Fractured [SHAWN MENDES]

~40~

Shawn got them each a fresh cup of tea, which reminded him of the two nights he'd shared the story about his crime. That was when he started to fall for Taryn, and now they were in love. So much had changed in such a short time, yet there was still a lot he didn't know about her. He was glad she was finally opening up.

He handed her a mug. "You dropped out of high school and ran away to another country? Weren't you stopped going into the United States?"

"I had a passport since Richie had taken us to Disney World for my sixteenth birthday, which, by the way, my mom used against me as an example of what a loving stepdad he was. I forged the consent form that was needed at the border, and no one questioned it. We drove to New York City and crashed at her sister's apartment, sharing a pull-out sofa. Both of us waited tables to help contribute to the rent and buy food, but after a few months my friend got a boyfriend and started sleeping at his place all the time. Her sister let me stay, but I knew it was because she couldn't toss a minor out onto the streets."

"Jesus. Did anyone back home know where you were?" he asked.

"No. I left my phone behind so that I couldn't be tracked and bought a burner off some guy selling them on a street corner."

"I'm disgusted by how your mom handled the thing with your stepdad, but she must have been so worried about you."

"I hated her at that point, so I didn't care," Taryn said flatly.

Shawn couldn't imagine Patricia and Taryn being anything other than a loving mother and daughter.

She continued, "A couple more months passed. My boss at the restaurant was being audited by immigration, and he needed to see my work visa. I didn't have one, so he fired me. My friend's sister told me in the kindest way possible that it was time for me to go back to Canada. I didn't have enough cash for a plane or bus ticket, so I sucked it up and called my mom."

"Wow. She must have been so happy to hear your voice," he said.

"That call was pretty crazy. She was hysterically crying out of relief, and then she kept saying that she had to tell me something when I got home. Within twenty-four hours I found myself back in Toronto being picked up at the airport by my mother. Richie was strangely absent."

"Thank god," Shawn muttered.

"She took me to a different apartment, so I knew right away that they'd split up. I was relieved, of course, but I was also anxious about the reason."

He took a drink of tea. "I'm guessing she realized you were serious about him being a sick fuck since it caused you to run away."

"I wish that were the case," she replied sadly. "This is where things get bad. Are you sure you want me to continue?"

He didn't hesitate, because he needed to hear it all. "Yes."

Taryn took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "After I ran away, my mom went through my room looking for anything that might indicate where I'd gone. At first, she was just looking through my desk and drawers, but then she got frantic and started pulling things off the bookshelves. That's when she found it."

He was pretty sure his heart stopped for a second or two. "Found what?"

"There was a tiny camera hidden inside a ceramic unicorn Richie bought me for my fourteenth birthday. It had two lenses. One pointed towards my closet where I used to get dressed, and the other was directed at my bed. The cameras fed to Richie's secret computer, which my mom discovered that same day. He had hours and hours of footage of me saved, mostly of me naked when I was changing. Some of the videos were of me on my bed while I..." her voice trailed of and she looked down at the floor.