Kokoro (A Shourtney/Shartney Fanfic)

Sixteen

Saturday finally arrived which meant our hangout at Damien and Saige's place was tonight. I slipped on a jacket and checked myself out in the mirror, slightly adjusting my hair to make it look less like I just woke up.

I arrived at their place soon after and was greeted by Damien who answered within three knocks.

"Nice of you to show up," he said. "Come on in, man."

He stepped back so I could enter and I pulled off my jacket, placing it on the coat rack on the wall. Courtney was already there meaning I was the last one to arrive. She and Saige were setting things up in the kitchen.

"So, now that I'm here, do I get to know the choices?" I asked, glancing over to their shelf of movies.

"Yeah, we decided on a few that we figured we'd all enjoy," he knelt down and picked up a small stack of movies. He placed them on the coffee table and I got a good look at the selection.

"You do know Courtney hates horror movies, right?" I looked at the film in the center of the stack. I had seen it before and it was pretty terrifying.

"Hey, she's the one who agreed to it," he said, surprising me a little. I never thought she'd be into that. "Said she'd never seen it and heard good things. I warned her about how scary it is though."

"And she said she'd be fine?"

"Yeah, and I believe her. I mean, she'll have you to protect her, right?"

"What?" I looked at him confused but he seemed serious.

"Don't you remember the last time we played a horror game for the channel? It got cut out of the video, but she was quick to latch onto you. You didn't seem to mind much either."

"Well, I mean, she was scared. I was being a good friend."

"Or boyfriend."

"Yeah right, dude. You know I don't see her like that. Besides, it was a natural reaction, don’t you think?"

"Yeah because you love her."

"Look, if you were scared, I'd have done the same for you."

"As much as I'd like that, my friend, I think it'd be better if you didn't," he laughed. Saige walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Don't tell me you're cheating on me with Shayne," she said with a teasing smile.

"I'd never. Shaymien is purely platonic," he turned himself around and the two of them shared a kiss. I glanced over at Courtney who was sitting on the couch focusing on her phone.

"Hey," I said as I approached her. "Heard you decided to give watching a horror movie a try."

"Oh, well...I mean, it just seems like I should stop being a baby, you know?" She laughed it off but I could tell she was nervous. I knew her better than that.

"You know, we don't have to watch the movie," I said.

"Thanks for the concern but it's okay, really," she replied. We eventually settled into the living room and put in the movie. Damien and Saige were sitting together and Courtney and I were sitting awkwardly apart from one another.

"This is your last chance to bail out, Court," Damien said, holding the remote in his hand while the other arm was wrapped around Saige's shoulders.

"I can do it," she said. Her voice was shaky already, I didn't even have to look at her to tell she was worried. Eventually, as the movie went on, Courtney managed to move closer to me with a pillow wrapped in her arms and up against her face.

"I'm beginning to think she can't do it," I mumbled to myself. A very gorey scene began playing causing her to yelp and fall onto me, grabbing tightly onto my shirt for comfort. I quickly wrapped my arms around her and held onto her for the rest of the movie.

Holding her like this, it felt so strange. I knew she was scared but...once she jumped like that all I thought about was protecting her, keeping her from the danger that didn't really exist. It didn't have to though. As long as she was safe, I was happy.

"They weren't kidding when they said it was terrifying," Damien chuckled. "Hey, Courtney, you alright?"

There was no response from her. I looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. I guess she really was comfortable.

"Looks like she was able to calm down once she felt safe with her man," Saige said with a big smile. "Aren't the two of you cute?"

"I'm surprised she was even able to sleep through that," Damien said. "Though I guess that doesn't matter as long as she has a bit muscle boy."

"Come on, you guys," I sighed, rolling my eyes at their comments. "Looks like it got pretty late. Did Courtney drive her by herself?"

"No, we went shopping together for snacks," Saige stood up and popped the movie out to put away. "You think you could take her home? I know you guys live fairly close and you're headed home anyway..."

"Yeah, it's no problem at all."

I said goodbye to Damien and Saige and ended up carrying Courtney to my car. She slept for the entirety of the drive back. I opened her door and went to unbuckle her seat belt when she suddenly woke up. I turned to face her and our eyes met. I didn't want to stop looking at her or pull myself away.

"Sh-Shayne...?" She mumbled, bringing me back to reality.

"I...sorry, you fell asleep and I brought you home," I quickly finished my task and stepped back to let her get out of the car herself.

"It's...it's okay...thanks you for, um, bringing me back," she said. She crossed her arms, hands resting on her elbows. I watched her for a moment before shaking my head and breathing in quickly.

"Anyway, guess I'm gonna go." I scratched the back of my neck and turned towards my car. "I'll see you Monday."

"Sh...wait!" She quickly blurted out. I turned my head to face her and saw her reaching her arm around towards me. "Sorry...um...I...can you...stay with me?"

"Stay with you? Why?"

"I'm...scared. That movie was...terrifying," she almost seemed embarrassed at what she was saying. "Maybe you were right...about me not being able to watch it..."

"Well, I...if you're scared then...I guess I could stay with you for a bit."

The two of us entered her apartment, greeted immediately by her cats. I found myself sitting on the couch while Courtney wandered towards me with two cans.

"Thank you..." she said lightly as she sat down next to me.

"Yeah, of course," I said. "So, uh, why don't we watch something a little nicer? What do you say?"

"Yeah...I've got YouTube on my TV," she grabbed her remote and turned it on. We settled on watching some older Smosh videos and reminisced about our past. Eventually, she fell asleep again much in the same position as before.

I hadn't realized that I fell asleep too when I woke up and found the TV on another video. It was one of those fanmade compilations, a Shartney one. It had paused itself on a still shot of Courtney and I during the Real Couple vs Shipped Couple video. I remember it, how excited I was to film it and how much Courtney and I messed with each other. Seeing that shot makes me think...what would it be like if WE were the real couple?

I looked down at Courtney, noticing things I never had before. Talking about our memories from Defy really brought me back to then. All the memories of Courtney and I together, being goofy, being weird and...being together.

"Well, it's like you said. There are plenty of people who could want the same things that you do. The person you're meant to be with could be right in front of you." Damien's words echoed through my mind as I stared at Courtney's sleeping face. Is he...is he right? Could she really be...the one I'm looking for?