Wow I didn't mean to take this long to update this story! Here is the next chapter though and thank you everyone for your reviews :) I hope you guys like this chapter!


Stephanie sat silently in the passenger seat as Paul turned on to her street to take her back home which she was not looking forward to. After the night they had she really dreaded going back home and facing reality again. Last night had just gone to quickly for her but at least she got her alone time with Paul just as he promised and who knows when she would get that again. Paul did promise her before they left the hotel that they would find alone time together again.

"Looks like Linda isn't here" Paul said pulling into the driveway and into the spot where her mom's car usually was parked.

"Hmm she's probably out with Charlotte" Stephanie replied getting out of Paul's car and shutting the door. She tried not to let it bother her but it did more than she wanted it too.

"Speaking of Charlotte, what did she say to you yesterday?" Paul asked coming up behind her as she unlocked the door and stepped inside the house.

"Do you really want to talk about that now?"

"Well I would really like to know what she said and I did say yesterday that we would talk later about it."

"She didn't really say much just some bullshit about how much she cares about Shane and that she knows how close Shane and I are and how protective he is of me. Then she went on to say that it makes her want to look out for me too and that I should be careful with you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Paul asked crossing his arms as they made it into the living room and she sat down on the couch.

"She said that you cheated on her a lot. You would go to parties and get drunk, forget about dates with her. Then she would call you only to have some girl answer your phone saying that you were busy. She said she wanted to help keep me from going through what she did" Stephanie shrugged "just bullshit."

"It is bullshit" Paul replied sitting down on the couch next to her. "I will admit that I did go to a lot of parties and I did get drunk a lot but I never cheated on her. I don't understand why she said that to you but it doesn't really surprise me that she would lie like that."

"I don't understand why she said that to me either" Stephanie replied picking at her nails. She should be relieved hearing him say that it wasn't true but she also didn't understand why Charlotte would just come up and lie to her. What did Charlotte have to gain from it? This is why she didn't want to talk about what Charlotte said because it just brought back some of the doubts she was having. How was she supposed to tell Paul about these doubts without him thinking she didn't trust him at all?

"Don't worry I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to talk to her and tell her to mind her own business."

"That will probably just piss Shane off when she tells him."

"I don't give a fuck about Shane right now. She can talk shit about me and lie about me all she wants to her friends because I don't care about them at all. But when she starts telling all this bullshit to the woman I plan to have a future with then that is when I have a problem with her."

"So everything she said was just lies?"

"Yes" Paul replied leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees and turned his head toward her. "Do you not believe me?"

"I believe you it's just… "

"It really doesn't sound like it and I've done nothing for you not to trust me" Paul replied getting up from the couch and turning to face her.

"You're right you haven't but I don't understand why she would just come to me suddenly and just tell me lies either. Then there is my dad who I never thought would do what he's doing to my mom but he's with some other woman right now. I'm not sure how that happened and I'm not sure what to believe anymore" Stephanie replied running a hand through her hair wishing she would have just kept quiet.

"I don't know why she would either but it was just lies and whatever is going on between your parents Stephanie is between them. I'm not like your father Stephanie, I would never do something like that to you. But if you can't trust me then I don't know how this relationship is going to work" Paul shrugged and shook his head as his words caused her heart to thump against her chest hard and she started to feel an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was nothing but silence for a few minutes until they heard the front door open and close.

"Hey guys" Linda greeted them and Stephanie was relieved to see that she was alone. She couldn't deal with Charlotte right now. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No you didn't interrupt anything" Paul replied giving Linda a small smile.

"I had to go out and pick up a few things for lunch later" Linda replied raising up the bag of groceries in her hands that Stephanie hadn't even noticed before. "Tamara and Melanie are coming over for a while. Will you be joining us for lunch Paul?"

"Uh no actually I was just getting ready to leave" Paul replied making Stephanie feel even more uneasy considering how their conversation had ended before Linda arrived and now he was just going to leave. She tried to squash the feeling as he came closer to her and bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Paul- "

"We'll talk later, okay?"

He didn't even give her time to say anything else as he walked off to the front door giving Linda a wave goodbye. Now she really wished she wouldn't have said anything especially since last night had been so great. She had told herself last night she had been ridiculous to let Charlotte get in her head but then she let it happen today anyway. He had told her he was falling for her and now she wondered if she had completely screwed it all up.

"I'm sorry that Melanie is going to be here. I had no idea when you would be home today" Linda said breaking her from her thoughts.

"It's fine" Stephanie replied not even really paying attention to what Linda was saying. Her mind was too focused on what had happened with Paul that she hadn't even noticed Linda was still trying to talk to her.

