Текст книги "Unsung"

Автор книги: Shannon Richard

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-One The Power of a Lie

The bitterness was still lingering the next day. Harper did everything in her power to not let the little incident at the end of dinner the night before upset her. But it had gotten under her skin and was now festering.

It was one thing to be out somewhere and see other women checking out your man. It was quite another to know that there were women out there who had absolutely no regard for the fact that he was in a relationship.

But this was what it was going to be like if she was with him.

No, there was no if.

She was going to have to get used to it. His fame was only getting bigger, so this was the life she was signing on for.

She’d been living in a bit of a fantasyland perpetuated by the bubble that was Mirabelle. That tabloid article a week ago had been a small taste of reality, and it had been just as bitter as the events of the evening before.

But it was nothing, nothing, to what Harper went through on Saturday night.

In the beginning she’d been excited about seeing Liam perform live onstage. It wasn’t something she’d experienced and she wondered what it would be like to be a part of the crowd.

And as always, Liam’s music resonated through her body, settling deep in her bones. And it wasn’t just Harper who was enjoying the music. Sofia was moving, like really moving. She was kicking up a storm in Harper’s belly.

“He’s talented.” Celeste shook her head in awe as Liam got to the guitar solo for “Music Shaker, Money Maker.”

“He is.” Harper grabbed her aunt’s hand and pressed it to the spot that was being used like a soccer ball.

Celeste grinned over at Harper. “She likes Daddy’s music, too, huh?”

“Apparently. She’s having a rave in there.”

The last chords of the guitar solo faded away and the crowd around Harper cheered, screaming Liam’s name. It was one of those moments that she couldn’t quite process. Watching him up on that stage. Seeing him, hearing him sing his heart out.

And he was hers.

But not all hers. Not when he was up on that stage. This was the part that she had to share. In a way, when he was performing he belonged to everyone in that room. Belonged to his fans that knew every word of his songs…and the women in the crowd who were eye-sexing him.

Just like that Harper’s heart started beating hard and her stomach rolled, but this time it wasn’t from Sofia’s acrobatics. She closed her eyes, taking deep steady breaths.

“You okay?” Celeste asked.

“Yeah.” Harper nodded, opening her eyes and looking over at her aunt. “I just need to go to the bathroom.”

“I’m coming with you.” She turned to Reed next to her and said something to him before they headed through the crowd.

But before they could make it there, Harper saw something that made her feel five thousand times worse.

Kiki Jean Carlow was standing at the opening of the hallway, signing autographs for the crowd of twenty or so people that surrounded her. They were mainly girls, most in frayed jean skirts, cowboy boots, and flannel shirts tied up and above their midriffs. Kiki was wearing a similar outfit.

Harper stopped dead in her tracks, unable to move on. It was like watching a train wreck…a train wreck that was her life.

“So it is true?” One of the girls next to Kiki gushed. “You really are dating Liam James?”

“Just flew in from California to get here. Wouldn’t miss it.” Kiki beamed.

“So ‘Forever’ must be about you, right?” someone else asked. “Since he just wrote it recently.”

“You guys don’t miss anything, do you?” she asked as she grabbed another picture and scrawled her signature across it.

“That’s so cool.”

“Gawd, you’re lucky.”

“The luckiest.” Kiki’s gaze came up and landed on Harper. The look of cold recognition was clear; she knew exactly who Harper was. “Did you want something signed, darlin’?”

Darlin’.

Ohhh, Kiki could sign something all right. Harper’s fist…right after she threw up.

She said nothing. She couldn’t open her mouth. A sick queasy pressure tightened her stomach and her feet were moving before she was even conscious of it. Her heart was now pounding out of her chest and there was a ringing in her ears. The ability to pull air into her lungs was nearly impossible as the people pushing in around her increased.

She had to get out of there. Stat.

There was no way she was going to last long enough to get through the line that snaked out of the women’s restroom, so she bypassed it, pushing through the doors at the end of the hallway and outside.

She made it about twenty feet past the entrance, and away from the people gathered around getting a smoke, before she’d gotten to the limit. She reached for the wall, holding her balance as she leaned forward and threw up against the side of the building. Hands were moving across her back, pulling her hair back as she emptied her stomach.

Celeste.

