TOGETHER | shawmila

eight.

Camila tried not to agonize over yet another thing, but with all her classmates suddenly talking about college, it was hard not to and those breathing exercises she and Shawn did only worked so well.

She'd always planned to pursue a creative arts degree for acting before hitting classes and auditions in a bigger city, but that just didn't seem as safe now. She'd have to have some kind of steady income for their son, and having a part-time job during college would be fine, but the instability of acting was just too scary to rely on.

She tried not to let it hurt, especially because she didn't want Shawn to have the same worries. It was different for him. She could live with letting acting go, but she couldn't live with letting Shawn give up photography. He was too amazing at it. She had to keep hyping him up to believe he'd be a professional, because he deserved to be.

Camila sat on her computer, her open application for community college still half-finished. She knew she could always take a lot of different classes to see what would fit, but maybe she shouldn't waste time with acting classes or any sort of art. Just speed-run a safe degree for good jobs.

She had an excuse to put those thoughts aside when she got a text from Shawn. He was at one of the school's sports games today, getting pictures of the team. It was one of the last few events he'd get pictures of before the yearbook was being printed, and Camila knew he wanted them to be perfect. She just hadn't wanted to go with him, the idea of sitting and sweating in the stands was unpleasant.

Can you do me a favor? Go in my room and check something on my computer for me?

Camila groaned inwardly. She was getting so huge and the idea of walking to Shawn's, even though it was just a few houses down the street made her already feel sweaty, but she loved him. And maybe in his room, she'd get to check his computer for something else as well, see how he was doing on his application. It technically was snooping, but Shawn had asked her to go on his computer, so she didn't feel like she was doing anything wrong.

She grabbed some slip-on shoes and walked down the street to Shawn's. It wasn't as warm as she thought it'd be, but she was still glad she wasn't sitting outside for any extended period of time. Camila knew she didn't have to knock when it came to Shawn's place. She opened the door, barely stepping over the threshold when she heard a dozen voices yelling as the lights flipped on.

"Surprise!"

Camila jumped, her heart shooting into her throat as she blinked in the light, realizing what she was looking at. Shawn's living room was decorated with a few balloons and streamers stuck up with tape, very evidently done on a budget.

But in the middle of the coffee table was a sheet cake, clearly bought from the bakery in the grocery where Shawn worked and Camila couldn't stop smiling once the initial shock wore off.

"Um, my birthday isn't for four more days." Camila pointed out, giggling.

"That's why it's a surprise." Shawn smiled.

"You said you were off taking team pictures." She crossed her arms.

"I lied." He shrugged.

Camila couldn't even pretend to be annoyed. She crossed the room towards him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was the kind of person who did like it when people made a big deal about her birthday, but she just figured this year they'd let it slide, seeing as they had more important things, but she should have known Shawn wouldn't let her birthday go without throwing her a party.

Shawn had also invited Camila's friends from drama club and Shelby brought Christine. Shelby was the only person other than Shawn to get her something, and Camila insisted on opening her gifts before cake. Shelby got her some new makeup from one of her favorite collections and Shawn got her a gift card for them to have dinner together at one of her favorite places.