"Stephanie are you okay?" Linda's voice finally broke her from her thoughts. She turned her head to see that Linda had a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Okay" Linda replied and Stephanie could see that she didn't believe her but at least she wasn't going to press her on it. "I'm going to start putting all this food away. You can help me if you want."

Helping to put groceries away wasn't really her definition of fun but she hadn't really had any time with Linda lately and she really needed to stay occupied to keep herself from overthinking. Reluctantly she got up from her spot on the couch and went in the kitchen to help.

"I've been meaning to ask you how your meeting with dad went? I didn't really get a chance to ask you."

"It was fine just discussing some business matters" Linda replied closing the door to the refrigerator.

"What's going on between you and dad?" Stephanie asked leaning against the counter and crossing her arms. She hadn't wanted to bring all of this up but she was tired of pretending everything was fine. She was tired of Linda giving her excuses and brushing her off. Plus, she needed to know if Linda knew that Vince was with some other woman. Since they were finally alone maybe she could get Linda to finally answer some of her questions.

"Nothing. Everything is fine."

"It's not mom. Dad hasn't even been here, I've seen you crying and you avoid any kind of conversation about him" Stephanie replied watching as Linda continued around the kitchen. It seemed like she wasn't even really paying attention to anything she was saying and it didn't seem like she was going to answer her questions honestly. So Stephanie decided to do the only thing that would get her attention. "I saw dad with another woman."

"He has to talk to women Stephanie so that isn't surprising."

"No I saw him kissing another woman" Stephanie replied watching as Linda froze in the spot she was standing. Stephanie waited a few seconds waiting for Linda to say something or turn around to face her but instead she started seeing Linda's shoulders shake softly. Then the sounds of what sounded like stifled sobs came and then Stephanie felt like complete shit in that moment for just blurting it out like that. "Oh God mom I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault" Linda replied through her sobs and turned around to face Stephanie as she tried drying her eyes.

"That was just really insensitive of me to blurt it out like that. I was just so frustrated with the situation and- "

"Stephanie I already knew" Linda interrupted walking past Stephanie to sit down in a chair.

"You already knew?" Stephanie asked going over and sitting beside of Linda.

"Yes" Linda nodded and continued to wipe at her eyes.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it still hurts to talk about. It hurts to even hear about him with her and I didn't want to drag you into the middle of our problems. There is nothing you can do about them and it's between me and your father. You shouldn't have to sit and worry about things you have no control over. All I want is for you and Shane to be happy."

"I have been worrying about it though and I've been so pissed off at dad. I'm even more pissed off at him now" Stephanie replied shaking her head. "At some point when dad never came back don't you think you would have to explain that?"

"I was going to tell you and Shane, I just needed some more time to work through this myself. You shouldn't worry about this Stephanie or be pissed at him. He's still your father and he loves you- "

"Don't defend him mom!"

"We've had our problems for a while Stephanie and he hasn't been happy. That's why we decided to separate for the time being. Yes, I'm hurt that he's with some other woman but I don't want you and Shane to take sides. He's been a great father to you two" Linda replied as Stephanie let out a snort.

"Yeah such a great father that he basically tried to run out of here when he came to get a suitcase. He didn't want anything to do with me."

"I asked him not to say anything to you or Shane yet and he was probably just trying to hurry so nothing slipped out."

"Well I'm not sure that I can't be pissed off at him."

"Maybe right now you will be just don't let your anger get the best of you. I don't want you sitting and worrying about it any longer. You should be having fun and being happy."

"Easier said than done" Stephanie replied with a sigh letting her thoughts drift back to the conversation with Paul earlier.

"What is with that look?" Linda asked staring at her and Stephanie just shook her head. "No I spilled so now it's your turn because I know something is bothering you."

"It's just an ex of Paul's" Stephanie replied running a hand through her hair. "She's been telling me things about Paul that I'm not sure if it's true or not. Paul says it's just lies but I don't understand why she is going out of her way to tell me these things. Right now after all the stuff with dad I'm not sure what to think or who to trust. I never thought dad would do the things he has so how do I know Paul wouldn't do those things too?"

"Paul is nothing like your father Stephanie. Just because one person does something doesn't mean someone else would do the same. Don't take out your issues on Paul because that's not fair to him. He hasn't given you a reason not to trust him, right?"

"No" Stephanie replied and shook her head.

"Paul is a great guy and he always has been since I've known him. I can tell by the way he looks at you just how much he does care about you. He looks at you like you're the only person he sees so you ignore this girl who is trying to come between that. She's probably just jealous."