When the heaving stopped, she held on to the wall and tried to keep herself upright while she started to hyperventilate.

“Come on.” Celeste helped guide Harper away from the wall and to the curb. The second her butt was on the ground she dropped her head between her knees. Celeste’s palm rubbed across her lower back in slow circular motions. “You need to breathe, babe.”

Breathing. That would be good. Maybe if she got some air into her lungs the black spots on the edge of her vision would go away.

Maybe.

She had no idea how long they sat there, but it felt like forever for her to catch her breath. When she was finally able to pull her head up, she looked over at her aunt. “I need to get out of here.”

“I think that’s the best idea.”

“I need to tell Liam.”

“I’ll take care of that when we’re in the car. Let me see if I can get ahold of Reed.” She pulled out her phone and dialed, her hand not stopping with the slow steady circles at the small of Harper’s back. “He isn’t answering.” She frowned after a minute. “I’m going to need to go in there and get him. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” Harper nodded. “It isn’t like I have anything else to throw up.”

Celeste’s mouth formed a concerned line. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Harper sat by herself for a couple of minutes before sitting still became too much to do. She needed to stand. Walk around a little. Get the feeling back in her legs.

But when she stood and turned around she wished she hadn’t. She suddenly didn’t have legs anymore. Kiki was standing there, arms folded across her chest, making her breasts pop over the top of her low-cut shirt.

She was alone. Her little entourage hadn’t followed her outside.

“So you’re the girl?” Kiki asked, a slight sneer in her eyes as she looked Harper over. She clearly wasn’t impressed. “I saw your picture pop up on his phone when you called him once. We were in bed at the time—”

“No, you weren’t,” Harper cut her off. “You think we haven’t discussed this little game you’re playing? Think again. You aren’t going to get in my head.”

The flash of delight in Kiki’s eyes said wanna bet? “At first I wasn’t sure if he’d fallen for a chubby girl. Or if he knocked you up. A little bit of both it seems.”

“Go to hell.”

“Oh, darlin’, is that any way for an expecting mother to talk?” Her gaze dipped to Harper’s belly, and the malevolent delight behind those icy blue eyes was unmistakable.

On instinct, Harper’s hand went to her little bump, shielding Sofia and confirming Kiki’s assumption in one fell swoop.

“Oh, this will make for a fascinating story. I couldn’t have written it better myself. A love triangle. I’ll be the woman scorned, and you’ll be the tramp who stole my man. And even though Liam is meant to be with me and he wants to be with me, he can’t be, because he got you knocked up. It’s kind of perfect actually. Everyone will love me, and hate him…but oh, they will despise you.”

“What’s your problem?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have one. This is just fun.”

“So this is all just a game to you?”

“Pretty much. And since I can’t have what I want, why should you?”

It was at that moment that Celeste was out the door, her eyes narrowed as she looked between Kiki and Harper, and she made a beeline to them. “Why don’t you go somewhere else and spread your poison?”

“Maybe you should talk to your little friend over here about not spreading hers. Though, getting knocked up is an interesting strategy on getting a guy. Not what I would use, but different strokes for different folks. Good luck with”—she motioned at Harper’s belly—“that.”

And then she was walking away, heading back to the building and disappearing through the side door.

“Harper—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned, staring down at her shoes and trying to breathe again. The panic was simmering just under the surface and she needed to push it down. “I just want to get out of here.”

“Reed is getting the car.”

“Okay.” Harper nodded, chewing on her bottom lip in an attempt to keep her mouth closed. She couldn’t stop replaying the last few minutes, and it was just making her want to start vomiting again.

Was this really what it was going to be like? Was this the price to pay for being with Liam? Her name in the tabloids as his popularity grew. Combating lies. Dealing with other women wanting him.

Her lip fell from her teeth, trembling as the sob broke out of her mouth.

“Sweetie,” Celeste whispered next to her.

Harper turned automatically, her aunt’s arms wrapping her up in a hug and holding her close as everything came crashing down again.

*  *  *

It was about halfway through the show when Liam couldn’t find Harper in the crowd anymore. One minute she’d been there, the next she was gone. He hadn’t had a problem keeping track of where she was before, his eyes always landed on her. Not only that, Celeste and Reed were missing, too.

