It had been about a week. I did end up having dinner with Joe, it was so great! We were starting to hang out and talk more, he really is a good guy. That morning I woke up to knocks at my door. I groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. I didn't have to work for another two hours, but Liz was already at work. I walked downstairs, almost missing the last step and tripping. I caught myself and laughed slightly before answering the door. It was Jared, and he looked pretty stressed.

"You okay?" I asked, letting him in.

"Have you seen the new Us magazine?" He asked.

"No, why?" I was confused.

"Look."

He then tossed a magazine at me, and in one of the small boxes it read: "Jared and Vanessa are a thing?" with a picture of Jared's hand over mine at Starbucks. My eyes widened and I turned to the page where there was an article about us. It read:

"Jared and Vanessa are a thing yet again?

Here in the picture above, Jared Padalecki (right) and his best friend since 14, also past lover, Vanessa Wilson (left) are having a moment at Starbucks after they recently broke up while Jared left to do more acting. But, what about Jared's girlfriend of almost two months, Erin Thomas? Jared and Erin met on the set of Supernatural, a TV show that Jared stars in with Jensen Ackles about two boys who hunt supernatural beings across the country. They seem to be a happy couple, but this throws everything off!

A classified witness claims Jared and Vanessa are extremely close and always together, but they are just friends due to the break up. But it seems as though this picture says otherwise. I also overheard Jared telling Vanessa "You really are beautiful, Vanessa. You mean a lot to me, despite the fights we have. And its moments like this that I'll always remember." That is an exact quote. Could Jared be cheating? Or is Jerin over? Stay tuned to Us Magazine to find out more!"

"You've gotta be kidding me, right?" I said in astonishment. "Its ridiculous!"

"They quoted exactly what I told you and made it seem like we're dating. I obviously didn't mean it like that, we could never date again!," Jared exclaimed.

Ouch. Words couldn't describe how much that hurt. I bit my lip and took a silent, deep breath. That was a slap in the face.

"Yeah, they're crazy." I said.

Pretending that didn't hurt was so hard when it hurt so much. If Jared didn't date me again, who ever would? I mean I am the only single one of my friends. I wanted to cry but I couldn't, not now. I kept choking back tears, not looking Jared in the eye. Suddenly, Jared's phone rang.

"Its Erin, I'm gonna take this outside." Jared told me.

"Okay, I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready for work."

I walked upstairs to my room and sat on my bed. I didn't want to sulk, it wouldn't fix anything to do so. I got dressed and scrunched my hair, I applied a minimum amount of mascara and went downstairs. That was when I overheard Jared.

"Erin, Vanessa and I are not a thing. I promise. You know you mean a lot to me, Vanessa is just my friend. Yes, I know what I said to her but I didn't even really mean it. Erin, come on don't be like this."

I couldn't even believe him right now. Rage was washing over me. I was beyond hurt, beyond fury. Right at this moment, I wanted to scream and cry and punch Jared in the face. I wanted to tell him to never speak to me again, to get out of my life. I have been his best friend for eleven years, the girl he loved for so long, and he is saying he never meant what he said to me last week to some girl who is clearly using him for his money?

Jared walked in a couple minutes later and I completely ignored him, I couldn't even look him in the eye. I fixed myself some lunch and refused to look at him. There was complete awkward silence until I was done eating lunch.

"Ness? You okay?" Jared asked.

I was going to try to be calm, or just ignore him. Or lie and say yes. But when I went to be calm, this is what came out instead:

"Fuck you, Jared! Go home and leave me alone! You're such a damn prick, I want nothing to do with you! You told Erin you never meant anything to said to me last week? That I was your best friend and I was beautiful and I mean a lot to you, that was all a lie?! Well wake up Jared, SHE IS USING YOU FOR YOUR MONEY! But you don't care, right? Because she is beautiful and she is your best friend and she means a lot to you, right?! I guess our eleven years of friendship means nothing to you. Not to mention that we were fucking in love with eachother for how long?! But of course, that CLEARLY also means nothing to you!" I screamed.

