Page 4 of The Broken Keys

I nod as if I understand. “You’ve always been enough, more than enough to me.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“Right back at ya, love.” I didn’t say it to make her uncomfortable, and I don’t think I did because her face lights up in acknowledgement of something we used to say to one another, even when we were fighting.

We settle in, and the conversation flows like it used to when we were kids, before fame, trauma, and Leon Baker turned our love story into a battlefield.

But there’s tension underneath it all from the weight of years of secrets and the automatic way she stiffens when I move too fast or get too close.

“You’ve changed.” She expands from a ball to something more relaxed, opening the space between us. “You seem...steadier. More centered.”

“I had to be.” I scooch closer to her, not quite touching but enough to feel her warmth. “After everything that happened, after I lost you... I realized I couldn’t keep living like I was trying to die.”

She cringes, but quickly recovers. “Callum?—”

“I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty. I’m saying it because I want you to know that whatever brought you here tonight, whatever’s causing you anguish, I’m not that same broken kid who couldn’t handle it. If you need me, I’m all yours.”

She’s quiet for so long, I think she might not respond. Then she shifts just a few inches, but enough that I can smell her perfume and see the exhaustion etched in the lines around her eyes.

“I missed this,” she whispers. “Just talking and being normal.”

“We were never normal, Lily. But we were real. That has to count for something.”

She shuts her eyes, and when she opens them again, they’re glossy with unshed tears. “I keep thinking about that night…when you turned twenty, and I went to surprise you at the hotel?—”

“Stop.”

She flinches.

I force myself to breathe and gentle my voice. “That night... I’m sorry, Lily. I’m so fucking sorry about what you saw.”

She searches my face, trying to read the pain I’m keeping locked away.

“Callum, why?”

“I can’t explain what happened that night, but I need you to know that what you walked in on, it wasn’t what I wanted. It was never what I wanted.” My stomach turns. “You deserved so much better than that, than me.”

The stillness stretches between us, heavy with unspoken truths I’ll never be able to voice. The shame of that night sits in my heart like a stone. Even now, years later, I can’t bring myself to tell her what Leon did to me, what he made me a part of.

“I should’ve fought harder.” My insides clench down. “I should’ve found another way, but I was immature and stupid. I let Leon manipulate everything, including me.”

Her hand reaches for mine, tentative. “We were both so young. Too young for all we went through.”

She’s crying now, silent tears that make my chest feel like it’s caving in.

“Callum, I’m so sorry about everything.”

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for.” I take her palm in mine, giving her time to pull away.

She doesn’t.

“We were kids, Lily. We were teenagers, and things got out of control. Evil people used us. That’s the truth, and we can choose to relive it every day or learn from it and make it better tomorrow.”

Her fingers intertwine with mine. The simple contact sends electricity racing through my bloodstream.

“I wasted so much time hating you for that night.” She squeezes my hand. “I know drugs played a huge part, and Zara was set on destroying me. It all seems so?—”

“Unreal. But you need to know I wasted so much time hating myself for letting them twist the story.” I lift our joined hands and press a kiss to her knuckles. “But we’re here now.”