So, this is the last chapter of Love Is... but this does not have the article that Liana writes. I'll upload it most probably and I'll also upload an epilogue. :) Hope you all love this chapter. Happy reading!
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CHAPTER – 43 (Completely unedited!)
LOVE IS... FAITH
'Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.' – Erich Fromm
In the last few days, Ashton and I had very kindly ignored the fact that I had to leave the country soon. It was always at the back of our minds, but we didn't let it affect the little time we had together. We spent one peaceful day at my parents' place, and to my heart's content, my parents loved him, contrary to how Dad had been when he had visited me a few days back. He didn't disturb me when I had to write the article, but did throw negative comments about love all the while which made me laugh. I wasn't disturbed by those comments, but upon asking the reason, he had answered in a dead panned manner, that 'I have a reputation to maintain.'
With the excitement and nervousness of a kid showing his playroom to his friends, he opened the door of his art room for me. It was a room attached to his bedroom, the same room that he had once said was the direct entrance to Hogwarts. I had laughed at the irony; the room was the direct entrance to Ashton's imaginative world. And it was, for the lack of a better word, beautiful... amazingly beautiful. It was an insight into Ashton's mind. The paintings were his moods and they left me speechless. Not that I was some art expert, but I knew when I liked something to look at. Those were the paintings which made me want to not look away from them.
"Why did you paint me?" I had asked him while looking at one of his creations – creation of a girl sitting alone in a blurred bar. It was me... four months back.
He shrugged, looking at me as if it was no big deal. "You intrigued me." I had smiled in response and let the matter drop. Many words were not needed between us, and I liked it like this. He knew that I loved it, and every painting he showed me.
I had managed to submit the article to Priscilla on time, thankfully. I didn't tell her what all had developed between Ashton and me in these twenty days. Ashton didn't want me to, as he didn't want Parkers interference between us. He had said that if they were smart, they would understand after reading the article. I had silently agreed, submitted the article, and discussed the terms of the next assignment.
During the past week, we cooked together, we shopped together, we stayed at either of ours apartment and in this week, none of us slept on the couch, we spent most of our times together because we knew that we didn't have much time. But not once did we talk about that fact.
Even when I was packing my stuff, Ashton had helped me while throwing pervert comments almost every half minute. He made it look like his main focus was on how hot I would look in a particular dress rather than on the fact that I was going away. But as we lay facing each other on my bed on my last night here in the New York City, we realized that the moment we had avoided talking about wasn't far away.
We were tired, dead tired after hours of packing, but we couldn't sleep. It was like we had to talk about the dreadful topic, but we couldn't. No words escaped our mouths as we just stared at each other, holding hands, making unsaid promises.
"Come with me," I whispered, asking him to do one thing that I knew he couldn't do.
His lips twitched slightly, and he caressed my cheek with his warm hand. He didn't reply, because I knew that he couldn't lie about joining me, and he didn't want to hurt me by stating the truth that 'he can't'.
After a few moments of silence, I felt like talking, not letting the sadness that the silence brought with it take over our moods and asked, "Do you really think we can work this out?"
He shook his head, making me raise my eyebrows in response. "I don't think; I know we can work this out."
I smiled. It was good as at least one of us had to be positive. "It's good to see you so positive," I said what was on my mind.
Laughing lightly, he half shrugged. "I have my moments."
Smiling, I asked him, "How is Mr. Stevens?" Mr. Stevens, his manager, had a major accident the night Ashton rushed out of my apartment. Apparently, he was with him and his family the entire night and day, when I had thought he had disappeared somewhere when he had asked me to wait.
"He is better, but his hand would take about a month to work properly."
I nodded. His exhibition was in about two months and his manager's accident had resulted in putting some more pressure on him. He wanted him to recover fully and then only return, because of which he had his hands full these days till his exhibition. Amidst all this, I actually wondered how we would survive a long distance relationship.
He probably noticed the worry on my face as he grumbled, "Liana, stop being a pessimistic." I pressed my lips in a thin line. "You've seen Ivy and Mike, right? I know Ivy since years, and half of the year she is not here in New York, away from Mike. Still they make it work. Don't they?"
My mind went to the dinner I had with the cute couple a few nights back, and I nodded automatically when I recalled how wonderful they looked together. In all the conversations I had with Mike, he hadn't even once complained about the problems of a long distance relationship, which was odd considering the kind of guy he was in high school. 'Maybe love actually do wonders to people,' I mused.
A sigh escaped his lips as he moved closer to me and circled his hand around my waist. "It's just one year, and we will visit each other often. I don't know about you, but I will because I don't think I can stay away from you for long..." I smiled, biting my lip as he trailed off, and eventually continued, "... and I'm one lazy ass, who is 'good for nothing'."
