Peace, Love, & Pogo Sticks

Tag, You're It!

It's a good thing that Shawn lived alone.

He would hate to know how much time since her last letter that he had spent staring at the photo of her. There was a swell of guilt in the pit of his stomach each time he'd start dreaming about her lips while touching himself. Her sending that picture somehow ended up being the best and the worst thing that had happened to him.

He was pretty sure that Brian was catching on to the fact that he actually was starting to have feelings for Camila - that or he was just tired of poking fun at his best friend. Either way, his teasing jokes had become less common and his support was more evident.

Aside from his solo bedroom activities and the thoughts that occurred during them, he was also quite embarrassed by the amount of time he spent looking at potential flights from Toronto to Miami. It was probably far too soon to suggest that they meet up in person, but he couldn't shake the thought from his mind. He hoped and prayed that whatever these confusing feelings he was experiencing were, that she was feeling similar ones. He no longer believed the 'it's not a crush, it's just curiosity' mindset that he had previously held true to - however he still wasn't convinced that he fully had a crush on her. I mean, they had never met. It wasn't a crush but it wasn't just curiosity; it was somewhere in between.

He was incredibly impatient. Every day, as soon as he knew that the mailman had left, he would go downstairs and retrieve the mail and then would find himself moping around when he realized that had to go another day without hearing from her. That is, until the day that he finally did get a response from her. He practically sprinted back up to his apartment to read what she had to say, peeling off the palm tree sticker that she had sealed her envelope with while he rode the elevator up. His excitement quickly turned into anxiety when he remembered that he had sent her a picture of himself with his last letter. Luckily for him, it sounded like she appreciated his image - she even called him "incredibly good looking", which admittedly gave him quite the ego boost. He started to feel like he was on fire when he realized that she was inviting him to Miami. He could tell by her wording that she was nervous to ask, but he was glad that she did. He was also glad that she invited Brian as well; having his best friend there with him would be sure to ease his nerves.

He walked into his bedroom and grabbed the notebook from his bedside table, adding the palm tree sticker he had so carefully preserved to the front cover, per tradition. He grabbed his pen and opened up to a fresh page, getting ready to write his response.

Camila,
Taking care of your drunk friend at 1 o'clock in the morning sounds like so much fun! Just kidding. No it doesn't. I don't envy you. I do, however, envy the fact that you're in Miami...so yes. I'd love to come visit you. When would work best for you? Thanks for inviting Brian as well, it really would be a missed opportunity if him and Bristol didn't meet. I'm really looking forward to meeting you in person. It'll be nice to have a conversation with you in real time instead of having to wait several days for a response. I'll start looking at flights and hotels for Brian and I. Let me know which days would work best, my schedule is pretty open and flexible for the most part. Also, I have to tell you that signing off these letters is becoming increasingly difficult. Yours are always so creative...it's a lot of pressure to keep up with you. How about this:

Tag, you're it!
Shawn

P.S. I hope you were able to get some lemonade.

He folded up and sealed the letter before realizing that he had confirmed that Brian would be there without even asking him if he'd be interested in going. He huffed and grabbed his phone before dialing up his red-headed best friend.

"What's up?" Brian answered.

"Hey, uh..." Shawn wasn't exactly sure the best way to ask him so he just came right out and said it. "How would you feel about us taking a trip together?" Brian was silent on the other line for a moment before responding.

"Um...okay...did you have a destination in mind?"

"How would you feel about...Miami?"

"Oh my god," Brian chuckled. "Did a certain mysterious brunette invite you to go visit her?"

"Yes, and she invited you too."

"What? She knows about me?"

"Yeah, sorry. I kinda forgot to tell you that I told her about you..." Shawn mumbled.

"So what? You're going to Miami to meet your girlfriend but what do I get out of this?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Shawn corrected. "And you get a trip to Miami! She also has a friend..."

"A hot friend?"

"I haven't seen her friend," he admitted. "But from what I've heard about her you two sound eerily similar."

"Name?"

"Bristol," Shawn said, hoping his friend would agree to the trip.

"When is it?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I'm gonna ask her what days would work best and just work around that. I'm thinking we'll only be there for like...three days. I don't wanna commit to too much in case it goes horribly."

"That's fine...three days is plenty for you two to elope—"

"Brian," Shawn warned.

"Sorry..." he sighed. "Count me in. Miami sounds like fun."

"Thank you so much dude, you're the best."

"I'm aware," he said cockily. "You owe me though."

"Yeah, yeah...whatever."

The call ended and as always Shawn was too impatient to wait, so he immediately took the letter he had written her down to the mailbox. When he came back up to his apartment, he grabbed his laptop and sat on the couch. He couldn't help but smile as he searched for potential hotels to stay at in Miami as well as cheap flights that they could catch. After finding a couple different options he came to a dead end, realizing that he couldn't do much more without knowing the dates that they would be visiting. He closed his laptop and walked over to set it on his desk, smiling when he saw the image of Camila that sat on the same desk.

"It's not a crush," he reminded himself. "She just wants to be your friend."