Welcome back! This should be the second to last chapter for this story (plus the epilogue). I'm still trying to figure out the next chapter but fingers crossed I'll have it ready soon!

Thank you so much for following this story. It's been a pretty cool journey.

Please don't forget to vote and/or comment.

--VIVKELLER23

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Dimitri's POV

The past three days had been torture.

He'd managed to finally learn the truth he'd been hiding from for so long. He'd meant to sit down and talk to Kaliah about it, to make her understand where he was coming from. But he'd given her Jesse's letter instead. Why? He still wasn't sure, but it seemed to have caused more damage than good.

He'd thought learning about the offer Jesse had made to him would smooth things over. That if she could see how her brother had worried about her, she would be more receptive of his own explanations. He knew now that he'd messed up. He knew that he'd hurt her by refusing to trust her with his secrets. But he'd done it thinking he was sparing her and himself future heartache.

He'd been little more than a boy when he'd hightailed it out of Reignville. There had to be some way to show her he wasn't that boy anymore.

But his only solution had been to give her Jesse's letter. By giving her the letter and letting her find the papers that would give her the out if she wished to leave, he'd been laying out all his cards. She knew now that the marriage wasn't necessary for her to keep the house. If he could have, he would have kept the letter until he could be sure she wouldn't leave him, but she hadn't wanted to stay even long enough to hear him out. He hadn't figured there was any other choice for him, but to give her the upperhand.

Yet she stayed.

He was terrified to think too far into that and start hoping she wasn't going to run the way he had. But he wanted to believe she stayed because she meant to hear him out, meant to stand by him even if he had given her every reason to leave.

He was a selfish bastard. He knew it, yet here he was, hoping she loved him more than he'd ever allowed himself to even dare.

Dimitri glared at his reflection in the mirror of his dressing room. He looked smart in a navy tux and black button down shirt, even if he felt stuffy in the suit. Miss Santillan had personally ironed and set it out for him this morning, claiming he would take his wife's breath away and hopefully have enough sense to explain himself before he lost his chance. He smiled, recalling the fierce protective way Miss Santillan defended Kaliah to him and pointed out his own stupidity in the way he dealt with his wife. He wasn't so far disconnected from reality to realize his housekeeper was right, but he also wasn't going to let the woman walk all over him or throw her infamous sandals at him.

Kaliah loved the idea of Dimitri receiving a beating from Miss Santillan. She'd taken every opportunity to wear sandals and offer them to the constantly chastising woman.

Today she wore a classier pair to go with the silky, burnished gold gown that fit her like a dream. He'd seen her model it for Miss Santillan earlier this morning while the two had gushed over how pretty the color was. He hadn't been able to look away. The color turned her eyes to melted honey and made her hair shine like silver. Compared to the purple number she'd worn in Reignville, the skirt of this gown reached the floor and fell in a straight line to cover her dainty sandalled feet. It had been made for her, down to the fitted bodice and the tiny sash that belted at her waist.

And for the hundredth time since he'd woken up this morning, Dimitri wondered why he wasn't insisting she take her place beside him onstage. Probably, she'd hate him if he ruined this for her. It was her decision ultimately, but he felt like the world was being cheated of her natural gift.

He knew the song he'd sing today from memory. The words had been engraved into his heart so that he found himself replaying them in his mind constantly. He hadn't even needed to try to convey emotion when he'd practiced in his studio the past day and a half. The words were something he felt deeply, truthfully.

It scared the living daylights out of him.

The knock on his door brought him back to the present. It was showtime. After this, Sydney would be set until the release of her new single, Kaliah's ballad, four months from now. Sydney was determined to have her voice back before then and, thus, be free of Kaliah's presence.

Dimitri hoped Kaliah wouldn't leave him in the dust when the show was over.

***

The venue was packed. So many had gathered to watch Sydney and Dimitri perform after the rumors about their relationship struggles, that security had to be doubled just to make certain they were safe. More still were lined up outside, watching from the screens that were displayed along the center's walls.

Sydney seemed to love all the attention. For her, the more the merrier. The more exposure she had the more people she could convince that she was really back. What was the big deal if she lied a little, if she had the money to pay for another's voice? What mattered was that she thrive.

She opened by strutting out on stage with a black and white checkered jumpsuit that left no curve hidden. It was glued to her skin as she moved across the stage, a pink scarf thrown over her neck to add some color. Her heels were a neon pink that matched the heart shaped glasses on her head. Nothing subtle, but that was Sydney.

