ONE
12: OUR HISTORY
"YOU LURED ME IN LIKE A MOTH DRAWN TO A FLAME."
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Silence surrounded the table at which the two teenagers sat at. There wasn't a conversation running between the two. Neither of them really knew what to say to one another. They hadn't seen each other in months, hadn't spoken in months. You'd think they'd have something to say right?

Not exactly. After the run in with Shawn's ex girlfriend, Lauren just kept quiet once they walked into the restaurant. She could tell that he still had feelings for the teenager, despite them being forced to break up. It happened. Break ups, I mean.

Lauren understood what it was like to breakup with somebody, she was still slightly hurt at the fact that Jack cheated on her almost a year ago. It hurt a little bit, but not as much as when it first happened.

Although, when she thought about it, it didn't really hurt at all. She sort of seen it coming really. She was happy hanging out with Shawn for it to hurt so much that it tore her apart, but it didn't, because of Shawn. Shawn made her forget everything that happened between her and Jack.

He was there for her, making her smile, making her laugh, making more memories with her. And most importantly, making her fall in love with him, unintentionally. Just by being himself.

And the fact that he was upset about seeing Caitlin, hurt Lauren. Either, he was still hung up on Caitlin and didn't feel the same way towards Lauren, or he was just not expecting to see her after so long and he actually had feelings for Lauren and that was why he was being quiet. Because he didn't really know what to say to her about his ex.

They sat in silence as they waited for a waitress to take their order. Both of them were just sitting at the table awkwardly, the menus in front of them as they read the different options.

A waitress came over shortly after, which made both of them jump slightly. Lauren smiled up at the waitress when she had made her way over.

"Good morning, I'm Grace. Are you ready to order?"

Lauren looked to Shawn who just gave a short nod at her. She cleared her throat at the awkwardness, turning back to the waitress with a smile.

"Yes, thank you, Grace. Could I please have the waffles with vanilla ice cream and blueberries, and a regular hot chocolate, with two sugars, and a marshmallow?" Lauren read off the menu.

Grace nodded along with everything she said, writing it down onto her note pad. "No worries," She then turned to Shawn. "And for you, sir?"

Shawn looked up at Lauren, but quickly looked away and up at Grace. He sent her a small smile, reading off the menu. "I am thank you. Could I please have the pancake stack with maple syrup and strawberries, and a regular coffee with one sugar?"

Grace smiled as she wrote down his order. "No worries. Was there anything else this morning?"

Lauren quickly spoke up. "Do you have lactose free milk?"

"We have soy and full cream."

Lauren smiled, "Soy milk please."

"No worries. Is that all?" Grace looked at the both of them.

They both nodded at her. Grace then put her note pad into her pocket and gently took the menus from the pair. She then gave them another smile, telling them that their food would be out shortly.

At least someone's happy to be here, Lauren thought.

"If you don't want to be here, you're welcome to leave," Shawn spoke up.

Lauren's eyes quickly snapped up to Shawn's, noticing that the brunette was finally looking at her for the first time since walking into the restaurant. She noticed that his gloomy look had increased slightly at what Lauren had thought she said in her head.

"Shawn I-" Lauren tried, but no to avail.

"-It's fine Lauren. If you want to leave, I understand."

She thought that's what she heard him say, but it was more than that, and the complete opposite in general. She had no idea why her mind had thought that's what he said. She was confused.

"When Caitlin and I first broke up, I wasn't the best. I was upset, mad even, at the fact that her parents didn't want us together anymore. They moved away, and a restraining order was put on me because I got Caitlin pregnant accidentally. It was a year and a bit later, and Andrew told me that Island Records wanted another guitarist to join the band, preferably a girl."

"He eventually found one of your old tutorials, and decided then and there that you were the one. But he didn't tell anyone he found you, and he kept watching your videos for months, keeping an eye on your skill and the way you played. Eventually, he told Island Records about you and the way you played, and they wanted to watch one of your videos. As soon as they seen you, they chose you straight away."

