You & I [Kier/Shane]

Chapter Eighteen - Kier

Kier's POV

Getting on yet another plane in this short amount of time wasn't what I had originally planned but I knew it was for, quite possibly, the best reason in existence. I was seeing him again; my favourite awkward blond. Of course, I was excited about seeing Laurence again so soon. He's been my best friend since we were young, naive school children, but there was something about Shane that made him impossible to get off my mind. He was mysterious, attractive and intelligent; there was nothing unappealing about him at all, which made me crave his company at every given time. I'd texted him before I got on the plane, letting him know I was on my way and excited to see him, but I hadn't received a reply; I assumed he was busy with Drew, or simply didn’t believe it was a text worth responding to.

Once departing from the plane, legs achy from the long and tiring journey, I started the difficult task of trying to find Laurence. He'd informed me earlier that Shane was meeting me with him, something that both unnerved and excited me. The mere thought of him being stood before me caused my heart to race and my stomach to churn; I wasn't sure which was for which emotion.

Walking around the airport it wasn't long until I caught sight of my tall, slim, raven haired friend and I sped towards him with a wide grin, chuckling happily as I saw him mirror my expression.

"Laurence!" I exclaimed with a beaming smile, engulfing him in a hug as he responded with a similar cry of 'Kier!' "I missed you so much." I added, squeezing him before pulling back from the embrace.

"I missed you too," Laurence replied truthfully, his words warming my insides. "It hasn't been the same without you around."

It was only at that point when my smile fell, realising that Laurence was the only one around us who I knew; Shane wasn’t here. Disappointed swarmed inside me, engulfing me with pain as I began to think through every possible reason for Shane not to show up; Laurence was telling me how excited he was to come with him to meet me – saying how he simply couldn’t wait for me to walk through their front door and wanted to come and greet me as soon as I reentered the country. Why the sudden change?

"I-I don't understand...” I mumbled, not even bothering to hide my disappointment. "I thought you said Shane would be here."

Laurence nodded, wearing an almost sympathetic expression as he took my suitcase and began to lead me towards his van. "I know, I'm sorry," He mumbled. "He decided last minute not to."

"Really? Why?" I replied, straining my voice to try not to make it sound like a whine.

Laurence merely shrugged, getting himself into the vehicle while I pulled myself up into the passenger seat. "He struggles sometimes; it might just be a bad day."

I nodded, trying my hardest to understand how Shane could be feeling right now. I tried not to seem too ignorant or selfish as I spoke, but I couldn’t see how today could possibly be a 'bad day' to Shane; when we were on Skype to another all he'd talk about was how much he desperately wanted me to come back and now his wish had been granted - why wasn't he here?

"Try not to be too upset about it," Laurence mumbled, causing my trail of thought to return to the present, finding that we were currently no longer in the airport car park. "Shane's an encyclopedia of issues."

My head shot towards him, eyes practically glaring into the form of my friend at his quite rude remark. "What do you mean?" I asked in a disgruntled mumble.

Laurence sighed, assuming he'd picked up on my unhappy tone. "He probably wouldn't want me to tell you anything, if he wants you to know he'd tell you himself."

"I doubt he'd be happy knowing he was referred to as an 'encyclopedia of issues' either.” I retorted instantly, turning back to the road. Admittedly, I was being a little over dramatic; I didn’t mean to come across as overprotective as I had done, but I didn’t like the way my best friend treated Shane; always like he was such a burden to be around. I thought Shane was the complete opposite; to me, the blond was the human embodiment of the term ‘flawless’.

"Don’t be like that, Kier.” He mumbled in response.

"Well don’t be so mean to him, he's a nice guy."

Laurence began to chuckle, his eyebrows rising slightly at my response. "Oh? Just a 'nice guy' huh?"

"Shut up." I responded, feeling my arms crossing in an almost childish way.

"No, seriously," Laurence continued, chuckling happily to himself. "What's your deal with him?"

"There’s nothing; no 'deal'." I murmured, looking out window to my left and watching as the streets sped by. "I just don't think people are very fair to him; he obviously had something happen that affected him badly."

“Even so,” I heard my raven haired companion reply. “Nothing has happened since I’ve been living with him; you’d think he’d be over it by now.”
“Oh, have a heart, Beveridge.”

Laurence merely chuckled, pulling into his drive and turning off the engine with a single twist of his wrist. “You like him, don’t you?”

I shot my head towards him, eyes wide while I shook my head. “Of course not, that’s ridiculous.” I croaked, my throat drying out at the thought of my friend knowing; My friend was quite well known for his teasing personality, and I didn’t fully warm to the idea of him knowing something so sensitive to me.

“Bullshit,” He responded in a confident tone, his lips curling into a smirk. “As if you actually have the hots for Shane!”

“Shut up!” I cried, my cheeks aflame from the bluntness of Laurence’s words. “I don’t have ‘the hots’ for anyone… and why is that so hard to believe anyway?!”

“Well, you know...” I shook my head. “You’re confident and outgoing… and he’s, well, not.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t like him.” I murmured, crossing my arms tight around my chest in a protective, yet childish, manner.

“Whatever Loverboy, Let’s just go in.”

I huffed, growling slightly at the name he addressed me as before leaving the car, slamming the door closed behind me.