The Movies Make It Look Easy

Chapter 23

Shannon’s P.O.V:

There was an awkward silence which seemed to last for hours but must have only lasted seconds before Nick got up off the floor – off me – and pulled me up with him.
‘I knocked but there was no answer so I uh, just came in’ Lee stated lamely, his cheeks still flushed with colour.
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, ruffling his black hair and refusing to meet our eyes.
Nick glanced at me, his eyes clearly asking if he wanted me to get rid of Lee.
I shook my head slightly, we needed to talk.
Nodding, he sat back on the couch but continued to watch Lee with hard eyes.
I stepped towards him,
‘Hey’ I said softly, hesitantly.
After our last encounter I wasn’t sure what to expect.
It saddened me; his dependability and how safe I felt around him had been some of the things I’d liked about him.
It had felt nice to have that with someone, especially because my relationship with Nick was so, and had always been, tempestuous.
That feeling of safety, that warmth was gone.

The feelings of sadness and regret were gone as quick as they came, to be replaced with anger as he, with a glance over my shoulder at Nick’s watchful eyes, stepped in and grabbed my shoulders, kissing me roughly.
Just before his face swooped down to my level I’d glimpsed a gloating look in his eye that was obviously aimed at Nick.
It made me want to slap him, or punch him, whichever was easiest.
Pushing him back, I glared at him, anger radiating outwards from my body in waves.
He seemed completely unaware however as he glanced around the apartment with a small smile on his face. I started toward my room with Lee in tow.
I spared a glance in Nick’s direction. He was resolutely staring at the TV as he probably had been since Lee kissed me.
I wished he’d looked just a second or two longer so he could have seen me pushing him away.
He would have noticed how angry I was even with my back turned, I thought wistfully.
Maybe that’s just because of how much anger you’ve directed at him since you’ve lived together, that annoying voice of reason piped up at the back of my head. Well he’s directed his fair share back at me, I argued.
Thankfully there was no reply...and yes I was just arguing with myself...and yes there’s a good chance I’m going crazy...

When we reached my room, Lee opened the door and walked in but I hesitated from following him.
I had a sudden urge to go and hug Nick.
The urge was so strong that I could feel my feet starting to turn towards him, as if drawn like a magnet.
I managed to stop myself with a hand on my door.
As if he could feel my gaze, Nick’s head turned so that he was facing me. I smiled as he met my eyes.
He stood up, stretching as he did and giving me a glimpse of that taut stomach I’d touched only a short while ago.
He looked as though he was about to walk to me, his feet twitching as mine had just done.
My smile widened.
He started to back away from me towards his room as if he’d won – or lost? – Some argument with himself.
‘I’ll be in my room if you need me’ he said softly in a meaningful voice with a jerk of his chin at the room behind me.
I nodded, still smiling as we stared at eachother for a moment before we both retreated into our respective rooms, shutting the doors behind us but leaving the connection between us just as strong as if there was no distance between us at all.

Mark’s P.O.V:

I sat, lounging on my bed throwing a pebble into the air and catching it before repeating the action again and again, monotonously for I don’t know how long.
I didn’t even know where the pebble had come from, it was just there. I was bored to tears.
I wasn’t paying attention at all, so lost was I in my thoughts. I was thinking about my conversation with Shannon earlier.
My whole body had tightened at her seductive words.
I’d known she was only messing but I don’t think she realised just how much of an effect her words could have.
I frowned; my feelings for her were purely platonic – though I flirted constantly. Though I’d reacted to her words, I’d never spend just one night with her for more than one reason.
She wasn’t the kind of girl you spent one night with - she was worth more than that, she didn’t like me like that and probably wouldn’t accept any offer from me and most importantly, I’d never do that to my best friend – Nick would kill me.

I lazily turned my head as my phone started to vibrate.
I thought about letting it ring out, but dismissed the idea almost immediately, it might be important.
I rolled onto my stomach and grabbed my phone.
Seeing that it was Nick I answered immediately.
‘Hello?’ I asked cautiously in case it was Shannon calling for some more banter – not that I really thought it would be – but it was Nick’s familiar voice which grunted in reply.
I grinned, ‘Shannon’s punishment over?’
‘Yes’ came his short, clipped reply.
‘You didn’t enjoy it? If you want I’ll take any punishments for you in the future’ I joked.
There was silence on the other end of the line...he obviously didn’t find me very funny – tough crowd!
‘Nick?’
‘It didn’t matter whether I enjoyed it or whether she enjoyed it’ he spoke bitterly ‘we were interrupted’
I didn’t have time to wonder what they were interrupted from doing when he continued,
‘Lee came, he walked right in the door, saying he’d knocked but when no one answered he came right in’
His tone was angry now.
‘I think we probably would’ve heard him if he’d knocked, he wanted to catch her – us unawares’
I cursed. ‘I’m sorry; it’s why I called in the first place, to warn you that he was planning on heading over at some stage’
I stopped, searching for the right words.
‘I was uh; distracted by my conversation with Shannon and then when I tried to tell her we were cut off’
‘If I was you I would’ve been distracted by the conversation too...I was distracted anyway’ he sighed,
‘My phone had no battery, that’s why you were cut off’
‘Sorry’
He sighed again ‘it’s no one’s fault’.

