could be fate

Chapter 6

Vivian felt like a creep as she walked up to Kai that afternoon asking about Shawn. Even she was surprised at the amount of concern her voice carried. But she wasn't entirely to blame. Shawn had rooted himself in her heart and disappeared for a whole week and there was no way of her knowing if he was okay or not – except Kai. She made a mental note to – by all means – get his contact the next time she sees him.

Kai's eyebrows shot up, an astonished smile playing on his pink lips. Before he could say anything Vivian explained, "I want to give him back his hoodie." And his eyebrows got higher, eyes doubling in size as he looked at the neatly folded hoodie that clearly belonged to his best friend.

He gave Vivian a suspicious look, "you can give it to me, I'll give it to him when I see him." Vivian hugged the hoodie as if Kai was going to take it from her, take away her only excuse to see Shawn? She didn't think so, so she guarded it.

"I'll just – I'll hold on to it." She said quietly, "tell him I was looking for him when you see him." She returned to her table and continued solving maths. She couldn't concentrate, she felt like some part of her was missing. She gave this madness an explanation, as she did everything, the only way these feelings would make sense was Shawn was one of the first friends she made when she moved here, she was bound to feel empty when he'd disappeared from her life, and he was the only person that didn't doubt she wasn't Isabelle, not for a second – as far as she knew.

Kai sat on the empty chair opposite her, he sighed, "I can take you to him." He offered, Vivian's eyes brightened up, "but I'm not sure he'll want to see you."

Her shoulders slumped, "why? Did I do something?"

Kai released another sigh, "no, it's just a difficult time for him." Vivian wanted so bad to be there for him but she wasn't sure if the level of their friendship gave her the right to.

~

Kai took her to the hotel she went with Jaxson a week ago. They travelled to the highest floor, entering a penthouse. It was nothing like she's ever seen, the view of the city lights was magical. The interior itself alone was breathtaking. Vivian took her time to take everything in, the walls, the chandelier that hung on the high ceiling, the floors, the vintage furniture, the stairs that she was sure was something they stole from a Disney movie.

Shawn was standing on top of the stairs, a half full bottle of Jameson whiskey in his hand, he looked ragged, like he hadn't slept or showered in days. He was wearing a pair of dark low cut jeans, no shirt on, his V-line on display for the eyes to feast, his abs demanding attention. Vivian stared at him amorously, stuck in a world of her own... when his voice brought her back to earth.

"Why did you bring her here?" He slurred the words, slowly dragging himself down the stairs.

"She wanted to return your hoodie." Kai shrugged, seeming unfazed by his death glare.

Shawn shifted his eyes to the hoodie then back at Kai, he took a gulp of the whiskey, Vivian winced at the thought of the taste, but Shawn's face remained as it was. "You can put it on the sofa." He told Vivian and turned his back on them.

Kai turned to Vivian with an apologetic smile, his hands on his waist, "I'm sorry, I thought seeing you would help him snap out of it," he was shaking his head realizing bringing her was a bad idea. Vivian wanted to just put the hoodie down and leave, but a part of her wouldn't allow her to, it's the haunting that followed that she didn't want to face.

She looked Kai in the eyes, almost as if to communicate that she knew what she was doing, she didn't. "Let me try talking to him, then we can leave."

Kai nodded, "I'll be right here."

Vivian climbed the stairs, fancying herself a princess but the delight didn't last. She worried about Shawn, would she be able to help him? She didn't know what to say or do. She didn't even think she should be here. Her mind wandered to the first time she saw her father like this, she wondered had someone been there for him, would things have wounded up different?

She found Shawn sitting on the leather sofa at the lounging area, there was a bar directly ahead. "I just want to be left alone." He said desperately.

Vivian hesitated sitting next to him, "I know." She said quietly. They sat in silence for a moment, to Vivian that felt like an eternity. "I really need to give you back your hoodie." Vivian gripped the material in her hand. She thought she heard him chuckle. Then he was quiet again.

"How was your date?"

"That was forever ago." Vivian brushed his question.

"How. Was. Your. Date?" He gritted every word. From the corner of her eye, Vivian saw he had clenched the bottle tighter.

She cleared her throat, "good?" She replied, though it paused as a question. Vivian was cautious of her words out of fear of saying the wrong thing.

"Do you like him?" He asked quietly. She remembered Jaxson asking something similar, which left her wondering: what was it to them if she liked either one of them?

"Was Belle your ex or something?" Vivian found herself asking. That was the only plausible explanation.

Shawn was dumbfounded, "no! Belle was my best friend." He explained.

"Did you maybe have a crush on her?"

Shawn frowned deeply, "no." He denied ever having feelings for Belle, "hey! I was deeply in love with my girlfriend." He said proudly.

"You aren't anymore?" It was her way of finding out if he were single or not.

He was back to being gloomy, "she died." Vivian felt daggers plunge through her chest, the pain in Shawn's voice was crystal clear and she sympathized with him. She knew what losing someone you loved felt like, she experienced it first hand. She gave his hand a squeeze.

"I'm sorry." She hated that that was all she could say. She remembered when people said it to her all the time, and how much it sucked that no amount of sorrys could make her feel just a little bit better.

Shawn sunk into the sofa, resting his head on Vivian's shoulder and keeping their fingers intertwined.

Vivian tried to quiet her hammering heart in fear that Shawn might hear it. She tried to distract her mind by ignoring the proximity of their bodies and paying her attention to the décor of the room. She noticed that the furniture up here was more up to date.

"Do you live here?"

"No. My family owns the penthouse." He explained, "the hotel actually."

"Oh, so you're rich rich?"

Shawn chuckled.

An hour later, Kai came up to check on the two, he found Shawn sleeping soundly, still resting on Vivian's shoulder. A while back Vivian noticed his body had become heavier, she peeped at him to find his eyes closed, eyelashes glazing his cheeks, his lips were parted slightly and his chest heaved evenly. He looked so peaceful as he slept.

Vivian moved slowly, careful not to wake him, she- with the help of Kai, put him in a laying position, covering him up with a blanket, she placed a cup of water on the table like her dad used to for Mia when she got drunk and left.

Kai was kind enough to drive her home. They said goodnight and he drove off, after thanking her.