While Kiera told me all the time that she was going to miss me, and she did have brief moments of melancholy, she never seemed truly heartbroken, not like how she’d been when Denny had left her. Sometimes I felt like I was struggling with this more than she was, but then I remembered what she’d said to me the night I’d told her about the tour. I remembered her telling me that she’d grown, matured, and that she felt more secure about being alone. She’d told me that she loved me more than Denny. She loved me enough to not make a scene, to not put a stop to this…to let me go. She had already decided that she wasn’t going to stand in the way of this dream. Maybe that was why she seemed fine. She was fine because she truly believed we were going to be fine. I needed to remember that and stop letting the “what ifs” kick my ass. Hope for the best, and maybe it will happen.

But even still, I had to imagine the actual goodbye was going to be really hard on her. Seeing her pain was going to undo me. I wasn’t even sure if I could do it—I’d never been good at saying goodbye to her.

I tried not to think about it too much, but every day it got harder to do. I didn’t want to think about the moment we left—that actual minute in time when we had to say goodbye to each other. When I had to say goodbye to her—that was going to kill me, I was sure. It felt too huge to think about…too devastating. If only there was some way to make our last moments fun, for everyone. But how could we possibly make leaving…enjoyable?

And that was when it hit me. Grinning, I looked over at Evan. He was smiling as he absentmindedly stared out the window, lost in a daydream, and it took him a second to notice my attention. “What?” he asked.

Since we were at a stop sign and no one was around, I twisted in my seat to face him. “We should have a party after our last show. Invite the whole bar.” Just saying it started easing the tension around my heart. If I could give Kiera an epic, fun-filled night, maybe the sting of separation wouldn’t be so bad. For her…and for me. For a minute at least.

Evan’s smile grew. “Like a going-away party? Yeah, that would be awesome. We could have it at Matt’s, since his place is a bit bigger than yours, and his street is pretty quiet.” He paused, then nodded. “Yeah, I think that would help make it…easier to leave.”