Only One

7.

She breathes in quickly then speaks, "Shawn, I-"

He stops in the doorway and turns around to face her as she blinks up at him.

Just kiss her dammit.

He thinks, then before he can stop himself, his lips are on hers, his hands cupping her face as she wraps her arms around his shoulders her hands into his hair. When they pull back, he rests his forehead on hers and they are breathless. He turns and he walks slowly down the hallway to the stairs

Did that just...did I just? So much for not crossing that line...

He thinks as he reaches the top stair, he stops and turns around and looks at her; she stands still in the doorway with a smile plastered on her face in a daze as her fingers trail over her bottom lip. He smiles to himself and turns back and walks down the stairs, debating with himself if he should go back to her apartment or go on to his hotel. When he reaches the front door, he pushes it open and when the cool air hits his face he lets out a deep breath.

GO. BACK. UPSTAIRS. NOW. No, you need to just go to your hotel room and let her think it out...

He collects his thoughts and heads for the street to hail a cab. When one pulls up to the sidewalk, he opens the door and when he gets in a familiar voice greets him. "My man" makes him look into the mirror to see the cab driver from the night before. "I see I'm picking you up here today so I am guessing everything went pretty good last night?"

Shawn smiles at him, "I, uh actually came back over this afternoon for dinner and to talk..."

"And?"

"And it went a lot better than I expected actually, weird how that happens." he says with a smile as he rattles off the address of his hotel. The cab pulls away from the curb and he takes one last look towards the building and smiles.

He turns back to face the front of the cab and as they drive, they begin to talk. Shawn tells him about how they first met in an English class one day in the 9th grade. He tells him how they instantly became bestfriends, and ended up dating later on. He tells him about them leaving their small hometown and moving to Toronto for college, and the fight that broke them up.

After a long silence the driver finally speaks, "Seems like you guys have a lot of history."

Shawn laughs and shakes his head in agreement, "Yeah, I guess so..."

Shawn learns that the driver's name is Carl and he has been married to his wife Helen for 37 years and their story, was a lot like his own.

"She is the absolute love of my life. We met in the summer before my junior year. I was smitten with her from the first time I saw her...kind of like you say you were. It took some convincing but she finally gave in and we were together for over a year before she left town. Her dad was in the military and got stationed somewhere else. We tried to make it work, but we just couldn't. I moved on and I was actually engaged to someone else - Patty - the next time I saw her. It was here on the streets on Toronto when I saw her again, buddy...I knew that it would never be the same. I ended my engagement, and Patty understood...she was with me when I ran into Helen again and she said that she could just see it in my eyes when I looked at her. I went back to Helen and a few years later we were engaged. The rest is history. And let me tell you, I have endured my share of arguments with her, and I can always tell which ones are fueled by anger and which ones are fueled by love...and what happened last night, that was love. You can tell in your eyes, and your voices. Pardon me for saying so, but I can see a lot of my Helen in..." he glances back at Shawn in the mirror.

"Camila." he answers his question with a smile.

"I can see a lot of my Helen in Camila...and I can see a lot of myself in you...and I know that may sound weird, because I barely know you and it may just be because our stories are so similar...but I think I already know the ending to this story. Don't give up, she loves you." he chuckles, "I mean she loves you enough to jump out of a cab in the wee hours of the morning and scream her feelings on the sidewalks of a busy city like this...she loves you. Just do yourself a favor and make sure you don't leave this city without her."