(gif again because i'm dumb)

-

silence.

utter silence.

an individual could hear everything that was going on. aria was in silence. she was trapped in a never ending turmoil of guilt and dread, not wanting to look up, and not wanting to get out. she was completely trapped, and had nowhere to go.

as soon as the car came to a stop, aria attempted to race out of the car, but shawns hand on her arm stopped her. she turned her head towards him, and saw him staring back at her with a hard glare.

"if you get out of the car now, you'll get stories started. you don't want that, do you?" shawn warns, raising his eyebrows. aria looks down at her lap, shaking her head. "huh?"

"no," she mumbles quietly, sighing softly and leaning back in her seat. andrew looks back at the happily 'engaged' couple and furrows his eyebrow in confusion.

"aria? is everything okay?" andrew asks her gently. "do you want to talk to us?"

"i'm fine," she pushes out quickly. "but thank you anyway." she mumbles back, trying her best to not let shawn affect her.

again, she was greeted by silence.

the group spill out of the car shortly after they arrive, taking their bags and suitcases, putting them on a trolley. shawn and aria both shared suitcases, considering they now live together, so shawn was wheeling the trolley with their suitcases, aria aimlessly following him to the bag check in point.

"what happened?" andrew asks brian quietly, the two of them not even a few people behind the two lovers.

"shawn asked for the ring back, he got mad at aria for saying something," brian mumbles. "it was out of order if you ask me."

"sounds like it was, and what he said to her in the car? is he completely insensitive?" andrew asks again, making brian shrug.

"aria doesn't deserve him. he fucks her over so much, every single problem they've had has been developed by shawn," brian tells andrew. "someone needs to seriously slap him."

"i agree, it's not fair on her. she's miserable with him, it's so obvious," andrew says to him. "i know i've said that they're both happy before but i can't help to see that whenever they fight, both of them are completely and utterly bitter. it's not nice."

meanwhile, aria and shawn are both bickering lightly at each other, after the person at the check in desk tells them that one of their bags are too heavy.

"i'm sorry mr mendes, but you can't have that heavy a bag," she tells him, bored with the couples fighting.

"would you just give us two seconds? thanks," shawn smiles warmly at her, holding onto arias arm, and turning her towards him. "i told you not to make the bag too heavy."

"i didn't pack that one!" aria argues back. "that's your suitcase."

"but you neatened everything up," shawn points out. "god, you screw everything up."

"what is your damn problem with me?" aria snaps, yelling at him. "i've done nothing to you."

"you have," shawn mutters, arias yelling getting the attention of brian and andrew, along with the people around them. "you coming into my life was a mistake."

"shawn, shut the fuck up," brian warns. "leave before you make things too messy."

"i'm telling the fucking truth," shawn spits back, making arias heart completely break into pieces.

"fuck you," aria mutters to him, letting a few tears slip out of her eyes. "i don't understand what made you hate me all of a sudden. you proposed to me yesterday!"

"and that was a mistake!" shawn yells back, his neck vein popping out. "all of this was a fucking-"

"shawn," andrew tells him sternly, splitting the two of them up, before geoff and mike rush over to aria, taking her away from the scene. "you're staying in london for another two days, go back to the hotel. i'll book you a room now."

"no," shawn argues back. "i'm not going back, i'm going to my home."

"don't you see what you've done? you've broken her heart!" andrew lectures him. "what did she do to you?"

"you really wanna know?" shawn glares, looking at brian briefly. "this is why," shawn unlocks his phone quickly, going onto his camera roll, pulling up the video he took from the video a fan showed him.

it was of a brunette, an unknown brunette, doing things to a very well known ginger; brian.

"dude, that's not her," brian says quickly, taking shawns phone and stopping the video. "that is not her at all."

"yes it fucking is," shawn mutters back. "now move, i need to fix this fucking suitcase," he snaps, shoving the suitcase past them, and opening it up, seeing a black bag on top, which doesn't look familiar at all. he furrows his eyebrow, pulling out the bag, the sudden weight shocking him slightly. "what?" he says gently to himself, opening the bag and taking out the copper block. he turns it around, seeing a picture of aria and him engraved onto the front, with a message underneath it.

merry christmas
love, aria

his heart swells with adoration as he examines the engraving, which is a picture of her and shawn at a beach in california, lying down and cuddled up together on a tapestry. he smiles gently, before putting it back into the bag, and putting it in his carry on instead, before zipping up the suitcase, and going back to the check in desk. he pays to have his carry on checked in too, and places it on the conveyer belt, as it slowly disappears from him.

he notices that aria and his team have already gone past security, and probably are at the gate where they have to get their plane from. he sighs gently to himself, heading to the security line.

"shawn, wait," he hears from behind him. he turns around quickly, seeing a girl running towards him, a fan probably. "that video-" she breathes out, trying to catch her breath. "it wasn't aria. it's some other girl."

"how do you know that?" shawn asks, trying for it to not come out as bitter as he anticipated.

"that's a bit rude to say about your fiancée, isn't it?" the fan shoots back. "and it just isn't. i know who the girl is. she came forward."

"okay, sorry, and thank you hunny," shawn says, bringing her in for a hug. she hugs him back, but still lingers to say another word.

"oh and shawn?" the fan says to him, pulling away from the hug. "it's not cool how you thought it was her. treat her right."

"i know," shawn responds. "i know," he frowns slightly. "she's gonna end things, i know she is."

"it's a learning experience," the fan tells him. "you made a big mistake if you took your anger out on her."

"i know," shawn mumbles. "i'll see you soon, okay? what's your name?"

"olivia," she tells him. "have a safe flight."
-
shawn ended up going to his parents house to calm down when they arrived in toronto, whilst aria went back to the condo. shawn thought she was going to go to sleep, but in reality, she wanted to pack up her things before shawn came back. after all, they probably have broken up unofficially.

shawn didn't know this.

he parked the car in the car park basement, before pulling his suitcase and guitar out, carrying them both up to the elevator, which led him straight up to the top floor of the building.

he sighs softly, reaching into his pocket to pull out his keys. instead, the tiffany box falls out, and he feels his entire composure sink. gloomily, shawn crouches down, picking up the box, and getting up to open the door. instead, aria opens up the door, her suitcases behind her. shawn looks at aria, before seeing the bags behind her, and his frown sinks further into his face.

"aria?"

"what?" she mutters, folding her arms against her chest.

"where are you going?"

"home, shawn," she sighs, making shawns insides shatter.

"but this is your home," shawn compromises.

"not anymore," she mumbles, trailing her eyes down to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with him. she knows she hit a nerve with shawn, but she doesn't care. shawn sighs gently to himself, walking inside, standing right in front of aria, and planting his lips to her forehead. "stop."

"have you eaten anything?" shawn asks, ignoring her completely. he walks further inside, placing his bags down next to the door, before holding onto arias bags, and taking them back to their bedroom.

"give me back my bags," aria mumbles, following shawn into their room. "don't force me to stay here."

"aria, this is your home too-"

"no it's not!" she yells, making shawn jump back in shock. "this is not my home."

"i'm gonna run you a bath," shawn mumbles. "and then make you dinner, you haven't eaten a thing all day, aria."

"shawn please, stop," she begs. "i'm so fucking tired, please just let me go back home."

"no," shawn says. "i'm gonna go run you a bath," he repeats. "and i'll make you pasta for dinner, is that okay?" she doesn't respond, and shawn sighs gently. "by the way, you should put that metal picture in the lounge. it'll look nice there."

aria stayed confused.