"you weren't mine to lose"
When A* student Siobhán Murphy is sandwiched between two troublemakers, she is forced to either love them or hate them.
But when she makes the foolish mistake of falling for one of them, she winds up losing her true self...
song of the chapter: A Certain Romance - The Arctic Monkeys
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SINCE LEAVING HER FATHER in a drunken state in her childhood home, booking a one-way ticket to London and starting her medicine degree in a new city, for the first time in five years, Siobhán Murphy was going back to Dublin. Trepidation cursed through her veins, causing her legs to restlessly bounce continuously, from her leaving her university friends at their house, all the way to the airport, they didn't stop.
She had managed to avoid her hometown of Killiney, and the people in it, since her departure, with the exception of her almost-brother Elijah Hewson and her closest friend, Olivia Quinn. The two girls had just finished their respective degrees and had no clue of which direction they wanted their lives to go in. Olivia had just made the decision to stay in London for the foreseeable future and potentially find work, whilst Siobhán was encouraged to return home and simply take a break after years of excruciatingly hard work.
Despite not making the journey alone, her being accompanied by her so-called 'boyfriend', Leonardo Buendía, her mind wouldn't stop racing. He couldn't comfort her because, simply, he couldn't; they didn't know or love each other well enough for him to do so. This was because Leo, the Portuguese fitness influencer that Olivia's university friends had introduced to Siobhán a couple of years ago, and his PR team, had decided that in order to clean up his online reputation, he should date someone who appeared kind, driven and was kept out of the public eye, the perfect person being Siobhán.
She didn't particularly mind having a superficial relationship; there were benefits for her too. There was primarily a monetary incentive, as there always will be once you enter the online realm of living, but she didn't mind filling her time with fake dates and outings with Leo. It gave the girl something to do bar drinking and working, behaviours remarkably similar to her father's.
Leo cared more about Siobhán than he thought she ever realised. To him, their relationship wasn't fake. He had wholeheartedly fallen for her; he thought she was selfless, intelligent, stunning, the list goes on. It was just a shame that whenever he had tried to show his true feelings, she'd brush them off and tell him he only needed to act in front of the paparazzi or fans.
"Ván, are you alright?" Leo asked the anxious girl sat next to him on the aeroplane, him attempting to sooth her nerves by placing his hand on her leg. She continued to look away from Leo, refusing to make eye contact. She spoke in a hushed tone, wary of who was around them, "How many times have I told you, don't call me that.", and she moved his hand off her leg.
Leo placed his gentle hand on her headphones, as to prevent her from shutting him out once again, "You know you can talk to me, Siobhán, I am here for you." He leant in a whispered in her ear, sending chills down her neck, "Just because our relationship isn't real, it doesn't mean I don't care for you."