"It's just hard to ignore her. Charlotte seems to be everywhere- "

"Charlotte? Shane's girlfriend?" Linda asked with a confused look. Shit she hadn't meant to say her name and she had forgot about the fact Linda didn't know that Charlotte was Paul's ex.

"Yeah Shane's girlfriend. Shane and her used to be really good friends a couple of years ago and Paul used to date her. Now Shane got back in contact with her and he used to like her so now they are dating."

"Well I guess I'm not the only person that was withholding information" Linda replied arching her eyebrow "is that why you haven't wanted to come out with us?"

"Pretty much" Stephanie admitted feeling a little better after keeping all this bottled up.

"Hmmm I just don't understand why if she is dating Shane then why she is trying to come between you and Paul" Linda replied and Stephanie shrugged. That was what she was trying to figure out herself. "She better not hurt Shane or you. I thought she was nice girl but now it's starting to sound like she's putting on some kind of show."

"I'm not really sure mom but you could be right" Stephanie replied just as the doorbell rang and Linda got up from her seat.

"We'll talk more about this later if you want. That's probably Tamara and Melanie and I'm sure you don't want to talk about this in front of them. Are you going to stay and join us?" Linda asked and Stephanie nodded her head. "Great. Why don't you get the wine out and some glasses?"

"Isn't it a little too early to drink?"

"Screw the time. We both need this" Linda chuckled and walked out of the kitchen. Stephanie couldn't help but laugh herself as she got up from her seat to grab the wine and glasses. Linda had given her some good advice though and she was right about not taking her issues out on Paul because of what Vince had done. Paul really hadn't done anything to make her not trust him and she needed to apologize to him and try not to let Charlotte get to her. But for now she would wait for him to call her so she knew he was ready to talk so right now she was going to spend time with her mom. She just hoped Melanie hadn't turned back into being a bitch to her and maybe she could have a good time Linda.

Two hours later Stephanie sat on the couch chuckling as Tamara and Linda made their way into the kitchen for a new bottle of wine. Linda seemed to be tipsy and she just hoped they could get some food in them before they became completely drunk but at least her mom seemed to be in better spirits. She hadn't really seen her mom in this good of a mood for a while. To be honest she was in quite a good mood herself from spending time with Linda, Tamara and even Melanie. They all had been talking and laughing and Melanie wasn't being a bitch or giving her nasty looks that she was used to getting from her. They were actually getting along for once just like they used to when they had been best friends.

"I think my mom has completely forgotten about lunch and is just going to keep filling up on wine" Melanie said with a laugh as she looked towards the kitchen.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure the same has happened with my mom" Stephanie laughed and put her empty glass down on the coffee table in front of her. A second later Melanie put her glass down next to Stephanie's and then turned to face her with a serious look.

"Listen I just wanted to say I'm sorry" Melanie said letting out a breath. "For everything. The stuff from school that I did and the stuff from recently. When I heard you were back here from college I had actually came over with my mom to apologize. I was excited that you were back and maybe we could repair things between us."

"Really? Because it didn't seem like it from the moment you walked in here that day" Stephanie replied trying not to sound bitchy or start a fight with her but it was kind of hard to believe.

"I know I completely screwed it up. But I did come over that day to apologize and then I laid eyes on Paul and I wanted his attention but it was obvious he only had his attention on you. Which caused all the jealousy to come back once again and I fell right back into the old pattern. Then not long after that I saw you and Allie were still best friends and you two will still just as strong as ever. It hurt but after I left the restaurant it took me a little while but I realized that we could have been friends again if I hadn't acted like a complete bitch."

"I just don't understand what caused all of this jealousy in the first place or why things happened the way they did" Stephanie replied shaking her head slightly.

"Well you remember yesterday how I told you that my dad cheated on my mom too?" Melanie asked and Stephanie nodded her head. "That's what started it. You seemed to have such a great family and life and I was stuck at home in the middle of my parents fighting at first. All they did was fight and I was constantly worrying about how things were going to turn out. I sunk into depression after a while especially when I was no longer in the middle of their fighting because then they were just ignoring me. It seemed like I had no one who cared about me."

"You had me and Allie. I don't understand though your parents are still together and they were together while we were still in school too."

"From the outside we looked like a happy family but behind closed doors is a completely different story. My mom really did want to work things out with my dad and they tried to work on it while trying to keep up appearances to their friends that everything was just great. After some time, things finally did get a little better between them but like I told you yesterday I started hanging out with those girls and at the point I didn't care much about anything. So while things were finally getting better between my parents I was still dealing with my own problems. At first I tried to hang out with you and Allie like everything was fine. I didn't want to talk about my family problems and it seemed like you two were starting to become better friends and I was being phased out" Melanie sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. "It hurt even worse. I just started to get jealous and hated you for having this perfect life that I didn't fit into anymore. So the days that I really felt like shit well I would start rumors to take out my frustration to maybe help myself feel better but I never did."

