I really shouldn't be writing another story especially since I have two that I haven't finished yet. But I'm stuck on them and this story has been on my mind a while and I can't stop thinking about it. I had to go ahead and write and I hope you guys like it. Please let me know what you think and if I should continue.

Stephanie shot up in bed after being abruptly woke from sleep with her heart racing and feeling disoriented as she clutched the covers to her chest and looked around for the loud noise that had woken her. She was terrified that someone was trying to break in but as she calmed down and looked around the dimly lit room all she could hear was the soft snores of her boyfriend as he lay beside of her dead to the world. She wasn't sure if she should wake him to go see what the noise was or to investigate it herself because she didn't want to wake him if it ended up being nothing. But at the same time, she was too terrified to do it herself. As she wrestled with what to do, she heard something hit the wall again and a loud moan from across the hall.

Stephanie let out a sigh of relief as she realized it was her boyfriend's roommate/best friend that had been the source of the noise. She rolled her eyes as another loud moan came from across the hall and laid back down grabbing her pillow on the sides and squeezed it to her ears trying to block out the sound.

After a few minutes and unsuccessful attempts to block out some more moans she gave up and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand that read six o'clock. She huffed angrily as she threw the covers off of her and headed to the bathroom. He had only been living in the apartment for a month but she was already completely annoyed with him. Which wasn't a hard thing for her to be at him anyways because they never had got along before now. Before she just didn't like him but now, she was pretty sure she hated him. It wasn't like she could really do anything about it because it was her boyfriend's apartment and even though she spent a majority of her time at his apartment she did have her own apartment. She was starting to think it was time to go back to her own place for a while. Maybe then she wouldn't get woken up at six in the morning by him and whoever he was with for the week.

Stepping into the shower under the warm water she closed her eyes and pushed it all out of her mind as the water cascaded over her making her relax. When she was done showering, she headed into the kitchen to grab a bowl or two of cereal before she had to get ready for work. It had only taken her thirty minutes to shower so she could eat and watch some tv and maybe even drink a cup of coffee this morning before work. Usually she was rushing to work so she didn't have time for much of anything before work. Although she did like the idea of being able to take her time this morning, she was still annoyed to be up this early. Her annoyance started to flare up even more when she spotted in her peripheral vision was a tall blonde in a black dress and the jackass himself.

"So, I'll see you later then?" Stephanie heard her ask in an almost pleading voice and couldn't help but look over at them and see the blonde biting her bottom lip. She probably knew that their time together was coming to an end. She'd probably feel a little sorry for her if she hadn't been an accomplice in waking her up.

"Yeah sure, later" He nodded his head at her before walking towards the front door. The blonde looked dejected as she walked behind him knowing that he didn't mean it.

"I had a great time" the blonde said as he opened the door for her and she stepped out in the hallway.

"Me too Mindy."

"It's Mandy" Stephanie heard her say in a pissed tone from the hallway.

"Are you sure?"

Stephanie heard her huff angrily before walking off and she shook her head as she poured cereal into her bowl.

"My bad" he laughed as she heard him close the door. She looked up to see an amused look on his face as he came over to the island counter she stood behind as she made her breakfast.

"You're such an asshole" Stephanie said turning to the refrigerator to get the milk.

"Who pissed in your cheerios?" He asked eyeing her bowl of cereal before grabbing the box off the counter.

"Funny. Maybe next time you bring someone home at six in the morning you could try to be a little quieter and have respect for others who are asleep."

"Actually, it was earlier than that but I guess we got a little too loud at that time" he smirked while reaching into the cereal box and grabbing a fistful of cereal.

"Gross I know where your hands probably were" Stephanie scrunched up her nose watching him eat the fistful he grabbed. "I guess that box belongs to you now."

"What are you two fighting about now?" Stephanie heard her boyfriend ask groggily and yawn. She looked over at him as he walked towards them stretching his arms out.

"This asshole- "

"I have a name."

"Woke me up at six this morning having sex with his girlfriend. I heard a loud bang on the wall and thought someone was trying to break in."

