treat you better ; shawn mendes

eight

Riley's POV
"Dylan what the fuck are you doing?!" I scream, horrified as I watch the blood run from Jacks nose and down his cheeks.

Why is everyone just watching this?!

"This fucker confessed that he tried to kiss you last night! Is that true?!" Dylan yells. Everyone gasps.

"Yes! Yes, it's true! But killing him is not doing fucking anything! Get off of him!" I say, the shock becoming too much that I feel tears well in my eyes. Jack is barely holding onto life.

Dylan's killing him.

"No wonder why your fucking sister killed herself." Dylan spits at Jack. My blood stops cold and a lump forms in my throat.

"Jack, are you okay?" I ask. This was beyond weird. Jack is standing at my doorstep with tears streaming down his face. His hands are shaky and his voice is cracking and quivering.

"I have to tell someone." He whispers. I open the door and let him in, bringing him into my room and shutting the door behind us. I'm beyond worried. What the fuck has happened to him?!

"Jack, you're scaring me. Please tell me what the fuck is going on. You have to tell me." I say.

"I could've done something! I did nothing! I just walked in and I saw her hanging from the ceiling fan." He cries. My breath hitches.

"Jack... Who killed themselves?" I ask shakily. He takes a huge breath.

"Cara." He says, wincing at her name. Instantly, I wrap my arms around him and cry. This cannot be happening...

When Cara died, apart of Jack did too. He depended on his older sister. He knew she dealt with depression and to this day he still blames himself for her death.

Dylan has taken it too far.

"You asshole! I hope you fucking burn in hell!" I scream at him.

"Yeah, well at least I'll be with Cara, right?" He shrugs, like it's absolutely nothing. I leap forward to hit him but Lyss and Danielle hold me back.

But somehow, Jack finds the strength to beat him for me.

"Talk about my sister like that one more time and I swear to god I'll break your fucking neck." He says, blood spilling from his mouth. Dylan reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a pocket knife and flips the blade open.

"Try me." He says. I pull myself free of Lyss and Danielle and lurch forward.

As soon as I push Dylan off of Jack, his arm swings back and I feel the blade cut right through my cheek.

The pain shoots straight through me and I scream. I fall back and clutch my left cheek but I feel someone catch me.

"Someone call the police! I'll get Riley out of here!" Shawn yells, pulling me into him as I cry in both pain and anger. But everything is a blur.

"Shawn?" I ask.

"Stay with me. I'm taking you home." He says. The pain is too much. I can feel a heartbeat in my cheek, just throbbing. Thick red blood stains my hands and clothes.

I can feel Shawn walking me to his car and he puts me in the passenger seat before he runs around the car and sits in the drivers seat and drives off just as the police cars arrive.

•

"Sit here. I'll be right back." Shawn says as he sits me down on the edge of his bed. This is the first time I've ever been to his house and I've already managed to ruin his carpet and bed sheets with dripping blood.

A few moments later, Shawn comes back with a bowl of water and a wet towel.

"I'm so sorry about your carpet and your sheets. I'll pay to get it clean." I say. Shawn kneels down beside me.

"Don't worry about it. I don't care. Now, this is probably going to hurt a bit but I need to clean it to see if you need stitches or not. Okay?" He says. I nod and he dips towel in the water and moves my hand off my cheek.

Shawn lightly presses the towel against my cheek and I wince.

"I'm sorry." He apologises but I know he needs to do this. He cleans up the cut as gently as he can before looking at it.

"Is it bad?" I ask.

"You definitely need stitches. Riley, you're lucky he just missed your eye." He says. I nod and feel myself start to cry again. Shawn gets up from his knees and makes me hold the towel against my cheek for pressure before he sits down beside me and puts his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his body.

"I can't believe he said that about Cara." I say.

"It was disgusting. You need to stay away from Dylan. I don't care if I get hurt trying to protect you. You cannot go near him. He's dangerous." Shawn says. I cry into his shoulder.

"I should've left him sooner." I say and Shawn kisses the top of my head to comfort me.

"But I know why you stayed. I promise that he will never go near you again." He says. I sniff and nod. I could not be more thankful for Shawn.

"Thankyou." I say quietly. He doesn't say anything. He just holds me. But then after a while, he lets go.

"We need to get to the hospital. Come on." He says. My mind starts racing but I know I have to say it.

"Shawn, wait." I say before he has a chance to get up. He looks at me with worry.

"What? Are you okay? Can you stand?" He asks all at once. I laugh and sniff back tears.

"No, I'm fine. It's just... I need to tell you something." I say. Shawn's eyebrows knit together in confusion and he looks at me. His attention is entirely on me.

"What is it?" He asks. I sigh. I guess there's no going back now.

"I've been feeling like this for a while and I've always been scared to tell you because I'm scared you don't feel the same. I understand that if you don't you might want to leave me and that's okay but I just have to tell you-" I ramble, procrastinating really.

"Riley, just tell me." He says, like he already knows what's coming. I take a deep breath.

"I love you." I say as my heart races a thousand miles a minute. A huge smile spreads across his face and he moves closer towards me. But I'm scared he won't say it back. I didn't need to be scared for long...

"I love you too." He says. My heart instantly fills with glee.

"You do?" I ask and Shawn nods.

"Riley, I've always been in love with you," he says as he leans in closer to me, "and you know what?" He asks, his lips centimetres from mine.

"What?" I ask as I try to fight the insane butterflies in my stomach.

"I know I can treat you better than he can." He whispers as he presses his lips to mine. I put one arm around his neck, holding the wet towel with the other and Shawn's arms wrap around my waist. He pulls me in and kisses me deeply. Unlike every kiss I've ever shared with Dylan, I can actually feel something. This feels right. I know that I'm kissing someone I love and someone who loves me back.

Shawn leaves my lips and kisses down my jawline gently before facing me.

"You have no idea how much I love you." He says and I can't help but smile.

It's been so long since someone has said that, except Shawn meant it.
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a/n: IM SO HAPPY YAY
God I've been wanting to write this chapter for soooooo long!! I hope you loved it xx
vote & comment what you thought. I'd love to know!