Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Third POV

Flashback

They pull away from each other, breathing heavily and noisily, but that doesn't decrease the need they both feel and they wanted to satisfy.

Rory's hands stroked Ginger's cheek before letting his fingers dropped to her bare shoulder and she giggled, moving her legs which are wrapped in the bedsheets so they could wrap around Rory's solid form and biting down in her red plump lips, Rory wasn't sure if he'd said it before but he could not help saying it again.

"I love you, Ginger." His eyes met hers and he saw no emotions therein. "You don't have to tell me that you love me or not, I just want you to know."

She bit her lips hard, "I love what we have. Besides you know." Her eyes dropped.

"This is because of my mom, isn't it?" He asked, his eyes revealing he's really hurt.

She nodded, "Your mom says I'm only bad news, she asked me to stay away."

He cupped her cheek affectionately as he raised her head so she could look into his eyes which were towering above hers. "Don't listen to what mom says, she doesn't know how I feel and I know I love you and your eyes show me you love me even if you say otherwise. I know you're not after my money because I know you do have the same feeling for me too."

He locked his lips on hers again, tasting the sweet savour from her perfect lips. She moaned and melted into his hands when they touched her bare back to wrap around her slim waist. All he wanted to do was to show her how much he loved her and wanted to love her.

Three weeks later.

"Ginger. Wait. Please. Come on. Don't leave me. I'll do anything you want, please, I love you."

Rory followed behind Ginger as she walked out of the campus after she'd broken the news of the break up of their four years relationship to him. She had called him earlier telling him that they needed to talk and although Rory didn't think anything was wrong, her tone of voice made him weary and scared of what she had to say to him.

A couple of students standing by began to stare and others laughed at the weak tone of Rory's voice.

"Stop following me and stop acting like a fucking kid!" She hissed a little irritated and angry at his childish sentiment.

"You know what you're doing? If this is a joke please it's not funny. Just -" he tried taking her hand but she yanked it away from his reach. Her reaction stung him like a bee in the heart.

He stared into her eyes, hoping he could see something's hopeful within them, but just like most times those looks were locked out of her expression and all he saw was a blank look.

She walked out of the dorm, into the main street where a lot of people and students were some who were taking out their phones to take pictures and record. "It's mom, right? She finally got to you to snap and you're taking it out on what we have. But, Gin, you should know that Mom is just gonna talk, you don't have to listen to her."

"Your mom has nothing to do with this Rory, I'm leaving because I think it's the best thing to do."

"No, no, no, please don't say that, I'll die without you. I'll do anything you want, just don't leave me." He sobbed weakly, feeling like the last strength was being sucked away.

"I can't keep up the act anymore or pretend anymore, I don't like you, I never did and the only reason I stayed was because—"

"Of my money?" He completed, remembering the exact words of his mom and his heart on the verge of exploding.

"Yes." She answered guiltlessly and as if knowing this wasn't hard enough on Rory she added. "I love someone else and I want to be with him."

"What?" His eyes darken, half because he was in pain and half because he was losing his sight from having shed many tears. "Someone else? Who?"

"Keenan. I'm in love with Keenan."

Flashback ends

Taylor's POV

I furiously turn to him, my face red and I glare at him in anger. "Just what the fuck did Ginger do to you that changed you into this person?" I explode.

"How the hell do you know about Ginger?" He asks with a suspicious raise of his eyes.

I almost bite my tongue. "You're not the only one who's done some digging up," I reply, matching his tone of voice.

"I don't want to talk about Ginger." He orders fiercely his eyes all edgy and defensive and I know he still so sensitive to any topic relating to Ginger.

"Of course you don't." I sneer angrily back at him. "Because even up to today you refuse to move on and forget the past. I bet you think I'm just going to be like her if you ever put me before your family's interest. Or maybe that I'll make a mockery of your love and go with your best friend behind your back!"

"Shut up!" He snaps in plain annoyance.

I did not realise I'd overstepped my boundary until I feel the hard grip of his hand on mine.

"You have no idea of what you're saying." He ground out, his eyes dark and daring as well as dangerous and fear creeps its way into my heart at the awareness of Rory being capable of hurting me.

"Let go of my arm." I wince in pain, as I struggle to free myself from the grip, but his hand tightens further around my hand. "You're hurting me, Rory, let me go!" I cry out.

He immediately let go of my hand and runs a quick shaky hand through his hair before he covers his face with his hand. When he looks up at me again he gives me apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Forget it." I cut him off, wrapping my hands around my hot and burning arms. "I don't want to hear it." Tears surge to my eyes, wanting to spill, but I blink them back and look at the man I can barely recognise.

"Taylor..."

"I knew this was never going to work." I give him a pained smile. "I guess I got my answer, but the painful thing is that I knew it all along."

"That's not true." He cut in.

"Prove that it's not then," I demand and he goes speechless. "That's what I thought."