Wanting to get off the subject of my hateful roommate, I steered the conversation back to a mutually interesting topic,
‘So she really sat on you?’
He chuckled ‘ye, I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it’
‘I doubt it stopped you from enjoying it’ I teased.
He laughed.
I smiled as I continued to pump him for information.
He sounded happy – as long as the subject of Lee didn’t come up.
She’s good for him, I thought as he chattered on about how she’d said he was “skinny”, making me laugh.

Shannon’s P.O.V:

I leant against my recently closed door, gazing at Lee who was looking around my room with interest.
It was his first time in here – his first time in the apartment actually.
His gaze alighted on my photos,
‘Who’s that?’ he questioned.
Knowing which one he was pointing at, I didn’t bother to look.
‘My friend Conor’
He looked sceptical at the “friend” description but I wasn’t about to go into detail about my relationship with Conor, especially considering he seemed prone to jealousy.
He finally settled his gaze on me, appraising me, making me want to wrap my arms around myself in an attempt to block his piercing gaze.
‘You haven’t been returning my calls’
‘Well if you didn’t call in the middle of the night, I might actually be awake to answer’ I quipped.
I exhaled slowly.
‘Sorry, I could’ve returned your calls’ I said hastily before he could speak.
‘Well why didn’t you then?’
‘I don’t know, I didn’t really want to talk to you’
‘Why?’
‘Because of what happened at dinner’
It sounded weak even to my own ears.
‘And what happened at dinner?’ his voice was strained and I noticed that his hands were clenched around a pillow.

I looked at him as my mind went back to the dinner. I started off hesitantly as I stared into his grey eyes.
The more I looked into those grey eyes, the more cold and unwelcoming they seemed.
I looked away before speaking,
‘First of all, I thought the way you spoke about Mark was really rude’
I looked into his icy eyes again and continued though my heart was racing.
‘Fair enough if you don’t like him, but there’s no need to be so rude and then you accused him of being too forward and you had to bring up Ben’
That comment still hurt.
‘What happened with Ben was before we got together and I already apologised...more than once’
‘So you two are on first name basis?’ he asked snidely.
‘Yes we are’ I retorted,
‘It’s kind of hard to have your tongue down someone’s throat without being on a first name basis’
I regretted the words almost instantly at the twisted look on his face, so unlike the Lee I thought I knew.
There was a threatening air around him which scared me a whole lot more than anger or even hate.
I glanced around my room, the familiar sights giving me confidence to get through this conversation.
‘You kept touching me even when I asked you to stop’
‘You’re my girlfriend’ he spluttered.
‘That’s not the point’ I said reasonably calmly despite the quaver in my voice from a mixture of repressed anger, fear and tears.
‘You got so possessive after seeing me talking to my friend’
I put extra emphasis on the word “friend”,
‘That you wouldn’t listen when I asked you to stop’
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes.
‘I didn’t feel safe with you and to be honest I still don’t’
I looked at him pleadingly ‘do you understand that a girl should feel safe with her boyfriend?’
he sneered ‘and don’t you understand that a guy should be able to turn his back without worrying that his girlfriend is going to cheat on him with any number of guys like a common slut?’ he spat the word viciously, jumping off my bed so he could pace up and down my room.
My mouth fell open in shock at the cruelness of his words.
‘I have never and will never cheat on anybody’ I said, angry now.
‘Oh ye’ he spat,
‘That’s rich, if I hadn’t walked in earlier what do you think you and your roommate would have been doing?’ he wheeled to face me, his face contorted in an almost manic rage.
‘We were just messing and I wouldn’t have cheated on you’
‘Of course you’d say that...common slut’ he muttered the last bit to himself.

‘Get out’ I whispered.
‘What?’ I raised my eyes to meet his from where they’d been fixed unseeing on the floor,
‘Get out’ I repeated loudly.
‘Why?’ he genuinely looked confused.
Idiot! I thought spitefully,
‘because’ I said acidly, ‘you’ve insulted me and called me a common slut twice.’
My voice was rising with each word.
I stood up from the chair in front of my desk that I was sitting on.
I didn’t even stop to wonder when I’d sat down on the chair – I hadn’t even noticed.
‘We are over’ I had to stop myself from screaming at him.
He took a step towards me, stumbling as a look of fear replaced the anger on his face.
‘You aren’t serious are you?’
I stepped back, putting as much distance between us as possible.
‘Please Shannon, I didn’t mean it!’ he croaked,
‘I love you’ his eyes were wild as he looked at me desperately.
Never had a profession of love been more unwelcome, I thought bitterly.
‘You don’t love me and I’m serious when I say we’re over’ my voice had returned to normal, it was gentle even.
I could sense he was on a knife edge and screaming at him might tip him over – the wrong way.
‘Please Shannon’ he begged.
‘I know!’ he said; hope returning to his eyes ‘why don’t you move in with me?’
My eyes widened in surprise, whatever I’d expected to come out of his mouth it hadn’t been that.

