ALL THESE YEARS
THREE: REMINISCING

"'Cause after all these years
I still feel everything when you are near"

➖

So many nerves were running through the veins of the Canadian singer at the sight of his ex-girlfriend. To say he wasn't expecting her to show up at the shopping centre he was at, was the understatement of the damn year. He was definitely not expecting her.

The band, including Shawn's bodyguard and his manager, Andrew, were all making their way through the local shopping centre to the exit. The group had originally come for lunch to catch up, but it ended up being an interesting shopping trip for them all. They ended up buying a few items each, while Shawn went all out and bought a heap of new clothes for the upcoming tour.

Shawn was halfway through a conversation with Mike and Josiah, when the photographer had disappeared. The two hadn't noticed until they were out of the shopping centre, and were looking around for him.

Mike looked inside the shopping centre, finding the photographer talking to someone. From a distance, he couldn't figure out who it was, but he told Shawn anyway.

"He's talking to a girl inside," Mike said.

Shawn turned to the entry of the shopping centre, finding Josiah talking to some girl. He made his way inside to go grab Josiah, but as he got closer he become more confused. The brunette he was talking to was becoming more familiar the closer he was to the two of them.

No, he thought to himself. The brunette ignored the thoughts that were raiding his brain. He reached the two who were happily talking, and he tugged at Josiah's sleeve.

He definitely wasn't expecting it, but both Josiah and the girl turned to face him. His eyes locked on the brunette and he couldn't look away from the all too familiar brunette.

No way, what is she doing here, he thought.

The songwriter couldn't keep his eyes off her. She had changed so much since the last time he'd seen her. Her hair was darker, her jaw was sharper, her hair was way longer, her body was more built and her smile was softer, but her eyes were duller than ever.

He quickly told Josiah that they had to go, but Josiah wasn't having that. He sent a knowing scold Shawn's way, which made the brunette then quickly say 'hello' to her before rushing off.

His heart was racing ridiculously fast in that moment, all because of the "reunion" with his ex-girlfriend. He made his way to the bus, his palms starting to sweat at the thought of Braelynn. It'd been so damn long.

The brunette pressed himself against the side of the bus, needing to calm his racing heart and his sweaty hands. It was ridiculous. Why was he feeling this way when he was around her? They hadn't been together in almost three years.

His head rested against the side of the bus, staring out into the open before him. All the memories of Braelynn and himself came rushing back to him all at once. He was reminiscing because of one thirty second encounter with her, and that scared him.

It was an awfully windy day that day. Majority of the population was kept inside due to the strong winds, which limited their abilities to do anything at the time. It was suggested that everybody should stay inside and to not go outside.

Shawn wasn't having that though however. The brunette was listening to a voice mail from the girl he had a major crush on, who happened to somehow get drunk the night before and admit how she felt to him.

"I love you so much that it hurts. Why don't you love me back?" She mumbled.

The voicemail ended with a loud beep. A large smile tugged at the brunette's lips at the sound of those three words escaping her mouth. He turned his phone off and slid it into his pocket, jogging down stairs to grab his car keys.

His mother, Karen, who was boiling the kettle to make a coffee, heard the keys jingle which made her turn around. She seen her eldest son grabbing his car keys, which made her drop everything to quickly run after him.

"Shawn, dear, what are you doing?" Karen asked.

The brunette was busy putting his shoes on at the front door, when he heard his mothers voice. He looked up from his feet, noticing the worried look on her face.

"I'm going to see Braelynn, mum," he grinned.

It was the happiest she had seen him in months since he'd started school. A new girl was enrolled into the school, and Shawn was asked to do the duty of looking after her for the first few weeks. Although it was only supposed to be a few weeks, the brunette found himself falling for her, to the point where he was always checking up on her.

His mother knew of the crush her eldest son had on the girl, as he had brought her home one day to study with. In the end, she stayed for dinner, and Karen could see the oblivious looks Shawn was giving Braelynn, that the teenage girl couldn't. Her son was falling in love.

