Mr. Mendes | shawn mendes

eight.

"I'm so, so sorry for calling this late." I shook my head as I slid into the passengers seat of Mr. Mendes' Porsche.

"Julianna, I promise, it's okay," He shook his head, offering me a smile to show that he wasn't bothered.

The streetlight shined on his face, and he looked so young in that moment. The light showed the strong curve of his jaw, along with the high structure of his cheekbones. His hair was messy, and the old shirt and sweats on his body show he had just woken up. His lips were a pale pink and looked incredibly soft. As for his eyes, they were gentle and skimmed my features with concern. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him in that moment.

"Why didn't you just tell me you were coming to a party?" His voice broke my stare, causing my eyes to move up to his own as he began to drive.

"I-I don't know. I didn't want you to worry, I guess?" I looked down, shrugging as I toyed with my fingers in my lap. "I didn't want you to tell my parents, mostly."

"Julianna, I was a teenager too, once." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Unless you were in great danger, I would never say a word to your parents."

I glanced out the window, watching the houses skim by in the darkness. The streets were empty, because it was late, and only a few streetlights were on.

"Thank you, Mr. Mendes," I mumbled softly, turning to him just as my phone rang out, making us both jump.

Caroline's name flashed against the screen, causing me to mumble a curse under my breath and I put my finger to my lips to Mr. Mendes.

"Caroline, hi," I spoke nervously, looking at the time flashing on the dash.

"Where the hell are you?! Chase didn't go home with you?" She cried over the loud music.

"No, we had a bit of a fallout. I called an uber," I lied easily, turning my head to look at Mr. Mendes when he furrowed his brows at me.

"What happened?" She asked, and I could tell she stepped outside because the music was no longer so loud.

"Can we talk about this another time? I'm tired and my phone is gonna die."

"Ugh, fine. We are talking about this, though! Love you!"

"Love you too," I hummed, pulling my phone away from my ear before hanging up.

"Fallout?" Mr. Mendes spoke, causing me to snap my head towards him.

"Um, yeah," I nodded, licking my lips nervously. "He saw your text. Wanted to know why you didn't have a contact name. Seemed shady, I guess."

"He was mad over that? The text was letting you know that I was going to sleep, but my phone would be on if you needed anything."

"He didn't read the text. Just saw the notification."

"What did he say?" Mr. Mendes asked, turning to look at me as he took a turn.

"He yelled and called me... something." I moved my hand to my wrist, trying to subtly cover the redness that Chase's harsh grip had left.

"Julianna, what did he do?" His voice was serious as his gaze moved to where my hand was.

"What? Nothing, Mr. Mendes, seriously," I shook my head, pretending to itch my hand instead.

I didn't know what he'd do if he found out about Chase, so I was trying my hardest not to tell him.

"Please, Julianna. Move your hand." He had pulled the car over somewhere; it looked like an empty parking lot, and he turned to look at me.

Knowing I couldn't get out of this anymore, I lowered my head as I moved my hand, exposing the marks Chase's fingers had left.