“Toby...” my voice breaks as my heart shatters with my pain, Isaac’s pain, our love, and the resolution that’s just settled in my heart, “… he left again after he rescued me,” I say through the river of tears.
“Yeah, he wanted out of Black Ops. He wanted to give you a normal life, Liv, a good, clean life. The only way they would let him out after you were kidnapped was to take him away again. He had to do things, stuff he won’t talk to me about. But now he’s out, and he’s come back… for you.”
“For me.”
“For you, Liv. All for you.”
“He said I have a week to get my head straight. That was Saturday… it’s Wednesday now. I have to ask, did he send you Toby?”
“No, Liv. But I love you, and I love my brother. His love for you is bigger than everything else to him. You’re more important to Isaac than even his own life. I just want to help if I can,” he explains with an offhand shrug.
“You have… really. I need to go and think about everything,” I say standing and grabbing my bag.
“I understand. Go and do your thing, but Liv?” Toby says still sitting on the floor. I turn back to look at him. “Make the right decision.”
I turn and walk out, my mind a complete jumble.
ISAAC
“Happy birthday, Mum,” I say, leaning in and kissing her cheek.
“My boy, my eldest. The best present I’ve had this birthday is you coming home,” her voice trembles with emotion.
I turn her toward my dad, and he smiles at me over her shoulder. I talked to him this week. Explained what I was going to do tonight. My parents have always supported me, no matter how scared, unsure, or against it they were.
The venue for tonight is the local town hall. It’s an old building with high ceilings and ornate décor. The hall is big and up on the stage is a DJ booth with two microphones for karaoke. There are a lot of people here tonight—family, friends, and well-wishers—all to help celebrate Mum’s birthday. Toby and Shelly sit at one of the tables chatting away. I hope like fuck they can make this work. Helena and Noah are dancing, and I wonder where Via is. I would have expected her to arrive with Helena or even Toby. Aunt Pea and Uncle Con are here, too, so she’s not arriving with them.
Frowning, I reach into my inside pocket feeling for my phone and bringing it out as I head for the door leading to the gardens out back. Just as I step outside and bring the phone to my ear, I hear her—Via. She’s singing. Her voice rises above everything and everyone, or maybe they’ve all gone quiet, surprised at her tone. She’s magnificent, but then I already knew she could sing. The first few words ring out, and I place the song—Alicia Keys ‘If I Ain’t Got You.’ Everything stills around me, and all I can hear is my heart beating and her voice. “Fuck me,” I murmur, my words catching in the middle.
Cutting the call, I slip the phone back in my pocket and stiffly walk back inside. Everyone is still like they’ve been frozen in time, but as I take a quick glance around, I see the amazement on their faces and the tears in the eyes of some, especially her mum. My eyes move back to Via, and I realise she’s singing to me. There must be a hundred people in this room, but her eyes are only for me.
I had this whole thing planned. I wanted to make a grand gesture. She’s fucked up my statement in the most perfect way possible. With every word, she explains how she feels about me, and that, coupled with her voice, only makes me want to hold her—to be the man she thinks I am.
The song finishes, but her eyes don’t leave mine. Applause roars all around me, but I don’t move my eyes from her. She blinks, seeming to come out of her haze, then stepping back, she bumps into a stool, and I lose her eyes. Before she can escape completely off stage, I jump the four feet up to the platform and grab the mic.
“I can’t sing,” I state, and I watch her back as she retreats. At my words, she freezes, the tenseness in her body keeps her spine rod like. I continue talking, looking at her rather than the audience who are still silently waiting for my revelation. “I’ll never be able to bless your ears with a perfect rendition of ‘Your Guardian Angel’” by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.” My eyes move to the crowd.
“For those of you not familiar, you should listen to that song. And for Via…” I say moving my eyes back to her. “You should know my heart is in those words, that song… I swear it was written to explain how I feel about you, baby.”
She still doesn’t turn to me, so I once again look at my audience wondering what reaction I’m receiving from my family. Apart from a couple of surprised-looking faces, no one seems angry. “The thing is, I’ve loved Via forever. Not one day in my life has passed without her being on my mind, in my heart, and my reason for getting through the day.” I hear a quiet sob and look back to Via. She’s facing me now and even with the constant trail of tears, she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“I’ve lived my whole life for you. I know Toby told you, and I can’t talk about it here…” I say gesturing to the room, “… but I don’t regret a single action I took. I’ll always protect you, I’ll always put you
