Forget All You Know

"There are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth."
-Anonymous

Lila's P.O.V.

I took a deep breath as I stood in front of the all too familiar door and knocked a couple of times. I knew that it was a stupid idea to quit my job and fly to London without telling anyone, but in my heart I knew that it was right. Tom loved me. He actually loved me! I would get my happy ending. For so long I thought that my happy ending was shot when I left Tom, but fate's given me a second chance. And I wasn't gonna let this one pass me by.

When Tom opened the door, a look of shock spread across his face. I couldn't read his expression. For the first time in my life, I couldn't read him. It sort of frightened me. Maybe too much had happened since I'd left. I hated that. You know, when you're gone for however long and then come back to find that everything's changed. That happened to me one time when I went to summer camp. I came home after a fun summer to find that one of my friends had turned into such a bitch! Yeah, you can imagine how a 12-year-old me was feeling. Pretty shitty. Not gonna lie.

"Lila?" Tom said, as he looked down at his wristwatch. "It's one in the morning."

"I know, and I'm sorry that I came at this time, but it was the first flight that I could get," I said quickly as I stared into his muddy brown eyes. I still couldn't read him. It was killing me. I wanted to know what was going on behind those eyes, but I couldn't figure it out.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as I scratched the back of my neck.

"I got your message. Well, I got it a little late, because my roommate is a bit spacey," I said as Tom's eyes widened. "I quit my job, Tom. It wasn't worth what we were. And Jazzie told me what Austin was trying to do! I felt like such an idiot, I really did. Tom, I love you so much and I'm willing to give everything up to be with you again."

"I-I...You got my message? You really love me back?" Tom asked as I smiled and nodded, tears beginning to form in my eyes. Let me just clarify something, they were happy tears. You know, the same tears that you get when you get married or have a baby. It was those tears. Anyways, Tom pulled me into a hug and I felt complete for the first time in five and a half months. I really did. It just felt right to be back in his arms. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's hard to explain. It just felt like everything was alright for once.

"Tom?" I heard a female voice call from further inside Tom's apartment. I pulled out of the hug that we'd shared and looked at him with confusion. I cocked an eyebrow and looked past him to see a girl who was about our age.

She was pretty. Well, that's an understatement. She was gorgeous. Her red hair fell down her back in the most perfect curls imaginable. Her bright green eyes glistened when she looked around the room. She was way out of Tom's league and far prettier than I could ever be. I almost felt intimidated by her. My frizzy hair and slobbish clothes made me feel inferior to the girl standing before me. And that's when I knew that I'd been replaced.

"Um, Jamie, this is Lila," Tom said awkwardly as I looked at him with disbelief. "Li, this is Jamie."

"Are you a friend of Tom's?" Jamie asked me in a genuinely sweet voice. That was my problem. It's not like I could hate the girl. I couldn't say that she was a bitch and that Tom had made the worst decision of his life. There was nothing wrong with her. There was nothing for me to dislike.

"I dunno," I said quietly as I looked down at my feet. I don't think that Jamie caught onto my upset mood, though, because she giggled and went up on her tip-toes to give Tom a peck on the lips.

That was when I lost it. I really did. I quickly turned on my heal and ran out of the apartment building as fast as I could. I might be sounding like an overemotional, psychotic bitch right now, but can you really blame me? I just got a message from him saying that he loved me, I show up in England to make it right, only to find that he's moved on. I was so angry, I didn't even stop when I heard him calling my name. I didn't bother to slow down when I realized that he was chasing after me. I just wanted to get away from him.

"Lila! Dammit!" I heard Tom yell behind me. "Please stop! Or at least slow down!"

I would've kept running, but I had gotten to the end of the street, and I couldn't keep running. The cars were stopping me from getting further away from Tom. He finally caught up with me and grabbed onto my arm, keeping me from running away again.

"Let go of me, Tom!" I yelled as he shook his head, trying to catch his breath.

"Please don't start running again," Tom begged as I stopped trying to wiggle free of his grip. "I can't outrun you. I know, it's pathetic."

"Who was she?" I asked as tears started to form in my eyes. I couldn't take it. I didn't want to admit to myself that Tom had really moved on.

"Jamie? She was a girl that Danny went on a date with once," Tom said, his grip still tight around my arm.

"How long have you been seeing her?" I asked coldly as Tom sighed and looked down at his feet. I glared at him, pissed beyond belief.

"This was our first date."

"You brought her back to your flat after the first date?" I said darkly. "Real classy."

"No! I was talking about my guitars and she said that she really wanted to see them! I wasn't planning on sleeping with her," Tom said as I shook my head, not believing his story for a minute.

"Well, that's not what she had in mind," I said bitterly. "Now let me go, Tom."

"No," Tom said as he moved closer to me. "I'm not letting you go again, Lila."

And then he kissed me. That pompous ass actually kissed me. And, truth was, I kissed him back. That's what scared me. The fact that I was letting myself fall under his curse scared the crap out of me. I shouldn't have kissed him back. I know that. But, I couldn't help it. No matter how much I hated him at the moment, I still loved him. There is a fine line between love and hate, after all.

"I love you, Lila. And I know that you love me back," Tom said after I broke away. I shook my head and snatched my arm free from his grasp.

"It was a mistake to come back," I said as I turned and began to leave. "I'll be on the first flight home tomorrow."

"No!" Tom pleaded as he ran to catch up with me. "Please, Lila, don't leave. Don't say that this was a mistake! Not again! I need you to stay. I haven't been the same without you."

"Do you even see where I'm coming from here, Tom?!" I yelled as his eyes widened and he stared at me blankly. "I quit my job and came back here because you left a message with my roommate saying that you loved me and wanted me back! And now, I get here, and you're getting ready to fuck another girl! Yeah, it really seems as if you missed me."

"No, you don't under - " Tom began, only to have me cut him off.

"Don't tell me that I don't understand!" I yelled as tears began falling down my face. "You can go back to Jamie now. I won't be bothering you anymore."

And then I left. If I could've seen into the future, I probably would've stayed. I would've tried to work it out with Tom. But, instead, I got on that plane the next morning and changed both of our lives forever.