Page 29 of Fame & Chaos

At one point, she laughed softly against my mouth and whispered, “You keep checking if I’m okay every five seconds.”

“Can you blame me?”

“A little.” She smiled and kissed me again. “I’m okay, Caleb.”

Hearing her say that felt like relief and happiness crashing into me all at once. Nothing in my life had ever felt as right as being there with her. The chemistry between us was overwhelming, but beneath it all was something even stronger.

Love.

Real love.

The kind that sits so deep inside your chest it almost hurts to hold it.

And lying there with Indi in my arms afterward, her fingers lazily tracing patterns across my skin while soft music played around us, I remember thinking one thing over and over again.

This is it for me.

She is it for me.

We fell asleep tangled together beneath my sheets, her back pressed against my chest while I wrapped myself around her like I was terrified she’d disappear if I let go.

And maybe I was.

The room still smelled faintly like candles and her shampoo, and even though it was late, I couldn’t stop smiling like a complete idiot.

Everything finally felt right.

I brushed my lips softly against her ear and held her tighter. “I love you,” I whispered sleepily. “And I want you to be mine forever.”

She didn’t answer.

I figured she’d already fallen asleep.

So I just kissed her shoulder gently and closed my eyes, completely content for the first time in what felt like forever. Everything was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Or at least, I thought it was.

The next morning, I woke up alone.

At first, I wasn’t worried. I figured Indi had probably gone back to her room to get dressed for school before Mum and Dad came home. I stretched out, still smiling to myself like an idiot from the night before, then got dressed and headed across the hallway. I knocked lightly on her bedroom door before pushing it open.

And instantly, something felt wrong.

Indi was curled tightly into a ball beneath her blankets, staring at the wall.

“Indi?”

She turned slowly toward me, and my stomach dropped instantly when I saw tears sitting in her eyes.

I rushed toward her bed. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

The second I reached for her, she flinched away from me.

Actually flinched.

Fear crawled instantly down my spine. “Did I hurt you?” I asked quickly, panic rising in my chest. “Baby, talk to me.”

“Don’t call me that,” she whispered.