Don't Wake Me Up - Shawn Mendes

PART TWENTY FIVE

 We spend the rest of the morning together, relaxing, not thinking of the outside world. But then, I notice that Shawn's phone has been blowing up, so I ask him if he should take this.

"Yeah, maybe. It's Andrew. I was on the phone with him earlier this morning when you called me. He saw too. He's the one that showed me... He was wondering how we should handle it."

"Handle it?" I ask Shawn, a bit surprised.

"Well yeah, like, do we deny the whole thing, or come out as a couple, do we say who the 'mystery girl' is," he says as he nudges me lightly.

"Oh. Yeah, makes sense. What did you want to do?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you. You are involved in this as well, you know."

"Yeah, that I am! Uhm, I don't know, this is new territory for me. What did Andrew want to do?" I ask, looking for any type of advice.

"Well, he wanted to know how serious we were. So I said pretty serious, right?" Shawn says, still looking for validation.

I smile at him, almost in disbelief.

"You need me to say it too? Yes, Shawn. We are serious. It's a new relationship, but it also feels like I've known you forever. And whether I like to admit it or not, you have weaseled your way into my life. And I couldn't be happier," I say with a smile, which he reciprocates.

"Okay. So would you be open to the idea of going public? That can put pressure on a relationship, and I can't guarantee how the fanbase will react," Shaw warns me.

"Yeah, I have been both a fan and a hater of Jelena, so I know what I'm in for," I say and I think Shawn can hear the dread in my voice.

"Well, without saying it's you, I could still say that yes, there's a special person in my life? Just to address the situation. And prepare the army, you know."

"The army?"

"Yeah, the Mendes Army," Shawn says, without batting an eye.

I burst out laughing.

"Oh wow! I never thought I'd hear you say those words. This is great!" I say, still laughing. "But yeah, I think you should call Andrew back. Tell him I'm okay, and see what he had in mind."

"Sure, I'll be right back."

Shawn gets up, and goes in the small kitchen. Now of course, this is a shoebox apartment, so I can hear him very well.

"Hey Andrew, sorry I didn't call back earlier. We're all good now."

Then Shawn pauses, I assume to let Andrew speak.

"Yeah we talked. Alice wanted to know what you had in mind."

"Yes it's serious!"

"Uhm, a month and a half I think."

Then he laughs and looks in my direction out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, yesterday was 6 weeks. I'm sure."

"We thought maybe we didn't have to reveal who it is? Would that be possible? At least for now."

"I don't know."

"Yeah, okay. No problem. Will do."

"Bye," he finally says, and hangs up.

Shawn comes back and plops down on the bed next to me.

"Well, Andrew will come up with something. For now, he told me we should both lay low. So, how about a day in?"

"Well, what choice do I have?" I laugh. "You know I always love a day in when the company is this good! Although I barely have anything to eat. And is your car even parked legally?" I ask Shawn.

"Wow! You think of the weirdest details..."

I shrug. It's a good thing, otherwise he'd get towed! Shawn continues:

"Okay, how about this. Get your things, anything you think you might need in the next few days, and we'll go to my place. We can order pizza or anything off of UberEats. We can live like this for decades!"

"Whoa, decades! I have work in the morning."

"Okay fine, just today. But you can bring your stuff for tomorrow, and leave from my place. You'll be even closer, too!"

I have to admit that it's a good idea, plus his apartment is nicer than mine, so if I have to be sequestered, might as well be there!

I gather my stuff in an overnight bag, and we leave. I ask if I can drive, and Shawn puts on his shades. We stop incognito at a Timmies drive-thru to grab ice-capps and soups. Weird mix, but to each their own! We finally get to the parking garage and safely make our way to Shawn's place. We get there and settle down with our little snack, and Shawn orders pizza right away, because that cream of broccoli will certainly not make me feel full all day!

We're eating and finally chose something to watch on Netflix when I ask Shawn:

"So, what do you think is gonna happen?"

"What do you mean?" he asks me in return.

"When it all breaks out. When the army finds out you're not single. That I took you away from them."

"Well, in a perfect world, they would all be very happy for me. And they'd see how in love with you I am, and how amazing you are for me, and be excited for the new love songs to come!" he says, almost in a comical tone.

"Yeah, or I might also get death threats! Who knows!" I try to laugh about it.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You know it's not too late, I can still call Andrew."

"No, no. It's fine. I mean it'll have to come out someday, I'm just trying to brace myself for the worst. How would you address the situation? If you learned that angry fans were sending me hate messages?" I ask Shawn.

"Well first of all, they're not fans. Fans would love and support me. But uh... I guess I could talk to them. You know, nowadays, anything I post is screenshoted or screen recorded. I could go live on Instagram! Talk about you a bit. Take their questions, read their comments. I'd talk to them directly, and hopefully they understand how much you mean to me. I'd also make it very clear that I won't tolerate any type of hate."

I already feel better, seeing as we can plan for the worst. He continues:

"And if you receive any hate," Shawn starts, but I cut him off:

"We'll see, but I'm sure I can handle a few haters. Their jealousy like a reminder that I have something they want..." I say with a smirk as I run my hand on his chest.

Shawn smirks back.

"That you do," he says as he kisses me.

Our kiss heats up as I climb on top of him and he lies down on the couch. We keep making out as hands are under clothes, hair is pulled, and lips are bit. I pull my face away from his, and look at him. I smile and rub our noses together.

"Eskimo kiss."

I scoot lower to lay my head on his chest, not unlike the position I was in earlier today. We both watch the show until the pizza gets here.

We spend the rest of the evening together, either in the same room or going about our own thing. I realize that even though I always thought I'd have trouble living with other people, I feel fine being with Shawn. We don't have to be together all the time. He can play his guitar while I write, or we can check our phones, or we can cuddle and watch movies. Am I growing? Who would've thought.

Later in the evening, Shawn is in the bathroom and calls my name:

"Alice! Get in here!"

"Uhm, I'm not sure we're quite there yet, Shawn," I reply, perplexed.

"No! Don't worry. Come here, please."

I walk to the bathroom, and he's standing in front of the sink. He takes my hand and guides me just in front of him, putting both his hands on my shoulders to make me face the mirror. My expression is confused, but he's looking down at me and smiling softly.

"That's it. That's what I'd see in the mirror of Erised," he tells me.

I meet his gaze in the mirror. I know now that I'm ready for anything tomorrow might bring.