Page 85 of Victorious: Part I

Phoenix glances across to Meadow, rubbing the back of his neck. “During filming, you had the car accident?”

“It’s so fucking crazy how your life can change in the blink of an eye. One moment Selene and I are on top of the fucking world. The next, every memory she has of her life as Selene is gone, and she only knows herself as the character of her last role. She believes she’s Meadow and that I am Cedar. A weird version ofFifty First Dates, but instead of her resetting every morning, she continues every day, just living this character that doesn’t exist, and I have to play along to keep her happy. So now, we just go traveling. Seeing the sites of the world. Because the truth of it is, you just never know how long you have with someone. You have to live every day as if it’s your last and love the people you love with every-fucking-thing you have.” He glances over at Selene, a genuine smile crossing his face. “Even if some days are really damn hard.”

My hand moves to my chest as my heart pounds harder. I heard the reports, I saw the leaks on social media, but I never, not once, thought any of this was true. It was too farfetched. Just to think, this poor man has given up his career to spend his life making the woman he loves happy.

Even if she’s not the woman he fell for in the first place.

That is unconditional love.

Phoenix steps up to him, my eyes widen, wondering what the fuck he is doing, but he reaches out, grabs Luke’s hand, then pulls him in for an all-man, back-slapping bro-hug. “You’re good people, Luke.”

Luke slaps Phoenix’s back in return as I stand back, smiling at the interaction. The content creator in me instantly wants to pull out my cell and snap some shots. But the human side of me knows that Luke and Selene have been through enough.

They don’t need another spotlight on them right now.

They just need their time together.

“Cedar, baby, you gotta come see this. You’re missin’ out!” Meadow calls from the bottle trees.

Luke cranes his neck, forcing a smile back on his face. “I’m comin’, darlin’. You just make sure you’re ready for me when I get to you,” he calls out.

I try to fight back my smile as Meadow calls back. “I’m always ready for you, baby!”

Luke shrugs. “Blame Cedar, not me,” he whispers toward us. “Thanks for letting me vent all that to you. I’m not really sure why I did that, but somehow, I feel better. So, thank you.”

I step up this time, reaching out and gripping his hand. “You were a brilliant actor, Luke, and what happened to you and Selene was fucking tragic. But this, what Cedar is doing for Meadow? That…thatis fucking breathtaking.”

He slowly smiles, nods his head once, then turns to Phoenix. “She’s good people, this one. You should lock that down.”

Widening my eyes, I sink into myself as Phoenix chuckles. “I have a good feeling her brother mightactuallykill me if I did that.”

My eyes drop to the ground, but Luke doesn’t let it go. “Maybe, but I think the thing you need to focus on there is the fact you went straight to having to defend yourself against her brother. Which means you’ve thought about it. Which means she is worth fighting for.”

My breath escapes me suddenly, my eyes snapping up as I stare at Luke. He winks at me, then turns, heading off toward the bottles to find Meadow. An awkward silence falls over Phoenix and me now that we’re alone.

Again.

I finally catch my breath and chance risking a glimpse at Phoenix. His face is stoic, but he won’t look back at me, so I figure I will break the ice. “So, I uh—”

“C’mon, we better get going if you want to hit a few more places on the road today,” he states, turns, and starts heading for the truck.

I remain on the spot, not really knowing how to process the last few minutes. A tirade of emotions flows through me as I hear Meadow and Cedar giggling as they move through the bottles, and I glance over, seeing them happy together.

It’s not perfect.

Far from it.

But Luke is making it work for them.

“Clover, c’mon. We gotta go,” Phoenix calls from the driver’s side, startling me.

Huffing, I lean down, grab my gear, pack up to leave, and I take one last look around. “I used to daydream about taking road trips like this,” I confess, walking toward the truck. “Just me and my camera, exploring all these weird little corners of America.”

“And now?” Phoenix asks.

I shrug, unable to keep a hint of bitterness from my voice. “Now I get to do it because everyone I love might die while I’m gone.”

Phoenix stills, his eyes serious as they meet mine. “That’snotgoing to happen.”

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