Sweet Aftertaste (Shawn Mendes)

Chapter 5

Tom's P.O.V

I turn a corner in my car and suddenly I'm on a race track. A heavy helmet rests on my head and leather gloves clad my hands. I look to my right and see another car, a driver sits in the front; also wearing a helmet making it impossible to identify them. I look out of the front windscreen and see Addi holding a megaphone, "Whoever wins this race wins my heart also. This is your chance to show me how much you care."

I hear a faint cheer and realise that a crowd surrounds us, I strain my eyes as I notice banners in some of their hands. I see my own name on some banners, however, the name on the majority of the banners is Shawn. I clench my hands on the steering wheel and grit my teeth; I'm not losing against him.

"On your marks..." we both rev our engines.

"Get set..." and again, I take a quick look at Addi as she winks at Shawn. Determination spreads around my body and I practically bounce on my seat in preparation.

"Go!" both me and Shawn shoot off but I had a better start in addition to being on the inside lane. I stay ahead for quite some time until we turn another corner and Shawn has the inside advantage. We stay neck and neck for several laps until we reach the final one. A new resilience overpowers me and I speed ahead. The finishing line comes closer and closer, a smile spreads across my face; I'm sure to win. As I get even closer my smile disappears; Addi is stood on the finishing line, what is she doing? I try to slow down so that I don't hit her but the car speeds up instead and won't react when I try and turn the wheel. I close my eyes as I come nearer to Addi and a scream fills the air.

"Excuse me, sir?" I jump as a voice interrupts my dream, "Sorry, are you Tom?"

I nod, rubbing sleep out of my eyes before mumbling, "Yeah, that's me."

"Ok, Ms Reed has just been in to see Adeline and has given her consent for you to see her also. Another young man has just been in but I think he'll have finished. Sorry about the wait, but it was necessary."

I nod, feeling more awake at the possibility of seeing Addi. I wonder who her visitor is as disappointment spreads through me at the realisation I'm not her first visitor. I haven't been given any news on her condition other than 'she'll need time to heal'. I follow the nurse down a maze of corridors, my shoes squeaking on the polished floor. I suppress a yawn as we stop outside a door. The nurse enters the room and I follow, to find Addi sat up on a bed and Shawn sat beside her. I try not to glare at Shawn and instead smile at Addi who simply looks at me confusedly in return.

"Take a seat," the nurse says, gesturing to her right. I comply and try to not slump as I wait for the nurse to talk again. I glance around the room and wrinkle my nose at the smell of disinfectant. I steal a look at Addi but turn away quickly as I notice she's still looking at me.

"I'm afraid Adeline is suffering from a case of retrograde amnesia, this means that she can't remember any events or people from before the crash and is probably due to a head injury she received in the car crash. The regaining of her memory may take anything from a few months to a few years and she may never recall the events immediately before the crash. She also has a broken ankle and sprained wrist which will need to heal. I'll leave you three alone for a couple of minutes," the nurse speaks in a kind tone and Addi bites her nails as she speaks. A selfish thought runs through my head and I immediately regret thinking it; that means she might not remember the mistakes I made before she left my house or her "date" with Shawn.

"I'm really sorry if we were close before this but..." She raises an arm to her head and winces, "Who are you?"

Sadness floods its way around my body and I sigh, "I'm Tom."

I don't want to force anything big upon her yet so I miss out the fact that I was her best friend and the only one who knew anything real about her. She crinkles her eyes before speaking again, "Shawn please can you leave for a second?"

Shawn nods and leaves his place from beside her. Addi taps the now empty space, presumably asking me to take it. I cautiously move across the room and sink into the surprisingly comfortable chair. 

"Um before my crash... uh what... were we?" She broaches the subject tentatively and panic floods my body. I could change our future. But no... That would be wrong... That would be lying. But is it worth it? Would she ever remember the truth? Before I know what I'm doing, my mouth opens and the words fly out in a torrent of lies and desperation.

Addi's P.OV

I immediately regret asking Tom this question, we must have been close. Perhaps not as close as Shawn and I but close. He shifts awkwardly before he begins to speak, "Me and you... We... Well you were my girlfriend..." he trails off. What is he going on about? Shawn said that just before I crashed I had told him I loved him but had to go before he got chance to reply. Was I cheating on Tom? Or was I cheating on Shawn? Or was one of them lying? I feel a shooting pain through my head and a memory struggles to resurface.

"What?" is all I manage to reply with, "Look I'm really sorry but please can you go? A lot has happened in the past few hours and I need to catch up with everything. Sorry, I suppose you can visit tomorrow?"

Tom nods before scratching the back of his neck and he leaves the room, I sink back into my bed and try to process everything that I've been told by the nurses, my mum, Shawn and Tom.

Tom's P.O.V

I leave the room immediately regretting what I told Addi; I shouldn't have done it. I keep walking, staring at the floor before I bump into someone. 

"Sor... Oh it's you," I say as I look up to see Shawn. He smirks before replying, "Nurse wants to speak to us."

About a minute later the nurse comes up to us, "Just wanted to say that if you wanted to help Adeline you could write down some of your memories on paper to give to her, it may trigger some of her memories and help her to regain it fully," she smiles as she speaks.

I nod, "Sounds good."

"Yeah, we can do that," Shawn replies, pushing me back slightly. The nurse disappears down one of the endless corridors and Shawn turns to face me, "I don't know what you told Adds, but just me to you, I've liked her for a bit and I know that she likes me back so I'd appreciate it if you didn't interfere, because you seem to like doing that, ok mate?"

I want to explain the lies I told her, but again, my mouth opens itself, "Sorry 'mate' but me and Addi were dating so, no I won't just step back and let you try and crush her."

Shawn doesn't reply but I see a hint of confusion flash across his eyes. He turns away and walks down one of the corridors, leaving me in the web of lies I've already lost myself in.

A/N And this is where everything truly begins. Hope you like the chapter!

Also, I would really appreciate any votes/comments, thanks!