Chapter 38
Shannon stood up and held out her hand, "We better go outside before everyone thinks something happened." She led the way and as she opened the sliding glass door, Joey took a running leap for them. Shannon and Chris jumped out of the way quickly. Mandi saw Joey bouncing around the yard, "Hey Joey! It’s called Ritalin. . GET SOME!" Shannon shook her head, "I shouldn’t have given him those snackey cakes. The sugar makes him way too hyper." "I could have told you that!," JC yelled as Joey had him pinned on the ground.
Chris made his way to his chair and plopped down on it. Lance looked over and saw him, noticing that he was acting differently. He walked over to him, "Hey! What’s wrong?" Chris was startled, "What? Oh. . nothing." Lance looked at him closer, "Bullshit, I know you are lying." Chris sighed, "I hate you guys, you always know when something is wrong." Lance had a goofy grin on his face, "That’s what friends are for. Do you want to talk about it?" Chris nodded, "Sure, but not in here."
Lance went over and told Mandi that he was going to talk to Chris privately. Chris stood at the glass door waiting for Lance. "What on earth am I going to tell him?" Chris thought to himself. After Lance was done telling Mandi where he was going, he went inside with Chris. They went into the living room and sat down. "Okay, so what’s up?" Lance asked him, his voice filled with concern. "It’s Shannon." Lance shook his head, "What about Shannon?" Chris ran his hand through his hair, "I love her Lance, I really do. And I have told her this, but something doesn’t feel right." Lance nodded, "Maybe you feel like you are taking the place of Justin, and something is telling you that it isn’t right. . or at least not right away, correct?" "Yeah, something like that. She says she loves me, but. . but I think . . ahh, I don’t know." Lance cleared his throat, "When she says she loves you, she means it. That is the one thing I learned about her. She doesn’t bullshit about things like that." Chris smiled, "Great. That makes me feel so much better. Thanks dude." Lance smiled, "Anytime. Now lets go back outside and join everyone else."
Chris and Lance made their way back outside. "Hey babe! Is everything okay?" Mandi asked as she ran up to Lance. "Everything is fine. Chris is just worried." "’Bout what?," Mandi asked. "Shannon. He loves her so much but he doesn’t think that she loves him back." Mandi looked around the yard, and she noticed things. JC and Jess were cuddled up together, Joey was finally calm and sitting down like a normal human being. Chris was sitting in his chair, staring at the sky. Shannon had a look on her face, an unsure look. Mandi looked back at Lance and kissed his nose, "I’ll be right back." Lance released his hold on Mandi and she went over to Chris. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second. . alone?" Chris sighed and stood up, following Mandi into the house. "What did you want to talk about?," Chris asked her, knowing exactly what was going to come next. "You love Shannon, don’t ya?" He nodded, "With all my heart." "That’s what I thought. Why don’t you show her?," Mandi asked softly. Chris cleared his throat, "I’m afraid. I mean, yeah, we’ve told each other that we love each other, but I’m afraid that if I do anything drastic, she will reject me." "I see. . so you are aware that she cares greatly for you?" Chris nodded, "Yeah, I do." Mandi looked at him closer, "And are you aware that she really wants to be with you?" Chris shook his head, "Umm, no. I mean, it seems that way, but maybe she really doesn’t. You mean she really wants to be with me?" "Yeah, you both are blind to each others love. Shannon feels the same way." Chris cleared his throat after a few minutes of silence, "Mandi, I’ve told her that I love her, but to tell her everything. . to tell her that she IS my everything. . I don’t know, something holds me back."
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