The King (Alpha Trilogy #3)

Chapter 10

Ivy

The next weeks were quite peaceful, spent mostly with my friends. Lia wasn't joking when she said she's not going to leave me alone. Whenever I went out, she was there with me. Today we even have kind of a girls' day and it's the best thing ever. I noticed that Lia doesn't like girly stuff, so we didn't do anything like that. We went for massages then got our hair done, and then we went to dinner to this cute little bistro Lia recommended.

I was genuinely shocked when Lia told me she wants to dye her hair ash blonde, but damn does it look good on her. She had three sessions at the salon, today's one being the last one.

We talked about anything and everything the whole day, getting really close. It's so nice to spend time with someone so genuine and honest. She doesn't beat around the bush or pretend to like something she doesn't. When I suggested going shopping earlier, she straight ot told me she hates it and she'd rather not show me her angry side, saying it might scare me.

"Oh my gosh, girl! We're like BFFs now, like tots!" I burst out laughing at Lia's horrible impression as she flips her hair mockingly.

"Stop it! You're horrible!" I giggle, wiping the tears off my face. We've been laughing and joking the whole day and I still can't get over how easy it is to be with her. I even had to wash off my make-up because it got ruined due to my constant laughing.

"Sorry, sorry, I won't play Cassie anymore." She chuckles, focusing back on her cheesecake. Even after a big dinner, she still ordered two pieces of cake. Amazing.

"How do you not get fat?" I ask incredulously, staring at the half-eaten cake in front of her.

"I fight, remember? – she chuckles in amusement – I work out a lot to stay in shape, so all the calories that I so shamelessly inhale disappear pretty easily." She grins, patting her stomach playfully, making me laugh.

But, despite how much fun we've been having the whole day, I can still see that she's bothered by something. She tries way too hard to seem cheerful and happy and it's clear she's hiding something. After getting to know her over the last weeks, I realized that Lia is usually really calm, collected and serious. She jokes occasionally, but not to this extent. I also caught her get lost in her thoughts and sigh heavily quite a few times during the day when she thought I wasn't looking. She usually doesn't talk about her problems, but if she's asked about them by someone she likes and trusts, she'll actually open up.

After a long consideration, I finally muster up the courage to address the elephant in the room. "Did something happen?" I hesitantly ask, slightly afraid of overstepping my boundaries and offending her.

Lia sighs deeply, like she's been doing for the whole day. "You noticed, huh? I thought I hid it better."

I smile slightly when I see she's not mad. "It was quite obvious to me. I've learned enough about you to know that you're not this jolly on a daily basis."

My words seem to amuse my friend as she laughs, this time sounding genuinely amused. "You're right. I'm not normally like this. I guess I just didn't want you to figure out that something's wrong."

So there is something going on. I knew it.

"There's been a lot happening in my life recently, you know, and I just can't seem to... - Lia pauses, running her hand over her face tiredly - I can't handle it."

"You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable with it. I don't want to pry." I try to reassure her, knowing how hard it is to open up about your problems.