This Summer (DMBB Spin-off)

Chapter 11: A Royal Fuck Up

He looked away, resting his palms on the dresser.

I walked over to him. "Shawn, look at me."

He ran his palm over his face in frustration and sighed. "I...I don't know what to tell you Michaels."

I scoffed and sat down on the bed again, shaking my head.

"Don't do that," he said.

"Do what?" I snapped.

"Don't end the conversation by shutting me out," he explained.

I rolled my eyes. "That's rich coming from you."

"You want to know what's going on with Shayley, talk to Shayley," he said in exasperation. "Whatever you think I know, I don't."

"Unbelievable," I muttered, before storming out.

I shut the door behind me and wiped my face. I waited for a couple of seconds, but it didn't look like he was coming after me.

You want to know what's going on with Shayley, talk to Shayley.

I wiped the tears off my face and shook off the argument I just had with my boyfriend. I made my way to the room where Shayley was sleeping. She'd been napping the whole day and I'll admit, that made me nervous.

I opened the door and walked in, forcing a smile.

"Hello?" she chuckled.

"Oh good, you're awake. That was a long ass nap you took," I joked. "I was beginning to think you were dead."

That was the stupidest joke I could ever think of making.

"I was tired," she shrugged.

Sure, let's go with that.

I was about to ask if she was okay, but she beat me to it.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" she frowned.

I played it cool. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Khalan, I may have been M.I.A. for a long time but I'm still your best friend. I still know you like that."

I smiled. At least she still had her sass.

I shook my head. "Nothing, I promise. Let's go downstairs."

I would have liked to steer the conversation in the direction I intended to at first, but I didn't want to make her feel like she was causing problems for Shawn and I. She was probably already dealing with other things.

She didn't object to my surprise and followed me downstairs. I noticed the way Jacob looked at her and fought to keep the oncoming smirk off my face.

My brother was absolutely broken by the way she broke things off, I hadn't forgotten. But he had moved on, and if she wanted to she could too. If only she wasn't so stubborn and saw that Jacob was such a nice guy.

My eyes met Shawn's briefly and just like that I was sad again. I hated arguing with him, but I couldn't just sit there and watch someone I cared about throw their life away, with him keeping it a secret because of whatever guilty conscience he may have.

Jessica read my expression and opened her arms to receive me. I walked into her embrace and sighed.

"Guessing your little chat with Shawn didn't go well?" she chuckled.

"Not one bit," I muttered.

I watched as Shayley yanked him by the arm to talk to him.

I felt an arm around my shoulder and saw it was Austin.