The Pop-Up Shop

Chapter Twenty Five

APRIL'S POV

We arrived at the big venue at 10 am the day of the concert. Both Ruel and l follow Nate into the back area where I saw the one and only Shawn Mendes. I must admit, I was a big fan and this was a very surreal moment for me, 'Come on. I'll introduce you' Ruel 

'No no no no no' I pull back his arm as Ruel pulls a confused face.

'What? Why not?'

'I'm scared' I squeak out and he chuckles

'You weren't scared to meet me' he shrugs his shoulders and I sigh, throwing my hands to slap against my thighs.

'But I barely knew you! Shawn Mendes is Shawn Mendes' he rolls his eyes at me and grabs my hand anyways before pulling me towards Shawn

'Shawn, this my girlfriend, April' Ruel introduces as we share a small wave.

'Girlfriend, huh? Last time I saw you, you were trying with um, what was it? M-Mary?' he tries to think of her name off the top of her head. 

'Yeah, we don't talk about her' I cross my arms.

'Sassy, I like it' Shawn chuckles and I instantly get embarrassed.

'Me too. Mind if I walk around the venue? Not anything going on, on the stage?' Ruel smiles and we share a nod. 

'Nah, you're all good. Nice meeting you April,' I smile as Ruel leads me away to go onto the stage. My jaw drops at the sight of the empty venue

'Holy shit Ruel' is all I could get out.

'My thoughts exactly' he mumbles, pulling me up onto the stage. We both stand in the middle as he hugs me with his hands resting around my lower back and we look out into the empty crowd. I couldn't be prouder of him.

'I'm so proud of you Ruel...'

'Thank you. I'm so glad you're here' Ruel replies, not looking at me but without a second thought I spit out what I had been holding in.

'I love you Ruel' he looks down at me with a slightly shocked look but he gaped open mouth slowly grows into a smile that goes against my lips. 

We both smile into the kiss as he mumbles against my lips, 'I love you too'

'Ruel! Soundcheck!' Nates voice echoes from down on the ground and Ruel just groans.

'Can you give me a moment with my girlfriend in peace!'

'You can kiss later. Come get a mic' I chuckle into his chest as he kisses my forehead and goes to get a mic. 

I follow him off stage before running into Shawn, 'Oh my god I am so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going'

'April, chill. It's fine. I actually wanted to talk to you' Shawn says and I instantly panic.

'Oh. Really?'

'Yeah. So how long have you and Ruel been dating?' he leans against the metal poles of the stage, crossing his arms.

'Um. Nearly a month. Maybe 4 weeks?' I mumble.

'Oh that's cool. So he asked you to America? How was that?' he asks, taking a genuine interest in my life.

'So amazing. Obviously travelling to America was amazing but seeing Ruel perform and just spending all the time with him was better than staying home' I blabber on, so proud of watching him grow.

'Yeah, that's agreeable. So you still in school?' my mind blanks, I completely forgot about school, to be honest. 

'Yeah, I've taken a couple weeks off to see Ruel but mostly been there throughout the terms'

'That's good. Well, hope you have fun tonight. See you 'round' he gives me a quick hug before walking up the stage to Nate.

I go to take a seat next to Paige with Coco to watch Ruel soundcheck. We sing along to the songs and then go backstage for the rest of the day until the show.

'Ruel. Side stage' Nate pops his head into the room

Ruel turns to me and swallowed hard, 'Oh shit'

I lean in, giving him a long kiss before whispering, 'You're gonna kill it. I love you'

'I love you too' he pecks my cheek and follows Nate side stage as everyone cheers him out the room and I look to Coco, 'He loves you a lot' she speaks honestly. 

'I love him too. I'm glad I'm here with him' she smiles and grabs my hand and we both walk side stage as we hear Ruel's intro music. 

During his performance he would constantly make eye contact with me and then instantly breaking into a smile and having more energy than ever. I was pretty sure that my voice was broken after he performed as I couldn't even sing the last line of Free Time with the rest of the crowd. 

He thanks the crowd and runs off stage and instantly into my arms. He pulls his head away to kiss you and then goes around to everyone, giving them high fives or hugs. Ruel goes to get his mic pack off and I take a seat next to Coco and then Ruel sits next to me. As Shawn comes on I stop myself from screaming like a massive fangirl next to Ruel but has the songs, I couldn't help but sing along.

RUEL'S POV

I looked at as she sung along to Shawns songs, having the time of her life as she holds my hand but sings with Coco. She was so gorgeous and I couldn't be happier that she was all mine. She looks at her phone and then turns to me, 'I'm just going to call Luna back because she's been calling me all night. Something might be up'

I nod and smile as she kisses my cheek and then walks into the back room. I continued to sing along with Shawn when we all moved side stage so we could dance together. I pulled everyone into a group hug and then realised that April had been gone a long time.

'Coco, I'm going to look for April. She's been gone for a while' she nods and then focuses back on Shawn on stage. 

I walk into the back room to find her in an absolute wreck in the floor. I immediately run over to her and sit beside her, pulling her crying body into my chest, 'April. Hey, hey. It's me. What's wrong? Talk to me baby' I try to say as reassuring as possible.

'L-Luna...' She can't seem to get her words out. She continued to sob into my chest

'April, breathe. What happened with Luna?'

'She killed herself'