Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
EchoZone – Private Message Thread
AlyEuphoriaEvents: I saw that you’re giving a press conference tomorrow. Everything okay?
MustLoveMusic: Depends on your definition of okay.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: That bad?
MustLoveMusic: It’s time to stop letting everyone else speak for me.
I’ve got lawyers, managers, PR teams—everyone scrambling to stitch together a version of the truth that won’t cause another media spiral.
But none of it’s me. None of it sounds like the person I actually am.
And I’m so fucking tired of letting people have a different version just because my grandfather thought it was wise.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: I think this is brave.
MustLoveMusic: Not sure about brave, but at least . . . it’s the first time in a long time that I’m trying to confront the truth.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: That’s really brave, Dex.
MustLoveMusic: I don’t feel brave. I feel like I’m unraveling in front of an audience and praying the lights go out before they see too much.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: You’re trying to fix the story instead of running from it. That’s more than most people do.
MustLoveMusic: I’ve spent years being the scapegoat for other people’s sins. I was made to believe that silence was survival.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Sometimes it is. But it’s also lonely as hell.
MustLoveMusic: Exactly. And the worst part? I started believing I deserved it. Like maybe if I stayed quiet enough, it would hurt less. Spoiler: it doesn’t.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Do you think this will help?
MustLoveMusic: I don’t know. But if I don’t try now, I’ll carry this forever. And I’m done carrying things that were never mine to hold.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: I wish I could be there. Not in the spotlight, but . . . near. Just in the room.
MustLoveMusic: You already are. You’re the reason I didn’t burn the whole thing down. You’re the one voice I hear when I want to disappear. I want to be better for myself, but also for you. You deserve better.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Don’t say things like that.
MustLoveMusic: Why not?
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Because it makes me want to come find you, and I can’t fly to Los Angeles tonight.
MustLoveMusic: Maybe we don’t need to be smart tonight.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Don’t tempt me.
MustLoveMusic: Then don’t tell me you want to be in the room. Don’t say things like that and expect me not to feel it.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: I feel it too. I wish things were different.
MustLoveMusic: They will be. This is the last time someone else rewrites my life for me.
After this . . . I want to come back to you without the noise. Take you on a date, and fall in love with you.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
MustLoveMusic: I’m not. I’ve already broken enough things. I don’t want to break this too.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Then tell the truth tomorrow. Tell it like you’re writing a song, not a press release.
MustLoveMusic: That’s precisely what I’m going to do. And if anyone asks me who I was writing it for . . . I’ll think of you.
Goodnight, Aly.
AlyEuphoriaEvents: Goodnight, Dexter.