Obviously encouraged by my silence, he smiled looking more hopeful as each second passed.
‘We’d get on so well if we lived together and we could work everything out...and surely Nick and Mark would like to live together?’
I was still in shock and couldn’t think of an appropriate response.
‘Bastards, both of them’ it seemed that that remark was more aimed at himself than me – I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t realise he’d spoken out loud – but it still made me angry.
‘They are not bastards’ my jaw was clenched so tightly that I could barely get the words out.
His face twisted once more as if he’d put a mask on.
‘Have you been cheating on me with Mark aswell?’
‘I haven’t cheated on you with anyone and now for the third time, we’re over, now please leave!’
I crossed to the door, opening it and gesturing for him to leave.
He stood in the middle of the room gazing at me,
‘You are mine’ he said, that creepily possessive note back in his voice,
‘I’ll make you see that you love me too’.
I walked out of my room, hoping he’d follow as I headed for the front door.
I opened it and sure enough when I turned around he’d followed me into the living room.
‘Get out’ I repeated.
For a minute I didn’t think he would but he eventually walked out the door.
He turned his pleading eyes on me again.
‘Please- ‘
But I closed the door in his face.
It was horribly rude but as they say, “desperate times call for desperate measures”.

Nick appeared in his doorway with his phone in one hand,
‘You okay? I heard voices’
I started to giggle. I put my hand over my mouth as if that would make it stop, unfortunately it didn’t.
The sound of my hysterical laughter grated on my nerves and I was ashamed to feel tears running onto the hand that was still covering my mouth.
My back was resting against the hard wood of the front door.
Nick was instantly in front of me, wrapping his arms around me and cradling me against him.
He crooned words in my ear but I wasn’t listening to what he was saying, nor was I paying attention to anything around me.
I’d even stopped laughing; only the tears kept pouring down my cheeks.
After a while I pushed Nick away from me, my eyes closed. When I opened them again he stood awkwardly in front of me, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides, a worried expression on his face.
I smiled weakly at him to reassure both of us – I don’t know of what though.
‘I’m going to go get changed, I’ll be out in a bit’
I practically ran to my room, suddenly feeling sick. My voice had sounded different when I spoke.

I immediately stripped off my clothes, throwing them on my floor at random, as I headed for the shower.
I turned the water on as hot as it would go and stood under the spray, letting the water sluice off me in all directions.
More tears fell as I stood, not making a move to wash myself.
Eventually I fumbled for the shampoo and began my shower ritual, only this time I was trying to wash away cruel and hateful words as well as dirt.
When I stepped out of the shower, the cool air hit me like a wall of bricks and I shivered.
I dried myself quickly, throwing on pyjamas as I walked into my room.
Checking the time on my phone I realised that I’d taken more time than I’d intended, Nick had been waiting for around half an hour.
I sighed as I started to towel dry my hair.
Five minutes later I stepped into the living room expecting to see Nick but instead finding no one.
Before even the merest disappointed thought could cross my mind, Nick popped his head out from the kitchen,
‘Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be out in a minute’.

Deciding that this was probably a good idea, I ran back to my room.
I spent a minute or two hunting for a matching pair of socks and then spent another irritating minute hopping around on one foot trying to put the damn things on.
Finally, I grabbed the warm blanket that lay at the end of my bed and a pillow – not the one Lee had been clutching – and headed, probably looking a flustered as I felt, back to the living room.
Nick was lounging – as usual – on the couch, sipping rather daintily at a cup of tea. I eyed the coffee table greedily, taking in the wonderful sight of the steaming mug of tea and the assortment of chocolaty goodness that lay before me.
I noticed Nick surveying me with an amused look but I could clearly see the underlying worry on his face.
‘Is there any room on that couch for me?’ I teased, looking at his stretched out form.
‘Always’ he said sincerely.
I stilled for a moment as he looked at me steadily before I bustled over and started arranging things – including him – to my liking.
‘Sit up’ I commanded and he immediately obeyed.
It was quite satisfying to be listened to.

