Beautiful Lies - Shawn Mendes

18. Not Even Now?

The date was far better than what I ever could have imagined. No-one had ever done anything as thoughtful, or romantic for me. It was safe to say, because of that night, hands down the best night of my life so far, something had shifted in our relationship. Definitely for the better. Our usual flirty, teasing banter still existed, but there was something more to it now.

His kiss. It was all I had been thinking about for the past couple of days. On the occasions where I'd imagined what it would be like, to feel his lips on my own, to feel a fire igniting wherever he touched me, to feel the heat between our bodies and to feel how wild my heart would beat, it was nothing compared to the real thing. As we walked, hand in hand back up the beach, I had the biggest, uncontrollable grin, splayed on my face, and it never left - not even once I'd gotten home, and gotten into bed.

Shawn had this effect on me. Never before had I felt this way about anyone, I had no idea what it was, but I knew now, it was more than a merely innocent crush.

For the past three days, Shawn and I had FaceTimed once his shifts were over. It was always the highlight of my day, and it made me realise - Shawn was an incredible person, The more I got to know about him, the more I was falling for him.

That was the problem with summer romance's, they always ended in heartbreak, when summer ends, they go home, to two far away places, and never see each other again. It wasn't even like we lived in the same country. We lived thousands of miles away from each other, an ocean laying between us.

Did I truly want to enter something that I knew would leave me heartbroken when it was time to return to England? But did I want to deny that there was something between us, an instant connection, unlike one, neither of us had had before. I knew what my mum would say: 'Live a little, you're not young forever.' And so that is what I decided to do. I was going to embrace this time that we did have together, rather than dwell on what could have been if I left it now.

Currently, I was sat on my bed, writing in my diary. It was something my mum had recommended for me to do, so I could keep it, and use it as a keepsake of all the amazing memories I would make this summer. Little did I realise, when I bought it, that one name belonging to the most attractive, funny and kind male I had ever met, would be a reoccurring word within the pages of it.

Finishing my entry for the day, I tidied my room a bit. I had never been a very neat person, my room was disorganised most of the time. But seeing as I knew Nonna would scold me for it, I put the clothes on the floor away, along with other random items I'd dropped on the ground in haste, and made my bed. As much as I hated the process, the end result was pretty nice.

I began to walk to the kitchen to see if Nonna needed any help with prepping dinner. On my way, I heard a knock on the front door. That was unusual. Nonna never told me about anyone visiting. We rarely had visitors, and it definitely couldn't be a postman because the town was so small, that inhabitants had to pick up their own parcels at the little post office.

I passed the kitchen, to go open the door, presumably to let Fliss in, where Nonna was laying down her knife, to go open it.

'Don't worry Nonna, I've got it.'

She smiled and nodded before continuing with the food prep.

I got to the door, and pulled it open, revealing someone very different to Fliss.

'I thought I'd come and surprise you.' A huge grin spread across my face, at the sight of my favourite Canadian holding a bunch of beautiful flowers. It was as if this man knew me without even saying anything because he'd gotten my favourite - tulips.

They were blush pink, paired with stems of lavender, and smaller white sprigs of delicate flowers.

'They're beautiful, how did you know they're my favourites?' I asked mesmerised, and taking the flowers out of his extended hand - his fingers lightly brushing mine.