Hey! I am sooo sorry for not updating in three months, but I moved house and I didn't have internet for a long time and then when I finally got my internet back I was going through some shitty stuff (and still am), but I'm working through it and hopefully I'll be able to finish this story off! Enjoy:)

Chapter 12 - You always do what your friends say?

Nellie couldn't help the churning of her stomach as she stepped off of the bus. She had gone back to Blake's room after breakfast that morning, but he had already left, Nellie suspected Shanna had something to do with that. Blake had told her that his friends' opinions weren't going to affect their relationship, but Nellie couldn't help but be paranoid.

She knew that the churning of her stomach wasn't just because she was worried about their relationship, but because someone knew about them and there was a chance that the school and her brother could find out very soon.

"Nellie!" Jason's voice called from across the parking lot and Nellie looked up to see her eldest brother stood by his car.

"Hey Jase," Nellie smiled as she reached him.

"How was the meet?" Jason asked, taking her bag from her and putting it into the trunk.

"It was good, we got second place so we're through to the next round." Nellie responded, flashing him a grin as she tried to push her worries about Blake to the back of her mind.

"Dad'll be proud." Jason said as they climbed into the car.

Nellie rolled her eyes under her bangs. In the ten years that Nellie had been dancing, her father had only ever been to a couple of her dance competitions and never had he once told her he was proud of her for anything she had accomplished by dancing. She knew that it was because of her mother that he didn't watch her dance.

Carmen Veitenheimer died eight years ago in a freak accident. She was driving home one night with Nellie and Reece in the backseat when their car was hit by a drunk driver. Nellie and Reece had gotten out with a few cuts and bruises, while their mother had sustained serious head injuries and died in the hospital.

Their father had never gotten over his wife's death and Nellie thought that he might never be able to get over it. Nellie had admired her parent's relationship as a child, they were exactly what she wanted when she grew up and even after her mother's death she hoped that she would have a love like theirs.

Nellie knew her father didn't like that she danced, but she wouldn't let him stop her. She had secretly applied for college in New York, the same college that her mother had attended. Her father would find out eventually and he would try everything in his power to change Nellie's mind, but she knew what she wanted – and she wanted to get out of this town.

She didn't want to go to the state school like all of her brother's had done and Reece would be doing in the fall – she had her own plans and they didn't involve anything her father wanted her to do.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Jason nudged her with his elbow, interrupting her from her thoughts. "You're way out of it."

"I'm just tired." Nellie shrugged.

"So I take it you won't want Claire's special chicken tonight?" Jason smirked, referring to his wife's dish that Nellie always loved when she made it.

"Claire's cooking!?" Nellie exclaimed, immediately brightening up at the thought of her sister-in-law's cooking and forgetting about what was going on with Blake for a few moments.

"And there she is," Jason joked, smiling at his sisters sudden change of mood.

Nellie simply shrugged and turned back to look out of the window, her mind immediately going straight back to the Blake situation. She didn't want to be that girl who thought about her boyfriend all day every day and was incapable of doing anything else, but right now, that's all she wanted to do. She wanted to figure it all out – how they were going to be together, when they were going to tell people or if they even were going to, how long they were going to stay together – the list went on and on and she currently had no answers.

The only thing she was sure of right now was that Claire's special chicken had never looked so good.

Blake dropped his bag in the hall and let out a heavy sigh, ignoring what sounded like a small dog barking in his ear, but was actually Shanna going on and on about how much of an idiot he was.

"Are you even listening to me!?" Shanna exclaimed, staring at him with wide eyes.

"I'm trying not to." Blake grumbled his reply, earning a glare from her.

"Who else knows about the two of you?" Shanna asked after she let out a breath of air.

"Nobody!" Blake exclaimed. "Well my mom does."

Shanna couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face, but fought the urge to mutter a snarky 'momma's boy'.

"So are you done? Because I really would like to get some sleep after hearing you yapping in my ear for two hours straight." Blake said, making his way through to the kitchen with Shanna following close behind.

"You want to sleep at a time like this!?" Shanna exclaimed, her voice rising a few octaves. "Blake, you're dating Nellie freaking Veitenheimer! How do you not get how completely wrong that is!?"

"Wrong?" Blake scoffed and turned on his heels to face Shanna, looking at her incredulously. "Out of everyone I thought that you would be the person who would understand, Shan!"

Shanna shut her eyes, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Blake you know that this isn't just because she goes to Carmel."

"Then why can't you be on board?" Blake questioned, looking at his best girl friend with wide eyes. "I need someone on my side when this comes out."

"That's the point, Blake!" Shanna exclaimed, but her own wide eyes shone with defeat. "When this comes out you're not going to be standing for anyone to be on your side. McKinley are going to completely shun you, and I don't even want to think about what Carmel are going to do to you."

"I can handle it Shanna, I just need my friends on my side." Blake explained, staring at her with the same defeated expression that Shanna sported.