In that moment, Karen knew something was sparking between the two teenagers. Shawn was always smiling whenever she was around or whenever he mentioned Braelynn, but today it was something different. He was smiling harder, and his eyes were shining with happiness.

"Please be careful, okay? It's very windy outside. And use protection!" Karen said.

Shawn's cheeks flushed red at the last comment, but he nodded his head to acknowledge what his mother had said. Within seconds, he was out the front door and climbing into his Jeep.

He arrived at Braelynn's house in no time, as she only lived a block and a half away. He jumped out of the car quite quickly, pressing the lock button on his keys as he rushed to the front door of her house.

It was when he reached the front door, he hesitated on knocking. Was he really standing here because of a voice mail she'd sent him the night before while she was drunk? There was no way he was going to let her go at all.

I'm totally doing this, Shawn thought.

He brought his hand up to the hard wood door, knocking a few times. He waited patiently after hearing someone's voice on the other side of the door, from somewhere in the house. The door opened a few seconds later, and Braelynn's mother popped up in Shawn's line of sight.

"Hi Shawn, how are you? Come on in," she said.

The brunette let the musician walk inside, where he kicked his shoes off at the door like he always did. Braelynn's mother closed the door behind the brunette, as he spoke to her.

"I'm good thanks, how are you?" Shawn replied.

"Fantastic. Braelynn's upstairs in her room if you want to see her."

Shawn nodded with a mumble of a "thank you" shortly afterwards. Braelynn's mother watched the brunette as he jogged up the stairs, two steps at a time. He reached the top, turning to the side of the hall that Braelynn's bedroom was on.

His heart was racing with every second. He was really doing this. He was going to knock on his crush's bedroom door, only to want to spill his feelings out to her. He'd always dreamed of this moment, and he was glad it was somewhat on track.

He brought his closed fist up to the bedroom door, letting it make contact with the wooden door with a few melodic rhythms. Not even mere seconds later, the bedroom door opened slowly. On the other side, revealed the familiar brunette.

She wasn't looking very well. Her face was completely drained, eyes droopy, hair a mess, clothes all messy. She looked exhausted. Shawn frowned upon seeing her in such a state.

"Hey, you feeling okay?" Shawn questioned.

Braelynn nodded slightly. "I'm okay. I'm just sick," she sniffled.

Shawn stepped into her room when she let him, and the first thing he did was grabbed a hold of her cheeks between his palms. He gently pressed his lips against her's in a passionate kiss. Braelynn's lips moved against his for a few moments, her hand gripping at his shirt by his hip, before she pulled away breathless.

His forehead rested against hers gently, watching as a her eyes fluttered open slowly. A grin adored his features at the sight before him. He could never get over how beautiful she was. She wasn't even drop dead gorgeous, but she was killing him anyway.

"Why'd you do that? You're going to get sick!" Braelynn objected, smacking his chest.

Shawn just let out a small laugh at her outburst. He stood admiring her, despite her thinking she looked like absolute hell. She squinted her eyes at the brunette, tilting her head slightly.

"What are you staring at?"

Shawn just smiled. "Even being sick, you're still as beautiful as ever." He commented.

The brunette started blushing at his comment, which made Shawn smile. He pressed his lips against her forehead gently, pulling her into his arms. The brunette let out a squeal as Shawn picked her up by the thighs suddenly, closing the door behind him as he sat on her bed. The two of them curled up against one another, falling asleep almost instantly.

Shawn's eyes flickered up to the sight in front of him. He couldn't make out what it was due to the few tears that had escaped his eyes because of the memory. Reminiscing was a regular thing for the brunette, but he couldn't seem to stop it. He regretted everything that had- he regretted everything bad that had happened between him and Braelynn.

He wished he could just go back and change everything that had happened between them. He wished he didn't hurt her like he did. He just wanted to go back and fix it all.