Okay! Firstly, I'm sorry for such a delay. Now, please read this chapter carefully as it has a few flashback scenes in between the current scene. Flashbacks are written in Italics and are between Hashtags #********# this symbol. So, I hope you won't get confused. Enjoy! :)

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CHAPTER - 14

LOVE IS... A MEMORY

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal."

I stood up abruptly as I stared at his blue eyes in complete shock the moment I realized that he really was standing in front of my eyes. The breakfast that I had so devotedly devoured, threatened to come out of my mouth as bile rose in my stomach.

"Ana," he repeated. His voice was soft, like it always used to be while talking to me.

#********#

The first days of everything in life can be defined by one word in particular - nervousness. That's exactly what I felt when I stepped out of my dorm, clutching the strap of my messenger bag as if it was my shield. Getting in university was the first step towards my new life, but that meant, I had to face so many new faces. No, I couldn't be classified as completely shy or a very popular girl. I was just average. I had always been.

The huge building came in view and I walked the path to reach my first class. I had utilized my last two days in getting familiar with the premises of the university, so reaching the class was not going to be big deal. The deal was the nervousness and excitement about what was going to happen next.

As I jumped the staircase, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I stopped and took it out to look at 'Mom' flashing brightly on the screen. With a smile on my face, I answered, "Yes, I have reached the class, Mom. Please don't worry so much. Nobody is going to kidnap me from my dorm to class. It's hardly fifteen minutes walk."

She scoffed on the other end. "I'll see how you'd worry when your only daughter would be hundred miles away from you."

A chuckle escaped my lips and I told her, "Seriously, Mom, I can't call after every class and all. I'll talk to you at the end of the day. Okay?"

"Yes. But make sure you do. Take care. Miss you." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Miss you too," I mumbled and with a smile on my face, cancelled the phone. While keeping my phone back in my skinny jeans pocket, which was quite a struggle, I stopped abruptly at the turn of stairs, which I agree was a stupid move on my part. My stupid move resulted in me colliding with someone and a possible injured nose. "Ouch!" I yelped as I took a slight step back.

"Ow! Sorry," the guy apologized in his soft, melodic voice.

I looked up while rubbing my nose, most probably looking like a monkey, to see the guy whom I had collided into. As my eyes fell on his blue ones, my heart skipped a beat and all I did was stare at him for the next four-five seconds, forgetting about my injured nose. His words settled in my head and I came out of the trance as I shook my head and told him, "It was my fault. I'm sorry."

He smiled at me and for the next four-five seconds, I was mesmerized by the dimple on his left cheek. The guy in front of me was gorgeous with a cute dimple and smiling, happy eyes. Somehow, I willed myself not to let out a dreamy sigh at the handsome sight in front of me. "You're new here?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the right in curiosity. I couldn't help but notice how his golden locks fell on his forehead at his this movement.

"Um... yeah. First day of first year." I managed to tell him with a little smile on my face, despite of the lack of oxygen in my system.

"I'm in second year." He blinded me with his radiant smile.

"Nolan!" A guy patted his shoulder as if he hadn't noticed me and told him, "Class is going to start any minute. Let's go!"

'Okay, so, his name is Nolan. Nice. Very nice.'

"Yeah. Give me minute," he told his friend, who looked at me and then back at Nolan. He deliberately winked towards Nolan and went away. Nolan just rolled his eyes at his friend and looked back at me smiling. "I didn't get your name. I'm Nolan Maxwell, by the way."

"Liana Moore," I introduced myself way too eagerly. Thankfully, I didn't let the little girl in me start saying an essay on 'Myself', thereby, telling him everything about me even though he asked just my name.

His smile grew bigger and we just stared at each other for a long moment, which he broke. "I'll see you around, Ana."

My smile faltered a bit when I realized that he was going away, already. Well, I was stupid enough to not realize that even I had a class to attend. "Ana?" I asked in amusement. "My name is Liana." I chuckled, correcting him.

