City Lights, Country Nights

21.wanted you to be to my left

Liora stood at the sink, her hand submerged in the warm water as she scrubbed the plates, shooting a glare at Isaac, who held another dirty plate in his hand.

"You missed one," Isaac said, handing it to her with a smirk as he placed it on the counter. "Lee had one too," he added.

"Isaac," Liora huffed as she placed the plate in the sink, "stop doing that. You and Lee have dirtied like six plates in the last 5 minutes!" She said, exasperated, but Isaac just smiled as she looked away.

"I'm hungry," he said with a shrug. Liora's head snapped up to him.

"You put a pop tart on a plate just to take it off and hand it to me!" Liora hissed. "Go get ready for the party or something! Just stop!" She felt like she was never going to finish if he kept disrupting her.

"Isaac," Katherine said as she walked in. Isaac left the kitchen quietly as Liora looked back down. "Rory?" she said, but Liora didn't say anything.

"You do understand why you—" Liora cut her off.

"Yes, Katherine, I understand why," Liora said bluntly as she finished up the dishes and dried her hands. "I need to go finish the list," she said as she walked away.

"Liora," Katherine said more sternly, causing Liora to stop and reluctantly look at her. "I get that you're mad and going through a hard time, but this cannot continue," she said, her jaw clenched as their eyes met.

Does she get it? No, she doesn't. She will never understand what Liora is going through, she could never comprehend anything that has happened or what Liora has been through, or what she put herself through. She could never understand.

"ya know you don't," Liora said before she could stop herself. Katherine looked shocked. "Everyone says they understand, but they don't. You don't. You don't know what it's like to live without your family. You don't know what it's like to not be able to see them every day. You know why?" Liora said.

"Because you have your family. You can see them every day. You don't have to go through the pain of waking up every morning knowing they're not there," Liora said. "Or that you can't hug them or hear their voice, because you can."

"Liora, we are trying to help you," Katherine said. Liora shook her head.

"And I'm grateful, Katherine, I am. You don't know how grateful I am that you're helping me," Liora said. "But I don't want it. I can't keep acting like I'm not hurting because I am," Liora said, looking down.

"Your mom wouldn't want you to be like this, Rory," Katherine said, taking a step forward.

"Well, my mom is not here! She's dead!" Liora hissed. "You can't make that go away! You can't put me in that car with them! You can't make me not hate my life because I do! It's cruel and unfair, and I hate it. I hate it!" she said.

"Rory, you... You don't hate your life," Katherine said lightly, lifting Liora's face to look at her.

"I've never been away from them," Liora stated as she took in a breath. "Not on a birthday or any holiday. I always made sure I could be there," she mumbled. And she always did. She would make sure her dances didn’t interfere with any important family events. She was always there.

"And now I can't be because they're not here, Katherine," Liora said. "They're all gone, and they have been for a while. I just wouldn't let myself feel that. I did everything under the sun to make myself not feel that, to not grieve them. I numbed it all," she said.

"Rory," Katherine said, moving her hair.

"I stopped numbing it when I came here because I couldn't get what I needed to take it away," Liora said, looking up at her. The look in Katherine’s eyes told her she knew what she was talking about. "I was mad in New York. Here? I'm just sad because I can actually feel it," she said, putting her hand on her chest.