Shane looked over at Stephanie softly as he handed her the dishes to dry. "Steph, have you ever thought about Paul possibly cheating on you?"
Stephanie stopped and looked up at him. "No, I trust my husband and I know he would never ever hurt me like that. He loves me too much and I would prefer that he just break up with me and tell me to myself that he would like to be with someone else aside from just cheating behind my back. Why, do you think that Marissa is cheating on you?"
Shane laughed softly. "Please Steph, Marissa wouldn't think about cheating. She's not that type of person and she wouldn't do something like that to me" He said looking back at the dishes trying to change the subject. "So its been a long time since we've done this, you know just time for you and me. I kind of miss it, but only a little" He grinned splashing her with the soapy water.
Stephanie gasped softly and splashed some back at him. "Yes, I know what you mean but its not our fault that we got busy doing our own stuff. Its so odd, we use to be so close before when we were younger, what happened?"
"I guess its like you said, we grew up and have lives of our own. We shouldn't lose touch with one another though you know."
Stephanie nodded as the two siblings went back to washing and drying the dishes in silence. Upstairs Marissa was laying in bed, not asleep like she has been planning to be, just laying in bed. She listened to the water running in the bathroom next to her and Shane's room. Marissa sighed softly, she knew Paul was in there and she began to let the dirty thoughts run through her mind. She sighed softly again and closed her eyes, she shouldn't be having these thoughts about Paul. She shouldn't have any thoughts about Paul.
"I shouldn't be thinking about him, Shane and Steph will kill me if they ever find out about this. Maybe...just maybe I should go and see if he has enough towels. Yea I'll do that and then I'll go back downstairs, no harm in that right?"She nodded to herself and got up walking to the bathroom sliding in quietly. As she walked in the water shut off and she cursed to herself.
"Is that you Steph?" Paul laughed to himself running a hand through his hair. "I told you that I would be out in a few minutes can't you wait that long before I..."Paul stepped out looking over at Marissa.
Marissa was not shy about letting her eyes scan over his body and she didn't really care that he saw. She looked back up at his face as it was bright red as he quickly grabbed a towel.
"S..sorry Rissa, I..didn't know it was you, I thought it was...why are you in here anyway?" He asked wrapping the towel around his waist tightly keeping as far back as possible.
"Oh, well see I was just...I was heading downstairs and wanted to make sure that you had a clean towel before I went down" She said stepping a bit closer.
He nodded unsure of whether to believe her or not. At this point he didn't really care though, he just wanted her out of the room. "Well, yea I have a clean towel. So...you can head on downst.." Before he could finish his sentence she leaned up and kissed his lips slowly.
Paul blinked and quickly backed away, staring at her oddly. Marissa sighed mostly to herself, she knew she would be in some deep shit now. As if things weren't bad enough Stephanie and Shane walked up the stairs and walked over to the bathroom as soon as he pulled away.
Shane looked at the two suspiciously. "What is going on in here?" He asked crossing his arms. Steph has a blank look on her face, she didn't know what was going on but that fact that her husband and her sister were in the bathroom alone while he was in a towel did not sit well with her.
Marissa's head raced trying to think of something. "I was coming downstairs and Paul asked me to get him a towel."
Shane shook his head knowing it was a lie from the start. "I just put in fresh towels this morning and he's the only one that used this bathroom today so why would he ask you for a towel?"
Marissa gulped not knowing how she would be able to cover this up. "I don't really know why he would ask me Shane, all I know is that he did and I wasn't aware that there were towels already in here. Maybe, he just wanted me to see him..."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Paul snapped back at her, he couldn't believe that she was going to sit there and lie, make it look like he was trying to get something to happen. Marissa sighed wishing she could take back the statement she just said, it didn't sound right and she knew the type of reaction Shane would give.
Shane glared at Paul and easily slid past Marissa. "You pervert, why the hell would my wife want to see you naked huh? She's got a husband thank you very much and last time I checked you had a wife Paul! A wife that happens to be my sister, you are so damn cocky, you think you are god's gift to women and you're not. How could you do something like this? Try and pull something like this, I thought we were friends"
"Shane we are friends, but it didn't happen anything like the way she said, if you would just list..."
