Boy Next Door

Dude...Bro.

"Hi baby," Camila said cheerfully as she walked in the front door of their apartment with two coffees in hand. She set the coffee on the kitchen counter before moving towards the couch where Shawn sat feeding Quinn her bottle and kissing him on the forehead. "I missed you."

"You were gone for like...ten minutes," he chuckled. 

"Are you saying you didn't miss me at all while I was gone?" she scoffed with a pout on her lips.

"You're right...I did miss you."

"That's better," she laughed. "Hey, what's with all the construction stuff in the hallway? Do you know what they're doing?"

"Um, y-yeah...there was a memo from the leasing office saying that they're sealing off all access to the rooftop..." he cautiously explained. Camila's face dropped slightly as her brows furrowed in concern.

"B-because of me...?"

"No, baby. It has nothing to do with what happened. Nobody knows about that. I guess one of the other tenants was growing marijuana up there so they're sealing it off to avoid any legal issues."

"So we're just...never going to be able to go up there again?" she asked sadly. Shawn nodded. "I wanna go up there one last time." Her voice was laced with determination but Shawn wasn't fully convinced that it was a good idea.

"Camila, I don't know that that's the best idea..."

"You can come with me. I'm not going to do anything...I just wanna say goodbye to it. I know the last time I was up there wasn't the happiest memory, but before that night it was my happy place and I did have a lot of really good moments up there," she pleaded. Shawn sighed and nodded as he stood up from the couch.

"Okay," he whispered before leaning in and kissing her softly. He wrapped their daughter up in a sling that held her against his chest as they all stepped out into the hallway.

"Do you mind if we go up there for a bit before you seal it off? We'll only be a couple of minutes," Camila asked the construction worker that stood in front of the door to the rooftop.

"I guess. Just make it quick." The large man stepped to the side so that they could get to the door. Shawn and Camila both nodded gratefully as the stepped through the entrance and made their way up the ladder. The second that their feet touched the concrete of the rooftop, Shawn's hand was tightly interlaced with Camila's. The experience was emotional, even for him. He wasn't all that surprised to look over at her and see the blank yet tearful look on her face.

"You okay?" he asked. Camila took a deep breath and looked up at him nodding.

"Yeah, I'm okay. It's just...a lot."

"It's kind of overwhelming, isn't it? A lot of big moments happened up here..."

"You asked me to be your girlfriend up here," she reminded him. He smiled.

"We also had our first fight up here...before we were even dating." They both chuckled.

"You found out I was pregnant while I was climbing down the ladder."

"Jesus, that feels like it was just yesterday." Shawn looked down at Quinn and smiled. "And look at you now!" Camila grinned and laid her head against her fiancé's shoulder.

"I love my life," she said quietly. "I love our little family."

"I love it too." He kissed the top of her head before she lifted it from his shoulder and looked around the rooftop, her eyes lingering on the ledge that he had talked her down from months prior. Shawn noticed where her eyes were glued and squeezed her hand in his. "Come on, let's head back down." She nodded and followed him back down the ladder and into their apartment.