The Movies Make It Look Easy

IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE BOTTOM, PLEASE READ.

Chapter 54

Shannon’s P.O.V:

I grabbed an apple from the bowl in the kitchen and took a bite as I wandered into my room to get my bag.
We were supposed to have left five minutes ago, but all three guys were glued to whatever game they were playing, and were oblivious to Nikki and I loudly asking each other the time and sighing probably more than was strictly necessary.
I suppose I should be happy that they’d even agreed to come. Men generally didn’t enjoy trailing after girls as they shopped…well, maybe if they were gay – but somehow I doubted Mark would appreciate the connection.
I’d probably regret ever suggesting they come when the inevitable moaning began, but what the hell, let’s call it group bonding or some crap like that.

I took my time making sure I had all the requisite items for shopping, i.e. phone, money and keys.
By the time I left my room again, there was nothing left of my apple but the core. I disposed of it and went to stand behind the couch, staring blankly at the TV screen.
I knew this would happen when we bought Nick’s birthday present.
I placed my hands on Mark’s shoulders and shook him while Nikki looked on from the armchair with a smile.
‘Can we go now please?’ I asked, trying not to laugh when the game was paused so he could turn around to glare at me.
I gave him my puppy dog eyes and he sighed in defeat, throwing down his controller; ‘fine. I was losing anyway’
I laughed and headed for the door.
Nick took my hand as we walked down one of the many paths on campus and I smiled up at him, thinking back to our conversation the night before.

We were sitting together on the couch, the TV off for once as we talked about our friends and just our lives in general.
A thought had popped into my mind and before I could stop myself, I heard myself asking, ‘do you like Nikki?’
I remember that he looked at me in surprise and confusion.
‘Yes’ he answered, ‘I do. When I first met her I wasn’t sure but that was before I got to know her. Why do you ask?’
I gestured vaguely with my hands, ‘I just, never see you interact with her…’
I wasn’t making my point very well, but he seemed to know what I was getting at.
‘I guess I’m just not a very touchy-feely, affectionate kind of guy’
I couldn’t help the snort of disbelief that escaped me and I had to struggle not to laugh out loud.
Was he being serious?
He chuckled when he saw my reaction, reaching out to slowly caress my exposed ankle; ‘you’re the exception of course. Every rule needs one’
‘So I’m a necessity?’ I asked coyly, trying not to grin.
‘Definitely’ he returned my smile and I couldn’t help but fall in love with him a little more.
My smile dropped as another thing occurred to me.
‘Does it bother you the way I act around guys, Mark and Jay in particular?’
I realised how it would look to an outsider and I’d gotten in trouble before for my naturally flirty behaviour, even though I never meant any harm by it…and never really even noticed I was doing it.
He thought about it for a moment, his fingers tracing a line up my calf to my knee and back down.
‘No’ he said eventually. ‘For starters, I know you flirt, but that’s just you, and besides, I know you’d never act on it - and Mark and Jay are my best friends. Even if Jay wasn’t totally committed to Nicole, he’d never do that to me, and Mark, well, Mark is all talk’
‘Despite the fact that he’s kissed me multiple times?’ I teased.
‘Despite that’ he smiled. ‘Besides, Mark’s got nothing on me’
I rolled my eyes, surprised that he didn’t just flex his biceps…not that I’d have minded in the slightest.
‘I knew there was a reason I liked you’ I said dryly.
‘Loved’ he corrected; grinning at me, ‘you knew there was a reason why you loved me’
I just answered him with another eye roll.

I was brought back to the present by a dark haired guy with his head bent and his hands stuffed in his pockets as he pushed past.
I stepped closer to Nick to avoid him and for a split second, I thought it was Lee.
I knew it wasn’t, but ever since he’d stopped me after class almost a week ago, I’d been half expecting him to try talking to me again. Maybe he’d finally gotten the message.

