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We got to Pins, a popular bowling alley situated a short drive away from Stinson $ Co., and we all made our way inside. I had been quiet all through the drive down here, I don't know if Rob noticed but he certainly made enough conversation for the both of us. We got in, I tried not to stare too hard at Noah and Shannon looking like the perfect match made in blonde heaven, her arm looped about his waist as they walked.

Gouging my eyes out with needles would probably feel better than looking at this all day. One time I glanced over at them and my eyes met Noah's hazel ones looking right back at me. I quickly pulled my eyes away, mortified to be caught staring.

"So I guess we should all rent some shoes first, huh?" Shannon inquired looking around at us

"Oh, shoot", Rob said stopping all of a sudden "I forgot my bowling shoes in the car. Can you give me a sec guys, I'll be right back"

We all murmured 'sure', 'alright' and 'that's okay' as Rob made his way back outside. Rob had kind of a cleanliness fetish and hated to use bowling shoes that other people had probably used.

"Well I should use this time and find the little ladies' room", Shannon spoke up "You guys go on ahead". She reached up to brush her lips against Noah's cheek then she departed in that graceful way of hers.

We were alone, but with nothing to say to each other, a heavy air of awkward silence hung between us. We both quietly walked up to the renting station to rent some bowling shoes.

"A size seven for me, please", I said to the attending teen clerk who had raised his brows at us when we both stood there saying nothing.

"And for you, sir?" he asked looking at Noah

"A size twelve and another pair, seven and a half" Noah told him

A good boyfriend knew his girl's shoe size, I thought sourly.

The attendant went away to fetch the shoes and we went back to not talking to each other and generally avoiding eye contact. Finally, the silence became terribly unbearable and I decided to say something.

"Shannon seems really great. You're one lucky guy", I managed to force out even though it pained me greatly.

Noah didn't say anything for a while and I glanced at him, wondering if he was going to take the easy way out and ignore me.

"Just so you know, I never planned for any of this to happen", Noah finally said to me. His tone was sincere and when I turned to observe him, he looked sincere as well.

I shrugged. "You never planned for it to happen, doesn't make it any less awkward Noah"

He ran a hand through his delicious blonde hair and I bit my lip trying not to remember the feel of my fingers twisted in the strands. "So... your ex huh?"

I gave him a slanted look. "Yeah, what about him?"

"Uhh... nothing", he shook his head "Forget I brought it up"

"Look, Noah I'm tired of all this tip toeing around each other, if you have something to say, just say it"

Noah was unfazed by the sharpness of my tone. "I mean, Ellenore you don't look like you're into the guy at all. You don't have to rush into anything just because he showed up at a convenient time"

My eyes narrowed in anger at him. "Oh my gosh, Noah are you trying to insinuate that this... me and Rob thing has anything to do with you? You're so full of it. I mean, what makes you think I'm not into him?"

"Because..." the look he gave me chilled me right to the marrow "You don't look at him the way you looked at me that night at the concert".

Oh my. My cheeks were on fire.

How was he capable of turning me into such a hot mess by just opening his mouth?

"How dare you, Noah? How dare you even bring that up again when I have to look at your girlfriend who is really nice by the way, knowing that I kissed her boyfriend? Do you know how guilty that makes me feel?"

"It wasn't your fault, Ellenore. I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that"

"Please, this is bad enough as it is. Can we just try to get through this evening?"

Noah nodded. "Yeah, of course"

I didn't notice how close we had drawn to each other during the course of our discussion till Shannon appeared.

"I'm back! You wouldn't believe the line to the bathroom".

We took a few much needed steps away from each other and turned to face Shannon. Her smile dimmed just a little as she looked between Noah and me.

"Hope I didn't miss anything?"

The clerk took that moment to return with the shoes.

"Just rented some shoes", Noah said, taking hers and handing them over to her "Let's go put them on"

We all changed into our shoes and Rob finally returned with his and joined us. We made our way to the bowling rink, Rob and Noah chose a lane and I entered our names into the computer. It was going to be a couple versus couple game, as suggested by Shannon and seconded by Rob.

About twenty minutes into the game, Rob and I were leading. I wasn't the greatest bowler in the world but Shannon was downright awful. Anytime she bowled and her ball fell into the gutter, she would just laugh and tell us how her only athletic skill was speed texting. But she was having so much fun and her energy was so infectious, you couldn't help but laugh along with her. I would probably be having fun too, if Rob wasn't grilling me so hard on bowling techniques and hounding on me to concentrate.

Noah was damn near perfect at bowling, as he was at everything and his strikes made up a bit for Shannon's bad game. Rob was good too, but I got the feeling he was getting pissed by Noah's skill and kept trying to out-bowl him.