Though he told himself that they’d probably just moved a little farther from the stage, the unsettled feeling only grew through the last hour. And if he’d checked his phone during the two minutes he was backstage before the encore, he wouldn’t have gone back out.

There was a missed called and voice mail from Celeste followed by a string of texts. He pulled up the texts first:

9:38 pm—Harper didn’t feel well and needed to get out of there.

9:39 pm—She’s going to be okay. We’re going to my house.

10:15 pm—Call me when you get out. She’s in bed.

She’s going to be okay? Meaning she hadn’t been when Celeste had sent those. And she hadn’t been okay enough to call or text him herself. He immediately pulled up Celeste’s phone number and hit Dial. Two rings vibrated in his ear before the line clicked.

“Hey, Liam,” Celeste said, the light playful tone he’d come to associate with her the last couple of days was gone.

“How is she?”

“Better, she drank some tea to try and settle her stomach and then took a shower.”

“Settle her stomach? Did she get sick?”

“She had a bit of a panic attack.”

“Panic attack?” He was pretty sure he was about to have one.

“Liam,” Celeste said his name calmly. “Harper is fine.”

“And Sofia? She’s okay? They don’t need to go to the hospital or anything?”

“No, Liam. Your daughter is fine, too. If I’d thought that I needed to take them to the hospital, I would’ve.”

“Okay.” He closed his eyes, his hand gripping the chair in front of him as he bowed his head. He knew Celeste was a doctor, one of the best in her field, but he wouldn’t believe Harper was fine until he saw her with his own two eyes.

“Why don’t you head over here?” She managed to read his mind through the phone. “You two can stay the night. She needs to rest, so waking her up isn’t the best option.”

“I’m leaving now.” Liam looked around the room, grabbing his bag on the floor and shoving his stuff inside it. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“See you then.” But before the line disconnected she added, “They are both going to be fine, Liam. Breathe and don’t drive like a mad man to get here.”

Yeah, that was going to be easier said than done.

When he walked out of the room there were still a number of people milling around. Normally he’d pop out and do a little meet-and-greet, but there was no way in hell that would be happening tonight.

He needed to get to Harper.

But before he could make it to the back door Kiki was blocking his path.

“I don’t have the time or patience for you tonight.” He shook his head as he sidestepped her.

“I met your girlfriend…or is she your baby mama?”

He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around. “What?”

“She seemed to be having a bit of a breakdown. Poor thing, and in her condition, too.” She shook her head pityingly. “Threw up all over the side of the building.”

“Kiki, I’m going to tell you this once.” He took a deep breath, the fact that she’d been anywhere near Harper was making it difficult for him to not lose his shit. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

“Don’t worry, Liam.” She tilted her head to the side as her eyes narrowed on him, a mean smile on her mouth. “I’ve gotten everything that I need.”

He said nothing as he turned around and started heading for the back door again. He was done with this conversation. Whatever else she had to say wasn’t important.

Getting to Harper was all that mattered, getting to her and finding out exactly what had happened.

*  *  *

During the entire car ride Harper had sobbed uncontrollably, her head in Celeste’s lap. When they’d gotten to the house they’d sat in the car—parked in the driveway with the air conditioner running—for a good ten minutes before Harper had calmed down enough to get out. At that point, all she’d wanted to do was take off the clothes that smelled like vomit. That and to wash off the last hour of panic and sweat that had settled on her skin.

The hot shower had been helpful, and the tea had calmed her stomach…but nothing was helping her heart. The ache at the center hadn’t been dulled in the slightest. And try as she might she couldn’t shut her brain off long enough to fall asleep.

She’d been lying in the bed in her aunt’s guest room for what felt like forever, staring at the wall and doing everything in her power to not start crying again. She was also fighting with the need to have Liam in bed with her while at the same time wanting space to breathe.

How was she going to do this? How was she going to deal with this kind of life and not lose her damn mind every single time something like this happened? It was too much…way too much for anyone to deal with in normal circumstances, but these weren’t normal circumstances.

It had been less than four months since she and Liam had met each other. Two and a half since they’d found each other in Jacksonville. It was more than a little terrifying when she looked at it that way, especially as she’d only had a handful of weeks with him in between all of that.

Barely any time at all, and was it enough to really know each other?

