Being Bad

Chapter 42: Always Come Back

Lia James

I can't take it anymore.

I can't take constantly thinking about him, and what he could be doing. I can't stand missing him, the idea of him being somewhere across the country.

And I've realized that I needed to talk to someone about it. Not a therapist, or anything like that, but a person who I am close with and is comfortable with me talking about it.

That completely rules out Mason, Lina, and the others. Plus, we're still in limbo, so that's a no-go either way. Aunt Alex talks with me about these things, but she's biased because Mason and Lina are her children. I would talk to Eli, but we have a awkward relationship at the moment, ever since he found out about me dating Ian.

So, that leaves one person left. The most biased person of them all. But I put that behind me, because I have a feeling she will put past her opinion and help me out with how I'm feeling. Plus, she's the person that knows Andrew the most, inside and out. So, what better person would I pick to talk with?

With one blink, I'm standing in front of their front door, waiting to ring the doorbell. I have some crazy thought that maybe Andrew will be there too, you know, considering it's his house, but I don't keep my hopes up.

When I finally do find courage to ring the doorbell, I'm greeted by Andrew's lovely parents, Jeremy and Natalia. Just the people I wanted to see.

I can see the confused expression in their faces, as I rock back on my heels waiting for them to invite me in. We say nothing for a good 30 seconds before I feel prompted to speak on me being here.

"So," I paused. "You're probably wondering why I'm here, just randomly ringing the doorbell, but I have a good reason."

They exchanged looks, increasing my feeling of awkwardness before giving me a look back.

"I think we have an idea of what that reason could be." Mrs. Price says, before stepping out of the way, and ushering me in.

"He's not here, is he?" I felt obligated to ask because I wanted to be completely sure.

"No, honey, he's not here." She spoke first, before Mr. Price shook his head.

I sighed with a bit of sadness. "I had a feeling, I just wanted to be sure, you know? But, that's not the real reason I'm here. I just thought I could talk to you guys for some advice."

"Sure, anytime." Natalia gestured for me to sit in the living room. "Sweetheart, could you get Lia something to drink? Are you thirsty?"

"You don't have to, I'm fine."

"Jeremy, go." She shooed her husband away, and he stepped into the kitchen to give us a moment.

"So, how are you holding up with this whole situation?" I asked her, and she honestly looked like she was about to break. I knew Andrew had some prior history about doing this before, and it seemed like it broke her for the first time. I can't imagine how it feels the second time.

And it's all because of me.

"I'm feeling a bit of deja vu." She laughs. "History just loves to repeat itself."

"Honestly, I can't imagine how you're feeling right now. I'm so sorry that you have to go through this." I grabbed her hands for comfort.

"Lia, you don't have to apologize for anything. This is not your fault. This is my son making a scene when things don't go his way."

"With all due respect, Mrs. Price, it is my fault. This whole thing started because of me. Andrew made that deal with Shelby because of me. He's off somewhere doing who knows what because I hurt him. I told him that I didn't want to see him again. That was me. I deserve all the blame, all the heartbreak that I've caused this family."