"Now you are calling my wife a liar. How dare you, she's got no reason to lie to me. If you didn't call her in here to get you a towel then why the hell else would she be in here?"
Paul looked over at Marissa, his eyes pleading with her to just tell the truth and get it over with. Marissa sighed and just looked down. Stephanie stood in the doorway leaning on the door. She didn't know what was going on and she didn't know who to believe anymore. She looked between her husband and her sister. Paul had this pleading look in his eyes. A look that he wished someone would just believe him. She then glanced at Marissa, who was looking down guilty, as if she knew she had done something wrong and hoped she didn't get caught.
Steph sighed, she knew Paul was telling the truth but there was no way that Shane was going to believe that right now. "Come on babe, we have a flight to catch" She said softly taking his arm pulling him out of the room.
Shane went over to Marissa and hugged her softly. "I'm sorry that he tried something with you, I had no idea that he was like that, you know?"
Marissa sighed and just nodded not really hugging Shane back as she pulled away. "Yes, don't worry about it now though. We've got to get ready to leave."
Shane watched her reaction and raised an eyebrow. Something didn't seem right but he couldn't put his finger on it. Marissa had told him the truth right? So maybe she was just upset and didn't want to think about it right now. He shrugged as he followed her back to their room.
Paul quietly carried his and Steph's bags down the stairs and sat them by the door. Steph followed after him, she didn't want to get into this with her parents. As she knew her father would react the same way that her brother had and she wasn't in the mood for the drama right now.
"Mom, dad, we're ready to go. Come get your kisses" She called out as Vince and Linda walked into the room and over to them.
"Oh, I'm going to miss you two so much. Did you two already say goodbye to Shane and Marissa?" Linda asked as she kissed both of them on the cheek as Vince hugged them both.
"Um yes, they know we are leaving now" Steph said, it wasn't a complete lie. Shane did know that they were leaving but she wouldn't exactly call it a goodbye.
Shane came downstairs as Marissa tried to follow him quickly. Steph sighed as she saw this, she knew that face that Shane had on. He was planning to start something, possibly blow this up, which is what she was trying to avoid.
"Leaving so soon guys, we'll be sure to come around next week so you can try and finish your business with my wife" Shane spat as Paul just closed his eyes, he knew he was in for it now. Why? because they believed Marissa over him, because they thought he was a loose cannon and would just chase anything in a skirt.
"Excuse me but am I missing something?" Vince cut in really wanting to know what was going on here with his children.
"Didn't Steph tell you, of course she didn't because she is trying to protect that pig of a husband she has. Paul wanted my wife to see him naked, I think we can finish out the rest of his thoughts on our own."
Vince glared at Paul, he liked Paul for his daughters sake but he was just waiting for the moment that he slipped up so he could really lay into him. "How dare you, how dare you come into my house, your wife's family house and pull some type of stunt like that. You know I thought you were different. Linda, Steph and even Shane talked me into believing that you were different, that you weren't the way you seemed. I see now that I was right about you all along. You are a worthless piece of shit and you are NOT welcomed back in this house, do you understand?"
Steph looked at them with cold glares. "Has someone even asked for Paul's side of the story? No, you all assume that he is lying without hearing from him what happened. Is it so impossible to believe that Marissa would lie? Don't worry dad, WE won't be coming back here anytime soon. Maybe we'll catch up in another year or so" She said as she dragged Paul and their bags outside slamming the door.
Linda sighed softly. "Vince you didn't have to be so hard on him, you should have asked him and he probably would have told you what happened. You realize that Steph will probably never step foot in this house again?"
"Linda there is no explanation. Marissa told Shane what happened. We all knew that Paul was capable of this I don't get why Steph gives him so many chances. How could he disrespect our family in this way? We've done nothing but be nice to the boy as much as possible and he stabs us in our backs!"
