Page 215 of Fame & Chaos

I’ve told her a hundred times she should quit nursing and come on tour with me permanently, but she always says the same thing. ‘She needs to help people. She needs to feel useful. She needs to make a difference.’

And I have to say, that’s one of the reasons I love her so much.

Being the girlfriend backstage while I performed under bright lights was never going to satisfy Indi in the long term. She needs a purpose beyond me. Beyond us.

So I support her completely.

Even if it means I’m going to miss her like fucking crazy.

We leave for the tour in two days, and today we’re heading into Oxfordshire for a pre-tour meeting with everyone. Apparently, there’s also another band joining us for part of the tour from America, so hopefully they’re not complete dickheads.

Indi’s driving, and over the last couple of days, she’s definitely been quieter than usual.

“Baby, are you okay?” I ask gently. “I can cancel the tour if you want me to stay.”

Her head snaps toward me so fast I nearly regret saying it. “Are you kidding?” she asks incredulously before turning back toward the road. “Absolutely not! You are not canceling a six-month international tour because I’m emotional about missing you.”

I rest my hand on her knee. “I’m gonna miss you too.” Her fingers tighten slightly on the steering wheel. “But we’ll make it work,” I continue. “Whenever we get time off, I’ll fly home to see you, or you can fly out to me if you’ve got a few free days. We’ll FaceTime, text, call… whatever we need to do. We’ll figure it out.”

She glances sideways at me and smiles softly. “I know we will. I always knew this would be part of being with you.” She exhales quietly. “I just didn’t realize it would hurt this much watching you leave.”

God, hearing that nearly wrecks me.

“I’m coming back to you,” I promise firmly. “Every single time, I’m coming back to you.”

She smiles again, but this time there’s sadness behind it.

“And when I come back…” I continue, “… I want us to stop pretending we don’t basically live together already.” Her eyebrows lift slightly. “I know I keep proposing and terrifying you,” I tease, earning a laugh from her. “But since marriage keeps getting me rejected, how about something smaller?”

She narrows her eyes suspiciously. “What are you plotting?”

“Move in with me properly.” That gets her full attention instantly. “If you don’t like my place, we’ll find somewhere together. Somewhere that’s ours. But this constant back-and-forth between houses is driving me insane. When you were staying with me after the accident, everything just felt… right.” I squeeze her knee gently. “So no ring this time. Just a domestic living arrangement proposal. What do you say?”

To my complete shock, she smiles immediately. “I’d love that.”

I blink at her. “Wait… really?”

She laughs softly. “Yes, Caleb. I want to live with you.”

I grin so hard my cheeks hurt. Internally, I’m basically throwing confetti around my brain. “Well damn,” I mutter proudly. “Who would’ve thought this strategy would work better than asking you to marry me every second week?”

She giggles and reaches down to lace her fingers through mine resting on her knee.

A short time later, we pull through the manor gates and into my usual parking spot, which technically belongs to Indi now, seeing as I’m still banned from driving for another couple of months.

Thankfully, by the time the tour ends, I’ll finally have my license back.

The second we climb out of the car, I groan dramatically. “Right, let’s go sit through another one of Colt’s inspirational speeches.” Indi laughs while taking my hand. “His speeches used to inspire me,” I state. “Now they just annoy me.”

She smacks my arm lightly. “Maybe if you actually listened instead of assuming you know everything, you might learn something.”

I gasp dramatically. “Excuse you?”

“Caleb, this is your first major international tour.” She points at me while walking beside me. “Colt has decades of experience. Stop being arrogant for five minutes and absorb the information.”

I bow my head theatrically. “Yes, ma’am.”

She rolls her eyes affectionately and squeezes my hand while we walk toward the front door together.