20 ○ shawn

06

New York, 1:00 pm

January 17, 2015

reason #4: music

Shawn was the first one to arrive at the roof of the abandoned building, and once Layla arrived, pure happiness rushed through her body. "Shawn!" she exclaimed and skipped towards him, arms open. "Long time no see! Hugs!"

"No hugs, Layla. No." Shawn warned just before Layla could wrap her arms around his body. Layla pouted jokingly and dropped her arms to the side, using her puppy dog eyes to make Shawn's walls break down. "Fine. Just for a few seconds."

"Yay!" Layla laughed and hugged Shawn tightly. "I missed you!" Shawn pursed his lips and shrugged to himself, deciding to hug Layla back. He wasn't going to say it, but he missed Layla, too. It's only been a week since they last saw each other, but without Layla, Shawn had nothing better to do and nothing good to expect.

"Okay, okay, enough of the hugs," Shawn said as he pulled away. "What's today's reason?"

"Did you bring your car?"

"How else would I have gotten here?"

"Okay, good...follow me!" Layla sung and began to skip towards the exit of the roof and to the sidewalk of New York. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Shawn to arrive. "Finally!"

"I take my time, okay?" he defended. "Where are we going now?"

"This is your car, right?" Layla questioned as she ambled to the only car parked in front of the building. Shawn nodded, still confused. "Can I drive it?" Shawn raised his eyebrows, shaking his head immediately.

"Absolutely not! You asked me if the instructors would yell if you hit a person!" Layla laughed, remembering the first time she's been inside Shawn's car - they were merely strangers and had known each other for just a couple of hours. "No, Layla. No."

"No, no, no - that's all you ever say, don't you? Little, silly pessimist,"

"At times you have to say no, Layla...like now. Just tell me where we're going and I'll drive us,"

Layla groaned. "Fine." And she told Shawn the location. Shawn was skeptical at first and confused, but he drove anyways. He never stopped by the place, but he's passed by it enough of times to know where to go.

"Layla, what are we doing here?" Shawn asked, looking around the small shop with record players and albums on the wall. Off to the side, a mini café. Layla didn't answer him yet like she always did - leaving a mystery.

She went to the record players, Shawn following right behind her. "Reason number four: music." Shawn was excited for this. He loved listening to music, and despite his low tolerance for pain, music helped him stay sane on the days he wanted to go. "I decided that it would be funner to listen to records instead of listening from an iPhone. Here, take one," Layla handed Shawn headphones. "And just pick what record to listen to."

Layla put on her headphones and flipped through the records, pulling out Ed Sheeran's album in record form. Shawn's eyes widened when he saw it and he pulled out the same one. "Ed Sheeran, hell yeah!"

"You like Ed?"

"Who doesn't? He's my favourite singer!"

"Mine, too." Layla smiled and the both of them put the record in the record player. The both of them listened to Ed Sheeran's X album, taking a few occasional glances at each other as they did. Layla even began to dance at one point, to the song she was listening to: Don't.

Shawn laughed - he laughed - and began to dance with Layla. Little did he or she know, they were listening to the same song.

-

"I should get one of those record players when I earn the money," Shawn said as Layla and him exited the mini shop, a cup filled with hot chocolate in their hands. Layla nodded.

"Yeah, I have one at home, and I have lots of records. If you want, you can come over and we could blast them out loud!" Layla suggested with a big smile on her face.

Shawn shook his head as he opened the passenger door for Layla. "Sorry, but I'm kind of tired, and I want to take a nap." Layla pursed her lip and shrugged, staying quiet as she entered the car. "So, I'll drive you home?" Layla nodded and stayed quiet the whole drive, looking down at her lap. Shawn bid her a few glances here and there, but she didn't budge. "Are you okay, Layla?"

"Yeah," she mumbled and nodded. The car hauled to a stop in front of Layla's apartment. She looked up and sighed exasperatedly, smiling and fixing her glasses. "Yeah."

---

i'm so busy gosh. and this is unedited.