Chasing Lia [Edward Cullen]

Chapter - 9

"Lia, your idea of fun is to seduce a guy, then leave him high and dry. Am I right?" Bella accused Lia, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"A girl can flirt, but that doesn't mean any guy can get under her skirt," Lia retorted as she an a brush through her hair, to get it free from all the knots. She applied some nude shade lipstick and some peachy pink blush to finish her look.

"You just like to mess with people's lives," said Bella as she walked over to her, took the brush from her hands and helped Lia in taming her dark curls. 

"I so don't." Lia sighed as Bella first ran her fingers through her hair gently and then combed it down. She always thought of Bella as her best friend, sister and her second mother. Bella always made her feel safe and content. When Edward was not there, she became Lia's rock and made her move on from him. It wasn't easy, of course. Forgetting your first & truest love was never easy for anyone, it was nearly impossible. But moving on was easier. She wanted Edward to live a happy life without her and she wanted herself, to seek for happiness without him.

“But seriously Lia, you need to stop this. At least, stop this until Edward is here.”

“I’m not going to change who I am for Edward. He needs to see what I am now,” argued Lia bitterly. A vampire and a human in love with each other? It could never work. It was never meant to be. And she wasn’t afraid to show Edward that she had changed, that she wasn’t the ‘Foolish, Naïve’ girl that he loved five years ago. Bittersweet memories flashed through her mind and she shook her head to get rid of them. Those memories were her weaknesses and she would not let them take hold of her heart.

“Okay. Start dating and stop shagging,” said Bella throwing her hands up in the air exasperatedly. She actually felt bad for Edward and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he still loved Lia. More than everything, more than his own life. But what Lia was doing was immature. No, it was downright childish. Lia knew that she wouldn’t be able to resist the mate’s pull for long, and she was sure that Edward won’t be able to move on. And she knew that Lia was making it hard for both of them by increasing their misery. “Maybe, you’ll find the man of your dreams someday.” Bella sighed wistfully, putting her hands over her chest over her chest. Her eyes glazed over as she imagined Edward & Lia together. Gah! Stupid vampire. Stupid human.

“The man of my dreams is light-years away.”

“Bullshit,” Bella scoffed and zipped up her dark blue leather jacket. “He’s downstairs.” She muttered the last part, so that Lia won’t hear her.  “Hey listen, I’m going down to check the cars, okay? You get ready real fast.”

“Uh-ha,” Lia nodded smiling slightly as she watched Bella walking away. She had to go to work on Sunday too, and it totally messed up with her schedule. So she thought she’d go to the car racing to clear her mind from…stuff. And she wasn’t liking the way her body was reacting to Edward’s presence. Five years ago, there was no tension between them, at least it was not sexual. But now, her hormones were driving her crazy and she needed something exhilarating , something to get her mind out of him. Something! Anything!

Lia got up and fixed her denim skirt and knee high boots. She took one good look at herself and mussed her hair a little. Her hair seduced her shoulders as it fell down in waves. Her eyes with minimal make-up looked amazing, but she could see sadness swirling in there. But no one will notice her emptiness, she thought smirking at reflection in triumph. No one will find out about how miserable she was or how messed up her life was. She sprayed some Chanel No.5 on her body and slowly walked outside the room.

Edward wouldn’t be in the home, she thought. She had noticed his black eyes the night before, and that implied one thing – he needed to hunt. He was famished and she was worried about him. She never admitted it herself that she felt anything for Edward, but oh. She hinted that they could hunt in the forest near their home. And to her immense relief, Carlisle took the hint and ran out of the house, dragging Edward along with him, despite his protests. She knew that she was acting like a spoiled brat by ignoring Edward, but it would be beneficial for both of them. Edward couldn’t give her what she wanted and she couldn’t give Edward what he deserved. So there’s no point of having a fruitless relationship with him. They would end up getting hurt as always, so it was better that way. Mountain Lions – his favourite, she secretly wished that he would find one and feast on it. She was worried about him, she was worried about Bella, she was worried about Jacob, but she forgot herself. In an attempt to satisfying everyone, she forgot who she was in real. All that was left of her were pieces. 

Her soul reached out to him, her heart screamed his name. But she kept it to herself, trying to take all the pain by herself and hiding her emotions with a smirk. The distance was provoking her to take a step towards him, to hug him, touch him, to no avail.

She swung her arms back and forth and bounced on her heel, trying to look happy and giddy, which she was not. She didn’t knew who she was deceiving. She didn’t knew that why she was feigning happiness, when she was alone at home. Maybe she was trying to fool herself. Maybe she was trying to convince everyone that she was happy. She started to sing and continued singing, as if nothing were wrong with her life.

She rounded the corner while humming to herself. Her hand touched the knob of the door which she twisted and had almost opened the door, when a pale hand shot up from behind her and made contact with the wooden door. All Lia saw was a silver swish that touched the door in nanoseconds. The door closed from the contact and Lia stilled her movements. Her ragged breathing and his calm one was all she could hear.
 “Where were you going?” 

“For shopping.”

“Do not lie to me, Lia,” he growled out through gritted teeth.

“And you do not tell me what to do,” she said icily as she turned around and placed a hand on his chest. She gulped when she saw how close he was standing. His eyes were blazing with anger and his face was inches away from hers. He could almost taste her lips on his tongue Edward’s breathing changed too. Her scent invaded his senses and his tongue darted out to lick his lips. Lia’s eyes followed his actions and her pupils dilated. His chest heaved in anticipation, when she placed her hand on it. “Let me go.” Lia applied some pressure  on his chest. He just stood there. She sighed. “Fine, I’m going to an event.”

“What event?”

“Car racing.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed at this.

“You’re going to a car racing event? Lia, have you lost your brain? Do you know how dangerous it is?”

Edward’s voice was calm. Too calm for Lia’s liking. Her breathing once again became erratic and Edward stood there, waiting patiently for Lia’s answer.

“It’s not like I’m going there for the first time, Cullen. Go away,” said Lia firmly as she moved past Edward.

“Lia, it is dangerous for you. You can get killed!”

“Then let me get killed!” Edward backed away a bit at her sudden outburst. “Edward, let me be. I-You can not fight fate anymore. I’ll die someday, anyways. I just don’t want my blood being sucked off by some vampire so, I’ll not stop you from protecting me from vampires, but you do not have any right to stop me from doing what I want to do, enjoying what I like to do.”

Edward looked like he wanted to argue more and he opened his mouth to speak again. He thought that Lia was wrong and right at the same. He wanted her to enjoy her life, didn’t he? He wanted her to be happy. But he thought that she would indulge in some more productive activities. Not car racing, bars and…..oh he didn’t knew what else she did to ‘enjoy’. Lia held her hand up when she caught the glint in Edward’s eyes, which meant that he would argue more.

“Edward please,” her voice dropped to a whisper, as she begged him with her eyes. “I’m going through enough shit. I don’t want to argue anymore with anyone. Please let me go. My life is totally fucked up and now that you’re here – I do not think I could endure much more of this shit.”

She was going through shit? She could not endure anything anymore? Her life was fucked up?! Hell, if there was any state in which life was shittier than shit, then his life was in that state! His whole life was like a fucking joke! And she had a choice to die. He never got that choice! His brain was going to burst and he was practically fuming with anger. But she was a human, as strong as she was for a human, she would not be able to face a vampire’s rage. And now that she was standing in front of him, he could not make her run away from him. He would not scare her away.

“Fine, Lia. I will go with you.”