Had they caught up in such a short amount of time? Was that possible? She wasn’t sure. She did know that she was in love with him…and that he loved her. But did that mean they were ready for all that was going to follow?

Sofia would be here in five months. Five. Months. It was all happening too fast. She just wanted more time to figure it all out. Time she didn’t have.

Lights lit up the window behind the closed blinds as a car pulled into the driveway.

Liam.

The engine turned off and a car door shut a moment later. She counted the seconds, breathing with them and finding a steady rhythm as the front door opened and closed…and then two minutes of whispered murmuring between Liam and Celeste.

The bedroom door opened four minutes and twenty-nine seconds from when his truck had pulled into the driveway. He moved around the room slowly, trying not to make too many sounds.

There was a shuffling as he pulled off his shirt, and then his boots hit the wooden floor with two barely audible thuds as he set them down one at a time. His belt buckle rattled only slightly before the snick of his zipper filled the space.

And then he was pulling the sheet and blanket back, climbing in behind her and pressing his body to hers. His mouth brushed her neck as he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled. The oversized T-shirt she was wearing was pushed up as his hand moved under it, his palm on her belly.

“My girls,” he whispered, his breath washing out across her skin.

At some point Harper had stopped counting her breaths and started counting the steady taps of her tears hitting the pillow.

Chapter Twenty-Two I Don’t Think I Believe Everything You’re Trying to Say to Me

It was the tiny popping against Liam’s palm the next morning that woke him up. Sofia was kicking.

Harper shifted against him and stretched, her hand moving to the space next to his.

“Morning,” he whispered in her ear.

“Morning.” Her voice was rough, way more than it should be from just waking up. No, this was ravaged from her getting sick and hours of crying, most of that while he’d been lying right there next to her.

It made every part of him hurt. He’d known she’d been awake when he crawled in bed next to her. But she hadn’t rolled over seeking his comfort, hadn’t wanted him to know she was still up. It had taken her hours to finally fall sleep, and only then had Liam been able to do the same.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, trying his damnedest to keep his voice even.

“Okay,” she said with absolutely no conviction.

He kissed her shoulder before he shifted, moving so he could gently pull her to her back. He needed to see her face, and when he did it was that much more painful. Her eyes were puffy and filled with a sadness that he hadn’t seen since that morning in Jacksonville…before he told her he still wanted her.

“Honey, what happened?”

“I just…I just got a little overwhelmed at the concert. And I think whatever I ate at dinner didn’t sit well…it all just kind of hit me at once.”

“That’s it?” he asked. “That’s all that happened?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, looking him straight in the eyes. Lying to him as she looked him straight in the eyes.

Well, that was new.

“Harper—”

“I’m fine,” she cut him off. “And I need to use the bathroom.” She pulled away from him, heading for the attached bathroom and disappearing behind the door before she closed it.

Liam rolled to his back, staring at the ceiling and the spinning fan above him. Why was she lying to him?

*  *  *

The rest of the day passed in an unsettlingly slow pace. It was like Liam was watching from the sidelines as Harper started to build up that wall again. Brick by brick. But what was he supposed to do? Push her for answers? Ask her why she was lying to him?

She’d just had an emotional breakdown and the truth of the matter was being with him was the root of it. This lifestyle wasn’t easy, he knew that, but she hadn’t known it when this had all started.

She hadn’t been the only one hiding things in the beginning. When she hadn’t known who he was at that bar all those months ago, he’d ran with it. And he’d kept running with it that entire weekend.

The thing was, when it was just the two of them, it was just the two of them. There weren’t outside factors impacting what they had…at least not to this extent. Sure there’d been those stupid blog posts by that Bethelda woman, and that tabloid the week before. But in the end it was nothing to what they’d already worked through.

This though…this was different. This was Harper getting a taste of the life Liam had and the life they would have together.

Between what Celeste had told him when he’d gotten to the house the night before and the few things that Harper had told him, Liam knew that she’d gotten upset before anything that had to do with Kiki had happened. Whatever that woman had said had just been the icing on top of the shit cake.

And Harper wasn’t revealing anything else.

