16: the day after

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by humanoids

by humanoids

saturday ¬ february 27, 2016

"Ow!" Ella muttered as she sat up from the bed, holding her head. She gripped onto her hair tightly, hoping it would ease the pain of a hangover, but no luck. It still hurt like hell. She looked around her surroundings, eyes bulging when she recognized the bedroom she was in. She looked beside her, thinking Shawn might have slept with her, but there was no one.

After a bit, she forced herself to get out of bed, put on her shoes, and walk to Shawn's washroom, where she freshened up a little before making her way out of his bedroom. The aroma of breakfast filled the household—pancakes—along with the soft singing voice of Shawn.

"Hi." Ella greeted once she made it down the stairs and to the kitchen. Shawn stiffened for a split second, but composed himself quickly, continuing to flip pancakes. His back was towards her. "Shawn?"

"What?"

"How did I get here?"

"I took you home. You got drunk last night." He put the last pancake on a plate and turned to face her. She raised an eyebrow. "You asked a random stranger to take you home, and he began to touch you and you didn't do anything. I have morals; I wasn't going to let someone take advantage of you."

Ella's eyes widened. "Oh." She murmured, disappointed with herself. She began to fiddle with her fingers. "A-and, uh, did I mention anything to you about...something important?"

Shawn maintained eye contact with her for a bit, which caused Ella to gulp nervously. "No." He finally said, a lie. "You passed out the minute I got you in the car."

The nervousness eased, and Ella sighed in relief. "Oh. Good, good." She whispered and licked her lips, hating how the environment was awkward; and to top it all off, her head was still in pain. Shawn just nodded, still staring daggers at the girl in front of him, waiting for her to be the first to speak. "So—um—thank you for taking care of me last night. I'll get going now."

"I'll drive you home." Shawn suggested.

"No!" Ella quickly exclaimed, making Shawn raise his brow in confusion and curiousity. "I don't need you to drive me and waste your gas, but thanks for the offer. I'll just walk; I need to exercise, anyways."

"I'll drive you."

"Shawn-"

"Stop being so damn stubborn, Ella; I'm going to drive you!" he snarled, silencing Ella. He lowered his volume, for the sake of her sleeping parents and little sister. "Just...stop, okay?" Ella tightened her jaw, nervous, but she nodded, anyways.

"Thank you." Ella said to Shawn when they eventually arrived at Ella's house.

"I'll walk you to your door." Shawn mumbled and exited the car before Ella could deny. Ella exhaled sharply and followed Shawn out the car, to her front door.

"I kinda forgot my key, so..." she trailed off, pressing onto the doorbell. After a couple seconds, the door opened, revealing Ella's mother. She looked confused. "Hi, mom!" Ella said through gritted teeth, sending a message with her eyes.

"Ella, dear? What are you—Shawn?" Ella's mother looked at the boy beside Ella, eyes bulging.

"Good morning, Miss Rose." Shawn greeted with a small smile. "I was just dropping Ella home. I took her to my place after the party."

'Party?' Ella's mother subtly mouthed to Ella, and Ella gave her a stern look. Catching on, Ella's mother nodded quickly, smiling at Shawn. "Oh, of course! Thank you, dear, for taking care of her." She told him. "Come on now, Ella, it's breakfast." And she trudged away after sending Ella another look.

Ella turned to face Shawn, smiling softly at him. "Bye, Shawn..." But he was already walking to his car.