Chapter 35
Shannon folded the paper up again and sat it on the nightstand beside the bed. "So, what did it say?," she asked him. Chris shook his head, "Are you sure you want to know?" Shannon sighed, "If I don’t find out, it’s going to bother me for a long time." Chris fidgeted a little and then climbed out of bed, and was getting ready to get something out of the dresser when the doorbell rang. "We’ll finish this later." He got dressed real quick and ran downstairs while Shannon sat there, trying to think what was going to happen. She got up and went to take a shower while Chris conversed with their visitors.
Chris ran down the stairs and quickly opened the door. He saw two smiling faces and let them in. "We came by to see how Shannon was doing," Jess said quietly, looking around the room. Chris smiled, "She’s in the shower, but she should be out soon. Why don’t you have a seat on the couch?" The three sat down and sat in silence until Jess broke through, "So what’s up between you and Shannon?" Chris sat straight up, "Nothing, why?" Jess shrugged, "Just wondering. You two seem awfully close. I mean, I haven’t been around lately, but the park that night? And then sleeping together? I wasn’t born yesterday, I can tell you two have something going on." JC interrupted, "Maybe he doesn’t want to rush her into anything." Chris nodded his head, "That’s right. I want to take things slow. I really, honestly, want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I don’t know how to say it. I wrote her a note that basically asked her to, well, marry me, but I ripped that part off the letter because I wasn’t sure anymore." Jess’ mouth dropped open, "Marry her? Wow. . . our little Chris is becoming a man." Chris growled at her, and she snapped up, "Sorry, just a joke. Um, yeah, so anyways. . . why don’t you just ask her?" Chris sighed, "Well, I don’t know if she’s ready for that, and with me. I mean, Justin is still fresh in her mind. . ." JC interrupted again, "Justin is still fresh in everyone’s mind, and he will be for a long time. I think you should ask her, but take your time afterwards and don’t rush into anything. Make sure that she feels comfortable with it." "Do you have a ring or anything?," Jess asked him. "Yeah, I was going to give it to her and ask her before you two came, but something held me back." They heard the water in the shower turn off and they stopped talking about the marriage thing so that Shannon wouldn’t have any clue. Chris was so surprised that they were cool about the whole idea, he thought for sure that Jess would have a cow.
Shannon came down the stairs after another 15 minutes, and Jess ran up to her and gave her a hug. "How are you feeling?," she asked her quietly. "Just fine. Where’s Chris?" Jess looked around, "Him and Jace went outside, can I ask you something?" Shannon sat down on the couch, "Sure, what?" Jess cleared her throat, "How do you feel about Chris?" "What do you mean?" Jess let out a laugh, "Well, I mean. . do you love him? You know, that sort of thing." Shannon crinkled her nose, "Of course I love him. He’s so wonderful. Why are you asking me this? What’s going on?" "Nothing is going on, I just wanted to know. Do you think anything is going to happen between the two of you. I mean, I heard about the park, and you sleeping with him. Which, oh yeah, I was going to ask, is he any good?" Shannon laughed, "I wouldn’t know. We’ve never done anything. Anyways, I don’t know. Honestly, I think he’s the one I’d want to spend the rest of my life with." Jess nodded her head, "What about Justin?" "Justin? Well. . see, here’s the thing. I can honestly say that I love Justin, and I love Chris. And not a day goes by that I don’t think of Justin and the times we spent together, but I have to move on sooner or later. I’m not pushing Justin out of my mind, but I don’t want to be lonely all my life." Jess smiled and gave her a hug. "Cool, why don’t we go see what the guys are up to. So you say you’ve never done anything with Chris?" Shannon shook her head, "Nope." Jess laughed, "What about Justin?" "What is this? 20 questions?," she asked her. "I’m just wondering, because well, JC and I haven’t done anything either, and I mean, we’ve been together a long time," she said, stretching her arm out, almost purposely shoving her hand into Shannon’s face. "Wait a second, let me see your hand," Shannon said, grabbing her arm. "Is this an engagement ring??" Shannon asked with a grin on her face, "Why didn’t you ever tell me??" Jess laughed, "I never had the chance."
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