Veronica
Waking up in Shayne's bed this time was a lot different than the last time I woke up in his bed. Last time I was shocked and didn't think I would ever sleep with Shayne Topp since he's always been such a good friend and only that to me. Never would I ever would've imagined sleeping with this man four times and start realizing that it was more than that. Feelings for Shayne were actually growing and I didn't think it would happen.
Shayne and I just always had a strong friendship, but I never would've expected falling for him because of my relationship with Anthony. Anthony was this guy I imagined to be with the rest of my life, but now, it's nothing like that at all. I picture it, but it's not as happy as it use to be because of how Anthony and I are. I've never been a perfect girlfriend and he's never been a perfect boyfriend, but I've at least tried.
His trying is sucking up and that's never been something I've liked.
I appreciated the roses he gave me that day we started working things out again, but it's just the fact he made it seem like it's what I wanted for the rest of my life. I'm fine with trying, but it got to the point where he was basically sucking up and I couldn't deal with it. I had to call him out on his shit and I know he wasn't happy about it. Makes me think I should stay here for another night.
But I know I can't do that.
Realization hit me when I remembered that my phone was still in the jeep. I sat myself up from the bed and ran my hand through my messy bed hair. To think the millions of calls and text messages that are probably on my phone, I knew I wasn't ready to check it, but there's a lot of explaining to do and I have to figure out if Anthony knows anything. If Tristan even mentioned that I wasn't at his house, Anthony would've called my parents and I would still have to explain that to them.
I needed to get out of this bed. Anxiety was getting the best of me.
I took the blankets off of me and turned my body around. I placed my feet on the carpet and stood up. I wasn't naked this time because after Shayne and I's encounter, I got back into my bra, tank top and undies thinking that I was going to leave, but just decided to stay over since it was late. Also, I'm not the biggest fan sleeping naked either. That's something that Anthony enjoyed doing; not I.
I reached down to grab my jeans and sat back on the bed to slip them on. As I slipped them back on, I heard a slight chuckle. "You know," Shayne started off saying. I looked back at him and saw the small grin of his tired face. "It's normally the guys that sneak out after a one night stand."
I chuckled and leaned over to him. "Hun, it's been more than one night," I said to him. He smiled and I leaned back up. "But I do need to get going. I know a lot of people are wondering where I am and I only pray to god that Anthony didn't get my parents involved in this."
"You think he would?" Shayne yawned out but sat himself up from laying down.
"I think if he called Tristan and Tristan didn't know where I was, then yes. I think Anthony would be crazy enough to call my parents and worry about me," I stated. "I'm gonna call Tristan when I get the chance to see what's happened. I really shouldn't have left my phone in the jeep last night."
"It's a good thing you did," he said to me. I buttoned my pants and got up from the bed. "Ronnie, it's okay to be unplugged from the bullshit. You needed time to think and not having to worry about the arguing, the lies, the.."
"Relationship?" I asked him. He sighed and slightly shrugged towards me. I grabbed my cardigan that laid on the floor and put it on. "I'm glad I came here because I..." I slowly put my arm through and crossed my arms. "I haven't felt something like this in a very long time an-"
"Ronnie," he said to me. He got up off the bed and started walking to me towards me. "I know what you're going to say and I don't want you to say it." I just looked deep into his blue eyes and felt hurt. "Can I say something?" I nodded my head. "Don't break up with Anthony for me."
"What do yo-"
"I just know I didn't help this situation at all and I'm sorry," he said. "You know how I feel about you and I don't want you thinking that this is what I want. Yes, I want you, but I don't want to influence your decision. It's always your choice, Ronnie." I nodded and he walked out of his room. I followed him out since my shoes were out there and he went into the kitchen to grab my keys. He handed them to me and I gave him a slight smile. "What?"
"After all of this, you stuck through. Why?" I asked him. "I'm basically making this hard on you by staying with a guy who isn't worth it."
"Because you're worth waiting for," he replied. My heart literally fluttered after hearing that. What is Shayne Topp doing to me? I took the keys and he started to walk me to the door. I stopped and slipped my vans on then faced Shayne. He held his arms out and we both went in for a hug. My hands were on his bare back while his were wrapped around me since he was probably the stiffest man alive. No wonder Courtney says he is halfway a frog.
"Thank you for letting me stay here last night and thank you for being there for me," I said to him. He nodded and we pulled away.
