Unexpected - Shawn Mendes

Chapter Twenty Eight

I answered the door, and Shawn hugged me. I laughed. "I missed you." he says.

I shut the door and lead him inside, where he takes a seat at the counter. "Want anything to eat? Or drink?" I ask him, looking through the pantry for something for myself.

"Yeah, sure," he answers. I pull out two cups and two cans of Cherry Coke, knowing that Shawn liked the flavor. I then popped some popcorn and put it into a large bowl.

I sat next to Shawn, and took a sip of my soda.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about something. Which is the reason why I invited you over so late anyways, sorry about that," I say, and he stays quiet, but makes a motion with his hand to tell me he is listening so I can continue.

"So Jake means a lot to me right? He's my boyfriend. And after he came over today he told me he didn't want me to be friends with you anymore," I say the last part quietly, and Shawn frowns.

"You listened to him G, didn't you?" he asks, a hurt tone in his voice.

"Well I- I didn't want him to leave me. So at the time I agreed to it but afterwards I was thinking about how stupid it was to let him control who I can be friends with. So I thought maybe we could still be friends, just not publicly."

"Grace," he says, "That's stupid. We are both in relationships. And I'm not sure if I want to be apart of this, you're going to get caught. Why would you let him decide who can be your friend and who can't?"

"Listen I know it's stupid Shawn but I wasn't thinking at the time. I don't want to lose either of you, this is the only way. Please," I beg, I could tell he was mad but I didn't want to lose either of them considering they both meant a lot to me.

He stays silent for awhile, thinking everything over with his chin rested in his hands. He'd occasionally massage his temples with the tips of his fingers.

"Alright fine, I guess. But what about lunch? We sit at the same table, and everyone will be confused if you move," he points out. At this point in the school year the lunch tables were pretty established and if someone were to move, everyone would assume you got into a fight with the people sitting there. Then you would be bombarded with questions, when really people need to just mind their own business.

"I'll explain it to Jake, and if he has a problem I'll just move to his table. I can't ask you to move considering this is all my fault, that wouldn't really be fair," I say, taking a handful of popcorn and slowly eating it.

"Good," he speaks, "because I wasn't going to move anyways."

I roll my eyes, but I don't blame him considering my stupid decision shouldn't be keeping him from seeing his friends. I nod my head, before taking a sip of my cherry coke.

"But G, do you really think he's the guy for you? I'm not trying to offend you, but he should trust you around other guys, you're his girlfriend," Shawn states, seeming quite nervous as he ran a hand through his hair.

"But Shawn," I whine, "I really like him. I promise if he keeps doing things like this I'll think about ending it, but I don't want to give up just yet,"' I decide, hoping that I will follow through with the plan I had come up with. "How are you and Laur, by the way?"

A smile creeps into his face, and his cheeks turn a dark red as he smiles, and he looks onto his lap, "Great, actually. She's amazing, she makes me really happy."

"Glad to hear," I tell him, taking the final sip from my cup, "I wish Jake knew that so he could trust me around you."

He laughs, "Me too, G, me too. But even if he did know, I still don't think he'd like us hanging out together."

"Yeah," I mumble, "I didn't expect him to be so.. so controlling, you know? He seemed so sweet, and he usually is."

"It's okay, he won't find out, G, you won't have to lose either of us," He assures me, and suddenly I feel slightly better.

But I still found myself doubting that this plan would work out. At parties, Shawn and I wouldn't be able to talk to each other if Jake is there. And I have to be careful with who I invite where. It would also be risky for Shawn and myself to go out in public together. This was extremely complicated and I wish I would've stuck up for myself when I had the opportunity to.

"You were the first person I met when I came here. And Jake was a dick to me, and you were there. I shouldn't have told him I'd stop being your friend," I say, beginning to panic again, "What if he finds out that I've been going around his back? And lying to him? So no matter what happens, there's a chance our relationship won't last long. Why can't we all just be friends and be happy?"

"That's it!" Shawn laughs, "What if I became friends with Jake? I could talk about Laur a lot and then maybe he'd get the point and realize that we aren't into each other?"

"That's a great idea Shawn, but Jake is stubborn, it won't be easy for you. He already has you marked as an enemy because he thinks you like me," I explain, appreciating the effort he was willing to put in, but doubting the situation.

"I can get anyone to like me, G. No harm in trying," he says, tossing the final piece of popcorn into his mouth and smiling at me.