"I wished you would have told me this a long time ago. I'm sorry that I made you feel like your friendship wasn't important to me because it was."

"It was my own fault for not speaking up and causing the actions that happened Steph. I'm the only one that has to be sorry for causing you and Allie complete hell in high school. As you can tell things are finally okay again with my parents after quite a bit of counselling and I've dealt with my own problems too. I'm really close to my mom now but I didn't really solve my problems until a little bit after graduation. Then I realized how badly I fucked up when I didn't have 'real' friends anymore. You and I used to be like sisters, and you and Allie were the only real friends I had. I just realized it way too late. Then I fucked up once again when I became jealous of you and Paul. But I was never going to win that one I realize that now. It was never a competition anyway I just tried to make it one but Paul was already yours and it was apparent he wasn't going anywhere. That man has it bad for you" Melanie giggled and Stephanie smiled. "I finally realized I could still repair things between us and after I found about your dad I knew you must be having a hard time. So I thought maybe I could help with letting you know you're not alone and maybe fix things with us. I've missed you and I want our friendship back."

"I accept your apology" Stephanie replied wondering if Melanie was actually telling the truth. Everything she was saying sounded genuine and she had cried through a little bit of it. If she was just acting, then this woman probably deserved an award. "But it's going to take some time to get back to the way our friendship was."

"Thank you and I know that" Melanie said nodding her head and sighed. "I don't think Allie is going to be as forgiving."

"Yeah you're probably right" Stephanie replied and they laughed. She wasn't going to completely trust her right off and she was going to keep an eye on Melanie but hopefully she was being honest. She really did miss the girl Melanie used to be and the friendship they once had. Maybe just maybe Melanie would no longer be an enemy but she was going to take it one step at a time.


Stephanie sat in her car debating if she really wanted to go up to Shane and Paul's apartment because she really didn't want to even see Charlotte. But she really wanted to see Paul because she hadn't heard from him all day and now it was nearing nine o'clock. Every time she had tried his cellphone it had went straight to voicemail and she was getting worried so the only option she had was to come here. Part of her wondered if he was ignoring her and she was going to find out.

She got out of her car and shut the door and headed to the building. When she got on the elevator she jabbed the number nervously and waited for the doors to close and take her to her floor. Tonight it seemed to take forever for the elevator to take her where she needed to go and when the doors reopened she hurried down the hallway. She knocked quickly hoping that either Shane or Paul would answer the door and not Charlotte.

"Stephanie what are you doing here?" Shane asked opening the door and Stephanie felt relieved that at least it wasn't Charlotte.

"I'm here to see my boyfriend" Stephanie replied motioning for him to step aside but he just gave her a strange look.

"Paul isn't here."

"What?"

"He hasn't been here for hours now" Shane replied as Stephanie tried swallowing the lump in her throat. "I haven't seen him since he came in earlier and went off on Charlotte. Paul and I got in a fight after that and he stormed off."

"Dammit" Stephanie cursed and turned to head back to the elevator.

"I don't understand why you are trying to start shit" Shane grabbed her arm and she turned back to face him. "I know you don't like Charlotte but do you really have to go and tell Paul lies?"

"What are you talking about?" Stephanie asked feeling confused.

"You telling Paul that Charlotte said things that she didn't say. Why did you ask her questions about Paul and then get mad about it and tell lies to Paul? It's just like you to start shit" Shane replied letting go of her arm.

"Is that what she told you?" Stephanie scoffed and Shane narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yeah. Did you think nobody would find out?" Shane asked as Stephanie shook her head and headed for the elevator. She wasn't dealing with Shane or Charlotte right now, the only person she wanted was Paul. It was apparent Shane wasn't going to believe her. She didn't understand how their relationship became so strained that he would take up for Charlotte over her. Well at least now she knew that Charlotte was nothing but a liar and she might have turned Shane on her but she wouldn't do that with anyone else. It was a good thing that she had opened up to Linda earlier today. "Might want to check some bars around here if you can even get in. Knowing Paul that's where he will be."

Stephanie tried to ignore him as she stepped into the elevator and turned around to face him and stuck up her middle finger at him. But Shane had already turned back to the door of his apartment and was stepping inside just as the elevator door began to close. Now she was left wondering where the hell Paul was?