Chris clears his throat again before pressing a hard kiss to my forehead. “Let me call the label. I’m going to stay in town until I figure this shit out. But I’ll stay out of your hair.”
“Wait!” I yell as he stands up. He looks down at me in confusion, glancing between me and Benji. “Maybe… maybe the three of us can get dinner sometime. Just, no work shit. Just… us.”
Chris's lips turn up in a beaming smile. “I’d love that, kid.” He pats my head once, then sighs softly. “I’m staying at a hotel in Orlando. I’ll see what I can do over the next few days. But now that I know what you really want, I have something to work with.” He starts to walk away, then pauses, turning to look back at me. “They wanted to force you back on tour with a therapist and shit. I told them to go fuck themselves, that’s what I came here to tell you.”
The minute Chris is out of sight, I fucking lose my shit. Like always, Benji’s there to hold me together when I feel like I’m going to fall the fuck apart. I can’t say how long we sit there with me sobbing and Benji cradling me against his chest, murmuringthings I can’t even make out, but know they’re probably the most comforting words in the entire world. Everything about Benji is a comfort. Strong and solid, the wall that holds me up when the entire world tries to beat me down.
“Benji,” I say, voice shaking.
“Yeah, angel?”
“I’m in love with you.”
Benji pulls away to cup my cheeks between his palms, his thumbs sliding under my eyes to wipe away my years. His eyes are so vivid and bright that it’s like looking into a perfectly cloudless sky, or the lightest Caribbean water in the world.
“I’m in love with you too. Deeply and darkly.” He brushes a soft kiss to my mouth that holds more weight than any word he could ever say. “Two halves of the same whole, you and I. Just us.”
“Just us,” I repeat as I lean hard against his body again.
The sun hangs low in the sky by the time Eli returns, but this time he isn’t alone. Trevor, Beau, Jackson, and Harper follow along behind him out onto the porch. Eli smiles shyly at me as he sets a covered plate of food down on the table in front of us.
“We thought maybe you could use some friends,” Eli says sweetly. “So we brought food and ourselves.”
I’m going to fucking cry again. Jesus. Benji squeezes my neck hard as I dip my head so that they all can’t see how much it means to me.
“So, about that foursome,” Jackson says awkwardly, breaking a loud laugh out of me. I laugh so hard that I snort, covering my mouth with my hand as the giggles erupt out of me. Soon everyone is laughing, even stoic, usually quiet Beau.
“Benji?” I ask quietly.
“Yeah?”
I lean forward to kiss his cheek. “Will you go grab my guitar?”
Benji’s grin is wide and warm, without a word he disappears around the house like the doting lover he is for me. Harper takes the empty seat vacated by Benji.
“On a scale of wanting to die to life is grand, what are we feeling today?” Harper asks, eyes glinting with mischief.
“A warm hot dog at a baseball game,” I answer honestly.
Harper whistles happily and elbows me in the ribs. “You’re feeling good!” Harper leans forward to grab the plate off the table, removing the tin foil from the top. Crispy fish, some sort of mixed rice, and the biggest-looking cupcake I’ve ever seen. “Beau grills the best fish. The cupcake is from Bee’s, my favorite, the double chocolate.”
I swallow hard at the sight of the offering. “Thank you.”
Harper waves off my gratitude. “I know what it’s like to need help, but fucking hating to ask for it. Also, it was mostly Eli.”
Benji returns with my guitar case in tow and stows it behind the couch. He dips down to kiss my forehead, before heading over to sit beside Jackson. I dig into the still warm food, letting it settle in my belly and in my bones. It’s nice to be cared for, even if I’m not quite used to it.
Once I’m finished with the food, I set the plate on the table, and sit back on the couch with Harper beside me. I busy myself with getting my guitar out of the case for a little while, ignoring the fact that the others are more than likely watching me.
“Still wanna sing some Hannah Montana?”
Harper’s grin could power entire cities. “Nah. Let’s sing one of your favorites.”
“You probably won’t know it.”
“I probably will,” Harper promises as he shifts closer to me.
Honey settles at his feet, lies down, and rests her head on my foot. When I glance up, Jackson is staring at us with some weird emotion in his eyes that I can’t name. Benji practically has hearts in his eyes and I fight the urge to scowl at him. Instead, I smilesoftly and glance back down to the guitar. The chords are as easy as breathing, I’ve played this song so many times.