He ran his hand through his blonde head and shrugged. Displaying his dimple, he told me, "It's Ana for me." With that my crush-at-first-sight went away, leaving me to stare at his retreating back.

"Ana," I mumbled, testing the nickname on my tongue. No wonder, I liked hearing this name from him.

#********#

The hair at the back of my neck rose and I had goose bumps all over, upon hearing him again. No, he couldn't be here; here in this cafe where I decided to have my breakfast. No, he was not supposed to be here. My morning was not supposed to go like this. I was supposed to go back to Ashton's apartment and plan rest of the days of this assignment or get annoyed by his irritating and pervert ways. Not this!

"How are you?" he asked in a low, uncertain voice, breaking my thought process. That's when I realized that he had moved closer to my table.

I gulped my own spit as I looked at him with wide eyes and took a step back, knocking off the chair I was sitting on merely a minute ago.

"Oh! I... umm..." I trailed off as I really had no clue as to what I was supposed to say to him. What I chose to do instead of talking to him was pick up the knocked off chair and place it back on its four legs. And the moment I bent down to pick it up, I shut my eyes and took a few deep, much needed, breaths.

#********#

"How is that even possible?" Nolan asked wide eyed.

I shielded the direct sun rays that were attacking my face with my hand and told him while taking a bite of my sandwich, "Nothing is impossible."

It had been a month since I first collided with him at the lucky staircase, and over this one month, we had talked almost every day. It started with two minute greetings to hours of hanging out together. No wonder, Nolan was quite popular, not only among his year but the entire university. He was smart, intelligent, sincere, hot, sexy, friendly, helpful and had everything that a perfect guy should have.

He shook his head and continued as if I hadn't said anything, "Which guy would be stupid enough to not ask you out? Are you serious that you've never had a boyfriend?"

I looked around at the students who were resting and roaming around in the University Park, and shushed him. "You don't need to announce it to the world, you know!"

He laughed off my light scolding and pinched my cheek. "You are too adorable." That was the cue for my cheeks to turn red. "You are blushing," he pointed out, smugly.

Instantly, I covered my cheeks with my hands and argued unnecessarily, "I am not. It's the sun! My cheeks turn red due to direct exposure of sunlight."

Again, he laughed it off and I ducked my head, mentally scolding myself for being way too obvious about my infatuation for him. "Go out with me?" My head snapped up at the uncertain and nervous tone of his voice.

Was Nolan asking me out? He had to kidding!

But his nervous smile and hopeful eyes told a different story. The story that instantly made me dance with happiness on the seventh cloud. "I would love to," I told him, trying to keep my grin in control and not letting it split my face in two.

#********#

As I picked the knocked chair up and turned around, I heard a voice that managed to fuse the already dim lights in my head. "Ready to go?" My head snapped towards the source of the voice and I did what I had been doing a minute ago but towards another person. Ashton raised his eyebrows at my reaction while I searched for my voice to reach my vocal chords.

Ashton most probably didn't notice Nolan standing right in front of me or if he did, he probably chose to ignore his presence as being rude was the first phase of his nature. I, on the other hand, was in a fix as soon as the situation that I was stuck in, entered my mind.

Here, I was with both Nolan and Ashton, standing merely a meter away from each other, having no clue about what to say to any of them. This was the moment that I never thought would occur and yet, feared to face. This was time for all my lies to come out in the open. This was the time, for me, to face all the pain that I had faced four months back and successfully, managed to bury deep inside me. This was the time for my sorrows to resurface in a highly awkward situation, but I wasn't going to allow my heart to make a fool out of me. I couldn't.

"You look like you have seen a f*cking ghost..." Ashton commented, rolling his eyes and added after a pause of a second, "...or a ghost f*cking." Laughing at his own genius perverted mind, he shook his head and looked back at me with his signature smirk.

