"You've got to be kidding me." Nate remarked, setting down a platter of empty dishes at the diner. There was one person who wasn't too keen on the idea of finding Shawn.
"Nate, please." I attempted to bargain. "I know this isn't exactly what you want-"
"This is exactly what I don't want." Nate stated. "Y/N, he ruined your life. And yet you're willing to risk everything to save him."
"I thought he was dead. Because of me."
"That officer was acting in his own self-defense!" He whispered, washing the dishes by the kitchen sink. "It wasn't your fault."
I grabbed his arm, blocking his path back to the tables.
"It was my fault. You know how many people came up to me and called me a hero? I'm not a hero. I'm the villain, because I let them hurt him at his most vulnerable point."
"Hey, stop that. You could only do so much." Nate said, suddenly realizing what he said. "Damn it! Now I'm agreeing with you!"
"Nate, you're not a spiteful person." I told him. "Help me find him."
"Ally won't let me." He argued, making his way to a table.
"So? It's not like you guys are married or something."
Nate stopped in his tracks, frozen.
"Oh my god." I screamed. "Are you-?
"No, not yet, no." Nate revealed. "We just got promise rings."
"Wow, wonder where you got that idea from."
"Hey, at least we aren't going to some old church and reciting vows!" Nate shot back.
"Does Dinah know?"
"Not even our parents know. My mom doesn't even know I applied to Fredricksen."
Nate's dream school was Fredricksen, which also happened to be Mulligan's rival school. He wanted to become either an incredible doctor, or a musician who finally figures out how to march timpani drums. Whichever comes first.
"You should tell her about the Ally thing and Fredricksen." I said, hugging him for a split second. "She'll understand."
"Yeah... Hey, Y/N? How are you going to convince your mom to let you go after Shawn?"
"I don't know."
"Great plan."
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Lauren!" I yelled into my phone. "Pick up!"
A voice that wasn't Lauren's answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Lucy." I replied. "I need to talk to Lauren for a second, is that alright?"
Lucy and Lauren- where do I start? Lauren and Lucy have been in a band with their parents since as long as I could remember. they both did marching band, they both sang incredibly, and they both struggled coming to terms with their sexuality. They were two peas in a pod, best friends. I don't know what happened, but now they've been dating for a while. Lauren has never been happier, and that makes me happy. Perhaps Lauren finally found her "lobster", as Phoebe from Friends would say.
"Sure! One sec, she's making rice."
After a few seconds, Lauren's raspy voice was heard.
"Hey, Y/N. What's up?"
"Lauren, I need you to help me. I'm forming a search party."
"Oh, sounds cool."
"It's for Shawn."
A silence was heard over the line.
"I thought he was dead." She spoke to me through gritted teeth.
"H-He's not." I stuttered. "They didn't find his body in the water."
"So you wanna find him?"
"Yeah. Look, Lauren, you don't have to."
"I just need some time to think about it, okay?"
"Uh, yeah, sure. Okay."
"Bye, Y/N." Lauren said, hanging up the phone.
Camila entered the room, holding something behind her back.
"You're hiding something." I pointed out, turning my head towards her.
"How did you know?" Camila asked, giggling.
"Because you're shit at secrets." I laughed, getting up and embracing her. "Hey, baby? Remember when you used to play the clarinet?"
"STOP!" Camila yelled, playfully hitting me on the shoulder. "That was a long time ago!"
"You were so cute in middle school." I told her, caressing her cheek. Camila began to lean in while my hand extended all the way to the small of her back, snatching the surprise behind it.
"HA!" I shouted, opening the envelope. "I've got you now... a napkin?"
"Yes. A Napkin." Camila deadpanned. "What kind of napkin is it, genius?"
"It's red. A red napkin."
"No shit, Sherlock. Smell it."
"Camila, are you trying to knock me unconscious?"
"SMELL IT, Y/N!"
I sniffed the napkin, like she said. It smelled like rice and curry puffs.
"This is a napkin from the Thai place in the neighboring town."
