One Shot with Shawn Mendes - Collection

JANE

    *Ding* 'Ugh, not right now, I need to study for my finals,' you think to yourself as you pick up your phone, unable to resist. You know exactly who's texting you.

"Hey girl, just thinking of you."

    A smile spreads across your face as you text Shawn back:

"Oh really? Anything made you do that in particular?"

    You met Shawn through some friends of friends at a party about a month ago, and the chemistry was undeniable. You both felt it, and you've been texting ever since. Nothing has really happened yet, since you haven't seen each other since that first night, but you're hoping it will change soon.

"Just my empty king-size bed," Shawn texts back.

"Oh, it must be so hard to find someone to fill it, what with the millions of fan girls in your DMs."

"But it's you I want, Jane."

    You put your phone down. It's been a lot of cute and sexy messages like that, but nothing concrete. I mean, Toronto is barely 5 hours away from Montreal, but no one suggested to meet again. It's fun to text, it's fun to know so many would kill for that phone number, yet he decided to give it to you, but it's getting a bit old.

"Invite me over, then," you send back before switching off your phone for the night.

    You get up to make yourself a cup of chai and get back to your work space. You stay in your books all night, when finally, long after your bedtime, you decide to turn in. You turn your phone back on to set your alarm, and you see you have a few unread text messages. Two of them from Shawn:

"Come over" followed by a train ticket in your name.

    He sent this almost two hours ago, so you decide it's best to reply tomorrow. You fall asleep as the butterflies work up a storm in your stomach.

    You wake up to your alarm, and hurry to school. Morning classes, never a good choice. You finally settle in at your desk a few minutes in advance, so you take out your phone to reply to Shawn. As you open your text messages, you have a new one from him already:

"Hey darling, are you free tonight? Wanna grab dinner?"

    Wait, hold up. What does he mean 'grab dinner'? Is he in town? He was in Toronto last night, and sent you a ticket to come visit him this summer, he can't possibly already be here? Then it dawns on you: this message was destined to someone else. A knot forms in your stomach as you realize he'd been flirting with you, and then some other girls as well. All these 'Hey girl' and 'Morning beautiful', were they real, or just a way not to mix up the names?

    You have better things to do than think of this boy, like ace this final, so you coldly text back, before putting away your phone:

"Might wanna check who you sent that to."

    After the exam, you walk to the bathroom and check everything else on your phone but this conversation. You have no time for his half-ass explanation right now. You know you were never exclusive or serious or anything, but wouldn't you expect someone you're texting every damn day about wanting to be with each other to, well, not want to be with anyone else?

    On the subway ride home, you get a call. You send it to voicemail and text Shawn:

"In the subway. Can't talk."

    You get home a few minutes later, and maybe it's the walk in the fresh air, or the fact that you're pretty confident about your final, but you open his conversation. The multitude of messages appear before you.

"Jane, I'm sorry, I can explain."

"Please call me."

"At least a text?"

"Jane, you know I love talking to you, but you're far away right now. Am I not supposed to talk to other people?"

"It's just a harmless dinner."

"I miss you."

"Are you still coming to see me this summer?"

"Please, Jane, pick up."

    How- Where to begin. What's a harmless dinner? It's still a date. He'd flirt with you all day, then turn it on for someone else. I mean, you're far away, but so is he. And even if you feel lonely at times, are you out there texting other guys? No, you're not. And it's not because you couldn't. These dark brown eyes have turned quite a few heads.

    Nonetheless, you decide to let him explain himself, so you call him. He picks up on the first ring.

"Jane. I'm sorry. I swear it's not what you think," Shawn says, apologetically, immediately as he picks up.

"Well, I think you were asking another girl out on a date," you say, hoping he has a magical explanation.

"I- I guess I was..." he trails off. "But only because I haven't seen her in a while, we hung out a few times, and she's in town for a few days only. I simply wanted to catch up."

"Okay, and how many other exes have you caught up with like that since we've been talking?"

"Exes? We went on like, 4 dates. She's not an ex! Jane-"

"Well 5, now!"

"Oh my god Jane! Look, I didn't mean to offend you, but I'm not- I mean, we're not even dating! I love talking to you, don't get me wrong. My days wouldn't be the same. But I'm not gonna stop seeing other friends because I can't see you."

    There's a pause. You figure it's your turn to talk, but you're still taking in his words. They do sound harsh, but you understand that he's trying to reason with you, and as much as you hate to admit it, he is kind of right.

"Okay. I get that. I just wasn't ready for that this morning before my International Finances final, and I guess my nerves got the better of me. And I never meant you shouldn't have a social life, but asking another darling out on a date, that was a bit of a shock," you reply, now that you've calmed down.

"And again, I'm sorry it sounded that way," Shawn says. "But I need you to believe me when I say I want you. Here. In this king-size bed," he says, the smile audible in his voice. "And no one else."

    Hearing the words was just like reading them, and the butterflies come back. You say through your smile:

"Alright then, I'll see you in August."

"If I don't surprise you first!" Shawn says, before hanging up.

    What's that supposed to mean?

*Ding* *Ding* You click on the latest text notification.

"In the meantime, don't forget:"

    The text is followed by the link to Never Be Alone. Man, does he know how to make you feel better. You reply a few kissy emojis and go make yourself some food. You still have 3 finals this week, so there's a lot of studying to do.

    You're doing a great job at not letting your phone distract you from your work, so when you finally take a break, you have 6 unread messages, half of them from Shawn. You force yourself to check the ones from your mom and best friend before, and finally get to him.

"Fuck it, I can't wait till our birthday."

"When are you done with your exams? This weekend?"

"Jane, I'm coming to see you. What are the cool spots to see in Montreal? Will you show me?"

    You feel the butterflies come back, but they're different this time. It's excitement, but also motivation to go through your finals week. You reply:

"Friday, 3:40pm at the latest."

    It cannot come soon enough.

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