"LOOK, can we all just stop talking about it. Its over with, please!" Marissa spoke as everyone looked at her. Shane took her hand and rubbed it slowly, he didn't understand why she wanted to blow this off so bad. Marissa looked over at him softly and just whispered. "Please, lets just go now ok"
Shane just nodded and looked over at his parents. "We better get going guys, we've got a flight to catch and we've got to go pick up Declan and stuff" Vince and Linda nodded as Shane went up and proceeded to get their bags.
Stephanie looked out the window at the scenary that was flying past her as Paul drove them to the airport. The whole ride had been very quiet, They hadn't spoken to one another about the situation. Paul couldn't tell if Stephanie was just sticking up for him or if she really believed what he told her was the truth.
"I believe you" Steph whispered quietly as she reached over putting her hand on his thigh.
As he stopped at a red light he looked over at her. "Really?"
"Yes Paul, I know you and you aren't what people say. You've never lied to me before and I don't expect you to start lying to me now. Besides the look on Marissa's face was quite obvious, at least to me. I'm sorry my family was so hard on you."
"Its ok, they were just looking out for your best interest" He said driving again. "I guess I just thought that all of that doubt they had about me had finally gone away, I guess I was wrong"
Stephanie sighed softly. "Its not that they believe that you would do something to hurt me, its just..well they've known Marissa longer. She's never done something like this before so they feel she would have no reason to lie. What..really did happen?"
"I don't really know what happened actually" Paul said softly as he kept his eyes straight ahead. "I was in the shower and I heard the door open up and I thought it was you, but it was her. She said she wanted to make sure that I had a clean towel and I told her ok, I expected her to leave but she didn't, she kissed me. I backed away, I was shocked..really thats the truth"
Stephanie shook her head. "I don't get why Marissa would do something like this. She's never shown any interest in you before so what makes her do it now?"
"I don't really know Steph, I wish I could answer that question for you. I just want to forget the whole thing ever happened. I want us to go home and continue trying for our family, just the two of us"
"Paul...I kind of wanted to talk to you about" Stephanie answered biting her lip. "With everything thats going on, you're not my fathers favorite person, he won't willingly give you time off and everything right now. So I was thinking that maybe, this family idea is something that we should put off, just for a little while though"
Paul nodded quietly, the disappointment on his face was quite obvious. He knew she didn't know how much he was looking foward to being a dad. It was something that he always wanted. He knew she was right and they would have more times to make a child but he couldn't help but just feel a little hurt.
Later on that night Marissa sat by their bedroom window. Shane was putting Declan to bed, lord she felt so bad for lying to all of them. Paul was a good guy and she made him take the fall. She felt like shit, she could tell that Steph knew the truth, she knew Steph would never talk to her again probably. Shane walked in silently and climbed into bed.
"Do you feel like telling me whats bothering you now?" He spoke softly as she made her way back over to the bed.
"I didn't...I didn't tell the complete truth today, about what happened with Paul"
Shane sighed softly, he had a feeling she left out a few details. "What parts weren't the truth?"
"I think the real question is..what part of the story wasn't a lie" She said looking down. "I'm sorry Shane but I didn't want you to think that I wanted Paul and I didn't want Steph to think that."
"Even though you really do? Lord Marissa I knew something was up, you let me call my brother a pervert. You watched my dad go off on him and you didn't do shit. How could you do that?"
"I don't know Shane. I don't want Paul, I guess I was..sexually attracted to Paul. He reminded me of the person you use to be, on how you use to be with me before Declan was born. You were exciting and our sex life was perfect, no its just... well we hardly do anything at all. It was a stupid thing and I should have never let anything happen today and if things weren't bad enough I let Paul take the blame for something he had nothing to do with."
"My sister will probably never speak to me again Rissa, after we were getting close again. We were finally back on track and then you let this happen."
Marissa looked at him. "I know, there's not much more I can but offer my apology Shane. I really didn't mean to cause this much trouble with everyone."
Shane leaned in and hugged her. "Its ok Marissa, things in this family just, always seem to happen like this."
