[third person]
-

it was gloomier than expected the moment the 'happy' couple got back to toronto, the summer weather was slowly turning into rain, and the temperature dropping by a significant amount.

"i didn't realise how cold it would be compared to la," willow chuckles, rubbing her bare arms, and shaking her legs which were only covered by a fraction, since she was wearing a simple white tank with denim shorts.

"here," lucas says, handing her his jumper, which she takes graciously, swooping it over her shoulders.

"lucas, i'm sorry about the trip," she apologises quickly. "i didn't realise how you would feel, i'm sorry."

"don't worry about it, what's done is done, and we can forget it," he shakes off, looking down at his girlfriend, the lies making his tongue sting with guilt. "so it's your birthday soon."

"i guess it is," she chuckles, folding her arms against her chest. "honestly i just want to spend it in bed with a tv series."

"what? you're turning twenty! we have to make it big," lucas grins, looking around for their uber.

"well i don't want a big deal being made," she mumbles, licking her lips. "i'm also not sleeping with you."

"i never said that-"

"you were implying it," she shoots out. "you've been implying it for the last couple months. i'm not ready."

"we've been together for two years wills-"

"i don't care. i'm not ready. you know my history, why can't you just respect that?"

being sexually harassed as a younger teenager wasn't at all pleasant for her. when she was 13, her mother married a cheap excuse for a rich man, and the middle aged cigarette-smelling piece of trash took advantage of willow a lot.

it wasn't fully rape, but it was sexual assault. and willow wanted to forget all about it.

"i do respect it, i'm just saying that we've been together for two years and-"

"you know what, lucas? go home on your own. make your own fucking dinner, forget our plans, okay? i'm gonna go back in and grab a taxi. don't call me until you get your shit together, and don't you dare come to my apartment until you actually understand how to talk to me," she shoots out, taking off his jumper, and handing it back to him, before dragging her suitcase back into the airport.

lucas let out a long sigh, seeing her put her sunglasses on, even though she was going inside. he knew immediately that she was about to cry. but he didn't really care

after all, would you really care if you slept with another girl because you couldn't wait just a little bit longer for your own girlfriend?

willow sits down on one of the waiting chairs, and pulls out her phone, quickly finding an uber to take her back home. she taps away at the device, getting frustrated as it begins to freeze.

"fuck sake," she mutters, tapping on the screen firmly, before it turns off completely. willow let's out a long groan, throwing her head back, and cursing to herself. she knew she should have put her phone in rice the minute after it fell into the hotel pool.

"willow?" she hears behind her, as she quickly jumps, turning around.

"shawn?"

the brunette grins at her, holding onto his guitar case in one hand, and dragging his suitcase behind him, a black rucksack over his shoulders, and sunglasses pushed behind his curls. he wore a simple saint laurent t-shirt, and a pair of black jeans, a hoodie stashed away and poking out of his open rucksack.

"hey, what are you doing here?" shawn chuckles, greeting her with a quick hug.

"what am i doing here? i told you i live in toronto!" she grins.

"no but i thought you were staying on for a bit, that's all," shawn responds. "wait, where's your boyfriend?"

"oh he's gone back to his place," she sighs softly, standing up from her seat, and folding her arms. shawns grin quickly turns into a neutral concern, making willow notice his change in emotion. "oh, no don't worry, we're just having... differences."

"so he took the taxi and didn't even offer it for you?" shawn asks. "dude, that's rude. i would never do that to my girl, even if we were fighting."

"well you don't know lucas," she mumbles. "it's fine, i'm fine, i'm fine," she plays off.

"you're obviously not, hey, you can catch a ride with me. come on, my driver is outside," he says warmly. "are you cold?"

"kinda, but i'll be fine," she says again. "shawn, i can't let you do that."

"don't worry about it, where abouts do you live?" he questions, reaching into his rucksack and holding onto his white hoodie. "here, by the way."

