A Sense of Guilt ✔

Chapter 33

Donnie clambered out of the cab after Shannon, quickly throwing a few notes in the driver's direction.

'Come on,' he said slipping his arm around her waist and steering her towards her apartment. She wobbled on unsteady feet and he tightened his grip around her waist. 'I'm getting too old to be doing this, Shannon.'

She stopped and looked up at him, her eyes squinting. 'Doing what?'

'Rescuing drunken girls,' he said chuckling.

'I didn't need rescuing.' She stood up straighter and walked determinedly to her door. 'See.'

Donnie shook his head. 'You stumbled at least twice, and it wasn't you falling over I was necessarily concerned about.'

She frowned as she fumbled with the lock on the door. 'Damn, it's jammed.' Donnie reached over and turned the key, the door opened easily. 'Well, it was jammed,' she said sounding sulky as she stepped inside.

Donnie paused outside but since Shannon had left the door wide open he figured that was his cue to go in. Frowning he locked the door behind him, wondering if she was usually this careless with her safety.

'Do you wanna drink?' Shannon shouted from the kitchen while he sat down in the tiny space she called a living room.

'Yeah sure, whatever you're having,' he said although he thought she'd had more than enough already. He didn't envy the hangover she was sure to have in the morning. 

'So why did you rescue me?' Shannon asked sitting down next to him. Her lips twitched as she pressed a glass of wine into his hand. 'And rescue me from what exactly?'

He put his drink to one side. 'Katherine and Joe were in the club, and more to the point, Katherine's friends were. They were clearly looking for a confrontation and so were you.'

Shannon snorted. 'I didn't know they'd be there, I'd never have set foot in the place if I did.' She put her glass to her mouth, drinking almost half of it. 'Do you actually think I went there looking for Joe?'

Donnie considered for a moment. 'No, I don't, but Katherine's friends do.' Shannon frowned, and he was going to explain about Danielle but he couldn't be bothered, the chances of her remembering in the morning were slim. 'The point is, one of Katie's friends was gonna have words with you and I don't think that would have ended well.'

Shannon bit her lip. 'I guess it wouldn't, but I haven't seen Joey until tonight. If she wants to have words with anyone it should be him.'

'Yeah, she should take it up with Joe.' Danielle and Kelly were clearly as bad as each other, they were both overinvested in their best friends lives.

'You do know how this is going to look to Joe, don't you?' Shannon asked inching closer to Donnie on the sofa. 'He saw us leave together.'

Donnie nodded, he probably had scars on his back from Joe's eyes burning into him. 'Well, he only has himself to blame. From where I'm sitting it looks like he's still with Katherine.' Shannon flinched at his blunt words. 'Look, I don't think his heart's in it, but this has to be the longest, most drawn out, break up in history. It would serve him right if you found someone else, you probably should.'

She looked up at him again, her lips parted. 'Yeah, it would totally serve him right. You know he's gonna assume you took me home for one reason only?'

Donnie shrugged. 'Well, he can assume what he likes.'

Shannon wrapped her arms around his neck. 'What's the expression, if you're gonna get hung for a goose, get hung for a gander?'