𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀, shawn mendes

chapter eighteen

shawn mendes
los angeles, california
———

        i knocked on halley's door, holding a bouquet of flowers and bottle of wine. i was praying she'd like them.

the door opened and revealed my beautiful halley in a tie-up long sleeve top and light brown cargo pants. i never understood how she was just so perfect all the time.

"oh great, you brought the stuff!" she noticed my full arms and pulled the flowers out. she smiled and sniffed them as she led me into the kitchen.

i was met with two dark haired women sitting on bar stools and a blonde searching through the fridge. i immediately recognized the blonde one to be hailey, but i didn't see the faces of the brunettes. i assumed they were halley's sisters—but i couldn't remember names.

"oh, shawn, these are my sisters julia and iris," she told me and the two turned around simultaneously. everything clicked—halley's sister was a big-time music producer! "guys, i've told you about shawn." she has?

"hi, how're you doing?" the older one shot me a nod, smiling. "i'm good, very excited for halley," i grinned back and placed the wine on the counter.

i felt so intimidated by the two sisters, and i'm sure it was obvious. hailey tapped me on the back and i turned my head, her whispering "justin will be here soon." i couldn't decide if i was happy she was looking out for me or if i was scared she noticed my nerves.

"so, you do music?" the younger one, julia, swivelled her chair to look at me standing at the end of the counter. "yeah, i'm working on my third album...it's coming out very soon."

"nice," she smiled sincerely, "my daughter stormi loves your song 'there's nothing holdin' me back', i have so many videos of her dancing to it!"

"that's so cool," i blushed, "how old is she?"

"she'll be three in a couple months," she replied and my face melted. i'd seen pictures of her from halley's instagram and i thought she was the most adorable baby.

i saw halley creep back into the kitchen out of the corner of my eye. "sorry, gotta steal shawn  from you here ju...i need his help." julia nodded and i followed halley into the other room.

"see! i told you that you'd get along with them!" she squealed as we were out of their sight. i beamed at how happy she was.

"at first i felt like i was meeting my girlfriend's parents for the first time!" i chuckled.

———

halley finn
los angeles, california
———

        i rushed away from the girls i was talking to, looking around to make sure everything was going smoothly. i walked around the house, catching everyone with their personal bottle of 818. what? everyone loves getting drunk.

as i walked into the kitchen, i found hailey and justin sitting at the table with julia, and i simply sent them a quick grin and walked back out into the main party area.

i decided that it was finally my time to get a little drunk. i'd only been having cocktails up until this point. i grabbed a bottle from one of the table set ups and made my way down the hallway leading to my bedroom.

the cork flew off the bottle as i opened it and began to drink heavy chugs of the tequila. i leaned back against the wall and stood silently, grateful for my few seconds alone and away from everyone.

"well, look what the cat dragged in," a familiar voice said, and i could tell he was grinning as he spoke. i looked to my left to find shawn walking towards me, his bottle in hand.

"you're at my house, mendes," i said and eyed his almost empty bottle. "you must really like my tequila, jesus!"

"uhh...it's mediocre," he smirked and brought the bottle up to his face, but i was quick to grab it and hide it in the other room. "what the fuck?" he whined.

"you're cut off! i'm not gonna let you do something stupid on my watch," i said, honestly sounding like my mother.

shawn leaned on the wall beside me and we stood in silence as i drank some more. he leaned forward, standing up, and smiled "dance with me."

i eyed the boy standing in front of me and couldn't help but momentarily admire him. he was wearing an open flowy white dress shirt, a piece i've learned over the past few weeks looks gorgeous on him. "last time i remember, you said you hate dancing."

i watched as shawn tried to find the memory in his head, but instead shot me back a witty remark, "you basically drugged me, so will you just dance with me?"

i reluctantly agreed and sat my bottle down on the ground. i stood back up and shawn grabbed my hand, pulling me into an embrace. oh, so we're slow dancing?

he started swaying me back and forth and my heart started to race. we were so close to one another. after a couple seconds, he leaned back from me and grabbed my waist. i reached my hands around his neck and kept my glance on the ground the entire time.

shawn kicked my foot, trying to get my attention and make me look at him, and he succeeded. i tilted my head to face him and we swayed, looking at each other.

then his drunk thoughts started pouring out.

"did you have fun with me in toronto?" he slurred, making me laugh.

"yes, shawn, i can't believe i'm saying this but i did," i chuckled, "you're a pretty fun guy!" i said, pulling my hand up from his neck into his hair. i ran my hand through his curls and pulled them tightly, making him laugh.

"i'm only fun?" he jokingly whined and kept staring at me. i moved my hand back to his neck and we continued swaying back and forth.

i felt like i knew what he was gonna say, so i stayed silent and just looked back down to the ground.

"halley," he hummed and i couldn't help but look up at him. his eyes were glossy from the alcohol, but still beaming bright. "can i kiss you?"

my heart, that was previously racing, dropped at those four words. i thought that it might've been the tequila, but i realized that he was being serious. and i couldn't kiss him.

"uh," i mumbled and flickered my eyes away. his were still set on mine. "i gotta go, i'm sure people need help or something." i pulled my arms off his shoulders and shifted my body to let him know he needed to let go. and he did.

— notes!
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