Forever Love Ch. 01

"I can see there's something on your mind..." Lilliana said stepping beside him.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." he replied looking away and into his glass of wine. He didn't want to meet her gaze.

"Honey, I am your mother and I know you very well. Now tell me, is it a girl?"

His hands stopped in mid air at the question. How could she know?

"You know, love and relationships are not forbidden things... I don't know why you're so determined on keeping yourself away from it."

"Mother, I've explained it to you. You have Terrence to take care of you and well everyone else I care about can take care of themselves. But she's a human mother and I can't have her turn into my weak spot. It's good for both of us. And what is the guarantee that she'll accept me?"

She was silent. She understood his emotions. When she first met Phillip, she'd been... well, smitten. He looked so strong and yet he had so much grace in him... even when she found out he was a vampire, she wasn't scared but everyone else wouldn't react like her.

"But I won't be having any grandchildren..." she said, with a look of mock disappointment on her face and he smiled. She could go through lengths to make him smile. "And it won't hurt to smile every now and then... I love it when your eyes light up when you smile..." she said cupping his face in her hands. No matter how old he gets, he'd always be her baby boy.

"I should leave now. Father will be waiting for the decision we made here." He said kissing her forehead and giving her a tight hug. She was the only person in front of whom he could let go of everything else and be himself.

"Ok. Give him a hug from me." She said winking as he walked away still smiling.

* * *

"What is the matter Marie?" Lisa prodded for the umpteenth time.

"Nothing's the matter... what makes you think there is a matter?" she replied as she mashed the potatoes for dinner. She kept on telling herself that would forget the man, she would forget the incident but even after three weeks, she kept dreaming about him and the sinful things he did to her body.

"I know something's wrong. We've known each other for fifteen years; you can't hide your sadness from me. You're awfully quiet these days. I know it's not about Jeff because you're over him... I just want to make it easier for you..."

"I know...you're asking because you love me. But really, there's nothing to worry about! I'm just... I just don't feel like talking..." she turned away from her best friend so she could hide the pain in her eyes. Why did her heart still ache for that man?

"Ok, I'm late for my dinner with dad but I really wish you'd tell me..." Lisa said as she got up and hugged her. She hated seeing Marie so quiet but there was no way of making her talk either... "I just hope dad will be ok with me dropping out and opening the bakery... but whatever happens, I'll be back by 11 and then we can watch that movie we rented earlier." She added.

"You have a good time..." Marie smiled. She didn't want to keep secrets but right now, she had no idea what was going on.

It was half past twelve when she sat down on her chair. She'd finished her assignments, cleaned her room and even baked some cookies but now there was nothing left to keep her busy and her mind was in turmoil. She wanted to know why he had that effect on her. She was tired of her eyes tearing up every time his face crossed her mind, she was fed up with how her body reacted every time she remembered his deep voice... she wanted this to end, she'd had enough pain in the past month.

That's when she heard a loud thump come from Lisa's bedroom. For a second, she was scared as to what it could be but then she grabbed her baseball bat and headed towards the room opposite to hers.

She quietly made her way across the living room, gripping the bat tightly. She could see a dim light from under the door. It could not be Lisa because had she come home, she'd come to meet her first and she hadn't heard the main door unlock. She could hear her own heartbeat as she grabbed the knob and turned it. It was not locked so she flung the door open and raised her bat preparing for the worse but shrieked and let the bat fall when she saw who it was.

"God, I'm so sorry Lisa..." she said quickly turning towards the door and was about to leave when his smell assaulted her senses again. Her eyes widened as she whirled around and looked at the face of the man who'd left her in so much agony. She couldn't do anything, she couldn't say anything. All she did was stare at the hazel eyes as tears started blurring her vision.

She tried to blink them away and looked at Lisa who was literally mashed in his arms, she looked dazed. Her eyes moved back to him. She could feel her soul screaming and her heart twisting at the betrayal. Earlier, she'd only felt rejected but now each cell of her body was crying for something she didn't know.

"What the fuck... are you doing..." she managed to say as sobs took over her ability to speak and tears flooded her face. How dare he hurt her like that? How dare he have that sort of control over her feelings? Why was she hurting? Why did she feel so betrayed by him... he was a stranger, he shouldn't mean anything to her!!

Earlier, she had a glimmer of hope that maybe he'd wanted to return but couldn't. She'd held on to the thought that maybe if she saw him again, things would be different but now she was sure she meant nothing but a fuck to him... hell he was in her apartment, in her friend's bedroom sucking her face... now everything was over... she didn't know what she felt for him before but now, she hated him.

Lelam stood there, his senses had stopped working. He'd smelled her as soon as she entered the bedroom but he couldn't escape. He couldn't risk her seeing him and he cursed at himself for forgetting who the girl was. He'd found her drunk at the bar of a restaurant. He was there for a meeting and his hunger was driving him crazy so after he checked her license; he had brought her home thinking he could feed there. How could he have forgotten who she was? His berated himself for letting his hunger get over his senses. Now he stared at her, standing in the middle of the room, tears gushing down her cheeks. Every fiber of his being wanted to gather her in his arms, to soothe her and to tell her that it was ok but he couldn't. He had gone through extreme measures to make sure he would not reach that stage. No matter how much he longed, he would never touch her. He would never hug her. No matter how much his heart twisted inside him, he would never let himself go there.

"Get out!!" she whispered, unable to speak over the sobs. She wanted him out of her home and out of her life. She watched him as he lowered Lisa into her bed. For a moment, he stood in front of her as if he wanted to say something but she didn't want to hear it.

"Get out get out get out!!" she yelled, she didn't have the energy to deal with him...

For a moment he looked almost sorry but the expression was gone within seconds and without another word, he left.