Shourtney Oneshots (M)

First (Courtney)

A/N: This is an alternate to the oneshot First in my other oneshot book from ages ago. It was kind of requested at the time and I did write it at the time but never got around to posting it, so here it is! Two-parter (why do I always start my oneshot books with two-shots...) and second part will be up in a couple days. And yes, the second part is why it's in a mature book. Oh, and virginity is still a bullshit social construct.

And as always: this is fiction and the people in this story are characters, not real people.

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"Hey, Courtney!" Shayne calls, immediately pulling her into a hug as if he hasn't seen her for months, not literally yesterday at work.

"Oh my god hi!" She replies, keeping up the act, her voice softening to a whisper into his ear as her hugs her, "help me get out of here?"

It's not the first time Shayne has stepped in to give her an easy out when she's with a guy at a bar, or a café, or some other event. This guy has the decency to act excited, ask how they know each other. Shayne tells him they did improv classes together years ago and hadn't seen each other in ages, and the guy excuses himself to the bathroom for a moment and says something about giving them a moment to catch up, too. It's an easy one - as soon as they see him step out of sight, they leave, Courtney sliding into the passenger seat of Shayne's car so he can drive her home.

He didn't always actually turn up to the place she was. Sometimes, if Courtney hadn't been drinking and she had driven herself, she simply texts 'call me' and he does just that, making up a reason she needs to leave immediately. If she texts an address, though, he knows she wants him there, and he gets there as soon as he can. It's not like he goes on dates or anything much himself, he's kinda given up on that, so he's usually free when she's out.

"Thanks for coming," she mumbles, leaning back in his passenger seat as they crawl through Saturday night LA traffic.

"Always there to help you out, Court," Shayne reminds her, and as always, his gentle care makes her feel safe and warm.

Her Tinder notification goes off, and she grimaces, glancing down at the screen and letting herself swipe open the message. This guy is nice about it, at least - "I guessed you'd called in a friend to get you out but that's okay. I just hope it was that you weren't feeling it, I hope I didn't do anything to make you uncomfortable. Best wishes for everything." he had messaged - but she still unmatches him without saying anything, and silently stares ahead of her as they move towards her apartment.

Shayne walks her to her door, hesitating at the entry when she steps inside until she invites him in. It's a familiar routine, although usually when she asks him to call her, she ends up at his apartment, and she doesn't hesitate stepping inside. Either way, as they always do, they settle into her sofa and he pulls up something on Netflix for background noise before twisting sideways to face her.

"What happened? Are you okay?" he asks, carefully.

"I'm fine, something just felt off," she answers, not meeting his eyes. She gives the same answer every time, and it always makes Shayne worry. What is she hiding?

"You say that every time," he tells her, without thinking. It's an abrupt departure from their usual on these nights, where he would drop the topic and just hang out with her and pretend the earlier part of the night had never happened. It makes her turn sharply to him, surprised.

"I guess. I just- it always feels off. Sorry," she mumbles, looking down at her own lap.

"No, no, Court, it's- you don't need to apologise. It just worries me that there's something you're not saying and that sometimes you aren't okay. I just wanna look out for you," he explains, carefully, watching intently as she slowly looks up and gives him a small smile.