The Movies Make It Look Easy

Chapter 46

Shannon’s P.O.V:

Nick took my hand as we made our way into Arrivals.
He yawned widely, blinking rapidly to clear them of sleep. He’d slept through the whole flight, his head flopping down onto my shoulder – it hadn’t exactly made for easy reading.
We walked through the crowds, avoiding being knocked over by enthusiastic people pushing trolleys.
I scanned the area that was filled with family members waiting for their loved ones to come through the gate.
I groaned as I did a double take; ‘I didn’t know we were getting a welcoming committee’
‘What?’ Nick looked at me in confusion.
He’d been too busy making faces at a little boy perched atop a stack of suitcases in front of us to bother looking up, content to let me lead him to the doors.
I jerked my head over to a group of three people waiting not far from the doors.
He frowned, ‘I didn’t know either’
‘Well at least they don’t have a banner’ I muttered.
He grinned; ‘surprising really, considering Mark’s here’
‘Let’s not jinx it’ I moaned, ‘he might be hiding it behind his back or something’
The last thing I needed was to be embarrassed in the middle of Arrivals.

After travelling, I just wanted to get home, relax, have a shower and possibly eat my body weight in chocolate – the last part was optional.
Nick chuckled, steering us over to where Mark, Jay, and to my surprise, Nicole stood, just as the spotted us.
Mark started to wave frantically, almost blinding a poor old woman who was unfortunate enough to venture too close to his practically convulsing arm.
I tried my best to ignore the weird looks as we neared them – it came with the territory when you went anywhere with Mark.

When we finally reached them, Mark immediately latched onto me, grabbing me around the waist and hugging me so hard I thought my ribs might crack.
‘Best friends our whole lives and he shafts me for a girl’ Nick sighed dramatically as he hugged Jay and Nicole.
‘Sorry, hoes before bros is my motto’ he winked, ‘and besides, until she’s your mot, I don’t see the problem’
I rolled my eyes, ‘you’ve been spending far too much time around me’ I said, ignoring the meaning behind his words.
Mark grinned down at me suggestively as his hands slid down to grab my ass.
I raised my eyebrows, ‘you’re kidding right?’ I said, moving his hands firmly away from my derrière.
‘How about a kiss then?’ he grinned, puckering his lips.
‘I know you’re just trying – and failing – to make a joke, because I know you don’t really want me to hit you’ Nick spoke from behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders.
Mark laughed at us, letting me go; ‘touchy, touchy’
I just rolled my eyes again and turned to talk to the others.

After hugging Jay, I was surprised when Nicole threw her arms around me.
‘I’m so glad you’re back’ she said excitedly.
I tried not to look too sceptical, but I knew I hadn’t pulled it off when Jay laughed. ‘Don’t scare her’ he said gently, placing his hand lovingly on her back.
She scowled at him briefly before smiling at me again. ‘I don’t know how you manage to spend time with the three of them so often – I was around Jay and Mark for like a week and I wanted to tear my hair out’
‘I really should be offended’ Jay said mildly, but shrugged indifferently.
I laughed, ‘yeah, it takes some getting used to’
‘Well, I’m glad that you’re back’ she repeated.
‘I’m glad to be back’ I said with a genuine smile – I was starting to like this girl more and more.

I turned so I was facing everyone and dumped my bag in Mark’s hands with a sweet smile in his direction.
He knew me well enough by now not to bother saying anything. It would result in an argument that I’d invariably win – this way we were just saving time that I could later use to lie down and sleep.
We finally organised ourselves enough to turn and walk towards the doors.
I slowed down, rooting through my purse for my phone. I turned it on to text my mother to let her know that we’d landed and that I was, in fact alive – I wasn’t bothered calling because it was after nine o’clock and I didn’t want my mother to keep me on the phone for ages babbling about nothing important. I’d seen her only a few hours earlier after all.
Before I could start a new text, my phone beeped to tell me I’d received a message while my phone had been turned off.

I’d lagged behind the others while I read and had to jog to catch up with them. They were waiting for me just inside the doors and off to one side.
Nick took one look at my face and frowned, ‘what’s wrong?’
‘I’ve decided I hate him’ I burst out angrily, my eyes narrowed.
Everybody looked at me curiously and Nick gestured for me to continue. I slipped my phone into my pocket and hiked my purse higher on my shoulder.
‘Alex just sent me a message’ I began, immediately noticing a muscle in Nick’s jaw starting to tick.
‘And?’ he said tersely.
‘He said he’s really sorry for everything that happened, blah, blah, blah...’ I said sarcastically.
‘Let me see that’ Nick spoke, leaning forward to grab the phone from my pocket before I could say anything else.
‘Who’s Alex?’ Mark asked finally, as he, Jay and Nicole stared at us in something close to fascination, like we were a particularly entertaining circus act.

