Chapter Four
1477 Words
Lucy shut the door to her quarters a little harder than she meant to.
She leaned her back against it for a second, eyes closed, chest tight, as if the air inside the room was thinner than the air outside. Her hands were shaking, not violently, just enough to remind her that she wasn’t okay. Not even close.
Lila came out of the bathroom immediately. “Okay,” she said slowly, “That bad?”
Lucy let out a hollow laugh that didn’t sound like her own.
“Can you believe him?” She blurted. “Can you actually believe Marcus?”
Lila frowned. “ What did he do now?”
Lucy crossed the room, dropping her bag on the chair like it weighed a thousand pounds. “ Their song. Their song, Lila. He picked it. Our song. He picked 'Man I Need' like it meant nothing, like it wasn’t ours first.
She pressed a hand to her chest. “I swear, when Britney said the title, I felt the air leave my lungs.
I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I didn’t even know how I stayed seated.
Lila shook her head slowly. “ That’s…messed up.”
“I kept thinking maybe I was imagining it,” Lucy continued, pacing now. “ Like maybe it just felt personal because I’m still hurting. But no. That song was us. Late night drives. Singing off-key. Him saying this is our song, Lu.”
Her voice cracked. “How do you just…recycle something like that?”
Lila went close to her and pulled her into a hug without asking. “ Because some people don’t know how to sit with their past. They just repaint it and pretend it’s new.”
Lucy swallowed hard. “ I don’t know if I can do this, Lila. Perform at their wedding. Sing that song.”
“You can,” Lila said firmly. “ And you will. Because this is your career. Your talent. Don’t let him take another thing from you.”
Lucy nodded, even though she didn’t feel convinced.
That evening, Lucy dressed for another performance, another couple, another love story, another first dance. Normally, she loved these moments. She loved being the voice people remembered when they thought back on the happiest day of their lives.
But tonight, her heart wasn’t in it.
She stood backstage, microphone in hand, staring at the floor as her name was announced. Applause filled the room, but it sounded distant, like she was underwater.
When she began to sing, her voice was soft at first. Too soft. Then it wavered.
The lyrics blurred together, tangled with memories she hadn’t invited. Her chest tightened and before she could stop herself, tears slipped down her cheeks, then more.
She sang through them.
Her voice cracked. She laughed breathlessly between lines and said things she shouldn’t have.
“Love is beautiful,” she murmured into the mic, tears falling freely now. “But sometimes…love can hurt. Sometimes it doesn’t last the way you think it will.”
The couple stopped dancing.
Guests exchanged uneasy glances.
Lucy wiped her face with the back of her hand and forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “But I wish you both all the happiness in the world,” she said shakily. “ I hope your love lasts. I really do.”
Then the applause that followed was polite. Confused. Thin.
She left the stage feeling exposed, like she’d just bled in public.
The beach bar was quieter than usual when Lucy arrived later, the ocean stretching endlessly beside her. She ordered a drink she didn’t need and stared out at the water like it might answer her questions.
“Rough night?” a familiar voice asked gently.
She turned to see Josh standing beside her, concern written plainly on his face.
She sighed. “ You could say that.”
They sat together, the space between them comfortable, unforced. He didn’t rush her. Just waited.
Finally, she spoke. “ Seeing Marcus again…I didn’t think it would undo me like that.”
Josh nodded slowly. “ I figured.”
She glanced at him. “You did?”
“I know my brother, “ he said carefully. “And I know heartbreak when I see it.”
Lucy told him everything, the song, the meeting, the performance, the way it all felt like salt in a wound that hadn’t healed. He listened without interrupting, without defending anyone.
“That’s a lot to carry alone,” he said quietly.
She shrugged. “Story of my life.”
They spoke for a while and he later escorted her to her quarters.
“Good night and thank you for listening to me Josh.” She said in a low tone.
“Goodnight and anytime.” he replied to her as he began to depart to the main hotel.
Later that night, Lucy lay in bed staring at the ceiling, sleep refusing to come. Her thoughts ran in circles, every memory crashing into the next.
Her phone buzzed.
She hesitated before picking it up.
Marcus: Can we talk? Meet me on the beach.
Her thumb hovered on the screen. Every instinct told her not to go.
But after a long moment, she carefully stood up from the bed making sure not to wake Lila up. She got dressed and stepped outside.
The beach was quiet, moonlight shimmering on the water. Marcus stood near the shore, hands in his pockets, shoulders tense.
He turned when he saw her.
“Lucy,” he said softly. “I’m really glad you came.”
She stopped a few steps away. “What do you want, Marcus?” She asked, arms crossed over herself.
“ I owe you an apology,” he continued. “Seeing you again…I didn’t expect it. You look good. Really good. And I just…”
He placed his right hand on his chest. “I’m happy to see you.”
Lucy said nothing, the ocean whispering behind them.
“I’m sorry, Lucy,” he said “For everything. For how I left. For the silence.” His jaw tightened. “You didn’t deserve that.”
She looked at him then really looked at him and felt the old ache rise in her chest. “You disappeared,” she said quietly. “One day we were planning a future, and the next…you stopped calling. You stopped checking in. And then you ended it like it was nothing and got engaged to another woman.”
He winced. “ I didn’t know how to handle it. Moving. Starting over. I was overwhelmed.”
“I was devastated,” she replied, her voice shaking despite her effort to steady it. “ I stayed inside for weeks. I stopped singing. I questioned everything about myself, what I did wrong, why I wasn’t enough for you to fight for.”
Marcus swallowed hard. “I never meant to hurt you like that.”
“But you did,” she said simply.
They stood there for a moment, the wanes brushing the shore like punctuation to everything left unsaid.
“I was hoping,” he said carefully, “that maybe…we could be good again. Start on a clean slate.
Just be okay.”
Lucy didn’t answer right away.
He gestured down the beach. “Can we walk?”
She hesitated, then nodded.
They walked in silence at first, feet sinking into cool sand, the moonlight stretching their shadows long and thin. It was strange how familiar it felt, being beside him, matching his pace without thinking.
After a while, Marcus chuckled softly. “Do you remember that night we went on that random drive and bought spicy ramen?”
Lucy blinked, then laughed before she could stop herself. “ Oh my God. Yes.”
“And everywhere was closed ,” he continued, smiling now. “No stores. No gas stations. Nothing.”
“And you were dying,” she added, shaking her hand. “ Your lips were red, and you kept saying, “ I need water. I need water,”
“We found that tap,” he said. “Just …sitting there.”
Lucy groaned. “I was terrified we were going to get sick. I remember telling you, ‘If I wake up with stomach issues tomorrow, this is on you.’”
“You hate spicy food, I don't know why you did that.” She said looking down at the sand then up at him.
“Well, because of you. I didn’t want to back out because I wanted us to have shared memories and also wanted to make you happy.” He said, looking down at her and smiling.
They both laughed then, real laughter, the kind that slipped out easily, like muscle memory.
For a moment, it felt like before. And that scared her.
- Writer
