Chapter 37

Ian stared at Sophia with a blank expression. 'Are you in love with someone else?' was replaying in Ian's head as if he couldn't understand what she was asking. In reality, he was hoping that was the only question she wouldn't ask. After some time, he snapped out of it and came up with the least upsetting answer he could muster.

"Soph..." he shook his head and sat down on the couch, taking her hand. "Look I don't want to tell you that I am, because I know how bad it hurts to hear. But I know that you know as well as I do that we have grown apart over the past few years due to conflicting schedules and traveling..." Ian started, talking with his hands. "You know that I will always love you, you are a great friend, but you deserve to be with someone who appreciates you. I know that I can't do that fully if I never even get to see you."

"But you still didn't answer my question, Ian" Sophia said as she looked at him with hurt in her eyes.

Ian nodded and looked down. "Yeah, I think I have fallen for someone else. I'm so sorry, Soph. Please understand..."

Sophia pulled her hand from Ian's and stood. Tears began flooding from her eyes as she walked over to the window, away from Ian. He knew she was upset, but she didn't want him to see her crying. Trying to console her, Ian went to the window to try to give her a hug, but she pushed him away.

"Ian, please. Don't do this" Sophia said turning away from him.

"Soph, you are crying, I can't stand to see you cry" Ian pleaded.

"Don't look at me then. Please, it'll only make it worse."

Ian sighed, frustrated. He knew he was the one who caused her to cry, which killed him, but he knew that he had to tell her the truth, lying to her would cause more pain in the long run. As he was returned to his spot on the couch, Sophia slowly turned around to look at him.

"So why did you not tell me to begin with? I made a complete ass of myself, Ian! The least you could have done would be to tell me right off the bat so that I wouldn't act so stupid. I thought we were back together, honestly. But then Wednesday night when you said you had a headache, I started to feel like things had changed. I was hoping it was because you really didn't feel well. Seems I was wrong..."

"Look, I didn't know that you thought we were together! If I knew that, I would have talked to you before I came to pick you up. But you started acting differently when you got here and I just panicked I guess. I'm sorry! I know I should have just told you, but I didn't want to hurt you" Ian said with anger laced in his words. He felt as if he was getting blamed for everything.

"Maybe we aren't good together, seeing as we can't even communicate..." Sophia said harshly. "So who is the other girl?"

Ian shook his head. "I can't tell you that, Sophia. Please don't make me tell you that. I know I already hurt you and it isn't going to change anything."

"But I want to know. Who was able to win you over? I just want to know who I have been competing with" she said sternly. "And for how long? Were you just screwing with me when we talked in New York?"

"Are you serious? Do you really think so lowly of me that you think I would intentionally hurt you? Sophia, I did love you! I still do, I just don't in the way that you want me to. I have been struggling with my feelings for awhile now, really since our breakup in April. But things went downhill with her before I came to New York. That is part of the reason I was in New York in the first place" Ian started, struggling for words. He was saddened by the way Sophia saw him.

"So is it the same girl? Or did you find someone new?"

"It's the same girl..." Ian said. He felt slightly guilty, as if he had cheated on Sophia, although it wasn't the case. "I'm sorry. I really am. I tried to not have feelings for her, but I just can't help it. The heart knows what it wants."

Sophia shook her head and began to cry again. This time Ian wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. He kept telling her that he was sorry and that he didn't mean to hurt her, but she only continued to cry. Finally after some time she ran out of tears. She looked up at Ian, but quickly looked back away from him.

"Hey, look at me" Ian said lifting her head towards his face. "Do you believe me when I say that I had no intentions of doing this to you?" he asked painfully.

Sophia nodded slightly. "I believe you...I just wish I didn't hear all of this. I was really hoping I was overreacting. Turns out I was under reacting..." she said sadly. "But I understand. I know you can't help what you feel, but it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"I just feel terrible that I hurt you. You are one of my closest friends and I don't want to lose that. Do you think in time, you may be able to forgive me and we can try to have the friendship back?" he asked timidly.

"I hope so. I really do, Ian. It is going to take some time, but I could never bring myself to hate you" she said. After a few seconds she spoke again. "I should probably go..."

"Are you sure you will be okay? Should I drive you home?" Ian asked worriedly.

"No I'll be fine. I just need to...to process this."

Ian nodded in understanding. He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed, showing that he still cared for her. She slipped her shoes on and opened the door, giving Ian a slight smile.

"Hey, I'll walk to you to your car" he said following her.

As they were walking to her car Ian put his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm. As they almost got to her car, a few people seemed to have recognized them as they were walking down the sidewalk. None of the girls said anything, but Ian could tell that they recognized him by the fact that they were pointing and giggling loudly. He ignored them the best he could and opened the car door for Sophia.

