WHY

part 11 - why do we put each other through hell?

Shawn paid off the locksmith and sent him on his way. He was pretty sure the old guy had no idea who he was, so he didn't even question whose place this was either. He tested the door, and satisfied it was now safe, he headed back upstairs. They had both dozed off and he had woken before her, and watched her for a while, then as it was still only late evening he decided to ring an emergency locksmith. He really wanted to write music, but he had no guitar, so he had to do something constructive. He wondered if she was awake, and began to think of ways to wake her up, so he was smiling softly and walking quietly when he entered the bedroom.

She launched herself at him when he walked in the door, yelling at him in Spanish. He had no idea what was happening, but he glanced down at her phone where it lay face up on the bed and saw the headline.

"SHAWN MENDES THE MASTERMIND BEHIND CAMILA CABELLO REVIVAL"

Shit fuck damn.

He grabbed her fists before they landed again. They may be little, but they hurt!

"Camila, let me explain."

"It was YOU! YOU came to Miami, it was YOU who sent the agent down to sign me! YOU did EVERYTHING!"

"Hey," he was getting angry now. Yeah, he'd kept a secret, but it was only good things, it wasn't like he'd done something bad to her!

"Hey," he repeated. "Calm the fuck down, you're hurting me."

She pulled herself from his grasp and flounced over to the bed, sitting down and crossing her legs angrily. If looks could kill, he had about a dozen sharp knives and a machete or two slicing into him right now.

"Go on then, lie your way out of this one too." She spat. Too? What the fuck was she talking about?

"First of all Camila, I didn't do anything. YOU did. YOU put on an such an amazing show that I had to mention it to the label. YOU were so incredible that they decided to sign you on the spot. I only sent them your way."

"That's not what the article says...." She gestured angrily toward her phone.

"When I heard they were signing you, I wanted to make sure you were given a good deal. I knew when you were with the girls the contract was draconian and really limited your creativity, you told me all the time. I wanted to make sure you had creative control."

"Mmmmph." she made a Latino noise that he wasn't sure how to interpret.

"You should know better than to believe everything you read on a gossip site, Camila. I am not some Svengali trying to control you. I check up on them every now and then to make sure they're looking after you, that's all. I don't suggest anything, I don't have a say in what you do, I just make sure that YOU do."

"And what about the other thing?"

"The song?"

She nodded, and he sighed. He had been looking forward to telling her about it, now that wasn't going to happen. She probably wouldn't collaborate with him now. He would advise her against it if he was her management, after that headline.

"I got sent the song, and I said I'd only do it with you. I just hadn't had a chance to talk to you about it yet. I wanted to do it in person."

He could see there were tears now. Shit.

"Forget about it now, it doesn't matter, I just thought it would be fun, and it was a good song...."

"I would have loved to have done it...." She sobbed. "But now it's ruined."

He sat down beside her and pulled her into his chest. She didn't resist, which gave him some hope.

"I'm sorry Mila," he said, stroking her hair as she wept over his shirt. "I hate keeping secrets, they are the death knell of any relationship, but I was going to tell you, I swear. I was going to tell you before we....well, I certainly didn't expect our second date to go quite like this. I thought there'd be time to talk before anything like this happened."