In any normal circumstance, I would have frowned at him in disgust at the dirty joke along with a not-so-subtle roll of eyes. But, this was not a 'normal' circumstance. So, I kept staring at him with my wits knocked down, wide eyes and dry as Sahara throat.

Nolan never liked being ignored for long. He showed that this hadn't changed about him as he cleared his throat rather loudly, making me look back at him. "How are you?" he repeated his question with slight anger in his voice. Gone was his concern and uncertainty.

The betrayal, the hurt, the pain, the tears along with every moment of that night flashed right in front of my eyes. And as I looked at him again, I forbid myself from giving any kind of answer to him. I narrowed my eyes at him and just as I opened my mouth to say 'Goodbye' to him, Ashton interrupted me, "Look, we are kind of in a hurry right now as I'm getting late for work. She'll catch up with you later." It was not a request from him to Nolan, but an order. Being polite wasn't something Ashton Parker was familiar with. Slight laughter threatened to erupt from my lips at the mention of the word 'work' from Ashton's mouth. He did nothing! He was actually good for nothing!

But before I could laugh, a realization dawned upon me. My narrowed eyes widened when I realized that Ashton hadn't recognized Nolan at all. He had seen our pictures in my laptop. Hadn't he? Of course, he had. He knew my stupid password and the path of the pictures on my laptop. He had seen the pictures. Then how could he not recognize Nolan? Nothing about him had changed over these four months. He hadn't shaved today. The slightest of hair on his face were proof of that. His blonde hair had grown a bit longer and his new haircut suited him well. Even with a frown on his face, the deep dimple on his left cheek could be seen. Nothing about him had changed and as I took in his features and his appearance, my heart skipped a beat. I could feel my insides melting, resulting in softening of my eyes and breaking the walls that I had built with concrete imaginary cement and brick. How couldn't I feel these things for him for a second? I was madly in love with him once. He was the one who taught me what love was!

#********#

"I have to reach the editor in ten minutes, Sam. I really don't want to go to the cafeteria," I whined while glaring at my friend's head as she dragged me towards the popular cafe just outside the University.

"I'm hungry and I am craving for some really good noodles," she argued and kept on dragging me.

I pouted, looking around the park where Nolan had asked me out just two months ago. We had gone out on a few dates other than hanging out every day together. But for some reason, Nolan had been completely ignoring me for past one week, which had me very sad. I longed for his touch, his talks, his smile. I longed for him.

Had he finally realized that he actually didn't like me at all and he deserved someone much better? My heart sank a bit at the thought.

"Do you know where Nolan is?" I asked Samantha, who was originally Nolan's friend and in a year above me.

She shrugged and replied, "Busy with a new music project. So irritating he is when he has to work on any project." I hummed my agreement when I realized that it was only me he hadn't talked to in the last one week

"I have to go. I'm getting really late," I attempted meekly to free my hand.

Her grip tightened and she turned to look at me with narrowed eyes. "You know I eat like a hungry animal. Just bear with me for five minutes," she scolded me and I pouted, again.

I had a meeting with the editor of the University magazine as I had applied to write an article for it. My hopes of getting that job were turning to nil as Sam was keen to waste my time by stuffing her mouth with noodles. We entered the cafeteria and oddly, there was pin drop silence. With a frown, I looked around and noticed that the cafe was decorated with heart shaped balloons. My eyes widened when I noticed a grinning Nolan standing in the middle of the cafe, looking directly at me.

The cafe was crowded with every eye on Nolan and me. "What... what's going on here?" I managed to ask looking between Sam and Nolan.

Sam shot a mischievous smile at me and Nolan rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well... umm... I..." he tried to say but failed.

"What?" I asked, again.

"Will... ahem... will you..." I had never seen Nolan so nervous and that made me excited for some reason. 

Before any of us could say anything, surprisingly, everyone present in the cafe shouted at the same time, "Will you be his girlfriend, Ana?"

