"Hey Shannon!"

"Hey Katrina..." Shannon smiled a bit as she sat in the chair at the table.

"You sound like something's bothering you, what's up?"

Shannon sighed.

"Shannon..."

"Well Rachel's getting married.."

"... Oh.." Katrina frowned a bit and furrowed her eyebrows, "You never told her, did you?"

Shannon shook her head.

"Shannon... You know what that means, right?"

The raven-haired woman sighed. "I know. I won't be able to tell her, ever, and I screwed up because of it."

"You didn't screw up. It's-"

"That I waited too long Kat! She started dating him when I was going to tell her... and then I just kept quiet about it afterward. I fucking screwed up to the max and I can't do anything about it." She said with a heavy sigh.

Katrina moved her chair a bit closer to Shannon and rest her hand on her shoulder. "Even if she can't love you back you should tell her eventually, hm? Keeping in is bad."

"And what if she doesn't even... like me that way? Then there's no point in telling her anyway."

Katrina sighed and looked at Shannon. "You won't know until you try."

"I can't try anymore Kat. It's over. Even if I tell her now, she's not going to change her mind about Micheal..." Shannon lowered head, trying hard not to let the tears spill again. Katrina gently hugged her friend a bit and then let go after a few minutes. They then ordered their food and ate quietly almost, Katrina making sure Shannon wasn't going to break down in the restaurant. When their lunch date was done, Katrina still went with Shannon back to her house, just to make sure she was alright. "I'm fine Kat. Just... Just go home. Don't worry about me." Shannon said softly as she rested on the couch and Smeez jumped up, wanting to cuddle with his mother.

"I can't help but worry Shannon... I've never seen you like this. You're suffering, you're hurting. Does she even know you are?" Katrina asked, sitting in the empty spot on the couch near Shannon.

Shannon fell silent, staring at the TV screen because she knew Katrina had a point. she was hurting and suffering the whole time she knew she liked Rachel and she didn't say a word.

"Shannon... You have to tell her eventually, you know? It's going to come out sooner or later." Katrina then got up and let out a sigh, "I'm going to go, alright? To give you some space." Shannon looked at her friend and nodded before Katrina let herself out. Shannon sighed heavily and moved so she could lay on her back and Smeez was on her stomach. "What do I do Smeez?" She asked her cat, looking at him, "Should I tell Rachel how I feel?"

Smeez meowed and Shannon chuckled a little.

"I guess I should... eventually." She sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling.


"Rachel? You got the idea of what you'll have to do with our fight, right?" Micheal asked as he and Rachel were with their opponents, discussing and practicing for their upcoming match.

"Yeah, I got it. Just gotta kiss you and make it seem I shared the green mist with you, you turn around and spit it at him." Rachel repeated with a nod. Micheal smiled and kissed her cheek a bit and Rachel smiled and then heard her phone ring and she quickly walked over and went to get it. "Hello?" She said once she answered.

"I hope I haven't interrupted anything of yours Rachel." The English woman said.

Rachel could hear the smirk and she smirked as well, chuckling a bit. "You're not interrupting anything at all Katrina. What's up? I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Oh nothing much, just had a lunch date with Shannon and she just... didn't seem herself today."

"Shannon?" Rachel walked a bit away from the others as the guys were talking so she could hear Katrina better, "When I told her the other day about me getting married... She seemed off then too. You think it's because of Micheal or something?"

Katrina sighed. "I don't know, but I don't think it's because of him."

"Then what is it?"

"... Maybe she just feels bad about her own love life."

Rachel lightly laughed. "Shannon? You really think that?"

"I think that, yes. I don't know it of course. She's barely even talking to me Rachel."

"And... You're calling me to tell me that you'd like me to talk to her."

"That'd be nice yes."

"... I'll talk to her. Luckily, I'm in Tampa for a while so I can see her in person."

A sigh of relief could be heard from the other. "Thanks Rachel."

"No problem. I'll talk to you later. Especially about you-know-who."

"... She's fine Rachel. She told him the truth, you know? Now she's hanging out with this English girl."

"... I'm sure she'll give you some 'Winter Love'."

"Oh you would."

"Bye Katrina."

"By Queen of Mischief." Rachel hung up with a laugh before she walked over to Micheal. "Hey... I'm going to go visit Shannon if that's okay."

Micheal smiled and nodded. "Of course it's okay! Go ahead and visit her. I mean, she's your best friend. I'm sure she'd be happy to see you." Rachel pecked his lips lightly and grabbed her keys and her purse before leaving the building, waving at the guys before heading out to Shannon's house.


A knock came on her door and Shannon sighed. "Who is it?" She called to the door, slowly moving to the door.

"It's Your Soul's Tormentor. Open the door."

Shannon got up quickly, nearly falling to the ground before she got to the door. When she opened it, she smiled a bit. "Rachel!"

"Shannon!" Rachel said with a laugh before she hugged the other tightly and walked inside, "I thought about coming to visit you since I was in Tampa for a few weeks."

"Oh? Well... That's nice of you." Shannon said with a soft smile before sitting on her couch again, "So, what's up? How's the wedding planning going and stuff?"

"Shannon..."

Shannon tilted her head a bit. "... Yeah?"

"... Katrina called me today..."

Shannon gulped a bit, her heart beating faster than ever. What did she tell her? I hope she didn't tell her.. I'm not ready to tell her... I don't want to tell her...

"She told me that you didn't seem like yourself today. Just like you did a few days ago when I called you to tell you that I'm engaged."

Shannon lowered her eyes. "... Yeah.."

"You wanna tell me what's up?"

"... Not really."

"Shannon..."

Shannon sighed and got up from the sofa, her eyes still on the ground. "I don't wanna talk about it, okay It's... It's something I gotta do on my own."

Rachel stood up and put her hand gently on Shannon's shoulder. "Shannon, you sure? You shouldn't suffer alone if it's something affecting you this badly."

Oh you have no idea how much I've suffered... "I'll be fine. Promise."

Rachel hugged her tightly and Shannon jumped lightly a bit before hugging her back, wanting to be hugged by her longer than it was going to last. Rachel pulled away a bit and the two looked in each other's eyes. Shannon could see it. Rachel's eyes mimicked what hers was saying!

She... She does... Rachel looked away a bit and ran a hand through her hair. "So, you wanna watch some movies while I'm here, or try to beat me in Mortal Kombat?"

Shannon blinked and raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Try? I can beat you in Mortal Kombat. I've beaten you more times that you'd like to admit."

"Oh? Well I'm sure you wouldn't mind beating me again Scream Queen."

"No, no I wouldn't Soul's Tormentor."

"You wanna place a little bet on this?"

"Hm..." Shannon tapped her chin as she started setting up her PS3 and putting Mortal Kombat in, "How about... Whoever loses, has to do what the other says for the next... two weeks?"

"Anything the other says?" Now Rachel was smirking.

"... If you're implying about me being your damn butler or your 'water girl', you can forget about it."

Rachel laughed. "No, no. I like the idea, but lets add a bit of spice to it. What if we also add... Whoever loses has to tell a deep dark secret to the other."

Shannon gulped, her eyes wide but luckily she wasn't looking at Rachel. "I... I like that. We can do it."

"Good. Let's shake on it."

"Of course." Shannon handed Rachel the controller before giving her a handshake, "I can't wait to kick your ass in this game. It's going to be so much fun..." Shannon said with a playful smirk before the two sat down on the couch.

"Let the games begin."