"She's not my girlfriend and that was probably the headboard hitting the wall."

"I don't want to know okay. All I wanted to do was sleep" Stephanie replied as her boyfriend started to lightly laugh. "It's not funny."

"Okay okay it's not funny" he replied but was still laughing. She narrowed her eyes at him and turned attention back to her cereal. "Take it easy on her Paul, you know Stephanie isn't a morning person."

"She's not really an afternoon or evening person either" Paul replied grabbing more cereal out of the box.

"I'm just more of a I don't want to be around you person" Stephanie said before walking off with her cereal towards the couch so she could watch a little bit of television.

Before turning on the television she heard her boyfriend murmuring something to Paul that was to quiet for her to hear. She knew it was something about her and something Paul apparently didn't like because he looked over at her with an annoyed expression and rolled his eyes before looking back at her boyfriend.

After a few minutes her boyfriend came over to sit beside of her as Paul got up and walked down the hall. He could tell she was annoyed as he put on an apologetic expression.

"I hate him" she gave a frustrated sigh as he put his arm back behind her.

"I know. I don't know why you two can't stand each other but I wish you two would try to get somewhat along. He's my best friend and you're my girlfriend so you two kinda have to be around each other. Especially now that he lives here."

"Unfortunately" Stephanie replied sourly.

"In all fairness I did ask you to move in with me first. You said you weren't ready to officially move in with me, whatever that means" he laughed before continuing. "And Paul was needing a place and I needed help paying for everything."

"I know" Stephanie nodded feeling a little guilty. Her and Rhys had just had their one-year anniversary and everything was great between them. She loved him a lot but she felt it was still too soon to live together and part of her was scared something was going to go wrong, then she'd have no place to go. It wasn't that she didn't feel confident in their relationship. It was just that small possibility that scared her and she seemed to have a problem focusing on the things that could go wrong then just being in the moment.

"Anyway, I asked him to maybe try bringing his dates, booty calls or whatever they are back here at a more sensible time. But that's all I can really do. It's his apartment too" Rhys shrugged still using his apologetic expression.

"Thanks for that at least" Stephanie replied before taking a bite of her cereal.

"You're welcome." He leaned over and kissed her forehead then he got up and walked away.

After finishing off her cereal she flipped the tv off and put her dish in the sink to wash later then went to finish getting ready for work. All she had left to do was brush her hair, teeth and put on her shoes. So, she headed to the bathroom quickly wanting to hurry so she could stop on her way to work for a coffee. It could be the one thing to put her in a better mood and make the day more bearable. She needed to get out of the apartment too before Paul ruined her whole day.

She brushed through her hair fairly quick and grabbed her toothbrush. As she was brushing her teeth her eyes narrowed at the reflection in the mirror when Paul came in completely ignoring her and grabbed his toothbrush.

"I'm in here" Stephanie tried to say with a mouthful of toothpaste.

"We can both use the sink. It's not that hard. I'll just try not to spit on you" Paul shrugged and then smirked. "Maybe."

"And I'll try not to smack you. Maybe" Stephanie retorted after spitting into the sink and decided to go ahead and be done to get away from him.

"See you later Princess" Paul said as she put her toothbrush up and headed out of the bathroom. She took a deep breath and she walked to Rhys's room and let it out slowly. She really had no idea how she was ever going to be able to stand him living there.

"I think I'm going to spend at least tonight here" Stephanie said unlocking the door to her apartment then stepping inside and turning the lights on.

"Is this because of Paul?" Rhys asked as Stephanie adjusted her cellphone between her shoulder and ear.

"There is only so much I can take of him. I just need a night away and to try to get a good uninterrupted sleep. I've had a shitty day" Stephanie replied dropping her keys on her kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry baby. I'll miss you tonight."

"I'll miss you too" Stephanie replied as she heard Paul call out Rhys's name in the background. "What's that idiot wanting?"

"He's trying to get me to hurry up so we can go inside."

"Where are you?"

"A bar. Paul wanted to go get some drinks and hang out" Rhys sighed and she could tell it was probably the last place he wanted to be.

