Page 38 of Fame & Chaos

And to be honest, that nearly broke me more than the text did.

Because suddenly I felt like a kid again instead of pretending to be some grown man who could handle heartbreak properly.

“It’s okay, mate,” Dad said quietly. “I highly doubt this is the last we’ll ever see of Indi.”

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat.

“I’ll make sure she’s safe, okay? I’ll figure out where she is eventually. But I won’t push her before she’s ready.”

I nodded against his shoulder. “Just make sure she’s okay,” I whispered. “Even if she never wants to see me again… I just need to know she’s safe.”

Dad pulled back enough to look me directly in the eye. “I promise.”

I nodded again, blinking hard as tears burned behind my eyes. Then Dad sighed quietly and leaned back against the kitchen bench.

“You know,” he said carefully. “I understand more than you think I do.”

I frowned slightly. “When I lost your mum the first time…” He shook his head slowly. “Christ, Caleb, I completely lost myself.”

I stayed quiet while he spoke because Dad seldom talked about that period of his life.

“The pain gets ugly if you let it.” His gaze drifted somewhere distant. “It burns through you until all you can think about is hurting back. You lash out, make stupid decisions, and convince yourself that destroying everything around you will somehow make the pain easier to live with.”

Maddie flashed briefly through my mind.

Dad noticed my expression and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Caleb.”

I sighed heavily. “I kissed some girl at school today.”

Dad stared at me for a second. “Did it help?”

“No.”

“Thought so.”

I scrubbed both hands over my face. “I just don’t know what to do.”

Dad stepped closer again, his voice quieter this time. “You wait.”

I looked up at him. “If you love her the way you say you do, then you give her time.” My whole body goes tight. “She’s broken right now, mate. More than you probably even realize. Her entire world collapsed in one night, and now she’s terrified of loving someone enough to lose them too.”

I knew he was right, but it didn’t make it hurt any less, though.

Dad squeezed the back of my neck gently. “It took seven years before your mum came back into my life.” He gave me a small smile. “And deep down, I think I always knew she would.”

I looked down at Indi’s message again.

Goodbye.

The word made me feel sick.

“You can’t force this,” Dad continued softly. “And you definitely can’t punish her into loving you. All you can do is let her figure herself out and hope she finds her way back.”

I nodded slowly, though my brain was fried.