I was at Shawn's apartment, laying on the living room sofa on my own. Why?
Because I had been replaced by a cat.
Shawn had decided to bring his beloved cat, Jasmine, to our apartment. She had fallen asleep on our bed and Shawn insisted that he would rest with her. Jasmine had been more of a therapy pet, as when Shawn was away he would take her with him, as I couldn't come most of the time. When he was stressed or down, he would play with Jasmine. She reminded him of home, and it really helped him mentally having her around with him.
"Y/N" Shawn says, kissing my cheek.
"I'm not talking to you." I joke.
"Why not?"
"You replaced me with a cat!" I giggle.
"Well Jasmine needs to eat now, so I'm gonna wake her up so you can have your space back." He laughs, filling Jasmine's cat bowl with cat food.
"Thank you Shawn, but its okay. Let her rest. She's getting old now." I say seriously. Jasmine was 19 years old, so Shawn was spending more time with her.
"Wake up honey, time for food." I hear Shawn say in a baby - like voice, making me smile. "Wake up, come on. I bought you treats."
Realisation floods through me - Jasmine had passed away.
"Shawn" I stand beside him, stroking Jasmine. I was looking for a pulse but didn't find anything.
"Y/N I think she's really tired. I'll get her food later." Shawn says, going into the kitchen.
Shawn hadn't realised. She was asleep for 15 hours - poor thing probably passed away hours ago.
I sit up on the sofa, leaning on the armrest.
"Shawn come here. You look tired." I lie, just so I could tell him when he's comfortably laying down.
"Yeah I didn't sleep well as Jasmine slept in the same position."
I take a deep breath, trying to be strong for Shawn as I knew how much this news would affect him.
"Lay here." I usher for him to lay between my legs, head on my chest. I begin stroking his hair.
"I hope Jasmine wakes up soon, I got her some new toys." He smiles, digging his head into my chest.
"Shawn... well the thing is... I..." Pausing for a second, I take a breath and continue. "When she wasn't waking up, I checked for a pulse and... she's an angel now." I almost sob, but keep myself under control for Shawn.
"W... what?" He looks me in the eye and tears were already falling down his face. He then lets out a heartbreaking sob before he completely lost it.
I wrap my arms around him tighter than I have ever done. Each time I thought he was calm, he began crying harder.
I let him cry as he loved Jasmine, so telling him to calm down wouldn't be a good idea.
"Deep breaths, in and out." I say as his breathing became irregular.
"Sh... she's gone!" He sobs, digging his nails into his palms.
"Hey don't do than you're gonna hurt yourself." I pull his fingers away from his palms, which were now bleeding slightly. "Look at me honey." I cup his cheeks, stroking them.
"I want her back, she was my... everything... when I was playing MSG, when I wrote Hold On, and..." he stops for a second, letting a sob escape his mouth. I kiss the top of his head, before he continues. "...she... she knew I was stressed out she knew it, so she lay n... next to me and k... kept me calm..." he explains, holding my hand for comfort.
"I know it's gonna be hard baby I know, but she was old and in pain. She's in a better place, please don't get too upset." I try to comfort him, but it was like nothing I said was going to make a difference. He wasn't going to get his cat back, and he knew it.
So, I held him tight. His body weight was crushing me, but I didn't care. I held him and let him cry for what felt like an eternity. My fingers got lost in his now messy hair, the warmth and wetness from his flushed, tear stained cheeks pressed against my chest, sadness consuming his heart.
"I have an idea... come on." He gives me a weird look, before following me to the bedroom.
"Y/N... I can't... she's not moving I can't..." he stops at the door, staying back.
"Honey." I take my arms around his neck, playing with the hairs at the back of his neck. "It's okay, this'll help you... come on."
I help Shawn lay beside Jasmine, and gently lift her into his arms, then lift Shawn's head into my lap.
"Hearing is the last sense to go, talk to her." I rub his shoulder comfortingly.
"Thank you so much Jasmine, for comforting me when I was in need of someone... I love you and sleep tight." He whispers into Jasmine's ear, just loud enough for me to hear. I kiss his forehead, letting him rest his head confortably on my lap.
"Now get to sleep yourself, hold her close to you." I say quietly, and he fell asleep, holding his beloved cat close to him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
