PERFECT [SHAWN MENDES] [1]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: SURPRISE

"Hey, is this your journal?" Lauren asked, holding it up for Shawn to see.

Shawn noticed the journal, and recognised it immediately. It was his journal. He thought he'd lost it earlier, but then remembered he left it there after Lauren and himself had an argument recently. Rising from where he was sitting, he nodded as he walked over.

"Yeah, thanks. I thought I lost it," Shawn mentioned, taking the journal from her grip gently.

"You're welcome. Hey-"

"LAUR!" Daniel called out, interrupting his daughter obliviously.

"Yeah?!" She exclaimed.

She jogged to the door where Daniel could see her from the garage. She saw Daniel standing by the edge of the grass, Stark beside him.

"Your mother is back!"

Lauren growled aloud, causing Shawn to look at her in confusion. Rising from the bed, the brunette walked over to Lauren, who stood in the doorway of her bedroom. He grabbed a hold of her shoulders gently, making her eyes flicker up to look at Shawn.

"What's wrong Simba?" Shawn asked.

Lauren sent him a small glare, but laughed at his stupid joke. "That's not funny, Mendes," She said, seriously.

Shawn sent her a dorky smile, while she tried not to laugh. However, it failed miserably, and the both of them found themselves laughing. They both walked out of her bedroom, making their way back to the house.

"Then why are you laughing?" Shawn asked, in between laughs.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she chuckled.

She nudged him slightly, which caused him to bump into a pole in the garage. It made Lauren laugh, while Shawn frowned at her. After all, all he'd done was bump his shoulder.

"Seriously though. Why are you mad?"

"Lauren!" Diana exclaimed.

Lauren's mother came into view from behind the car she was standing at. Lauren rolled her eyes, while pointing at her for Shawn to see.

"That," Lauren said.

Shawn let out an "ohhhh", when he realised what she meant. The brunette knew that Lauren and her mother, Diana, didn't get along very well, but couldn't decipher the real reason why. He knew it probably had something to do with what had happened to Aidan, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure.

Diana made her way over, her large suitcase in her grasp. Shawn noticed her struggling with the weight of it, as she was in heels and she was walking on the rocks. He jumped in to help, gently taking the suitcase from her with a sweet smile, to which she thanked him for.

"Don't go doing that all the time Shawn. She'll get used to it and expect you to do it all the time," Lauren said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shawn stood awkwardly after placing the suitcase beside him, acknowledging Lauren's comment subtly. Diana let out a slight chuckle, making her way over Lauren. Stark sat at Lauren's feet, growling at Diana. That surprised Shawn.

"Oh, come on, Lauren. There's no need to be rude with guests around," Diana said, ignoring Stark's usual behaviour.

Lauren let out a small laugh, whilst Shawn spoke up before Lauren could. He knew that something smart was going to escape her lips, and he beat her with replying to Diana.

"She's been nothing than sweet and caring, Mrs Adams. You can trust me on that," Shawn smiled.

"And you can't trust Diana Adams with anything," Lauren retorted.

"There's no need for the attitude, Lauren-Lee

"And there's no need for leaving your family behind for over a week without any explanation on where you're going."

Diana's eyebrows furrowed. "I told your father where I was going before I left."

"Uh, no you didn't Diana," Daniel interrupted.

He pushed the fly wire door open as he made his way out of the house. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Diana never told him anything. All eyes flew to Daniel, who stood beside his daughter. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he had a slightly angered expression.

"Okay, well. I flew up to Melbourne for work because the CEO's up there had a business conference meeting that I had to attend. Then Andrew called me, telling me he was in the country, and that he wanted to meet up to discuss some things," Diana explained, crossing her arms.

Both Shawn and Lauren's eyes narrowed at the blonde, confusion lacing their current facial expression. Since when was Andrew in the country? Or was she talking about another Andrew?

"What do you mean "Andrew"?" Lauren asked.

"Andrew Gertler? Shawn's manager," Diana replied, looking between the two teenagers.

Both Shawn and Lauren's eyes flickered to one another, confused glances being exchanged. Diana noticed, and she realised that they didn't understand what she meant. They had no idea. Andrew hadn't told them a thing.

"Wait? You guys don't know? You had no idea that Andrew was in the country?"

"No, we didn't," Shawn replied.

"Well, I had to keep an eye on you kids somehow," another voice said.

Both pairs of eyes, the blue and the brown, snapped over to the figure walking around into the garage from the front veranda. There, stood Andrew in all his glory, a pair of jeans and a nice shirt on, with his suitcase in his hand.

"I guess that answers our question of where Andrew was," Lauren mumbled.

"Andrew? What are you doing here?" Shawn asked.

A large grin was tugging at the brunette's face, as he walked over and hugged his manager. Lauren smiled in admiration at the sight. The love Shawn had for Andrew, and vice versa, was like no other. They were like father and son.

"Had to come visit my favourite guitarist whilst I was in her country," Andrew replied, smiling over at Lauren.

Shawn's face had dropped completely at what Andrew had said, and laughter surrounded the garage. The strawberry blonde embraced the brunette with a tight hug, a smile on the blonde's face.

"Hey Andy," Lauren greeted.

"Hey Laur."

Shawn narrowed his eyes at Andrew playfully. "All these years and - You - You know, I'm starting to question whether you hired all these back up guitarists because you think they're better than me, or because you actually need them."

"Oh. I know they're better than you, Shawn."

[EDITED AS OF: 18.1.18]