"I'll see you soon, V," he said to me. I smiled and opened his front door and walked out of his apartment. He shut the door behind me and I looked back; I really just wanted to go back in and spend more time with him, but he needed to get ready for work. I didn't know if I was going to go to work today, but I couldn't miss anymore days of work and I couldn't keep trying to avoid Anthony at work. It wasn't getting us anywhere.
And plus, whenever we fought, it seem like I avoided him quite enough.
I walked down the stairs of the apartment building and kept thinking of what was going to happen with Anthony and I. Apart of me really thought it was over after the conversation we had in my office, but another part of me knows that I'm still unable to end it. Even the way I feel about Shayne won't even change my decision, and I hated that. I don't know how Shayne could ever wait for me.
I'm not a girl worth waiting for.
I walked out of the apartment building and unlocked my jeep from afar. There was no way my phone was still alive after being out here for over twelve hours and I knew it was definitely going to take some time to turn back on too. I walked up to my jeep and got in to see my phone still sitting on the passenger seat. I grabbed it and knew it wouldn't light up so I grabbed my charger and plugged it in.
It was unlike me to not have my phone on me, but all I could think about was just talking to Shayne. I didn't want any type of distractions and it was great to have it just be Shayne and myself. We have never had a day like that and it was just great to be able to talk to Shayne the way I did last night. He knows how I'm adopted, but to talk to him about the whole experience about it, it just felt right. He just listened and cared, and I wasn't use to something like that without a joke being involved.
My phone lit up with the Apple icon and I waited for it to turn on. When it did, the messages and missed call notifications went off like crazy, but surprisingly enough I didn't see as many Boze calls. The other majority were from Tristan and Anthony, and a lot of messages were from Anthony but I didn't check them. There was only one person I needed to call and that's why I clicked on their name instantly.
"Where the fuck have you been, Ronnie?" Tristan answered instantly. "Have you lost your damn mind?"
"Well I'm glad to see you care, Tiss" I said to him.
"I'm not in the mood to hear your dumbass jokes," Tristan admitted. "Were you seriously at Shayne's?" I didn't respond to him. "Veronica, this has gone too far. I don't know what shit you're trying to pull, but this needs to stop."
"What are you talking about, Tristan?" I asked him.
"For fuck sakes, Veronica. I had Anthony blowing my fucking phone up last night asking about you and it had gotten to the point where I had to fucking lie. He asked me where you were and I told him that when you left the office, you used your key and came to my house to calm down. Then when I got home, you asked if you could spend the night and I said yes because I knew how upset you were and that you weren't ready to go home. I made sure you're ass didn't get caught."
"Tiss..."
"Do you know that my lie could've backfired? All Anthony would have to do is drive by Shayne's apartment building and see your jeep, or come to my house to see your jeep not there or he could've even came to my front door and asked to see you. You really gotta start thinking and being more careful. If not, this relationship you and Anthony have is going to end worse than you want it too."
"I know," I said to him. "I appreciate you covering for me, Tristan, thank you." He hasn't said anything, but I continued on. "Look, I'm in my jeep and about to leave to go home. I'm gonna talk to Anthony and see what's going to happen. I know he is probably not the happiest with me since I did throw the roses he bought me at him."
"Yeah, he seemed more pissed than upset which was definitely unusual to me," he said. "But can I give you advice real quick?" I just waited for him to say more because I knew he would. "Wait until Anthony leaves Smosh to end things. Unless he decides to leave, which I highly doubt it, then that's different, but if he wants to talk it out and work through this, I think you should."
"Never thought I hear that from you," I admitted.
"It's just that his last few weeks at Smosh are going to be hard and I know it'll be harder on him if you end it now," Tristan stated. "You don't have to take my advice, but at least think it over."
"Thank you, Tiss," I said. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you soon."
"Let me know what happens. Love you, asshole," he said to me.
I chuckled and shook my head. "Love you, prick," I said as I hung the phone up. I sat my phone in my lap and started the jeep up. I looked back and started backing up. I really just wanted to get this done and over with because this argument was going to be different than any argument we've had.
Even though we had the fear of our relationship ending, it wasn't something this serious before. I had NEVER called Anthony out on anything before and now that I have, it's going to come out today when we talk. But my thoughts were interrupted as my phone started going off. Who the fuck was calling me now? But when I glanced down, I saw a photo of Boze and I from Winter Games.
"Goddammit," I said. I clicked answer and hit the speaker button instantly. "Hey," I said to her.