We were huddled in a circle, completely forgetting where we were.
‘Her ex-boyfriend’ Nick spoke as he scrolled through my phone, looking for the text.
Mark’s eyebrows shot up while Jay and Nicole looked at Nick in sympathy – why they were feeling sympathetic toward him was anyone’s guess.
‘You met her ex-boyfriend? That must have been awkward’ Mark chuckled, ignoring my glare.
‘yeah, you could say it was pretty awkward’ Nick bit out, not looking up from my phone, ‘especially when we’re standing there and he comes over and kisses her, deliberately trying to piss me off’
Even Mark looked slightly shocked.
“Hey Angel” Nick began to read, his voice low as he clenched my phone in his hand. His tone was a mixture of disdain and hate that made me want to flinch and snatch the phone back from his grasp. “I’m really sorry about what happened last night. I was drunk and got jealous when I saw you with your boy – I just wanted him to know about our special history. Hope you can forgive me, love you xx’
Nick thrust the phone at me when he finished reading, his whole body tense.
‘What do you bet he knew I’d read that?’ he practically growled.
I shrugged, ‘probably. He waited until we were out of the country before sending it. Ryan was right, he’s a little prick’
He stared at me, ‘I meant what I said earlier – I hate him, for lots of reasons’
‘I don’t blame you. There’s no way I’m going to text him back. If he’s waiting for a reply, he’s gonna be disappointed’
I knew Nick was right – Alex probably knew damn well that he’d read the text, hence the mention of our “special history”. He’d obviously been hoping that I hadn’t told Nick. The thought made me sick to be honest.

‘He sounds like a right little fucker’ Mark spoke up happily, ‘now do you mind informing us plebs what your “special history” is?’ he grinned.
I shook my head – there was no chance I’d tell him in a million years, I’d never live it down.
‘Pretty please?’ he said, batting his eyelashes to no effect.
I sighed, about to tell him what the meaning of the word “no” is, when Nick snapped at him; ‘Shut up Mark’
He took my hand and began to stride over to the doors.
I squeezed his hand – there was something about Alex that just seemed to get to him...but then Alex evoked that response in a lot of people so I couldn’t really blame Nick for disliking him.
The others followed us in silence, obviously realising that now was not the time for jokes.

Again, Mark had borrowed his mother’s car so he could pick us up. We walked in silence through the cold, night air to where they’d parked the car.
After stowing our bags, there was a minor scuffle over who’d get to sit up front, that ended with Jay sighing like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and getting into the passenger seat – effectively ending any further arguments.
I often wondered how he managed to maintain his status as the Peacemaker. I mean, it must be tiring to always intervene when Mark and/or Nick threw a tantrum - not to mention when you added me into the mix (I could act overly dramatic for no reason with the best of them). I didn’t envy him that was for sure.
Lucky me, I got stuck in the middle...okay, so it wasn’t that bad, I made a point of pushing Nick as far over to the door as I could, which he surprisingly allowed me to do with barely a glare.

Mark peppered us with questions from his seat in the front, but we both just stared at the back of his head as he fired off his queries almost too fast to hear, let alone keep track of and think of an appropriate response.
‘I think you should focus on the road’ Nick pointed out calmly as Mark slammed his foot down on the brake to avoid rear-ending a snazzy silver Mercedes stopped at a red light in front of us.
I settled for ignoring him and his pouting face that I could clearly see in the rear-view mirror, and instead focused on staring past Nick, out the window at the urban scenery passing us by as we drove on down the road.

It thankfully didn’t take too long to reach the College – but maybe I just daydreamed and didn’t realise how much time had passed.
A wave of fatigue washed over me as we trudged towards the apartment, the too few hours of sleep and busy day catching up on me.
I brightened considerably though in anticipation as Nick unlocked the old door and we walked inside.
I looked around in satisfaction at the apartment. It was exactly how we’d left it – reasonably tidy.
Like at the start of the year when I’d first stepped through the door, there was a certain unused, unlived feel to the place that practically screamed to be used - to be made into a home. I smiled slightly because that’s exactly what it was...a home.
I threw my bags in my room – the best course of action would be, of course, to unpack now and save me having to do it later, but then I was a procrastinator by nature and had absolutely no intention of changing.

When I’d gotten rid of my luggage, I made my way back into the living room, barely pausing to glare at the occupied seats before sitting down on Nick’s lap.
I curled up, tucking my feet beside me while I rested my head against his chest, my eyes starting to feel heavy again.
‘So nothing has changed then?’ Mark grinned from the other end of the couch, his feet practically on top of me; he was so stretched out (which was typical of him really).
I didn’t bother answering, I was almost certain it had been a rhetorical question, and if not, well, I didn’t really care.
Nick just shrugged as he snaked him arms around me, cradling me closer to him – he’d obviously come to the same conclusion I had.
I sighed softly to myself, feeling so relaxed and happy. I was glad to be home – I was even looking forward to going to work (even though it meant not getting a lie-in and having to see Jenny).
‘So how was it?’ Nicole asked, glancing between Nick and me from her cosy perch on the armchair with Jay.
I stayed silent again, allowing Nick to launch into a detailed account of our trip, from the moment the plane touched down on the runway to saying goodbye to Ryan at the airport. I noticed that he omitted certain details like the “Alex incident” and the fact that we were now a step past “just friends”. He also barely touched on our Christmas presents – that was a private memory, just for the two of us.
I was glad he’d left those bits out – I was far too tired to try and dodge probing questions from three extremely curious people about my sexual history and the not-quite-a-relationship I was in with Nick.

