Down The Drain {S.M}

Chapter 32: Mother

{Shawn Mendes}

"Where is she going?" I ask her family standing around the kitchen. "She is going to the woods. There is a tree house there that she used to spend all her time in." Aunt Joni says. I open the door, but Maw Maw stops me. "Shawn, honey, she needs time to herself. Give her a couple minutes." I nod and step back.

"Is anybody with him at the hospital?" Sarah asks, looking around. "Yes, Nicole is over there.", Joni says. "Nicole as in Grace's mom?", I ask, scared. "Yes, it's her dad.", she responds. "Shit." Sarah and I say, at the exact same time.

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{Gracelyn Adams}

I ran to the back of my grandma's land, into the woods on one of the trails we made as kids. I know exactly where I'm going.

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{Shawn Mendes}

I start my way back to the woods and see many different trails. Each having a different sign. One says "Pond", another says "Clubhouse'', another says "Playground", and another that doesn't have a sign. I'm assuming this is the treehouse trail.

I start down the long trail and eventually see the treehouse.

I climb up the stairs and open the door. "Grace?", I say, seeing her back to me, her sitting on the ground looking out the window into the woods. "This was our spot. We came here all the time.", she whispers.

I sit next to her, seeing the tears falling down her face. "You and Ton-Ton(*pronounced Tone-Tone) ?", I ask. She nods slowly. "This was our hangout. People knew not to come out here. It was ours. We would come here and he would read books to me. Then we would go to the pond and fish. He taught me all I know about fishing.", she says, talking now instead of whispering.

"Those are some really good memories.", I say, trying to cheer her up with news that he is getting help. "Who told you that?", she asks me. "Um, well, your mom called Maw Maw. She is up there with your dad.", I say, hesitantly. Her face hardens. "She's going to make everything worse.", she says, clearly still not over her parents divorce news.

"Hey, him being in surgery is good news. It's not bad news just because she said it.", I say, rubbing her back. "No, it's bad news because if the surgery doesn't work there is nothing else they can do. If he doesn't respond after the surgery, his brain is dead. His heart and brain will be dead, Shawn. That's what keeps us alive. He wouldn't be able to live on his own.", she says, snapping at me. I grab her hand, "Angel, he is going to ma-" "Shawn, I'm so scared.", she sobs and falls into my arms.

"I know, darling. I am, too. I'm so sorry." I say, hugging her to my chest.

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{Gracelyn Adams}

I look around and see darkness outside the windows of the treehouse. I rub my eyes, "How long have we been up here?" Shawn smiles down at me. "We've been up here for about 6 hours." he sighs. "6 hours?!" I say, shocked.

"Yeah. You fell asleep and then I fell asleep. I had to get those pillows to prop us up. I guess jet lag hit us pretty hard. Before I fell asleep, your Aunt Peanut (*it's a nickname*) came and checked on us." he responds.

I smile. "I'm not surprised, she is super kind. Have they updated us on anything?", I ask hesitantly. He nods. "He got out of surgery a couple hours ago. He responded to some of the nurses, which is a good sign. He also opened his eyes and looked at your mom when she mentioned Maw Maw.", he says, rubbing my back.

"That's good news. He's fighting.", I say, softly. Shawn smiles. "Yes, he is. Maw Maw cooked, do you want to go eat?", he asks me after a while. I nod. "Yeah, I think we have spent enough time up here.", I say, getting up and opening the door.

"So, these are the famous trails that y'all made as kids?", Shawn asks, as we walk back to the house. I nod. "It took us a long time. Not long to make the trails, but a long time to build the clubhouse, treehouse, and playground. My grandpa and I built the treehouse together.", I responded. "Tomorrow we should go visit all those places."

"Maw Maw is going to see your grandpa tomorrow. Don't you want to go see him?", Shawn asks. Tears well up in my eyes. "No. I don't think I can without breaking down." He puts his hands on my shoulders, stopping us from walking.

"Hey, it's okay to cry and be emotional. If you want to see him, you should go see him. I don't think you should wait.", he says. My face twitches at his words. "What, because you think he isn't going to make it? I said no, Shawn! Fuck off.", I say, storming away from him.

"What the hell, Grace!", Shawn says, running after me. "What?", I scream when Shawn catches up to me. "Grace, you and I both know that's not what I meant." "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just really heated right now. I'm sorry for telling you to fuck off and calling you a dick.", I say.

"You didn't call me a dick.", Shawn says, confused. "Oops, maybe just in my head.", I say, running away from him. He catches up to me and tackles me to the ground, making us collapse into the grass at the beginning of the woods. "You can't get away from me that fast.", he says smirking.

"Sorry for calling you a dick, baby.", I say, tracing his muscles on his arms. Shawn's eyebrows raise. "Eh, somebody trying to be seductive?" "And not succeeding.", I chuckle, pushing him off of me. "Hey, I thought it was pretty good.", Shawn says, walking after me.

"I'm not very good at that stuff.", I laugh. "Unlike me.", he says. "Okay, truth, you really are good at it.", I say, wrapping my arm around Shawn's arm. I lean my head on his shoulder as we come up to the stairs. "See, I knew you liked it!", he exclaims, opening the door. "Come on, don't flatter yourself, Mendes-", I say, but stop when I see the person I never wanted to see.

The women in flesh herself, my mother.

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Hey!

Final edit of chapter 32!

Also, meeting the mom, tea. 

And, i hope y'all are loving this story!