Lacing my fingers with his, he looked over at Denny and extended a hand. "Watch over my girl for me?" Denny's expression blanked as he glanced between Kellan and me. Kellan smirked and added, "But not too well, okay?"

Denny let out an amused grunt. "Wouldn't want that . . ." He grabbed Kellan's hand, shaking it firmly. "Yeah, I'll keep an eye on her. She'll be apples." I giggled at Denny's saying and he gave me my favorite goofy grin. But when he released Kellan's hand, his face turned serious. "I hope things work out for you, mate."

Kellan grinned and looked down on me. "Yeah, me too." By the look in Kellan's eyes, I couldn't tell whether he meant hitting it big, or not hitting it big. I got the feeling that, as long as we were together, either scenario was fine. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I laid my head on his shoulder.

Kellan gave me one final squeeze and whispered, "See you soon." I nodded as I watched him sprint over to his car to get his only piece of luggage-the black case holding his prized guitar. Slinging it over his shoulder, he sauntered back to the taxi. The driver packed it in the trunk for him while Kellan slipped into the backseat. I had to bite my lip to stop the sadness from building. I would join him shortly . . . I could wait.

After every band member was tucked into the taxi, it pulled away. Kellan was by the window, and he stuck his hand out of it to wave at me, his wedding ring gleaming in the afternoon sun. Grinning like an idiot, I waved until the taxi turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

Denny looked over at me when I let my hand fall to my side. "So, how's married life treating you, Kiera?" His accent wrapped around my name in a wonderful way. Despite how our relationship had changed, the sound of his voice was still fascinating to my ears.

I studied his dark eyes, looking for any sign of pain. There didn't seem to be any as he casually stood beside me. As I considered everything that had happened in the very short span of time since my impromptu wedding, I shrugged. "Good . . ." Remembering Joey's unexpected visit, my voice gave out on me.

Denny caught the uncertainty. "You don't seem so sure about that."

A part of me really didn't want to talk about my marital problems to Denny. After everything that had happened while we were a couple, it felt wrong to confess my hardships. Didn't I deserve them? But Denny was an exceptional human being, and once he'd forgiven someone, he let go of the pain and resentment and moved on. Well, he tried to anyway. I'd seen him struggle with being around me. I'd heard the pain of betrayal in his voice. But he hadn't fled. He was still in my life. He was still my friend. And I owed him an honest response.

"There was an incident at the house," I muttered, looking back at my parents, who were talking with Anna, Jenny, and Rachel.

"Kellan's jaw?" I returned my eyes to Denny. "You do that?" he asked.

I smirked at him. "No. His ex-roommate came by . . ."

Denny, his mind a steel trap at times, remembered who she was. "Joey? The girl who took off after she slept with him?"

A twinge of something awful stirred in my stomach, but I pushed it down. "Yeah, Joey. Anyway, she came back for her stuff, but I sort of tossed it a while ago. Kellan had to pay her for it."

"Well, that seems reasonable, considering it was hers." He paused, then added, "I'm guessing there's more to the story. What else happened?"

I really didn't want to tell Denny about this, but I had to tell someone, and aside from Jenny, Denny was my best friend. "She gave him back their . . . sex tape . . . then made him pay her for it."

Denny didn't answer me for a long time. I could tell his mind was spinning, and he wasn't sure how to answer. As a gust of warm air swirled my hair around me, I wasn't sure what I wanted him to say. Maybe nothing was best. I stared at my feet and kicked a pebble on the cement while I waited for some sort of response.

"If she gave it back before he paid her . . . then it wasn't her only copy. You'll hear from her again," he said.

My eyes shot up to his. I hadn't considered that. I knew that other sex tapes were out there, but I hadn't thought about Joey duping Kellan. She'd brought it to the house to return it before she'd known about me. She'd acted like it was the only copy she'd had, and that she despised Kellan so much that she didn't want it near her anymore. Of course, maybe that was an act, her way of showing Kellan that she didn't need him, that he was beneath her. She seemed like the type to hold on to trophies of her conquests, and what greater trophy could she have than video footage? Denny was right; she had multiple copies. She hadn't ever intended to give Kellan the only recording.

Denny looked apologetic and sympathetic. "I don't know her so I can't say for sure, but if he does make it big, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to make some money off of it. It could be everywhere someday, Kiera. Sorry."

Sighing away those future troubles, I told him, "It's okay. It doesn't matter, not really." Denny raised an eyebrow at me, and I laughed. The release felt good and lifted a bit of the apprehension from the air. "She doesn't have the only movie of him like that, so she won't get a very good price. Oversaturation and all." I wanted to grimace over the thought of multiple sex tapes on the market, but the look on Denny's face was priceless, and I laughed again.

Denny shook his head. "You have changed."

I smiled and shrugged, trying to be as okay with this as I could be. Kellan's life wasn't private anymore, and parts of it were going to be uncomfortable for both of us. But I knew his heart, and he knew mine, and together we would work through the rough patches.

As I pushed away the bad and focused on the good, Denny rolled his eyes. "I can't believe he filmed himself." Closing his eyes, he added, "Actually, yeah, I can." Denny's cheeks suddenly flushed with color, and his eyes shot open. There was a clear question in the dark depths, one he didn't want to ask. But the curiosity was eating at him.

Knowing where his head was at, I smacked his shoulder. "No! I didn't let him . . . we didn't . . . No!" I stammered, not able to put into words that I didn't-and wouldn't-make a sex tape with Kellan.

