Mixed Signals

Throughout January, Shane and Scarlett exchanged text messages until finally Scarlett gave in to Shane's requests to meet up and spend the weekend together at the end of January before she headed back to university. The plan was vague.

"I'm on the early shift on Friday. Come over about 3pm and we'll see from there. xxx" read Shane's text.

Scarlett got the bus from the city centre towards Shane's house. It was packed with school kids and she had to wait a couple of stops before getting a seat. She sat down, not looking at any other passengers. "Hello Scarlett" said a familiar voice behind her. She turned round to see Jan, Shane's landlady, smiling back at her.

"Awk Jan, I didn't see you. How are you?" Scarlett asked.

"Grand, pet. All the better for seeing you. Shane's been keeping me updated about your studies. You're doing well, I hear." she beamed.

"Has he really?" asked Scarlett, trying not to sound too surprised but her heart leaped. Jan nodded enthusiastically. "Oh! Ah...yes, it's going OK. I've got some of my finals when I go back next week." Scarlett replied.

They chatted for the rest of the journey and as they got off the bus at their stop and walked home. Jan opened the front door and walked into the hall, Scarlett followed behind her and Jan stopped to pull Scarlett into a hug. "Best of luck for your exams now, pet. I'll be thinking about you!" Jan said, warmly.

"Thank you, Jan" Scarlett smiled back at her.

Scarlett walked upstairs to Shane's room and knocked on the door. "Hello?" came Shane's voice from inside. Scarlett opened the door and looked round. "Down here" Shane called from the floor in front of the window before peering round the side of the bed frame towards the door. "Oh hi babe, come in!" he said cheerily when he saw Scarlett. "Did you ring me or...? no." he said, looking quickly at his phone. "I didn't hear the doorbell." he said.

"Jan let me in. I bumped into her on the bus and we walked back together" Scarlett said, putting her bag down and taking her coat off. She walked round the bed and saw he was sitting on the floor playing his guitar. Or trying to play it. Shane had 2 guitars and talked about playing them but Scarlett knew he didn't take lessons or study it intently enough to teach himself, he occasionally lifted one and plucked at the strings and he could kind of play a few songs. "What are you playing?" Scarlett asked, sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

Shane leaned forward, stroking her thigh and kissed her. Scarlett wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "You alright?" Shane asked and kissed her again. Scarlett smiled and nodded. "I'm trying to get 'The Reason' by Hoobastank" Shane said as he grimaced. "I've got the intro cos I think it's only 4 notes repeated until the words come in..." he said as he played it slowly. "But I'm not even sure if it's the right key and I don't have it to listen to so.." he shrugged.

"I've got it here" said Scarlett, reaching for her coat and pulling her MP3 player out of the pocket. She scrolled, pressed play and they listened to the notes a few times while Shane played along. "Yeah! That's it, you've got it!" she said, smiling "Your concentration face is so cute!" Scarlett giggled and nudged his knee with hers. She turned off the music and put it back in her coat on the bed. Shane looked embarrassed but laughed. He played the notes again a few times before starting on the verse. Scarlett sang the first two lines, trying to help him with the notes but Shane stopped, staring at her. "You've got it, keep playing Shane!" she encouraged, gesturing with her hands and nodding as she smiled.

"It's not that...it's...just...you can sing!" Shane said, his eyes wide and his mouth curling up in a smile.

Scarlett looked down, embarrassed. "Sure you know, I told you before" she said timidly.

"Yeah but...I mean I've never heard you...so...I just..." he shrugged, still staring at her.

Scarlett looked up and raised her eyebrows "You mean you thought I was just saying that, but I couldn't really sing?" she laughed.

Shane shrugged "NO! I've just never heard you singing before. You're great!" he said, flustered as he stroked her hand, grasping it to his mouth to kiss it.

"Well, we don't all exaggerate our talents, Shane!" Scarlett said, jokingly but with purpose for all the times he'd mocked or patronised her using his own embellished truths.

"Ooooh. Ok then. You've got me there!" Shane said, holding his chest as if he was wounded. "Sing some more"

"Noooo!" protested Scarlett quietly, looking down.

"C'mon. Pleeeeeease!" Shane pleaded, grasping her hand in both of his. "Please Scarl" he said, sticking his bottom lip out and looking at her.

"Oh now, don't pull the Puss In Boots routine!" Scarlett giggled. "Ok, Ok. I'll sing as far into the song as you can play" she teased, knowing he didn't have much to go on.

