This chapter is a little shorter than most of them but I hope you enjoy it :)
Waiting was all Stephanie had done since Shane basically said her and Paul could date but her mind had been on dwelling on the reason why he hadn't wanted them to. She wasn't sure what to believe but it didn't sound like the Paul she knew to do something like that. But maybe she didn't know him as well as she though she did. Flipping through the tv channels and not finding anything on she turned the tv off and decided to call it a night. It didn't seem like Paul was going to show up after all, it was already almost eleven o'clock.
Stephanie got up from the couch and started to head upstairs to bed but as soon as she made it halfway up the staircase she heard soft knocking on the door. She turned back around and back down the stairs to open the door feeling nervous about how the night would end. Whatever they had going on between them might be over before it ever began.
"Hey I was hoping you were still up" Paul said after she opened the door. It must have been apparent that something was bothering her as the smile he had dropped and his face turned to concern. "What's wrong?"
"I talked to Shane today about us wanting to be together" Stephanie replied turning around and walking into the living room. After a moment she heard the door shut and then the sound of his footsteps coming from behind her.
"What did he say?" Paul asked and she turned around to face him.
"He said that Zach told him about you ruining our date- "
"Of course he did" Paul huffed sounding irritated.
"Shane told me that he can't keep us apart. He didn't approve but he told me to be careful" Stephanie said nervously biting her bottom lip.
"That's great" Paul replied with an excited smile.
"That's not all he told me…"
"What else was there?" Paul asked with a confused expression.
"He told me that you knew the reason why he didn't want us to be together from the beginning"
"I really don't- "
"So the name Charlotte doesn't ring any bells?" Stephanie asked as he looked away from her. Shit Shane was right and she felt her heart drop at the realization that maybe she didn't know him that well after all.
"I don't know what Shane told you but Charlotte and I dated off and on. It was a horrible relationship that I was stupid enough to keep going back to until one night I had enough. We got in a fight and I told her it was over and that time I meant it. I'm not sure if she believed me but I knew I was done and I ended up in a bar. I ended up really drunk and I slept with someone but our relationship would never be like that Steph"
"Are you saying you didn't cheat on her?" Stephanie asked feeling even more confused than earlier.
"No. Why would you think that? Is that what Shane told you?" Paul asked in disbelief and Stephanie nodded her head. "Well I didn't. Once Charlotte found out I was seeing other girls she was pissed but it was over and she had nothing to be pissed about. She must have told Shane I cheated on her"
"I don't understand why she would lie to Shane or why he didn't tell you this" Stephanie replied shrugging her shoulders. She really wanted to believe Paul but none of it was making sense for her.
"I don't know why Shane didn't ask me but it hurts to know that he would just believe her. Although I started to suspect he might of starting having feelings towards her that was more than just a friend. But Charlotte was one of those girls who wanted sympathy for every little thing in her life that went wrong. She wanted to come out looking like nothing was ever her fault so I guess she turned to Shane since they were pretty good friends"
"I don't know what to believe right now Paul" Stephanie said with a sigh.
"I've never lied to you before Steph" Paul replied staring into her eyes "Even with one of the hardest nights of my life five years ago when you tried to kiss me. I knew you would hate me for turning you down but I was honest with you"
Stephanie closed her eyes remembering that night. She still absolutely hated it but he was right, she had never caught him in a lie. They could finally be together without him acting weird because of Shane and she didn't want to throw that away after waiting for this. If she wanted to be with him then she was going to have to trust him unless he proved otherwise. She opened her eyes and put her doubts and fears behind her.
"Okay. I believe you" Stephanie replied and he smiled at her words but after a moment she was closing her eyes again as he walked towards her and leaned down kissing her.
"So I guess this means I can finally ask you on a date" Paul said after breaking the kiss.
"I guess it does" Stephanie replied with a small chuckle.
"Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" Paul asked with a smile.
"Yes I would" Stephanie replied pulling him back down to her and kissing him.
The next morning after Stephanie woke up she headed downstairs for breakfast excited for later that night for her date with Paul. He hadn't stayed very long last night where it was so late and he didn't seem intent on finishing what they had started earlier that day. Maybe it was because of the whole talk about Charlotte, she wasn't really sure. The only thing she was concentrating on was her date with Paul tonight.
"Good morning. You are in a good mood" Linda said as she walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face.
"Good morning and I am" Stephanie replied grabbing a plate and sitting some of the food Linda must have prepared on her plate.
"Did Paul come by last night?" Linda asked and Stephanie blushed but nodded her head.
"We have a date tonight" Stephanie replied sitting down beside of Linda.
