Love Exists - Shawn Mendes Fanfic

Chapter 24

Shawn's POV

Like last time, I wake up to something tickling me, but this time around my neck. Jess has rolled into me, her face pressed against my chest. Her hair is spread around her and some of it reach toward my face. I stroke her cheek gently, and immediately she heaves a big sigh in her sleep before burying her face deep into my side. I laugh lightly and wrap my arms around her, wanting to keep her safe forever.

   I stretch my arms out and wake up to the sound of a drier going off. I force my eyes to open and my sight is blurry, still adjusting to the sunlight pouring into the room. Jess is in the corner, drying her hair. I rub my eyes and get a closer look, and she looks beautiful from the back. Her dark hair is in damp waves as her hand runs through the knots. She's wearing a khaki cropped top with black ripped jeans. She stands up and looks around to my direction, and I swear it was in slow motion. Her hair bounces around and she looks at me before lowering her gaze. She stops drying her hair and connects her eyes with mine again, stretching her lips into a smile. She says something, but I don't quite catch it. She shakes her head and tilts her head back laughing, but I hear no laughter and she's in slow mo again. She gets up and walks toward me, stopping right infront of me. My heart starts to race a little.

"Can you hear me better now?" She says, not taking her eyes off me. I nod my head and she walks away. I breathe in, realising I held my breath the whole time.

"I said we should probably be ready by 10. I let you sleep in, and Lilly will be here."

"What time's your flight tomorrow?"

"2:45 in the afternoon," Jess says. she turns around and winks at me. "Enough time to recover from any hangovers. Come on Mendes, get ready."

I nod my head slowly. More like not enough time to recover from the past week.

The lift doors open and we walk out into the entrance hall.

"Now remember what I told you - be nice to her, and you have to convince her that you're alright. And don't hit on her, she's got a boyfriend."

I laugh out loud. "Don't worry about that Jess. Got my eyes on someone else."

"Please, stop. I don't want to know."

I wish you did. 
Her friend is sitting on one of the visitor couches, her face emotionless as she looks down at her phone. She looks up as she hears us walk towards her, her face smothered with a lot of make-up. Nice. They both greet each other with hugs and she smiles at me.

"It's Shawn right?"

I nod my head, but Lilly's already set her attention on Jess. Jeez, those two. They're like Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter. They link arms together whilst I follow behind them, my head lowered incase someone recognises me, but no one's giving me a second glance. We pile into a taxi, all three of us in the backseat. A tight squeeze, but at least I'm not in the middle. I get in last so Jess is pressed against my side. My long legs are tucked infront of me with just enough leg room, and I hear the girls whipser or laughing as they look at me.

"So Shawn," Lilly says. "Are you hitting on my best friend? I mean, you have after all chased after a fan right? You came out to Toronto for her and aren't you even already sharing the same bed?"

Jess groans beside me and she covers her face, now turning a shade of pink. I blush and look out of the window.

I look at Jess and she watches me intently. "I... I can't say." Her face looks relieved yet I swear I saw a flash of... what was it? Sadness or realisation? I look over Jess' head toward Lilly. "But I can say that I've tried telling her, and she knows it."

I lower my gaze to Jess and she stares at me, her cheeks still blushing.

"What?" I whisper.

"Nothing."

I tilt my head back against the headrest and close my eyes. Before long, I feel something shift beside me. Lilly has gone to sleep and taken up quite a bit of space, leaving Jess to squish into me.

"It's alright, you can just lean on me."

"Well that was the idea, but I didn't want to invade your personal bubble."

I chuckle. "Of course, how could I forget?"

She shifts closer to me and hugs herself. I place an arm around her and she relaxes into it.

"Jess?"

"Mhmmm?"

"Do you ever remember what happens in your sleep?"

"No? I'm usually too deep in sleep or dreaming," she mumble.

I clear my throat and lower my voice. "You rolled into me last night. And you slept on me."

Her body tenses. "Oh did I? I'm sorry, I promise not to do it again. I didn't say anything in my sleep did I?"