"You don't sound very enthused."

"I'm not. I'd honestly rather be at home right now. I just don't really feel up to anything tonight because I'm exhausted but I'm trying to be a good friend."

"Well you definitely are. Him not so much" Stephanie replied going over to her thermostat and turning her air on. Where she hadn't been to the apartment in a while it was a little warm.

"He is even though you don't see it" Rhys laughed. "I better get going before he starts getting annoyed."

"You should talk to me longer then."

"I love you and I will talk to you later."

"I love you too. Have fun" Stephanie replied and ended the call.

Stephanie put her cellphone on the counter and went to the cabinet that had her wine glasses in it. Her day had been shitty even though she had got her coffee. It had cheered her up until she got to work and everything went to chaos or at least that's how she felt. Everything she seemed to do today just went wrong. Now all she wanted was to have a glass of wine or two while soaking in a bubble bath and just relax. But as she poured a glass of wine there was a knock on the door and Stephanie groaned. It didn't seem like she was going to get her bubble bath.

With her wine glass in her hand she headed over to her door and opened it. She smiled instantly when she saw the petite brunette woman at her door.

"You're home!" She practically squealed.

"I am" Stephanie laughed lightly at her excitement. "Come on in."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?"

"I just decided today after my day started out bad and then became even more shitty the rest of the day. I just needed to come home and unwind" Stephanie replied sitting down on the couch and turned towards her best friend Jocelyn after she had sat down.

"So Paul is driving you nuts?" Jocelyn guessed instantly.

"Yes. I really don't know how I am going to be there without him driving me crazy. I want to be there with Rhys but damn Paul makes it hard for me to want to be there" Stephanie sighed before taking a drink of her wine. "Anyway, what's going on with you? I'm surprised you're not with Dani tonight."

"Well we broke up" Jocelyn said with a shrug.

"What? When and why didn't you say anything?"

"It was recently so don't think I didn't say anything for weeks now or something. I just hadn't said anything yet because I was still processing everything and I wasn't ready to talk about it yet."

"You guys were so good together" Stephanie replied sadly hating that they had broken up because she had really liked Dani and was beginning to think of her as a friend.

"I thought so too but then we just started to fight a lot and we started wanting different things" Jocelyn shook her head and grabbed Stephanie's glass and took a drink.

"Do I need to get another glass?" Stephanie asked with a laugh as Jocelyn nodded her head while taking another drink of the glass that had become hers.

"I miss her Steph" Jocelyn sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry. I wish I had been there for you when it happened. I'm sorry it seems like I haven't been around much lately" Stephanie replied pouring a new glass of wine.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You are there for me enough. Just because you aren't here at your apartment that much doesn't mean you aren't there for me. We talk plenty on the phone and we meet up a lot for dinner and to hang out. Besides I just wanted to be alone when it happened. I just put on some sappy sad songs and wallowed."

"But I still feel bad for not being there when it happened and I still feel like I'm not being a good friend right now" Stephanie replied bringing the new glass of wine and the wine bottle with her to the couch. Before sitting down, she poured more wine into the glass she previously had that now belonged to Jocelyn.

"Seriously Steph I really didn't feel like company for a while after it happened. You are a great friend so stop beating yourself about it and quit worrying so much about it" Jocelyn replied taking a drink of her wine. "But now I am done talking about Dani. It's still too fresh so anyway tell what Paul has done to drive you crazy."

"God what hasn't he done is probably the better question" Stephanie rolled her eyes. "What made me realize I just absolutely needed away was when he woke me up at six this morning with one of his little booty calls banging on the wall and moaning."

"You are definitely not a morning person" Jocelyn laughed.

"I am not and he just drives me nuts since I met him. He's such a smart ass, he's obnoxious and the way he treats women repulses me."

"Well I guess you're going to have to figure out some way to tolerate him because I don't see him moving out anytime soon. Especially since he just moved in."

