Warning for some suggestive language.
Two days pass with no reply
You've seen my texts I know
My friends, ask if I'm alright
The truth is, I don't know
"Liv, I've got a meeting with this record label, and I'll be gone for a few days. I promise I'll text you while I'm there."
That was his first lie.
It had been two days since Josh had texted Liv. Leaving her on READ without a reply made her go absolutely crazy.
"Hey, you okay?" her best friend Iris asked.
"I...don't know," Liv shrugged helplessly. "What if he's having so much fun that he forgot about me? What if he's with her...Sabrina?"
"Get some sleep," Iris replied, hugging Liv. "As they say in Annie, the sun will come out tomorrow."
I'm pulling out my hair at night
I feel it in my bones and it's so damn cold
I hate I believed you
When you said that you weren't with her
Remember in the kitchen light
You said that I was yours
Your hands wrapped around me tight
Right on the tile floor
You told me, "Babe, there's no way I could love you more,"
You were so damn cold
You said you'd stay, and you said forever
Without him next to her, the nights became colder although it was just your typical California summer. Never too cold, never too hot.
This was his second lie.
"Livvy, I promise, Sabrina is just a friend! We're just collaborating on this new music video!"
"Huh, how about those pictures of you spending the night at her house?" Liv fired back. "You seemed pretty happy then, and it didn't seem like a business!"
"I KNOW THAT I DON'T LOVE HER BECAUSE I ONLY LOVE YOU! GODDAMNIT!"
He did end up busting a toe when he kicked the wall in his fury.
"Do you really mean it?" she asked, her face softening.
"Why would I ever lie to you?" he answered, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'm yours, and you're mine. We were made for each other. There's no way I could ever love anyone else. I promise I'll stay with you. Forever. Someday, I'll put a ring on your finger and call you Mrs. Olivia Bassett."
Liv's mouth upturned into a smile. "Promise?" she asked, holding out her pinky.
"Promise," Josh said firmly, hooking his with hers. They kissed, and for a while Liv let herself believe him. Trust him, even.
And I've learned from the worst
That you leave before they can leave first
Boys lie, but I lie better
And I said "I'll be okay, I never wanted you anyway"
It's just the same if we're not together
So I said, "please leave,"
You never meant a thing to me
If you took Liv to the present day, those fantasies had crashed and she was brought back down to earth, facing the very real(and painful)reality. She saw those pictures of how happy Josh was with Sabrina online. Liv didn't see him much and they weren't as close anymore on set. Everyone knew what had happened and why they were so distant. They avoided each other's names in interviews and walked past each other as nothing but merely strangers.
On a brisk autumn day on set, Josh knocked on the door of Liv's trailer, a bouquet of white flowers behind his back. He'd done this many times over the past year, but it just seemed different now. She opened the door and groaned when she saw him. "What the hell do you want?"
"I just...want to talk. And give you these."
He handed her the flowers, which she gave right back to him. "Talk? You broke me, Joshua. First, you lied. Over and over again to my face. If you really wanted the best for me, please leave. It was just a showmance, nothing more. And I've moved on. The past is in the past, and best to leave it there."
That was a lie. He meant absolutely everything to her. She slammed the door in his face, and Josh put his head in his hands, the flowers dropping to the ground and forgotten. "Yeah. I deserved that."
Songwriting was Liv's escape from the harsh and painful reality of life. She wrote songs, but they weren't all happy old Liv anymore. Soon, she'd released a whole album. Lying and keeping everything under wraps was normal for Liv. She was an actor, it was her job. However, the breakup wasn't entirely bad. She'd learned two things: promises don't mean anything when they're broken. They're just hollow words, as good as none.
But these things break
You meant everything to me
Hah, told you there'd be angst.
Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep dreaming.
-V