tired I just wanted to sleep, but I knew that wasn’t possible. I needed to go to the hotel, settle in, then head to the Odyssey Arena and get ready for my first concert without Aston by my side.

The show ended up being great. We sounded amazing, and the crowd loved us, but it was weird standing next to Caleb instead of Aston. I watched him throughout the show, and he wasn’t smiling or getting into the music like he normally does. Ella tried to make him smile, but it only worked for a second, then he went back to scowling.

The pep talk before the show was short, and I think everyone felt the tension. Aston didn’t stand next to me. He’s obviously giving me the space I need, which I didn’t expect. To be honest, I don’t know what I was expecting. I guess I thought that he would still want to be near me. Seems that’s the furthest from the truth.

Once the show finishes, Mum is there to greet me as soon as I get off the stage. I still feel the buzz from being on stage and performing, but it isn’t the same.

“How’d we sound?” I ask as I pull my guitar off over my head.

“Perfect, sweetheart, flawless actually,” she says and then looks over at Aston, who’s talking to his dad, Johnny.

I follow her line of sight. Aston looks up at me, Johnny looks over, then pats his back and leads him away from the backstage area. I swallow hard and take a deep breath.

“You were great, honey. It didn’t show at all.”

I nod and smile, even though I feel like a complete pile of steaming shit. “Can I go back to Dad’s green room, instead of Staked’s? I ask, and Mum slumps her shoulders and looks at me, tilting her head.

“Sweetheart, you can’t avoid him forever.”