"Thanks for telling me the truth, Ian. I know it doesn't seem like I am very grateful but I am. I hope we can stay friends, I just really do need some time" Sophia said as she looked up at Ian.

He gave her a strong hug. "Thank you for understanding and I am so sorry. I hope we can get back to being friends again as well, but I know you need time. Take care" he said as she got into her car.

She waved sadly to him as she drove away. Ian sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he turned to walk back up the driveway. He looked to his left to find the 3 girls standing there, obviously snapping pictures. He waved to them, showing that he acknowledged their presence and walked into the house.

Ian looked at the time and noticed it was only a little after one in the afternoon. He was in an undecided mood, slightly upset for hurting Sophia, but happy that she didn't hate him. He was also excited that there was nothing else in the way of he and Lucy. A smile grew across his face and he went to retrieve his phone. He typed out a text message letting Lucy know that he talked to Sophia and to call as soon as she was done on set. He knew she would be done sometime in the afternoon, but his patience was wearing thin.

To try to pass the time, Ian took the grocery list he previously made and went to Whole Foods to pick up some groceries. As he was checking out he felt his iPhone begin to vibrate in his pocket. He quickly paid the cashier and pushed the cart to his car and loaded the groceries into the trunk. After returning the cart he pulled his phone out to find one missed call from Lucy. He pressed the call button and placed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Lucy said cheerfully on the other end.

"Hey, beautiful! Sorry I missed your call, I was checking out at Whole Foods" Ian said happily.

Lucy began to giggle. "Whole Foods? You don't say! I swear Mr. Harding, you should just live there. Did you get anything good?" she asked teasing.

"Yeah, I always get good food. What are you doing right now?" he asked.

"Well I am driving home from set right now, but then I am going to go workout. How was the talk with Sophia?" she asked cautiously.

"It started off a little rough, but she's okay. She understands and we ended on what I would say good terms" he said happily.

"So does she know about us?"

"No. She asked but I somehow changed the subject. She knows I have been in love with someone else since our breakup in April, but she doesn't know that it is you that I fell for. I'm thinking we should keep that to ourselves for a little while" he said. "So what are you plans for tonight? Would you maybe want to come to my place? Maybe I could cook you something with all this food I just bought!" he said laughing.

"I'd love to. Let's say around 6?"

"Sounds great. I love you, have a great workout. See you soon" Ian said.

"I love you, too. Bye."

Ian hung up the phone just as he was pulling into his driveway. He unloaded all of his groceries and put them away as he tried to come up with a meal to prepare for Lucy.

His nerves were going crazy and he felt almost as if he could throw up, in a good way. This would count as his and Lucy's first actual date. They had cooked together before, but either he was with Sophia or she had a boyfriend so it wasn't really a date. He tidied up the house and showered for the second time.

As Ian walked to his room after his shower, he noticed it was almost 5:00. His heart started to pound against his chest as he searched his closet for something to wear. He had very few clothes to choose from, but decided on a fitted gray henley and dark washed jeans. It looked nice without being overly dressed up. He wanted to make a great impression for their first date.

After Ian was finished getting himself around, he went to the kitchen and searched through some drawers for some candles. After finding a dozen tea lights and a few bigger ones, he arranged them on the table. Looking down at the watch on his wrist, he found that he still had some time to stop at the florist down the road to get Lucy some flowers. He hurried out to his car and quickly drove to the floral shop.

Upon entering, an older woman asked if he needed help with anything. He explained to her that he was about to have his first real date with the girl he was in love with and he wanted it to be perfect.

Smiling she led him to a cooler filled with flowers. "Nothing says love like roses" she said smiling.

Ian looked the flowers up and down and nodded his head. "Okay, I'll take two dozen."

The woman smiled and arranged 24 roses into a beautiful bouquet and handed them to Ian. As he took the bouquet, he noticed that the shop also sold loose rose petals. Suddenly, he got another idea.

"Actually, could I get some of those rose petals too, please?" he asked politely.

The women beamed at him, knowing where his thoughts were going. "Of course" she said as she poured some into a small container.

Ian paid the florist and sped home. He knew Lucy would be there within the next half hour, so he went diligently to work. He went to the bedroom and opened the small container of rose petals. he sprinkled some across the bed and then put a few of the candles on the night stands beside the bed. Pleased with his idea, he shut the door and began on the meal. Just as he was finishing with the salad, there was a knock at the door. He smiled and walked cooly to the door, and opened it to find the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on.

A/N: I hope you all were satisfied with how things went between Ian and Sophia. This was such a hard part for me to write because I think Sophia seems like a really sweet person, but I am a hardcore Lucian shipper and can't help but only be happy with them together.

Also, I thought I would leave you with a little bit of a cliffhanger for this chapter! At least it is a much happier cliffhanger than some previous ones! ;) I promise to update by Wednesday of next week, possibly even sooner!