Light laughter erupted from my mouth as he mocked himself and the many rumors that float around. He smiled when he saw me laughing, and I moved closer to him, leaving no distance between us. "Why don't you disclose your identity to the world, and shut their mouths for good?"
"I don't want to," he said, shrugging his shoulders as if it really didn't bother him. "You know, I don't care about what people think of me. I started caring about what you think, and I told you the truth."
I smiled a little. "I feel privileged."
"That, you should!" He was back to his cocky self and I loved that even more.
But I couldn't let him spoil all of his relations. Priscilla did care about him, and as he had told me about his past, even he loved her like a mother. How could he not? I tried to push my luck, not wanting to push him much regarding his family matters. "Maybe you should talk to the Parkers."
Gone was his cocky attitude and it was replaced by a slightly irritated scowl. "Seriously, Liana? Do you really want to talk about them now?"
I pulled my luck back as it was obvious that the Parkers other than Dylan were a sore subject for him. Sure, he loved me, and I was an important part of his life, but that didn't mean that he had to do everything according to my wish, and I could change every aspect of his life. I completely understood that, and I passed a guilty smile in his direction. "Sorry. There was no harm in trying, right?"
He chuckled. "I understand your concern, but I'm fine the way I am. I'm in no mood for reconciliations."
"Okay." I smiled a little. There was a right time for everything in life, and maybe this was not the right time to set things straight between Priscilla and Ashton. "So, I'll just tell everyone that my boyfriend is 'good for nothing'." I fluttered my eyelashes as I mocked him with an innocent smile.
He laughed, kissing my forehead. I watched as his eyes twinkled when he looked down at me with a grin plastered on his face. "You know, that's not true. I'm good to look at." He winked, making me laugh and swatting playfully at his chest.
"That you are." I agreed with him, pecking his lips for a brief kiss.
"And you can tell them that I'm sexy beast."
"Oh, of course! How can I forget that?" I played along. "And what am I supposed to tell people when they ask me that what does my boyfriend do for a living?"
With a cheeky grin, he answered me as if it was the easiest answer ever, "I love my girlfriend for a living."
I laughed at his cheesy reply. "You're so cheesy that it's hard to believe that you're the same guy I met a month back."
He shrugged. "Well, I read your cheesy articles a few days back..." We laughed at what he was implying.
Once our laughter calmed down, I looked in his eyes as he stared back at me. The words were at the tip of my tongue, I so badly wanted to tell him that I love him, but I didn't. He noticed my apprehensions and smirked. "C'mon! I know you want to say those words. What's stopping you?"
I narrowed my eyes at him, silently accusing him for being the reason of my non-confession. "Your best friend's name," I answered, making him laugh as he teased me. I scowled at him. "Do you like not hearing those words from me?"
That sobered him as he smiled and said, "I know the truth, so I don't mind it. After all, it was you who first said that I am bullshit."
I pouted at his stubbornness. "But I really want to know," I whined and I hated whining.
He pressed his lips together. I knew he didn't like not telling me his best friend's name, but when he was about to tell me his name in my parents' home, his phone had rung, and the culprit was the subject of our topic. Ashton informed him briefly about what happened, and he had, in a span of one minute, changed Ashton's mind about telling me his name. As a result of which, now after about a week I had still not said the three golden words – I love you – to Ashton as he still hadn't told me his best friend's name. It felt like they actually enjoyed the torture I went through in finding out his name.
And I liked the torture when he waits for me to say those words.
We were kind of equal.
"He'll tell you soon. Maybe tomorrow only as you're going..." He tried to console me and then trailed off, not saying the words out loud.
The comfortable environment soon changed to a dreadful, awkward one. "Yeah, maybe," I mumbled back. Ashton didn't let the awkwardness settle for a long time as he pulled me towards him in one swift motion and placed the first of the many kisses we shared that night...
**
We stayed awake the entire night, whispering sweet nothings to each other, making love, and just looking at each other. None of us wanted the night to get over, but unfortunately, it did. The morning sun came up, glaring at us and telling us that the day I had to go away had come. Reluctantly, we pulled away. The pretense we had been doing since a week, dropped away as we couldn't smile as we looked at each other, we didn't talk other than the basic questions from Ashton which involved asking me if I had taken every important documents with me and kept them in my bag, and mesaying 'Yes' to every question. The ride to the airport was a silent one with each of us drowned in our respective thoughts.
But the moment we parked the car and stepped out of it. He held my hand and kissed me passionately, making our pretenses drop and letting our feelings take control.