Shanna let out a heavy sigh, turning away from Blake for a few moments and then looked back up at him. "Fine. I'm in."

"You are?" Blake smiled, obviously surprised.

"If you're sure about this, then I'll be here for you." Shanna said, giving him a small smile.

Nellie fell back onto her bed with a heavy sigh. She had just spent the last few hours sat around a table with her family, and even though she loved them, she couldn't handle being around them for much longer than an hour or so, especially all at the same time. Football was always the main topic of conversation, college came second and occasionally their father would bring up how school was going.

It was all completely the same and it bored Nellie to no end.

Her phone ringing pulled her from her thoughts and she rolled over, grabbing her phone from the bedside table. She couldn't help but smile as she saw Blake's name flashing across the screen – she noted for the second time that weekend that she should change his name – and swiped her finger across the screen to answer.

"Hey you," She smiled wider and fell back against the bed again. "You're pretty hard to keep track of." She said, referring to Blake disappearing from the hotel that morning.

"Yeah," She could hear the nervousness in his voice and she could practically see him rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he was nervous. "I was going to find you before I left, but Shanna basically hijacked me."

"You always do what your friends say?" Nellie responded, arching her eyebrow slightly with a smirk.

Blake laughed and Nellie could no longer hear a trace of nerves. "Oh yeah, all the time. My friends told me I should date you and you and I just couldn't resist." He was joking, but Nellie didn't know that in reality he wasn't. If she saw the look on his face right now, she'd know that he wasn't joking and his friends had told him weeks ago to date her.

Blake liked her though, even back when Charlie and Michael suggested the 'prank of all pranks' he had liked her. He wasn't dating Nellie because his friends suggested it, he knew that but his friends didn't and that scared him like hell.

Nellie let out a laugh and shook her head. "Oh, I'm sure."

Blake forced out a laugh and hoped it would suffice. It seemed to do it because Nellie carried on talking and they ended up on the phone to each other for a good hour.

Shanna's mind was on overdrive and it had been since she returned home a couple of hours ago. She wasn't good at keeping secrets, never had been and this was one big secret to keep to herself. Just the thought of Blake being with Nellie Veitenheimer made her stomach flip and her mouth open to speak the words that were dying to come out.

"Babe?" Shanna's snapped her head back to Michael, bringing her from her thoughts. "You alright?" He laughed slightly, but put an arm around her shoulders.

Shanna went to nod her head, but in the last second changed her mind and shook her head instead. "I have to tell you something." She admitted and looked at her boyfriend with wide eyes.

"What's going on?" Michael suddenly felt nervous as he noticed Shanna's white face and wide eyes.

"I-" Shanna didn't want to do it, she wanted to keep Blake's secret, but Michael was his best friend. He would understand, he was level headed and always thought things through before he acted – He was the perfect person to talk to about this.

"Shanna?" Michael pressed on, his concern doubling every second that he looked at Shanna.

"It's Blake." She admitted quietly and glanced away from Michael, unsure whether she should do this now.

Michael frowned and Shanna carried on, ignoring the nagging feeling in her throat. "You remember Nellie Veitenheimer, right?" Michael nodded, not understanding where this was going. "Blake's dating her."

Michael shot his head backward, his concern now turning into complete bewilderment. "Are you serious?" He couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. "Blake is not dating Nellie Veitenheimer!"

"Yes he is!" Shanna nodded her head quickly. "They were together last night and when I confronted him about he didn't deny it! He told me not to tell anyone!"

Michael fell back against the couch, trying to work through the various thoughts in his mind. It was only after a few minutes of silence that Michael realised what was going on and he burst into a fit of laughter.

"Michael!" Shanna shrieked, slapping her boyfriend in the chest. "Why are you laughing!? This isn't a joke!"

"Yes it is!" Michael got out through his laughter. "I can't believe he played you, too!"

Shanna frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. "What are you talking about? Played me?"

It took a couple of minutes, but Michael was finally able to compose himself and he turned to Shanna seriously. "Blake's only 'dating' her for a prank." Michael explained, making quotations marks with his fingers around the word 'dating'.

"Wait, what?" Shanna asked, even more confused.

Michael laughed again, unable to keep it to himself. "Charlie and I suggested it, but we didn't think he'd actually do it. He hasn't said anything to us about it so we figured nothing was happening."

Shanna's eyes had doubled their original size and she was about ready to explode. "Well when he spoke to me it did not sound like a joke Michael! He's really serious about her!"

"No he's not." Michael chuckled with a shake of his head. "He's just playing around!"

"No he isn't!" Shanna shrieked, pulling her phone out of her bag.

"What are you doing?" Michael frowned, watching as Shanna typed on her phone.

"Getting Blake to come over." Shanna responded and sat back onto the couch. "Whether this is a joke or not, we're going to figure it out."

What did you think? From this point on, the story is really going to pick up so keep reading and remember to review with what you think! Thanks, and again I apologise for the delay in posting this chapter!