Chapter 1: Forest's POV

"Charlie, please!" I begged her again. "Just tell me what's wrong. Tell me what I did wrong. I'll fix it. I swear, I'll fix it." I was on my knees in her University's student park. People were staring, some were even taking pictures of the bizarre scene infront of them, but I didn't care. The woman I love has spent two and a half months not answering any of my calls or replying to any of my messages. And now here I was begging her to not give up on us and she was...eating ice cream? "Forest, you need to go!" She whispered screamed while camera phones flashed at us. "I said we're over. Just let it go!" She got up from the park bench and tried to walk away, but I got up and grabbed her wrist. "No!" I practically roared. "I love you, Charlie and ... and I know for a fact that you love me too. So no. We're not over. We'll never be over." There was so much anger and defiance in those hazel brown eyes of hers. A torrent of tears were brimming inside those golden brown eyes, but not a single tear would stain her cheeck. That much I was sure of. Charlotte Ericsson doesn't cry. "Well we are." She tore her hand out of mine. "Don't you get it, Forest? You and I will never work out. You're Lucas Greyson, heir to the Greyson fortune and the billion dollar corporation. I'm Charlotte, the girl with parents who will beat her until she can't get up." I was so confused by what she was saying. This has never ever been an issue. We've been friends since we were nine years old. Our respective backgrounds have never been an issue. Anyone who tried to make it an issue got stomped down by either Charlotte or me. So why on earth was my best friend and girlfriend of four years suddenly worried about such a ridiculous thing? I pulled her to me and held her delicate face with one hand. I searched for the truth in those golden brown eyes of hers. Her eyes were filled with tears, just like mine. Her eyes were hollow underneath and her caramel skin almost looked pale instead of adorning its gold shimmer. This was eating away at her just as it was eating away at me. She didn't want to do this. "Look at me." I demanded while caressing her delicate face. It looked ... thinner today. "Look into these green eyes of mine that you love so much, so much so that you even named me Forest ... your Forest." She was still. Her eyes were brimming with angry tears, but at least she was looking up at me and giving me a chance to talk. "Lucas Greyson has always belonged to and will always belong to Charlotte Ericsson." I could see her eyes softening up. This is our mantra. This is something we always say whenever either of us gets jealous; something which happens alot. "And Charlotte Ericsson has always belonged to and will always belong to Lucas Greyson." She was supposed to repeat that last part with me the way we usually do. That's how I'll know that we've made up, but she didn't. She was just looking at me with anger-filled eyes. I could feel my entire body going numb. I can't lose her. This girl is my life, my heart, my soul. Whatever I did wrong, I would fix it. I just need her to tell me what the hell is going on. I would have come to see her much earlier. I would have come the week she stopped answering my calls, but I couldn't. My University is a four hour drive from hers and I was busy with exams. When she didn't reply to any of my calls, at first I thought she was studying because she also had exams. Then Lauren had a mental breakdown right in the middle of exams. I was tutoring the girl and suddenly she could hardly leave her room without having a panic attack. After seeing how far along that poor girl has come with her studies, I stayed so I could help her pass her exams. Through it all, Charlie didn't answer a single call or text from me. Christian thought she was just throwing a tantrum. My younger brother has never been the biggest a fan of Charlotte. He's always thought that she's too cold and calculating. But this girl never had a choice but to be cold and calculating. If not, she wouldn't have survived the life she was born into. When I told Christian what was happening, he shrugged it off. He's always thought that Charlotte's relationship standards were ridiculous so he said she was being 'high maintenance' right before I knocked him out. I called her University so I'd know that she was at least still alive. However, since I'm not family, I was given the standard answer - we can confirm the student is still registered at our institution. I thought she was upset, but she wasn't giving me a chance to fix whatever mistake I made. Then I thought she was busy studying so I decided to give her some space and stop calling too much. Then I thought maybe I was being overbearing, which I tend to be with her, so I gave her even more space. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that I'd get here and have her break up with me. "Say it with me, Charlie." I took her hand and placed it on my chest. "Lucas Greyson belongs to Charlotte-" Again, she tore her hand out of mine and started walking away. "Go get her, Romeo!" A heckler shouted behind me. "Tell me why you're doing this?" I ran after her. "You can't do this to us without giving me an explanation, Charlie. You owe me that much." She entered her student dorm without so much as giving me a second glance. This wasn't her usual student dorm. I have been in her dorm room countless times before. We made love non-stop in that room. I know the building by heart. I tried to follow her inside, but was stopped by security guards at the gate. "Sorry, buddy." One of them said awkwardly. "Only students and residents are allowed beyond this point ... or their guests, and it doesn't seem like that missy wants you as a guest." I wanted to push my way past them, but I had no strength left. She wasn't even looking at me. She went inside that building as if I meant nothing to her. As if it isn't her soulmate that she was walking away from. I tried calling her again, but she still didn't pick up my calls. I feel numb. Goodness, I've never felt anything this painful in my entire life. Not even when Dad died did I feel this numb and empty inside. "And?" Christian's sarcastic voice chimed on the other line. "Was I right? Was our dearest Charlie just throwing a tantrum because she hasn't seen you in a while?" "She dumped me." The words tasted so bitter in my mouth. "Charlotte dumped me." "For fucksake!" He sounded as shocked as I was. "What the- why- why would she do that? You guys are like so in love that it makes the rest of us want to puke." I ran through that horrific break up scene in my head again. I tried to find clues because she didn't give me a worthy explanation. She looked pale and she definitely lost some weight. She cut her hair. I