"First of all, I only told her that to get her off of my back! And she's not using me for my money, you don't even know her! I bought her one damn bracelet, okay? Because I care about her. Why can't you be happy for me? But since you want nothing to do with me, fine. I'm gone." He yelled back before walking out of my house and slamming the door.

I wouldn't let him see the tears in my eyes, but after he left, I broke down. I sat on my knees and just cried. I felt pathetic, stupid, betrayed. How could Jared be acting like this? Why did he hurt me so much? This wasn't fair. Finally after a while, I stood up then went upstairs. I washed my face, reapplied my mascara, then left for work.

After work, I came home. It was about five at the time, and Liz wasn't home yet for some reason. Which was weird because she got off two hours ago. I didn't think anything of it and went upstairs to change out of my work clothes. (( hey_darling_hope_youre_good/set?id=89571526)) I was so annoyed with the whole Jared thing still, but I was trying not to think about it. I picked up my phone and dialed Liz's number.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey, are you coming home tonight? Because I'm about to make dinner and I need to know what I'm gonna make."

"Sorry, I went at Jensen's after work and he said he wants to take me out to dinner. I totally forgot to call you!"

"That's fine, I'll see you when you get home later." I hung up and threw my phone on the bed.

In a way, I was jealous. Jared had Erin, Liz had Jensen. Who did I have? I didn't have anyone. Yeah, I've been seeing Joe but it was nothing serious. Plus, he could never compare to Jared. I was so in deep, it was ridiculous. It was unfair. Why did I have to fall for someone who would just end up letting me go? I didn't want to be or even sound depressing, but it just hurts. I sat on my bed, I really didn't want to have dinner alone tonight. I picked up my phone and called Joe.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"Nothing, we just got back from a CD signing. Why, whats up?" Joe asked.

"Well, I'm really bored and you took me out to dinner last week. So, I was thinking to repay you I could make dinner and take you to a movie on me." I offered.

"That sounds awesome! I'll be right over," he said and hung up.

It was nice that I wouldn't be alone, and Joe really was a good guy. I'm glad I met him. I went downstairs and started getting out ingredients. I decided to make Shrimp Alfredo, one of my favorites growing up. As I start boiling the noodles and cooking the shrimp, I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I yelled from the kitchen.

No other than Joe walked through the door and straight into the kitchen. I put my wooden spoon down and turned around to give Joe a hug.

"Do you like Shrimp Alfredo?" I asked him as he sat down.

"Definitely!" he replied.

"Good, 'cause that's what I'm making!" I told him with a smile.

He returned the smile. I never realized how nice his smile was until now, I liked it. After dinner was made, I served him first, then me.

"You are seriously a great cook," Joe told me after taking a few bites.

"Thank you! I get that a lot, actually. I love cooking, ever since I was a little girl. When I was five, I had an Easy Bake Oven." I told him and we laughed.

"That's awesome. You should be a chef!" Joe told me.

"You know, I always thought about it but I never did anything with it. I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't," I sighed.

"Actually, I know the guy who owns the Red Rooster across town. He's a good friend of my dad's, I could try to get you in." Joe offered.

I pondered it for a moment, I love my job but I honestly think I could love this job more. Joe and I finished eating and put our plates in the sink, then went in the living room and sat on my couch.

"You would really do that for me?" I asked.

"Of course. You're a great girl and you deserve the best things in life, I think if you were a chef, you would do a great job. The Red Rooster is a five star restaurant, its not a long drive, and you would get paid great money. Steve would probably make you cook for him, but I'm sure you could do it." Joe smiled encouragingly.

"But I have no experience. There's no way I could be a chef at a five star restaurant with no experience," I said.

"I'm sure he wouldn't make you head chef right away but he would at least put you in the kitchen, its better than nothing and I think you could make it to the top."

"Thank you. Its nice to have someone believe in me," I smiled.

Joe and I looked up what movies were playing in town, and I realized Iron Man 3 was out.

"Lets go see Iron Man!" I said, excited.

"It is such a shock you're single. You're gorgeous, you can cook, you can clean, and you love Iron Man!" Joe said and we laughed.

"Awe, thanks." I said with a laugh and kissed him on the cheek.

Joe offered to drive and so we went to the movies and enjoyed the rest of the night in each other's company.