Page 39 of Fame & Chaos

Indi had found a house.

Somewhere far enough away that she thought I wouldn’t follow. And now she was out there alone while I stood in our kitchen trying not to fall apart.

It hurt.

Christ, it hurt so badly.

But somewhere underneath all that pain, I knew Dad was right. Chasing her right now would only push her further away. So for the first time since reading her text, I forced myself to breathe properly.

If I really loved her…

Then maybe the hardest thing I could do was let her go for now and trust that one day she’d come back to me.

At least, I hoped she would.

Chapter Six

Present Day Chaos

Caleb

Age 24

It’s been six years since Indi left me.

Six years since the goodbye text.

Six years since she vanished so completely it was like she’d never existed at all.

She didn’t even show up to graduation. They called her name during the ceremony, and there was just… silence. An empty seat where she should have been. I remember sitting there staring at the stage, feeling like the entire room was closing in on me.

I tried finding her afterward.

God, I tried.

But every lead went nowhere, and every conversation ended the same way. Nobody knew anything, or if they did, they weren’t telling me. Eventually, after years of chasing ghosts, I gave up.

Well… mostly.

I’m twenty-four now, and on paper my life looks pretty damn good.

Dad’s pep talk after Indi left lasted maybe three months before I completely ignored every piece of advice he gave me. After spending weeks moping around like some tragic love-struck idiot, I decided the best way to move on was to stop thinking about her altogether.

Turns out that’s impossible.

So instead, I found distractions.

The first girl was at some pub in London. I took her home and slept with her… and then somehow ended up sleeping with her roommate too. And just like that, the ‘let’s pretend you’re not hopelessly in love with Indi Malone by sleeping with literally everyone else’ phase began.

For a while, every girl I touched became a substitute in my head.

Blonde hair? Indi. Check.

Blue eyes? Indi. Check.

Soft laugh? Indi. Check.

It was pathetic.