His Rockstar

54. | Bang, Bang

Within a blink of an eye, Naomi's wedding is here. She's in a beautiful wedding dress at the altar with a man who's looking at her as if he just fell in love with her all over again.

Their venue is perfect, outdoors with wooden chairs decorated in flowers and the altar under a curtain panel and flowers to keep the curtains pinned to the rods. Family stand all around, Rhys and Naomi's family alike — mainly Rhys's.

But even so, I can't help the darkness I feel looming over me. That feeling of abandonment. That feeling that this was how it was supposed to be.

Maybe everything Alex said was a lie. Maybe he never actually needed a lawyer.

He knew that to find me, he'd have to find my father. He knew how my father loved to destroy my life.

Maybe he never loved me at all.

But even so, I find myself looking next to me. At the empty seat that was supposed to be for him. But he's not here.

Everyone stands up as they kiss, now husband and wife. We clap and people cheer, Blair and Azzy giggling and smiling in excitement. They don't even understand what's happening.

But all the noise drowns out. Everything becomes quiet and all I can hear is the sound of my heartbeat, the erratic, infrequent beat of my heart.

I try to push it down, to not let it engulf me. It's their wedding day, for Christ's sake. But it hits me like a freight train, everything he's ever said to me echoing in my head. From the moment I literally ran into him, to the last moment we had together.

All the pain, all the anger, all the happiness, all the comfort. All of that is gone.

We move to the reception and try to enjoy as much of it as I can. There's a few bottles of alcohol, that Brittany brought, but I stay away from it, sticking to water. Of course, it reminds me of Alex. Of how he saved Melody.

I refuse to drown myself in alcohol just to forget everything. I'm not that stupid.

I finally manage to get a moment alone with Naomi, pulling her in for a hug. "Congrats, Naomi."

"Thank you." She replies, squeezing lightly before pulling away.

"So when you guys bookin' it out of here?" I raise a brow.

She laughs. "We're going to take a bit to get everything settled, then we'll go on our honeymoon after, in June."

"Good. You guys deserve it." She smiles at me, squeezing my upper arm slightly.

"So, have you gotten everything settled for Delilah?"

"Almost." I nod. I've been trying to babyproof the house and set up her room for the last few weeks, along with trying to catch up with my work, continuing therapy, and taking my father to court.

"That's good. Rhys is also willing to turn one of the many offices into a little daycare room for her, or anyone else who can't find a sitter or a daycare."

"That'd be so nice." We both laugh at that.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do great." She smiles at me.

"Thanks."

"Come on. Let's dance." She takes my hand, all but dragging me to the dance floor.

***

Bang. One shot.

Bang. Two shots.

Bang. Bang. Three, four shots.

One in the head. One in the neck. One in the heart. One in the bullseye.

In each shot fired is a tainted memory. The shot fired at Rhys's work with Kylie holding Naomi at gunpoint. The shot fired at the bands' concert. The shot fired that got a woman killed. For something she had no part in.

The sinister laughing of Maggie, taunting me, haunting me even in my sleep. But then it's no longer Maggie haunting me; it's Alex.

The echo of his laughter. The smooth velvet of his voice. The way his hair flopped on his head and the way he ran his hand through it.

A hand on my shoulder pulls me out of my daze. I whip around, gun in hand, and find tawny hair framing the face of a man, wearing the same glasses and headphone as I am. His hands fly up at the sight of the gun and immediately I switch it to safety and set it on the ledge.

I wince. "Sorry. I was— I was caught in thought."

He smiles slightly. "You're all good." He slowly lowers his hands. Then he smiles, staring at me. As if he's expecting something. "You don't recognize me, do you?"

I look at him confused. "Am I supposed to?"

He huffs a laugh, then sticks a hand out to me. "I'm Andy. Real names Andrew, but it just doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

With a smile, I shake his hand. "Lindsey."

"I already knew that." I raise a brow. "Everybody knows. You've become quite the regular the last... month? Month and a half?" His lips quirk up.

I let out a laugh. "Yeah. I've been using this as an outlet lately. What, with my daughter and everything."

"Oh, you have a daughter." His eyes widen. "So— So you must be married, then?"

"Nope." I shake my head. "Single mom."

"Oh. Oh, okay." He laughs slightly. "Well, if you ever need anyone to babysit her, I'm really good with kids."

I nod. "I'll make sure to call you." He smiles back at me, inclining his head. That one movement seems to trigger something inside my head, and I furrow my brows. "Now that I think about it, you do look kind of familiar..."

"Yeah?" He raises his brows. "We, uh, we went to school together. In Arizona."

"Andrew...Verona?"

"In the flesh."

"As in football Andrew?" My happy mood disintegrates.

He thins his lips together. "You don't like me, do you?"

I scoff. "The only reason we ever dated was because me and my sister were popular and you were a football jock." And then the second that all went down the drain, guess who went with it.

"Look, I'm sorry I did that. But I've changed. I'm not the same person that I was, Lindsey. I was a dick back then, I admit that, but look at me now. Can't we at least try to forget the past?" He steps toward me.

I narrow my eyes before I begin walking away, making sure to bump shoulders with him as I pass, "Prove it to me, then, Andrew."

***

A/N: The beginning part of the chapter was predominantly inspired by this song (dk why it just was)