A Happy Ending (Shannon and Cammie)

Chapter 13

Shannon POV

I froze. I hadn't said a word and I felt the color leave my face. 

Carly looked at me with a smug grin. "Oh, Shan here didn't tell you," she said to Cammie. Then she looked to me, "what, I wasn't enough so now you're fucking my leftovers?" She sounded angry. 

"This is a joke, right?" Cammie said in disbelief. 

I snapped out of my trance. "You need to go," I pushed Carly out the door and shut it. Pausing a moment before turning to look at Cammie.

When I did the tears had already started falling. "It was you, wasn't it?" She cried, her voice broke.

"Cammie, please. Just let me explain," I begged but she wouldn't let me.

She shook her head, barely able to muster a sound. "I knew I recognized you. The day we met, I knew I had heard of you before, I feel like an idiot."

"Baby I didn't know," I was crying now, too. 

It was true, I had no idea that Carly and Cammie even knew each other. I met Carly a couple years ago at a bar. We hooked up the night we met and after that it kept happening. It wasn't that often, at first. It happened a couple times, when we hardly knew each other. We didn't talk for a while and we met up again a few months later at a party. She told me she had a girlfriend, so I backed off. But then she started coming on to me all the time. She would always text me and ask me to meet up, so I honestly figured they just weren't together anymore. I never saw a picture of Cammie or went to their apartment or anything. But it doesn't change the fact that I feel horrible about it. 

The look in Cammie's eyes was one I never wanted to see. She looked at me like she didn't know me at all. Like the last month and a half never happened. I could see the pain. I could see the memories of her past relationship flooding back. I caused that. No. Carly caused that. This isn't my fault. I never wanted to hurt Cammie. 

"Cammie I didn't know about you, I swear. I was never that type of person. If I knew a girl was seeing someone else, I never tried to get with her," I pleaded but she just looked right through me. 

"Get out," her words were harsh and cold. 

I couldn't help but let the tears soak my cheeks. I stepped towards her grasping to feel her again but she already felt so far away. "I can't lose you over this, Cam. I can't lose you." 

She cried, which gave me hope. I didn't want to see her cry but I knew that it was a sign that she cared. If she was just angry then I would know I didn't stand a chance. "Shannon, I can't. I can't be with you. I can't wake up in the morning and look over at you, knowing that you were 'the other girl' in my last relationship. You were the reason she would slip out at night and wouldn't come back until 3 am. You were the reason she always hid her phone. You were the reason I never, ever felt like enough to her. I'm sorry. I just can't." 

I grabbed for her hand before she disappeared into her room. The touch of her skin was already something I longed for, and I knew she felt that same ache when we touched by the way her eyes welled with tears. "You can. I know you can. I know I can make you forget that. Just give me a chance. I'll prove to you that I can make you feel like the only girl in the world. Let me show you." 

She looked at me again with that same empty stare. The look that I couldn't talk my way out of. "I just can't, Shannon. I need some space." She shut the door between us and that was it. I felt my heart shatter at the sound of her turning the lock on the other side of the door. 

I was left standing in her apartment, feeling emptier than the cardboard boxes she still hadn't thrown away after moving in. My feet felt like cinderblocks as I dragged them to the door. Every step felt like I was putting miles between us. Every door I closed was a brick wall. So I laid there, in the bed she slept in the a day after we had met. I stuffed my face into the pillow trying to find any scent that she imprinted on my sheets, but it was long gone by now. Instead I just let my tears soak into them. 

I woke up hours later to Amy at my door. "Shannon what happened?" She asked, already mad at me, assuming I did something wrong. 

"Remember Carly?" I groaned, barely lifting my head from the pillow. 

"How could I forget her? I hated that bitch," she said the last part under her breath. 

I scoffed, "she's Cammie's ex. They were together the whole time she and I were hooking up. Cammie and I both just found that out today, and now I'm single because of it."

Amy's face didn't know which emotion to portray. First is was shock, then anger, then confusion, then sympathy. "She'll come around when she realizes that it wasn't your fault. I mean, you didn't know, right?" 

"Of course not. You know I never hooked up with girls that were taken," I told her. 

"Was she mad at you for this?" She questioned, a bit perplexed. 

I nodded. "She says she can't be with me because I'm just a constant reminder of how fucked up her last relationship was." 

"Prove her wrong, Shan. You've never been one to give up," she was right. I knew this already. I wasn't going to sit around and mope about this. 

I planned to show Cammie that I wasn't giving up on her. Every part of me wanted to sit around and be sad, but I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere. I decided to do something about it. 

I went to the store and picked out the prettiest flowers I could find. I grabbed the best "I'm sorry" card that the store had and sat in my car, thinking of what to write. Every dot of ink on that paper was carefully thought out. I wasn't going to give up on her, and I was dedicated to making sure she didn't give up on me. 

I sat outside our apartment complex for what felt like hours. I took several deep breaths, trying to work up the nerve to take these to her. 

I feared that when I knocked on her door, another piece of my heart would break when she didn't open it. I decided not to let that stop me, though. I kept reminding myself of my favorite things about her, the things that motivate me to win her heart again. Like the way her mouth hangs open when she sleeps. Or the way she whined my name when I told her I had to leave. Or the way she would kiss me at night, right before she would fall asleep, like she was so exhausted but she wanted the last thing she tasted before drifting off to be my lips. 

I walked to her door and took a deep breath. I raised my fist to the door, holding it there for a moment. Part of me had hoped this would be like a scene from a movie where she would open the door just as I was about to knock. It doesn't always work that way though. Instead, it worked just how I assumed it would. I knocked a few times, then waited. Nothing. I repeated that. Still nothing. I carefully placed the vase of roses in front of her door. The lady at the store told me that roses are best for apologies. Up against the vase, I leaned an envelope, carrying a card that read:

Cammie Scott,

I could feed you with millions of excuses or try to justify why this happened the way it did, but I simply won't do that. Instead, I'm going to start over. I'm going to win your heart, again. I'm going to show you that I'm here to stay and I'm not letting you forget about me. You're so special to me, Cammie. I would be an idiot if I let you slip away. 

I'll give you your space, but I won't go away forever. I will spend the rest of my days making you believe that you're the most beautiful girl in the world. And, hopefully, one of those days will be the day I get to call you mine again. 

I love you. 

I promise,

Shannon Beveridge