Face The Past

Chapter 4

5 years ago...

A few days passed by since the first day of school and since I met Shawn for the first time.

I wouldn't say that I'm in love with him but I feel like there's definitely something between us but I have some bigger problems in my family at the moment ...

"Brook." Elena says and hands me a cup of hot chocolate and sits down next to me on her bed.

I slowly turn my head from the window towards Elena and take a nip of the hot chocolate.

"Please stop crying... I hate seeing you like that..." she says worried and looks into my red and puffy eyes.

"It's just... I can't stand the idea of my parents getting divorced..." I stutter quietly with a crying and broken voice.

"I know but I'm sure they won't get divorced... What happened exactly?" she asks and I try to hide my tears.

"I heard my dad telling my mom that he cheated on her... And my mom was so mad at him and cried and she was so furious..." I answer and cover my head in my hands.

"ou... But this was her first reaction.... I'm sure they'll figure this out." Elena answers and tries to give me a smile but it's not easy for her either.

She and Jess hang out at my place since we were kids so mum and dad are basically some kind of parents for them since their parents often are on business trips for weeks...

"Where's Jess?" I ask after a few moments and look at Elena.

"Soccer." she answers and takes my empty cup of chocolate out of my hand.

"We'll watch a movie now so you can think of something else than the argument of your parents." She says and takes her laptop and chooses a movie.

-

I slowly open the front door and enter the house.

"I still don't get how you could possibly do that?! We have a family! And you have nothing else to do than cheating on me with the next best woman in your office?!" My mom yells so I try to be as quiet as I can.

"You know that we had lots of trouble the past few months and you weren't the best wife either! Or did you already forget about the kiss with your boss two months ago?" dad asks loudly and I slowly take a step closer to the living room where they are fighting.

"You know that I was sorry about it!" Mum answers with a crying voice so I look around the corner and see mum, leaning onto the kitchen counter with her one hand and wiping a tear away with the other.

"And you know that I'm also sorry..." dad says with a deep voice.

"You're not. And we both know that." "Zoey, you know that's not true!" Dad answers and his voice gets louder.

They keep on fighting so I turn around and run out of the house again.

I can't stand the idea of my parents getting divorced.

I walk through the darkness of the night without really knowing where I'm going.

This whole family drama is too much... My parents spent the past few months fighting, crying and acting like everything's perfect in front of my sister and me.

I walk to a special place where my family and I used to come every Sunday afternoon, chilling and playing games.

It was always so much fun...

"Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now..."

Someone sings and plays on the guitar but I can't see anybody around here.

There's only a tree and fields.

"Brook?" a deep voice asks so I look up and see shawn sitting on the tree.

"Oh... Hey..." I answer quietly and sadly and wipe a tear away.

He reaches one hand out so I take it to climb on the tree and sit down next to him.

"What's up? You're sad, aren't you?" He asks and places his guitar carefully behind him so it doesn't fall down.

"it's nothing..." I answer and look down to the ground.

"Nothing huh? You're walking around alone in the night at 9pm, crying and you're telling me that it's nothing? I don't believe you, seriously." Shawn answers and looks at me worried.

"It's just... I have some family problems..." I answer sadly and still look down to the ground.

I don't want him to know about it... At least not at this point of time...

"You really don't have to tell me about it I mean we only know each other for a few weeks but if you ever need somebody to talk to, I'm here for you." He answers and places his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you... I really appreciate this." I answer and give him a little smile.

"And you smile again! Looks like I did my job, didn't I?" Shawn asks with a smile on his lips that make my heart beat faster.

"Looks like you did." I answer and glance at him.

"Can you sing something please?" I ask him after a few moments of silence so he nods and takes his guitar before he starts singing so beautifully...

I lay my head on his shoulders after a while and close my eyes. His angelic voice is so calming...

-

"Are you still awake?" Shawn asks after a while so I open my eyes and look straight into his.

"I am. Your voice is so beautiful... You need to get famous some day..." I say and still stare at him while he starts laughing.

"I'm serious!" I say and look at him very seriously and confused.

"You really never heard of me, did you?" He asks, still laughing but now looking into my eyes.

His warm brown eyes look even more beautiful when he's laughing...

I slowly shake my head in total confusion.

"I have an album and I'm going on a world tour next summer." He explains and my eyes grow bigger and bigger with every word he says.

He takes his phone out and shows me his Instagram and his album on spotify to prove me he's not lying.

"Holy..." I stutter shocked and switch between looking at him and on his phone.

He starts playing 'Stitches' on his guitar and then it hits me all of a sudden.

"I know this song! Is this yours?" I ask so he nods and laughs.

"I never knew it was you... But I love this song. Seriously, when I heard it for the first time I had it on repeat but I never knew the singer..." I say and stare at him.

"That's why all the girls in our class freaked out when you entered the room on the first day of school, right?" I ask so he nods.

"Probably."

"That's so crazy... Seriously..." I say still shocked and confused.

"I hope this doesn't change anything between us." "It doesn't. I promise." I answer and smile.

"Good. I guess we should go home, your parents must be worried. It's 11pm." Shawn says and takes his guitar.

"I don't think so... But my house is too far away to walk all the way back home... Can I maybe stay over at your place? We don't even have school tomorrow so it doesn't matter." "Sure your parents aren't mad?"

"I'm sure and don't really care if they are or not." I answer and jump down from the tree.

"wow... That has to be a big family issue ..." He says concerned and also jumps down before we walk to his home.