It was no doubt part of his master plan to put me in a better mood – be acquiescent, get me my favourite Smarties cup filled with my favourite tea – Tea Direct – and enough chocolate to keep a couple of fat kids going for a reasonably long time.
It was satisfying alright.
I propped the pillow I held in my right hand between his back and the arm of the couch.
Next I threw the blanket snugly over him, making sure it covered all of him.
‘Um...’ he began, obviously confused about what I was doing.
‘Shush!’
He immediately shut up.
I stifled my smile, my mood already considerably brightened as I looked around for anything I might have forgotten.
When I decided I hadn’t forgotten anything, I returned my attention to the couch – and Nick.

He was looking at me in bemusement, probably thinking I was demented – maybe I was.
Approaching him, I lifted up a corner of the blanket and slid in beside him.
I leaned over to grab my tea before settling back, propped against him just as he was propped against my pillow.
His right arm was draped comfortingly around my waist while his left hand held his cup.
We were silent, neither of us quite knowing how to broach the subject we’d prepared to discuss. He cleared his throat awkwardly as I stared into my tea.
I took a deep breath and told him everything that had happened, everything that both Lee and I had said and done, while his fingers ran soothingly up and down the side of my waist, tensing when I relayed that Lee had called me a common slut – twice!
By the time I was finished, our empty cups were abandoned on the floor; his right arm was lying firmly across my stomach, his hand gripping my left hip while his left hand stroked my hair.

Turning my head slightly to peer at him as best I could, I tried to judge what he was thinking but his expression was carefully blank as he stared at the far wall.
‘Penny for your thoughts?’ I asked eventually.
He turned to look at me and I saw that his eyes weren’t blank at all – there was worry and a lot of anger swirling in their brown depths. There was also another emotion added to the mix but I couldn’t tell what it was.
‘I want to go find him and hurt him...badly’ he said truthfully,
‘Or at least call Mark and get him to do it’
‘Please don’t, it’ll only cause trouble’
‘You’re right’ he murmured as he resumed stroking my hair from when he’d stopped to clench his fist.
‘But’ he continued ‘if he comes near you again, I will hurt him’
I nodded, knowing I wouldn’t be able to dissuade him,
‘Unfortunately, from what he said when he left, it doesn’t sound as if he’s just going to accept that things are over between you’ he added.
‘Probably not’ I agreed ‘but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it’

We lay there in silence for a while, both of us lost in our thoughts.
‘You know this is the shortest relationship I’ve ever been in’ I mused.
‘How long was it?’
‘Uh, about four full days?’
He was silent,
‘But I think he thought I was “his” long before that’
‘I’ve had shorter’ Nick admitted.
‘What, shorter than four days?’
‘Yep’
His head was lolled to the side, leaning against the back cushion of the couch.
‘How long?’ I finally asked.
He was quiet as if he was remembering a long time ago.
He sifted my hair through his fingers,
‘Two and a half days’
‘Two and a half days?’ I repeated, shocked.
He nodded, smiling slightly at me but I could see he was tense so I shut my mouth to stop myself from bombarding him with the millions of questions that were bouncing around my head, like;
Who was she?
When did this happen?
WHAT exactly happened?
Who broke up with whom?
Did you tense because you still like her?

I settled on just nodding my head in response, I was trying to tone down the crazy, not go up a couple of notches.
‘You know, you could move if you wanted to’ Nick spoke quietly,
‘I mean I obviously don’t think you should move in with Lee cause he’s a creep, but you could always move in with someone else if you weren’t happy here...’ He trailed off and I looked at him incredulously.
‘I didn’t think you could move’
He nodded; ‘you can request a transfer in the office.’
An image of the bitch of a receptionist that I’d met my first day here flashed across my mind.
I shook my head slowly, ‘I don’t want to move’
I glanced at him and was happy to see a slightly relieved look on his face.
I yawned randomly, trying to stifle it with my hand.
My yawn caused him to yawn in response.
I chuckled weakly, feeling sleepy.
‘Want to see if there’s anything on?’ he asked quietly, shifting slightly as he made himself more comfortable.
‘Sure’ I responded lazily.

We flicked on the TV and immediately found that P.S. I Love You was on.
We both laughed and decided to leave it on...he still hadn’t watched all of it because Mark and Jay had been distracting us last time we tried to watch it, or at least when I tried to make him watch it.
Around halfway through the movie, I turned my head to comment on it but found Nick fast asleep.
I laughed quietly to myself, careful not to wake him up; nothing I did would get him to watch it would it?
I picked up the remote and turned the TV off.
I turned back to him and smiled.
He looked adorable when he slept.
He had a slight pout, his breathing was deep and even and his long dark eyelashes fluttered ever so slightly as he dreamt.
I reached out with one finger and gently stroked his cheekbone causing his head to tilt in my direction before I reached out and turned out the lamp.

Thankfully it was the only light on – I think I’d choose sleeping with the lights on over moving off the couch and out of the warm cocoon of Nick’s arms.

I turned on my side and snuggled up against Nick, falling asleep almost instantly.