Just Because (Completed)

Chapter 12: Keiran

12Keiran

I held Delilah for a long time, molding her against me, memorizing the feel of her body next to mine and the touch of her lips that sent a wave of fire through my veins. She didn't want to lose me, and honestly, I didn't want to lose her either. Unfortunately for both of us, wanting to have any sort of life together would mean pulling her away from her slow-paced country life, and into a world of noise and stage lights, endless tours, and tasteless women who flashed me their tits at signings. Delilah would not feel comfortable in a world like mine.

And of course, there was Janet to consider.

Whether or not I was giving serious thought to just telling her and her daddy to go fuck themselves, and let me and Nico start something new, I had a sneaking suspicion that neither one of them would go quietly. Janet would do everything in her power to ruin my reputation, and Mr. Lockhart would probably do everything in his power to ruin the reputation of Broken Souls. All of our hits, all of our achievements... it all would be gone, and we'd be kids in a garage again. I wasn't sure if was ready to throw my career away like that; wasn't sure if I was ready to ask the guys to do the same.

But as I looked down at Del and thought over everything passed between us over the last God-knew-how-many days down here, I started to wonder if maybe all the strife might be worth it. Because she was worth it.

Pulling her close to me, I pressed a kiss to her hair. By the sound of her breathing, I could tell she'd fallen asleep again, and I smiled as I closed my eyes.

I woke to loud noises from somewhere above me and jerked my eyes open to see dust falling from the ceiling. Letting out a gasp, I raised up to an elbow and shook Delilah's shoulder.

"Del, the rescue teams are here!" Looking back at the ceiling, I squinted as more dust fell, following the loud sound of crunching, as though they were breaking through the concrete above us, then turned back to Delilah, who wasn't moving. "Del? Delilah!"

Shaking her shoulder again, my heart began to race, and I pressed my fingers against her neck, eyes going wide at the feather-faint beat of her pulse.

"Shit! Del! Del can you hear me?"

She couldn't, she was out, and I tucked her beneath me as best I could as I raised up over her, shielding her from the dust and debris that was raining down in heavier chunks. Above me, the sound of machinery broke through the quiet, and I cringed as another wave of debris fell from the ceiling, dropping in chunks of dusty concrete on the other side of the beam. A crack of sunlight burst through to splash orange across the floor, and I squinted at the intense brightness as voices began to echo through.

"Keiran? Keiran Michaels?"

It was a voice I didn't recognize, and I glanced back at Delilah as another piece of the ceiling broke through, creating more sunlight. "I'm here!"

"Keiran?" That was Dominic's voice, and relief flooded through me as the bucket of an excavator peeked through the hole in the ceiling, before grabbing and peeling away the last chunk of concrete and steel frame that intertwined it.

"Nico!" I called out and heard him fussing with someone I couldn't see.

A moment later, a long ladder was dropped down through the hole, and my friend was rapidly descending. He was wearing blue jeans and a black tank top beneath a white hardhat, and his eyes fell on me immediately with a winded gust of relief that got caught in his throat as he looked at my legs.

"Holy shit, Keir..." He swallowed hard, looking sick for a minute, then quickly ran back to the ladder. "He's hurt! We need medics!" He returned to me with wide eyes and sank to kneel beside me. "I knew you weren't dead. But your legs... Jesus..."