Page 26 of Fame & Chaos

And honestly?

Neither of us wanted to be careful anymore.

The problem was life didn’t exactly slow down just because we’d finally admitted our feelings.

Between school, Staked, work, and trying to survive final exams, we barely had time to breathe some days.

Indi got a casual job working reception at a local doctor’s clinic, while I started tutoring younger kids in music after school and on weekends. Dad thought it was hilarious that parents were paying me to teach guitar before I’d even graduated myself.

“You realize you sound exactly like your father already, right?” he’d said one night after hearing me coach some twelve-year-old through scales in the music room.

“Please don’t insult me like that,” I replied while he laughed so hard he nearly choked on his beer.

Still, the extra money mattered.

Especially to Indi.

About nine months after her parents died, she became obsessed with saving enough money to move out and rent her own place eventually. No matter how many times Mum reassured her she wasn’t a burden, Indi still hated feeling like she was depending on people.

“I can’t live off your parents forever,” she told me one afternoon while we stocked shelves together at the supermarket.

“You’re not living off them,” I argued. “You’re family.”

Her expression softened every time I said that word.

Family.

But even then, I could tell part of her still struggled to believe she deserved one.

Secretly, I started saving harder too.

Because in my head, there was only one future that made sense…

Indi and I together.

Always.

We never officially talked about moving in together, but after months of sneaking kisses whenever we got the chance, it just felt inevitable somehow.

Especially because things between us kept intensifying.

The kissing alone was becoming dangerous.

Every time I touched her, it felt harder to stop myself from wanting more. And judging by the way Indi clung to me half the time, she was struggling with the same thing.

Which led directly to the problem sitting in front of me now.

An entirely empty house.

Mum and Dad had gone into London for a huge music-industry party connected to Dad’s band and wouldn’t be home until morning.

Meanwhile, Indi and I were supposed to stay home and study for finals.

Except, the second the front door closed behind my parents, studying became the last thing on my mind.

Indi sat cross-legged on the couch, wearing tiny sleep shorts and one of my old band shirts while flipping through biology notes, completely oblivious to the fact that I hadn’t absorbed a single word from my textbook in the last twenty minutes because I was too busy staring at her legs.

“Caleb?”