"Sooooo... the first line again?" he asked, wincing. She laughed and waved her finger for him to play it from the start and sang along until he stopped playing. She smiled and nodded firmly once and Shane reached over, stroked her face and kissed her. "As if I thought I couldn't love you any more" he said.

Scarlett pulled her head back and looked at him sharply. "You love me?" she asked.

Shane didn't flinch, instead he placed his guitar back on the stand and pulled himself closer to Scarlett. He stroked his hands up her thighs and kissed her in increasingly frantic kisses while Scarlett rested her arms around his neck. "Do you fancy a quickie before we go out?" he panted as he broke their kissing.

Scarlett looked at him, trying to catch her breath. "Where are we going?" she asked, puzzled.

"Did I not say? I was gonna see if you wanted to go out for dinner. My treat." Shane said, sitting up on his knees and laying her down on her back on the carpet before climbing on top and kissing her again.

Scarlett gasped and moaned as he kissed her neck. She bent her legs up and wrapped them round his waist. Shane sat up, unbuttoned her trousers and pulled them off her left leg, unzipped his jeans, pulled her pants to the side and slid his cock firmly deep inside her. They both groaned and Shane immediately thrust fast into her. Shane lifted Scarlett's left leg and bent her knee over his elbow, leaning his head into her neck as he lay on top of her and groaned more than he usually did as he fucked her quickly. Scarlett lay flat on the floor, none of this was stimulating her and she knew she wasn't wet enough but she didn't say anything. She gasped at the force of him fucking her and tried to move her hips for more stimulation but her pants were restrictive. About a minute after he entered her, Shane groaned "Aw I'm gonna cum" and thrust hard into her, gasping before collapsing down on top of her and his breath warmed her neck as he panted hard. "Aw fuck. Babe, you didn't cum, did you?" Shane asked, pushing himself up on his hands and looking at her.

"Not even close, no" Scarlett replied, smiling with her lips pursed.

Shane sighed in frustration "Sorry babe."

Scarlett shrugged "You said you wanted a quickie. I'm never going to cum from a spare of the moment with no warm up."

"Let me help you, babe" Shane said, pulling his cock out of her. Scarlett winced and whimpered. Shane pushed two fingers inside of her and she tensed up.

"Ahh! Shane, stop!" Scarlett said as she inhaled sharply. "Don't, I'm sore" she shuddered, pushing his arm with her foot.

Shane stopped and looked at her. "Are you ok, babe?" He pulled his fingers out and did a double take as he looked at his fingers. "There's a bit of blood babe, are you due your period?" he asked.

Scarlett pulled his hand closer to look at it "There's hardly anything there, I wouldn't even call it blood" she said, pushing his hand away. He looked at her and frowned. "No. I just wasn't wet enough" she said as she trembled.

Shane balked at this before thinking to himself. He stroked her legs and kissed her knee "Did I hurt you babe?" he said, timidly "You're shaking!"

"It's OK, it wasn't on purpose. I was wet just not wet enough. I suppose for it to feel better, I'd have to suggest a quickie to you after I've got myself all worked up" she said flatly, sitting up, pulling her trousers back on her left leg and standing up to fix her clothes.

"Aw babe, sorry" Shane said, still kneeling on the floor and zipping up his jeans. "My girl is sore and I don't even realise, what sort of a dick am I?!" he said, hanging his head and shaking it.

"You said it!" said Scarlett, frowning at him and putting her coat on. "Are we going?" she asked. The atmosphere was tense.

They went downstairs to use the bathroom before going down the final flight and out the front door just as Shane realised he'd forgotten his wallet and he should've brought a coat. Scarlett waited on the pavement outside and lit a cigarette while he went back into the house. He came back outside and tried to grasp her hand as he turned to walk up the street but Scarlett pulled away from him. "What are you doing? I just want to hold your hand" Shane said.

"I don't want to burn you." Scarlett said, holding up her cigarette and sliding across to his right-hand side.

Shane looked at her and tutted. "I thought you'd given up, Scarl!" he said, disappointed, grasping her left hand in his right one.

"Nope, never said that. I said I'd give up if there's a smoking ban. I just rarely smoke in front of you cos I know you hate it." she said, blowing a puff of smoke out the side of her mouth.

"Well, there's a smoking ban starting in April so, you know..." he said.

"So I'd better make the most of it up until then?" Scarlett teased.

"No, you know that's not what I mean" Shane said, annoyed.

"I know, I'm joking, Shane. I will probably give up then. It's mostly habit now more than anything." she said. "Anyway, where are we going for dinner?" she asked.

"What about that new burger place you were talking about?" he asked, stroking her hand in his and entwining their fingers.

