You're my sunshine in the rain when it's pouring - Daniel Caesar, Best part ft. H.E.R
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the lights completely dimmed, and the applause echoed around the hall, the people in the audience completely blown away by the pure artwork. shawn stood proudly in the front row, clapping for his girlfriend, cheering for her, incredibly blown away by her performance.

she takes a bow, before running through the wings, and heading through the stage door, to take congratulations from the rest of her friends and dancers, talking to her instructor, and receiving her complements in person. she gets given bouquets of flowers, which she takes with her to her dressing room, before sitting down at the table, picking up her phone to text shawn to come to the back.

"flower delivery for miss tate," she hears behind her door.

"come in!" she yells, settling her phone down, and undoing her hair from the bun it was in. she gazes at the mirror to see who it is, and she can't help to smile, before getting out of her chair, and running out to greet him with a hug.

"hey," she whispers, kissing his cheek softly, as he grins, his smile adorning hers.

"your talent continues to amaze me," he says, as soon as they pull away, holding out the large bouquet of red roses. "for you, my love."

"aw shawn, you didn't have to," she grins sheepishly, taking the flowers, the strong scent making her giggle in awe.

"alright, come on, we're going out for food," she nods, removing herself from shawns grasp, and sliding a pair of leggings over her legs, and one of shawns hoodies over that. "oh, so that's where that hoodie went," shawn jokes, making her roll her eyes, flipping him off.

"do you have car space? i have quite a few flower bouquets," she says, looking at the rest of her room, where maybe five or six bouquets are dotted around, and along with shawns one of about 30 red roses, there was certainly a lot of flowers.

"yeah, let me grab some of them," shawn says, picking up the rest of the bouquets effortlessly, and aria holding onto the one shawn got her, in addition to her bag, and phone. "so, milkshakes and fries?"

"you know me so well," she grins, leaning up and pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek, before the two walk out of the venue, straight into shawns car. shawn shuts the trunk, letting aria lean against it, and look up at shawn, with a smile on her lips, and her arms folded against her chest.

"hi hunny," he chuckles, snaking his arms around her waist, and pressing their lips together. "you looked so gorgeous tonight, baby."

"thank you," she mumbles against his lips, pulling away from the kiss, and sliding her hands around his neck. "it made me really happy when i saw you."

"of course i was gonna come, why wouldn't i?" he says to her, making a small smile appear over her expression. "come on, let's go."

"wait," she groans, pulling him back closer. "one more kiss." shawn chuckles at her, shaking his head, before leaning forward and capturing her lips gently, soothing the crimson mounds with his smooth touch.

shawn smiles, as soon as he pulls away, looking at the girl in front of him hopefully. "okay, now we can go," she says to him, pulling away, and walking to the passenger seat of the car, getting inside.

"man, i can't wait till you move in with me," shawn says softly, holding her hand in his, and squeezing it. "and in summer you can come on tour with me, it's gonna be amazing."

"i'm not telling my parents about it till i'm 18," she chuckles, making shawn laugh.

"good, because they might not let you if you ask them now," he says, starting the drive to a small diner. "aria i-"

"i know what you're going to say," she cuts shawn off. "please don't ruin your friendship with brian."

"aria, if he's seriously gonna keep going around thinking he can break us up, then i can't be friends with him," he says gently. "you matter so much more to me, and i don't want to lose you ever again. these past three weeks have been so utterly confusing, and heartbreaking, and i don't want to ever relive them."

"i don't know if i can live with the fact that because of me, you've lost one of your life long friendships," she tells him gently, looking out of the window. shawn stops the car outside the diner, letting out a small puff of air.

"come on, let's go inside," he says to her, getting out of the car. aria follows, shawn leading her into the diner, where they slide into one of the booths. "aria," shawn whispers, leaning over the table, and holding onto her hands. "i love you, i don't care if i ruin my friendships with them, but i want you to know, that it's not your fault. you've showed me a side of myself i didn't even know existed, and i can't repay you for that. i don't care if i lose brian as a friend, it just shows that he wasn't a true friend to start off with."

"i just," she begins, sighing after. "it kills me that you're losing your friends, and i'm not losing mine. i know it sounds bad, but i would much rather have lost my friends too, so it would be fair on the both of us."

"your friends are more understanding than mine, that's all," he says, squeezing her hands gently. "and don't say that, it's a strange pain, and i don't want you to go through that?"

