•
•⋮ 3 years earlier
✖ WARNING! ✖ Content below not intended for young readers. Read at your discretion. ✖• Present day •It shouldn't take her another hour to finally convince him that she had to leave now. He knew she had to work in the morning, record another song in the studio with Kyle and Dan, and he'd always respected the fact that she prioritized her job and her career more than ever.Being a musician was basically all she knew and did since graduating college. However, considering the current circumstances, he might try to stop her from leaving him again, only because he didn't want to be left alone, it seemed. Veronica sighed to herself.Her failed attempts to not cry her eyes out left her flat on the covers, lying face-down, marinating in utter shame and disgust with herself. Instead of giving him proper closure and kissing him goodbye for the last time, they ended up having sex again. Stupid. Pudding head. Hopelessly naïve. She could already hear her parents' voice in her head. They didn
• 3 years earlier •Good grief. Not today.No. No. No. This was not what she'd expected when she half-heartedly replied 'k..see u later' to his text. At least not this soon.When she'd agreed to meet up
• Arcueil, Paris • "Merde. Salaud. Pute." "Well, well, well... Someone partied a little too much last night." Théo froze on the couch and stopped mumbling complaints. The familiar voice instantly caught his full attention. Female. New York accent. Loud and rich with sarcasm. Jamie. He lifted his aching head. It felt like someone was jackhammering his skull from the inside. Damn that Polish vodka. Last night, Tomek had dared him to swig another shot of that acid-tasting drink. No—wait. Five more shots, actually. The thought alone made his temples throb harder. Théo flinched. Despite his boozed up brain, he could still remember how every drop of that lethal drink had scorched his throat. "Ran into Adri and Vincent at
• Present day •Kyle hurled his beer can into the trash. His skull felt like breaking open. Wincing in pain, he kicked the door to slam it shut, not caring if he'd wake the people in the next room. Another draining headache had been hammering his head since morning. His usual painkillers didn't work. They only numbed the pain for a few hours, in fact. He didn't feel like eating, either. Even after two pills, his stupid migraine only resumed a longer round two.Their band had been invited to play their new single at a radio guesting earlier. With their roadies, he drove back to the hotel near the recording studio before midnight with Dan and Via. Kyle eyed the door to her hotel room, their rooms just opposite each other.He didn't bother knocking and just jerked the door open. Clutching her phone, Veronica sat on the edge of the bed. Only the table lamp by the left side of the bed lit the whole room. "You good?" She waved at him, although she seemed too busy to make time for a
• 3 years earlier • The whole drive back to her apartment had been quiet and awkward, as expected. The entire time, Théo kept his eyes on the road, hadn't said a word about meeting Blake and his glittery new fiancée—a thing she was secretly thankful for. Théo hadn't opened up a conversation about what happened the entire day. He had mostly kept to himself. Pretty much what she needed right now. It seemed naturally easy for him to know and understand her thoughts and feelings. Amid this whole getting-over-the-cheating-ex phase, Théo had been the go-to guy. The best company. The perfect distraction. If he hadn't shown up, she wouldn't make it through the week. Put it simply, him being here had efficiently kept self-destructive thoughts at bay. Multiple ideas of self-harm included. It had been that bad. The dark living room helped hide the emotional turmoil brewing inside her. Veronica stuck her head in her hands, plainly exhausted, just like her tolerance for lonesomeness and
• It had been a while. Studio work and the band's other promotional duties had kept her too busy to call home. And now she couldn't think of anything but a much-needed heart-to-heart with her mom. At this hour, Dr. Michel was either deep in sleep or waist-deep in another emergency surgery at the clinic, but Veronica hoped her mom was free to talk. She needed reinforcement. Badly and immediately. The dull rings went on while she waited for her mother to pick up. It was late. Maybe her mom had already gone to bed. Veronica wished for the opposite, though.She was about to put her phone away when the monotonous ringing suddenly stopped. Her mother's groggy voice came over the line the next second. "Via?" "Mommy, you busy?" "No, hon. Just fell asleep early." "Sorry. Woke you up." Veronica wiped her eyes dry and
•"What? How is she?"The question made Kyle recheck the time on his phone. Must be around eleven in Paris.Pretty early. Jamie was a late sleeper. They could chat until he got the answers he wanted. Besides, Jamie didn't sound displeased that he'd interrupted her weeknight, giving her a call without early notice.She sounded surprised, though. "I had no idea," Jamie sighed over the line."Still at it. Won't even talk to me or Dan.""Er...I haven't called her since Tues— Friday. I messaged her this morning. She hasn't called or texted me back," Jamie replied, her voice raspy, probably tired. "She okay? Can't reach her cell.""Probably turned off. She's sleeping," Kyle replied. He gripped his phone and let out a sigh. The past couple of days, he'd been trying to have a serious conversation with Veronica, but she just