before you continue, if this is your first time reading this then you should know that I made a fanfic for it with characters and everything using this story plot, so if you like it you should go check it out! It's called "Love Letter".
I love you, Y/N.
He loves you.
He wrote this twenty years ago.
I hope that you can forgive me one day, even if that day is years and years from now, I will wait.
Out of all the paragraphs in this letter, that was the one that you read over and over and over, your eyes trained on the words, I will wait.
"Mom?" Your son calls from upstairs.
You quickly fold the paper back up and shove it in your back pocket, throwing everything else into the box and walking into the doorway.
"Yeah?" You say, sounding a little too shaky.
"Dad just finished loading the trailer, and he needs those boxes up now. Do you need me to get them?"
You take him in from head to toe, and notice that even at fifteen, he'd become unbelievable buff from all the weight-lifting and wrestling he's been doing. That means in the competition of strength, he won. Just like that.
"Sure, why not," You roll your eyes, watching as he walks past you and lifts the box with ease.
"I'll tell dad you'll meet him at the new house," He says as he approaches the top of the stairs.
"Actually," You blurt out, biting your lip as he turns to face you, waiting for the rest to come out. "Actually.. I have something to take care of first. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll be back in time to help unload and everything."
"Okay," He shrugs. "Must be important."
"Oh, just.. bills and stuff. Nothing to worry about."
He nods and grabs the box again, disappearing down the hall.
You run your fingers through your hair and sweat trickles on your forehead as you run out the sliding basement door, across the wet grass, up the hill, across the driveway, and into your car, all in one breath.
You pull out your phone and check the time, then carefully scroll through your phone until you find his name in your contacts. Multiple phone updates since then and you always made sure to keep his number. Not that you would use it, but it felt like betrayal of yourself deleting everything about him.
You click "unblock caller" and all of his information pops up on the screen. His address was there, but it must've changed since then.
You press your lips together and sigh heavily, scrolling back to the top and clicking on his number, raising the phone to your ear.
After three rings, you quickly pull away and hang up.
What were you even thinking? His number can't be the same as it was twenty years ago, and even if it was, what would you say?
But to your horror, you'd hung up too late. And now he was calling back.
You panic, staring at the screen with your entire body shaking.
It could not be him, it could be an old lady who has his new number. It could not be him.
You carefully click on the green button.
"H-hello?"
"Y/N? Is that you?"
You flinch at the sound of his voice. He sounds really nervous, and you realize you shouldn't be the nervous one. This was it. This was him. He waited twenty years for this.
"Yeah, it's me. It's Y/N. I - um, I found this.. letter.. in this box full of a bunch of things from high school that I kept, and it was from you. This is Shawn, right? Shawn Mendes?"
"Yes," He says, "It's so weird hearing your voice, I never thought.. I never thought I would hear it again."
"I know," You laugh lightly. "To be honest, I didn't know I would ever call again."
"Oh, crap. Yeah. Why did you? Oh right, the letter. You found it?"
You gulp. "Yeah, and, I thought it was really beautiful. And I want to talk about it, but, I don't know. Not on the phone, I mean."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'm at home right now. 502 North Houston Drive, if you want to come over maybe?"
"Shawn, I don't know. I do want to, but I would feel awful doing it. I'm married now, and -"
"Y/N, me too. We'll just talk, as friends, okay?" He says. You were surprised to hear that he was married judging from that letter. Maybe he finally moved on.
"Okay. As friends," You manage.
"Great. So.. see you in ten then?"
"Sounds good," You say, hanging up.
You try to remember the address and back out of the driveway, your eyes stinging all the way to his house. It was too painful to think about anything that happened, and marrying Daniel was a brand new start, a future you then had so you could forget everything in the past.
But you couldn't ignore it forever. Because now you have to talk about it.
Shawn got you pregnant when you were in eleventh grade, and you freaked out and didn't tell him until you already had the miscarriage three-weeks in.
When Shawn found out, he didn't believe you, arguing that the two of you only did it once and you definitely used protection. But you showed him an ultrasound picture, and he immediately broke up with you, sure that it wasn't his, that you had cheated.
It was three months later that Shawn finally apologized, saying that he believes you, and he wants to fix things. But you were furious that he would just assume that you were lying without a second thought, so, you left.
He had never told you he loved you before that letter.
By the time you arrive at his front door, you were a nervous wreck. You wipe your eyes and ring the doorbell, and it swung open a moment later.
"Shawn?" You squeak.
"Y/N."
He hardly looked any different, but seeing him after so long was really strange. And you almost missed him a little bit.
"C-c'mon in," He stutters, opening the door wider. You squeeze past him and look around the place before he tells you to make yourself comfortable, and so you ease into a love seat by the window.
He sits on the couch across from you, crossing his legs.
"So, how are you? How have you been?" He asks, concerned.
"I've been okay. I have a husband and two kids now. What about you? Where's your wife?"
"She's.. um.. " He sighs and shuts his eyes. "We got divorced six years ago."
You blink twice and gasp. "I'm so sorry," You say.
"It wasn't love. It wasn't what you have."
"I don't know what I have anymore," You say quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"Leaving you was a big mistake. Like, I was mad, and young, and stupid. And I thought we were never going to work out anyways, but, I don't know, if I'd found that letter sooner, maybe we would've. But it's all too late now."
"No it's not!" He says quickly, standing up and slowly sitting down right next to you, your eyes meeting as he grabs your temples.
"It's never too late, Y/N," He whispers, his face inches from yours.
"I can't just abandon everything I have," You say slowly, thinking of Daniel and what a divorce might do to your kids, and it's crazy that a divorce is even on the table. It's crazy that Shawn is this close to you. All of this is crazy.
"Do you love me, Y/N?"
You feel tears start to well up in your eyes as you look into his, noticing the seemingly unfathomable desperation in the two deep wells staring back at you.
You nod steadily. "Y-yes. Yes, I love you."
"Then I will be your family. I will fix everything. We'll figure this out, Y/N," He says, entwining his fingers in yours.
"Everything in that letter was true. I love you so much, Y/N."
"Then let's be a family," You say, just as he leans in and fits his mouth to yours, closing the gap between you.
When he pulls away, he smiles and says, "I'd like that."