Finally, it was the last round and it was up to me to secure the win for team Rob and Ellie. I stood up from the bench, Shannon cheering me on and offering some girl power while leaning on Noah, whose eyes flickered to me every now and then.

I picked up my hot pink ball and waited for the pin setting machine to finish setting up the next cycle of pins. Rob came to my side, his olive skin looking a little flushed as he gave a pep talk.

"Alright, so Ellie concentrate hard on the middle pins okay? Just imagine your ball going right through there and make it happen, we really need a strike on this one"

I simply nodded. He looked a bit too agitated for a simple game of bowling.

He walked away and I took my stance, running forward and then letting go of the ball in an angle that I was sure would secure me a strike.

The bowling ball crashed through a series of pins, and they all fell to the floor leaving two standing stubbornly upright at the far right of the lane.

Darn, I could almost hear Rob curse in the distance. How was I going to make this shot without my ball rolling into the gutter?

I bit my lip waiting for my ball to come up again and trying to analyze the perfect angle, when suddenly Noah stood and jogged up to me.

"I can help", he supplied

I looked at him incredulously. "What gives?"

"Wow. Ellie, I just wanna help you hit those balls okay?"

I still gave him a sceptical look and he groaned. "Look, your ball has come up. Pick it up".

I did as he said, placing my fingers in the right holes. Suddenly I felt him right at my back, positioning my body in an angle and his hand on my hand with the bowling ball in it.

I became painfully aware of the scent of pine trees and Noah enveloping me.

"Okay, now just run forward and release your ball", he said gently, his warm breath fanning my neck and sending chills down my spine.

I tried not to flush, I ran forward and released my ball as he said and my bowling ball slammed against the two remaining pins with a satisfying crash.

"Ahhh!" I screamed, pumping my fists into the air "I got a spare!"

I turned around expecting to see a happy Rob but my excitement was not mirrored on his face. I walked up to him.

"We won! Why aren't you celebrating with me?"

"You could have gotten a strike on that, Ells", he said, his tone a bit cold. I reeled back. Okay, what was up with that?

"But we still won. What's your problem?"

"That's the problem, Ellie. You don't put in enough effort; we could have won that by a wider margin"

Okay, this was the part of Rob I disliked. Amidst all the charm and sweetness, there was this part of him that always wanted to be better than everyone else.

Shannon and Noah walked up to us just then.

"Congrats on the win, guys", Shannon said

"Yeah, good game. We'd probably win in a rematch though", Noah joked good naturedly, nudging Shannon's arm and she laughed. It hurt to see that, that they shared some kind of inside joke... That they shared any history, period.

"Oh, really?" Rob retorted a tad snidely "Care to prove that theory? We could go again".

And he was completely serious. I was appalled at his behaviour.

"Oh my gosh, no", Shannon quipped "I'm starved, people. Let's head to the food court"

With some unspeakable tension hanging between the three of us (Shannon seemed oblivious to it all); we headed to the food court just a short distance from the rink.

Noah, Rob and I ordered burgers with a side of fries, cokes for them and a Sprite for me. Shannon explained to us that she was a vegetarian and then ordered a Kale salad and a bottle of water.

We carried our food to a table nearby and we began to eat. Shannon was the first to break the silence.

"Okay I'm dying to know. How did you guys meet?" she said, looking between me and Rob, curiosity etched on her features.

I looked at Rob and my eyes met his, his mouth lifted in a smile as he began to turn up the charm. He took hold of my free hand that was on the table as he spoke.

"It was pretty simple really. We met in high school; we were on the same academic decathlon team. I liked her, I asked her out and we fell in love", Rob summarised

I couldn't help but smile back at him at the endearing expression he had, but I also felt the heat of someone's glare on the side of my face. I turned to find Noah glaring hazel daggers at me and Rob.

"Aww that's so sweet. And you guys are getting back together", Shannon smiled after a forkful of her salad "I'm a sucker for a love story you know"

I was curious, so I asked. "So tell us about yours"

I glanced briefly at Noah and he looked about as uncomfortable as I felt asking the question.

Shannon smiled, but it was a bitter sweet kind of smile as she recalled the memories. "Well Noah and I, we always kind of knew each other right from when we were kids. His dad and my dad were like best friends so they always kept on pushing us together, trying to get us to be friends or something more", she laughed "We were pretty young, we thought they were crazy and so we generally hated each other just to spite them"

"And then..." her voice cracked as she was on the brink of some emotion. Noah looked suddenly sullen as well so I knew something heavy was coming on "There was a car accident and my parents... and his mom were all in the vehicle and no one survived"

Oh, my. My heart went out to her at that moment, to the both of them.