"Yeah. Can we stop at the shop on the way? I need a few things." she said.

"Yeah. Listen, are you OK? You were kind of pissed off before we left the house." Shane asked.

Scarlett shrugged "Eh... yeah. I dunno. S'pose I was a bit. Maybe with myself. I'm not really sure." she said hesitantly as she took long drags on her cigarette. She felt like she couldn't say what was on her mind at the moment.

"I know it's an understatement to say that wasn't the best sex we've ever had. Are you sure you're not due your period?!" Shane teased. Scarlett stopped walking and glared at him when he turned to look at her, aggressively blowing smoke in his direction. "Fucking hell, if looks could kill! Alright, I was joking but I take it back" Shane cringed, holding his palms up facing her.

Scarlett walked on and Shane slipped his hand back in hers, stroking her thumb with his. They reached the shop and Shane waited outside. "What did you get?" asked Shane when Scarlett came out again.

Scarlett opened the bag to show him "A can of Coke, cigarettes, chocolate and a magazine. Is that alright?" she asked with a cheeky tone, looking at him with wide eyes. "Actually, I bought you a bar of chocolate too. How lucky are you?!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

They walked to the burger bar for dinner. The portions were huge and Scarlett had already drunk one and a half Southern Comfort and limes by the time their food arrived and she ordered another. Shane was back to being playful at dinner. He wanted to feed her food to taste, he held her hand across the table and he teased her.

"What happened to your thumb nail?! Did you trap it in something?" Scarlett asked, pulling Shane's hand closer to inspect his black nail.

"Ehhh...no. I found your nail polish so I had a go." he said, embarrassed.

Scarlett giggled "You painted your nail? Oooh I'll make an emo boy out of you yet!" she said gleefully.

"Excuse me?! I will always be heavy metal but I wouldn't mind if...would you paint my nails later? I can look like those wee emo boys in the bands you like" he asked, winking.

"REALLY?!" asked Scarlett, sceptically "Are you taking the piss out of me?"

"No!" Shane said. "It's only a bit of a laugh but will you?" he asked.

Scarlett giggled "We can have matching emo black nail polished nails!"

"Sure can" Shane replied. "Aren't you eating the rest of your burger?" he asked.

Scarlett blushed "I'm so stuffed. I've hardly had any of it but I ate all my salad and chips first. Rookie mistake!" she said in a low voice.

"Too right, who the fuck eats the salad full stop?! It's just there for decoration!" Shane teased in an outrageous tone.

"Shut up you. Just cos you've only ever eaten salad by accident!" Scarlett teased back.

"Take a break or I'm sure the waiter can get your burger boxed up and you can bring it home for later." Shane said, finishing another beer.

Scarlett sighed heavily and made a face. "Hmmm. Don't really need it though, do I?" she said, looking down at her stomach.

Shane sat back and stared at her "Don't start that!" he said in a hushed tone.

"Start what? I've put on weight since I went back to uni and I feel a bit yuck. Hardly very attractive, is it?" she said.

"Don't be daft! I don't think you've put on weight, babe. Even if you had, I'd still fancy you." he said as he leaned over to hold her hand across the table. "You're a hot piece of ass" he said, sticking his tongue out at her playfully.

"Gee, thanks. You don't care as long as you get your hole!" Scarlett said, irritated.

"Scarlett!" Shane hissed, shaking his head.

"I don't want to talk about this" she said. He let go of her hand, lifted his arms and shrugged before putting his hands in his jeans pockets. "Talking of things you don't want to talk about..." Scarlett said.

Shane tilted his head back, signaling her to speak. "We're saying we're not 'together' at the moment but when we're actually together, in each other's company, we get on like we're still together. There's no difference! We behave in exactly the same way. What's that about?" Scarlett asked, furrowing her brow and looking at him.

Shane breathed out heavily and folded his arms across his chest. "So that's what's bugging you, eh? Yeah, let's not talk about that just now." he said, sternly. "If you hadn't been on the Southern Comfort you wouldn't have brought it up either. Ok?" he said, looking at her from under the frame of his glasses.

Scarlett knew she'd been trying to pick a fight since this afternoon and she didn't want to ruin their evening so she said nothing more about it. The waiter arrived and offered to box up her burger. They walked home, holding hands and chatting.

Back at Shane's house, Scarlett threw off her coat and flopped down on the bed. She unbuttoned her trousers and lay with her limbs stretched out like a starfish, sighing with relief. Shane chuckled as he took off his coat and shoes. He climbed on the bed and straddled her, kissing her softly up her neck and on the lips while he caressed her stomach under her blouse from her waistband up to her bra. "Don't. I feel sick." Scarlett groaned.

