chapter twenty-nine | almost ready

SHE WOKE UP the next morning to the bright light of the sun peering into the living room through the curtains, the brightness making her headache worse. Mila groaned as she buried her face into the couch cushions, trying to block out any light she could. Her body felt heavy, the heaviness of her exhaustion bearing down on her and the lingering effects of the wine from the night before.

The faint smell of coffee filled the air, causing her to lift her head and look around.

She didn't remember setting up the coffee machine that morning. She slowly forced herself to sit up, the pounding in her skull causing her to wince as she blinked, trying to adjust to the light. She pushed the blanket off her lap and glanced toward the kitchen. There stood Gracie, leaning against the counter with a mug in her hand. Her hair was slightly messy and her expression was calm, yet thoughtful. Mila immediately noticed that she was wearing one of her old hoodies. The sight stirred something uncomfortably warm in Mila's chest.

She stood up from the couch, walked into the kitchen, and ran a hand through her hair. "Morning," Gracie softly said, her tone gentle as she glanced up to meet Mila's gaze. I thought you would need this." She continued, carefully sliding a cup of hot coffee in her direction.

Mila rubbed her temples, attempting to concentrate on her environment. "I can't believe you're still here," she said with surprise. Then, she picked up the mug and sipped the warm liquid, feeling comfort and relief.

Gracie flashed her a soft smile, lightly tapping her fingers on the edge of her mug. "You were pretty out of it last night," she pointed out, her tone soft. I didn't feel right leaving you alone, and you said I could stay, so...I did." She continued, soon taking another sip of her coffee.

She nodded in response, letting out a sigh. A mix of embarrassment and gratitude swirled in her chest as she glanced up at her once again. "Thanks for staying with me." She murmured, returning the grin. Something about Gracie being here felt familiar and comfortable all at the same time.

Gracie set her mug on the counter, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked at her. "You don't have to thank me. I'm always going to be here for you." She reminded her, her gaze following as she moved to sit on a kitchen stool. How are you feeling?" she asked her curiously.

Mila sighed as she rested her elbows on the counter and cradled the warm mug. "Honestly, I feel like shit. Like I was hit by a truck," She admitted through a hoarse voice. "I feel like I barely slept, my head is killing me. It's like pounding."

"Well, that's expected when you try to out-drink your problems with wine." She teased, letting out a chuckle. "Wine is not your best friend when dealing with problems."

"Thank you so much for the life lesson, Dr. Abrams."

Gracie leaned against the counter, a smirk tugged at the corners of her lips, and she had a playful glint in her eyes. "Someone had to look out for you." She teased, a chuckle escaping her lips. "Also, you should eat something." She acknowledged, sliding a plate with eggs and toast in her direction.

"You're too good to me." She softly spoke, taking a bite of the toast.

As Gracie looked at her, her gaze softened. The setting was all too familiar to her: making her breakfast and coffee, talking about all the exciting stuff they could think of, basking in each other's presence. It all felt the same as it used to, but different all at the same time. The difference is that they weren't together anymore, they were just friends.

Friends.

The term that she could once live with that now taunted her. It was a word that she hoped never to use to describe her relationship with Mila ever again, but here she was, using that exact word. Even before they started dating, she hated using that word for Mila. She felt something before that she hadn't felt with anyone else, it was stronger than that, and now it hurt to even think about it. She wanted answers though, she needed them.

"I'm not too good for you." She replied, gently waving it off. She finished her cup of coffee, soon putting the empty cup in the sink. "Well, you seem to be getting better...so, I'll talk to you later. Don't forget to text or call me if you need me." She flashed her a quick smile, soon making her way toward the door to put on her shoes.

Before Mila could say anything, Gracie was already out the door, leaving her alone to process the last 24 hours.

She let out a sigh before taking another sip of her coffee. She stared at the door for a long moment, hoping Gracie would return inside and stay with her. However, she knew that wouldn't happen though, not until she fixed her own problems.

Maybe once the tour is over, she will be ready.

