Chapter Thirty-Three
Hayden
Dreams
The Cranberries
Vegas glows brightly beneath us.The city stretches for miles outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the private rooftop venue Devil’s Halo just finished destroying in the best possible way.Neon lights bleed into the desert night while music still pounds from somewhere below the lower levels of the casino.
Downstairs, hundreds of people are still screaming the band’s name.Up here, it’s just us.The family that means the most to me.The ones I know will be beside me no matter what comes our way.
Luc leans against the balcony railing with Lily tucked against his side, one arm wrapped loosely around her waist.She’s laughing at something Dean is saying, Sadie glued to his side, camera finally put aside for the night.
Mikey is already halfway through another champagne bottle and is now trying to teach Quinn how to play air guitar.She’s terrible at it.But honestly, so is he.He’s a drummer, yet somehow he still manages to look deeply offended when we tell him.
Vanessa stands beside me in a gold dress that should qualify as attempted murder.One graceful hand is curled around a champagne flute while Vegas lights dance across the soft red waves tumbling over her shoulders.
And Christ.There’s still a part of me that can’t fully believe she’s here.Not hidden away.Not compartmentalized in my room at Gild.She’s just, mine.She’s here, beside me, and I don’t carry a single doubt or fear.Warm fingers slide against mine, weaving our hands together.
“You’re staring again,” Vanessa murmurs without looking at me.
“Still trying to figure out how you keep getting more beautiful.”
“I think you’ve reached your limit on whiskey this evening.”She giggles.
A quiet laugh escapes me.God, I love this woman.The realization still hits me out of nowhere sometimes.Not softly either, but like a collision.Like my life split into before Vanessa and after Vanessa.And man, the after is so much better than I could have imagined.
Mikey appears beside us holding an entire bottle of champagne like he personally invented celebration.“You know,” he declares with a loud flourish, pointing between me and Vanessa with the neck of the bottle, “this is very emotional.”
Vanessa blinks.“What is?”
“You two.”He gestures at us like it’s obvious.“The eye contact.The tenderness.Hayden smiling without being ordered to.”He shakes his head.“It’s tilting the axis of my world a little.”
“Go away,” I push him away with a gentle shove.
“Not happening.”He grins like the mischievous bastard he is and plants his feet wider so I can’t move him.
Quinn appears a second later, looping one arm through Mikey’s while rolling her eyes with affection as she attempts to defend his actions.“He’s had a little bit of champagne.”
“Yeah, six bottles of it.”Dean clarifies with a loud chuff.
“Seven,” Luc adds calmly.
Mikey points at him, his balance not at all steady.“Thank you for supporting my journey.”
“No one supports your journey,” I mutter.
Vanessa laughs beside me, the sound warm enough to settle somewhere deep in my chest.And I’m hit with this strange overwhelming awareness of all of it.
Luc and Lily.Dean seeming whole again now that he has Sadie.Mikey somehow finding someone who loves his chaos instead of merely surviving it.Quinn fitting into this insane family like she was always meant to.And Vanessa, tucked into my side.The band.Us.
Years ago, Vegas represented something completely different to me.I think to all of us.Noise loud enough to drown out all the other shit we were all dealing with.Now?It feels like we’ve come full circle.Like, somehow, we survived ourselves long enough to end up here again, but as much better versions of ourselves this time.
Luc catches my eye from across the rooftop.It’s just one look.And because he knows me better than almost anyone alive, I know without a doubt he understands exactly what I’m thinking.
His expression softens almost imperceptibly before he lifts his champagne glass toward me in a silent mutual cheer; my brother.Always.Emotion presses against my ribs, in the best way, and I think it means my heart is full.Christ, when did I become this sentimental?
“Fifteen minutes!”someone yells from near the DJ booth.