.

I stare at myself in the mirror, looking at the outfit Jake and Keenan had gotten me for the date tonight and how perfectly the red mini gown looked on my body. It shouldn't feel this perfect, I don't want it to look perfect! I want it to look horrible just like I'm feeling.

These are the times when I need my best friend the most, but he's gone.

The horn blaring from outside tells me that Keenan is already out and waiting for me and I snap out of my thought to quickly put on my shoes. My door opens and Josh enters. "I'm going on a date with Naomi today and after that, I'm gonna ask her to be my girlfriend." He says quickly that I have to take a moment of review to understand what he's saying.

I look up at him from my shoe in amazement as well as excitement. "Really?" I grin a little too weirdly.

"Yes." He awkwardly replies and scratches his head.

Finally something good in this cursed day!!

"Oh. My baby is finally grown up." I squeal in a high pitch I never thought I had. I ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks.

He blushes in deep red and he gives me a hard stern look. "You need to stop doing that! Your date is waiting."

"What Joshua? Doing what?" I pinch his cheek again. "I'm going now, but I will be back to get the full detail." I pick my purse and walk to the door. "And tell Naomi I say hey."

When I walk outside, I see Keenan waiting beside his car all dressed and ready. He's putting on a grey tuxedo with a black bold tie and his hair seem to have been a little dyed into a slight shade of purple, but the mixture of the ginger colour and the purple makes him look ravishingly handsome.

Yes. I just thought him handsome.

He lifts his head and looks at me and a wide happy smile spreads across his face and he walks towards me. I smile back and dig my nails into my purse hard as he steps into my personal space. His eyes drink in my appearance and I swallow nothing as nervousness sweep me away.

"Perfect." He murmured as his eyes finally meet mine and my weaver.

"You're looking beautiful." He says stepping back. "And I would have been luckier if this wasn't a fake date."

I frown at him. "You do have your ways with words don't you?"

"Can you explain what you mean?" He asks as he takes my hand and leads me to the car, opening it for me and when I enter he closes the door.

I wait for him to enter and start the car before talking. "I mean how easy it is for you to talk your way into a girls mind even when you know she isn't yours. Especially when you know she's your best friends girl."

His eyes dim and I see his countenance fall and I want to apologise and take what I said back, but I don't. Part of the man Rory is today is Keenan's doing and if he'd stayed away from Rory's girl everything would have been good and Rory wouldn't be so insecure and afraid to trust love. It's his fault that Rory doesn't believe in what we have, believe in our love, or believe in me. It's his fault that Rory hurt me, it's all his fault and I'm mad at him and I don't want to pity him.

"I'm sorry." He says sorrowfully, his eyes not meeting mine and neither does he want it to.

"Do you even know what what you've done has done to Rory?!" I demand enraged and furious. "He doesn't trust me or want to, he's hurt and afraid that I'm gonna hurt him."

"I know."

"No, you don't! If you do, you won't be complimenting me or wishing more than what you already have."

He pulls into the roadside and turns off the car. He finally turns to me and I see the pain in his eyes as he looks at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm. If you don't want me around you, you can say it. You don't have to put up with me, I still don't feel happy about what I've done with Ginger and the memory hunt me to this day. I can't go back in time, but we can turn back now and you won't have to be around me because I know it's what you want."

"Why?" I ask, and like he knows he began.

"I didn't want to. I met Ginger first, but I didn't take us seriously and when she met Rory she went along with him because unlike me Rory did everything she wanted. It didn't stop my want for her and yes we met behind Rory's back many times and although she was Rory's girlfriend, I couldn't stop myself. But later the guilt built up in me and I called things off with her and I told her I couldn't keep thing with her behind Rory's back.

I didn't know she was going to break things off with Rory and hurt him the way she did. I won't say I'm innocent, hell, I'm far from that, but I never really wanted to hurt him. He was my best friend and I betrayed him." A tear slips down his face and he closes his eyes. "He has never said anything to me about what happened between him and Ginger, he still doesn't talk about it."

"He changed into someone else and his other relationships were disastrous because he didn't treat any of them like any girlfriend should be treated. Beth, Sandra and Eleanor. He was never faithful, cheated on them and I knew deep down that he was hurt and he's never healed and he took it out on his other relationships. Rory uses to be eager to love, to live to share... All he ever wanted was to be wanted."

He wipes the tears off his face and turns to me. "You can change him because he feels strongly for you."

I scoff in disbelieve, "I doubt that fact."

"He loves you," he says with so much certainty, "Ginger was the only girl he loved, but you change that. Give him time."

I don't have time! Tomorrow is the engagement and next month is the wedding. How much time am I going to give? How long until I lose this battle with love?

"Your family must be waiting for us," I said, changing the subject.

The strained smile appears on his expression and I know he wants to contradict and talk, but he turns on the car before and off.