Unexpected - Shawn Mendes

Chapter Twenty Six

Shawn's POV

I wake up in a room, confused. I didn't remember how I got there, or what had happened. I look down. I was still in my suit from the previous night.

I try to sit up, but my arm collapses under me and I fall back to my original position, groaning in pain. Afterwards I notice the dried blood on my hands and the white part of my tuxedo, and the pain in my arms came from bruises.

I realize how bad it hurts me to breathe, but cannot remember for the life of me how I ended up here. I held onto my nightstand as support when I stood up, which was quite painful.

I looked into the mirror on top of my dresser, and realized how disheveled I looked. I had bruises and blood, and a cut on my lip.

Just by studying myself in the mirror, I already knew exactly what had happened.

I collected a clean change of clothes and boxers, before going into the bathroom and taking a nice hot bubble bath and cleaning my wounds.

When I got out, my muscles felt more relaxed, but my body still ached whenever I moved. I tended the wound on my lip, which burned quite a bit. I gasped in pain.

With a towel wrapped around my waist, I wander back to my room. I change into sweatpants and a hoodie.

Aaliyah knocks on my door, and I tell her to come in.  She's staring at the floor, and I begin to question if everything is okay. She was never one to stay quiet, she was always vocal.

"Are you okay?" she whispers.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I shrug, refusing to let her know how badly I just wanted to die. I wanted this to end, it was affecting my career and my at home life, and it killed me.

"I was sleeping when you got home, and Shawn, it was so so bad," she whispers, a tear escaping her eye. She quickly wipes it away, until there is nothing. Her eyes water. "It was so bad it woke me up. I was scared, I should've called the police. I should've stopped it."

I wrap my arms around her. We stay there for a few moments, until I can come up with something to make her feel better. "Never come out of your room when that's happening. I would rather this be me than you, okay? And don't call the police unless it gets bad. He's our dad. He loves us and cares for us deep down," I tell her, rubbing circles against her back.

She cries, and I do all I can to sooth her. It hurt me to see her like this, and it hurt me bad.

But as she cried, and as I held her, my mind traced back to last night's dance. Grace had looked so beautiful, more beautiful than Laur could've ever looked.

That's what sucks about my life, I can never get what I want. Although the fame and the shows are amazing, it doesn't last forever. In twenty years, everything will have settled down, and I don't want to be alone for the rest of my life. I want a family to fall back on. I want Grace.

I was so grateful for Aaliyah, I was so grateful for such a sweet sister. I was so grateful to have a support system, I couldn't make it through this without her. Our relationship was strong, and I was so thankful for it. I would've killed myself long ago, but she keeps me going. She is my fuel, I have to be strong for her, and I have to protect her.

She sits on the bean bang in the corner of my
room. I pull the chair out from my desk and sit a few feet away.

I took my guitar off the stand and strum. I strum a few chords, before I begin to sing to her.

She gets up and lays on my bed. I continue to play for her until I am sure she is asleep. I stand up and put my desk chair back, and I locked my door. I decided to prop a chair against it, making it impossible for my father to open and get into the room.

I kiss her forehead and lay beside her. We are both calm, we are both peaceful. It didn't take very long for me to fall asleep, but when I did, my thoughts wandered back to Grace.