Watermelon

He's Gone

Camila never even fell asleep. She just laid in bed and cried until her throat was sore and her stomach cramped. The worst part? It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining with a light breeze and she was on one of the most picturesque islands in the world. But was she out enjoying it? No. She was laying in bed, sobbing over a man that she had known for less than a week. If she didn't get out and enjoy the beautiful weather she knew she'd regret it once they got back home. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of denim shorts as well as the t-shirt that Shawn had left her. She didn't even bother to check herself in the mirror first before heading towards the exit of their suite. 

Camila covered her red, puffy eyes with her sunglasses immediately after leaving her suite. It was nearly 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Shelby hadn't texted her at all throughout the day, knowing that her best friend was emotional and fragile and not feeling very social. Camila decided to just walk around until she found her. She wasn't surprised to find Shelby sitting at the poolside bar sipping on a margarita. 

"Woah, hey," Shelby greeted. "Honestly wasn't expecting to see much of you today." Camila just shrugged in response before motioning for the bartender, asking him to make her a margarita of her own. "So...he's gone?"

"He's gone," Camila confirmed with a sigh. "He's gone and I can't decide if I regret ever introducing myself to him in the first place or if I regret not dropping everything and flying with him back to Toronto."

"Did you get his number?"

"No."

"What? Camila! Why the hell wouldn't you guys exchange numbers?"

"Because what's the point, Shel? I don't want anything long distance. You and I both know there's no way I'd be able to handle it, especially after everything with Max. As much as it hurts me to say this, it's better for it to end now instead of pretending like there's a world where we could ever actually be together."

"But...but you guys were so cute together," the redhead pouted as the bartender slid Camila her freshly-made margarita. She took a sip and shook her head.

"I'm not disagreeing with you. I really liked him...but it would just be too difficult. His life is in Toronto, mine is in Miami. It wouldn't work." The short brunette took another drink of her margarita. "Maybe in the next life. Besides, I think it'd be good for me to be single for a little while."

"Yeah, maybe..." Shelby sighed. "You wanna know my honest thoughts? I think you two will find your way back to each other eventually. I've never seen you that starry-eyed over someone...and it definitely wasn't just because of some good dick. You were smitten with him."

"I'm not saying I wasn't. Why do you think I've been crying for most of the day?"

"Is that why you won't take your sunglasses off?"

"...Yes."

"Oh, my sweet girl..." Shelby placed her hand flat on the side of Camila's head, forcing her to lean on her shoulder. "I promise that cute little heart of yours will feel whole again soon, okay?"

The two best friends spent what little time they had left of their vacation drinking, eating some delicious food, watching trashy rom-coms, and soaking up the sun. On the outside, Camila did a good job at pretending like she was forgetting all about the handsome man that she had spent the better half of her time in St. Barts with. However, she was still heartbroken on the inside. 

Max was nothing but a distant memory at this point, honestly. A new man had taken over every single cell in her brain and every single fiber of her heart. To put it simply: Shawn overwhelmed her in all the best ways possible.

Camila didn't necessarily regret not giving Shawn her phone number however she did regret not even bothering to ask what his last name was. How was she supposed to social media stalk him now? If she knew his full name she'd at least be able to keep tabs on him and see what he was up to. Though maybe she didn't want to know. The last thing she wanted was to randomly go to his Instagram one day just to see his tongue down the throat of some other girl or something. 

She started to feel a little bit better about a week after returning to Miami. Did she miss Shawn? Yes. Of course. She couldn't even close her eyes without every intimate moment they had shared together being replayed in her mind. But she made the decision to not be sad about it. Instead, she chose to look back at their short time together with gratitude. When she showed up to St. Barts she was heartbroken over a boy who never deserved her heart in the first place. When she left, she hardly even remembered that Max was the reason she was sad in the first place. And for that, she was grateful. 

Shawn returned to Toronto and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Camila. So much so that he actually did consider moving to Miami for a brief drunken moment until he sobered up enough to realize that was kind of a crazy idea. Okay...more than kind of crazy. It was completely crazy. His entire life was in Ontario. It'd be too risky to give up everything just on the off chance that he could find the beautiful woman that had overwhelmed his mind since the day he met her.

If life was perfect, they'd be together. But life was never truly perfect. Maybe that's what made it worth living: you never really knew where it'd take you next. 

Slowly, both of them continued on with their lives. Did they ever fully move on from each other? Not necessarily. They still spent a good chunk of their time reminiscing on their shared moments in St. Barts. They didn't fully move on from each other but they did move on knowing they they had both experienced an incredibly real connection during that trip.

And for both of them, that made the pain worth it. 

A/N: predictions for how they reconnect? i'm always curious to know if you guys can tell where i'm going with these stories lmao