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'I love you' were three words Ezra never desired hearing or saying again until he met Billie. It's those same three words he couldn't imagine her ever uttering to him, and yet there they were confessing their love in an empty practice room.
He had bared his soul to her — told her all the things he had feared about himself. Things that he thought would push her away, but it only brought them closer. It's as if she grasped on tighter to him when he let everything go and allowed the cards to fall where they may. Ezra is certain of one thing, though. He would never let go of her.
The song, though difficult to listen to, provided a catharsis he didn't realize he needed. As he braced himself through the lyrics, Ezra slowly buried every trauma he created and endured with Madison. He put it all to rest right then and there knowing it would never be brought to light again. When that voicemail he had dreaded for what felt like ages finally blared into the silence, Ezra no longer felt shame or anger.
In fact, he only felt peace. Finally acknowledging the weight of his overdose made him want to get better. He didn't want to end up like his father. Hearing that god awful, broken sound that emitted out of Billie when he told her he had almost died was enough encouragement to remain sober for a lifetime.
He would try. Not only for her, but for himself.
When the two returned back to the bus to gather his luggage, Jude and Ambrose were nowhere to be found. It was likely that they had already taken off for the week-long break, but Ezra didn't care. He didn't want to explain anything to anyone anymore.
Billie had been the one to find the papers. They were folded neatly on the table near the couch he had got on his knees in front of. Though he wouldn't have predicted it, Madison's signature graced the final page. Perhaps it had been her own way of burying their trauma by deciding to remove the voicemail.
For the first time in five years, Madison and Ezra had let each other go fully and completely. The ties that bind them severed entirely that night.
Jeff arrived not much long after Billie located the papers, and Ezra made a point of shoving them into his chest before the two sprinted out the door to catch the soonest flight to New York. There was nothing his manager could say to stop him, and Jeff knew it. Billie had enough money to start The Collective, and the voicemail would never be heard by the public. He was free to do what he wished with her now.
The two arrived in New York from a red eye the following morning. Ezra hadn't slept a wink out of fear that he'd wake up and find that it had all been some hallucination. Instead, he spent the duration of their flight holding Billie's hand and silently watching over her as she slept.
The two opted for a suite rather than staying in Billie's apartment. He could live in a box with her for the next week for all he cared, but the hotel provided better security and privacy. They both knew the minute the paparazzi saw them out in public, wherever they stayed would be flooded.