"I was wondering since you didn't have work tonight, and since I don't have work tonight- and since the Shawn thing has been stressing us out, would you like to go get some dinner?" Camila asked.
I captured her lips in mine, wrapping my arms around her.
"Does that answer your question?"
Camila nodded, smiling like an idiot. She's an idiot alright, but she's my idiot.
"Y/N!!!" I heard a loud knocking at the door, with an excessive doorbell ring.
"Uno momento, señora." I told Camila.
"Señora is only if you're married." Camila shot at me as I went to the door.
"And who said that isn't my intention?" I flirted, as I opened the door to a very wet Nate, standing there with a manila folder and his laptop.
"I ran here." He said out of breath, walking inside.
"Nate, we were-" Camila began.
"Yes, Camila, I know: You were about to take Y/N out for dinner and then come back home to make out with her. But this is a little more important."
"What is this about?" I asked him.
"Well, if we're going to find Shawn-"
"WE?! I thought you wanted no part in this."
"Oh, I did." He stated, putting his things down on the dining room table. "But, I thought I should do a little research, just to make sure you weren't getting yourself killed. So, I did. And now I'm a part of it."
"Where is he?" Camila asked.
"There were three locations he could've been: Joplin, Missouri, Death Valley, or Miami. I deduced it was Miami after Sebastian was arrested for an illegal plane ticket he purchased-"
"Sebastian got arrested?" I knew he was a bad cop, but I didn't think he would ever get caught.
"Yeah, and he burned the receipt. Luckily, there's easy ways to hack into emails for digital receipts. Shawn's in Miami."
"But what is he doing there?"
"He has a job, and a new alias."
"Doing what?" Camila asked.
"He's working for an international drug cartel. But the thing is, I don't think he knows he's working for an international drug cartel."
Nate pulled out his laptop to show us a diagram.
"Shawn didn't fall head first, right?"
"Yeah, but why is that so important?"
"He clearly fell, but not in a position where he could damage his frontal lobes."
"Meaning," Camila stepped in. "He was in a position where he could damage his hippocampus, altering his memory and forgetting- well, a lot."
"This makes no sense." I confessed, shaking my head. "We're just going to go to Miami and FIND HIM?! What if he doesn't want to be found?"
The room fell silent.
"What if that's it? He wants to run away from us." I remarked. "We've ruined enough for him. Maybe this is what he wants."
"Y/N, that's enough." Camila came up to me.
"We called the police on him! He was just scared!" I argued.
"Fine! If you won't go, I will!"
"Are you kidding? I'm not letting you go off to uncover a drug cartel-"
"You don't own me!"
"I can't let you do this." I fathomed to say, as tears were falling out of my eyes. "What if we get caught? Huh? There goes my full ride to Mulligan. There goes my life. I'll end up going to some stupid school in the city. I'll end up going from a drum major to a pep band conductor of barely 12. My life is you, Camila. I want to spend the rest of my life- with you. You make me feel whole, you make me bare silence- and it isn't even against my will! Before you, I would hate silence. I'm not asking for you to fly me to the fucking moon, I'm asking you to use that Camila Cabello logic that helped us get out of trouble last time. If I lose you, I lose a part of me. The better part. Please, don't do this."
Nate grabbed his laptop and folder, shuffling amongst the floorboards.
"I take it you guys need some time alone." Nate announced. "See you tomorrow for the Scout Retreat, Y/N."
As we heard the door shut, the two of us didn't know what to say.
"Baby, is that what this is about?" Camila asked. "Are you scared?"
"How can I not be scared? No offense, but I don't have the resources you do."
"Baby, we'll be okay. We're doing the right thing."
"We aren't heroes." I told her bluntly.
"No, far from it." Camila confessed. "But, we can be."
"We don't have a plan."
"Did our plan work out last time?"
"It took a long time, but sort of."
"Then trust me." Camila said, stroking my arm. "Hey. I love you."
"I- I love you too." I said back. "Okay, but there has to be a way that this can work."
"Work?"
"Camila, you may be rich, but plane tickets cost money. And hotels."
"...Let's become cops."