As I’d expected, it wasn’t long before the guys began to moan – Mark was the first to break as predicted - though I had to admit that even I was flagging as Nikki dragged us into the umpteenth shop. She seemed to possess an endless capacity to shop; something we didn’t share in common.
I had my limits and I was very picky, so inevitably I had less bags for Nick to carry (I felt sorry for Jay).
We stopped at one last shop – La Senza – but it was agreed that while Nikki and I shopped, the guys would go eat or something.
As far as I was concerned, men reacted in two ways when taken underwear shopping; they’d either love it or be entirely freaked out by the overabundance of lace and frills surrounding them.
With a few discreet looks and nods, Nikki and I decided to skip all of that and go in by ourselves.
‘You sure you don’t need any help?’ Nick whispered, pulling me close.
I laughed and reached up to caress his smooth cheek – he’d finally bothered to shave – ‘if you’re lucky you might get to see what I buy later’
I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help it, I really couldn’t, and the look on his face was completely worth it.
‘Wow, I can feel the tension from here’
I looked up to see Mark standing beside us, grinning. I sighed and stepped over to Nikki, shooting a glare at Mark. He was just a tad irritating and I felt nothing but satisfaction when I saw Nick punch him in the arm.
They finally left and Nikki and were able to step into the shop.

We wandered around, joking and laughing. It was nice having a bit of girl time. We moved back to the changing rooms.
I could talk to her through the thin wall separating our cubicles, and immediately took advantage of the situation.
‘So how did your night with Jay go after Nick’s birthday?’
She was silent and I fought a smile. I spoke to her on the phone a few days after Nick’s birthday but she hadn’t been very forthcoming with details and had avoided the subject ever since.
Call me nosey but I wanted more than a succinct, ‘I had a good night’
‘What about you and Nick?’ she countered, ‘you two were…all over each other…’
I laughed, ‘I’m sorry about that actually’
‘No problem’ she replied dryly.
‘Anyway, I’ll tell you if you tell me’ I hooked a lacy black bra behind my back and adjusted it as I waited for her answer.
‘Deal’

I heard the door to her cubicle open as she stepped out and the sound of her footsteps receded. I waited in silence, trying on a few more bras when her hand appeared over the top of the door, clutching a piece of silky material.
‘Try this on’ she said, ‘and tell me about Nick’
I could hear the laughter in her voice and immediately grew suspicious. I tentatively reached up and took the garment from her, rolling my eyes when I held up the bottle green corset with a black lace overlay.
‘Really?’ I sighed and clearly heard her answering giggle.
Sighing again, I pulled the corset around me and began doing up the metal hooks in the front. It was laced up the back with black ribbon.
‘What do you want to know?’ I asked.
‘What happened after you left in the taxi?’
I paused for a moment before answering, half of the hooks done. ‘Nothing. We went home and slept’
‘You went home and…slept?’ her was full of disbelief and frankly, I couldn’t blame her.
‘Yeah, Mark walked in on us in an, uh, compromising position so we called it a night’
She burst into hysterical laughter, ‘how compromising?’ she finally got out between giggles.
I felt myself shrugging before I realised that she couldn’t actually see me.
‘Not very’ I admitted, ‘he didn’t remember anything the next morning but I never would have heard the end of it if he’d seen me naked or something’
I grimaced at my reflection in the mirror at the thought and I adjust the corset so it was a bit more comfortable.

Before Nikki could reply, I opened the door and stepped out, striking a dramatic pose.
I was lucky we were the only two in the changing rooms or that could have been extremely embarrassing.
‘What do you think?’ I asked, twisting my hair up into a knot, ‘do you think it says, “I’m an innocent virgin”?’ I couldn’t keep the grin from my face as I spoke.
Nikki raised one eyebrow as she looked at me, ‘no, virgin is the last thing anybody would think if they saw you in that’
I pretended to look outraged, ‘are you saying I’m a slut?’ I gasped dramatically.
She rolled her eyes, ‘no, what I’m saying is that Nick might just faint when he sees you in that’
Just like that, my suspicion was back, ‘what do you mean, when he sees me?’
I crossed my arms but quickly dropped them again when I realised that all I was doing was pushing my boobs up even more than the corset already had.
She looked at me like I was stupid, ‘you are buying it aren’t you?’
I shook my head vehemently, ‘no, I was just trying it on for fun’
‘You’re buying it’
‘No’
‘Yes’
‘No’
‘Look’ she finally said in exasperation, ‘if you don’t buy it, I will’
I frowned, ‘I’m not letting you buy this for me’
She shrugged, ‘it can be your early birthday present or something’
‘My birthday isn’t until May!’ I protested.
She shrugged again, ‘I don’t care, one way or another you’re walking out of this shop with that’
I glared at her, ‘fine’ before turning and flouncing back into the cubicle.