"I'm so sorry about your parents", I offered earnestly

"Wow, that sucks", Rob said quietly behind me

"It's alright", Shannon smiled through the pain I knew she must be feeling. She and Noah shared a look and I knew this was it, this was their bond. The bond they had shared over losing their loved ones and it ran deep "Anyways I moved into their house for a while, it was me, Noah, Nate his brother and Carlisle. Noah and I eventually became friends before I moved to my aunt's when I was fourteen. Skip a few years ahead, Noah had become this hot guy in school not the dweeb I knew as a child and so I began to develop some feelings. In senior year, he finally asked me out after dating almost the entire cheerleading squad"

They both laughed, lightening up the atmosphere a bit.

"And we've been together ever since", Noah concluded, weaving his fingers through hers.

And with that action, I understood completely, that there was no hope for me and Noah ever becoming a thing, at least not in the near future.

These guys were solid, it cut me right in my chest but it was a beautiful thing and I couldn't despise Shannon even if I wanted to.

"Woah that is some deep stuff", Rob said "So you guys haven't ever broken up since then?"

"Not really", Shannon shrugged

"Not even in college?" Rob probed further

"Well I chose not to go to college; I manage some chains of my aunt's clothing stores in California. And I also have a very generous trust fund", she giggled "Our longest break was about two months but we knew we were getting back together so it wasn't even really a break"

"Well you guys make a pretty good couple", I smiled against the hurt

"Enough about us. I want to hear about you guys", Shannon said leaning forward on the table "So Ellie, tell me, what is the most romantic thing Rob has ever done for you?"

"Wow, uhh..." I looked at Rob trying to come up with a suitable reply

"Well, I let her be class valedictorian. Is that romantic enough?" Rob joked

What the.... That wasn't even funny. I had earned class valedictorian just a few points ahead of Rob fair and square. He had said this before but I never really took it to heart, until now.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't think so Rob, I worked really hard and earned it without you having to let me"

Rob smiled at me but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well whatever you say, sweetie"

He put the 'whatever you say' in air quotes and I became instantly annoyed. Okay, this was the part of Rob I had problems with, but had chosen to ignore.

He hadn't changed all that much, but I had and I wouldn't go back to the girl who lived to please him just because he was my boyfriend.

My thoughts were interrupted by the attendant arriving with the bill as we were almost done with our food. Noah, whose brows had been drawn into a frown as he watched us, took the bill from the attendant and handed him his platinum card.

"Oh, dude. You don't have to pay for everything", Rob instantly spoke up, I guess his pride was a bit wounded.

"That's okay. You guys won the game so it's on me", Noah gave him a curt smile

"Seriously, though", Rob pulled out his wallet "Let's split the tab"

"Dude", Noah looked annoyed now "Chill out. I've already paid"

Rob begrudgingly placed his wallet back into the pocket of his pants and I wondered what the hell had gotten into him.

We finished eating with Shannon telling us all about the awesome beaches in California and then it was time to leave. We all walked out, except for Shannon who went back to the rest room to touch up on her makeup. We made our way to the cars which were parked adjacent each other in the parking lot.

Rob got in his side of the car and was busy changing his shoes when I turned to Noah who was right behind me. "Well, have a good night", I said to him then turned to get into my side of the car when he suddenly grabbed me by my arm

"Ellenore..." he said "I know I have no right but this guy doesn't deserve you. Do you know how hard it was for me tonight to watch you with him? He's a douche". His voice was low so Rob wouldn't hear but it washed over me, sending goose bumps prickling all over.

"Well you're right. You have no right", I retorted crisply

"Ellie..."

"And how do you think it was for me, huh? You just need to stop complicating things, Noah", I tried to shrug him off but his grip remained intact

"Ellenore, I'm serious. You deserve better"

"Well since I can't have you, right?" I gave him a bitter smile and pain etched across his face. When I shrugged off his hand this time, it came off.

"I thought so", I felt crushed as I looked back into the car, thankfully Rob had just finished changing his shoes "Well then, see you at work Noah".

I got into Rob's car and he and Noah exchanged an awkward kind of man wave before he drove off. As I settled down for the ride, thoughts dancing around in my head, I wondered if there would ever come a time when my heart would not feel this heavy.

A/N: So I actually just wrote this and didn't plan on updating so early but here goes. Hope you enjoy the chapter, I wanted to shed more light on the whole Shannon situation because I felt her character was a bit too empty in the last chapter. Ah well, thanks for reading. Votes, comments, shares all welcome and appreciated :). xoxo