THE SLOPES | shawmila

nine.

"What do you mean again?"

"It's just, I spent three years of high school practically in love with her, and now I just feel like I'm being sucked back in... back into being tortured every time she looks at me..."

"Aww!" Marlene sighed. "You should tell her that! Well, not the torture part..."

"No, way!" Shawn ruffled the back of his hair, feeling it mostly dried now. "I already kinda let something slip, and it doesn't even matter. She still says I'm forbidden."

"I still don't get why? Something about your sisters? Honestly, why should some kids get to tell you what to do with your life?"

"Exactly!" Shawn downed the rest of the drink, knowing he was going to be stumbling home, but not caring.

Marlene pouted at him with an overabundance of sympathy, tilting her head in a way that reminded him of a dog, but not in a bad way. She reminded him of one of those fluffy poodle dogs that people put a million bows on. Shawn also noticed she touched her hair a lot in person too, and it wasn't just a character thing.

"Honestly, I swear I never meant to bug you with this..."

"It's not a bother." She assured him. "I really do want to help. I was going through a lot last week, so I figured I'd come up here and let that mountain air clear my head, but it's much easier helping you guys than worrying about my own problem."

"What exactly is your problem?" Shawn asked, sitting up slightly.

"Let's just say... I know the pain of an unrequited situation." She smiled in a way that Shawn knew meant not to ask anymore questions. He didn't think he was in a position to help anyways.

He let his mind wander again, his eyes drawn to the window where the snow was falling again. His mind, slowly drunker, was making him remember just before it all went wrong.

When it was perfect and good, when it was hot and steamy with her arms around his shoulders and her breath on his skin, her body shaking at his touch. He didn't regret it, even if the aftermath broke his heart.

"Hey, I know what will cheer you up!" Marlene got off the bed, Attila lifting her head from the floor and watching as grabbed her laptop from the desk. "I just finished editing our song from last night. Do you wanna see it before I post it?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." He put the empty bottle on her nightstand. "Sure, let me see."

He had to admit that Marlene's overly sweet voice was growing on him, and they did sound great together. She posted it, letting it upload as they worked on something else.

It was dark by the time Shawn walked back to the cabin from Marlene's. She offered to walk him back, but he declined. He was getting into that weird emotional state of tipsy, and he didn't want to cry around her.

Singing together had made things a bit better, they had fun and sounded great, but now he was just thinking about Camila again.

She once told him she could only sort of sing, but he knew she had to have been being humble. If she called it only sort of dancing when she looked amazing, then her voice was probably amazing too. He had a weird thought, asking her to sing with him.

He got lost in those thoughts, imagining a perfect world where there were no hang-ups. He could just kiss her and hold her and tell her how he felt and that he wanted her—that he always wanted her. She would laugh in her cute way and wouldn't pull back. He wanted those moments where she flirted with him all the time.

He remembered going into her room last night to get her phone charger. He'd been so tempted to reached down and cover her over with another blanket, but he knew then the want to kiss her forehead would be too much. He was glad he didn't do anything now that he knew she'd actually been awake. Well, he had stood there for a moment and watched her.