‘I wish I had your boobs’ she said almost absently.
I stared at the closed door for a minute before glancing down at the boobs in question, completely caught off guard by her comment.
‘I just wish I could have some cleavage without the help of a Wonderbra’
I didn’t bother answering, but kept shooting glances at the closed door, still shocked by what she’d said. It was so unlike her.
The corset didn’t take as long to take off as it had to put on and I stepped out of the cubicle a minute later and turned to Nikki, who was lounging against the wall opposite me.
‘You’re fine the way you are’ I told her firmly.
She opened her mouth to protest but I cut her off, a teasing grin growing on my face, ‘I’m flattered, I really am, but you should know that I don’t swing that way. Been there, done that…definitely not my cup of tea’
She stared at me in shock as she became visibly flustered and uncomfortable, ‘I-I didn’t mean…’
I burst out laughing and she glared at me, obviously not appreciating my humour.

I turned and left the changing rooms, holding in my laughter when she called after me; ‘wait, wait, wait, what do you mean, been there, done that?’
I just continued to walk and she eventually caught up with me just as I reached the cash desk.
I smiled at the woman behind the counter and handed over the items I was buying (and yes, that included the corset).
I glanced over at Nikki’s questioning expression and knew she wanted an explanation.
‘I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing. It’s like kissing a friend, that’s all; nothing special’ I told her neutrally as I paid and we headed for the exit.
I could tell she was out of her comfort zone but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
‘But that’s really not important, it’s ancient history. Tell me about you and Jay. What happened after we left the club?’
She cringed slightly and stayed resolutely silent.
I sighed internally, this will no doubt be harder than pulling teeth, I thought to myself. I was determined to persevere though.

She muttered something under her breath that I didn’t catch.
‘What?’ I asked, glancing at her quickly before we crossed the road.
‘I said’ she repeated quietly, ‘that I’m officially the world’s biggest bottler’
I took a moment to be amused at her choice of words before focusing on what she was saying.
‘I doubt that’ I told her dryly. ‘What happened?’
‘Absolutely nothing’ she confessed.
I frowned at her; I’d presumed that when she’d told me that she’d had a good night that…obviously not. She’d been dead set on everything going ahead as planned. What went wrong?
When I didn’t say anything, she finally told me what had happened.
‘It was my fault’ she said desolately, not meeting my gaze, ‘I think I freaked him out’

We were walking slowly because the café the guys had gone to wasn’t far away.
‘I was nervous when we were talking at the restaurant but by the end of the night, I was actually kind of excited. I started to get really worked up for no reason though when we got back to his place, and I went straight from excited to practically shaking, I was so nervous’
A slight pink blush crept across her cheeks, ‘I started babbling about how we were both too drunk to do anything and then I tried to leave’
‘Wait, you left?’
She looked upset. ‘No. I tried to’ she explained, ‘Jay stopped me and asked what the hell was going on. As I said, he looked a bit freaked out. I mean I kinda blindsided him when I suddenly started talking about sex’ she paused, looking sheepish.
‘Go on’ I urged.
‘Well, I started to babble again and your um, name may have come up a few times’
I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at her, ‘what do you mean my name came up?’
She looked even more embarrassed as she fidgeted. ‘I may have told him about Alex’ she practically whispered.
I just stared at her; horrified, not able to understand why that would be relevant.
‘Sorry’ she said, looking more upset by the minute.
I sighed and began walking again, ‘it’s alright, you just caught me off guard that’s all. It’s not a big deal’
‘Are you sure? I mean, I promised I wouldn’t…’
I just shrugged, ‘it’s fine, seriously’
She nodded but didn’t say anything. I could see the sign for the café just up ahead.
‘And I wouldn’t worry about you and Jay by the way’ I told her.
She looked at me questioningly as we neared the door.
I returned her gaze and winked, ‘sometimes, spontaneity is best’
She burst out laughing as we stepped into the small but busy café.

