{emma pov}



After Shawn walks off the stage, I walk with him towards the dressing rooms.

"Great job tonight," I smile. "That song was truly moving," I say.

"You too, that was really brave of you to sing about that considering that he's here."

"Yeah, I just thought that I had to. I have to get over this."

I see Dylan in front of me, all of a sudden, and before I can process anything, all I feel is his hand come into hard contact with my face, and I immediately hunch over in pain, clutching my face. Everything happens in slow motion.

"What the hell was that for?" I shriek.

"Oh you know why-"

As soon as I process what's happening, someone shoves me, I'm assuming it was Dylan, and I fall to the ground. Next is Shawn beating the crap out of Dylan on the ground, and I see Dylan fist about to hit Shawn in the face.

"SHAWN!" I scream at the top of my lungs. I am crying now. I can barely breathe due to panic, then everything starts to turn into a blur and soon enough, all I can manage to see is black.

✦

{shawn pov}
 
 
 
I see Dylan's hand come toward her face but I didn't have the time to react or say anything before he hit her, really hard. I am immediately filled with rage. That asshole.

She questions him, but I don't let him really say anything, because I know he's going to try to do something else to her.

"Don't touch her!" I yell and I take him to the ground pretty easily, as I am more built than him. I don't even care who sees, but I punch Dylan so many times that my hand goes numb, and my knuckles crack open a bit. His fist hits my face, then and I fall back a bit, and he punches me in the ribs a few times while he has the advantage against me.

I hear Emma scream my name, but that doesn't stop me. I am about to go after him again but a few bodyguards pick me up and pull me away. All I feel is pain, but there's one reason I still keep fighting against them. It's Emma. I need to make sure she's okay.

As much as I kick and try to get out of their grasp, I am too weakened.

"Emma?" I yell. No response. Where the hell did she end up? I should've been more careful. "EMMA?" I scream again, still nothing. I look all around me frantically, and I finally spot her. There are so many people around trying to take in and fix the situation, but right now, all I see is her, and everything else just fades away. She is lying on the ground, looking helpless. I try again to get out of the bodyguards grasp, and they must've seen me looking for her because they let me out.

Shes not far away, and I'm too weak to stand up, so I crawl over to her weak body. She looks unconscious, and she's lying on the ground. I pick her up and hold her in my arms, kissing her forehead. Usually I don't cry, but right now, I do. If she's hurt I will never forgive myself or Dylan.

People keep coming over and trying to talk to me, but I tell them not now. I keep whispering in her ear, even though I know she probably doesn't hear, things like "I'm sorry," "It's okay," and "We'll get through this," as I'm crying. She's still asleep, and she stays that way for awhile.

Then suddenly her eyes flutter open.

"Shawn?" she furrows her eyebrows.

"Yes, baby?"

"Shawn, you're bleeding!" she worries, scrambling to sit up. "And you're crying, what happened?" she cries.

"I know, Emma. It's okay," I smile.

"No it's not!" then the expression on her face changes, and it looks like she comes to a realization. "You got into a fight for me," she furrows her eyebrows.

"Shh," I sooth her, hugging her close to my chest.

She pulls away from me, looking me in the eyes. "You didn't have to do that," she says with a pained look on her face, "Why? Why did you fight back?"

"Because I care about you," I smile, tucking the fallen hairs behind her ear, stroking her cheek.

A small smile creeps onto her face. "I care about you too, but you didn't have to do that to show it to me,"

"I needed to protect you, no matter what, it completely breaks me to see you hurt. And Dylan is a complete douche, he really did deserve it."

She laughs slightly. "But I just feel so bad, you got hurt." she frowns, looking down.

I pull her chin up. "Please don't feel bad, babygirl. You're okay, that's all that matters." I kiss her forehead.

"Your career is on the line here, Shawn! How could you get into a fistfight right after the show? You're damn lucky there aren't any paparazzi in this area of the building," Kate says, concerned.

"Kate, please let me explain," I plead.

"Okay, let's go sit and talk. I don't think you wouldn't put your career on the line like that for no reason,"

"You okay?" I smile at Emma and I stand up slowly, to ensure that I'll be stable. Once I have a solid stance, I reach for her hand and help her to stand up as well. We follow Kate into one of the dressing rooms, and we sit on the couch. God, I'm in a lot of pain, Emma must be too.

"I'm really sorry, Kate. I didn't mean to cause a scene-" Emma tries to apologize, but I cut her off. I could hear her starting to crack and I don't want this to end in more tears.

"Emma, it's okay, I'll talk," I smile. I explain to Kate that Emma and Dylan have a terrible past, but I don't tell her the details of it. I explain to her that we don't know why, but Dylan came up and slapped her really hard across the face. "I was only trying to make him pay, let him know that what he did to Emma in the past and now is not acceptable, and that he is not going to get away with anything again."