"shawn-"

"downtown? great! i live there too," he reads off of her luggage tag, crouching down in front of her suitcase. "wait, i live in that condo block."

"wait, you do?" she asks quickly. "what?"

"yeah, i do," he grins. "what a coincidence, now no excuses, you're coming with me."

"oh! you're the one who bought the penthouse! one of my roommates did say it was a celebrity," she chuckles. "also, it's fine, i don't need a jumper."

"take it, you have goosebumps," he says to her, as she smiles sheepishly, putting the hoodie over her torso. "what floor are you on?"

"tenth, it's me and two friends," she says. "how can i repay you?"

"you don't need to, just come with me," he grins, picking up his things, and leading her outside.

and for once, willow let lucas slip out of her mind completely.
-
"oh, shawn, this is yocelin and kayla," willow introduces shawn to her two roommates, who are slighting concerned that lucas isn't with her, but instead, a very handsome singer.

"hey, nice to meet you guys," shawn says, waving slighting.

"same to you," kay says quickly, before looking at willow. "where's your boy toy?"

"kay! you can't say that," yocelin says, slapping her arm, before looking at shawn. "so you're the guy who moved into the penthouse?"

"wait you're the celebrity? damn i thought it was drake," kay says, a small pout on her lips, making shawn scoff, but then roll his eyes sarcastically.

"anyway, willow, while i know you're here, i'm having a small party tomorrow, you guys wanna come?"

"tomorrow's her birthday-"

"kay-"

"tomorrow's your birthday?" shawn asks willow, a small smile on his lips. "okay it's settled, we'll get cake, and you can come up to celebrate. how old are you gonna be?"

"twenty," she sighs. "yeah, i'm getting old."

"hey, i'm twenty one, i take offence," shawn says sarcastically, pretending to be hurt. "okay, you're coming tomorrow."

"can i bring some other friends too? they literally live down the hall," willow asks him.

"how many?"

"i don't know, like ten all together?"

"i don't mind," he shrugs. "you know where to go, i'll see you tomorrow."

"thanks for the ride shawn, and thank you for cheering me up," willow says to him, walking him out of her condo.

"honestly, no problem," he grins. "don't worry about it," he continues. "you can repay me by doing shots with me tomorrow."

"deal," she chuckles, as shawn opens her front door. "see you."

"bye," he grins, turning around and walking out of the condo, shutting the door behind him. willow smiles to herself, before turning around, seeing the two of her roommates standing there, arms crossed, and a sly look on their faces.

"shawn, huh?" kay smirks, making yocelin roll her eyes.

"don't talk about shawn, we need to talk about lucas and why the hell he's not here," she decides, looking at willow. "so, what the fuck did that dickhead do?"

"he just doesn't know how to respect my boundaries, that's all," willow mumbles, walking past them quickly, and straight into the lounge, where she rushes around, cleaning away a few things, even though the room is fairly clean.

"oh god, she's stress cleaning," yoc sighs, following willow into the lounge. "wills, what happened?"

"why can't he respect me?" she mumbles, her bottom lip going weak, as she sits down on the couch, letting a sigh pass her lips. "why is it so fucking hard to understand that i'm still not ready to have sex?" she weakly looks up, her eyes filling with tears. "should i just do it so he shuts up?"

"what? sis no," kayla quickly says, sitting down next to her. "he's a fucking dick, don't listen to him, and don't force yourself to do something you aren't completely ready for, okay?"

"things really aren't going well," she sniffles, letting a tear roll down her cheek. "i'm scared."

"you just have to let it happen if you think it's the end," yoc says softly.

"what? the end?" kayla asks confused.

"well she was inferring it-"

"guys," willow cuts them off, letting out a small sigh. "he was never this much of a dick."

"we know, hun," kayla says sympathetically. "it's just you have to realise that if he really wants to pressurise you, he's not worth being with."

even though willow completely understood her situation, she was too scared to let go, because letting go means that you lose someone.

and as dumb as it sounds, she didn't want to lose lucas.