Driving Me Crazy

Chapter 61

Sitting at the Mendes dining room table, I hold a tight grip on Shawn's hand.  I need him for support and I need him to help keep me calm.

Looking between everyone, Manny starts off by saying how nice it is to see Shawn and I back together. 

"I meant what I said last night Camila.  You've always been like another daughter to me and I was worried when you two were apart" he tells me.

"I appreciate that Manny; and I'm sorry.  I'm sorry Mario was such an ass to your son.  I hope your hand is okay" I say looking at him concerned with the redness and bruising of his knuckles.

"Ehhh I'm fine!" He smiles, waving it off likes it's nothing.  "I protect the ones I care about" he says.

I smile at him kindly before James catches my eye.

"You look happy sis."

"Yeah...no thanks to you or mom!" I snap.  I immediately cover my mouth with my hands.  Shawn gently squeezes my thigh.  "Oh my god.  I'm so sorry!" I apologize to the room.

"It's okay Mila.  It's not like you weren't just blindsided by everyone last night" James comments.  "You know why we did it the way we did it though right?"

"Not entirely, but enough to know I wouldn't have been much help in your little plan."

"Mija...we're so sorry for keeping this all from you" my mom adds.

"Are you really mama?  You knew dad had hurt and lied to all those people, including his own family.  How can you be okay with that?" I snap again.

"Damnit" I whisper.  Shawn's grip on my thigh tightening.

"I'm sorry.  I'm still just trying to process this all" I admit.

"It's certainly a lot to take in" Karen speaks up.  "I was just ask shocked as you were honey" she says.

"We didn't mean for it to go down the way it did, we tried to go about it another way, but no one would have believed us if we did" James says.

"I understand that, but there's more important things than publicly humiliating our family and blindsiding me" I reply.

"We know that honey" my mom says.  "We knew you'd be angry and you have every right to be; but Mario needed to pay for what he's done to those people and to our family."

"Doing this to hurt you was never the goal sis" James says.  "I'm sorry we kept you in the dark, but you can forgive us.  You can't forgive what our father has done."  He says looking at me.

"He stopped being my father the night he threw his scotch at me; and told me all sorts of horrible things" I admit.

A loud gasp fills the air as everyone turns to look at me.

"He did what? Shawn, James and Manny all say in unison.

"You heard me" I say.  "It doesn't bear repeating because he shouldn't be consuming any of our time anymore.  If we really want to move on, we need to do that."

"She's right" Shawn pipes up. "We all need to figure out a life without Mario in it."

The room takes a collective silence as we all contemplate what's happened between us all.

"I'm sorry for snapping.  I love you mom and I love you James.  I have no excuse for how I acted and I know that I need to work on my anger issues"

"It's okay sweetie. It's been a rough few weeks for all of us" my mom says.

Everyone nods before I get up and give my mom and brother a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and proceed to hug Manny and Karen as well.

A collective sigh of relief is let out as we clear the table and gather in the Mendes' living room.

Aaliyah comes though the door.  Bounding into the room she surveys the space before her eyes land on me.  Shock evident on her face as she sees me sitting on her brothers lap.

"What.  What is this?" She asks pointing to us.

Shawn nods before in a flash of brunette hair, we are toppled over by a very happy teenage girl.

"Best news ever!" She screams happily.  Everyone laughs at her reaction as she sits next to us and we all continue to watch the movie.

As lunch time rolls around, Karen asks Shawn and I if we have thought anymore about the trip they offered to pay for.

"Mom, we just back together" Shawn sighs, slightly rolling his eyes.

"I know honey, but don't you think it would be good for you both to get away?" She asks.

"Yeah I do, but we haven't had a chance to talk about that yet."

Tugging on Shawn's sleeve, I whisper in his ear that I want to talk to him quick.  He nods, kisses his mom on the cheek and grabs my hand, guiding me back up to his room.

"What's going on baby?" He asks when we get there and the door is closed.

Deciding to not beat around the bush I tell him "I think I want to go on that trip."

"Really? Okay.  Where do you want us to go? He asks.

"Not us baby.  Me" I say.

"You? Alone?" He looks at me confused.

"Yes Shawn" I nod, reaching for his other hand, we stand face to face now.  "I love you and of course I want to go on a trip with you; but so much has happened lately and I still have a lot to process, I think I just need to take a little time to figure things out.  Work on myself, ya know?" I reason with him.

"And where do you want to go?  Why can't I come with you?" He asks.

"I've been thinking about going on a spa retreat" I reply.  "To Tulum."

He just looks at me.

"I'm sorry baby.  There's just so much I still need to work on for myself and by myself.  Give me a week or two down there alone; and then you can come join me and we can be alone together." I cock a brow seductively at him.

"You've had time to figure yourself out, and I've constantly been going off without a care in the world and I don't want to do that anymore.  I don't want to hurt you anymore."

He seemingly nods in understanding before taking my face in his hands.  "I just don't want to lose you again baby!  I just got you back!" He exclaims, sadness in his eyes.

Kissing his lips briefly, I pull away from them before saying "You won't lose my baby.  I promise.  I just need a little time to find myself again and get ahold of my anger issues" I chuckle.

He laughs too as he picks me up and carries me to the couch in his room.  "Ok! Let's find you a spa in Tulum" he says.  "The sooner you go, the sooner I can have you back." He growls playful as he nips at me ear.

Turning in his arms, I melt my lips with his again.  "I love you Shawn Mendes" I say against his lips.

"Mmmm...I love you too Camila Cabello." He smiles happily as we spend the rest of the afternoon booking my solo trip to Mexico.

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Double update!  Hope it's okay!  Let me know what you think!!