Nolan shrugged his shoulder and looked at me sheepishly. I couldn't control my happiness any longer and laughed, showing how truly happy I was at his unexpected proposal.

Seeing my reaction, Nolan's smile increased and this time, he asked, "Will you be my girlfriend, Ana?"

My smile, my laughter, my huge grin, my eyes and my face gave him his answer. Within the next five seconds, I was embraced in his strong arms with his perfect lips on mine as everybody around us cheered for us.

#********#

The three of us were wearing entirely different set of expressions on our faces. Nolan was looking at Ashton with irritation, probably wondering about his identity, while Ashton was as nonchalant as ever with his 'not even the devil cares' attitude, and I was swimming in the various deep emotions that my heart was digging out from deep inside me - hurt, sadness, pain, betrayal, affection, concern and longing.

The immense tension and confusion in the air was broken by a new voice. "Nolan honey, could you please carry this bag? It really is heavy." She laughed slightly, making Nolan turn around in her direction. She looked up from the bag with a huge smile, removed her red bangs from her pretty face and that's when her eyes landed on me. Her smile faltered the slightest bit and she gasped, "Liana!"

#********#

"So I got a new job," Nolan told me, the moment the waiter went away after taking our orders.

"Wow! Really?" I couldn't contain my excitement as I asked him in disbelief. It had been almost four years that we had started dating. Since he passed out from college he had been doing a job at a music studio, which was good for him as he loved making music. But he was not content with it. He wanted to get huge! He wanted more exposure and I, too, wanted that for him.

"Yes." He grinned, his blue eyes twinkling in happiness. "But..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck.

"What?" I asked, frowning a bit at the sudden change in his tone.

"It's in New York," he mumbled, looking at me skeptically, waiting for my reaction.

"Oh!" New York! It was miles away. How could he go so far away from me? But this was an opportunity for him to fulfill his dreams, and wasn't this what I wanted from him? Yes, it was. Illinois and New York weren't that far. Yes, we had our lives almost settled here, but this was the time to take risks in our professional careers. Nolan could do that and there was no doubt that I would always support him.

"You are not happy?" He frowned.

"Of course, I am. I am so happy for you," I told him whole heartedly with a huge smile on my face. "When do you have to leave?" I asked the one question that was already eating me from inside. Long distance relationships never worked. I hadn't ever seen even one happy couple in my life even after living under the same roof, and here, we were talking about long distance. There was no chance that it would ever work. Blinking rapidly, I tried to stop the tears that were threatening to erupt from my eyes at the awful realization.

He tilted his head slightly and said, "You mean 'When do 'we' have to leave?'."

My eyes widened at his sentence and so did his smile. My throat dried as I stared at him in surprise. "What?"

He chuckled a bit uneasily and bent forward. Taking my hands in between his, he kissed my palms and told me, "Telling you that I love you would probably the millionth repetition of the world known fact." A light chuckle escaped my lips but my warmth spread in my heart at his confession. Yes, I was hearing it for thousandth time, but it still had the same affect on me as it had the first time he had said this. "I know that I can achieve everything in life if you are by my side, Ana. And I want you to be by my side in New York where we can start our new life together. Please don't say 'no', sweetheart."

Moving to New York meant leaving my job, my friends and, my now settled life. But it also meant being with Nolan. There was no doubt about what I chose.

Releasing one of my hands from his hold, I wiped the tears that were now staining my cheeks. With a smile on my face, I asked him a rhetorical question, "Why would I say no?" Both of us knew that we had our lives planned together and nothing could change that.

#********#

Her voice, her laugh, her smile and her eyes were the tightest slap on the affection, concern and longing that had resurfaced in my heart. She brought me back to the reality. And the reality was that she was living my life. She was smiling at the person I used to smile at. She was with the person I used to love. She was living the life I had dreamt about for the last six years.

"Kelly," I mumbled with a tight jaw and hard