"I love you," he firmly said, looking into my eyes and kissing me again. He didn't wait for my reply and started moving towards the lounge area, taking me along. I blinked back the tears and looked at the back of his head with the biggest smile on my face.
My eyes landed on two very familiar people standing a few feet away from us. Even a blind person could see the awkwardness between Stephanie and Ashton's best friend because of the way they stood a few feet away from each other, avoiding each other's eyes. Stephanie spotted me first and a huge smile covered her face. But as the distance between us decreased, I could see the tears in her eyes.
"Liana!" She hugged me. "I was happy, thinking that you've changed your mind and you're not going."
A grimace made its way to my face as we pulled away. "I'll miss you," I told her, feeling heavy as the reality of leaving these people dawned upon me.
"No, no. Miss me, but don't cry. Okay? Ashton would kill me if you cry because of me." She smiled despite the tears in her eyes.
"That, I would. No one can make my girl cry..." Ashton chimed in with a cheeky grin on his face. Just as Stephanie was in the middle of saying 'aww' at his heart melting reply, he added with a smirk, "... no one but me."
The second part of his sentence didn't bother me, as I knew that he had added it just for the sake of appearing strong in front of his little audience. I was way too emotional and him addressing me as 'his girl' just added heaps to my overwhelming emotions; the emotions that made me look at him with teary eyes. He noticed the look in my eyes and his pretenses dropped. He stepped towards me and in a second, I was embraced in a hug. I hugged him back and willed myself to not cry in front of him, but he was making it difficult.
"Oh, stop it! You both will make me cry!" Ashton was pulled away from me by his best friend, who was looking at both of us with a frown on his otherwise always smiling face. Hastily, I wiped the tears off my cheeks and shot a smile in his direction. He sighed and pulled me in a bear hug. "Neither am I telling you my name of the day nor giving you one, as your punishment for leaving," he declared as he pulled away from the hug, making me laugh.
"Oh, damn!" I played along with slumped shoulders.
"She hasn't declared her undying love for me because of you, you a*shole," Ashton accused his best friend, who just grinned and looked at Ashton with pride. In response, he kept his hand over Ashton's shoulders, half hugging him and kissed his cheek. "What the actual f*ck is wrong with you?" Ashton yelled, pushing him away as he wiped off the spot where he had just been kissed.
Stephanie and I laughed at his expense, while his best friend's grin just got wider. "That was your reward, my friend."
"F*ck off!" Ashton cursed, while killing his best friend with his gaze.
We laughed harder. I loved how they were the perfect definition of completely opposite best friends, and what I loved even more was how much they valued each other. In the past few days, Ashton had told me bits about his past which included how his best friend had been his major support during his years of struggle. He was the one who never lost faith in Ashton, and that made me respect and love him even more.
It was obvious that Ashton felt the same way about him, but being the one who never displayed his feelings in front of people, he chose to stay quiet and be rude. But I knew better. I mean, seriously, Ashton not telling me his name just because of a promise was a huge thing in itself, and no matter how irritating it was, I actually respected that. Not that I was ever going to tell him that!
I chose to call him by the name with which he had first introduced himself to me. I could vividly remember how confused, I had been upon meeting him. But still, he was endearing and I loved him like a teddy bear. "I hope to see you soon, Harry." I smiled at him, realizing that I would actually miss him a lot, even though I didn't know him much.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open in a comic way, reminding me of Joey from the Friends scene when he puts two and two together about Monica and Chandler seeing each other. With the same wide eyes, he looked towards Ashton and pointed his finger towards him in an accusing manner. "You told her my name!"
"I so didn't!" Ashton exclaimed, wide eyed.
"Harry is your real name?" I asked at the same time, looking at him with wider eyes and mouth open in shock.
"Then, who told her?" he asked from Ashton, ignoring my very important question. He turned to look at Stephanie with an accusing glare.
"Can't you see that she guessed it?" Ashton rolled his eyes.
"I can't believe that I actually knew it all along." I was still not out of the daze of finally knowing his name.
Harry groaned. "I can't believe that I fell in your trap."
We laughed at what he said. "Why do you hide it? It's a nice name." I asked him with a curious frown. Still, I made a mental note of asking his 'name of the day' on a daily basis. It was entertaining.
He groaned again. "Well, that's because you don't know my full name. Oh, and let me tell you, it's definitely not Styles."
"Then what is it?" I asked, displaying my curiosity and excitement in my voice.
He grinned after what seemed like a long time. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Oh, C'mon!" I whined, yet again while he just laughed. Before he could finally tell his full name, the announcement regarding my flight reached our ears. My head snapped towards Ashton, who was already looking at me with intense eyes. "I should be going," I breathed, forgetting all about Harry's full name.