"Is this something else I need to keep to myself?"
"No. Shane didn't really give us his blessing yesterday but he said he couldn't stop it from happening"
"I'm glad he finally was able to see that. Paul is perfect for you and finally after all of these years you two can be together" Linda said before taking a sip of her orange juice.
"Well I'm the only one who has waited years"
"If you say so Stephanie" Linda replied as Stephanie took a bite of her food. She didn't believe that especially after thinking about the night he rejected her. Her mother apparently wanted to see what she wanted back then.
"I'm starving" Stephanie heard Shane call and heard his footsteps approaching the kitchen.
"Don't you ever eat at home?" Stephanie asked turning to look at the entrance to the kitchen.
"Sometimes" Shane replied coming into the kitchen and Paul came in behind him. Stephanie smiled at him before he started heading her direction and sat down beside of her.
"Hey" Paul greeted her and kissed her on the lips.
"I just lost my appetite" Stephanie heard Shane say and she blushed. She didn't think she would get used to her family seeing her public display of affection. Hell she was surprised Paul even kissed her in front of Shane.
"Don't worry you'll find it again in a minute" Paul joked looking over to Shane.
"I won't if I hang around here" Shane replied as Paul chuckled. Stephanie looked over to see Shane pick his plate up and head for the living room.
"That was surprising" Stephanie said to Paul as Linda evacuated her seat probably to give them some privacy.
"I don't think he still is completely on board with us but I talked to him last night about Charlotte and he seemed to believe me"
"I'm glad you were able to sort everything out with him"
"Well I'm just glad I don't have to hide the way I feel about you anymore" Paul replied taking her hand and lacing his fingers in between hers.
"Me too and I can't wait for our date tonight. Maybe this one won't get interrupted" Stephanie replied making a remark about how he interrupted her last date.
"That won't happen because I'm on this date with you so I can't possibly barge in and interrupt it" Paul said with a smirk.
"Zach was so pissed" Stephanie laughed even though she had been quite irritated that night too. It seemed like it had been ages ago even though it had only been last week.
"I was too. He knew how I felt about you and he shouldn't have tried to take…" Paul trailed off before looking at the floor as if he was embarrassed. Wait was he? She had never seen him get embarrassed by anything.
"Take what?" Stephanie asked and he shook his head "come on. Tell me"
"My girl" Paul said quietly and she smiled. Now she knew for sure he had been jealous of Zach and she smiled because even when they weren't together he considered her to be his girl.
"Before I come in there are you two doing anything?" Stephanie heard Shane call.
"No you're fine" Paul called back to him and Shane peeked into the kitchen to make sure.
"This is going to be hard" Shane said walking to the sink and putting his dish down.
"How?"
"Because she's going to be over at the apartment a lot more and you two will be all over each other and I don't want to witness that" Shane replied opening the refrigerator.
"Well get over it or stay in you room" Stephanie said sticking her tongue out at him.
"Or you could just stay home" Shane retorted making a face at her.
"How about if we do anything we will just go to my room" Paul suggested and Shane looked like he was going to be sick.
"I don't want to know. I just don't want to see or hear it" Shane replied before taking a seat on the other side of Stephanie. "Are you almost ready to go?"
"Whenever you are" Paul replied and Stephanie felt disappointed he was leaving so soon.
"Already?" Stephanie asked as he rubbed the back of her hand he was still holding.
"Yeah I know but we'll be seeing each other later tonight" Paul reminded her before kissing her and Shane made gagging noises.
"I'm ready now" Shane said as they broke their kiss. She looked over at Shane and narrowed her eyes at him but he ignored her and got up out of his seat.
"I'll see you later tonight babe" Paul said and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"Bye" Stephanie replied watching him and Shane leave the kitchen. She sighed and turned back to her half eaten food that was probably cold by now. It didn't matter though because her appetite had dimensioned since Paul had been here. Stephanie got up and dumped her food in the trash and placed her plate in the sink not really knowing what else to do to keep herself occupied until later that night.
The day seemed to drag by for her as she mostly sat and watched tv and called Allie to fill her in on everything that had happened since it was too late to call her last night. When seven o'clock hit Stephanie was already dressed and ready for her date. Now all she was waiting on was Paul and she found herself pacing the living room feeling nervous that maybe he had changed his mind or that he was going to stand her up.
"Stephanie honey there is going to be a hole in the floor" Linda said with a light laugh. Thank God her mom had kept her company as she waited for Paul because she was playing out the worse scenarios in her head.
