Your Song (Shawn Mendes)

Chapter 4

Shawn starting wringing his hands in nerves as he and Andrew took a seat in his dressing room. Andrew placed the folder on the table in front of them. Shawn didn't dare touch it but waited for Andrew to speak. "You know we do background checks on all the crew members." Shawn nodded, it was standard industry practice. "Well, we started looking into Maria so that we could be confident going into this tour with her."

Shawn felt his heart clench. "What did you find?" He was terrified of the answer but he had to know.

"Well at first we didn't find anything." Andrew answered. "Every source we checked made it look as though she just dropped into existence at age 14, bounced around foster homes a bit before being adopted by the Peters at 15. Nothing else. So we dug a bit deeper." He held out the folder to Shawn. "Shawn, you need to read this."

Shawn willed his hands not to shake as he took the folder from Andrew. He cautiously opened it and his eyes widened. "Is this... a police report?" He asked.

Andrew nodded. "The files were sealed but we had a contact over at Toronto PD that helped us out. Shawn, there was no record of her before 14 years old because no one knew she existed before then." Shawn quickly scanned the document and he felt close to throwing up at what he read.

The report stated that on March 17, 2013, the police raided a house in Toronto for possible drug dealing. They found the house empty except for the basement where they found a girl locked away. "Maria." He said quietly. They had to immediately take Maria to the hospital as she had multiple injuries to all parts of her body. What made Shawn's heart shatter is the fact that when they examined her at the hospital, they found that she had been starved, beaten, and... raped repeatedly for years prior to her discovery.

She told them that she had been raised by a man named Noah Cartwright, who was the one they suspected of dealing. Except she knew Noah wasn't her real father. He had told her when she was older that he had taken her from a mother and father that he claimed wouldn't take care of her right. He had locked her away in the basement, allowing her to go to school online under a fake name. 

The report went on to say the abuse started young but he didn't begin raping her until she had her first period at 12. Shawn threw the file down onto the table and began to pace, running his hands through his hair. No wonder she was so closed off. She had spent the majority of her life being tortured mercilessly by a man and now she was one of the few women on this tour.

Shawn felt sick to his stomach. How could someone do something like that to a girl as amazing as Maria? What kind of sick bastard was that Noah guy? "Please tell me he's in jail right now." Shawn finally spoke. Andrew was silent. "My God." Not only did she have to endure years of abuse at the hands of the son of a bitch, but he was still out there?

Andrew stood up. "Look, Shawn. I don't know what's going through your head right now but you cannot let her know you know about this." Shawn started to object but Andrew cut him off, "Shawn, this is a sensitive matter. A lot of victims who go through the abuse she has end up killing themselves or going insane within a few years so it's amazing that she's gotten this far. If you try to push her into telling you something that she doesn't want to, you'll only push her further away."

Shawn nodded and put his head in his hands. "God, I can't believe she went through this." He said quietly.

"I know." Andrew said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But this has to come from her on her own time. Shawn, I've seen the way you are with her. You care about her. A lot more than you let on right now." Shawn couldn't do anything but nod. He knew he was attracted to her from the moment he set eyes on her and no he had an almost instinctual urge to protect her. "Let her come to you, Shawn. Show her that you won't hurt her, that you care and she'll come to you."

Shawn nodded and left the dressing room, his thoughts a tangled mess. Maria didn't deserve to have been tortured like she had. She was beautiful from the inside out from her passion for music to her obvious love for the mothers that didn't even raise her but treated her as their daughter none the less. Shawn's eyes widened as a thought came to him.

She or Rachel sometimes sing it to me when I... can't sleep  

How could he have been so stupid? She was tortured for 14 years of her life! She would obviously have PTSD from that. He made a mental note to one day thank Nicole and Rachel for taking such good care of her when they took her into their home. He also made a mental note to learn all the songs she loved or that would calm her down so that maybe he could continue to help her when her memories caught up to her.

"Shawn!" A voice brought him out of his thoughts. His eyes widened as he set eyes on Maria. She wore a loose spaghetti strap tank top that showed off the tattoo on her chest and had a v-neck cut, black ripped jeans, black wedge sandals, and a black lace cardigan. Her hair was down and flowing, the silver being the only color in her ensemble. She twirled in front of him. "How do I look?"

Shawn felt his jaw drop to the floor. How was he supposed to say she looked even more gorgeous now that he knew she had the strength of a warrior in her? How was he supposed to tell her that he just fell for her a little bit more because she has the ability to smile even after all the hell she's been through? He smiled brightly at her, connecting his brown eyes with her dark ones. "You look absolutely stunning, Maria." He finally answered.

A dark blush coated her cheeks and she mumbled her thanks. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, just simply looking at each other. He wanted to tell her so many things but he would have to just stay silent for now. He couldn't push her. All he could hope for is that one day soon she would trust him enough to share her scars and demons with him.