His Beautiful Addiction

Tiana wiped her eyes with her already wet handkerchief, she was thankful that she didn't have any makeup on; else her face would be smeared with different hues of makeup and mascara.

Liam stood up from beside her and squatted in front of her; taking her hand in his.

''Does he deserve your tears? '' he asked, tilting his head to the side;

Tiana shook her head, hiccupping from crying too much.

Some strands of her hair had fallen to her face and Liam pushed them to the back of her ear;

''You're too too beautiful to cry over a man. ''

Tiana's eyes widened and she looked at him;

''And over someone that left you for another woman; ''

Tiana swallowed; she didn't tell him the details of their breakup, she just told him they had some issues which eventually led to them breaking up.

''I know… but it still hurts; I wish I didn't love him. '' She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand;

''You still love him? ''

Liam asked and Tiana was quiet; if she didn't still love him, she wouldn't be here crying her eyes out, but at that moment, she didn't want to accept that she was still in love with him, it was pathetic.

''Cry all you want now because after now, you should not cry over him again. ''

He said, looking straight into her eyes. Tiana blinked and hiccupped again;

She had cried enough and she didn't feel like crying anymore;

''I wish I can move on, as quickly as he did. ''

Her lips thinned;

Liam gazed at her in silence;

''Do you know the fastest way to move on from someone? ''

He asked and Tiana raised her eyes to him, shaking her head;

''No. ''

''By replacing them '' he paused to study her expression; ''you know why Nicklaus moved on so quickly? It's because he replaced you so quickly. The vacuum you created, someone filled it up completely and now he can barely think about you. '’’

Liam's words stung her heart; it was the truth but hearing someone say it hurt.

''You're a very beautiful woman; it wouldn't be hard getting someone to replace him. Or you can actually wait it out, time also heals the pain, but that process is longest, and it surely isn't working for you, so you have one choice left. ''

Tiana chuckled curtly;

''It's not easy opening up your heart again, it's not easy falling in love with someone else when you are still sad and hurt. ''

''I didn't say you should open your heart, just get someone to fill the void he has created, and soon you won't even think about him anymore. That's how our brain works, it's like a behavior; if you try to stop it, it feels undoable, but once you get something similar to fill the void of that behavior you won't ever remember the behavior. ''

Tiana smiled at him; ''Tsh… you speak like a pro, in any way, have you been in this situation before? ''

Liam laughed; ''Not really, I have dated a lot of women, and I liked my time with them, but there is only one woman right now that I like, and I think I've liked her the longest. ''

Tiana chuckled; ''your girlfriend must be lucky then...''

''Not my girlfriend… ''

Liam added immediately, stopping her line of words; Tiana's eyes widened at him;

''Oh, she isn't the one you like? Was it someone you dated before her? ''

''No, '' Liam smiled; ''She's someone I haven't dated, someone that stole my heart the moment I laid my eyes on her; someone some fellow with no tastes let slip out of his palms, someone I wish can let me cherish her. ''

Tiana's eyes widened and her heart slammed against her chest;

This was not happening… was… could…

''and that someone is sitting right in front of me now; I badly want to reach out and hug her and wipe her tears, only if she would let me. ''

Tiana's eyes widened at his confession;

''I…I thought you had a … ''

''I lied. I'm sorry but at that time I had no choice, I had to lie to talk to you. I don't have any girlfriend. I'm not saying this so you would like me too; I just want to come clean with you. ''

Tiana pulled her hand slowly out of his palms; this was not how she planned this night to turn out.

If she knew he didn't have a girlfriend she wouldn't have called to see him.

Or maybe she would?

She wasn't sure anymore, at that moment she really wanted to talk to someone.

Shit! From one trouble to another; she wasn't ready to start another entanglement.

''Liam… I'm sorry but I can't… there's a lot on my mind right now, I don't think starting a romantic relationship would be a good idea. ''

Tiana explained, feeling awkward that she had just cried in front of him.

Liam laughed; ''Hey, hey, Tiana, I'm not telling you to love me or what, neither did I say we should be in a romantic relationship or anything of that sort. I just said I liked you, I never said I was in love with you. For a fact, I haven't figured what I want with you, I don't know if I want a romantic relationship or if I want us to be just friends. Let's start by figuring each other out; in other words, what I'm saying is that I'm giving you permission to use me to overcome your love for him. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, and I'm not going to force you to remain with me if it doesn't work out. It's clear as day, no strings attached. ''

Tiana swallowed; ''How do I trust you when you had lied from the beginning? ''

She asked, creasing her brows; Liam kept quiet at her question, as though in deep thought;

''When you want something, you go for it. And that was exactly what I did that night; and I made sure not to overstep my boundaries. I don't force people to do what they don't want to do. Even right now, if you don't want to, I won't force you. ''