Patience ➳ Shawn Mendes

Chapter 29

I stood in the front yard of Shawn's house when I heard the front door open. In no case that could be Shawn because he knew better. He knew to let me have my time and wait for me to come instead of coming to me. 

"I'm sorry for asking." I heard the voice of his grandmother. 

I turned around and gave her a small smile, hoping that my tears have dried up. "It's alright, Ma'am. You didn't know that I would react like that." 

"You know, I had a similar relationship with my family when I was your age until I realised just what family meant." 

"My family lied to me, Ma'am, they used me and have betrayed me. They used me for my money and my popularity and let me fall like a hot potatoe when they gained all they could out of me. I have been very patient with my family and I have given them multiple chances, my parents and siblings warned me but I didn't listen because they were family." I huffed. "I should've listened." 

"I didn't know they had done that." 

"Not many people do, my parents and siblings and Shawn are the only ones that know my entire life." I looked at the house, seeing Shawn watching us from inside. "I love him, did you notice? His parents say that it radiates from us." 

"Oh, it's very clear. I remember seeing it with my daughter and her husband. They used to be just like you and Shawn. They looked at each other like you do, they acted around each other like you do." She had a fond smile on her face. "I was the same with my husband until we... until we seperated." 

"Do you miss him?" 

"More than anything. It was the worst mistake I ever made but I can't go back now." She told me before putting a hand on my face. "Make me happy and don't make the same mistake as I have. What you two have is something that you will only come across once and you'll only experience it once." 

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. 

"You're lucky. You've found what some people look for their entire life." She explained. "You have found your one." 

There it was again, that word 'one'. Shawn had said it to Cam and Nash during our trip to Orlando and I had heard him say it to Jack as well but I hadn't really thought he had meant it. How did he know for sure? 

How did I know for sure? 

"I can see you're doubting it but he is truly your one and only, he's really what most people look for their entire lives." She told me. "Not everyone finds it, you're truly lucky." 

"If that's true then I am lucky, I just don't know if it is yet. I'm not saying that you're lying or something but it's just that I'm apprehensive about all of that when it comes to love, it has to do with my past." I told her. 

She gave me a kind smile which reminded me of my own grandmother. She had died when I was six and even though that was when I was young, I still remembered her quite well. All the things she used to do, the desserts she got from her dinner at the elderly house that she kept just so she could give them to me and if she didn't give me her dessert, she gave me money. 

I was truly saddened when she died and I remember her funeral, I would cry non-stop even though I had no idea what the priest was saying. Whatever he was saying, I knew he was telling the people that my grandmother had died after a long and happy life. 

Good thing he had no idea that he was lying. 

My grandmother had raised my father and not once had he known her truly happy. Her husband and her lived seperatly in the same house, not talking to each other but not completely neglecting him either. She'd still cook him dinner and wash his clothes and such but my father had never known them really being in the same room nor sleeping in the same bed. 

"It okay, dear." She told me. "I get why you would not believe me immediately. What do you say and we go inside? It's getting quite cold and dark out here." 

"Yes, I'd like that very much." I told her. 

We walked inside and took our seats. Nobody asked what we had talked about but I saw Shawn looking at me with a loving gaze and a soft smile. 

"Let's start with dinner." 

"Mom, don't we always say what we're thankful for?" Aaliyah asked. 

"Of course!" Karen's mom said. "Shawn, why don't you begin?" 

"I'm thankful for this family and the help you've provided me with. I'm thankful for the opportunity that I've gotten to live out my dream and for the fans I've gained." He said. "I'm thankful for the new love I've found and for the friends I have." 

"That's very beautiful, sweetheart. Charlotte, would you like to share us what you're thankful for." Karen asked. 

"Sure. Uhm, I'm thankful for the opportunity I've gotten to come here and start over new here. I'm thankful for my family, my niece especially because her arrival has brought more joy to my parents and siblings than ever before. I'm also thankful for the new love I have found for I did not think I would ever find it." 

"That is beautiful, Charlotte." Manuel said. "Aaliyah?" 

Everyone said what they were thankful for and every now and then Shawn and I would catch each other's eye from across the table. It did not go unnoticed by his grandmother because as soon as we started eating, she caught my eye as well and winked at me. 

Dinner went by smoothly with conversation flowing freely and everyone having fun. 

Soon the evening was coming to an end and everyone was leaving while grandma- as she told me to call her- went up to her room so she could get a decent rest before she'd have to go to the airport bright and early the next day. 

I went up with Aaliyah and we changed together before watching some episodes from the 100, which Shawn joined us for. Aaliyah was laying on her bed while Shawn and I were laying in front of it, me in his arms. 

That night, I fell asleep in the arms of the man that I loved with his younger sister in the bed next to us, with the door open. 

That night I dreamt of a possible future that seemed to be perfect and everything I ever wished for. 

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Okay, I have decided to wrap this story up soon before I'm going to start work on the sequel. I will most likely do the epilogue next and then I'll start working on my sequel. 

Be on the look out for the epilogue and I'll post a notification when I'm starting to post the sequel.