"I'm so nervous"
"I can tell but don't worry he will be here and you will have fun" Just then the doorbell rang and her heart started racing even more. She couldn't remember ever being this nervous about a date before but then again Paul wasn't just some random guy who had asked her out. "Just relax and take a breath before you pass out"
"I'm trying" Stephanie replied as she headed toward the front door with Linda behind her and took a breath before opening the door.
"You look beautiful" Paul said as soon as she opened the door and he ran his eyes over her body.
"You look great too" Stephanie replied looking at him. He had his hair tied back and was wearing a white polo shirt and black slacks.
"Are you ready?"
"I've been waiting all day for this" Stephanie replied stepping out on the porch.
"Have fun you two" Linda said before closing the door behind them. They headed toward his car and he opened her door for her when they reached it. She slid into her seat and he closed the door behind her and she felt herself begin to calm down a little now that he was here.
"I'm actually kind of surprised you agreed to go on this date" Paul said after getting into the car and starting it.
"Why?" Stephanie asked looking at him curiously.
"Well besides the stuff you thought about the whole Charlotte thing I didn't think you would want to after the way I have acted since Shane told me I couldn't date you"
"I've waited a long time for this honestly"
"How long?" Paul asked glancing over at her and she felt embarrassed. God she hoped she didn't sound pathetic.
"The year I turned fifteen was when my crush on you began" Stephanie replied looking out the window. She was pretty sure her face was red.
"So the night you tried to kiss me you had felt that way about me for almost a year?"
"Yeah I know. It's pathetic" Stephanie replied shaking her head. This was one conversation she didn't see happening tonight.
"It's not pathetic Steph" Paul assured her "So does that mean you have had feelings for me for five years?"
"Well after the night you rejected me I was upset and embarrassed and then after that I was sad because I never seen you again after you and Shane moved. I moved on with my life and went off to college and dated a couple of guys and then I came home not expecting to see you but once I did all those feeling came back. So I'm not sure if I buried those feelings or they never really went away" Stephanie explained and looked over to see his reaction. She had never been so open with any other guy the way she was being with him but she felt closer to Paul than any other guy she had dated.
"So you have waited awhile for this. I hope I don't disappoint you"
"I don't think that's possible" Stephanie replied shaking her head "What about you? How did you feel in those five years of not seeing me?"
"Honestly? I was miserable"
"I'm sure you were" Stephanie chuckled not believing him.
"I really was. Not being around you or seeing you was hard for me" Paul replied and she looked over to see his facial expression was serious.
"Then why didn't you come around?"
"Because I hurt you and I was pretty sure you hated me. There was nothing I could do to change that and I didn't want to hurt you more than you already were" It surprised her that he felt that way. All this time she thought he hadn't come back around because she tried to kiss him and he wanted to make it clear he didn't feel the same way.
"And what about when you saw me again?" Stephanie asked and he laughed.
"You do not want to know all the perverted things that went through my head"
"You are messing with me" Stephanie replied with a chuckle.
"No I'm really not but when I saw you again I couldn't believe it was you" Paul replied as they turned into the parking lot of her favorite restaurant. Even though they had just eaten there yesterday she was excited. She was pretty sure she would never get tired of this place.
As soon as Paul parked the car he got out and came over to her side to open her door for her. After they went and were seated at a table Stephanie didn't even need to look at a menu to know what she was ordering. So she sat and watched Paul as he looked over the menu trying to decide what he wanted.
"So you never told me"
"Told you what?" Paul asked confused.
"How long you have liked me. You have mentioned a couple of times that you have liked me for a while and I've spilled my guts tonight and completely embarrassed myself. So I think it's only fair you do the same" Stephanie watched him put down and look her in the eyes.
"Okay sounds fair. I've always cared about you about Steph and I think I might have had a small crush on you back then but there was nothing I could do. I actually remember on your eighteenth birthday of almost coming to your birthday party with Shane but then I decided against it because I thought you had probably forgot about me and Shane had been talking about how you were seeing someone anyway" After his admission she sat there feeling surprised, her mother had been right after all. As she sat there in silence the waiter came over to take their order and after the waiter left Stephanie turned her attention back to him.
"I had no idea" Stephanie said still feeling surprised.
"I was hoping you would get the hint that night I told you the reasons why nothing could happen. I never said I didn't feel the same just that it couldn't happen then and I wasn't sure at the time if it would ever happen just because I knew Shane would not like it"
"So you had feelings for me for a long time too?" Stephanie asked and she couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. At least she felt less embarrassed and pathetic about telling him everything she had earlier.
"Yeah" Paul replied and took her hand in his and kissed it. Without a doubt this was the best date she had been on even though it just had started. Paul seemed to surprise her every time she was around him and she was really liking that about him.
