I wrote this originally as a Grandice fanfic, so if there are any mistakes I'm sorry:/ also this is totally AU.
-
Living in New York City meant no privacy. Apartment buildings were squished together and you could practically see into someone else's apartment from yours.
Shawn had been staring through his floor-to-ceiling windows at the empty apartment for years. He had memorized the visible cracks on the white walls and chipped wooden floors. It has been empty for as long as he'd moved into his apartment.
Shawn flipped through his book half-heartedly as he sat on his couch. He had made it a goal to read a book a week. His thoughts were interrupted by Teddy and Parker's sharp barking.
"Hey hey!" He said and looked up at his dogs.
They were standing by the window, wagging their tails. Shawn curiously looked to the apartment across from his to see the landlord handing a woman the key. The woman was dressed in green cargo pants, a silk white shirt, and light pink blazed. Her brown hair was piled into a neat bun at the top of her head. She was the epitome of perfection. She walked into the middle of the living room, sighed and unceremoniously dropped two duffle bags at her feet. She lifted her head up to see Shawn staring straight back at her. He raced to his curtains and shut them, breathing a sigh of relief.
-
Camila frowned at her "neighbor's" abruptness. Once brown eyes staring back at her turned into grey curtains. She began inspecting the apartment, running her hands along the cracks of the walls and nearly tripping on the chipped floors. Lauren had pulled a couple of strings to get this apartment for half of the price it was worth. The movers moved up her furniture covered in plastic bags and dropped them wherever she pointed. Then they left, and she was finally able to take a break.
Uncorking a bottle of wine, she clanked around a box until she found a wine glass and plopped on the couch. The curtains of the apartment across were now open. She spotted two cute poodles settled on a black couch. The guy she had seen a couple hours ago reappeared with a packet of papers in his hand. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows as he stared at the wall. His expression changed dramatically and he propped his hand on his hip. He eyes the packet in his hand and started to speak. His arms moved wildly as his angry face shouted at the wall. Then he stopped, took out a pencil and marked something on the packet.
'An actor. How curious," she thought.
It wasn't long before the man looked back at her, making him stumble back in embarrassment. His cheeks turned a crimson red. She giggles at the sight of him, arousing a small smile onto his face.
They had memorized each other's schedules after a month. He would leave for work at around 7 am on Monday through Saturday's, coming back at around 11 pm or later. On Sundays, he would relax, ordering takeout or pizza for dinner and crack open a beer. She worked whenever she had a photoshoot or fashion show. God, her apartment was covered in health magazines and foods, but occasionally he'd spot a red velvet cupcake on her living room table. Sometimes on a Sunday they'd stare at each other from their couch, him with pizza and her with cauliflower rice.
Then it was Christmas break, and they were both off from work. Without realizing, they had become a part of each other's lives. One time he'd walked in on her cooing at his dogs from her apartment. That was the first time Teddy and Parker had ever ignored him.
Shawn watched as Camila frantically ran around her living room in a deliciously tight red dress. A black choker wrapped around the smooth skin of her neck. She uncapped bright red lipstick and applied it to her lips without the help of a mirror. She threw her hair into a messy braid that framed her face while running into her bedroom, re-appearing with a pair of black heels and plopping on her couch.
Camila caught him staring as she laced on her shoes and mouthed 'date' to him. His stomach turned and he wondered which asshole she had decided on for a date. She's practically out of everyone's league. The doorbell must have rang because she turned her head around and scrambled to the door, revealing a jerky looking guy with slicked blonde hair and blue eyes. He smiled like the Cheshire Cat as he ran his eyes over Camila's body. Shawn frowned at the sight as Teddy and Parker barked. He took a swig of his beer and looked back into the apartment to see that they were gone.
The guy came over to her apartment multiple times over the next month. Sometimes Shawn would watch her on her phone, tapping away with a smile on her face. He could tell by the way that she looked at the guy that she was falling in love.
Sometimes on a Sunday, he'd stare at the empty apartment, wishing that brown eyes would stare back at him.
Then he realized that his crush on her was because he hadn't been laid in months. So he went to a local bar and stumbled into his apartment with a blonde on his arm. That night he stared up at the ceiling with a nameless woman by his side, wondering why the olive-skinned woman hadn't disappeared from his mind.
Shawn's conquests continued for a couple of weeks until one Sunday, when he came home with a brunette and eyed Camila's apartment to see that she was at home. He quickly pushed out the woman despite her protests and stared at Camila. She was wrapped in a blanket on her couch with tissues and a bucket of ice cream. She lifted up her head when Shawn turned on the light in his apartment.
He took out a piece of paper and wrote "are you okay" in big letters. She looked at the sign and mouthed 'he broke up with me' before breaking down in tears. His heart wrenches at the sight. Never in his life had he wanted to beat up someone so much. He sat on the couch closest to the window with Teddy and Parker in his arms and kept her company through his apartment. The end credits to Titanic started rolling when she finally fell asleep and she's never looked so beautiful to him. He was falling in love with a woman who he didn't even know the name of.
She was okay in a few days and their daily Sunday routines started again. One morning, Shawn's desire to see if Camila felt any attraction towards him got to him. So he decided to walk through his living room with rumpled hair and nothing but pajama pants. Camila's hungry eyes roamed the flat planes of his chest and the pants hanging low on his waist. He smirked into his cup of coffee.
That's when the teasing started. She'd wear short shorts and tight tank tops with push up bras at home. Sometimes she'd walk with nothing but underwear on and crawl under her blanket on the couch. Her soft olive skin made him cover his crotch with a pillow, making her giggle at the sight. Shawn wasn't shy either. On most days he'd neglect a shirt and pants, strutting around his apartment in boxers. The sexual tension between them drove Shawn crazy.
That morning she came out with a head of wild curls and sleepy eyes, and he knew he wanted to wake up to her everyday. He couldn't take it anymore. He scribbled 'meet me downstairs' on a piece of paper as she smiled at him. She cocked up her eyebrow but nodded. Giddy with excitement he ran downstairs and outside into the quiet street. He watched as she ran straight into his arms and melded her lips into his. The lips he had been wanting for forever, and he knew she was the one.
With no air left, she said "Hi, I'm Camila."
"I'm Shawn," he replied with an alarmingly bright smile.
-
Shawn stared at the once again empty apartment. Camila wound her arms around his waist and tucked her chin into his shoulder.
"Our love story's a crazy one isn't it?" she said.
Shawn just smiled.
