Aftertaste

"Nothing bad will happen."

This update is dedicated to one of my homies Julianna aka @freezemendes on Twitter so go follow her.

"Protect her from what? You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Laur," Shawn yelled. If he was a cartoon, you would've seen steam flowing from his ears; he was furious.

"Oh my God," Laur said. "Why the hell is he here?" She stood up off the couch and pointed at him, her eyes wide and filled with a mix of anger and fear.

I was too shocked to speak. I was becoming frustrated with Shawn. It frustrated me that he did whatever he wanted, without considering how it might effect me or anyone else. First he lied and brought me trespassing onto that couple's property. Then he had gotten himself drunk and showed up to a party uninvited, only to pick a fight with Brian and tell the whole school that we had kissed. Now he had decided to come out and confront Laur in my living room, even though he knew we weren't allowed to see each other anymore. Because of Shawn, I was grounded and in boiling hot water with my parents and friends.

I took a deep breath and spoke slowly, my voice shaking slightly, "Shawn, go home."

His head whipped around to face me. "What?"

"Just please, go home," I repeated.

There was a flash of heartbreak on Shawn's face as I spoke. But that emotion only lingered on his face for a few seconds before it quickly returned to anger.

"You know what Grace? I will," he said, raising his voice at me. "Because this isn't working. When your dumb friends are around," he waved his hand at Laur, referring to her and the rest of them, "You act like a completely different person. It isn't worth it. You're not worth it."

I could feel tears stinging my eyes. His words cut deeper than knives in my heart. What did he want me to do? Ask my parents if he could stay for dinner? Tell Laur that I was going to blow her off and ignore her warnings? He knew this situation was hard for me too. I wished there was an easy solution.

"Shawn," I said, my voice cracking. "Get out of here." It sounded like I was pleading.

"I'll leave," Shawn chuckled to himself, "But I won't be sneaking back after Laur leaves. I can't do this anymore, Grace. Goodbye." Shawn turned on his heel and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.

Laur, who had been quiet in the past few moments, finally spoke. "Explanation. Now."

I suddenly burst into tears, sinking down to the floor in an ugly pile of heaping sobs. Laur quickly knelt down and wrapped her arms around me, immersing me in a warm hug.

"It's okay," she murmured as she hugged me and rubbed her hand in circles on my back. I sobbed into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I wailed. "I'm so sorry."

"Grace," she peeled me off of her and forced me to look her in the eyes. "I don't care why he was here, and I don't want to know. Whatever was happening between you two, it's obviously over now. I'm sorry your little fling with him ended," Laur said, "But I'm not really. I don't know how I was supposed to get the fucking point across to you."

"Tell me what happened!" I cried. "How am I supposed to believe he's this terrible person, if I don't know anything about what he did?"

We heard a car door slam outside. My parents were home.

"Who's Ian Warburton?" I asked quickly, wiping the tears from my eyes.

As I said the name, the color rushed out of Laur's face and she widened her eyes at me.

"How do you know Ian?" she snapped.

"I have my sources," I replied cooly. "Now tell me who he is." I could hear my mom's voice getting louder as she walked up the front steps.