I immediately spotted the guys off to the left and lifted my hand in greeting when I caught Jay’s eye.
Nick had his back to us as we walked over to the table and when we reached them, I dropped my stuff on the floor and slipped my arms around his shoulders, his head leaning back against me.
He grasped my hands in his and pulled me closer.
I bent to kiss him on the cheek before pulling away, ‘I’m going up, anyone want anything?’
Without waiting for an answer, I turned and walked over to the counter.
I tapped my fingers impatiently against the countertop as I waited, wanting only to sit down.
‘Sorry, it’ll just be a moment, we’re really busy today’ the teenager working the till said awkwardly.
I glanced at his nametag which read “Daniel” in large letters. He looked like he was sixteen or seventeen, and was clearly nervous.
I smiled, ‘no worries. I work in a place like this so I understand how hectic it can get’
He sent me a half-smile, looking noticeably less nervous, ‘weekends are the busiest, and it’ll only get worse the warmer it gets’ he said.
I was mildly surprised at how chatty he’d suddenly become, he didn’t strike me as the type to start a conversation with a complete stranger.
‘Too true’ I answered neutrally; ‘I don’t envy you having to work today’

I noticed the line behind me getting longer and felt sorry for the harried looking staff.
A small woman wearing a black work shirt and slacks finally brought my order over and left it beside the till before hurrying off again.
‘That’ll be £3’ Daniel said happily with a wide smile.
Wow, he grew confidence quick.
A hand reached around me to hand a couple of coins to Daniel and I barely had time to roll my eyes before Nick rested his hands on my hips.
Daniel seemed unsure who to hand the receipt to, his eyes darting back and forth between Nick and I, his nervousness fully restored.
I could only imagine the look Nick was giving the poor guy…I didn’t want turn around to check.
I made the decision for him by reaching out and extracting the thin piece of paper from his limp fingers.
‘Good luck with the rest of your shift’ I smiled and received an answering grin, and a blush?

I grabbed the plate from the counter and turned, walking back to the table, leaving Nick to carry my tea.
I sat in the free seat Nikki had pulled over for me and poured milk into my tea when Nick pushed it over to me.
Mark eyed the giant cookie sitting in front of me with a gaze that could only be described as lustful.
‘Don’t even think about it’ I warned.
He pouted, looking crestfallen. ‘So, how was your, uh, shopping trip?’ he asked with a grin, completely forgetting about the cookie.
‘It was great. Don’t you agree Shannon?’ Nikki turned to me with a smirk and I knew she was referring to certain purchases I’d made.
I glared at her, ‘don’t you dare’
She raised her hands in mock innocence while biting her lip to stop from laughing.
Mark watched us avidly, his gaze flitting between us. ‘What did you buy?’ he asked with a rising excitement which I found to be slightly creepy.
‘Nothing’ I said, taking a bite of mouth-wateringly delicious cookie.
‘But you have a bag, which means you bought something. I wanna see’ he whined.

I didn’t even bother to answer, just savouring another bite of cookie. I noticed Nick watching me and broke off half of my cookie and handed it to him without a word.
That’s love for you.
He raised an eyebrow but took the offered cookie without a word.
‘I know you wanted it’ was all I said.
He leaned over to press a kiss to my temple, smiling his thanks.
‘That’s so unfair!’ Mark spluttered.
Nick grinned at him, ‘she loves me more than you, what can I say?’
I rolled my eyes, ‘don’t let your head get too big. You can barely fit through doors as it is’ I muttered.
‘I take offense to that’ he glared, but amusement danced in his eyes making the gold and green more prominent.

