Shawn Mendes Imagines

35. Kalimba

Y/N's perspective

I look at Shawn's focused face while he's playing this strange and uncommon instrument. His fingertips are gently grazing the metal strips, making cute little noises. I chuckle when I notice Shawn's tongue at the corner of his mouth. He's so deeply invested in the music he's creating that he doesn't even hear me.

After the last few notes, he lifts his head up and looks after some sort of expression on my face. A soft smile is adorning his lips. I simply smile back at him and nod.

"That was really great, Shawn. Nice vibes. It sounds mysterious. Really cool."

"I know, right ? I thought I could integrate parts of this melody into the sixth song of the album."

"I can't remember which one is the sixth song, Shawn, sorry." I giggle sheepishly, and he frowns.

"You made me listen to them all in one go, and I can't remember the order." I justify myself.

He laughs at me and stands up from the comfortable couch he was sitting on, to reach his laptop which is lying around, near the mixing deck.

Shawn invited some of his friends in the studio to get his mind off of work and I'm one of them. I've known Shawn for a good few years now, and I'm very thankful for our friendship. He's nice, supportive, caring, and so much more. We met at the school choir, and we quickly became inseparable.

I'm really happy when he's around. He can make me feel at ease as soon as he hugs me or just smile at me.

"It's this one, Y/N. You told me yourself it was one of your favourites." He says and presses the sparebar of his keyboard.

I recognize the first notes of his song and start noding my head to the beat. A little smile appears onto my face as I remember the very first time I heard that song. Shawn was so eager to get opinions on his work that he came to my apartment to show me what he did. It was -and still is- truely amazing. Kings of leon, Justin Timberlake, a bit of Bruno Mars, and, of course, John Mayer inspired him through this album, and the result is unbelievable.

"Yeah, I see now ! God, I love this. You should definitely add the sound of this weird thing. It would be wonderful." I advise him, and he seems pretty happy that I agree with him.

"It's called a Kalimba, silly." He mocks me and stops the music before returning on the couch next to the small wooden bench of the piano which I'm currently sitting on.

"Sorry, Mr.IKnowEverything. I'm not a pro." I respond as I mess his hair up.

He groans and pushes my hand away as I laugh at his grumpy reaction. He hates when someone touches his perfectly messily styled hair. "It took me hours to get that done," he would say to make them feel guilty. In reality, he can do that in less than 5 or 10 minutes... What a drama queen.

"Y/N..." He whines and sighs.

"Yeah, I know. You don't want me to touch your hair..." I roll my eyes at him and sigh too.

He laughs back at me and shakes his head as if it was meant to be funny. He then takes my hand in his larger one and places a gentle kiss on the back of it before focusing on his Kalimba -or whatever it's called- again.

The sound of this instrument soothes me immediately. Or maybe it's just Shawn's facial expression, I don't know. I look at him a little bit closely, and it becomes more and more difficult for me to hide the truth.

I'm slowly falling for the boy who has been my friend for years...

If only he knew I wanted more than just friendly cuddles or meaningless caresses on my knee. I want more than this little teasing from him. I want his lips on mine, not on my cheek anymore. When I see those fingers playing with the strips of this goddamn instrument, I can't help but want to feel them on my waist instead, pulling me closer to his chest. He doesn't know what those curls, this stupid smile, or his bright eyes can do to me. I sometimes hate him for that, for making me feel that way, even if he's totally innocent. At first, I fell in love with his music and his voice. Now, I'm falling for the guy himself.

"Shawn ?" I call him, my mouth speaking for me.

He looks up at me and raises an eyebrow.

"What is it ?" He asks, still playing the Kalimba.

"Stop playing this thing for two seconds, please."

He stares at me for a second, but eventually stops playing. He sets the instrument on the coffee table sitting in front of the couch and puts his elbows on his thighs, his hands joined.

"Can I tell you something ?"

He nods eagerly at my question. He's probably wondering why I want him to stop, he knows I love hearing him play music. I take a sharp inhale and close my eyes briefly to prepare myself to the worst.

"I think... I-I... I think I love you. I mean, more than as a simple friend." I whimper. I'm not even sure he heard what I said.

"What ?"

That's what I thought.

"I'm in love with you, Shawn." I say louder, daring to catch his gaze with my eyes.

"I know that, you've just told me. But, why ?" He tells me, his tone raising, but it's still soft. He sits up straight and waits for an answer.

I stand up from the bench and start to panick. What a dumb question he asked there.

"I don't know, Shawn ! I can't decide who my heart chooses to love ! Fuck, I shouldn't have told you that..." I bite my nails and start making my way to the door.

I want to exit the room and go pack my stuff. I don't want to stay in this house with him if he doesn't feel the same way. I probably break our friendship there.

"Hey, Y/N ! Where are you going like that ?!" He yells from the improvised studio/living room.

"I'm leaving, Shawn. Sorry, I probably ruined your day." I yell back, not expecting him to follow me in the bedroom I've been staying in for the past few days.

He grabs my hand before I can put anything else in my bag, and I turn to look at him.

"Can you just stop and listen to me ? You didn't even let me react." He laughs quietly, his eyes as soft as his voice.

"Sorry, but I clearly saw you weren't that delighted to hear what I confessed."

"I was just taken aback, Y/N. I'm not used to hear that my best friend loves me more than as a friend." He chuckles again, and my cheeks turn red.

I really thought he was mad.

I look at my feet and play with my fingers for a bit before Shawn's forefinger raises my chin to make me look at him.

"Do you think I can take you out on a date, just you and I ? We could talk a bit more about that around fancy French dishes and some wine ? Uh ?"

I smile a bit, my mind lost between tears or laughters, and I bite the inside of my cheek to calm myself down.

"I don't want a stupid fancy dinner. I just want to run my hand through your hair and cuddle with you as you play with your stupid Kalimba for hours in the middle of the night." I murmur, and he pulls me closer to him with his fingers on the sides of my waist, just like I wanted only some minutes ago.

"It isn't stupid." He whispers back, his breath hitting my lips.

"I don't fucking care, Shawn. Kiss me already instead of speaking about this shitty restaurant idea." I say and rest my hands on his broad shoulders.

He giggles again and then brushes his lips against mine. He eventually kisses me properly after a while. He smiles through the kiss and tightens his grip around my waist.

"Fuck, why did I waste so much time waiting for you. You were just here." Shawn whispers.

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Hey ! Shitty ending again yay !

I was just inspired by his insta story from the other day and yeah... I made that.