was shocked when I saw that because she loves her long brown curls. It took her years to get her hair to reach her waist. Now it was a short, straight bob that barely reached her shoulders. Was it exams? Did her exams not go well? I shook my head. That couldn't be it. Charlotte could be on the brink of death. She would never let anything interfere with her school work. Nothing made any sense. She tore my heart out and she didn't even bother telling me why. "She claims it's because of our different backgrounds." I finally answered him. "She claims the heir to Greyson Corporation can't be with a girl who comes from foster homes." "What is this, the 1950s?" I could hear his hands hitting a table. "Why would that ever matter? Besides, we've known Charlotte since she was in third grade. Why would she suddenly think we care about all that crap when we never did?" "I don't know!" I screamed at him. "I don't f*****g know. That's the point!" I ran my fingers through my hair. "Did you do something, Christian?" I started accusing him. "You've always seemed to be against her. If you did something, I swear I'll kill you. I don't care if you're my brother. I'll-" "Dude!" He started defending himself. "I don't hate her. Charlotte and I just have clashing personalities. That's all. At the end of the day, you love her and that means I'll tolerate her for your sake." I ended the call without saying another word. None of this makes any sense. That girl is my life. I can't let her end things like this. So I booked into a nearby hotel. I spent the next three weeks trying to see her, talk to her and find out what the hell just happened. I was missing classes, very important classes for an engineering degree that not many can pass without at least attending class, but I didn't care. Even Christian was worried about Charlotte now. He may not like her, but he knows as well as I do that that girl loves me. She loves me like she was placed on this earth just so we could find one another and love each other. So I was frustrated when I got yet another call from Lauren even though I had explained to her that I'm dealing with a personal emergency. "I'm sorry, Lucas." She held back sobs over the phone. "I've tried everything to get my nerves under control. I've tried the meds they gave me and I'm constantly doing the breathing exercises, but..." She started crying again. She was putting me in an impossible situation. I did all I was supposed to do as her tutor, and more. Her incessant calls and pleas that I help her get through this were starting to sound like she wanted me to neglect my personal life so I could be there for her. "Call your psychiatrist again, Lauren." I tried not to sound too impatient. "You know I would be there for you if I could. I really would, but I'm dealing with something really important-" "Your girlfriend, right?" She interrupted me through her sobs. I've never told her about Charlotte so I just knew that it was Christian who blabbed his mouth. Lauren isn't even a friend. I don't want her knowing so much about me. She only knows about Christian because he's a freshman and bothered me alot when he was trying to figure things out around campus. As a result, he interrupted a lot of my tutoring sessions. "I'm sorry." She continued when I didn't answer her. "I know this is none of my business. I'm just concerned for you because you've always been there for me." I sighed and rolled my eyes. It was clear as day what was happening. I could practically hear the girl pouting through the phone. "Look Lauren, I know you're in a tough spot right now and I don't mean to be rude, but you should know that I don't have romantic feelings for you. I have a girlfriend and she means the world to me." I decided to be blunt. That's the best way to deal with these things. She started chuckling over the phone and I gave a sigh of relief. "I know, Lucas." She chuckled again. "Like, I said. I'm just worried because you've really been there for me and I hope I'll be able to return the favour one day." "You focus on getting better first, Lauren." I replied. We said our goodbyes and I continued stalking Charlotte as I've been doing for the past two weeks. I went to all her usual hang out spots. I went to the arcade, the iceskating rink, the outdoor cinema, her favourite horror themed burger place. I even searched all the student parks she likes. She didn't go to of any those places. I would have gone to all her classes, but without a student card, I wasn't allowed on campus. I only saw her for brief moments when she was leaving her dorm to either go to the library or to class. Those are the only places she ever went to. She stopped leaving campus just so she could avoid seeing me. "Charlie!" I screamed for the few seconds I saw her leaving her dorm room. "Charlie, I'm not going anywhere. You have to talk to me at some point." She walked hurriedly until she reached me, careful not to garner more attention than necessary. Her hair was a bit longer now and she didn't look as pale as she looked before. However, those beautiful curls of hers were still straightened. I missed them. I wanted to caress her cheeck and tell her whatever is going on she can tell me, but there was an entire fence standing between us. "Talk to me." I begged her. "I am first and foremost your best friend. Even if you no longer want to date me, I know you won't throw our friendship away." "Go away, Forest." She had those same angry tears that she had three weeks ago. "Please, go away and just forget about me. Forget about us. It's over!" I chuckled sadly wishing with all my heart that I could at least kiss her one last time. "That's like telling me to stop breathing, Charlie. It's impossible." She looked at me with her books in her hands and for the first time in my life, it seemed to me that my Charlotte didn't know what to do or what to say next. "Why did you change dorms?" I tried to lighten the mood. "And what happened to those beautiful curls of yours?" Instead, this had the complete opposite effect. Those angry tears of hers that have never stained her beautiful golden skin started streaming down her face. For a moment I thought I was having a terrible nightmare. Charlotte never cries. Ever. I started shaking the fence with all my might, trying to take it down so I could get to her. I ran to the entrance of the gate only to be stopped by those very same security guards from a few weeks ago. When the hell did they even get security guards at the dorms? I watched her run to class while I fought the two burly men to go inside. That was the last time I saw Charlotte Ericsson. I was asked to leave the area surrounding her campus that very day because apparently there were complaints about me. I knew it was her. She didn't want me anymore.