Mark glowered at us from across the table, muttering under his breath about the injustice of the situation and how our lovey-dovey attitudes sickened him.
I turned to Jay, again choosing to ignore Mark.
‘So I hear Nikki has been telling stories about me’ I raised an eyebrow and he sat back in his seat and regarded me with amusement, chuckling quietly.
‘Yes she did’ he grinned, wrapping an arm around Nikki who was blushing furiously.
‘Don’t worry’ he continued, ‘I won’t tell Mark’
I smiled, ‘thanks. That’s all I’d need’
‘What’s this about?’ Nick asked curiously, looking at the three of us.
I noticed Mark staring at me suspiciously and I fought a laugh.
‘Alex’ I said succinctly and saw a muscle in Nick’s jaw twitch.
I reached over and took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

‘Oh come on!’ Mark burst out, ‘first, you won’t show me what you bought, then you give Nick half of your cookie…and now! Now you all know something and you won’t tell me! What the hell is this?’
A few women at the next table stared at us disapprovingly after Mark’s little rant.
‘You’ll get over it’ I told him soothingly, leaning forward to pat his hand.
After finishing my cookie and my tea, I started to feel sleepy and completely drained of energy. This was why I didn’t shop very often.
Conversation continued around me, but Mark never really recovered from his little tantrum, preferring to sit silently with a pout on his face unless he absolutely had to talk.

I was grateful when it was finally decided that we should go home. I gathered up my things and quietly followed the others to the door. I leaned back against Nick when we came to a stop just outside the door, stifling a yawn.
Nikki and Jay were heading out to meet up with some of Nikki’s friends from school and they were going in the opposite direction to us.
I hugged both of them and after a quick goodbye, we headed back towards college.
Nick took my hand and I smiled up at him happily.
Mark walked in continual silence and I sighed, reaching over to take his hand. He looked at me sceptically but didn’t let go.
‘Cheer up’ I told him, ‘next time I get a cookie, I’ll give half to you. Deal?’
Nick began to protest but I squeezed his hand to make him shut up.
Mark thought about it for a moment and looked at me hopefully, ‘will you show me what you bought as well?’
I just looked at him.
‘Okay, fine’ he sighed, ‘deal’
I grinned and began to swing our hands between us.

I started to drag my feet the further we walked until Nick and Mark were practically pulling me along. It probably looked pretty suspect to passers-by; two guys pulling a girl down the street, apparently against her will, but I couldn’t muster up the energy to care.
‘Can’t…go on’ I wheezed, ‘too…tired’
We finally came to a stop – only a few metres from the campus gates – and Nick rolled his eyes at me, ‘we’re practically home, don’t be so lazy’
‘It’s in my DNA’ I said dramatically, making Mark chuckle.
Nick rolled his eyes again while Mark’s phone began to ring.
He answered it with a grin and had a short, uninformative conversation with whoever had called him.
‘Who was that?’ I asked when he hung up.
‘Diana’ he said with great satisfaction.
I grimaced, not wanting to know who Diana was or why she was calling him.
I turned to Nick, ‘carry me home’ I said imperiously.
He looked at me incredulously, ‘you’re joking right?’
I shook my head, ‘nope’ I said, popping the ‘P’.
‘No’ he said, ‘you can walk the last couple of metres’
Mark watched us, trying not to laugh as I opened my mouth to argue.