Preparing for the tour meant a lot of work hours. She was currently at her first venue for her LA shows. The music played in the background, and the ticking of a metronome overlapped to help them keep time with the beat. She stood on the stage with a choreographer, going over different dances for the show. First, they worked on her moves alone, then the backup dancers would be added once it was perfect.

If she were being honest, Mila was never much of a dancer. According to Adam though, with this tour that had to change.

The two danced across the stage, hitting every mark to a T, up until the end. The second Mila misstepped, the music stopped, and Charlotte turned around and released an annoyed sigh. "This is the simplest routine you have to do, why are you not getting it?" She questioned, her tone displaying how aggravated she was getting. "I'm going to show you the moves one more time. Watch and learn."

Mila clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to fire her on the spot. She took a few steps back, giving her the room to demonstrate the routine one more time. She wiped her palms on her pants as she watched Charlotte move smoothly and precisely across the stage, hitting all the marks with ease. It was like watching a work of art be made right in front of her, something she knew she wasn't able to achieve.

Once Charlotte finished, she turned to look at Mila with a raised eyebrow. "Think you can do it this time?" She asked her with a frustratingly curious tone, moving off to the side and restarting the metronome.

"Run it again."

With that, Charlotte restarted the music. As the music started, Mila began to focus on the rhythm, moving with the beat. This time, she was hitting every mark perfectly, not a single mistake in sight.

When the music ended, Charlotte clapped her hands as she approached the singer, a proud tone in her voice as she spoke. "Finally!" She spoke up with a satisfied. "Just do it like that every time and it'll be perfect for the tour." She acknowledged, going to pick up her water bottle and taking a sip. "Take five and we'll try it again with the backup dancers. Once you've done that, we can go home."

Mila moved toward the stairs, making her way off the stage. She moved to sit in one of the stadium seats, pulling her phone out of her pocket to catch up on any texts or emails that she had missed.

She scrolled through her emails, seeing all her missed texts popping up at the top of her screen—most of them being from Audrey or Adam. She hadn't heard from Gracie since she left this morning, not a text or anything. It was normal for them now, but something about this seemed different, she hoped that she was okay.

She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching her. Once she looked up to see who it was, she saw a smiling Adam approaching her, a folder in his hands. "I've got some great stuff for you: Contracts to look over, setlist confirmations, and a couple of media requests. You know, the usual fun stuff." He happily spoke, a bit more pep in his step than usual, something that Mila noticed immediately.

"What are you so happy about?" She asked him curiously and took the folder from his hand, beginning to look over its contents.

"Oh nothing, just the fact you're doing so well. The routines are looking amazing, by the way."  He replied, plopping down in the seat next to her, his grin never fading. "Your ticket sales are through the roof, you're predicted to sell out every single show." He added, his tone coming out more excited than it was moments ago.

When the words reached her ears, her jaw was on the floor. The shock and excitement hit her all at once. "You're joking, right? Every single show?" She questioned, unsure if this was a joke or not. None of this felt real to her, it felt like a dream. She felt that she could wake up any minute and everything would be gone. "Tell me you're not joking."

"You can see for yourself." He replied, pulling up the stats from the Ticketmaster website.

Adam handed Mila his phone, her eyes immediately scanning over the numbers. Her disbelief slowly gave way to a smile. "This is so unbelievable, I can't believe this." She softly spoke, her finger hovering over the screen as if touching it might make it disappear. "I always hoped this would go well for me, but this..." She trailed off, her smile growing wider at the sight.

"Welcome to the big leagues, Mila. You deserve it more than anyone, I'm so proud of you."

"I can't decide if I should scream or pass out right now."

"Scream and do it later, the schedule will be a little more open later. You have to get back to rehearsal, but we can go get dinner as soon as it's over and we can celebrate."

Mila nodded with a grin, making her way back on the stage. She couldn't wait to talk to Audrey about this and have her share the news with Gracie, she knew she would be excited for her. Gracie was always super supportive of her, she has been since she saw the first like that Gracie left on one of her Instagram posts. She never thought that this would happen to her in the first place, but she was surprised that it was.

This was one of her signs that her dream was coming true, but even then, all of this could be gone tomorrow. She hoped she would get here, but now that she was, it didn't feel like reality.

