"Hey, uh...I know this is like, super personal...and feel free to just not answer if you don't want to—but...why did you guys break up? I mean you guys were together for so long...what was the final straw?" he asked curiously as he sat down next to her. Camila stared at her hands in her lap as she took a deep breath in an attempt to gain the confidence to finally just spit it out. She sat there in complete silence just trying to work up the courage to say it. "I'm sorry...that's not my business—I shouldn't have asked," Shawn said apologetically.
"No worries." Camila smiled softly at him. She wanted so badly to tell him that she was pregnant, but she couldn't. Maybe it was because the only other person who knew about the baby ran out on her the second she told him—maybe she worried Shawn would react similarly. I mean he'd really have no reason to considering he's not the father, but still. The only other friends she had were because she was Zachary's girlfriend. Now that they had broken up, those friends weren't necessarily talking to her anymore. Outside of her parents and sister, a Shawn was all she had left. Suddenly the anxiety got worse. She hadn't told her parents or sister yet. She knew her sister wouldn't care, but having a child on her own before she was married...she wasn't sure how her parents would react to that but she figured it wouldn't be good.
"Hey...you ok?" Shawn asked, bringing Camila out of her thoughts. "You seemed kind of spaced out there for a minute."
"Oh, yeah...sorry. I just...have a lot on my mind I guess." Camila looked back down at her hands resting in her lap as they sat in silence. Shawn, on the other hand, never took his eyes off of her.
"Can, um...can I hug you?" he asked shyly. His request caught Camila off guard, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't in desperate need of a hug—so she nodded as his strong arms wrapped around her. As soon as she relaxed into the hug she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She started crying into his chest and he let her, his hand slowly and gently rubbing her back to soothe her. "Hey, it's okay..." he cooed as she broke down in his arms. "Everything will be okay."
"You don't know that," she replied through her tears. He sighed and hugged her tighter.
"You're right. I don't know...anything, really. But what I do know is that I'm right here if you ever need someone to talk to...or, ya know...a shoulder to cry on." They both chuckled at the last part considering that was quite literally what she was doing in that moment.
"I guess there's just a lot on my plate right now and it's kind of...overwhelming," Camila sighed as she pulled away from the hug.
"Life can be that way sometimes. On the bright side, your book is done! I mean that's one more thing off of your plate, right?"
"That's true..." Camila smiled.
"Do you have a publisher you work with? Or are you self-publishing?" he asked curiously. "Sorry I ask so many questions, it's just that your job is really interesting to me."
"I'm self-publishing this one, but hopefully it'll gain enough traction to get the attention of some big publishers so they'll offer me a deal for my next collection. I'd love to work with an actual publisher."
"That's kind of where I'm at with music right now," he sighed. "Right now I'm fully an independent artist. I've been releasing my stuff on Spotify and Apple Music, but I'm still waiting for that perfect song that grabs the attention of record labels."
"You'll have to send me a link to some of your music. I mean, it's only fair considering you get to read my poetry early."
"You're right," he chuckled. "I will." They sat in silence for a few seconds before Camila exhaled heavily and looked over at Shawn.
"Well, um...I should probably head back downstairs," she said with a shrug.
"Yeah, me too." Shawn stood up first, holding his hand out to help Camila up off of the cement. They made their way over to the ladder that led down to their floor of the apartment building. Shawn climbed down first, and once he hopped off the ladder Camila began her descent. As she was climbing down, Shawn noticed what looked like a small picture fall out of her pocket—landing face down on the floor below her. Without thinking twice, Shawn bent down and picked it up as Camila stepped off of the ladder and found her footing on the floor. "Here, you dropped this—" Shawn held the picture out to Camila, flipping it over as he did so. His eyes widened when he saw that it wasn't just any picture, but an ultrasound. Camila's eyes filled with panic as she snatched the picture away from him and shoved it back into her pocket. Shawn was too shocked to say anything, so instead he just stood there with his eyes wide and mouth agape.
"I...I have to go," Camila said with a shaky voice as she hurried off toward her apartment.
"Wait!" Shawn called out as he turned toward her. "Camila...Camila come back—" Before he could say anything else she had shut herself in her apartment and locked the door. He let out a sigh of defeat as he stared at the closed door to her apartment, wishing he could be on the other side of it wrapping her up in his arms. Instead, he stepped into his own apartment and grabbed a scrap piece of paper and a pen, writing her a note and slipping it under her door. Camila was standing on the other side of her door as tears streamed down her cheeks when she saw the little piece of paper come out from under it. She hesitated for a moment before reaching down and picking it up.
I meant it. If you ever need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on—I'm right here.
- S