Crowded Room

46. Decisions

Shawn’s eyes flew open as he felt light kisses on his shoulder and tiny hands wrapping around him in a tight hug. He smiled at the sight of his girlfriend next to him, moving her kisses up his neck until she reached his lips. She had her hair all over the place and one of his old t-shirts that had a coffee stain on, but she still looked beautiful in the morning light.

 “ Morning, sleepyhead.”  She smiles at him before pecking his lips once again and sitting up on the mattress. “ I made you some coffee.”

 He watches as she takes a cup of coffee from the nightstand and waits for him to sit up, handing him the hot drink. She looks at him with expectation as he takes the first sip, which he finds cute even though the coffee tastes really bad.

 “ Your coffee sucks, Camilita.” He smiles at her as she pouts her lips in disappointment.

 He leans down and kisses her lips, to which she quickly pulls away.

 “ You’re right. It tastes terrible.” She laughs a little before watching him for a moment. “ Are you sure you’re going to the apartment today? You can wait longer, you know that, right?”

 “ I know.” He reaches for her hand and guides it to his lips, placing a kiss on her skin. “ But I think it’s time. If I keep pushing this much longer I’ll never do anything about it.”

 It had been over a month since his father’s death, but he still hadn’t found the courage to go into his apartment. He was supposed to take whatever he wanted and decide what to do with the place, if he wanted to keep it or not. It wasn’t something he had to do immediately, but he felt like he needed to get anything related to his father over with so he could finally find some type of closure.

 “ Do you want me to come with you?” She asks, her eyes glued to their joined hands.

 “ Of course you’re coming with me.” He tells her, making her look up at him. “ How am I supposed to survive without your amazing organization skills?”

 Camila laughs out loud, knowing she’s a lot more disorganized than him. She takes the still full cup of coffee he has in his other hand and kisses his lips before getting up and walking back to the kitchen. Shawn follows her and after having breakfast, they leave to spend the day organizing his father’s apartment.

 Shawn starts by his own bedroom, taking anything he wants and putting it in a box, while Camila stays with the living room and hallways, taking all the pictures that have his mother in them. His aunt shows up an hour later with Charli to take anything she might want, while her daughter helps Camila with the things Shawn wants to donate. It takes them a long time and during the afternoon Taylor and Niall show up to help, but in the end, Shawn took very little and decided to give away most of the things.

 “ Are you sure about this?” Camila asks as they sit just the two of them in the living room after everyone else left, just his aunt still at his father’s office taking care of all the papers he had there. “ You grew up in this apartment.”

 “ I’m sure.” He confirms, sighing and looking around. “ I have to sell it. If I don’t get rid of it, it will keep haunting me.”

 Unfortunately, this apartment was not the only thing he had to deal with. His father had other properties that were now his, but he wasn’t sure about what to do with those just now. The thing that he would have to make a decision about sooner or later though, was the label. For now, his aunt was temporarily taking his father’s spot, but when he turned twenty-one in a few months he would have to decide if he would take over or if he had other plans for the company. Just thinking about it had him nervous and conflicted, he never really wanted this, but now he had no choice.

 When they left the apartment for good, it was already getting dark outside and Shawn felt like he had lifted a weight off his shoulder. Camila insisted they stopped to eat hot dogs on their way back because she was starving and they just walked to his apartment afterward. Not even ten minutes after they got back, someone called from the reception to ask if a woman called Amy could go up. Shawn was in the shower, so Camila wasn’t sure at first, but ended up letting her in.

 The knock on the door happened a few minutes later and Camila opened it for the woman, letting her into the apartment and sitting down with her in the living room. Before she could even go tell Shawn they had company, he walked into the living room with just a towel on his waist, stopping on his tracks when he spotted Amy there.

 “ Hi, Shawn.” The blonde woman said with a smile.

 “ Hey. Sorry, I’ll change into some clothes.” He said with rose cheeks, making Camila laugh quietly.

 He came back two minutes later in a t-shirt and sweatpants, sitting next to Camila on the couch and interrupting the conversation the two were having.

 “ Camila was telling me you decided to sell the apartment.” Amy said. “ I think that’s the right choice. It can’t be healthy for you to keep that place.”

 “ What do you mean?” Shawn asks.

 “ You know what I mean, Shawn.” She simply says.

 “ So you know… why were you still with him if you knew?” Shawn asks, confused.

 “ Do you know why your father hired me all those years ago?” Shawn shakes his head and she keeps speaking. “ I was friends with your mother. She convinced him to give me the job.”

 “ I don’t get it. How could you be with him if you were friends with my mom?”

 “ That only happened after she passed, and yes, I know what he did to her, but if I ended things with him he would fire me too and that meant I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on you.” She sighs and takes a pause, looking at her own hands before speaking again. “ She asked me to make sure you were okay. She wouldn’t be here anymore and she didn’t trust your father with you, so she asked me. I know I never got too close, but I tried my best over the years. I convinced your father that you studying music was a good thing, that it would prepare you for taking over the label like he wanted you to later on. It wasn't an easy task, but I knew music was important to you. I also made sure you got the papers about your mom’s savings account for you.”

 Shawn looks at her in complete shock, trying to understand why she would stay close to his father knowing what he was capable of just to help him out. She had clearly been a loyal friend to his mom, not breaking her promise even years later. Shawn smiles at her and stands up, taking a seat next to Amy and hugging her.

 “ Thank you.” He whispers as the woman hugs him back. “ I’m not even sure what else to say.”

 “ You don’t have to say anything.” She says. “ I just wanted you to know it. Your mom was really important to me and you are too, Shawn. If you ever need me for anything, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”

 Just a little after Amy has to leave and Shawn is left alone with Camila again, who is smiling really hard after what they just heard. Shawn holds her on the couch as they talk about it and he knows just by looking at her that he wouldn’t have handled the last events of his life if he didn’t have her there next to him.

 “ Your mom really thought about everything, huh?” Camila says as they look at each other. “ I know it doesn’t make sense, but I feel like I actually know her. Is that weird?”

 “ Not at all.” He smiles, snuggling even closer to her body. “ I think she would have loved you.”

__________________________

A/N: So... just letting you guys know this story is coming to an end very soon 🙃