2024 might have sucked, but 2025 was going to be the year of Mila.

The soft sounds of the guitar strings could be heard from the studio. Gracie was finishing the last song for her album. Audrey sat next to her, glasses of wine on the table in front of them, and a notebook sat on Gracie's lap with a pen in her hand.

Gracie hummed to herself, scribbling down lyrics as she got the inspiration. The studio was quiet apart from the guitar, and there was the occasional clink of their glasses when Audrey sipped her wine. A groan escaped her lips as she threw her head back in frustration, the songwriting stress was getting to her.

"I believe that's meltdown number three." Audrey teased with a chuckle, leaning back in her chair. "You're on a roll." She added, taking another sip of her wine.

Gracie shot her a glare, it showed just how tired she was. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, despite her best friend's comments. "You try finishing your album four days before your deadline because of last-minute rewrites, and trying to get your life back from your manager, as well as getting your ex-girlfriend back." She spoke with a heavy sigh, her tone coming out sarcastic and exhausted. "I feel like I signed up for the deluxe stress package or something."

"Not to be that person, but have you considered that maybe the ex-girlfriend factor is the reason for the rewrites?" Gracie watched as Audrey picked up the many pieces of paper scattered around them, scanning the lyrics. "I mean, they all scream 'Mila.' The longing, the regret. It's not subtle, you know."

"Wow...okay, I see how it is."

"Speaking of Mila, I've heard that her tour is completely sold out."

"How'd you figure that out?" Gracie asked her curiously. She hadn't heard from her in a while and she assumed that it didn't come from her.

Audrey took a sip of her drink and cleared her throat before she responded. "She told me. Well, texted to be specific." She finally responded, seeing the disappointed look on her face. She knew it had been almost a whole day since she had last talked to Mila, another day without answers on where they stood as a couple. If she were being honest, Audrey wasn't so sure either, she hated that for Gracie and Mila. The fact they were stuck in this state of limbo wasn't doing them any favors, but they couldn't force Mila to have the conversation, she had to be ready to have it on her own. "She wanted you to know, though. She asked me to tell you."

That answer didn't work for Gracie, though. That made her slightly annoyed.

"Why couldn't she have told me herself? Since Jordan and Tessa were removed from our lives, she's shut me out," Gracie started, letting out an annoyed breath. It killed her to know that she was talking to everyone else except her, having other people relay messages to her instead of saying something on her own. Between avoiding phone calls, refusing to accept her help unless she was forced, and having other people tell her the thing she wanted her to know, she thought that she was slowly icing her out. This was her attempt at forcing her to leave on her own, a way to avoid the guilt of telling her that she didn't want to talk to her anymore. "I find it quite pathetic and childish that she won't talk to me, that she's using other people, including my best friend to get her messages to me. I won't have it any longer. If she wants to say something to me, then she's going to tell me herself."

"Don't you think that you're overreacting a little bit here?"

"Respectfully, Audrey, I don't. She's an adult and she has to be able to talk to me like one." She replied, her tone coming out harsher than she wanted it to. "I mean, she was my girlfriend for god's sake! We went from telling each other everything and then some to nothing."

Gracie's words hung in the air for a moment, taking the time to sink in. She then picked up her pen once again and started to write in her notebook once again, starting on a new page.

Now that her feelings were out in the open, it was much easier to write the song she felt would close the album perfectly. She downed the rest of her wine and got to work.

After writing a few lyrics, she picked up her guitar and strummed a few chords to find the key she wanted to play in.

"This isn't what you want, it's only how you feel," She quietly sang to herself, plucking a few chords as she pieced the song together.

Just like every song she's written before, the words began to flow from her thoughts to the page like it was the easiest thing to do. All of her emotions from the past few months were being exposed in a way they felt comfortable to her, she finally felt free now.

Her new and finished song would perfectly reflect that.

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AUTHORS NOTE !

there's one chapter left of

this act before it's finished...

i'm not ready. act four is

probably going to be my favorite

by far. thank you all so much

for showing this story so much

love and support like you have.

i love you all so much and i hope

you enjoyed! hoping there's no

mistakes too