Her song choices weren't much better. She started with her trademark sound, My Party, My Stage, before transitioning into a fast paced cover of Call Me Maybe. The audience didn't appear to mind the impersonal song choices. They were loud and moving to the music. So many obviously there for a good time.

After a few more songs and a stripped down version of Bailando alongside Ronan, the lights dimmed, and Sydney was escorted off stage on Ronan's arm for a quick costume change. Dimitri could hear the murmuring of the crowd as they wondered why Ronan was present and how he could have been asked to perform before Dimitri.

In that moment the urge to just come clean nearly overwhelmed him. What was he doing? If Sydney and Ronan had found it so easy to face the crowd despite the speculation that was bound to follow, why couldn't he?

Before he could ponder much more, the lights flashed back on and Sydney appeared at his side in a black sheath dress with red fringe lining the skirt hem. She raised an eyebrow at him, the look in her eye challenging him to do his worst. With a deep breath, Dimitri allowed Sydney to propel him out onstage as the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Thank you so much for being here this evening!" Sydney called out, waving her free arm as she pressed closely into Dimitri's side. "You have all been amazing tonight. I don't know where I would be without you guys!"

Probably at the bottom of the sea. The sarcastic thought sounded so much like Kaliah that he had to fight back a bark of laughter.

"As you probably know, we've had quite a few rough patches to get through this past week," Sydney continued. "But we hope these next few songs make up a little for the way things have looked so far."

The audience shouted and whistled in response to Sydney's words.

And then all grew quiet as the haunting first notes to A Thousand Years began. This was a song Kaliah and his manager had arranged to play the part of a couple. Dimitri took a seat on the piano bench that had been set for him beside the grand piano and watched as Sydney mouthed the words to the song. The song was an effort to set the mood, to sell the lie that Sydney and Dimitri were more than a farce. Candles had been set along the stage for this song, and the audience had been given glow sticks that even now lit up the dark room.

Yet he felt nothing. He knew Kaliah was singing the words, but they lost something when she remained hidden behind the heavy curtain behind him.

So instead of looking at Sydney when she drew near him and placed a trembling hand on the side of his face, Dimitri lowered his gaze to the rose that had been set atop the ivory piano keys. A rose he was supposed to hand Sydney before the night was over. He realized as the song came to an end, that he wouldn't be able to give it to her.

Dimitri smiled and scooted over to make room for Sydney on the bench. The next song was a duet, the same cover of Landslide they'd performed before. He got through it without much difficulty, even if Sydney's fog of perfume nearly choked him with its strength.

The other songs weren't much harder. They sang an upbeat song Dimitri cowrote with Sydney back when he was first starting out called, Lessons Learned. It was a fun tune about growing up, running wild, and chasing the sky. It was one of the more heartfelt songs he'd written because it contained a part of the hope he'd had when he'd first moved to LA. A hope that had died a quick death less than two weeks after leaving Kaliah and the warmth she'd brought him.

A few songs later, Dimitri was given the chance to catch his breath as the lights dimmed and the curtains lowered so Sydney could make her last costume change for the night.

Dimitri could hear the audience's chanting as they waited for the show to continue. He felt a sudden wave of heat throughout his body as he shrugged out of his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. Was it nervous energy? That would have been funny if he wasn't so focused on what he still had to do. There was only one song left before they closed out tonight. It was supposed to be the easiest song for him to perform. He'd learned it by heart, hadn't he?

But as Sydney's heels clattered against the steps as she returned to the stage in a white floor length gown and a red rose in her hair, Dimitri felt the shaky hold on his control snap.

When a man had nothing left to lose but the one thing that mattered most to him, everything suddenly became clear to him...

***

Dimitri took a deep breath as the curtain lifted once more to the thousands of fans in the audience. He'd been fine throughout the show, singing the songs and going through the motions of the dances as they had rehearsed so many times before. But now, he felt a cold sweat break out as the sound of the first chords to Love's Ballad began to play. He knew Kaliah would sing. She'd do the song justice, she'd sing it with all her soul, she'd break everyone's heart with her hauntingly beautiful words. Just like she was supposed to.

But then what? After she sang her deepest secrets to the world- behind a curtain, where no one saw her break down- what became of her? Could he expect her to give him all of her and still ask her to stay? Could he be that selfish?

His manager, Martin, nodded to him, indicating that he was out of time. The strings' music died suddenly, the lights dimmed, and the piano began Kaliah's song to him. He closed his eyes and let her voice wash over him as Sydney stepped out onto the stage, her lips mouthing the words her heart hadn't shattered writing.