"Dawg, what the hell?" Boze said. "I'm glad to see your still alive since I've been trying to call you all damn night."
"I'm sorry," I said to her. "I'm fine though. I just stayed at Tristan's last night and left my phone in my jeep. I didn't want to talk to anybody an-"
"Girl, don't give me that shit," she said to me. "Don't act like I don't talk to Tristan, but you can talk to me about it later. I just wanted to let you know that Anthony called out of work today."
"Wait what?" I asked her.
"Yeah, the man is really trying to talk to you," she said to me. "I'd get home and get that talk done and over with if I were you."
"Thanks for the warning," I said to her. "I'll talk to you later." We hung up and I kept driving until I saw my house. Anthony's car was definitely still at the house and my heart started beating fast. This talk was definitely going to happen now and I didn't think I was ready for it. No wonder I leave and go somewhere else when Anthony and I fight. Because I can't face trying to have an even bigger argument with him and since Tristan told me Anthony was in fact pissed, that terrified me even more.
I parked the jeep behind Anthony's car and took my keys out. My phone went off and I checked to see a good luck message from Tristan. I shook my head and slipped my phone in my cardigan pocket. I grabbed my wallet and got out of the jeep; instantly shutting the door behind me and walking slowly to the front door of my house. My heart was still instantly racing and my breathing was getting heavier and heavier.
I slowly opened the door and I didn't have to worry about waking Anthony this time since he was standing in the living room waiting for me. "Well, I'm glad to see you home," he said to me. I shut the door behind me and shook my head at him as I started walking towards the bedroom. "Oh, now you're just gonna walk away? After basically making a fool out of me at work and walking out on me, you can just walk away now."
"Looks like it, Ant," I said as I walked into the bedroom. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to face him. I yanked my arm back and pushed him.
"I need to grow up yet you run away from our problems just as much as I do?" He asked me. "Dammit, Veronica, you stayed at Tristan's last night because you couldn't fucking face me after your little outburst at work."
"Outburst? Anthony, how else would you expect me to fucking react?" I asked him. "You literally hid this behind my back because you were afraid of us breaking up."
"Of course I was because do you see how our relationship has been for the past six months?" Anthony asked me. I put my hands on my hips and looked at him. "I know I haven't been a perfect boyfriend lately, but you haven't been the perfect girlfriend either, Veronica. You end our arguments by leaving and I never know where you're going so I have to spend all night worrying about you and calling your best friend to make sure you're okay. I don't deserve that."
I sighed and looked into his eyes. "You're right, you don't deserve that," I said to him. "But other than that, Anthony, everything else is on you. You know the whole roses thing was sucking up to keep me in your life. Our relationship has been dying because of the unhappiness at work and that's unacceptable. I don't deserve that, Anthony. I deserve the guy who made me happy."
"Then let's make a deal," he said to me.
"Oh my god, Ant..."
"Hear me out," he said. "I'll try to be a better boyfriend. I'll try not to let these last few weeks affect my relationship with you. It should've never been like that but since I haven't been able to do what I want to do for Smosh, I just let that affect my home life and I'm sorry for it. You deserve the guy who made sure you were taken care of when we got home and made sure to watch movies or take you out to dinner. But if I'm going to do this, I don't want you leaving again."
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"If we ever fight again, I don't want you walking out on me and going to Tristan's house. If we fight, we fight. We will talk it out like adults and be mature about it. If it gets to the point where we can't even sleep on the same bed, then I'll sleep on the couch because that's the right thing to do."
I had to think this through in the short amount of time I was given. The fact that Anthony was actually talking to me and not trying to fight or pity me into staying with him, it was all new to me. He was just trying to make a compromise with me and I understood why he was doing it. I haven't been the greatest girlfriend and that's known since I'm having an affair, but I do want to try to make this work if I can. Plus, Tristan was right.
"It's your call, Veronica," Anthony said to me. Part of me did hate seeing this side of Anthony as if he gave up on fighting for me. If I did end things, would be still be acting this way or would the depressed Anthony come back? "I just hate that we've both basically ruined our relationship, but I'm willing to change this time. I know what I've done wrong and I'm ready to try to make this work."
I took a deep breath and looked at him. "I'm willing to make it work too," I said to him. He smiled and came up to hug me. I accepted his hug and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Anthony was already leaving his job soon; he didn't need to lose me in the process either. But this was the last chance I was giving him and if our relationship doesn't change after he is done with Smosh, I'm done.