4

Tears threatened to fall. Gosh, I was a mess. But the last few weeks had been such a whirlwind. Finals and packing up our apartment. Now graduation was done. Over.

“You don’t have to follow him to Kansas, you know. You can stay—”

“No,” I said firmly.

Living apart, doing the long-distance thing was not an option. But I was scared. All caught up in the fear of being in a new town with no friends or colleagues to lean on. Knowing that Kaiden had a team waiting for him. A team who would make him feel welcome and a part of something while I had to start all over again.

“Life is about compromise, sweetheart. You have to work out what sacrifices you’re prepared to make for the person you love. It’s Kaiden’s time to shine right now, but that doesn’t mean you have to be eclipsed by his light.

“He’s going to need you to, Lil. When practice is hard, when he’s trying to prove himself and earn his spot. There’s going to be highs and lows and it’s going to suck sometimes. He’ll need you there to ground him, to remind him that he can do it.”

“Did Mom do that for you?”

“Sweetheart, your mom held me together so many times that I honestly don’t think I would have made it without her. I thought I had it all figured out in high school, Lily. I thought love was for fools, that it was nothing more than a distraction. But I was wrong. So, so wrong.”

Dad looked across the bar to where Mom was talking and laughing with Kaiden’s mom.

“Love isn’t a weakness, sweetheart. It’s something to fight for. Something to live for. And I know you and Kaiden will figure this out. Besides, if he breaks your heart, he knows the deal.” A smirk played on his lips.

“Dad!”

“You might be twenty-two, Lily, but you’ll always be my little girl and I will always want to protect you.”

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now let’s go enjoy your party.”

“Okay.” I shoved down all the discomfort and worry and followed him out of the booth and toward our friends and family.

Kaiden spotted me and mouthed, “Everything okay?”

I nodded, mustering the best smile I could.

If I kept lying to him—to everyone—then maybe, eventually the words would come true.

 

   

“I can’t believe we’re all together in the same place,” Poppy said, a goofy smile plastered on her face as she laid her head on Aaron’s shoulder. “We don’t do it enough.”

“It’s life, Pops,” Ashleigh said.

“It sucks. I miss you guys.” She pouted at our cousin.

“We have Avery’s wedding to look forward to. We’ll all be back in town for that.”

Kaiden hugged me a little tighter and I knew what he was thinking—that he might not make it. Not with it being right in the middle of football camp. But I was trying not to think about that.

After my little pep talk from Poppy and then my dad, I’d forced myself to put on a smile and enjoy the party.

It was late now though, and the bar staff had started cleaning up around us. None of us were in a hurry to leave though.

Even if I was clinging onto the easy familiarity of being with my friends and family.

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but me and Pen will be in Rixon all summer, as usual.” Gav chuckled.

“We’ll only be home for about three weeks,” Cole said, dropping a kiss on Sofia’s head. “We want to head North and check out the Lakes.”

“Didn’t you do enough traveling already?” Aaron grumbled.

“Jealous, Bennet?”

“Of being cooped up in Vera with my sister? Yeah, no.”

Everyone laughed.

“How is Vera by the way?” Gav asked Cole and Sofia about their camper van. The one they’d traveled in for almost a year after high school. Now they bounced between Rixon and travelling. When they were home, Cole taught guitar lessons still and did some gigs around the local area while Sofia taught a few classes at the local community center and sold her art online.

“She’s good. A little tired around the edges but I think she’s got one or two adventures left in her yet.”

“You know, Mom and Dad are chomping at the bit for you to put down some roots,” Aaron said.

“Maybe, one day.” Sofia shrugged. “I like the freedom. The spontaneity.”

Something told me it wasn’t only that. It was that she didn’t like standing still. Maybe more than others, I understood a little bit of what she had gone through.

I hadn’t battled a life-threatening illness, but I fought battles against my own mind all the time.

“We’re not getting any younger, Sis,” he added.

“We have time,” Cole said.

Time.

Something I didn’t have.

Not when Kaiden left in less than a week.

Sadness washed over me.

God, I didn’t want to feel like this. Not when we’d had such an amazing four years.

“Ouch.” Peyton rubbed a hand across her swollen stomach.

“Babe?” Xander questioned, concerned.

“He’s playing football inside me.”

The guys all grimaced while the girls stared at her in awe.

“Here.” She grabbed my hand and laid it there. “Can you feel it?”

Sure enough, I felt the faint thud of a foot or a hand. “That is… wow.” I smiled.

A baby.

My best friend was having a baby. It still hadn’t sunk in. But sitting here with my hand on her stomach, their baby trying to kick his way out, I couldn’t deny the truth.

We were getting older. Growing up and moving on to the next stages of our lives.

When all I really wanted was for time to standstill.