Watermelon

A Mistake I Have to Make

Neither of them were saying anything — they couldn't. They simply laid together in his bed completely naked and silently wishing that this wasn't the end of whatever magic this was that they had discovered together.

Their faces were just centimeters apart — their breath mingling and their noses brushing against each other periodically. He slowly brushed his fingers through her hair, occasionally taking them away from her hair to caress the soft skin of her face. 

"So is this it?" Camila asked, her quiet voice breaking with emotion.

"I'm afraid so." He brushed the pad of his thumb over her quivering bottom lip. "I've been keeping you up a lot recently," he chuckled sadly. "You should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah, I should." She agreed with his sentiment but she couldn't bring herself to move out of the comfort of his arms. Instead, she let her eyes drift shut and leaned in to kiss him. He gladly welcomed the kiss, letting his lips move against hers slowly yet passionately. Camila was the first to pull away from the kiss, leaving her breathless in his arms. "Let me stay here with you tonight." She said it so quietly that part of Shawn wondered if she even meant to say it. 

"I thought you didn't want to do that? That it would be a bad idea? A mistake?"

"A mistake that I think I have to make," she replied. "Please."

"You know I wouldn't say no to that." He pulled her even closer to his chest, his lips finding her forehead. "I'd love it if you stayed with me tonight." 

Neither of them really wanted to fall asleep that night, but they did. Despite the fact that both of them were acutely aware of the fact that the second they woke up, they'd be faced with a goodbye that neither of them were ready for. 

Camila woke up the next morning to the sound of Shawn zipping up his suitcase. She watched him for a moment, not bothering to make him aware of the fact that she was now awake. He looked good. He was freshly showered and wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a pair of Converse sneakers and a thin silver chain necklace around his neck. Shawn looked over at Camila, noticing that she was awake. He gave her a sad half-smile and laid next to her on the bed, kissing the top of her head. 

"Good morning."

"No it isn't," she pouted in reply. He sighed and nodded.

"No. It isn't." He kissed her on the lips softly before pulling away.

"How much longer before you have to leave?" Camila hesitantly asked, scared of what his answer would be. Shawn grabbed his phone from the nightstand and tapped the screen to check the time. 

"Um...about five minutes."

Camila sighed in defeat. There was no more prolonging the inevitable; there was no more pretending like their time together was limited. It had to end and it was ending now. Camila pulled the covers off of her still naked body and got out of bed, picking her clothes up off of the floor of his suite. 

"Can, um...can I walk you out?"

"I'd like that," he replied quietly. Camila nodded and took her clothes into the bathroom to get herself cleaned up before walking him to the entrance of the resort where a car would pick him up to take him to the airport. She got dressed and splashed some water on her face before combing through her messy curls with her fingers. Once she decided she was presentable enough, she walked to the bathroom door to exit — but she noticed something. One of Shawn's t-shirts that had been hanging on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. She removed it and stepped back into the suite, holding the shirt up to him. 

"You left this on the hook in there."

"Oh," he quietly responded. He took the shirt from her and held it in his hands for a moment before making his decision. "You know what? Keep it. Consider it a souvenir." He gave it back to her, loving the way Camila smiled as he handed it over. "This way you can't forget me."

"I don't think I could if I tried."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, neither of them wanting to acknowledge what needed to happen next. Taking a deep breath, Shawn finally held his hand out to Camila. 

"Come on. Let's go."

Their hands were intertwined for the entire trek from the honeymoon suite where Shawn had been staying to the lobby of the resort. They both found themselves walking slower and slower, as if delaying the inevitable would somehow make everything easier. Camila clung to his arm as he checked out of his suite, sliding his room key across the marble countertop to the woman working the front desk.

They walked out the large sliding glass doors together, the driver of the car that was taking Shawn to the airport immediately loading his luggage into the trunk of the vehicle. Shawn turned to face Camila. His heart broke right there on the spot when he saw her eyes red and glassy with tears. He cupped her face in his large hands and kissed her forehead.

"I had fun this week," he whispered. "I'm glad I got to spend it with you."

"I had fun too." A single tear escaped Camila's eyes, sliding down her cheek before being wiped away by Shawn's thumb. 

"I have a feeling I already know the answer to this but I just need to ask again," Shawn cleared his throat. "There's absolutely no chance at anything long distance?" At this point, Shawn was holding back tears too. 

"I'm sorry," Camila choked out. "I just...I know I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"I understand."

"Shawn...thank you. I mean, I really only intended for this to be a rebound to get over Max and...I guess that's kind of all this is really going to end up being at this point. But...please know that it felt like so much more than just a rebound. Our time together might've been short-lived but it was also much needed. I needed a good reminder that there are, in fact, great guys out there." Shawn smiled and nodded at her words. 

"And I hope you find one, Camila." He brushed his thumb across her cheek, swiping away a few more tears in the process. "You deserve a great guy. I'm really sorry that I can't be that for you, but you'll find him, okay?" The small brunette swallowed a few tears back and nodded. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers in the most tender and gentle kiss they had shared during the entire trip. Despite every part of him telling him not to, he pulled away from the kiss. "I, um...I have to go."

"Okay," she hiccuped. She hugged him tightly one last time, committing the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms to memory. He squeezed her hands in his as he stepped back slowly. Her small hands eventually fell out of his grasp and he got into the car that had been waiting for him. He kept his eyes locked on her as he buckled his seatbelt. The driver drove the car away from the resort and Camila sobbed the entire time as she watched the vehicle get smaller and smaller in the distance.

She sat in front of the resort crying for several minutes before finally standing up and going back to her and Shelby's suite. Shelby wasn't in the room but that didn't necessarily shock Camila. It was nearly 10 AM and if there was anything Shelby loved it was a good breakfast spread. Camila wandered into her own bedroom and dropped the t-shirt Shawn had given her onto her own suitcase before crawling into her bed and crying a bit more.

From the second she had met him there was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that getting involved with him would be a mistake — that it would end in nothing but heartbreak. And now, laying in her bed sobbing into her pillow, she had confirmation that her gut feeling was correct. Now she just had to figure out if the pleasure was worth the pain.

A/N: i cried while writing this LMAO also i know this chapter is sad but they'll find their way back to each other i promise !!! just give me a few chapters lol