Silent in the Trees (Shawn Mendes Fanfiction)

Part 4

I watch quietly as Shawn skins the fish we caught this morning. His nimble hands hold the knife firmly as the blade slices from the gills to the tail. He removes the head, tossing it in a pail that will later be dumped into the fire so it doesn't attract wild animals. He opens the fish, removed the guts and cuts the remaining flesh into fillets. He does that with each fish and then I lay the mean in the pot to hang over the fire.

We put in a rod over the fire that is held up by some sticks. On it is a hook that we can hook pots onto to cook our meals. I hang the pot over the fire to start cooking it and poke the fire to make it grow.

Shawn and I rinse our hands in the small pail of fresh water and sit by the fire to keep an eye on the food. Y/s/n and y/f/n had gone down to the river to clean up leaving just Shawn and I at the house.

"So," I begin tentatively. There had been obvious tension between the two of us since his confession earlier in the day. I'm not sure exactly why. We had always been close and cared about one another but for some reason it felt like Shawn's confession meant something more. "About what you said earlier."

"Yea." Shawn shrugs as if it's no big deal.

"What did it mean?" I ask.

Shawn's eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "I don't understand what you're asking."

"It just felt like," I pause, looking over at Shawn. He's look at me with a confused look on his face. He looks adorable. I shake my head. "Never mind. It was probably me just misreading things."

"If there's something wrong I want you to tell me." He places a hand on my thigh and gently runs circles with his thumb on the skin exposed from my shorts.

"There's nothing wrong," I assure Shawn. "Maybe it's just me but it felt like there was something more to your confession earlier."

"Like what?" Shawn says quietly. His voice is deep and sends shivers down my spine. His face moves closer to mine and I can feel his hot breath on my lips.

"I don't know." I stutter out, distracted by Shawn's movements. His hand glides up my thigh, his palm still on my thigh but his fingers clutching my waist.

Millimeter by millimeter his face moves closer to mine. It seems like an eternity goes by. I'm dying to taste Shawn's lips on mine. His touch is sending waves of warmth and electricity through my body and I'm sure he can feel it too. I skim my hand over his bicep and tangle them in the back of his hair.

"Is dinner almost ready?" Y/f/n calls out as she steps into the clearing, y/s/n following closely behind. Their hair is dripping wet and they have a towel in hand that they are using to towel dry their hair.

Shawn and I spring apart. Neither of them seem to have noticed our closeness. Frankly they seem to be completely ignorant of the intimate moment they just interrupted between Shawn and I. I go back to poking at the fire and Shawn moves to clean up the table where he skinned the fish.

Dinner was amazing. The fish Shawn and I caught were delicious and the berries I had gathered were sweet and fresh. We dumped the leftover food in the fire to burn so we didn't have any wild guests dining at our home tonight. Y/s/n and y/f/n washed the dishes in the pail of fresh water they brought back from the river with them earlier.

I am busy putting out the fire when I notice Shawn dawdling out at the edge of the clearing. There was a small dropoff in the northeast corner that you could sit out on the edge and watch the sunset and that's exactly what Shawn was doing. Once the fire's out I walk towards him but stop just feet away from his figure in the dim light.

Did he want to be alone? I began to wonder. Should I bother him? Would he even want me there? Maybe he just needed some alone time and was trying to clear his head.

Without even turning around to see me, Shawn speaks. "Are you just going to stand there."

I chuckle lightly as I walk alongside his tall frame. He stands at least five or six inches taller than me. He wraps an arm around my waist and looks down at me with a smile. I shyly return it and he leans down to press his lips against the top of my head. I can feel y/f/n and y/s/n watching us from the camp. They have to have been able to detect the tension between Shawn and I by now.

"I'm going to head to bed. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Shawn tells me. He releases me from his grip and takes a step back. I turn back to look at him and he takes a few steps backwards, not breaking our eye contact before spinning on his heals and heading inside.

I watch the sun until it sinks down below the horizon and then follow the dim light back to the house. Y/s/n and y/f/n are waiting outside and they immediately bombard me with questions about Shawn. They ask me what is going on between the two of us and I shrug and give them an honest answer.

"I don't know."

I slip inside the house, ignoring any more questions about Shawn and I. I hurry up the ladder. Shawn is already in bed. His bare back is turned towards me and I can't tell if he's still awake or not. The blankets are set low on his hips, exposing his muscular back. I slip out if my shorts and pull on a pair of athletic shorts and a sports bra before climbing in next to Shawn.

He doesn't move as I get into bed. He stays with his back to me. Eventually I give up on the idea of him turning over and talking to me and close my eyes and slowly drift off to sleep.