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Joey's POV~

Shane hugged me as I walked in the door. His hands squeezing my body against his made my chest tighten for a moment until I realized that it was Shane, and I was safe.

"How was your meeting?" I asked, trying to hide all signs that something was wrong.

"The usual," he shrugged. "Lots of talking and signing things... but it's good." As we walked in, he squinted at my swelled lip. "What happened?"

"I-I was biting it last night," I thought quickly, a gentle blush spreading across my cheeks. "To keep from being too loud. I didn't think I broke the skin, but I guess I did."

"Oh," Shane smiled softly, buying my excuse. Thank god I was a half decent liar. "Poor baby." He place a soft kiss on my lower lip. It made me smile.

"How was Meghan?" My boyfriend sauntered into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Sh-she was good," I faltered for a moment as my eyes flicked to Sawyer's room. The door was closed. "I haven't seen her in a little while, so it was good to catch up."

"What kind of video did you guys do?"

Dammit, Shane!

"Um, just a quick vlog for her channel," I forced a smile. "It's nothing too much, she might not even post it. We--we were going to do a makeup thing, but we changed our minds." I'd left the makeup she'd lent me in the car to avoid further questioning from Shane. I'd have to smuggle it in later.

"Okay," he shrugged, and I breathed an internal sigh of relief. Although all this lying made me ache with guilt, it was clearly better than the alternative. "Do you want to do something today?" he (thankfully) changed the subject.

"Sure," I forced a smile. "Like, do you want to go see a movie?"

"Like, on Netflix or--"

"Like at the theatre." I hope he didn't notice the quick glances I was shooting over at Sawyer's room, making sure the door would not move, and I praying he wouldn't make an appearance just yet. To be honest, I was terrified.

"Sure," Shane kissed the side of my face softly.

We ended up going to see some romcom about a ditzy blonde trying to snag a hot guy. Truth be told, I wasn't really paying attention. Between the previous nights shenanigans and the emotional ordeal with Sawyer, I was exhausted. I might've dozed for a few minutes, but I didn't really miss anything.

Shane had lazily wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I tried my best to act natural, leaning towards him. With all this lying, showing any affection felt forced. I hope he couldn't feel it as much as I could.

My thoughts kept drifting back to Sawyer. I even came close to thinking about calling the cops, but then I reminded myself that it was Sawyer. My friend. I kept repeating it to myself, like reinforcing the thought would make it more true.

When the movie reached its first sex scene, I felt my face starting to get hot. Shane's hand was on my knee, rubbing small rings that made the surrounding nerves shudder with excitement. He slowly made his way closer and closer to my crotch, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out, both in lust and discomfort. Shane chuckled under his breath.

"We used to be classy," I whispered quickly before shifting and crossing my legs.

"Key words: used to," he smirked, planting gentle kisses on my shoulder and making his way closer to my neck. The arm rest between us was quite a nuisance, for Shane at least. The movie was the last thing on his mind as he grabbed my hands and pulled me out of the seat, running the both of us out of the theater and down to the bathrooms. He locked us in the stall. "Finally, some privacy."

I don't know why, but Shane wanted me, bad. He had me pinned to the wall, kissing me in his usually way, twice soft and then once long and passionate. He grabbed the front of my pants, making me gasp. He was now moving down onto my neck, and, to be frank, it hurt like a bitch. Sawyer had done a number on the sides of neck, and Shane's loving bites were not making it any better.

"Shane..." I whispered, placing my hands on his chest and putting a few inches between us. "I'm sorry but... not now."

For a moment, I half expected him to not care and just carry on. His usually light blue eyes were veiled with lust, deepening the shade to a silvery gray. However, he moved back, blinking a few times. "Oh-uh, I'm sorry..."

I couldn't help but smile gently. This is why I loved Shane. I cupped his face and leaned up, gently kissing his forehead. "Don't worry about it, babe."

He smiled sheepishly, a blush spread across his cheeks. "I... I don't know what I was thinking, really, I--"

I shushed him playfully, placing one finger on his lips. "Shane, it's alright."

On the inside, I was freaking out. I don't know how I was flirting with Shane! Sure, it was something I used to do a lot, but it felt like I was lying to him by acting this way. But I wasn't really lying, I just wasn't telling the truth, right?

Who am I kidding. I was lying.

Shane and I decided to leave the theatre. Neither of us really cared about the movie. He had wanted to take me on a date, I had wanted to get away from Sawyer. We could both complete our goals elsewhere.

We went for a short walk down the street, not bothering to move the car. It was a bit windy, but I wasn't cold. Well, not very cold. Shane's warm hand in mine made me smile a bit. Sawyer was wrong--Shane was so good to me. If anything, I didn't deserve him. Feeling a wave of protectiveness, I tightened my grip on Shane's hand and stepped closer so our arms brushed with each step. He looked over smiling and rubbed his shoulder against mine.

"Joey?"

"Yeah?"

Our pace slowed a bit as he looked over. "Is everything alright? Really."

My answer was quiet, and delivered with a small faked smile. "Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

"It..." We now stopped fully, and he turned to face me. "It feels like you aren't telling me something."

"Uh..." I stammered. I couldn't help it. I finally covered, "I love you?"

"Oh, Joey," he tilted his face and kissed my forehead. "You tell me that all the time."

"Good, because I do," I took both his hands in both of mine between us and met his gaze with clouded green eyes. "Don't ever forget it. No matter what happens, no matter what I do or what I say, I will love you."

"I'm glad," his voice had softened and he cast his eyes down. "I never knew I was capable of loving someone so unconditionally as I love you. And although I usually don't show all this... sappy, emotional stuff, it's always true. And if something is wrong, you can tell me."

"I would if it were," the lies tasted ugly in my mouth, "But really, nothing is wrong."

He seemed to believe my bluff and we continued walking down the side of the road. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up for. Please god, I prayed, just let everything get better...

~~~

Holy macaroni.. An update! :o To be honest, I'm shocked too.

Anyway, hope you guys are still enjoying this story... I write it for you! And it's been, what, SEVEN MONTHS now?? So I'm gonna try something new: Dedicating Chapters! :D (do you guys even care about this? Tell me if it's irrelevant, maybe I'll find something else to do)

As I was saying, if YOU are interested in having the next chapter dedicated to you, and a shoutout in the authors note, all you have to do is answer this question: Have you ever been in love? And if you have, I'd love to hear your story! ^^ Which ever story touches me most will win the dedication! Anyway, this is just a stupid thing I'm trying. You don't have to do it, but if you want to, go ahead! And I'd you don't want to, tell me it sucks! XD

I think that's it. Have a FABULOUS day! c: