"You're over reacting." I hear Sofia say just outside of my office. Seconds later, both her and Shane are walking in.

"Hello?" I say in confusion.

"You need to tell your girlfriend to stop dragging my girlfriend into any drama that the two of you have. This is getting out of hand." Shane snaps.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Tell him." Shane says to Sofia.

"He's over reacting." Sofia says, rolling her eyes. "Natalia invited me to lunch today. So of course, I was quick to say yes."

"Yeah, which is fine. Only it's ten in the morning." Shane says. "I don't appreciate you coming here and distracting her from her work."

"Oh please. I saw the work you gave her and that was nothing that you needed done, and you know that!" She replies.

"She has a job to do, Sofia. Regardless of what work it is, it is her job to finish it."

"I come up here all the time and it's never been an issue before. What? Now you're upset because i'm not just here to see you?" She asks with a sarcastic laugh.

"Hold on." I say, holding my hands up for them to stop. "Is this really over her being in the office?" I sigh.

"No. It's over their gossip in Natalia's office. I heard it, and it's disrespectful for you to be talking about anyone the way that you were." Shane fights back.

"Yeah, and it's disrespectful of you to talk to Natalia like she's a child." She replies.

"Well maybe if she stopped acting like one then I wouldn't have to treat her that way!" He nearly yells at her in reply.

"Stop!" I say loudly enough to gain their attention. "Now I don't know what is going on with you two, but it needs to stop. Now."

"You're getting into their business and it shouldn't be your concern, Shane." Sofia says, crossing her arms. "Plus, she's my friend. There's nothing wrong with listening to her vent."

"No, Sofia. You're getting into their business and it's none of your concern. You two aren't even really friends." Shane replies bitterly.

"Excuse me? Yes, we are." She defends.

"The only reason she's talking to you is to stay on Grayson's good side. Don't get that confused. Do you really think she would be hanging out with a twenty one year old girl who only cares about herself and her own problems?" He snaps.

Her arms fall from her side as she brushes by both of us.

"You're a fucking asshole, Shane." She yells in reply, "It's your fucking fault that I don't have anymore friends in the first place!" She nearly screams, slamming the door behind her.

Shane sighs and tries following her before I grab him by the arm.

"Don't." I snap, stopping him from leaving. "Sit down and tell me what the fuck is going on. Because frankly, i'm tired of this shit."

Shane sighs and plops down into a seat. "Natalia is just expressing her frustration and Sofia being Sofia, has something to say about it. I don't care if she's my girlfriend talking with your girlfriend. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior."

"And saying that Natalia is only friends with Sofia to please me? Really? You know how important friends are to Sofia. She hasn't exactly had the best year when it comes to having friends." I say. "And what did she mean when she said it was your fault?"

"I was wrong to say that. You're right. I'll apologize." He sighs. "The last time I went to Wisconsin, I went to see her. There were some misunderstandings." He sighs.

"Misunderstandings." I repeat, now knowing if I want to even hear where this goes. "Why were you even in Wisconsin?" I ask.

He gives me a shrug and looks down at his hands.

"Oh god." I groan, knowing that he definitely only went to see her.

"You didn't want to get on a plane and I didn't want to drive." He explains. "She invited me to go to her Winter Formal with her sorority. You remember how those things were." He explains.

"So you went to Wisconsin to see my sister when she was nineteen and you were, what?" I ask. "Nearly thirty?"

"Fuck off." He says, annoyed instantly. "I didn't want for her to have to go alone!" He defends.

"She could have gone with someone her own age." I add. "Or the very least, her own town."

"Yeah, well she didn't. Okay? I fucked up and I know it." He says.

"Yeah, you did. Because if you somehow fuck all of this up, it's going to be really difficult to come back from." I say.

"You think I don't know that? Why the hell do you think i've been dodging it for so long?" He spits out.

"Well I don't know. I don't know how long you've actually be dodging it for. So maybe you can start with that first." I reply.

Shane sighs and runs a hand over his face. "I really don't see why we're even getting into this."

