It'll Always Be You

[ 016 ]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KHAEL

———

Khael drove them all back to their company's apartment. Faith soon left, getting called by the staff the second she entered the company. She told them to call her if they needed anything to which they all nodded as they made their way to their room.

Shutting the door behind them, Seth and Caleb hurried to lie down on the couch, turned the television on, and started a movie. They sighed, their eyes began to close and Khael could hear soft snores within a few minutes. He turned the television off, bringing over a blanket to tuck in the two snuggling on the small couch, barely fitting in.

They were right to feel exhausted after the travel, but Khael was exhausted from all his thinking. All those pros and cons were messing with his head.

After mulling over what he was supposed to do, he decided to clear his mind, letting out one last large exhale and focusing. He really needed to make a decision that he wouldn't regret and expect his fans to support. 

A series of notifications bombarded his phone. He opened it and his face turned sour. There were multiple notifications from Twitter and a message from Faith. Against his better judgment, he opened the thread all with the keyword 'khaelgf'. He knew what he would expect but didn't expect it to be so sickening.

The comments and threads were separated - some supported him with his 'possible relationship' and others weren't so kind. Slurs and all kinds of revolting words Khael didn't know could exist were thrown from one comment to another. Why can't they see their irony? They all wanted to be with him but when someone else does, they couldn't seem to accept it.

Knowing Ash was a fan, she would've seen all the posts. He couldn't guess how she would take it because there's only so much one person can take and all of it, their words, would've hurt her. And he'd hate for that to happen. But he'd done that to her. He'd pushed her aside without thinking about her feelings. She had every right to hate him.

Khael groaned in frustration. The scenarios and imaginations that crept up in his mind were suffocating, as everything was around him. All those 'what ifs' and 'what would happen ifs' were stuffing his mind - at least his focus on those comments was gone.

He needed to decide. Opening up Faith's message, he was surprised. 

———

FAITH

The executives have heard about the thing with Ash and surprisingly, everything is working out better than I expected.

———

Khael was confused. If everything with the higher-ups was working out, it must be surprising because the higher-ups matching the word surprising was rare.

———

What does that mean?

They actually gave you permission to decide.

Decide on what?

What you want to do. It was suspicious but the trusted one there, Hannah, got the others to comply and listen and said that you could choose what to do with the rumors and Ash.

Does that mean I can fall in love?

———

Her response wasn't immediate. Khael knew Faith would be considering this or thinking about what it would entail - nonetheless, she replied just as he hoped.