Page 70 of Unwritten Rules

“Don’t do that, man. That shit stings.”

“North…there’s nothing you could have done to stop either of those things from happening.”

My friend’s whole body sags visibly as the weight of remembrance overtakes him, but Henry continues where I’d left off.

“Summer was devastated after Archer’s death. It’s not surprising she ran away from the memories, Cade. She was...fragile. His death broke her, and—”

“It wasn’t Archer who broke her.” Caden’s tone is sharp, utterly at odds with his drawn face. “It was me. I broke her.” His voice cracks. “We fell in love that summer...before—”

He doesn’t need to say it.

Before Archer.

He swallows roughly, his eyes filling with a fresh onslaught of emotion.

“The day before she left, I’d been drinking and wound up taking some pills Layla had found in Archer’s room. I woke up in Summer’s empty bed to find a note from her that told me exactly how much of a piece of shit I was…”

He trails off, slamming his eyes closed before whispering, “I never knew why.”

He shakes his head, his shorter-than-usual blonde curls falling across his face.

“I do love Layla, I do.”

When he pauses, I can’t help thinking, who is he trying to convince? Us or himself.

“But if I’m honest with you boys, I’ve let her screw whoever she wants because deep down, I’m trying to atone for the fact that I can’t be everything to her. I can’t give her all of me because I gave my whole heart to Summer fifteen fucking years ago, and when she disappeared, she took it with her. Fuck…” He swallows roughly before croaking. “She could be dead, for all I know…”

Caden’s voice breaks, and his head drops, unable to go on.

Henry’s eyes meet mine across the room, his as round as saucers – no doubt mirror images of mine.

Fuck me. Clearly, neither of us had any idea of this.

“Christ, brother. Whatever you’re going through, we are here.”

I cross the space between us to pull my broken friend against my chest with one arm whilst holding my free one out for Henry to enter our embrace.

A three-man crush ensues, and no one speaks for long minutes until Caden breaks away slightly to look up at Henry and me.

“Always.”

I nod, ready to get back to making this Layla mess as palatable as possible for my friend and his daughter.

“Let’s get down to brass tacks then, brother. What do you need?”

* * *

Having finished making a strategy in Henry’s office, I feel Cade is in a much better place.

We all do. Caden included.

I’d shot off an email to a guy I know from Valentine’s – Fletcher deals with celebrity divorces and is exceedingly discreet in his process – to get the ball rolling.

Knowing that he has the love and support of both Henry and me puts a smile back on Caden’s face, and he seems lighter, having shared the revelations he’s clearly kept to himself for almost half his life.

And so, as Henry steers a much-buoyed rockstar in the direction of his beloved daughter, I hang back, citing that I need to grab a drink.

As I stand in the kitchen while sipping a glass of iced water and watching the joy unfurling before me on the patio, I’m filled with a plethora of emotions. Still, the one that sits at the forefront is overwhelming gratitude.