Gasoline↠Shawn Mendes

ZERO // PROLOGUE

【 take your weak hand in mine and together they'll be strong – me 】

"Are you saying yes? To the offer, I mean?" He asks quietly, and I nod. Shawn frowns and looks away at the ocean. I attempt to sneak a bunch of sunflower seeds into my mouth, but Shawn notices and smiles at me softly. "You love sunflower seeds, huh?" Shawn whispers, and his smile grows wider, then turns away to look at the sea again.

"So pretty. . ." I mumble, but Shawn doesn't seem to be listening. His hair moves with the wind, and it feels like the wind's hands are running through Shawn's hair, creating a soft brown halo of loose curls. Shawn's eyes mist over suddenly, and he blinks many times, his lashes brushing the skin of his under eye smoothly. Shawn looks like perfection. Shawn is perfection.

"You're prettier." He says suddenly, and I smile to myself, staring down at my toes. Shawn has never failed to make me feel weird inside, and now, on the roof of the hut, my insides were giving up on me. The pale yellow light of the moon dances across our skin and Shawn moves closer to me, the November wind biting at our skin.

"This is perfect, huh? Midnight moon, the beach singing away in the background, the stars shining?" Shawn looks into my eyes, hoping for a positive answer, and smiles that perfect smile again when I nod enthusiastically. "Do you want to go cliff jumping?" He asks and holds out his hand for me. I take mine in his, and we stand up, jumping off the hut one by one. Shawn jumps first and holds out his arm to catch me, almost as if he's scared I'll get hurt if I jump on my own. I land in his arms, as cliché as it is, and he moves in to kiss me. I close my eyes as I wait for the soft touch of Shawn's plump lips, but instead, I feel a soft lick from his tongue.

"Ew!" I shriek as Shawn drops me and starts heading towards the cliff, laughing, running and panting. I pick myself off quickly and run after him, also laughing.

"You can't catch me, Zara!" Shawn shouts, and even though I know I can't, I still run as fast as I can after him. Shawn is halfway up the cliff when he stops, out of breath. I am at the bottom, puffing and panting.

"Wait up!" I yell, but Shawn smirks evilly and after regaining his breath, he starts running up the hill again. I groan and start running again, and after 20 minutes of running, walking and regretting my decisions. The ground looked so small, with the hut like a blob of blue in the distance. Shawn smiles when I collapse next to him in a mass of sticky skin and sweat.

"It's nice to see you here after twenty years, Zara." Shawn jokes. I elbow him in the shoulder, and he whines and pouts at me. I kiss his nose to make him smile again, and he does. Literally, his face lights up and his shoulders lift, ever so slightly. His eyes crease with smile lines, and his eyes flicker with some sort of inner flame.

"Jump with me?" He reaches his hand out like he did before, and even though it must freezing down there, I still do, and I do it happily. Shawn pulls away, mischief dancing in his eyes. He holds his hand again, and we play this game of reach out and pull in until Shawn stops and looks at me seriously.

"This for real?"

"This time for real," I confirm, and Shawn places his larger hand in mine. We run off the cliff, one of us in shorts and the other in a swimsuit, screaming and laughing, the ocean comes closer then I realise in a panicky burst that our jump was bad. We jumped to close to the cliff. Way too close.

"Shawn!" I scream, and he pulls me close, whispering that's we won't hit the rocks, that it will be okay.

But I don't think he knows I see the flashes of fear flitting through his eyes. Shawn squeezes me one last time, kisses me, then . . . pain. Flashing, blinding, hurting, clawing pain. It rips me from the inside, eating my soul, devouring my spirit.

Then I feel nothing at all.

-

Today is Friday!