and we loved

Chapter 41

DIA

I'm in the studio, rehearsing my latest song. For I published a new one. It's called Princess of Broken Hearts. It's a song about a girl who never stops getting her heart broken. All she ever wanted was love and to feel safe, but everyone keeps on letting her down. She's talking about her last love, one that got her hurt worse than before. One that made her feel she was dying.

I'm mid-chorus as the door flies open.

And I freeze.

Because standing in front of me is Leo.

"You have to be kidding me", he begins, closing the door behind him.

Open it.

"What are you doing here?", I ask him, trying to keep my voice steady. Trying not to show him I'm breaking. He always does that. No matter how much time passed, no matter how much better I am, one look at him and he brings me back to that night.

The night I felt like I was dying.

"I would ask you the same", he says. He takes a step closer. I take a step back.

That's how it is between us.

"I heard the new song", Leo tells me. "Congratulations. I fucking hated it by the way."

I swallow hard.

"What is wrong with you, Lydia? How can you publish something like that? Holding me tight but I'm breaking inside? All I wanted was your kiss, but it was poison at is deepest? Do you have any fucking clue what you've done?"

I take a deep breath. I know I shouldn't comment. Old me wouldn't comment.

But the girl I used to be died.

She died that night.

He killed her.

So I don't feel any regret in telling him what I was about to say. "Do you have any fucking clue what you've done? Do you have any clue how you broke me? I said nothing! For months, everyone laughed at me and called me a bitch. Do you have any clue about that?"

"You deserved it. You were a bitch. Cheated on me with that Spanish boy. The blondie you're now dating too."

"I've told you then, I'll tell you now. I never cheated on you. If you asked me a few months ago, I would have given you my whole world. Every part of it. It was yours. All you had to do was ask. But you didn't want just my world. You wanted to end me. And you did. Congratulations. Now I'd ask you to leave."

I don't know how I end up pinned against the wall. I don't know how I end up with his lips on mine. All I know is that I start crying. And push him away. He's stronger. Holds me trapped between his arms.

"I've missed you", he tells me. He then goes with his hands underneath my shirt, exploring my body. "I've missed this. Heck, Dia, I missed you."

He goes to my neck and kisses it. Then bites it once. All I can see it that night. My scars. The crying. The hospital bed.

"Leo, stop", I yell.

He doesn't. Only continues leaving souvenirs on my skin.

Jacob.

Jacob will see them and he'll think the worse.

That I cheated on him.

Because although we're not together, I am his.

I know that.

But I also know that whatever I'll do, I'll still be the one in danger.

I'll still be the broken one.

So I can't be his.

"LEO, STOP", I beg him.

He doesn't. He obviously doesn't. It's then I take a deep breath and do the thing Alec and Caden taught me. They once took me to the gym and did a self-defense lesson with me. Caden taught me to run and to attack. Alec taught me more brutal things. To choke and to set myself free.

I use what I learned now.

I wrap one foot around his, kick him in the knee, making him fall down. I then punch him in the spot between the nose and mouth, leaving him unconscious for a few seconds.

Seconds I use to run.

And run.

It's while I am on my way as the realisation hits me.

I beat a guy up.

I beat him up.

Left him unconscious in a room.

I put my hood on and start running faster.