Dating My Brother's Best Friend [Shawn Mendes]

17 | caught

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I believe small talk is normal with these type of so called first dates. Maybe I'm overthinking this, like I constantly do. Perhaps the worries I have overwhelmed in my head is distracting myself from channeling my inner social skills.

"Malia, I have a question to ask," Shawn sips on his mocha drink, nearly burning his tongue. "Damn. That stung."

"Haha.. - Um, what's your question?" I place my right elbow on the table and rest my face on the palm of my hand, tilting my head.

"What's the deal with Nick?" Huh? Nick? Best friend Nick? Robinson? Nicholas?

"Wait, my Nick? Right?"

"Yes, your Nick. You only know one Nick, right?" He questions. Yes, that's correct. I wonder why he suddenly brought that up. Out of all the other conversation starters, he chose to ask about a friend he doesn't talk to. And well, I haven't spoken to him in a fat minute.

"Oh, yeah. What do you mean... by that.. exactly? The last time I spoke to him was a few days ago, it's been a while. Did something happen?"

"Well... I just remembered the time we had our double- or I should say triple date weeks ago... You and Nick were pretty, pretty close, like this," Shawn intertwined his fingers, giving me an example of how close me and Nick were that night.

But he's right. We were close, like how he interpreted with his fingers. That was such an odd night, it was completely erased from my mind. "Oh.. Yeah, about that. I'm kinda clueless honestly. I mean, nothing happened afterwards. We just resumed to being friends, and he hasn't b-..." I stop talking as I realized that one text he sent on accident. I realized what Leah said about his... I don't know, secret lover. And of course, I remember Ian's assumption of Nick and I. Damn it. What if it's me? Maybe I've consumed dumb bitch juice.

"Everything good?" Shawn asks, waiting for me to finish speaking. "Yeah, everything's okay. I just forgot to drop off my gifts for Leah and Nick before we leave for Toronto..." I lied, but actually realized I did have to finish that task by tonight.

"Oh. Well, I can... Help you with that!"

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

It's not like my friends don't know about us. I have to confront Leah about Nick, and Nick about... Himself. I feel bad, really bad. He's my best friend, and I don't want to lose someone because I've felt something for someone else. But at the same time, if I don't talk to him, what if I cause a massive corruption between our friendship? I'm afraid either way.

"Thanks... Hey, I should probably get you something for Christmas. I feel bad that I haven't gotten you anything yet," I folded my hands. "Anything you want.. or need?"

"Oh you don't have to! I already... Got you something by the way. It's probably too early for me to tell but, it's whatever."

Shawn got me something? That's quite unexpected considering the fact we recently reconnected for a month, or a month almost. Now I feel tremendously bad for not getting him anything. But that didn't necessarily cross my mind as it did for Shawn when he thought of my gift. It's time to do some hardcore thinking. Perhaps I'll grab something while in Toronto without him knowing.

"Knowing you got me something makes me feel even more bad. It'll be a surprise," I gave out a small smirk, and the most precious smile grows on his face. "Alright, I'm down for surprises. Hey, you know, I'm surprised our families are actually taking a trip to Toronto for the holidays especially since we just moved. We literally just got situated last week yet they were like, fuck it, let's go to Canada."