I Don't Believe In Fate

Chapter 24

Lily nudged me with her knee, and asked me to help her with something upstairs, but I knew it was only to get me out of earshot of Shannon and Max. The second we were inside of her bedroom, she shoved the door closed. "So.. does this mean you spent the night with him?" The raising of her eyebrow and rather large smirk plastered to her face was reminiscent of junior high whenever she heard that I had been talking to a boy. She was such a shit back then, some days wanting to be the supportive older sister, while others, she could be annoying.

I loved my sister, but man sometimes she could annoy the hell out of me, by assuming things or reading too much into them. I rolled my eyes and responded like I had nothing to hide. "Erica and I drove in last night and spent the night at his house, so yeah, I guess you could say that." I purposely answered her question without giving her the information she wanted. This just wasn't the time or the place for a discussion like this.

"Such a smart-ass!" She frowned as she stepped closer and folded her arms. "You know what I'm asking dummy, but that's okay, I think I already know the answer. Where's Erica?" She was smiling like she knew some kind of big secret.

"She's with Jared, why?" I was hoping to shift the subject away from myself, but I knew it wouldn't work. I wasn't even sure what this was going on between Shannon and me, so how could I possibly explain it to Lily? What was I supposed to say? Well, we've had sex a few times, but who knows where it's headed. That would only entice more unwanted questions.

"I just think it's funny that you always call me to let me know that you're coming to LA, but this time you didn't. Then you show up here with him this morning and pretend like nothing is going on between the two of you. Seriously Claire?"

"It was a last minute trip, okay. Do we really have to do this right now?" I let out a frustrated breath.

Her expression instantly turned to one of hurt, and guilt shot through me. Aside from Erica, I always tell Lily everything. "I'm happy if you're happy, alright. You've been alone long enough Claire, and he's really nice. That's all I'm going to say." Thank God my sister knew when to back off and drop it. "Shall we go back down and join the boys?"

"Sure." I followed her back downstairs and sat across from Shannon. For the next thirty minutes, I watched my nephew, who was normally antisocial, ask questions and even joke with Shannon. Max was obviously making progress with the guitar playing with the help of Shannon, but had a long way to go before he could actually play a whole song.

"Okay, Max, as always, it was a pleasure." Shannon stood and clasped his hands together, glancing over at my sister. "Lily, we are having a little get together at my brother's tonight and you guys are invited. Don't worry, it's a kid friendly party, and we'd really like for you guys to come." He then went on to promise my moody nephew tickets to another show since he missed the last one. It was the following weekend and Max silently began to plead with Lily about going.

"We'll see." She snapped, shutting him right down. It was great to see you again Shannon." She beamed at him and he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Thanks so much for coming, but you guys didn't have to get out of bed for this, Max could've waited till later." She added with a wink, purposely trying to embarrass me. I knew she said it to get back at me for not telling her what was going on.

"Not a big deal, I was up anyway." Shannon answered, completely oblivious to her hints.

"You two have a good day. Claire, call me later." She said as we stepped outside. My sister walked us to the end of the driveway, grinning like a crazy person and raising her eyebrows as if she had some major secret.

"Sure." I rattled off, unimpressed with her behavior. Following next to Shannon, I allowed myself one last look back at Lily. She was still standing there like an idiot and I just shook my head in annoyance.

"What's with the sulking?" He asked, purposely bumping into me and making me shuffle to catch my balance.

"I'm not sulking!" I did it back, but he barely moved.

Giving me a wild giggle, he stared up at the bright blue sky. "You can't bullshit a bullshitter. You're acting like someone pissed in your cornflakes, and by someone I mean Lily." Ha, maybe he wasn't so clueless.

He stopped in his tracks, waiting for my response.

"What are you doing?" I complained, looking past him to see Lily still watching us. I stepped toward him, tugging on his arm, but he never budged.

"I'm not moving until you put a smile on that gorgeous face." He sighed when he saw me rolling my eyes. "Are you not having a good time with me?"

I let out a frustrated breath and stomped my old beat up converse shoe onto the cement. "Of course I am! Lily was fucking with me, okay? She knows how much I hate that. I mean what is this high school?"

He stepped forward, taking my hand as we continued our path to his house. "Jared is the same sometimes. You have to relax and ignore it. The more you let her know it bothers you, the more she will do it. Trust me, I used to tease the fuck out of Jared, and the more he bitched and complained, the more I enjoyed keeping it going. Drop it Claire, she'll get tired of it."
We stopped just as we turned the corner. Shannon put his arm out to stop me from moving ahead of him.

"Great!" I rolled my eyes as I looked down to his house to see a familiar brunette pacing back and forth in the street.

Moving his hand, he walked in front of me, calling out to her as we approached. "What is it now Kaylee?"

Crying, she ran toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. All I could do was stand there and watch in horror. "My mom died this morning," she choked out.

"I'm so sorry." He slipped an arm around her and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to me. He pulled back and looked down at her. "You okay?"

"No," she sobbed, burying her face in his chest. "I need you." Her hands locked around his neck and it didn't appear that she would be letting go anytime soon.

"I'm going to just go back to Lily's and give you guys some privacy." I muttered quietly. He looked like he didn't know what to say or do, but I made it easy for him and just walked away.