"I understand your need for revenge, but it was still unacceptable of you to do. If you're telling the truth, which I'm sure you are, there will be consequences for both you and Dylan."

"Thank you Kate, just please understand that I didn't mean to cause any issues."

"Yes, thank you Shawn. Over the break we will discuss the consequences," She smiles, "Are there any injuries?"

"Nothing major, I don't think. My ribs really hurt. My legs are weak but I don't think they're injured."

"And my face feels like it may fall off," Emma giggles, "But other than that I think I'm okay,"

"Good, I'm glad there's nothing too serious," she smiles, "Now you guys should go back to the hotel and get some rest. I'll talk to Dylan now that I know your side of the story. I figure that yours will be more truthful than his." she smiles with a slight chuckle.

"Thanks Kate, goodnight," I wave to her and help Emma get up from the couch. I'm glad that Kate believes us. I'm fairly close to her, so that's one advantage.

"Hey bud, what happened?" Andrew asks once we get out of the dressing room. I've always been tight with Andrew as well, he is my manager after all.

"I won't get into details, but basically, Dylan is Emma's ex, and he treated her really badly. Today he hit her and we don't know why, and I was just getting revenge," I put my hands up in surrender, laughing slightly.

Andrew laughs. "Typical Shawn, always looking out for his friends, even if it means he'll get hurt."

I blush slightly. "Anyways, we should go back to the hotel."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Andrew."

✦

{emma pov}

"How are you feeling?" Shawn asks once we get back to the hotel room.

"Honestly? Just really tired." I yawn.

"Okay," he smiles.

"Let me help you clean out your cuts." I offer. He has a smaller one on his forehead, on his cheeks, and some blood leftover from a nosebleed. (a/n I've been imagining the stitches music video haha)

"You're acting like my mom," he complains.

"Stop complaining, or I'll stop helping you." I laugh.

"Okay fine," he says sarcastically and I giggle.

I take him into the bathroom and he sits on the toilet seat. First, I wash my hands, then I grab a small hotel towel and dampen it with the warm tap water. I ring it out and go over to where Shawn is sitting. I hold back his hair with one hand, and clean the cut with the other.

"Just tell me if it hurts and I'll be more gentle."

"I don't think it's possible for you to be more gentle, you're doing great, Doctor Hall," he laughs.

"Why thank you, Mr. Mendes, I appreciate it." I giggle a bit.

I get back to work, moving to his lip. It's a bit swollen, he must've gotten hit there. "This one here doesn't look like it's going to heal on its own." I smirk.

"Oh really? Is there any remedy at all? I'll do anything." he emphasizes.

"Anything, huh?" I smirk, "How about this?" I kiss his lips softly. "Even that?"

"Mmm, especially that." he smiles.

I kiss him again, still soft because I don't know how much it hurts him. "Okay, next, let me just find it," I go back to the counter and pull out my cosmetic bag, searching for a cream that I could put on him. "Ahh, here it is," I smile, pulling out the Antibiotic cream that I happen to have in there. "This might sting a little, but it'll help."

I put a bit each of the cuts, and he grimaces a little, but nothing too bad. "Thank you," he smiles. "Now let me help you with your cheek, it looks pretty bad right now."

"My cheek? Wha-" I look in the mirror and sure enough, my cheek has a faint purple bruise and a few smaller scratches. "Don't be silly, I can do it myself." I smile.

"No, no, let me help you please, to repay the favour."

"Fine," I give in. I get a new small towel and wet it like I did for Shawn's, and hand it to him.

"Here, just sit on my lap, it might be easier." He offers. I sit sideways, so that my cheek is facing him. He does the same thing as I did to him, but it's different. His touch electrifies through my whole body.

The cream does sting a little, but I don't really notice it.

"There, all better." he smiles, and kisses my forehead.

"Thank you." I smile.

✦

Once I took my makeup off and my hair out, and threw on some sweats, I go and knock on Shawn's door. He opens the door and I am once again reminded of the pain that I caused him. He must see my face soften because he embraces me into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so, so, so sorry." I cry into his chest, as he is much taller than me.

"Shh," he soothes me. "You're okay, that's all that matters." he keeps saying that. That as long as I'm okay everything's fine. It really makes me think that he does care about me. It also leaves me feeling confused about my feelings. I mean, obviously there's something here, but I still don't know if I'm ready to get into another relationship yet.

We stand there for awhile, he softly runs his fingers through my hair, kissing my forehead.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" I look up at him.

"Yeah of course," He smiles.

We get under the covers, and he holds me, making me feel safe yet again, and tonight, he showed me something that no one has ever really shown to me before. True affection.

a/n
 
I'm sorry if I made any of you cry, I cried writing it, thinking of Shawn crying 😭
 
anyways I thought the Shemma vibes were pretty cute in this chapter, although it was sad, hope you liked it!
 
~em 💗