Chapter 95

Chapter 95
Kaelen's POV

I settle into my seat as Jordan adjusts the guitar against his body. The room has gone too quiet. Everyone is waiting for him to start, but I barely notice anyone else. My eyes stay on him. I'm barely breathing over the excitement in my head and chest.

Like... is this even real? Half of me almost laughs. I think I do a little just to confirm this is actually happening. It is, otherwise he wouldn't be as nervous as he looks.

It's not enough for anyone who doesn't know him to notice, but I do. I can see it in the way his fingers shift against the guitar and how he takes one more breath before leaning toward the microphone.

Then he starts playing and my chest settles. I have heard Jordan sing several times before, but this feels different. Maybe because I know these words belong to me.

His voice carries through the room, steadying as he gets further into the song. I listen to every line, letting them sink in without trying to guess where they are going.

Then he sings about where his heart has been... during the break up and when he almost lost me.

My throat tightens. He looks at me when he sings it, and I have to look away for a second because my eyes are already burning. I rub at one of them quickly and look back at the stage. Jordan keeps singing.

The song isn't about some perfect version of us. I can hear that. There is hurt in it, but there is also something calmer beneath it. I feel the part of him that stayed even when everything between us was falling apart.

Then he reaches the last lines. That's when all my efforts to keep it together hit a rock.

And if you ask me where my heart has been,
It's right here, where it's always been.
Through everything we've been through,
Time couldn't teach my heart how to let you go.
I'm still loving you.

I stop breathing for a moment. My eyes close without a fight.

I knew he loved me through it all. I know that now. I have heard him say it. I've felt it every day since we found our way back to each other. But hearing those words sung in front of a room full of people hits deeper in ways I wasn't prepared for.

A tear slips down my cheek. I wipe it away, but there is no point. Another follows and seconds later, my entire face is drenched.

When the song ends, the room erupts into applause. I barely hear it.

Jordan lowers his guitar slightly and looks at me. For a second, the distance between us feels like miles apart. I want to go to him. Every part of me does. But I stay where I am, suddenly unsure whether I should. This is his moment, his song, his stage. I don't want to take anything away from it by making myself the center of attention.

"Are you seriously just going to stand there?"

I nearly jump out of my skin. Elise is standing beside me, smiling like she has been there the entire time.

"Where did you come from?"

She rolls her eyes and gestures toward the stage. "Does it matter?" She gives my shoulder a small shove. "If you don't get your ass up there, I'll do it for you."

A laugh escapes me despite the tears still on my face. "You are unbelievable."

"And you are missing your cue for such a romantic moment with your angel in human form boyfriend. Go."

I shake my head, but I'm already moving, making my way toward the stage while the applause is still going, and Jordan watches me the entire time. By the time I reach him, he is smiling.

I step up onto the stage and stop in front of him.
Neither of us has to say anything. He sets his guitar aside and reaches for me. I pull him into my arms, burying my face in the crook of his neck. His body catches the rest of my tears.

"You are so fucking amazing, J!" I say against his ear in the rush of the applause. "So fucking amazing... I don't even know what to say." I pull back just so I can look at him. "You really set the bar high. I don't know if I'll ever be able to measure up."

"It's not a competition, Kae."

"You..." words elude me. I end up shaking my head, just looking at him, not even trying to hide the fact that I admire him... I desire him... I want nothing but to keep looking at him like he is the most precious thing in the world. Because... he is.

I cup his face and for a moment, I just let everything I'm feeling inside transfer to him through that contact. He feels it. I know he does. His eyes are a reflection of everything I feel but can't say.

I don't care that we are surrounded by people who are recording every part of this. I don't care that everyone is watching. After everything we have been through, this feels like the easiest thing in the world. I lean in and claim his lips without a single thread of shame.

The crowd responds immediately, cheering and clapping louder than before. Jordan smiles against my mouth before we separate, his forehead resting briefly against mine.

"Thank you for loving me," I whisper.

His smile softens. "Always."

Jordan's father comes up beside us with a smile that reaches his eyes, and without saying much, he pulls Jordan into a hug. Then he reaches for me too, drawing both of us into his arms.

I freeze for half a second before relaxing into it. It feels both strange and familiar, not in a way I ever experienced before. I never have, or if I have, I don't recall what a parental hug feels like. I didn't, not until now.

"Good job, son," he says to Jordan when he lets go, then looks at me next and gives my shoulder a warm squeeze, smiling. "We should have made a Kleenex order earlier, huh?"

I laugh and nod at the same time but I don't say anything. I can't. I'm suddenly too emotional to trust my voice.

We stand there together for another moment, Jordan's dad thanking the audience for coming, before the three of us begin making our way off the stage.