the fall • s.m.

38 • don't

// margot kate franklin //

@margotkatefranklin: "everybody's trying to be a billionaire, but every time I look at you I just don't care. cause all I wanna be, yeah all I ever wanna be is somebody to you."

@shawnmendes: @margotkatefranklin lol you're somebody to me

• • •

"How are you so beautiful?"

I rolled my eyes but blushed as he wrapped his arms around my waist, looking at me. I was wearing Nike shorts and a sweatshirt that said UCLA. We had just gotten back from seeing a drive-in movie just like we did for our first ever date. I don't know, I thought it was pretty cute.

"Stop, Shawn," I said, turning away to hide my red face.

"I'm not kidding, Margot," he replied, quickly kissing me as we both stood on my front porch. I snaked out of his grasp to sit and on the porch swing my dad had proudly made himself when I was in the hospital. He thought it would be a good place for me to write and think. He was right. Shawn sat next to me.

"I'm glad we got to go on another date," he told me, smiling as he brushed a piece of hair out of my face.

"Kind of thought we wouldn't have another one," I said, and he shook his head.

"I knew we'd have another one. We had to," he replied.

"And here we are," I said, and he intertwined his fingers with mine, kissing the back of my hand.

"Here we are," he repeated, smiling at me.

I blissfully looked at the starry sky, trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is happening again. He and I together again. Two weeks ago I wouldn't have even dreamt it.

"What?" he asked, laughing a little at me.

I shook my head, turning away. "Nothing."

"Tell me," he demanded. I sighed.

"It's nothing. It's just...I don't know, this is all kind of weird," I said.

"Weird? I was thinking more like...great," he replied, and I laughed and shook my head.

"Not like weird in a bad way. Just the fact that everything is happening again and we're here together again. Like last year. I don't know. It's just a little strange, I guess."

He looked over at me. "I know, I know, it's kind of weird. I hate that it has to be like this. I hate that I fucked it up last year. I hate how we both sit here and pretend everything that happened before didn't happen. I hate it," he said, shaking his head. I didn't say anything.

"But, I really don't want to compare it to last year. I want to treat you better than I did last year, and love you better than I did last year, and kiss you more than I did last year, and tell you how much you mean to me more than I did last year. Last year was good, but this will be better. Trust me on that, Margot Kate."

I smiled, the butterflies in my stomach going crazy right about now. "I couldn't agree more. This is a fresh start for us," I told him.

He nodded. "But don't forget all the good stuff that happened last year."

A smile crept on to my lips. "How could I?"