"Yeah I know but I don't know how to even tolerate him" Stephanie replied and took a drink of her wine wondering what would happen if her and Paul could never be civil with one another. Would it come between her and Rhys and possibly break them up? Or would it come between Rhys and Paul and cause their friendship to break down? As much as she hated Paul, she didn't want that because it would hurt Rhys and Rhys thought of Paul almost as a brother. She definitely didn't want it to come between her and Rhys. He was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with eventually.

"Sorry I don't have any advice. I wish I did" Jocelyn replied putting her empty glass on the coffee table and then sit back on the couch and crossed her legs. "I don't think I've ever knew you to hate someone like you do Paul and we've been best friends since the sixth grade."

"I don't think I ever have. There is just something about him that gets under my skin as soon as I even see him" Stephanie replied right before there was a knock at the door. Stephanie gave Jocelyn a confused look before getting up to answer the door. She didn't really talk to her neighbors and Jocelyn was the only one to know she was here to even visit.

"Did you miss me?" Paul smirked once she opened the door. She immediately thought about slamming the door in his face but she didn't have time as he maneuvered past her into her apartment.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Stephanie asked crossing her arms.

"So this is your place" Paul said walking through her living room to her kitchen ignoring her.

"Sorry I tried to tell him to just go back to the apartment" Stephanie heard Rhys say from behind her. Her annoyance with Paul disappeared once she heard Rhys's voice and she turned around instantly smiling.

"I thought you were at a bar" Stephanie shook her head feeling confused.

"We were but then Rhys was all like I want to leave and I just really want to go see Steph blah blah" Paul mocked Rhys as he came back into the living room and sat down in a chair beside of the couch.

"Since you were going to be here tonight, I wanted Paul to drop me off here so I could spend tonight here with you. If that's okay. If you and Joss have plans then I can just go back with Paul."

"I was just visiting since Steph is home but I won't stay much longer" Jocelyn said looking over at Rhys.

"No, I don't want to ruin your guys fun."

"You won't be, promise."

"It's okay with me if you want to spend the night. It's more than okay" Stephanie replied giving him a quick kiss before looking over to Paul. "You can go now Paul."

"Can I not a minute to catch up with Joss? It feels like it's been forever since I saw her" Paul replied before looking over to Jocelyn. "You know since they are going to be here then why don't you go back with me to my place?"

"No thanks" Jocelyn laughed.

"Why not?"

"Because you're a man whore."

"Ouch now that hurt my feelings."

"You have those?" Stephanie interrupted and Paul glared at her before turning his attention back to Jocelyn.

"In all seriousness though how have you been? Where is your girlfriend tonight?"

"I'm alright. Me and Dani actually broke up."

"Sorry to hear. Relationships suck anyway."

"We all know how you feel about relationships considering you can't keep one" Stephanie replied crossing her arms and looking at him again.

"I can keep one. I just don't want one" Paul replied getting up from his chair and started to leave. He turned back towards Jocelyn before leaving. "You know where I live if you change your mind."

"She won't" Stephanie replied pushing him the rest of the way out and shut the door.

"He was just joking around" Jocelyn laughed grabbing her glass and pouring another glass of wine.

"Don't defend him" Stephanie replied pointing at her as Rhys laughed. "It's not funny. I didn't want to be around him tonight."

"I know I'm sorry. Since we were already out, I thought it'd be best for him to drop me off here. I didn't expect him to come up but he knew you came back here tonight because of him. I should have known he would come up here just to bug you so I'm sorry."

"It's okay you can make it up to me later tonight" Stephanie replied seductively and kissed him.

"You two are so perfect together. I wish I could find what you two have" Jocelyn said sticking out her bottom lip.

"Don't worry Joss there is no way you won't find the person that makes you feel the way Steph makes me feel. Your time will come" Rhys smiled at her and kissed the side of Stephanie's head.

"He's just too perfect" Jocelyn replied shaking her head before taking a drink of her wine. Rhys and Stephanie laughed before going to sit down next to her on the couch.

She had to agree with Jocelyn he really did seem perfect. He did have his flaws just like everyone else did but other than that Stephanie couldn't have found anyone better. She wondered how someone so great as Rhys ended up being best friends with someone like Paul though.