New Beginnings | Shawn Mendes

Chapter Ten

"Time to get going, sunshine." Tom teases with a laughter as he pulls the duvet from you. You rub your sore eyes and a few seconds pass before you're able to see fully. 

"It's three in the morning." You complain after your eyes falls on the alarm on your bedside table.

 Your body aches for some reason and you're hardly able to keep your eyes from sinking together. Tom however, is already dressed and in a chipper mood. Complete psychopath behaviour in your opinion. 

"Stop whining. New York is waiting for us." He jokes with you as his palm rubs the top of your hair. 

"Well..." You yarn and stretch your drowsy body. "I'd say New York is the kind of city that sleeps in." 

Tom rolls his eyes at your comment and turns on the light in your room, you cover your eyes with your palms as you hear him leave your room with a laughter. You live with an actual man-child, how on earth you convinced your mother to this, is still a mystery to you. You're too tired to even fight back and you have to gather strength to leave your warm, comfortable bed.

*************

You are in your softest sweats, only managed to throw your hair in a bun as you roll the stuffed suitcase out of your room. You're quite excited about going and you figure Brian and you will have fun exploring while the other works. Despite the excitement, you're a bit on edge as well. 

You're still nervous to be around Shawn, afraid you might do or say something that will reveal your feelings for him or at least make him suspicious. 

Tom is on the phone when the doorbell rings and he waves at you to open the door. You walk towards the hall, unlock the front door and opens when you feel your heart skip a beat. Shawn appears in the doorframe, wet messy curls wearing a matching set from Calvin Klein. You swallow the lump in your throat while a bundle of knots appears in your stomach. 

"You look surprised to see me?" Shawn says, narrowing his eyebrows in confusion. 

"I kinda of am." You admit with a stutter, tilting your head sideways. 

"We're driving to the airport together." 

"Oh, okay." Is all you're able to say. 

"Tom didn't tell you?" Shawn laughs with a smile.

"No." You hold your breath and stare at him for a few seconds. "Uhm, come in." You step aside and allow Shawn to walk into the apartment, you follow behind him. 

Shawn pushes himself to sit on the counter and you lean against the cooking island, your eyes are flickering slightly and you hope Shawn doesn't notice. 

"So are you excited for New York?" He asks you, forcing his fingers through his curls. You mouth is too dry for you to speak properly and therefore, you answer his question with a nod. "You been before?" 

"Uhm, no." You stutter, swallowing another lump appearing in your throat. "First time." 

Shawn nods at your words and his eyes lowers to his fingers. You notice how he's rubbing his palms or playing with the silvering on his finger, it makes you gasp slightly for air. There's a silence between you for a moment or two, you don't breathe nor do you really move. 

"Uhm... Oh." Shawn stutters and his noises forces you to look in his direction. Shawn scratches the back of his head and clears his throat. "We're good, right? After that night. I mean, we talked it out?" 

"Oh, yeah." You hurry to say, rubbing your fingers nervously. "All good." 

"Okay, yeah, great. I just wanted to be sure we're friends." 

"Of course, friends." You blur, but the words taste bitter in your mouth. 

Truth be told, you don't want to be friends, but you cannot force people to develop feelings for you. You look at Shawn and he looks at you. 

"You look nice, by the way." Shawn tells you with a smile. 

"I'm wearing sweats?" You laugh and roll your eyes at him. 

"Well, so am I and don't I look nice as well?" He teases you and you shake your head slightly. 

"You look very nice." You tease back and makes Shawn laugh. The tension eases and you feel less awkward around him for once, it was nice. 

"So are you nervous?" You ask him and his smile fades the tiniest bit. "I mean, Madison Square Garden, that's pretty big." 

"I'm fucking terrified to be honest." Shawn says with a small laugh, but you can tell he's beyond nervous. 

He grabs around the edge of the counter and his eyes flicker slightly when you mention the venue. 

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." You assure him with a smile. "I mean, they are all coming for you, right? You got this, it's your arena."

 Shawn shakes with head with a smile and allow his tongue to slide between his lips, then he looks towards you again. 

"I could use you as a motivational speaker whenever I'm a nervous wreck." 

"Oh, I don't think you have the kind of money to pay me for that." You tease him with a laughter and Shawn rolls his eyes. 

"You're right, you are way out of my league." 

"And don't you forget it, Mendes." Shawn laughs at your jokes and makes your heart flicker for a second or two. His eyes are resting on you and you feel the heat spread in your face rather quickly. 

But he is in fact, a wreck. It's rather obvious to be fair. Shawn is more quiet than usual, he's pale and somewhat unfocused. He's rubbing his palms or his fingers, his ring or his thumb to cope with the tension he is feeling.

"Just a second." You tell him and head towards your room. 

"Where are you going?" He yells after you as you disappear from his vision. 

"I'm just getting something, one moment." You yell as you open a drawer and pull out a little box. 

You feel a slight yank in your heart when you open the box and your eyes fall on the braid leather bracelet inside. You close your eyes and for a moment, you hear your father's voice, it makes you smile. You walk back to the kitchen with the bracelet, where Shawn is waiting impatiently for you. 

"Hold out your wrist." You tell him and though he does as you tell him, you see the confusion spread in his eyes. 

You put the bracelet around his wrist, feeling the lingering his warmth leaves behind and you fumble with closing the lock for a few seconds. 

"This is my lucky bracelet, my everything is going to be fine bracelet, my have faith in yourself bracelet." You tell him as your hands slips from his wrist. Shawn looks down at it and moves his hand from side to side to get a proper look. 

"Really?" He asks you and you nod back. 

"My father gave it to me. He used to tell me that when I am wearing this, nothing bad can happen." You tell him and clear your throat as the tears press on. 

"Are you sure?" Shawn stutters and places his hand on your arm to comfort you. You take a deep breath and look towards him again. 

"I'm sure." You tell him and he smiles at you. "And just so you know it, this bracelet right where is the very reason I placed first in every spelling competition I ever took part in." 

"Oh, you're setting my expectations high." 

"Trust me, this works." You joke back with a laughter.

Shawn takes your hand in his and gives you a small embrace. He hardly touches you, but you feel the lingering all the way down to your toes. 

"Thank you, it's really nice of you to share this." Shawn says and sends you a careful smile. "No worries." You tell him, forcing air into your lunges. 

You look at each other for a moment, Shawn holding your hand and you unable to breathe properly when Tom enters the room again and Shawn hurries to pull back his hand. You feel a yank in your chest and your smile fades slightly.

"Are you two ready to leave?" Tom asks.