Greedily, I searched for Gabe.
But Gabe wasn’t who I found.
Because Gabe didn’t exist anymore.
My breat
h caught in my chest as Ashton freaking Hyde rose from his chair and moved toward me.
The only thing that was the same? The tattoos. No piercings. No dark hair.
He was wearing blue skinny jeans, brown boots, and a tight tan Henley that opened up revealing a few chest tattoos.
His hair was golden blond. The type you see on TV and swear isn’t real. The type that looks like dark spun gold.
“You came.” He sounded relieved.
“Yeah.” I couldn’t look at him in the eyes. Not now. Not knowing what he did to me, how he affected me. My heart might as well have been exposed for all to see — no doubt he heard it.
Gabe or Ashton, or whoever he was — I guess in my mind he was still Gabe — reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny bottle. It was the size of a keychain and made of glass.
“What’s this?”
Gabe smiled. That paired with his dark skin and bright eyes, I had to blink to keep my mouth from falling open. “Five tears. You’re right. How dare I cause more — when I don’t even fix the first ones that fell?”
Speechless I stared.
“A tear for a tear,” he whispered then shook the tiny bottle.
“You—”
“It was only fair.” His eyes fell to my mouth. “By my count that means I have three more to make up for. So you better prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself?” I repeated, still in shock.
“Yeah.” He smiled again and started to walk away toward Princess. Then as if forgetting something, he turned and said simply, “I’m falling.”
“Huh?”
“I’m falling for you too. I haven’t fallen. Falling. As in still falling, still in the air, still trying to get used to the idea that I’ve just nosedived off a cliff with every intention of making sure the landing doesn’t break my fall.”
“And if it does?”
“Then at least I still jumped.”
My breath caught in my throat, my body responded to his words as if he’d physically picked me up and twirled me around the room and kissed me senseless.
“Alright, everyone, take your seats.” I clapped my hands four times.
They followed. Princess shouted. Normal. Everything felt normal.
“We’ve been at this over four weeks.” I looked around the room. “Last time we met, we worked on our own songs. Does anyone want to share?”
A few people volunteered. Each of them trying hard to sing the notes they’d colored on their papers. Even Princess shouted the notes Gabe had colored for her.
“Anyone else?” I looked around the room, most everyone was distracted by his or her own worksheet, looking at each other’s, whispering.
“I want to go,” Gabe’s voice pierced the air.