"Because she just blamed you for not having any friends. So I need you to explain that one really fucking quick." I reply.

"Fine." He sighs. "Sofia got really drunk the week of her finals. The school always did some thing over at the beach. We never went, but I figured she would be one to go. She called me to pick her up. She was scared that you would tell your mom." He says.

"Oh my god." I say, hating where this is going. "If you say what I think you're about to say, I will fucking kill you." I warn.

"God, no! Grayson, I was twenty five. She was eighteen. Barely eighteen, might I add. Do you really think that I would do anything with her? Fuck, dude. Have some faith in me." He replies.

"Well you're twenty eight and you're dating my twenty one year old sister. Who you met when she was only ten!" I yell.

"First of all, she was eleven." He says.

"Yeah, really helping your case." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Not the point, I know. I get it. You're uncomfortable about this entire thing. I get it. I would be too! But...She's different, okay? Now shut up and let me finish the story." He bites back.

"Fine."

"So I go to pick her up and she's heavily intoxicated. I help her into the car and drive her home. That's it. The entire way there she was confessing her love for me, but I played it off. When I got her into the house and into her own bed, she kissed me." He says.

"Oh my God." I groan.

"I didn't kiss her back!" He says. "I pulled away and got her tucked into bed and then left. There's no way I would act on any of those feelings at that point." He says.

"So there were feelings." I add.

"Walking into that situation, no. While she was confessing her undying love for me, no. When she kissed me, no." He says.

"But?"

"But it was the start of them." He sighs. "So that was while she was a senior in high school. I didn't see her after she left for college, okay? I kept in touch and we texted, but there was nothing weird. I don't even think she remembered the shit that she told me. I didn't bring it up, either. She told me about her Winter Formal with her sorority and said that she never got asked to go with anyone and didn't want to ask anyone, either. So instead, she asked if I would go. I hadn't seen her in awhile, and thought it would be good to go with her." He says.

"So you went to Wisconsin just to see her." I repeat.

"Yes."

"Okay, so why does she blame you for not having any friends?" I ask.

"Because while staying with her, one of the older girls in the house took an interest in me. And she told her to back off, because she had feelings for me. However, no one told me this because I continued talking to the other girl until Sofia explained how hurt she was. But after that, she had a lot of problems with the girls in the house and eventually had to leave." He explains.

"Okay, then what about the Christmas party?" I ask.

"That was the turning point, I guess. I don't know. I think that next year she was just...different. She was adjusting to all of the issues she was having at the house with the other girls. Then, she came home and everything was normal. She wasn't mad at me anymore for hurting her. If anything, she was really glad to see me. She seemed happy."

"She told me that she liked you at the Christmas party." I mutter.

"You're going to be pissed." He groans, running another hand over his face.

"Your skin is going to break out if you keep doing that." I acknowledge.

"We had sex at the Christmas party." I say. "That was the turning point. We went from nothing to everything really quickly. She was my first and I knew you would hate me so I never said anything." He blurts out.

"What?" I yell. "You had sex with my sister at the Christmas party?"

"Yes." He replies.

"Oh my God." I say, not even wanting to imagine this. I knew they had sex, but I didn't imagine it being this deep. Not for so long, at least.

"But can we please move on to something else? This doesn't change the fact that Natalia is gossiping about this Gen bullshit after i've already written her up. It needs to stop."

"Let me worry about it, yeah? Just leave it alone." I reply. "I need to get back to work. God, I need to not think about anything that was just said."

"Fine. But if this continues any more, i'm taking it into my own hands." He says, standing from his seat. "And like, sorry or whatever about the Christmas party shit." He mutters.

"Just go fix your half of this and I'll fix mine. Got it?" I reply.

He nods and leave the office, not so much as glancing back.

I have no idea why this has to be so difficult, but I'm getting pretty tired of it all. The fact that my best friend was involved with Sofia for so long doesn't sit well with me. Especially not now. The Natalia and Gen situation is an issue, clearly. I wish I could just ignore it all and have it go away on it's own. Natalia isn't completely to blame in this situation.

Maybe I need to take some responsibility in it all, too.