Song is for the start of the chapter!

"Isla, let's leave this house," Everly said to me as she stood in the doorway of my room.

I shook my head as I looked up from the book I was reading. My mind flashed back to the gossip article I read about Miles and Izzy in LA. That was enough to keep me in the safety of my room. Miles was out there, happy, and I wasn't sure if I could face that yet. He hadn't written to me and I knew he moved on, but I hadn't and that was hard. "No." I was not willing to move.

Everly sighed loudly, walking into my room. Without wasting a moment, she pulled on my hand. "I'm not taking no as an answer. Mom's out of town and I just started my period. We're out of tampons and I need you to buy some for me."

I pouted. Damn it. She got me. There was no way out of this one. "Fine," I said as I stood up from my bed then quickly put on a T-shirt that matched my jean shorts.

"By the way, mom got you a new phone. I took the liberty of setting it up for you," she said and handed me a phone.

"Lovely," I said as I put the phone into my pocket, not willing to look at any of the notifications.

In a matter of 20 minutes, I found myself in the town supermarket as Everly waited in the car. I tapped my foot as I waited in line with some tampons and ice cream. My eyes glanced over at the magazines beside me and stopped when I saw Miles on the front page. The title read, "Kit Keen, released from a rehab center".

I frowned as I wondered if it was true. I wondered if Miles finally broke like I warned Rodger. Unable to fight my curiosity, I flipped the page and there on the cover was Miles with a girl, hand in hand, looking happy.

Seeing the photo was like a slap to the face. I still wasn't over him. He left a hole in my chest that I wished would heal. Even though he was back from his world tour, I had yet to see him. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see him, to be honest. That would be too painful.

"That will be $8.50," the cashier said, breaking me from my thoughts.

I nodded as I handed the cashier some cash from my jeans pocket which she promptly provided me with the receipt and with that, I took my small bag and left.

I put on my sunglasses as I stepped outside the small corner store. It was hot for the early summer. Just stepping out reminded me why I didn't like summer.

My gaze caught sight of a blond, wavy-haired man staring at me from across the street. Suddenly, I was breathless as I took a step back. Miles still made my heart stop.

I thought he moved out of town. I thought nothing would keep him here.

His green eyes shined, piercing my soul. He waved at me with a small smile, as if not sure that was the right move.

Tears pricked my eyes as I swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn't think I deserved such a response. After sending that 'hey' message, I never saw if he responded. I thought he would be angry with how we left things.

His face was a painful reminder I still ached over the loss relationship we had. Not only did I lose my boyfriend, but I lost my best friend. I wish he was hurting as much as I was, but he moved on. That much was clear in the gossip magazines. I wiped a stray tear from my cheek. I knew I couldn't have him. I lost my chance. He was so close yet so impossible to get to.

Breaking our moment was a girl with white hair who came bounding towards Miles with a smile on her face. "Oh baby, come on. You're taking too long," she said as she kissed his neck.

I recognized Izzy instantly. I wondered if they were happy.

Miles looked distraughtly at me, not caring about the girl hanging on his neck. But I didn't understand why he was hurt. Miles could have anyone he ever wanted. He could move on quickly because he was a pop star traveling the world, but I was stuck in this small town where everything reminded me of him. There was no escape, and I was devastated as I stared back at him.

"Isla! Come on! I want to go home!" Everly called out to me from the car, not noticing the moment I was having.

And just like that, my feet became unfrozen and without looking back at Miles, I ran to the car.

"What took you so long, Isla?" Everly pouted as I turned the car on.

I tossed the box of tampons on Everly's lap and shrugged. There was no lie that I could come up with. Right now, all I could think about was Miles. "Sorry about that."

In minutes, I was parking the car in the driveway. "When you go to school, will you call me to talk?" Everly asked with concerned eyes.

I nodded as we got out of the car. "You can visit me if you want to. I would love it if you came down."

She smiled brightly at me. "Will you see Miles while you are in LA?"

I thought about seeing him in town just a few minutes ago. He was with someone else. The idea of getting back together was over. He moved on and I don't think I would even have him as a friend anymore. I think our time is over. "I don't know. He seems pretty busy."

She frowned as she shook her head, causing her dark blonde hair to catch the sun, turning it red. "You know, he texted you. Like a million times."

If he did, I would have seen it. How would she have known such a thing anyhow? "He's dating someone new."

She ran her hands through her hair with a pained sigh. "He doesn't like her. Goodness Isla, he's in love with you. He always has been."

I took a step back as if she slapped me. If this was true, how did I not notice. My heart ached as my eyes welled with tears. "How did I not see the messages that he sent me?"

"Because he texted your old number. Isla, he's not over your dumb ass." And with that, she stormed off to the bathroom with the box of tampons in her hand. "Have you even checked your direct messages on Instagram?"

I shook my head. It had been weeks since I went onto my account. I didn't really see a point in logging on when nothing was happening in my life.

"You should check that."

With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone from my pocket. Had he really been texting me all this time? Did I just miss it? Hesitantly, I opened Instagram for the first time in weeks and saw all the DMs I neglected. I quickly scrolled through messages until, finally, I found Miles' name and clicked on it.

"Hey," the first message said, responding to my 'hey' I sent a few weeks back.

Then a day later he wrote, "Are you going to write back?"

A few days later, he wrote again. "I don't like how things were left. I've been trying to contact you for weeks. Please write back."

My eyes welled up with tears as I thought about the unread messages. I was thinking he was over me all this time. But he needed me.

"Isla, I miss talking to you. Please get back to me," the last message read.

I wiped my eyes or stray tears. This was my fault. I was the one that missed these messages. I needed him to know that I saw them so without thinking about it, I responded. "I'm here if you still want to talk."

<><><><>

"So what did you want to talk about?" Izzy asked Miles with a toothy smile as they sat in his Redding apartment.

"I have been thinking about this for a while," Miles started carefully as he watched Izzy unbutton her shirt, causing him to frown. She was trying to distract him, but it wouldn't work this time. He could never have a serious conversation with her and it tired him. He wanted someone to show concern about his sleepless nights, his MS symptoms, and the bouts of self-harm. But she refused to give him any of that.

"Izzy, stop."

She stopped on command. "You're no fun," she pouted.

"Izzy, I have given this a lot of thought and I want to break up. This relationship is not good for us, either of us."

She stared at him in silence for a moment before her face turned red. She stood up from her seat, knocking over a cup of wine on the table. "Fine then. Be that way, but don't you dare come back to me when you get lonely."

Miles nodded. He had no intention of coming back to her. "I wish you all the best, Izzy."

"I can't believe you. You're a complete piece of shit, Miles. You'll never amount to anything. You say you're a pop star but you don't own it, you're nothing but a normal person. In fact, Isla Maas would have been perfect for you." And with that, she stormed out of his apartment.

He rubbed his temple as he sighed. He thought that would be handled better, but then again, Izzy was dramatic.

His attention turned to his phone as notification from Isla came through. His heart started racing as he read the message. Electric energy flowed through his veins, feeling excited for the first time in weeks.

Just as he was about to respond, Rodger's caller ID lit up his screen. Miles didn't want to answer it, knowing fully what it would be about, however, that didn't stop him from still answering it.

"So I just heard from Izzy. What the hell were you thinking?!" he shouted.

And just like that, the time to talk to Isla was over since Miles had to pour water on the forest fire he just started.