patience

Chapter Five

Today was the concert in Louisville. The first time I would get to see Alessia perform live and Shawn too. This morning he gave me one of his tour shirts and made me promise to wear it today. Alessia wasn't too fond of that idea, but she got over it. Alessia was currently doing her meet and greet, so Shawn and I were walking around the venue together.

"Look, Carrie Underwood is coming here in October" I say looking at a poster hanging by the door.

"Do you like her?" He asks. I nod.

"I'm a huge country music fan" I say. He smiled.

"Good to know that" He says. We continue to walk around the building.

"Look how beautiful that is!" I exclaim. I was talking about the river and view over into Indiana.

"It's pretty, but I've see prettier things today" He says.

"Well, you're surrounded by pretty girls all the time. That comes with being a celebrity" I say. He shakes his head and laughs. "What?".

"That flew right over your head" He says.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"I meant that you're the prettiest thing I've seen today" He says. My heart dropped. I smile.

"You're full of it" I say. He smiles that smile you can't say no too.

"No, I just recognize beauty when I see it, and you are absolutely beautiful" He says. I continued smiling like a fool.

"You're absolutely insane" I say. He rolls his eyes.

"I'll prove it to you one day. You just wait" He says.

"What do you plan on doing?' I ask.

"Well, if I told you then it wouldn't be as special" He says.

"True. I'll be waiting then" I say.

"It's kind of weird to even say this, but I'm going too" He says.

"Say what?" I ask.

"I've know you for five days, but I think you're amazing, and I kind of hope you might feel the same way" He says. I stared at him for what felt like an eternity.

"I-I think you're amazing too" I say. He smiles and hugs me tightly. His arms wrapped around me so tight.

"I want to get to know you and see where this might take us" He says. He almost whispers it in my ear.

"I do too" I say. He smiles. "One condition though" I say. He raises an eyebrow. "This can't be public".

"Deal" He says. He hugs me again. He pulls away before it becomes more than just a hug.

"Alessia should be done by now. I'll see you after the show" I say. He nods.

I walk away slowly until I know he can't see me anymore. When he was out of my vision, I slid down the wall onto the ground. I needed to wrap my head around what was going on. Shawn just admitted he had feelings for me and I admitted I had feelings for him. We liked each other and agreed to keep it a secret. I felt crazy. I mean, what we were doing was crazy, but it felt right at the same time. I was so confused an flustered and every emotion you can pretty much think of. I didn't even notice Alessia standing in front of me.

"Riv, snap out of it" She says. I look at her. "What's up?".

"Oh, uh... nothing" I say standing up. "I was just thinking about stuff. I can't believe I'm here with you".

"I know. Me either. I'm so glad you are though" She says and hugs me. I almost wanted to cry. I don't know why I didn't tell her that I liked Shawn. I told her everything, but something told me not too.

***
Alessia was about to go on and perform.

"Alright, let's do this" She says. I hug her one last time before the lights go down. The music to 'Here' starts playing and she runs out in stage. The cheers ignore from the crowd and her beautiful voice soon overcame the whole venue.

Shawn snuck up behind me.

"She has an incredible voice" He says.

"Yeah, I remember hearing her sing 'Tears Dry On Their Own' by Amy Winehouse all the time when we were kids. Instead of saying 'fuck myself in the head with stupid men' she always sang 'duck' to avoid cussing" I say remembering our childhood.

"Did you ever sing it like that?" He asks. I half laugh.

"I don't sing. I may look like her, but I don't sound like her" I say. Alessia and I looked almost identical except my hair was lighter, my face was more structured, and I had blue eyes.

"I'll get you to sing one day" He says.

"We'll see" I say. He laughs.

We stopped talking long enough to hear Alessia sing 'Out Of Love'. It was my favorite song of hers.

"It always gives me chills when she sings the line 'when did you run out of love for me'. It's such a powerful line" Shawn says.

"I know. I love the song" I say.

"That's a way I hope no person ever feels about me. I never want to make someone feel like I stopped loving them" He says.

"For me, I just want to be loved once. I don't care if the love runs out" I say.

"When the right person loves you, the love never will run out" He says. He and I just stared at each other for a few minutes. I got lost in Shawn and I had no clue why. It kind of scared me a bit.

"I could stare at you all day, but I better get ready for my performance" He says. I nod. "I'll find you afterwards".

I watch him fade into the darkens as I wait for Alessias set to finish. I couldn't get him off my mind.

Alessia came off stage and hugged me tighter than ever.

"I'm beyond proud of you" I say squeezing her.

"Are you ready to watch Shawn?" She asks. I nod. It felt like an eternity before he came out. When he did, though, it made my heart race.

***
It was the final song that he was singing, he took a minute and talked to the crowd.

"Okay, Louisville. I changed my set list up tonight just because I promised my friend I would dedicate this last song to her. My opening act, Alessia Cara, was joined by her cousin a few days ago, she's become a friend to me and I promised her that this is for her tonight, so with that being said... River, where were you in the morning, babe?". My heart dropped and a smile came across my face.

He sang the song and ended the show, he practically ran to me to catch me before I got into the bus with Alessia. We were standing in the open garage door that overlooked the Ohio River. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into him.

"What are-". Before I finished my sentence, he softly pressed his lips to mine. He stayed a few seconds and then pulled away.

"Surprise".

CLIFFHANGER!