Star-Crossed ✔️

29

oh y'all thought this was
happily ever after????
heheheh

- 29 -

In Denver we went hiking. In Seattle we went museum hopping. And in Santa Clara . . . we fell apart.

I still didn't quite understand how everything went downhill so fast. One moment, Noah was slipping his fingers through my hair and whispering sweet nothings, and the next, he was slipping through mine. All it took was one stupid mistake and I was at risk of losing him forever. Not that I regretted what I did, not even in the slightest, but if it meant I'd lose my love, then I'd go back and do it differently.

It started when we arrived back in California. We weren't quite home, but it was already familiar. I was refraining from actually going back to my house until the tour was over because if I did, I'd want to just get in bed and not get back out. Noah seemed excited either way, to be home and finish the tour. The best part about being back . . .

"Don't ever leave me again."

I pretended to sob into Dustin's shoulder while he gripped me for dear life, practically throwing his entire weight on me to hold up. Noah giggled beside me, which caught Dustin's attention in the green room, and threw himself at him, too. I watched as Dustin and Noah embraced and smiled to myself. It was before my show and Dustin promised to be there for the last three shows of the tour, so there he was.

"How's Nana?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Old, I guess. She's hanging in, though," he said. "How's Chester?"

"Old . . . and fat," Noah nodded.

We chatted, but not for very long. I had soundcheck and then the show. I figured now that the three of us were reunited and it was the home stretch, it would be a great time to go all out. Dustin and Noah agreed to come out on stage to surprise the audience and fuck around with me. It was a blast, the most fun show yet. Kailey got to do a little drum trick act she'd been working on and Oscar put on a banana costume. I wasn't sure what the hell Chris did and didn't care. But my fans loved all of it.

I brought the entire venue to an eerie silence when I played the song I wrote about Noah. No one knew it, obviously, and Dustin played acoustic guitar alongside me—something he'd been cooking up since I sent him a voice memo of me singing the song. And Noah stood in the sidelines with a sickeningly sweet smile on his face every time I looked over at him.

"That was so sick," Dustin was saying as we jumped around backstage. The crowd was still screaming their heads off. He was dripping sweat down his neck and body, long since abandoned his shirt and thrown it into the mass of fans. The green room was just up ahead. "We gotta get sloshed after that, bro."

I laughed, tossing an arm around Noah and pulling him into my body as we walked in. "Yeah, for su—" I stopped when I saw the most confusing group of people sitting in the green room.

For one, there was Joey, who looked equal parts uncomfortable and panicked. He had his phone in his hand like he was ready to make some calls the second the shit hit the fan. Seated beside him was one beautiful Kelsi Bravener, looking dolled up and glittery, but also very uncomfortable as she waited for Dustin. And then a third person, who didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by the atmosphere as he sipped on a water bottle, his legs crossed over one another.

David fucking MacNeil.

I stopped, tried to shield Noah from the monster ahead, but it was too late. All at once the concert venue shifted. The good vibes came to a screeching halt and I was stuck in the middle of it. Joey was trying to send me signals, but I couldn't look away from the piece of shit.