Before I got the chance though, I heard somebody laugh softly behind me and a voice say; ‘you’re still exactly the same. I’ll carry you if you want’
I knew that voice.
A frisson of excitement ran through me as I whipped around.
I just stared at the guy standing before me, my lips twitching with a smile that I just couldn’t hold back. His face was a light brown from being outside all year round, his dark blond hair was shorter than I remembered and stubble covered his angular jawline.
My gaze ran down his long, lean body and back up to his twinkling blue eyes. God, I’d missed him.
‘Conor’ I breathed.
He grinned, ‘well, are you just going to stand there staring at me or are you going to give me a hug?’
I threw my arms around him and with a laugh he dropped the black bag in his hand and picked me up, spinning me around.
He slowly placed me back on the ground and cupped my chin as his eyes scanned my face. He leaned in, a smile stretching his lips in an upward tilt and placed a chaste kiss on my lips before whispering in my ear ‘I’ve missed you’
I hugged him again, ‘I missed you too’

I turned back around to the guys, my grin still firmly in place. It faltered though, just for a moment when I saw them.
Mark was frowning at Nick who was staring at me and Conor, his face blank and unreadable.
Oh crap, I thought but I pushed it aside when Conor stepped up next to me.
‘Conor, this is Mark and Nick. Guys, this is Conor’
Conor extended a hand for them to shake. ‘It’s nice to meet you’ he said.
Mark replied with the same sentiment and a strained smile but Nick just grunted.
There was a slightly awkward silence as everybody stared at each other, and unfortunately, the guys sized each other up.
Mark broke it though with and affable smile. ‘I have to go, people to see and all that. If you know what I mean’ he winked.
Conor chuckled but Nick just stayed silent.
Mark pulled me into a hug, ‘be careful Sweetcheeks’ he whispered so the other two couldn’t hear, ‘I have a bad feeling about this’
I smiled weakly but it didn’t last, ‘we’ll be fine. Go have fun with Diana’
‘Will do’ he grinned.
‘It was…nice to meet you’ he smiled at Conor and sent one last loaded look in Nick’s direction before he turned and walked away, shoulders hunched as he melted into the throng of people.

I turned back to Nick and Conor and looked back and forth between them, not sure what to say.
I’d never before noticed how different they were. Conor was light while Nick was dark. Nick was a couple of inches taller and while Conor was every bit as good looking, he didn’t have the classic good looks that Nick possessed and made him so irresistible to women.
I got a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach and nervously tucked my hair behind my ears.
‘So, do you want to be carried or not?’ Conor asked mildly.
I shook my head slightly, ‘nah, it’s alright, Nick’s right, we’re almost home anyway’
I started walking towards the gates and they both fell into step beside me; Nick on my left and Conor on my right.
My hand instinctively reached out and found Nick’s, and I felt calmer when he held my hand tightly in his warm grip.
‘How long have you been here?’ I asked Conor, feeling more at ease with the situation. ‘If I’d known you were coming today…’ I trailed off.
‘No worries’ he smiled, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, exposing perfectly straight, white teeth; ‘it was a last minute flight. I stopped by your apartment and when you weren’t there I decided to wander’
‘How did you know which apartment was ours?’ I frowned.
‘A woman in the office told me’
I grimaced in disgust, willing to bet that it had been the Bitch from my first day who’d told him.
Should she really give out information like that to somebody who was a complete stranger to her?

I was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts as we cut across campus, heading straight for apartment number 13.
I caught Nick’s eye and smiled, stepping closer to him. He smiled back but it didn’t reach his eyes. I sighed and looked away again.
‘I dropped into your house before heading to the airport’ Conor said randomly.
I turned my attention to him, my eyebrows raised in surprise.
He grinned when he saw my expression, ‘I haven’t been to visit since we ended things’ he explained.
I nodded my head in understanding. The only person my mother liked more than Conor was Nick, seemingly anyway.
‘She asked me to pass on a message’
‘Oh?’ I inquired.
‘She said she’s waiting for you to call and apologise for hanging up on her the other day’ he looked curious as he spoke but didn’t ask.
I glanced at Nick nervously who was watching the exchange with interest.
‘I was, uh…interrupted’ I said weakly.
Conor’s eyes immediately cut to Nick with a small smile, ‘interrupted huh?’ ‘When were you on the phone with your mother?’ Nick asked calmly.
Inside, I started to freak out.
Not wanting to make a big deal out of it in front of Conor, I mumbled practically under my breath; ‘Monday’
Nick’s face closed down and I silently cursed.
Any hope I’d had that he would have forgotten about my bad mood was dashed irrevocably.
Conor glanced between us in confusion. ‘Who interrupted you?’ he’d obviously picked up on the fact that it wasn’t Nick.
‘Oh, just somebody’ I said vaguely, frantically thinking of ways to change the subject – no such luck.
‘Please, do tell’ Nick said, his voice still perfectly calm.
‘Lee’ I said on a sigh.

