"Lee, are you alright?" Liam asked, his hand going to cup her cheek as she stood frozen staring at the group of friends, specifically Joseph.
"Um, yeah. I'm fine. Thanks, love." She grinned, her hand grabbing his that sat on her cheek and kissing it before dropping it.
"Paul, I need napkins, bud." Lee called, everyone looked at her in disbelief, confused on how she just went from mental breakdown to being sarcastic.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Liam whispered, frowning as he pulled Lee close to him to comfort her. She just nodded, giving him a soft smile to show she was okay. Liam was hesitant, not quite believing her.
"Liam, I promise." She reassured, in which he just nodded and mumbled a soft okay. Paul came up from behind with napkins and a broom for the glass.
The rest of the night didn't go as bad as one would think. Everyone was having fun, drinking and whatnot, except for Joseph who sat with his beer, watching as everyone played Clue and Liam and Lee were all over each other. He winced every time they kissed, it felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart repeatedly.
After Lee won for the third time, she stoop up, telling everyone she'd be in for the next game. "I'm going out for a smoke, I'll be right back." She whispered into Liam's ear, in which he just nodded before kissing her. Joseph winced again.
The balcony gave a great view of Atlanta, the lights always had a way of comforting Lee when she was stressed, and fuck she was she stressed. Seeing Joseph in there, brought her back to the same sad girl a year ago.
She lit the cigarette that hung loosely from her lips, taking a deep breath and then exhaling smoke. She stared down at the cigarette shamefully, she always hated the nasty habit.
"I didn't know you smoked." A voice spoke behind Lee, causing her to jump from surprise. She turned around, to see Joseph sliding the glass door close behind him.
Lee tensed up, wanting so badly to flick the cigarette off the balcony but she was already caught by him. And why was he talking to her anyway? If Liam even saw him and her out there he'd freak out.
"You never knew me when I did." She simply stated, flicking the leftover ashes off the cigarette as Joseph made his way towards her, his arms leaning on the balcony as he looked out at the city with Lee.
"What does that mean?" He asked, frowning as he watched Lee take long drags of the cigarette. She looked sad.
"It means that, I only smoke when I'm stressed. And when I was with you, I was never stressed, so you never had to see me as the chainsmoker I am." She explained along with a bitter laugh, but Joseph barely let out a chuckle. He didn't like seeing Lee that way, he preferred the happy one.
"You're stressed?" Joseph questioned further, hoping that maybe Lee could shed some light on her relationship with Liam.
"Seeing you? Yeah, I'm stressed." She let out a breath, the tension between her and Joseph was building up minute by minute as they awkwardly sat in silence.
"Why?" He finally asked, breaking the silence that seemed to blanket the two. She looked down, her eyes trailing all the way to the hard concrete that sat below them.
"You know why."
"No, I don't. Explain it to me. You were never stressed with me, because you were happy, are you not happy with Liam?"
