Page 37 of Fame & Chaos

Dad nodded slowly. “She’s terrified, son.”

“I know.” I looked away. “But leaving?”

That part hurt the most.

Dad grabbed his keys from the bench. “C’mon. We’ll find her.”

Panic surged through me all over again as we headed toward the front door.

What if she’d gone somewhere stupid?

What if she’d completely shut down?

Dad was right.

Indi was absolutely capable of self-destructing right now, and the thought made me feel physically sick.

Just as Dad reached for the door handle, my phone buzzed loudly on the kitchen bench.

Both of us froze before I lunged for it instantly. And the second I saw Indi’s name flash across the screen, my entire body locked up.

My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone as I opened the message.

Indi: I’m fine, Caleb, but I’m moving away. I found a house to rent up north, and it’s better if you move on without me. We don’t belong together, and this could never work. Thank your parents for me. They’ve been amazing, but this is goodbye. Indi xo

Every word felt like another punch straight to the chest. I read the text out loud anyway, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears.

Dad exhaled heavily beside me. “Did you know she’d found somewhere to live?”

I shook my head slowly. “I knew she was looking.” My throat tightened painfully. “I just didn’t know she’d found a place.”

Silence settled heavily between us.

My mind was racing in circles, trying to figure out where she’d gone, how long she’d been planning this, and whether she’d packed up her entire life while I sat at school thinking about how to win her back.

Part of me wanted to track her down.

I could have.

Between Dad, Colt, and the resources surrounding our family, finding Indi wouldn’t have been impossible…

But deep down, I already knew doing that would only push her further away.

Indi valued trust above all, and if I invaded her privacy now, she’d hate me for it. So somehow, despite every instinct screaming at me to go after her, I forced myself to stay still.

For now.

Graduation was coming.

Surely she’d show up for that.

Surely this wasn’t really goodbye.

Dad studied me carefully. “You okay?”

A broken laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “Not really.” I rubbed hard at my eyes. “The girl I love just disappeared to get away from me, Dad. I feel like absolute crap.”

Dad blinked a few times, and without saying anything else, he pulled me into a hug.