Nick stopped completely, pulling me to a stop with him because of our joined hands.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he asked incredulously.
I sighed again, feeling suddenly bereft when Nick dropped my hand.
‘I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. We just talked. We’re in the same class, it was bound to happen’ I explained but he just stared at me, his eyes once again unreadable. ‘Is Lee that guy…?’ Conor interrupted, looking more confused than ever.
‘He’s Shannon’s ex-boyfriend and part-time stalker’ Nick bit out, talking directly to Conor for the first time.
I rolled my eyes, ‘don’t be melodramatic, he’s hardly my stalker’
‘Let me guess, he wanted to get back together with you’ Nick continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
‘I clearly said no, so I’ll say it again, it’s not a big deal’
No way was I going to tell him some of the things Lee had said.
Nick exhaled loudly but didn’t say a word, just turned and continued on to the apartment, my shopping bags in his hands.

‘You’ve got a lot of explaining to do’ Conor said mildly.
‘He’s mad at me’ I said sadly.
He shrugged, ‘yeah, but not too mad. You should just explain everything that happened. I can’t give you better advice because I don’t have a clue what’s going on’ he smiled at me, ‘just make sure you don’t mess it up. I’d hate to see the fallout if you two fought or broke up’
‘We’re not going out’ I reminded him.
He snorted loudly and impolitely (which was unusual of him), ‘semantics’ he reasoned, wrapping an arm around my waist.

We started slowly walking home.
‘You two are clearly head over heels for each other, I don’t see why you don’t just make it official’
I sighed, not wanting to argue about it.
‘So what do you think of him?’ I asked, laying my head against his shoulder.
‘I realise that I haven’t seen him at his best, but he seems like a good guy and you’re a good judge of character’
‘That means a lot’ I said sincerely – and it did.
He was one of my closest friends and I felt better knowing he approved.
‘So how long are you staying for?’ I couldn’t keep the hope from voice.
‘I have to leave in the morning’
I felt my face fall, ‘why?’
‘I have to get back to work’ he sighed. ‘But let’s not think about that, let’s just make the most of the time we do have. Okay?’
I agreed but I was far from happy about it.

It didn’t take long to reach home.
We stepped inside and Conor looked about with interest. I couldn’t help but notice that Nick’s door was firmly shut.
‘Come on, I’ll show you my room’ I gestured to the left and my half open door.
Without warning, he swept me off my feet and threw me over his shoulder, ‘I thought you’d never ask’ he said in a mock seductive voice that made me laugh.

I continued to laugh as he headed into my room, kicking the door shut behind us.

3rd Person’s P.O.V:

Nick’s bedroom door opened and he stepped out, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
He’d just hung up with Mark and was ready to apologise for being unnecessarily annoyed at Shannon.
Even the thought of Lee made him irrationally angry.
However, he stepped out just in time to witness Conor throwing Shannon over his shoulder.
‘I thought you’d never ask’ he said seductively, amusement in his tone.
Shannon began to laugh, not making even a move half-hearted move to make Conor put her down as they went into her room, slamming the door behind them.

Nick stood staring at the closed door, his face expressing an array of emotions as he clenched his fists.
The sound of Shannon and Conor’s laughter emanated out from behind the closed door, seeming to echo around the suddenly silent room.
An almost palpable anticipatory atmosphere that was laden with tension descended over apartment number 13, like storm clouds brewing in the dark sky above, and Nick’s lips twisted in a small but horrible smile.

With one last look at the closed door, he whirled and strode out of the apartment, one thought clear in the red haze that had overtaken his mind; two can play at that game…