City Lights, Country Nights

29.Tell me what you want, Liora

Liora sat on the outdoor couch, wrapped in her jacket, gazing out at the horses in the field. She took a deep breath of the cold air and exhaled, watching her breath form a big white cloud.

Conflicted thoughts raced through her mind. On one hand, she longed to return to New York for her dance. It had been her home for her entire life. On the other hand, she felt a strong desire to stay, to be with Jackie, and she didn't want to uproot her just for her own ambitions. And then there was Cole—she couldn't decide whether she wanted to hate him or not.

Before she could dwell further on her thoughts, the door opened. Her eyes shifted to see who it was, and to her surprise, there stood Cole. Liora didn't know how to react, so she simply looked away.

"So... you were just going to leave?" Cole said as he took a step closer. Liora turned her head to look at him.

"Don't start," Liora mumbled, avoiding eye contact. Despite this, Cole persisted.

"Why, Rory? Your plan was just to pick up and go after we—" She cut him off.

"After we what, Cole? Kissed?" she said, rising to her feet. "Yes, we kissed, but you also lied to me about you and Erin," she snapped. Cole just shook his head.

"What?" he asked as Liora let out a huff of frustration.

"Do you know how awkward it is to ride in someone's car with your 'ex', knowing we had kissed, and for her to ask me what's going on between us?" Liora stared as she looked up at him. "I didn't know what to say, Cole, because I don't know what we are. I don't know if there's anything at all between us. And then to find out that you're still together with her? Because it's not something, but it's not nothing?" she said, repeating Erin's words.

"Rory, Erin and I have known each other forever," Cole said. Liora couldn't help but laugh.

"You know, those are her exact words too," Liora said, shaking her head. "Cole, the point is, you said there was nothing between you two. I asked you, and you said no, and then we kissed," she said, her eyes scanning his face.

"And then there, in front of everyone, you said big cities are nothing. Rory's realizing that now, and Jackie, she noticed," Liora said to him. "And then you asked me what do I want and just looked at me, and no one else. What do you think that seems like?" she said.

"Okay, you're not really mad at me," Cole said. Liora's eyes widened as she looked at him as if he was crazy. At what point did he get that she wasn't mad?

"Yeah, you're right, Cole. I'm not mad," she said, glaring up at him. "I'm furious!" she hissed.

"Look, it's not about me. You're not mad at me; you're mad about what just happened in there," Cole said. "It's your confidence and frustration because you don't know how to handle it. I can tell because if you were truly as upset as you claim to be about the whole kiss thing, you would've confronted me the moment you walked through that front door."

Liora just stood there, looking at him. He was right, but she would never tell him that. What was she supposed to do? scream at him right before their Thanksgiving dinner?

"Yeah, that's because I didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone!" she hissed, her jaw clenched as she ran her fingers through her hair when the wind blew.

When has that ever stopped you before?" Cole asked. "You walked into a whole party and let everyone there have it. You didn't say anything because of Erin? Is that what happened? And the fact that you lied to her when you very well knew something was going on, then you sit here and talk about lying like you didn't just go behind everyone's back... my back and try to leave?"

"When did I have to start telling you everything?" Liora hissed. "The talk I had with my uncle isn't the same as you telling me you're not with someone when you are! And nothing was made for sure; we were asked to see how we felt about it!"

"I don't believe that's what happened," Cole said, a hint of disbelief in his voice. Liora just shrugged her shoulders.

"You seem pretty convinced you were going back! Or did you just say it to make people mad because you were pissed off at what Lee said, so you wanted to prove a point that you had other options? So you said something because you were mad?"

"I really don't care if you believe me or not, Cole!" Liora snapped. She was just so frustrated now. "Because I don't believe you either. You want to talk about lies? How about the time you bleached Jackie's hair behind my back?" she hissed.

"Liora, stop!" Cole said, but she didn't listen.

"Or when you told me to meet you at the watering hole and said you would be there, but never showed up. That was a lie too!" she said.

"Liora," Cole said.

"Oh, then there's you and Erin, so—" she said.

"We're not together, Liora!" Cole snapped back. "Me and Erin have never really been together together, so I didn't lie to you!"

"Well, she sure as hell thinks you are!" Liora shot back. "I'm not one of your lineup girls. I'm not going to help you cheat on whatever she is to you, because I sure as hell will never be your side thing," she hissed, moving away.

"Why are you so mad about this when you said yourself you don't even know what's going on?" Cole asked. Liora looked up at him.

"Because you keep feeding that maybe, just maybe, there could be something," Liora said. "That you could really do the real thing, but I fall for the handsome face and the sweet smile, and I forget that's how boys do it, right? They feed you what you want to hear or see, and they pull you in."

"Tell me what you want, Liora," Cole said, looking at her intently. "Tell me what you want it to be because you are all over the place with this right now, and I can't tell what you want."

"I don't know, I don't want anything!" Liora said, her eyes glaring at him through her eyelashes. "I am not and will not make that decision because I'm not the one who has problems with being in a relationship, that's you, Cole," she added.

"You clearly are just as confused and frustrated as I am," Liora said, looking up at him as she walked to him. "You have more things to figure out than I do when it comes to relationships because, Cole, I know what I want when it comes to that. The question is, do you?" Cole looked at her for a good minute and didn't say anything. Liora nodded as she looked down.

"Okay, then... I'll let you two be—" she was cut off when Cole's lips found hers rather roughly, and despite Liora's shock, she found herself kissing back.

She pushed herself on her tiptoes as her hands moved up to his neck, pulling him closer as he pulled her in by her waist, holding her against him as their lips moved together.

The kiss was rough, raw, and desperate, so much so that it knocked the breath out of her. She lightly pulled at his hair as his hands grabbed at her hips.

"Rory?" Liora jerked back and quickly took steps away, and Cole did the same. Liora's eyes moved up to meet Katherine; she looked a little bit confused as she looked between them. "What are you two doing?" she asked. Liora swallowed as she looked at Cole, then back at Katherine.

"Nothing," Liora said, shaking her head as she pulled at her jacket sleeves. "We were just talking," she added.

"Um, it didn't sound like a normal conversation," Katherine said, eyeing them curiously. Liora's eyes widened in concern. What did they hear? "I mean, we couldn't make out the words, but it definitely didn't sound good."

"It was nothing," Liora said, giving her a smile. "I'm, um, I'm sorry. We're okay. We can go back in," she said, moving past her and walking inside.