Dream Big (Sequel to Dreamer)

Chapter Eighteen

Tia's POV

I stood behind Shawn's parents, shifting nervously. They were kind, they were, but a lot had happened. Shawn had told them that I was legal. They thought I was a year older than I really was. They thought my parents just didn't want me to move to Canada because they'd miss me too much. Well, Shawn was under the impression the only reason why they didn't want me with Shawn was because they thought he only wanted me for my body. Really, they were scared the same thing that happened to Aria would happen to me. I gulped, thanking them for giving me a ride and letting me into Shawn's home. They helped me carry my bags in, and asked if there was anything else. I shook my head no. "Nothing else for another week or so. My kitten and her things won't be out of quarantine until then." I explain, and then nod with a smile. "Well, I guess that's all for now. Shawn asked us over for dinner tomorrow night, so we'll see you then." His mom says, and I smile. "I'll see you then. Thank you." I tell them, and they leave with a wave. Aaliyah stops in the door way, whispering to me, "You make Shawn very happy. Thank you." I smile at her, feeling welcomed by her statement. "I needed to hear someone say that. Thank you, Aaliyah. Shawn makes me very happy, and I'm so glad I do the same for him." I tell her, and she smiles again before shutting the door and catching up with her parents. I lift the handle on one of my suitcases, and I sigh. I had a decent amount of unpacking to do, but I was happy here.

~ Three Hours Later ~

I carefully placed the last pan on the table, letting out a breath. I had finished dinner. I had showered after I unpacked, and gotten changed into something a bit nicer and turning on the TV, a little background noise, before I started cooking. I had made meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes. I wasn't sure if Shawn would like it, but I hoped that he would. I made sure the food stayed covered so it would stay warm until Shawn got home. I had already set the table with plates, silverware, serving spoons, cups, and napkins. I had my cup filled with sweet tea, but I left Shawn's empty. Seeing as I had to actually make the tea, I wasn't sure if Shawn liked sweet tea or not. As I finally sat down I heard the front door open, and I turned to see the one person I had been so eager to see. He dropped his guitar case, and I ran at him. He picked me up as I wrapped myself around him, and I'm pretty sure we both started crying. "Shawn." I whispered, and he hugged me closer. "I missed you so much." He whispered back, and I hugged him tighter. "I missed you." I tell him, and he pulls away enough to kiss me. I kiss back, and we both relax. Shawn and I pull away, and we smile at each other. We wipe each other's tears, and he puts me down. "Now, what is that amazing smell?" He asks me, and I laugh. "I cooked us some dinner." I tell him, and he gets this huge grin on his face. "I made meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes." I tell him, and he grins wider. "You didn't have to do this!" Shawn tells me as we walk closer to the dinner table. "I wanted to." I insist, and he takes a seat at the spot with the empty cup. "I didn't know what you'd want to drink, so I left your cup empty." I tell him, sitting down as well. "What are you drinking?" Shawn asks, and I smile. "Sweet tea." I tell him, and he chuckles. "Why am I not surprised?" I roll my eyes, and I begin to fix my plate. As I look over at Shawn again he looks disheveled. I glance at the TV behind me, seeing that there had been a hostage situation at Shawn's work. I look over at him in panic. "Are you okay? What happened? What did that person want?" I asked, feeling anxiety rise in my chest. "I'm fine, I'm just a little shaken up. The guy was looking for me, and he wanted an exclusive interview so bad he put us under a hostage situation." Shawn explains, and I gulp. "Don't worry. They got him." Shawn whispers, placing his hand on mine. I relax a bit, and we continue dinner.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Shawn and I create a steady pattern. Every morning Shawn and I wake up. While he's showering I make us breakfast. After breakfast Shawn helps me clean up the kitchen, and then I help Shawn gets his things together for work. I walk him to the door, and we kiss goodbye. I make sure he has everything, we kiss one more time, and he leaves. I spend the day searching for a job, watching random shows and movies on Netflix, scrolling through social media, and eating. I'll get an occasional text from Shawn, him checking up on me. One time he and I had a digital lunch date. It was absolutely adorable. There were a couple nights that Shawn would come home crying, which broke my heart, especially since he was trying to deny it at first. Every time, though, I got him to tell me what was going on. The first night, I found out that his songwriter's twin sister died during delivery. He told me that they had gotten really close over the last few weeks, and that he didn't know what he was going to do now. I felt so bad for him, seeing as his songwriter didn't have anyone else in the country that cared for her. The girl's mom was all the way in L.A., with no passport or money to get to Canada. He started going to see the triplets everyday after that, because the father didn't care to. He told me that social workers wouldn't get involved until it was time for them to leave the hospital, and until then, they had nobody. I wanted to sadly to go with him, but I knew I'd get attached, and it would break my heart to watch them get put in the system. Shawn would show me pictures of the babies, and my heart ached for them. They were so tiny, and so frail. I knew they'd been born rather early, so that made me nervous. Then, one day, Shawn came home balling harder than I'd ever seen. One of the babies had died. Her lungs collapsed; and she was so small, weak, and her body was so thin; they couldn't save her. The poor baby, Shawn was forced to name her. He was absolutely torn apart. He was the one to care for and love the babies when no one else was there to. Not long after that he came home, crying tears of joy. Destiny woke up. They began to watch the babies together, celebrating the milestones of improvement together, as they happened. I'll admit, I was jealous of that, but I let her have it since they were her niece and nephew, and she had nothing else to look foreword to. I can't get mad over the babies' aunt being excited. Now that she was awake, Shawn didn't have to spend as much time at the hospital, but he continued to go as much as he did before. Tonight was one of those nights. I finished setting the table, and I watched the news on the television. I was watching in horror, seeing that Shawn's car was totaled. Completely flattened almost. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I snatched my phone up, dialing Shawn's number, only to receive his voicemail instantly. Despite better judgement, I called him again and again until I couldn't see properly enough to do so anymore. I sobbed and sobbed as the news reporter was informing us on the situation. "As of right now, none of the victims can be identified. It seems that there was only one person in the black Jeep Wrangler. As for the eighteen wheeler that caused the accident, the driver has been ejected from the vehicle, and into the river nearby. Please stay tuned for further information."