Once, long ago, I believed. A beautiful promise you gave to me.

God, how had she kept so much to herself for all those years? She'd always had that instinct, of feeling everything, of seeing too much. She'd always been too vulnerable, and that openness about her had been what had first drawn him to her. But that vulnerability had nearly destroyed her, all because he'd wanted a dream that forced him to leave her behind.

It's been a long, unending journey. And I'm tired of the hopelessness in me.

Her song was a declaration of love, and singing it to help the woman who'd tried so hard to put strain on their marriage was tearing her apart. He could hear that raspy tremble in her voice he'd come to know so well. He'd trained himself to hear that break in her, to save her from retreating completely within herself the times she'd nearly drowned in her pain.

Others heard it and applauded her for the depth in her voice. No one understood the hurt behind it, the near hysteria that overcame her when she finally gave in.

And he realized that's how it was supposed to be. He was the one who had bonded with her. He understood her, he balanced her, he loved her. He loved her.

To hold onto, to run to, to fall into... I'm hanging on.

He was in love with Kaliah Baker. And he'd forced her to bare her heart to him again, while he gave her nothing but grief. Again.

I'm such a fool.

The music continued to play, building to the second half of the song and drowning out his thoughts. But the words escaped his mind, leaving him speechless in the center of that stage for the first time since he'd embarked on his little journey to fame. Because the song was all hers, the feeling all hers, the loving all hers.

And his dream was with her.

"Stop the music." The words were out of his mouth before he'd processed that he wanted to say them.

They might have been unexpected, but they still held the weight of authority they had intended. The music ceased.

The audience waited just beyond the stage, utterly silent, listening. Sydney looked ready to scream, her voice well rested despite its ugly timber. Martin watched him with a mixture of confusion and dismay. Yet the one person he wished to see was invisible to him, always close enough to see, to feel, to yearn for. And just beyond reach.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his words carrying throughout the concert hall. "This is all wrong. I know you all came here tonight to listen to some good, authentic music. You came to have a good time." Cheers arose from the crowd at that statement. "And we seem to have cheated you.

"You see, Love's Ballad isn't just a song. It's a testament to what someone very dear to me went through because of a selfish decision I made." Murmurs carried up to him, and he knew he had earned whatever criticism he gained after this. "It's beautifully, simply written for anyone and everyone. It deserves to be performed with passion and heart. With love."

"Dimitri, don't," Sydney warned, her silver eyes glinting in the low light. "We can start over, but don't do this."

But he was blind and deaf to all the warnings and the reasons he shouldn't lay all his burdens bare. He'd listened for too long and it had cost him so much precious time. It had cost him so much joy and laughter, all because he'd been chasing a dream he hadn't realized he shared with her. Because he'd feared he wasn't good enough to share his dream with her.

He was done running.

"The woman who gave you this beloved song is named Kaliah Baker Hale. She is the strongest, sweetest, most honest woman I know. She is my wife."

Sydney lunged at him, her hands twisted to resemble a feral animal's claws. Security was quick to restrain her, but not before she spit at him, hurling insults that would have angered him had he not been so focused on another. He turned his back to the people and cameras, facing the thin veil that separated him from her. It was made of the lightest fabric, used to conceal rather than contain, but right now it felt like a wall of steel.

He reached out a hand, gently brushing it with unsteady fingers. "Kaliah."

The veil fell in a whisper. His eyes clashed with hers, green fuel to amber flames.

And though she spoke not a word, he felt the strength of her fury like a physical blow. His hand dropped to his side, clenched in a fist of incompetency. What do I say? What was there to say when she looked at him like the vilest of beings, someone better forgotten and ignored?

"I'm trying t-"

"Stay away from me!" she hissed at him, cutting through what he was about to say.

Even in all the years he'd gone away, in the months since he'd come back for her, she'd never told him to stay away with the force of her desperate emotions. She'd never flatly uttered the words to shatter his heart. "I... love you."

She reeled back from him, almost as if he'd slapped her. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" Kaliah asked, her voice low and lifeless. "Well, get this through your head: I'm done!"

Dimitri reached for her, helplessly, knowing she would only run from him. She flinched away from him, pushing against his chest with enough gentle force to make him stumble out of her way. She hurried past him, jumped off the stage, and ran into the crowd, parting the audience like Moses before the red sea.

And he was left behind, with nothing more to say than her name. "Kaliah!"

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Kaliah, get back here!!!!