Lauren had no idea where the conversation was heading, but she still listened anyway.

"I never agreed to the idea of having another guitarist in the band, but when I seen you for the first time in the hotel, and you said you were just a little disappointed that you couldn't share a bed with me. It was that moment that I slowly started falling for you. Now, not many people think that love at first sight is real, but I did, because I knew in that moment that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I still do. Every moment I spent with you, I wanted to capture it so I could keep it with me wherever I went."

"I fell in love with you Lauren, so fucking hard. I spent so long keeping it to myself, and I'm pretty certain that I've told you before, but anyway.." Shawn dragged on.

Lauren let out a laugh at him, causing Shawn's gloomy look to suddenly disappear at the sight of Lauren's smile and the sound of her laugh. He admired her from where he sat, finding a reason to love every flaw she had.

"When you told me you were leaving, I felt every fibre in my body shut down. I couldn't handle the thought of you leaving. I didn't want you to leave. You turned my life upside down by just existing in my life, and when you left, I felt everything we'd built up, just crumble."

Lauren listened to every word he was saying, absorbing as much as she could. The waitress had long came past with their food, but neither of them had really touched it.

"After the first few months, I had slowly gotten used to you not being there anymore. But then you came back to visit, and I thought, maybe, just maybe, I could convince you to stay again. But I didn't have the courage to. You were finally living your dream, just like I was. Who was I to stop you from that? But then you left again, and it wasn't long before you admitted in an interview that you loved me. Actually, that you fell in love with me. I couldn't believe it at first, but then I remembered all the times where you admitted that you loved me before that time.

"My heart started to race, and my hands began to shake. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that you admitted how you felt about me on live television, but when everything registered in my brain. I couldn't have been happier to be able to hear those words come out of your mouth. I just couldn't wait to see you again. I love you Lauren, so fucking much. You lured me in like a moth drawn to a flame, and honestly, I didn't care if I got burnt.

"I know we said that we should keep this thing between us labeled as friends, but is that really want we want? I know it's hard, with everything going on, but I'm willing to try. We haven't seen each other in so long, and I probably won't see you for a while after this. But I really want to try. If you don't want to then that's totally okay, we can work this out somehow."

Lauren let everything register in her brain. Did she really want this? Of course she did. Did she really want it now, after everything that's happened between them? Not so much. She wanted to wait. She wanted to build everything up like they had started last year, but without the hectic amount of bumps they had. She wanted to start over. A clean slate.

"Shawn I-" Lauren blurted, not really knowing how to put her feelings into words.

"-Listen, I know. I understand if you don't want this to happen. We can wait. If you really want to, we could build everything up again like last year. We could get closer, hang out, whatever, until you're ready to finally be mine. If it doesn't work out, then we'll figure something out somehow. We'll fix it. I don't care how long it takes, as long as I'm with you, Laur."

Lauren then nodded her head with a smile. "Yes, that sounds perfect."

Shawn let out a breath of relief, reaching out to grab ahold of her hand from across the table. He brought it up to his lips, pressing a light kiss against it. One that made Lauren blush.

"You're blushing!" Shawn exclaimed.

It only made Lauren blush more. She pulled her hand away, covering her face with her hands as she continued to blush. Shawn just chuckled at her shyness, quickly taking his phone out to take a photo for later on.

"I'm really glad we're on the same page," Shawn said.

"But are we reading the same book is the question?" Lauren remarked, smiling cheekily at him.

"You're asking for a whopping, smart ass."

"You love it."

"Your ass? Damn straight I do. Have you seen it?" Shawn smirked back, taking a bite of his pancakes finally.

Lauren just rolled her eyes, flicking a bit of waffle at him, which he dodged. A glare was sent her way, the both of them laughing at one another. They were slowly coming back to normal yet again, and they couldn't be happier.