The Perfect Place [Eduardo Saverin x OC]

11. If this is what you want

Lia finally got what she wanted, her own place. It wasn't just any apartment, it was close to school, had TWO bedrooms and was newly renovated but still not too expensive. Truly what she had been waiting for. She thought she'd be screaming with joy, calling her friends and family to tell them the good news and immediately packing her stuff to move in. But instead, she kept the good news to herself and immediately got a stomach ache, those you get after your heart gets broken. It was all because of Eduardo. Leaving him was supposed to be easy, the obvious choice. Why would she want to stay with him? She had to pretend to everyone she wasn't living there and people were spreading rumors about her. But then again, why would she not want to stay with him? The way he treated her, protected her, danced with her, kissed her. It's not easy to leave. Oh god, the kiss.

"Why are you smiling?" Eduardo asked a quiet, but smiling Lia. They were in a cab on the way back to Harvard from the airport.
"Am I smiling?" she laughed. "I was just thinking about something."
"About what?"
"It's nothing"
Eduardo gave her a suspicious look. "Alright, I'm just glad to see you smile. You didn't say a thing for the whole flight here." he said and cupped her face in his right hand.
"I'm sorry, I just had a lot on my mind." she said and kissed the inside of his hand.
"You can talk to me about it if you want?" he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yeah for sure! I'll tell you about it later." she said, even though she planned on not telling him at all and just hoped that ignoring it would make the problem go away.
"How about we talk about it over dinner? At like, 6?" he smiled.
"I'd love to."
"Great, it's a date!"

It was a Saturday, so Lia just decided to go study in the library on campus. The Harvard library is a beautiful building, both inside and out. The reading room has a white, vaulted roof with windows. Lia sat down at one of the desks and began studying. Before she could even put on her headphones, the redhead girl from class, Hannah, appeared before her with her friends behind her.

"Hi, Lia!" she said to her and looked back at her friends, smirking. She wasn't even trying to be quiet to not disturb the other students there.
"Hi, Hannah." Lia said and tried to not sound too annoyed.
"What's up?"
"I was just about to study. And you?"
"Oh, we were also studying, we're gonna get lunch now". She looked at one of her friends. She was shorter, had dark hair, and had a beautiful round face. "I just had to ask you something first."
"What is it?"
"My friend here, Jasmine, is like, really, into Eduardo." she laughed and the girl slapped her arm. "I was just wondering, are you sure you and Eduardo are not like, a thing, or can she go for him?"
"He's not interested."
Hannah faked a gasp. "Why not?"
"He's just not, trust me." Lia looked at Jasmine.
"But why not?" Hannah asked again.
"Because yes, Hannah, we are a thing. Now please leave me alone."
"I knew it." Hannah leaned closer to Lia. "I knew that's the only reason you're here. Because you're dating the rich guy and he pays you. I could tell in class you weren't smart enough to have gotten in with your grades."
Lia was too tired after being conflicted for hours about the apartment and potentially leaving Eduardo, so she just took a deep breath and let Hannah and her friends laugh at her. "Are you done with your rant?" she asked.
Whatever." Hannah said and finally left.

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After that interaction, Lia had decided to move into the apartment and let whatever thing Eduardo and her had going on come to an end. It was not worth not being taken seriously by her classmates and constantly having people talk about her. It was now almost 6 o'clock, and she was still thinking about it. She was alone in their room getting ready for the date and had told herself to distract herself for this night. To have one last good night with Eduardo, before ending it. It was not like they could stay together with her not living somewhere else, since most of the time they spent together was in their room. They simply wouldn't see each other anymore. And Eduardo had completely different life plans, with or without Facebook. It wasn't going to work out.