‘Did you have a good time Shannon?’ Jay looked over to me and smiled.
I nodded against Nick’s chest, ‘yeah, it was really nice to see everyone’ I said, ‘I have loads of pictures as well. I’ll show them to you sometime when I’m bothered to go find my camera’ and after I’d looked through them for anything incriminating.
Mark grinned at me, picking up on the main reason why I wasn’t going to show them the pictures immediately, ‘what do you have on your camera that you don’t want people to see, naked pictures?’
Everybody stared at him, not quite sure whether to laugh or be shocked.
‘What the hell do you think we were doing all week?’ I eventually managed, staring at him as if he’d grown a second head in the space of two seconds.
He just grinned with a wicked glint in his eye, ‘I don’t know, that’s what I’m trying to find out’
Nick snorted in laughter as I continued to stare at Mark.
‘Well, sorry to disappoint, but there aren’t any naked pictures, unless Sean stole my camera and decided he’d try and be funny’ I trailed off.
Nick shrugged, ‘it’s possible, you were too drunk to notice whether he took it or not’
‘Pot calling the kettle black’ I retorted.
He smiled; ‘touché’

Mark finally proposed watching a movie after asking a healthy mixture of pertinent and impertinent questions about our trip.
They seemed fascinated by what to me was a pretty ordinary week a home, the only strange part was that Nick was with me – but then that just made it better in my opinion.
A glance at my phone told me it was after eleven.
I yawned, ‘I’m going to bed, I’m wrecked’
All eyes turned to me and Mark paused in the act of taking Step Brothers out of its case.
Sitting up, I turned my head and kissed Nick before standing up and skirting the couch to walk to my room.
I half paused when I noticed that the silence in the room had suddenly become very heavy.
I winced when realised what I’d done.
I was so used to Nick and I spending a lot of time together, just the two of us that I’d forgotten that the others didn’t know.
Forcing myself to keep walking, I went into my room, mentally cursing my stupidity.
I closed the door behind me, sighing as I walked over to the bathroom.
I was being a complete coward leaving Nick to deal with the other three by himself, but I was too tired to do much more than blush and I knew Nick could handle it.

After a short – but refreshing – shower, I crawled into my bed, smiling slightly – it was nice to be back in my own bed.
I could hear the low sounds coming through the door from the door from the TV, but I soon tuned it out, closing my eyes and slipping easily into sleep.

I woke up to the sound of my door opening and quietly being closed again.
‘The movie can’t have ended already could it?’ I murmured sleepily without turning over.
I heard the sound of material softly hitting the ground.
‘I thought you were asleep?’ Nick asked quietly.
‘I was’
‘Sorry’ he whispered, making me roll my eyes in the dark. ‘And no, the movie didn’t end – I kicked everyone out halfway through’
I chuckled lightly, ‘I bet Mark wasn’t happy’
‘Nope. When he complained, I just shoved the DVD into his hands before pushing him out the door...and locking it’ he added as an afterthought.
‘Hey!’ I said, rolling over to eye his dark shape, ‘that was my DVD’
‘Well, you’re probably never going to see it again’ he said in a totally unconcerned manner.
I pouted even though I knew he couldn’t see it.
‘I’ve never seen Mark as quiet as when you left the room earlier’ he chuckled as he kicked off his tracksuit bottoms.
I groaned, pressing my face into the pillow, ‘I didn’t think. What did they say?’
He laughed quietly, ‘nothing at all for a couple of minutes while they realised that they hadn’t just imagined it and then they wouldn’t shut up. I told them – politely of course – that they could fuck off and that it wasn’t any of their business. That didn’t exactly go down well, but there wasn’t much they could do about it’
I could tell he was smiling.
I knew the next time I saw Mark, Jay or Nicole I’d never hear the end of it.
‘Move over’ Nick yawned, seemingly unperturbed by what had happened.
I didn’t really know why it was bothering me so much, there was no reason why it should.

I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows as another thought made its way to the front of my mind.
I shuffled over in the bed; making room for Nick as he got under the covers...I was pretty sure I hadn’t accidently crawled into his bed without thinking...had I?
Nope, a quick scan of the almost completely dark room told me that I wasn’t the one in the wrong place.
He snuggled up next to me, throwing one arm over me.
I frowned, ‘you know, you have a perfectly good room, and subsequently, a perfectly good bed waiting for you across the living room’ I said, half-sarcastically.
‘Yes, but then you’d have to sleep alone’ he said in all seriousness.
I had to stifle my laughter.
‘Because I’d cry myself to sleep without you here’ I quipped.
‘See? I’m doing you a favour really’ he said, shifting slightly to make himself more comfortable.
‘How magnanimous of you’ I muttered in full sarcastic mode, before settling down and falling asleep again.