FALLING FOR SHAWN

Chapter 16 - As Long As I Have You

Her heart was beating so hard as she led him to the studio. She was nervous to play for him what she had written. It was the first time she had written a whole song from the beginning only using her voice and guitar. She was hoping he would help her with the production and she had ideas, and had recorded some of those, but she wasn't as proficient at the computer software as he was, and she needed his help in turning her vision into reality. She motioned for him to sit and she sat on the bench, cross legged, as she had been the past few days, and started playing the guitar.

He watched in silence but as she began to sing, she could see the emotion on his face. He could feel the words, he knew the meaning behind them, he was the only one who really would, but they would still resonate with others, and she put all her own emotion into the way she sang it, so that anyone listening could feel it. When she got to the bridge, she could see he was really emotional, and then she brought it down to almost a whisper, a cry even, in the last verse and chorus and there were real tears in his eyes when she strummed the last note and put the guitar to one side. He fell to his knees in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. She stroked his hair, a soft smile on her face.

"Hey, it's not that bad is it?" she teased him.

He looked up at her, and his face was full of emotion.

"That was.....I can't even explain how that makes me feel. I love you, baby, so much."

She bent down and kissed him and he pulled himself up next to her on the bench seat, taking her into his arms and just holding her. She hugged him back tightly, feeling the peace and contentment she had been searching for since the accident had ripped it all away.

"I need your help though, I really want to add in a latin beat, and some brass. Let me show you what I recorded, just an idea only, it needs a lot of work..."

She played it back for him and he listened with his professional face on, and then they began working on it. He knew exactly what she was after and by the end of the day, they were dancing in the studio to the beat.

"I love how it starts off so slow and sweet and then builds into a real latin crescendo, and ends in that plaintive silence again," he said, sounding excited.

"I got that idea from you, it's something you often do in your music, and I love the ride it takes you on. I wanted this song to be a journey, so I stole your style."

"Well, you made it your own, baby, and I love it!" he spun her around and then pulled her in tight against him. "Do you want to do some more writing?"

"No," she said simply. "Not right now. This is the elusive last song for the album, I've emailed Roger and told him to hold off on everything until I add the song. I think he had an apoplectic fit."

Shawn laughed. "Those crazy musicians," he said, trying to mimic Roger and failing. "They will put me in my grave!"

"I think he will love it though, and I think he's actually excited."

"You're incredible," Shawn said, smiling proudly at her. He stood up and reached out a hand to help her to her feet. "Let's go celebrate, in the city."

She jumped up and down with excitement and then stopped and threw her arms around his neck.

"You are amazing, Shawn Mendes," she said, her eyes glowing as she smiled up at him. "You knew exactly what I needed to do, I would never have got here without you."

He nodded, a serious expression on his face.

"It was the sex, wasn't it? The oil, the kitchen, was it that one?" She laughed and he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him, as he carried her out. "Or was it when I woke you up by the pool? Or in the ocean, although I was terrified we'd be eaten by a shark in the middle of it..."