Denny chuckled and backed away from me. "Sorry, it slipped into my head before I could stop it."

Anna came up to us while Denny laughed even harder. "What's going on?"

Anna gave Denny a cool glance, not unfriendly, but not warm either. She still hadn't gotten over Denny's vicious attack on Kellan, and, inadvertently, me. Denny straightened, his laughter stopping. "Nothing. Just catching up."

Anna narrowed her eyes, like she thought Denny was going to try and woo me away from Kellan or something. I don't know how many times I'd told her that nothing but friendship was between us, but I don't think she would ever really believe me. "I'm going to go, Kiera. I need a nap." Her eyes focused solely on me. "The girls and I are sore."

I twisted my lip, knowing she was not referring to the child in her belly. "Yeah, okay."

As she waddled over to Griffin's van, Mom and Dad ended their conversation with Jenny and started heading toward me. By the look on Dad's face, I was sure he wanted to talk to me about my plan to join Kellan.

I sighed, and Denny looked at me. "You ready for them to head home yet?"

I grinned. "Yeah." As I waited for my parents, I pondered telling Denny that I was leaving. I suppose that should be an easier thing to tell him than confessing about Kellan's sex tape, but somehow, it felt harder.

Mom got distracted on her way over to me by a coin on the ground. Mom gathered every coin she could, even pennies. She kept any coin she found that was dated earlier than the seventies. She had dozens of containers at home, full of old currency.

While Dad groaned at Mom to let it go, I quickly blurted out what I didn't really want to say. "I'm joining Kellan in Los Angeles soon, and then I'm going on tour with him. I'm leaving Seattle."

Denny's mouth opened and his face paled. He looked like I'd just socked him in the gut. A ripping pain went through me. I had never left Denny before. He'd always been the one leaving me. As part of my soul ached, I reconsidered my belief that leaving was easier than being left. This didn't feel easy, and I wasn't even gone yet.

Denny averted his eyes and composed himself. Once he was more or less put back together, he shifted his attention to my parents. A sly grin lightened his face, but not his eyes. "I remember when we told your dad we were leaving Ohio." He looked back at me. "Good luck. You'll need it."

I nodded and rubbed Denny's shoulder. A moment of grief passed between us. Grief over what we'd had together. Grief over what we'd lost. We were both in a good place now, relationship-wise, but that didn't mean we'd forgotten, and sometimes missed, what we'd once been.

Denny gave me a small, understanding smile that broke my heart a little. As much as I was going to miss Jenny and Anna, I think I was going to miss Denny even more. Not sure if I should confess that to him or not, I gave him as convincing of a smile as I could. "But I'll be coming back a lot, to check on Anna, to make sure she's okay."

Denny nodded as my parents finally joined us. "That's probably a good idea. I would offer to keep an eye on her for you, but, uh . . . you know how she feels about me."

With my parents in earshot, I only gave Denny a slight nod in response. I didn't want to talk about why Anna had problems with Denny in front of my parents. They didn't know what Denny had done, what I'd pushed him to, and I would prefer it if they never knew. Dad would insist I cut Denny out of my life forever, and I didn't want to. He was part of me.

Dad looked exhausted, ready to take a vacation from his vacation. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stood tall and straight and tried to be imposing. "Kiera, I think we should sit down and have a discussion about you joining Kellan." By his expression, it was clear he thought the idea was ridiculous. "Are you really going to go to Los Angeles? Because I'm not okay with you being in a city that size." He paused, then added, "Surrounded by a bunch of rock stars."

I smiled at Dad and started to respond, but Jenny overheard Dad and bounded to my side. "You're really going down there? To be with them while they record the album?"

I hadn't had time to tell Jenny about it either. So much had been sprung on me so fast . . . I was still a little dizzy. I grabbed Jenny's arms and answered her and my dad. "Kellan really wants me there, and since I'm done with school, I've got lots of free time."

Dad frowned. "You shouldn't waste any time before applying for jobs, Kiera. It will look bad on your resume."

I cringed as I looped my arm around Jenny and held on to her; I suddenly needed her support. "Um, actually, Dad . . . I'm not going to be applying for a job. When Kellan is done with the album, he'll be touring again to promote it . . . and I'm going to go with him."

My voice came out in hushed tones. For a second, the only noise was the traffic zipping down the road. Then Jenny and my father spoke at the same time. Surprisingly, they both said the exact same thing, only in completely different ways.

"No way!"

Jenny's outburst was an exclamation of surprise; Dad's was an order. I looked between them both, giving Jenny an excited squeal, and Dad an empathetic smile. "I know it's sudden, but it's what I really want to do."

Jenny hugged me. In my ear, she told me, "I am so stinking jealous of you!" She pulled back, her pale eyes glossy. "I'm going to miss you . . . but you are going to have so much fun."

I giggled at her, her energy feeding my own. Then Dad's voice broke through my joy. "No, Kiera. That's not acceptable."

I looked back at him, my buzz fading. His frown deepened. "We didn't put you through four years of school so you could throw it all away to follow some band across the country." He said the word band with a sneer, and irritation shot up my spine.

I wanted to sullenly tell Dad that my scholarships had paid for the majority of my schooling, that his contribution had been pretty minor in comparison, but that wasn't really the issue being argued. "It's not 'some band,' Dad. It's my husband's band."

Dad rolled his eyes. "You're not really married, Kiera."