When you're ready

14. Crying

“ Your girlfriend just looked at us.” Brian said and Shawn couldn’t help the smile on his lips.

 “ She’s not my girlfriend.” Shawn told him but still looked at where Camila was on the other side of the hallway. She was looking for something on her backpack, smiling at him when she noticed his stare.

 “ Right.” Brian laughed. “ You just drive her to school and she spends the day in your house, but she’s not your girlfriend.”

 Shawn had been driving Camila to school for the past few days and Brian wouldn’t stop teasing him about it. He would pick her up at her house and then after classes were over she would go back to his house with him. She seemed to prefer spending the day with him instead of being by herself at her aunt’s house and Shawn had to admit he loved having her around.

 “ Tell me that you at least kissed her already.” Brian said and Shawn almost choked on the water he was drinking, which made Camila look at the two of them from where she was. “ No way! Why are you taking so long?”

 “ My grandpa is right.” Shawn rolled his eyes. “ You’re really annoying. I don’t know why we’re friends.”

 “ That old man loves me. He just has a hard time admitting it.” Brian kept going on and on about how he was an amazing friend.

 Shawn looked again at Camila, just in time to see her staring at a group of guys a few feet away from her. He immediately noticed the scared look on her face and ignored whatever it was that Brian was saying, walking to her and touching her arm softly.

 “ Hey, are you okay?” He whispered, making her break her stare at the group of students and look at him. Her eyes looked scared, as if she had seen a ghost or something, a single tear rolling down her eyes as Shawn reached to take one of her hands in his. “ Camila, you’re shaking.”

 She blinked as if she had finally realized where she was and pulled her hand away, walking away from him. Shawn started following her, watching as she ran a little to get into the girl's restroom. He stopped in front of the door, knocking on it and calling her name, but then he remembered she wouldn’t be able to answer him.  He could hear her crying and wasn’t sure what to do. He looked around and there were just a few students in the hallway, but none of them were looking at him, so he pushed the door open and walked in. Shawn sighed in relief when he didn’t find any other girl in the restroom, looking on each stool until he found the last one with the door locked.

 “ Camila?” He asked, softly knocking on the door of the cubicle while hearing her crying. He had heard her laughing before, even if she tried to hide it, but it was always very soft, barely audible. This time he could hear her loud and clear and it terrified him. This wasn't the type of crying you did over something stupid and he almost didn’t want to know what had happened for her to react like this.

 Shawn kept calling her name, asking her to unlock the door, but she ignored him. He could see through the space under the door when she sat down on the floor, so he did the same on the outside and reached for her hand. She tried to pull away at first, but he held her hand firmly in his as he laid his head on the door, feeling when she did the same from the inside. He let his thumb move in circles on the back of her hand, trying to calm her down as he felt her hand trembling and her crying getting softer.

 Shawn wasn’t sure how much time had gone by as they stayed like that, but luckily no other girl had entered the restroom in the meantime. It felt like an eternity before Camila stopped crying and finally unlocked the door, looking at him with red eyes and tears on her face from where she was seated on the floor. Shawn got closer to her and wiped away the tears with his hands as she looked at him in a way that broke his heart. She looked so vulnerable and scared that the only thing he could do was pull her body to him and hold her. Shawn wasn’t even sure if he should question her about it. He didn’t want her to start crying again. Camila held him tightly, burying her face on his shoulder as Shawn let his hand touch her hair.

 They were in silence for a few minutes as he held her, so when it happened, Shawn thought he was imagining things. He looked down at her and watched as she lifted her head, doing the last thing he expected her to do.

 “ Shawn?” She whispered his name very quietly as he looked at her in shock.

 “ You’re speaking.” He stated the obvious, not believing what was happening in front of him. “ You can speak?”

 Camila nodded her head slowly, looking down and reaching for his hand. She squeezed his hand before looking into his eyes again.

 “ Thank you.” She whispered again, this time with a smile on her lips. Her voice was soft and quiet, almost like she didn’t remember how to use it, but it sounded so beautiful to him.

 He couldn’t stop himself, using his free hand to touch her face and take a few hair strands off her face so he could see her better. He started leaning in very slowly, keeping his eyes open as he watched her reaction. Camila looked at him with wide eyes but didn’t move. Her eyes finally closed and he did the same, letting his lips touch hers in a delicate kiss. It was over just as fast and Camila looked at him as if he had just saved her or something.

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A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been studying a lot lately. Hope you like this chapter ❤