"have you accepted it?" he doesn't reply to aria, but instead calls the waitress over, so they can order their usual. aria doesn't question it further, and ignores the topic for the entire time they are in the diner; she just wanted to focus on him, and make sure he was okay.

"i could never get tired of their milkshakes," shawn chuckles, holding onto arias hand lightly, as they sway in the breeze, walking back to the car. "do you want to stay over tonight?"

"please," she nods, leaning up to kiss his cheek, before getting into the car. "but i've planned a hard studying day tomorrow, so can we not go out or anything?"

"that's fine, i've been meaning to write some songs anyway," he says, turning on the radio, and starting the short drive back to his condo. "have you got your stuff with you?"

"yeah, i did bring a small suitcase with me," she says with a laugh. "when are the juno's?"

"in a couple weeks, why?"

"do you think we can come out as a couple then?" she asks him nervously. "i mean, i'll be 18 a month after that, and-"

"aria, like i said before, we can come out as a couple to the world whenever you want. you just have to be ready, and then i'll be ready," he tells her. "i was thinking of the iHearts the week after that, since it's bigger than the juno's."

"where are they?"

"the forum, california," he says, turning into the car park of his condo. "i think you're on spring break?"

"either way, i can always take a couple days off," she shrugs. "it's not like it will affect me too much, i already have enough credits to graduate."

"so why don't you? and why are you studying then?" he chuckles, as she smiles.

"i like school, and i like working, and i like being top of the class, so shush," she says to him, making him laugh. "so the iHearts then?"

"i'll have to talk to andrew about it, but i'm sure he'll say yes," he says, getting out of the car. "do you want to leave the flowers in here, or bring them up?"

"can we bring them up?" he nods, taking out the bouquets, as aria holds a couple, taking her suitcase too.

"i'll call him now," shawn says. "because if we can, my stylist is gonna have to get you fitted for a dress, and we need to get your flights sorted out."

he unlocks the door to the condo, letting aria in, who's in her own daze of happiness. this was it, she was really going to take the next step with shawn, and she couldn't wait. she was happy, she was content, but shawns lack of happiness shone through, and she couldn't help but to worry about him.

"i'm gonna shower quickly, okay?" she says, kissing his cheek softly, placing her hand on his chest.

"mhm, towels are in the cabinet, yeah? use my ensuite." she nods, before shawn places a sweet kiss upon her lips, letting her go to shower.

shawn sighs softly, helping himself to a scotch, sitting down on the kitchen island, and looking straight out of the window on the other side, seeing the sky being cast into a rainy mood. he just wants his best friend back, but he doesn't want to lose aria.

he can't help the tears that well up in his eyes, followed by the cries and sobs that escape past his lips. thank goodness aria was in the shower, because shawn did not want her to hear that he was crying, he didn't even want her to know that he was sad about the situation, because he knew that she would break up, just so he could get his friend back. she would be scared, frightened, to even be in a relationship with shawn, and at that stage, it definitely would be her fault why shawn and brian have fallen out.

"shawn?" aria squeaks, walking out of the room, a single white robe wrapped around her body. he immediately stops his crying, finishing the drink in a shot, and wiping his eyes.

"i'm fine," he says sternly. "i'm fine." arias heart drops, as she walks over to shawn, who stumbles off of the stool, tripping over his own feet, and falling straight onto the rug next to the couch.

"shawn," she says quietly, crouching down next to him, pulling him into her arms. he looks confused for a second, but settles into her grasp, wrapping his arms weakly around her waist, and crying into her shoulder. "shh, baby," she whispers, running her hands through his hair.

"take my pain away," he begs, looking up from her neck. she nods, cupping his cheek softly, and pressing her lips to his, kissing away his sadness, trying to get rid of it completely. shawn squeezes her waist softly, bringing his fingers to the tie that holds the robe together, undoing the knot, and letting the material open, revealing a wine coloured, lace matching set. he slips the robe over her shoulders, as she fiddles with the buttons of his shirt, unbuttoning them, and revealing his toned chest.

they made love in the lounge, as aria made shawn forget about his pain. it worked until morning, but as soon as he woke up, the sadness consumed him even more, and then they made love again, this time on the couch, the sunlight streaming into the condo, awakening his home.

but it didn't wake him up.