They’d gone back to the cabin late that morning, leaving when Celeste was called in to the hospital for a patient who was having complications. Liam was with Harper the entire day, but she was only there physically. Mentally? She was somewhere else entirely. She took a long nap that afternoon, clearly wanting to be alone. She barely ate anything, picking at her food and moving it around her plate like he wouldn’t notice.

After dinner, he cleaned up while she went to get a shower. The walls of the cabin were starting to make him feel claustrophobic, closing in on him as this beyond shitty day came to an end. So he poured himself a tumbler of whiskey before he headed outside to sit on the porch.

The sun was sitting low over the lake, and he grabbed one of the Adirondack chairs off to the side, putting his feet up on the banister that ran around the house.

He’d really thought coming up here would be good. They’d get a different ending than the last time they’d been in this cabin. He’d planned on proposing, that night in fact. He’d planned on recreating their first date…with a few minor alterations, like no gin and tonics.

Some things would’ve stayed the same, like the menu of food he’d made before. And he’d planned on singing “Forever” to her in the first place he’d ever performed it. But this time it would’ve been in its entirety and where she’d realized she’d fallen in love with him.

Love at first sound.

Yeah, none of that was going to happen.

Definitely not. Especially as he couldn’t deny the feeling that she was running again. That she’d experienced something she wasn’t sure she wanted.

And she wouldn’t talk to him about it. That was the part that was really killing him. The part that made him want to down the rest of the amber liquid in the glass that his hand was currently wrapped around.

Instead he took another sip before he set it on the table next to him.

The door behind him opened and he looked over his shoulder as Harper stepped out. She was wearing one of his oversized T-shirts and a pair of cotton shorts, her wet hair pulled over her shoulder in a braid.

“Can I sit with you?”

“Never have to ask that.” He pulled his feet from the banister as she crossed over to him. He held out his hand and she grabbed it, letting him help her as she settled into his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder, pressing her lips to his jaw.

They sat there for a good five minutes, Liam silently willing her to talk to him as he ran his hand up and down her back. His other hand rested on her thigh, tracing her knee in slow circles.

“I’m sorry we had to leave early yesterday,” she finally said.

Both of his hands stilled and he moved the one from her leg to her face, pushing her chin up gently until he saw her eyes. “You don’t need to apologize for that, Harper,” he said as he shook his head.

“The first half was really good.”

You mean the first half before something sent you into a panic attack so severe that you made yourself physically ill? Well, that’s good to know. But he couldn’t exactly say that now could he? So he just nodded.

“Sofia liked it. She was moving around more than ever when you were singing. She loves the sound of your voice.”

For just a second he forgot everything besides the words that had just come out of her mouth. For just a second all he could think about was that his daughter had been moving around in Harper’s belly while he’d been singing. For just a second all he could think about was that his daughter had been affected by the sound of his voice.

But only for just a second.

“Harper, what happened last night?”

Something flickered behind her violet eyes, and the small window that had been cracked for just a moment closed with a snap. “I told you. I just got overwhelmed. I—I’m fine now.”

He really wanted to ask her if she promised…but there was a part of him that believed she wouldn’t tell him the truth. He didn’t think he could handle it. Didn’t think he could survive her swearing on a lie.

And it killed him that he was pretty sure that was what was going to happen.

So he said nothing instead. He just nodded and did everything in his power to not lose it, because all he could think about was that he might be losing her. That he might be losing everything. Because in the end she was everything to him.

And it was that fact that he couldn’t get out of his head when they went to sleep that night. That fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about as he held Harper in his arms. That fact that he knew he had to fix.

Had to. There was no other option.

Now that he’d had her in his life there was no possibility of going back. Now that he’d tasted her lips, woken up with her in his arms, held her hand, felt their child move.

No going back…

At some point the thoughts of a life without her morphed into a nightmare. Him coming home to an empty house. Harper marrying another man. Them sharing custody of Sofia

God no.

*  *  *

Liam woke from his nightmare with a start and the second consciousness hit him, he knew he was alone. His arms were empty and even though the soft orange light from the pre-dawn glow of the sun was doing nothing besides showcasing the vacant side of the bed, he groped at the empty sheets.

Harper was gone.

No. No, that wasn’t right. She wouldn’t have left. There was no way.

He pulled the blankets from his body, forcing himself to wake up as he stumbled out of the room and down the hallway into the main part of the house.