He shot a half smile in my direction and nodded his head. "You should," he mumbled, coming closer to me.
My heart dropped at the thought of leaving him behind, and at the moment of utter weakness, I proposed, "Maybe I shouldn't. We need each other more than I need this job. I can find another job here."
Even before I had finished my sentence, he was already shaking his head in a series of 'no'. "You're going and that's final. I know we can make it work. Now go and make me proud." His determined expressions pushed away my weakness, thankfully, and I realized how lucky I was to have him with me, supporting me in my decisions rather than being selfish and asking me to stick by his side.
I opened my mouth in an attempt to protest, as no matter how eagerly my mind wanted to go and explore the world, my heart just wasn't ready. Going away from Ashton was a lot harder than I had eventually thought.
He interrupted me with his next words. "Have faith in me, Liana."
I couldn't help but nod. I did have faith in him, in us and that's why he had my heart...
Fighting the tears that were ready to flow down my cheeks, I grabbed his collar and kissed him with all the love and passion I had for him. He kissed me back with the same vigor and I smiled with tears in my eyes.
"I love you," I told him in a mere whisper, looking into his eyes when we pulled away. I would have said these words, even if I hadn't gotten to know Harry's name. The bundle of feelings was tied up in a huge mess at the particular moment.
His lips stretched in the biggest smile I had seen on his face and he kissed me again. "I love me too, bear," he whispered back referring to the name he had first addressed me as and successfully making me laugh despite of the overwhelming emotions we were facing. It was his turn to tease me, and I was fine with it.
With one last kiss, I stepped away from him and adjusted the strap of my handbag on my shoulder. My eyes wandered to the three people in front of me and I bit my lips as I looked at them. "I'll miss you all."
"No, don't waste your time in missing us and crying over us. Have fun, okay? I order you to have fun," Ashton said, making all of us smile.
"Your wish is my command." I mock saluted him.
He smiled his dazzling smile and told me, "Just have faith in me... in us." I nodded and smiled back. What was the use of going away with tears? We still had faith and love, which was better than anything else.
With the same thought in my mind, and hope in my heart, I turned to catch my flight with a huge smile on my face to see what life had in store for me...
~The End~
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A/N
'I order you to have fun!' Yes, that's exactly what my fiancé and I say to each other whenever the other goes out of station, leaving the other behind. :) And feminist here really don't need to rant that who is he to order her? Doesn't she have a mind of her own! Of course, she has. Wasn't she the one who made the decision of going! But she had a moment of weakness, and Ashton didn't let her weakness overpower her decision. That's supporting each other!
I had always thought of this very ending! I wanted them to be in a practical relationship rather than a bookish cliché one. And this is kind of perfect for Liana and Ashton! <3 I LOVE THEM!
So, that's how they end up together. Yes, they do. :) In my head, they do. Wait for the epilogue. You'll get to know more things. :)
1. If you haven't already voted or re-voted on the first chapter of 'And We Meet Again', then please go and re-vote on it again. It has been qualified for the next round of 'YourStoryIndia' competition. Do this before 26th April 2016. Thanks a tonne to everyone who has done this. You guys are really incredible. <3
2. Yes, his name is HARRY! Yes, he told that in the chapter when he was introduced, but converted it to a joke. If you remember, Ashton does say, "Yup, his name is Harry, right Harry?" And as you all know, Ashton has actually never lied to Liana, so he was true there as well. It was Harry who added 'Potter'. XD So, yes, even you all knew his name all along. And no, I'm not telling you his last name! Ha! And as per the condition, I'm telling you guys my name today as well. It'll be my signature at the and instead of 'Raima'. :)
2. I very much believe in Long distance relationships. If the two people have faith, love and will to make it successful, then is does become a success. I have myself been in a long distance relationship with my fiancé for about two years. My cousin married his girlfriend and they had a long distance relationship for years. I mean, I have seen instances of many such cases so don't be negative and say those things don't work. Not all work. If the people are right for each other, it works wonderfully. <3
3. NEXT STORY – I will be writing this story in Ashton's pov! Yes, you read that right. There were way too many things happening at Ashton's side that you all should know. Wait for the first chapter to upload. :) AND there'll be one more story about which I'll be announcing soon.
Thanks for staying by my side, by Liana & Ashton's side, even when Liana overreacted or when Ashton was extremely rude and when I didn't upload for ages! Means a lot to me. :)
Can't thank you all enough!
Richa <3 (Oh, yaya...that's my name!) XD