Chapter 6: I Can't Make You Love Me

// I'll close my eyes, and then I won't see the love you don't feel when you're holding me. Morning will come, and I'll do what's right. Just give me 'till then to give up this fight. And I will give up this fight... //

The air is filled with the sound of clinking glass and random chatter. Candlelight emanating from the middle of the table bounces off her blonde hair. She smiles as he touches her hand. She's thinking that with enough time, she might actually be able to convince herself that he is someone she could commit to. Truly, she had no reason not to -- he was cute, fun, sweet, caring, funny, and above all, monogamous. They had chemistry.

He cracks a joke. Half-listening, she fakes a laugh in response.

"Your hand...it's cold," Hwoarang notes. "Are you nervous?"

"No," she lies. She is nervous, but not because of this date, their third date. Her hands are chilly because she's thinking of how she would end things with Lee.

But what is there to end? She asks herself. We had nothing to begin with. No commitment, none at all.

Through various parts of their conversation, quick still-frames flash through Nina's mind. Her hand on Lee's bare thigh. Him, smiling at her as she opens the door. The two of them, tangled together beneath the silk sheets. The way her hand fit in his in just the right way.

When this happened, she blinked, silently repeating to herself that Lee is nothing. Although beyond that shallow voice in her brain is a deeper thought -- there, she knows that no other man can ever take his place.

She gingerly takes a sip of her drink and continues the conversation.

A muscle in his arm almost involuntarily twitched as he caught sight of her. He shifted on the sofa uneasily, and refocused his attention on the television. Two weeks. They'd lived together two weeks, and for him, it was bliss, and agony, and bliss, and agony. Bliss when they were together, agony because he could not resist her and yet he had to, so as not to taint his friendship with her sister. He tried to ignore the feelings, but this task proved difficult, especially when Anna was walking around the house in very short denim cutoffs and a light blue tank top.

Then, from the kitchen, she calls his name. He walks slowly toward the counter where she's standing, and once there, she asks him to help her with dinner.

Beads of sweat are forming on her forehead -- even at night, the kitchen is quite humid. Raven feels her very close to him, watching him as he works at chopping the ingredients. Slowly, his eyes shift to meet hers, and he cannot look away. They pass quite some time just looking at each other, before she angles her head and closes her lips on his. The slow, innocent kisses turn more passionate and urgent; she slides her hands up his back and pulls his wifebeater off, tossing it aside.

He stops. "Wh-what about Nina?"

"She can't change the way I feel about you," she breathes, and starts kissing his neck.

Before they know it, they're stumbling their way to her bedroom. The door slams shut.

The driver clears his throat as the vehicle comes to a halt. They break their kiss, and Nina giggles as she slides towards the car door and adjusts the strap of her dress. He gets out and opens it for her, brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face as he whispers "Good night."

On the elevator ride up, she identifies her current emotion as somewhere between happy and conflicted, and chooses to ignore the latter.

As she opens the door, the incessant chattering of a perky TV host fills the atmosphere. The room is lit only by the flickers of the TV screen. Anna, at that point, emerges from her room groggily, donning only a tank top and panties. Her eyes widen a bit as she sees who is standing in the middle of the living room. Nina squints at her.

"What?" Anna barks, a little too defensively.

A glimpse at the kitchen, and the blonde sees half-chopped leeks on the counter, as well as a wifebeater on the floor. Before Anna can stop her, she pushes open the door to her bedroom and finds Raven asleep on one side of the bed. She turns around to face her sister, now several shades paler.

"I..."

"Don't bother," is Nina's reply, as she calmly strides towards her own bedroom and closes the door. Today has been a long day.

And it doesn't really get any better the day after.

The sun was casting light yellow rays all over as Lee relaxed by his pool, sipping on a pina colada. His butler approached to tell him that he had a blonde, female visitor. Without hesitation, he wrapped a towel around himself and headed to the front door.

He gave her an easygoing smile. "Hey, Nina."

She drank in the sight of him: wet hair, skin moist and glistening, a strong and sinewy neck, muscles rippling throughout his body, clad in little more than a pair of wonderfully snug swimming trunks. Something she'd definitely miss. "Uh...we need to talk."

Soon they were both in the gigantic living room, Nina nervously crossing and uncrossing her legs. She was fidgety. This was not good.

"What's wrong?"

"Remember our agreement," she said, "that once we tire of each other or meet other people, we would call this whole arrangement off?"

He could feel his heartbeat increasing. "Yes, I remember."

"Well..." She tried to convey her message through one look and a raise of the eyebrows.

"I'm not sleeping with anybody else, if that's what you're asking."

"No, Lee, I...I'm...it's me..." She looked down at her hands. "I'm seeing someone else."

His expression fell. "Does this mean...?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, Lee."

"Hey, that's great," he managed to reply. He squared his shoulders and forced a smile. "I'm really happy for you."

She perked up. "Really? Thanks, I didn't think you'd take it too well."

"Phfft, me? Of course not. This had to end sometime, might as well be now. It doesn't really matter to me, either way." You'll be fine, Lee. Just go back to the club and find another hot woman. Easy as pie.

"Well, okay then. He's a great guy, you know. Nice, sweet, sensitive -- "

Dude must be gay. "Cool, Nina." He was a little too hasty in showing her the door. "Let me know how it all turns out. See you around!"

"I hope we're still friends..."

"Yeah. Bye!"

As the door closed behind her, Nina tugged at the sleeves of her leather jacket. "Well, that went well," she said to herself. She couldn't help feeling a little sad, though. I guess I meant less to him than I thought I did.

Squaring her shoulders, she looked at Lee's mansion for the last time before flipping her blonde hair and walking away, comforting herself with the fact that she had dear, sweet Hwoarang waiting for her back home. As far as Nina Williams was concerned, meaningless, casual sex was a thing of the past.

Lee watched her walk away from his home, and in essence, his life. The smile he'd been faking instantly vanished.

"Are you okay, Sir?" his butler asked.

"I'll be fine, Edward." He broke his gaze from Nina's retreating form. "I'll be just fine."