Harper was on the opposite side of the kitchen, her back to him as she looked out the window at the lake. She had a glass of cranberry juice in her hand, and when she lifted it to her mouth it pulled the bottom of her T-shirt up, flashing just a glimpse of blue lace.

Liam stood there, staring at her as he repeatedly told himself she was here… in this cabin…not gone.

Not gone.

His heart was still pounding out of his chest and he hadn’t caught his breath. Her eyes landed on his reflection in the glass and she jumped just slightly as she spun around.

“You scared me.” She put her free hand over her heart. “Are you okay?” she asked as her eyes focused. She set the juice on the counter as she crossed the room, stopping in front of him.

He shook his head.

“Liam, what’s wrong?” Her hands touched his chest as she looked up into his face. The warmth of her palms did nothing to combat the cold that had settled into his bones.

“I thought…I thought I could do this. I thought we could do this. That we were figuring this out. Moving forward.”

Her hands stilled, her eyes going wide. “W-we are.”

“No. We aren’t. We’re right back to where we started. I’ve been terrified to talk to you, terrified to push because all I can see is you running again. All I can think about is what it was like to wake up four months ago with you gone. And I swear to God, Harper, I woke up just now and I thought you’d left.”

“I’m not running anymore.”

“You aren’t? Then why have you been lying to me since the concert?”

She took a step back, her hands falling from his chest at the same moment her eyes left his, her gaze moving off to the side.

“You’re not going to deny it?” he asked.

She shook her head, a low sniffle filling the kitchen as she reached up and wiped at her face.

Her crying was breaking him…everything about this moment was breaking him.

“I asked you flat out what happened, and not once did you mention Kiki. I know that she was there. I know that she might not have been the catalyst for what upset you, but she was part of it. And whatever that catalyst was I think it was much more than you being overwhelmed. You don’t think I see that you’re scared, Harper? Because I do.”

Her head came up and she looked at him again. That fear was right there at the center of her eyes, but it was surrounded by hurt and anger and confusion. “What do you want from me, Liam? It’s scary, okay? It’s scary that you’re famous. Scary that you’re only going to get more famous. That you get up on that stage and almost every woman in that audience wants you.”

“I don’t want them back.”

“It doesn’t change it. It still is what it is, and it’s terrifying. It’s terrifying to see a line of more than willing and able women.”

“Don’t you trust me? Don’t you believe me when I tell you that you’re all I want?”

“I do trust you, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about not being able to control…any of it.”

“You don’t think you have control?”

“No, I don’t, Liam. I can’t control those stupid tabloids and how seeing you linked with someone else makes every part of me hurt. Or this thing with Kiki, and her vendetta against you and now me. Or how much it hurts when you’re gone for weeks on end and I don’t get to see you. How much it hurts me when I wake up and you aren’t in bed next to me. You’re scared of me leaving? Well I’m scared of the same thing, and a life with you will always involve you leaving me.”

And there it was. The truth.

“But I’m always going to come back.” He took a step forward, reaching for her, one hand at her waist and the other palming her cheek. “I want this life with you. I want to build something with you. I want our daughter, and God willing more kids, running around a home that’s ours.”

“I want that, too…but…”

“But what?”

“Just because you want something doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.”

His hands fell from her body and he took a step back. The ground beneath his feet was unsteady, his world tilting on its axis. Here he was thinking that a life without her wasn’t a possibility…where she was still trying to figure out if a life with him was a possibility.

How had he missed that one?

“Liam.” She reached out for him, but he took another step away.

Her touch would surely break him. The hurt in her eyes was unmistakable, but the pain radiating through his body was more than he could overcome.

“What are you saying?” He somehow managed to get the words out.

“I just need more time to figure this all out. I still need to catch up. I thought that was what we were doing. Catching up.”

A bitter laugh escaped his mouth as he shook his head. “I don’t even know what the fuck catching up means anymore. I don’t need time to figure anything out. You’re what I want. What I’ve wanted from the start. And you’re right, you don’t always get everything you want in life. Especially when you aren’t fighting for it.”

“You don’t think I’m fighting for this? For us?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Because when it gets hard, you don’t close in on yourself and shut the other person out. You don’t try to figure it out on your own. You fight together. You tell each other the truth. You don’t lie.”