Watermelon

Where Have You Been?

Shawn was still floating on cloud nine after running into Camila again — and even more so after that incredible kiss. He was fairly certain he was smiling like an idiot the entire way back to his house. Even as he stepped through the door he could feel himself blushing at the memory of how it felt to have her lips against his again.

"Where have you been?"

Shawn glanced over to the couch where the voice was coming from.

"I ran into an old friend," he replied. "Sorry. I should've text you that I was going to be late."

He set the bag of coffee grounds down onto the kitchen counter before walking over to the couch where the sixteen year old boy was lounging and watching some prank show that Shawn didn't recognize. 

"Where's your sister?"

"She's not my sister," the teenage boy, Jace, replied crankily. Shawn gave him a disapproving look. Jace was grateful that Shawn took him in; Shawn knew that. But it didn't stop the sixteen year old from being cranky and pessimistic from time to time. Life hadn't been the kindest to him, though — so Shawn didn't give him too hard of a time about it.

Shawn held eye contact with the teenage boy until he finally relented. "She's in her room. I put her to bed about an hour ago." Shawn smiled and nodded at Jace's satisfactory answer.

"Thanks," he replied. "One more hour and then you're going to bed, okay? It's a school night."

"I know."

"Thanks for watching her for me," Shawn added. Jace kept his eyes on the TV and nodded as Shawn walked towards his own bedroom. As he walked by the closed door of the two year old girl, he heard rustling. He paused by her door and pressed his ear against it, listening for a moment before slowly pushing the door open.

A wide smile spread across his face as he watched the toddler stand in front of her little bookshelf, her wild and messy hair going in every direction as she scanned over her books.

"Maggie..." Shawn quietly called out in a sing-song voice. The tiny girl turned around and smiled when she saw him standing in the doorway.

"Hi!" she squealed happily. Shawn chuckled. Unlike Jace, Maggie was always so happy to see him.

"You're supposed to be asleep, stinker."

"Book!" The two year old turned and pointed at her shelf. Shawn stepped into her room and nodded.

"We can read a book. Which one?" He squatted next to her, fixing her hair with his fingers as she decided which book she wanted read to her. She ended up pulling a book called Grumpy Monkey from the shelf, handing it to her foster-dad.

Shawn took the book and sat down on the floor of her room with his back against the wall. She wasted no time in waddling over and sitting down on his lap. She laid back against his chest as he held the book out in front of them.

"One wonderful day Jim Panzee woke to discover that nothing was right," Shawn began. "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and the bananas were too sweet!"

"Monkey!" The little girl pointed at the little cartoon monkey printed in the book.

"Yeah!" he chuckled. "It's a monkey!" 

By the time they had made it to the end of the book, Maggie was fast asleep against his chest. He closed the book and set it next to him before wrapping the small girl up in his arms and carefully standing, moving to place her on the small bed in the corner. He tucked her into the fairy-themed bedding and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head. 

He quietly placed the book back onto the bookshelf before tiptoeing out of her room and shutting the door behind him.

He finally made his way to his own bedroom and got ready for bed — already knowing damn well that his dreams were bound to be flooded with the incredible woman he had finally reunited with.

But he couldn't fall asleep. He was too distracted.

Distracted by the fact that he actually found her again. He had truly believed that he would never reunite with her yet here they were a little under two years later. 

It was too soon to say she was 'the one'...but at the same time, would he really still feel so strongly for her if she wasn't? Maybe that was a question to dissect at another time. 

All he knew for sure was that he wanted to see her again — no, needed to see her again. And soon.

Of course, there was the pretty major secret he was keeping from her. In the past, the fact that he fostered kids wasn't the most alluring thing to tell women he was interested in. Maybe if he were older they wouldn't mind. But it seemed the ladies in their early twenties didn't have any interest in being tied down with those kinds of responsibilities. He settled for one night stands because that's typically the only thing people were willing to give him.

But maybe Camila was different. She seemed to love that he worked in social work and child counseling; she admired it about him. He just hoped that admiration would transfer over to his relationship with the two kids currently living in his house. 

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he grabbed his phone from where he had set it on the night stand to charge.

S: Are you free Saturday night?

She responded only a couple of minutes later.

C: Depends on why you're asking. 🤨

S: You know exactly why I'm asking, dork. I promised you a proper date.

C: I think this is the first time someone has called me a dork while also asking me out.

S: There's a first time for everything! Speaking of, does Saturday night work for your very first mind blowing-ly good date? 😉

C: Your confidence has me intrigued, Mendes. I guess I could pencil you in...😏

S: Oh shit...I totally forgot that you're a vice president now. Should I have gone through your people? Do you have a secretary I need to schedule dates through or something?

C: I'll have my people call your people. JK. Saturday is perfect. 😊

S: Perfect! Text me your address and I'll pick you up at 6.

C: A modern day prince charming! I love it. 

She sent him the address of her apartment building. He instantly recognized the address as being one of the nicest apartment buildings in the city — a stark contrast to his old little brick house. 

S: I try my best. Can't wait until Saturday!! ❤️ Have a good night Camila.

C: I can't wait either!! Sleep good!! Try not to spend too much time dreaming about me

S: Right back at ya! 😂

And with that he plugged his phone back into the charger and returned it to where it had been sitting on his night stand. And despite her directions to not dream about her too much, that's exactly what he spent all night doing.

A/N: the love you guys are showing this story is blowing my mind kind of!!! it makes me so happy to see you guys all so excited about it. i'm excited about it too. hit me with all those sweet comments/votes!! <33 also...thoughts on Jace & Maggie? 👀