"Oh thanks!" Shane teased, looking at her.

Scarlett tutted and rolled her eyes "Shaaaaane! I ate too much"

"I know, I know" he chuckled softly and sat up. "Do you want to paint my nails now?" Shane asked.

"Yeah but can you give me like 10 mins just to lie here first?" she groaned. "Please will you open the window? I genuinely might vomit" she breathed deeply.

Shane got up and opened the window. "I suppose I should tidy up a bit actually while you're incapacitated" he said, looking around.

"Yeah, those plates need to go downstairs, there can't be much crockery left in the kitchen!" Scarlett said, exaggerating for effect and pointing to the floor on the other side of the bed

Shane tutted and sighed "Fuck sake, how did you even see them over there?" he said, laughing and gesturing towards the floor.

"See them? I could smell them the minute I got here, plus I know you and your dirty habits too well!" Scarlett said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Shane mumbled under his breath and proceeded to clean and tidy up, going up and down the stairs with dishes, rubbish and washing while Scarlett lay across the bed. Finally he came back upstairs for the final time carrying a glass and trailing the vacuum cleaner behind him. "I brought you some soda water since you're still lying there in the same position and it's been an hour rather than 10 minutes" Shane said, approaching the bed, pulling her to sit up and handing her the glass.

"Aww thank you. I do actually feel better for lying down for a while, definitely much better." Scarlett replied, sipping from the glass as she sat up straight. She breathed a heavy sigh and stood up to stretch while Shane vacuumed the carpet. Then they settled on the bed facing each other. "Right, now, place your hands flat, palms down and whatever you do, don't do anything until they're completely dry cos you'll smudge the nail polish and I'll have to re-do them!" Scarlett stated firmly.

"Alright, calm down Scarlett, I'm sure it's fine" Shane said, in his standard patronising tone. Scarlett rolled her eyes.

She proceeded to paint Shane's nails with 2 coats of her black nail polish and then sat back. "What now?" asked Shane.

"Now you have to sit there and wait for them to dry, like I said." Scarlett smiled. Shane sighed.

Scarlett grinned and leaned forward to kiss him. She kissed him softly on the lips and he groaned slightly. "Watch your nails!" she said sharply as Shane wrapped his arms around her. He sighed and put his hands down on either side of him on the bed. Scarlett continued kissing him.

"What are you up to?" he whispered.

She stopped and looked him in the eye "Kissing you. Is that OK?"

"Hmm I suppose so but I can't touch you, can I?!" Shane said, holding up his hands. Scarlett shook her head and smiled. She sat back, straightened his legs out and straddled him. She stroked his beard, ran her hands through his hair and kissed his neck, face and lips. Shane breathed heavily "You wee minx!"

"Mm hm" Scarlett said, smiling coyly. "Any complaints?" she asked. Shane shook his head. "Good. You won't mind if I get a bit more comfortable then" she said as she sat back between his feet and slid off her trousers. She placed her legs open on top of his, held his hands on the bed with her feet and reached her hand into her pants, she sighed as she started touching herself.

Shane groaned and swallowed hard "Aw Scarlett, are you fucking kidding?!" he shifted on the bed.

"Do you want me to stop?" Scarlett asked.

"No, I want to touch you! You're such a fucking tease!" he hissed.

Scarlett laughed. "Hmm. Maybe you want a better view?" she asked, sliding her pants down. As she lifted her feet, Shane grasped her calves and laughed. "Eh...excuse me?...you just don't like that you're not in control for once!" Scarlett said. Shane raised his eyebrows and put his hands back on the bed. Scarlett took her pants off and held Shane's hands back down on the bed with her feet. She reached her hand between her legs again and moaned as she stroked her clit. She relaxed into a rhythm and watched him watching her until she felt herself nearly ready to orgasm and stopped short. She breathed in long breaths and looked at him while she licked her fingers.

"YOU are so hot. Fucking hell!" Shane whispered. He tipped his head "C'mere"

Scarlett sat up and held her fingers up to his mouth "You want a taste?" she asked and Shane looked her in the eyes as he sucked them. Then she kissed him gently teasing her tongue into his mouth and nibbling his bottom lip. He tried to kiss her more forcefully but she pulled away. "Gently" she whispered and kissed him again while she stroked her hands up his legs. He groaned as she grasped his cock over his jeans. "Mmm you're so hard" Scarlett said, licking her lips as she unzipped his jeans.