Peace, Love, & Pogo Sticks

Write Soon

Shawn trudged back into his building after a particularly tiring workout with his trainer. His birthday party was later that night and he could already tell that he would have to take a good nap if he wanted to have enough energy to celebrate. He quickly grabbed his mail for the day and flipped through the envelopes as he rode the elevator up to his apartment. He immediately started smiling like a goofy idiot when he saw the letter from his mysterious pen pal. He couldn't help but chuckle when he flipped the envelope over and saw the banana sticker that she had so kindly made sure to point out was scented.

Once he was back in his apartment, he carefully peeled the sticker off and added it to the cover of his notebook, placing right next to the Deathly Hallows sticker she had sent with her last letter. Her words made him laugh out loud more than once. This "C" girl clearly had the attention span of a goldfish when she was drunk as each sentence seemed to be about something completely different. Her guesses as to what his name was were quite creative. He didn't typically think he gave off Santa vibes, but apparently he did. He snorted when he saw the comment about his letters smelling good because something about picturing a drunk girl smelling her mail was hilarious to him. Though the thought made him laugh, he couldn't resist bringing the letter she had sent up to his nose. It smelled faintly of coconut and some type of flower - most likely whatever perfume she had been wearing when she wrote it. Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly. He took his shoes off and settled into the couch before beginning to write.

C,
I want to start out by saying thank you for putting in the effort to write me a letter even while you were drunk. I'm sure it wasn't easy, but it made for quite the entertaining read. To answer the first of your many questions, no - I don't go out often. Really the only reason I go out partying anymore is if there's a specific reason to celebrate or if one of my friends guilts me into it. And no, I don't have any pets. I do love animals though. Don't worry, I won't tell your other two dogs that Thunder is your favorite. I don't put cream or sugar in my coffee - I just drink it black. Boring, I know. Toronto is nice. The people here are really friendly and I enjoy living in the city. I grew up in a small town just outside of the city, so it's been a nice change of pace while still remaining close to home. It's not cold here right now since it's the middle of summer, but it does get pretty damn cold during the winter. I like to think that we'll meet each other in person some day. I've always wanted to go to Miami, so maybe one day down the road I can plan a trip. I'm very sorry to inform you that your guesses about my identity were incorrect. I'm not Superman, Sherlock, Santa, or Steve. Sorry to disappoint. If it helps, I will attempt to find some elves and tell them you said hello. They'll probably be confused...but then again if I find actual elves wandering around I'll probably be pretty confused too. I'm now realizing that my letter is probably going to sound completely crazy if you aren't able to remember what you drunkenly wrote to me. Just know that it made me laugh several times while reading it. You sound like you're adorable when drunk. Question: what's something you're passionate about? What sets your soul on fire? For me personally, it's music. I play guitar and piano and I'm trying to learn the drums. It's pretty much all I do 24/7. I've always said that I could never have a roommate because they'd hate having to put up with my noise all the time. So what about you? What do you love to do? I wanna know more about you. Honestly, right now I feel like I could keep writing forever but my birthday party is in a few hours and apparently it's important for me to show up or something? I don't know. Seems kinda weird to me. I look forward to hearing from you again.

P.S. Your letters smell good too.

Write soon,
S

He did as he always did and sealed his letter in an envelope, addressing it to the mysterious house in southern Florida. He debated looking the house up on Google maps but decided against it. He might be curious, but that seemed to cross the line into creepy. He threw the addressed envelope onto the counter to put in the outgoing mail later and added the letter she had sent to the small box that held her other letter. He set a quick alarm on his phone before crashing on his couch, hoping to get as much rest as possible before his party.

Later that night as he put the finishing touches on his outfit, he heard a harsh knock at the door. Knowing exactly who it was going to be, he ran over and opened the door.

"There's the birthday boy!" Brian exclaimed having clearly already pre-gamed.

"You smell like tequila," Shawn responded.

"Ah! Yes, well I myself only consumed one shot...but that's only because my second shot was spilled onto my shirt." Shawn rolled his eyes.

"Come in. I'm almost ready and then we can head to the party." Shawn went back into his bedroom and quickly finished up as Brian hung out in the kitchen. He looked at the envelope sitting on the counter curiously. Miami? The only name on the front of the envelope was "C". Who was C in Miami? Shawn came out of his room and saw Brian holding the envelope. "What are you doing? Put that down," Shawn said defensively.

"Why? Who's C?"

"Not important," Shawn said plainly.

"You're sending them handwritten letters...sounds like they're kind of important."

"I meant not important to you. Now come on, let's go."

They got to the rooftop lounge where his party was being held and immediately Shawn realized he only knew about three fourths of the people who were attending - and that the handful of people he didn't recognize were all girls.

"Who are these random girls?" he asked Brian.

"That, my friend, is my gift to you. Happy birthday!"

"What the fuck?" Shawn said with furrowed brows.

"Chill out. They're just some girls who wanted to party, but I mean...if you want to take one home as a party favor I'm sure you could find one that would be willing."

"You're the worst."

"You say that now..." Brian chuckled. "...but I have a feeling you won't be saying that later tonight." Shawn shook his head and took a swig of the drink that had been handed to him the moment he walked into the door.

Sure enough, the party ended in the early hours of the morning and Shawn somehow found himself naked in bed with a blonde that he barely knew. He loved having sex as much as any other heterosexual 22-year-old guy, but he hated hookups. He tried to convince himself that he was cool with meaningless, casual sex - but every time, without fail, he'd feel gross and guilty afterwards no matter how good it might've felt in the moment.

He'd typically be a gentleman and let them stay the night, but this night he called her an Uber and she left quickly after they had finished in bed. Luckily she didn't seem to mind. It wasn't that he wouldn't enjoy some company, he just would've preferred it be the company of someone he knew and cared about. Having a practically unknown girl in his bed with him seemed to do nothing but remind him of how lonely he was in reality. Maybe that's how things were meant to be. Maybe he was just meant to be lonely.

A/N: Shawn's little performance tonight was so good. His voice has improved so much in just the past few months it's crazy. I loved that version of LIJ and his little curl falling in his face made me want to CRY and his cozy blue cardigan made me wanna give him a HUG. He is my teddy bear forever and ever. Amen.