When you're ready

9. Eighteen

Camila might be staring at the door in front of her for over five minutes, trying to decide if this was actually a good idea. Brian had made sure to tell her Saturday would be Shawn’s eighteenth birthday, so there she was, standing outside of his door with a gift. Well, it wasn’t exactly a gift, it was just cookies that she had baked, but she thought he might like it. She wasn’t even sure why she decided to go to his house, but the idea of him spending his birthday alone kept crossing her mind, so she thought he could use some company. She would never admit she also wanted to come back to his house again, or that she wanted to see him even on the weekends.

 Forcing herself to raise her hand and ring the doorbell before she changed her mind, Camila heard footsteps coming from inside the house. She took a deep breath as she heard the door being opened, finding a very confused look on Shawn’s face as he realized she was the person at his door. 

 “ Camila?” He asked, sounding both surprised and happy to see her. Camila extended the small bowl of cookies in his direction, smiling at him as his eyes focused on the note she had put on it wishing him a happy birthday. “ Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

 Camila shrugged, looking at him as if expecting him to invite her in, which he did after a long moment of silence staring at her. She wasn’t sure why he kept doing that, he would always look at her for too long, almost as if he forgot she was right there. She tried to hide how much she was blushing as she walked in, but there was no way he hadn’t noticed it.

 “ How did you know it was my birthday?” Shawn asked, looking at her as she let her eyes wander over the framed pictures hanging on the walls. She had noticed them the other day. Several pictures of Shawn younger than he was now with a couple that she could tell were his parents, a young girl that could only be his sister in many of the pictures too. There was also an older man in a few pictures, most likely his grandfather. 

 After she looked away from the pictures he was still watching her, waiting for an answer, so Camila took her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and typed a quick text to him. Now she was the one watching him as he read the text and shook his head, laughing and rolling his eyes.

 “ Of course Brian told you.” He said, making his way to the kitchen bar and placing the bowl of cookies over it. She watched as he opened it and tried one. “ Oh my god. Did you make these yourself? They’re amazing.”

 Camila smiled shyly at him, nodding her head to confirm she had been the one to bake the cookies.

 “ Shawn?” Camila heard a voice coming from one of the bedrooms down the hallway. It sounded like an old man and Shawn immediately stood up and excused himself. Camila wasn’t trying to snoop, but she saw which door he walked in and remembered he had done the same the other day she had been there. She heard their voices as whispers before Shawn showed up again, looking at her as if he didn’t really want to say what he had to.

 “ Do you mind meeting my grandpa?” He asked with uncertainty. “ He heard me talking to you and now he seems excited about meeting a friend of mine that isn’t Brian.”

 Camila quickly nodded, loving the fact that he referred to her as one of his friends. She followed Shawn to the room, finding an old man sitting up on a bed watching TV. She didn’t have to give much thought to conclude that he was obviously sick, but he still greeted her with a large smile.

 “ Grandpa, this is Camila.” Shawn said as they both walked close to the bed.

 “ It’s about time you have a beautiful girl coming over instead of that annoying red-haired idiot you call a friend.” Camila can’t help silently laughing at his words. It was pretty obvious that Shawn’s grandpa had a hard time dealing with Brian’s personality. She wanted to thank him for the compliment but wasn’t really sure how. She looked at Shawn for help and he sat down at the edge of the bed.

 “ Camila can’t speak.” He told his grandpa, who looked at her for a few seconds before smiling again.

 “ That’s not a problem, darling. I can speak for both of us.” The old man said as Camila walked closer, standing next to Shawn, who was looking up at her as if trying to read what she was thinking. She smiled and nodded and Shawn seemed relieved. She could tell by the way he was acting that this wasn’t something he would usually do.

 It was fascinating to her to see Shawn and his grandfather interacting, both of them making sure to include her in the conversation even if she wasn’t able to contribute to it. She noticed how much in common the two of them had and couldn’t help wondering if Shawn had anyone else in his family still alive that wasn’t sick. She was under the impression he was the only one his grandpa had to take care of him.

 After walking back out of his grandfather’s bedroom, Camila tried to ignore the comment the old man made about her maybe one day being Shawn’s girlfriend. None of them were brave enough to correct him and now as they ate the cookies she had baked, those words hung heavily on the air.

 “ I’m sorry about that.” Shawn finally said. “ His memory is always coming and going away, so he says some stuff like that sometimes.”

 Camila smiled at him, thinking that was a terrible excuse for the comment that had embarrassed the both of them. It was obvious from watching them talk that his grandpa kept forgetting things, but that didn’t explain why he seemed so excited to see Shawn with a girl.