Shawn's POV
I awake in the middle of the night and notice an absence. I look to my left and see the bed is empty. Turning, I see that it's only 2am. Nora wouldn't have left in the dark, would she? What even happened last night? I swing my legs over the side of the bed and rub my eyes. Two hours of sleep doesn't help much with energy.
I stretch my arms and rummage for my slippers in the dark, as I see to my left a light on from under the door and decide that's probably where she is. I'd rather be sleeping at the moment but something is going on with Nora and I just want to know.
The door squeaks slightly and I see Nora, lost in thought in a book, cuddled up with a blanket next to a bedside lamp. Her hair is a bit of a mess, and she looks tired. Maybe she hasn't slept at all yet. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper so I don't notice when people leave the room.
"Hey." My voice rough with sleep, and it startles her a bit as she looks up quickly.
"Hey." She smiles at me and puts her book down.
"What are you reading?" I ask. I have a variety of things on the shelf, so I have no idea what she would have picked. I've removed Nonna's book from my collection, hiding it in one of my traveling bags just to be cautious.
"Don't laugh." She starts to chuckle as she holds up a book and I just roll my eyes.
"Really?" I laugh and come closer to her, sitting next to her. It's my book, it's Shawn Mendes' Official Autobiography.
"It looked interesting." She smiles. "I've never read it."
"What do you think?" I ask, almost embarrassed.
"Well I read it first, of course." Still laughing. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about Shawn, I think it's really cool that you have this, people want to know that much about you." She shifts her hips to turn towards me, the blanket moving quietly.
"Why are you out here?" I ask.
"I couldn't sleep. Your bed is comfy but I don't have Albert here to keep me warm." She looks off in the distance, biting her lip just a little bit.
"Albert?" I ask, squinting just a little bit.
"Ah yes, my slinky black cat. He sleeps with me at night." I forgot she had a cat, but I didn't see him at her place. "He likes to run away from strangers." Well that explains it, its as if she's reading my mind. She's for sure avoiding the subject matter at hand. I hate pushing people, and I hate being pushed when people always wanted more information from me.
"Where was he?" I ask, just making general conversation because I want things to be calm, I don't want to fight with her.
"I leave the window open in my room and he usually takes the steps to the roof." She leans over and puts the book down on the coffee table. This conversation is going nowhere.
"What happened today at dinner?" I rub the back of my neck, cautiously. "I mean, I don't want to push it, I know it's not my business, but I don't speak Italian, and I know you and your grandma were talking about something. Does she not like me? Did I do something to offend her?" I ask, it's like word vomit just coming out of my mouth, all my thoughts I've been thinking out and about.
"Oh Shawn." She gets closer to me. "It's just complicated." She frowns.
"Just tell me." I shrug. "If she doesn't like me, I can take it." I promise her but it will break my heart a little bit, I really like Nora and I know that she wants her families approval.
Nora takes a deep breath and looks away for a second. "Nonna has Alzheimer's." I didn't expect that at all. I'm reading her face as much as I can, this is an emotional confession, I know it. "That's why I work days, my mom works nights, someone is always around with her. She gets aggressive when she can't remember, sometimes memories mesh together, I mean, she knows what's happening but she gets angry when she can't remember." I can see her biting her lips, probably biting back tears.
