Chapter 30
Chris and Shannon backed away from each other and looked towards the vehicle that had arrived at the park. A tall figure came from the car, "What the hell are you two doing here?" Chris stood up from the bench, "Jace, let me explain!" "Yeah, you better explain!" Shannon interrupted them, "Wait, JC, what are you doing here? I thought you were at the club with Jess?" "I was, but she kept getting bitchier because you didn’t come. I can’t wait until I tell her where I found you." Chris’s eyes opened wide, "JC, you can’t tell anyone what you saw. You just can’t!" "Why the hell not?," he snapped back at them, "I know you two have had a thing for each other from day one!" Chris sat back down, "But how? Was it that obvious?" JC just nodded his head slightly. "So how long has this been going on between you two?" Shannon cocked her head a bit, "How long what has been going on? Nothing IS going on. We are just friends." JC looked at her funny, "Just friends? It looked like a little more than that when I pulled up." "You can’t tell anyone. Please!," Chris pleaded with him. JC stood and thought for a moment, "Fine. I won’t tell anyone. But if I see or hear about it again, I will tell." With that, JC turned around and went to his car and left. Chris and Shannon just sat back down on the bench and silence fell between them. "I never meant for that to happen," she said quietly to him. "Don’t blame yourself, it was all my fault. I’m sorry. Why don’t we just head home now?" Shannon stood up and went to the car and quietly got in. They rode home in complete silence, the only noise was the radio playing. They got to the house and walked in slowly, still not saying a word.
Shannon gathered her pillows and blankets and went towards the couch. She got herself comfortable and then turned on the TV. Chris came up behind the couch and leaned down close to her. She jumped as she wasn’t expecting him to pop up like that suddenly. "I’m tired of seeing you sleep on the couch, you look so uncomfortable. Why don’t you sleep in a normal bed?" She crinkled her nose at him in thought, "Wha. . what? Because. I just don’t want to. It doesn’t feel right without Justin. And I just can’t. Its hard to explain." She went back to flipping through the channels, and Chris grabbed the remote from her and flicked the TV off. "Why don’t you sleep in my bed then?" She tried to grab the remote back, "Why? Do you want to sleep on the couch?" He let out a soft laugh, "No silly. I’d sleep in my bed too." "You mean you want me to. . . to sleep with you?" Chris backed away from her a little bit, "I’m sorry. Forget I asked." "Wait, Chris! Don’t go! I just. . . I’m just not sure. I mean, I want to. . to be with you, but. . but it seems so wrong." Chris moved towards her again, "It’s Justin, isn’t it? I can understand that." "Yeah, it’s Justin, and I know I have to move on, but I feel like I’m going about that too fast." Chris let out a sigh, "I see." "It’s you I want to be with, but I’m afraid something is going to happen and I am going to get hurt again," she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Shan, I promised Justin that I would take care of you and that is what I am going to do. I will never hurt you, I promise." She weakly smiled at him and stood up, gathering her blankets and pillows. "You don’t need those, I have plenty in my room." She followed him and eventually, they fell asleep in each others arms.
Shannon hadn’t slept so peacefully in a long time, and she didn’t wake up until she heard a noise downstairs. She knew it wasn’t Chris because his arms were still wrapped tightly around her body. She was startled by the noise and tried to wake Chris up to investigate the noise. He wouldn’t wake up so she just laid there, praying that whoever it was would go away. The noise seemed to be coming up the stairs and she gripped onto Chris tighter and he seemed to wake up a bit. "What’s wrong?" he asked her. "There is someone in the house. I tried to wake you, but you were sound asleep," she whispered to him. The noise crept closer and closer to the room and she could see a persons shadow in the hall. "Shh, keep quiet and maybe they’ll go away," Chris told her. He held her tighter as the figure came near the doorway. "Who could be here this early in the morning?" she asked him quietly.
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