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she was dressed fully in black.

her composure held something of regret, something of remorse, something of guilt. she didn't really know how to present herself, nor how to physically act. all she knew was that she had to go to the hospital to take shawn home. she just didn't know what would happen after.

"hi, i'm here for shawn mendes?" she asks the receptionist, who responds with a warm smile. the blonde types a few things away, before handing aria a clipboard and pen.

"just get him to sign these, drop them back off here, and he's free to go," the receptionist guides.

"okay, thank you," aria responds, taking the paperwork and pen, before venturing off to shawns room that she's become too familiar with in the last month.

she reaches the pale wooden door, and stands outside the heavy stature for a few moments. behind the door was the man who broke her heart; perfectly able to walk on his own, cook on his own, fend for himself; he was perfectly fine again. shakily, aria brings her fingers up to the door, tapping lightly at it with her knuckles, and placing her hand on the handle, before pushing open the door, seeing shawn lying down, his figure upright, as he flicks through a book.

"oh, hey," shawn snaps his head up to the doorway, shocked that aria is here. aria shuffled inside, closing the door behind her gently, and walking over to his bedside, taking a seat in the leather chair. "can i go?"

"yeah, after you fill these in," she says, handing him the paperwork. "how are you feeling?"

"my head sort of hurts, and my back is aching, but it's okay, i have pills for that," he jokes, trailing his eyes to all the orange bottles lined up on the table beside him. aria pushes out a small laugh, a tiny smile lining her lips. "how long did they say i'll be on bed rest for?"

"three weeks, shawn," aria frowns gently, looking at shawn solemnly, as he sighs, nodding and looking down at his lap. "it's okay, we'll cause some trouble while you're on bed rest." shawn finds himself smiling a slightly guilty smile, and letting out an uncomfortable laugh. how can she still support me after what i did to her? he thinks to himself, not really knowing what else to say in response.

"aria?" shawn pesters gently, looking at the girl who's hurting more than he probably is, but she's also hiding it better than he is.

"hmm?" she hums, looking up at him, their eyes connecting immediately.

"i'm sorry," he whispers. "i'm so sorry."

"don't apologise, you were in a weird situation. honestly, if it was someone who looked like you in that video, i probably would've snapped even more than you did," she admits quickly, not exactly telling the truth, but wanting nothing more than to fix this patch they are in. she looks down at the sheets of the hospital bed, furrowing her eyebrow. "shawn?"

"yeah?"

"am i a mistake to you?" aria questions gently, not particularly wanting to hear an answer, but needing to hear one anyway.

"can we just forget about that?" shawn asks, avoiding the question completely, not wanting to give an answer.

"shawn please," she begs, a frown painting itself on her lips. "i-i need to know what i'm doing wrong so i can make it right."

"you're not doing anything wrong," shawn reminds her quickly.

"so then why am i a mistake?"

"you're not a mistake," shawn mumbles.

"then why did you say i was?"

"aria," shawn says quickly, and slightly louder than before. "stop, please stop," aria stays silent, folding her arms and waiting for shawn to say what he wants to say. "you're not a mistake."

"just fill those papers in so we can go back to the condo," she mumbles, looking away from shawn and at the white speckled floor instead. shawn nods lightly, beginning to work his way through the paperwork, signing when necessary, and filling out his details.

"i'm done," he tells her. "can we go?"

"yeah," aria nods, taking the clipboard from him. "let me go hand this back to reception."

aria quickly slips out of the room, taking the very short walk back to the main desk of the ward, handing it back to the blonde haired receptionist with a smile.

"you're free to go whenever," she says warmly to aria. "he's been missing you lots. whenever i go in to give him his shots and things, he's always asking if you're here. he must really love you."

aria nods in response, not knowing what to say, considering that she's always there during visiting hours, so it doesn't particularly matter. aria smiles gently at her, before walking off back to shawns room, opening up the door, seeing him going through his backpack, taking out a fresh set of clothes to change into from his gown.

"can you help me change? my back won't really let me bend too much," shawn asks aria.

"of course," she nods, walking towards him, taking his t-shirt out of his hands. "your family are coming over later. your mums bringing food with her because you missed christmas."

"i did?"

"you were in the coma," aria tells him.

"oh," he says softly, letting aria take off the gown, letting it fall down his torso, revealing a giant white bandage wrapped around his lower back to mid chest, and his collarbone completely bruised.

"oh my god, shawn," aria gasps, trailing her fingertips lightly over shawns chest, trying not to hurt him. "how could this happen to you?"

"hey, it's okay," he reminds her. "i'm okay."

aria helps to slide shawns shirt on, before getting started with his tracksuits, sliding them up his legs, which bear one hundred and one different sized bruises. aria accidentally brushes her hand over one of the bruises, making shawn yelp, and wince in pain.

"shawn," aria coos, looking up at him. "are you sure you're okay?"

"yeah, it's just tender," he says to her. "i'm okay, trust me aria."

"no, you're getting a wheelchair. i'm gonna wheel you out."

"i'm fine, aria," shawn says, standing up from the bed. "see?" he takes a few small steps, flinching slightly at the pain, hoping that aria won't see his discomfort.

"shawn, stay here," she says to him. "i'm gonna go get you a wheelchair. maybe i can hire one from here so i can get you back to the condo."

"aria, seriously, i'm fine," shawn tells her with a small chuckle, before walking a few steps, and then collapsing back onto the bed because of the pain.

"shawn, love," aria sighs softly, sitting down next to him on the bed, running her fingers through his hair, as he winces and gets over the pain. "i'm gonna get you a wheelchair."

"i think that'll be a smart idea," he agrees, making aria smile gently. she leans down, kissing shawns cheek softly, before walking out of the room and back to the reception.

aria comes back with a wheelchair that she has rented for two weeks, wheeling it into shawns room, where he's sat typing away on his phone.

"hey, can brian come over tomorrow? i think we all should talk," shawn suggests, making aria bite her lip anxiously. "i promise i won't argue. i wanna talk."

"you have to promise that we keep all of our differences aside, and instead we talk properly as a collective," aria decides, folding her arms in front of shawn. "promise me."

"i promise," shawn replies, nodding his head at aria. "aria can you get me my jacket?"

"you're wearing more than just a jacket mister, it's freezing outside," aria scolds him, taking out a hoodie, jacket, scarf and gloves. "your mum told me to make sure you were wrapped up."

"oh wow," he says, his eyes widening at the outerwear. aria chuckles gently, helping him to get inside the hoodie and jacket, before placing the scarf around his neck, and gloves on his hand. "aria, are the press outside?"

"when i got here they weren't, there were a few fans asking about how you were though, but they left after i said you were coming out today," she explains back to him, helping him into the wheelchair. "careful, baby," she reminds him softly, as shawn smiles sadly at her, sinking down into the chair, holding onto arias hands. "are you okay?"

"yeah," shawn nods, squeezing arias hands softly. "thank you hunny."

"let's get you back home, yeah?" shawn nods in response, letting aria lift his backpack onto her back, before rolling shawn out of the the room, straight back to her car, since shawns is in intense repair. luckily it wasn't a write off.

shawn just wanted to make things right again.