Peace, Love, & Pogo Sticks

Can We Talk?

Four days. It had been four days since their blow up at what was supposed to be a friendly cookout and game night and Camila had yet to hear from Bristol. It was the longest they had gone without talking...ever.

"I just don't get it. Does she not feel bad?"

"I'm sure she does, baby," Shawn said as he watched his girlfriend get ready for work. "She just needs some time to cool down. You guys have been best friends for forever. Brian and I aren't gonna let you end that friendship because of this."

"Did you not hear the things she said about you?"

"I did," he sighed. "Unfortunately I heard them loud and clear. But I also understand why she's upset. I did my best to apologize and make things right by you but I never apologized to her. She was here with you when I wasn't. She saw the aftermath of everything that happened so I don't really blame her for holding a grudge against me."

"You don't need to apologize to her."

"Yeah, I think I do. But I also think she needs to apologize to you and I, as well. The question is, are you willing to forgive her?" Shawn arched his brow at her in question, watching as she pulled her shirt over her head and turned to face him with a heavy sigh. "I don't want you to be waiting around for an apology if you're not going to be willing to hear her out and forgive her. And I don't want to see you lose your best friend. I know you're feeling hurt right now but she's always had your back in the past. This is merely a speed bump, not the end of the road." Camila nodded slowly, walking towards her boyfriend and sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her close, her head nuzzling in the crook of his neck.

"What if she doesn't apologize? What if we don't come back from this?"

"Brian called me last night after you had fallen asleep. It sounds like she feels bad for what she said...and what she did. She's just embarrassed that she lashed out like that." There was a beat of silence before Camila reluctantly stood up and slid on her shoes.

"I've gotta go to work." She walked back over, cupping her boyfriend's face in her hands and kissing him hard. "I love you more than anything, okay? Have a good day at work."

"You too," he whispered in reply before kissing her again. Camila left for work and shortly after Shawn decided to get ready to go to his store for the day. Now that he had officially moved out of the loft and into Camila's house, it was time to start planning on what to do with that extra space. He considered renting it out as an apartment but decided against it when he realized that the tenant would have unlimited access to the record store. The store was his baby and he wasn't about to let just anybody have access to it. He loved the idea of turning it into a coffee shop but there was a lot of work and planning that would go into making that happen so for now, it sat empty (with the exception of the bed, couch, and bookshelf he had bought after he moved in).

Camila called Shawn around 3 o'clock in the afternoon to vent about some horrendous bridezilla that seemed to have made it her goal to make Camila cry. She didn't achieve said goal; at least not as far as she knew. Camila waited until the bride paid for the dress and left the boutique before scurrying off into the alterations room and letting a few tears slip out. After so many years of dealing with said bridezillas she had developed a fairly thick skin but due to the emotional distress she had already been under due to the Bristol situation, it got to her this time.

"I'm sorry, baby," Shawn said empathetically into his cell phone as he stood behind the checkout counter tidying up some messy papers that had been strewn about. "You know none of that's true."

"I know," she breathed out sadly. "I just hate being the punching bag of grumpy brides. You'd think they'd be happier considering the whole 'happily ever after' thing. And most of them are fine...but when they're bad, god...they're so bad."