[third person]
-

the next morning, they were all awake and ready to head out of the bus for a day to themselves. it was a free day, but shawn couldn't deny how uncomfortable he felt. the only two people who were actually communicating with him were anya and geoff. no one knew what happened the previous night outside the bus apart from him and anya, which was good, because brian has developed a slight crush on anya.

shawn steps out of the bus, putting his sunglasses on immediately, spotting his family who are all waiting outside the bus, chatting to andrew. shawn takes a deep breath, turning his back and wanting to head back into the bus.

"come on, bud," geoff says, dragging him by the arm, and turning him around so he faces them again. "shawn, come on," he urges, whilst shawn shakes his head, trying to fight it so he. an go back into the bus.

andrew notices what's going on and sighs, ending his conversation with shawns family, leaving them to turn around, and see shawn.

"shawn!" aaliyah squeals, running towards him and crashing into his arms. "hey!"

"hey liyah," he chuckles, hugging her back and looking over her head to his parents, who are both smiling at him and aaliyah. "how are you?"

"good, how are you, loser?"

"i've been better," he admits, pushing out a small smile at her. she furrows her face up n confusion, before shawn let's go and goes to greet his parents.

"oh, shawn," his mum says, before giving him a warm hug. shawn tucks his face into her hair, hugging his mother back tightly, as the tears come back to his eyes. "shh."

"m-mum, i'm s-sorry," he sniffles, pulling away from the hug with his glassy eyes. his mum smiles, cupping one of his cheeks, and shaking her head.

"don't apologise to me, shawn," she says. "i'm not mad, just disappointed."

"hey bud," his dad says to him, as shawn lets go of his mum, going to hug his dad.

"hey dad," he mumbles, the bittersweet feeling enveloping him. "thank you guys so much for coming."

"why wouldn't we? you're touring, son," his dad chuckles, shining some light on the situation. shawn smiles sadly, looking behind him, and seeing anya standing alone.

"hey um, guys," he says to his family, before walking over to anya, and holding out his hand. she looks down at it, before looking up at shawn with a small smile. she takes his hand, and he guides her to his family. "this is anya, my girlfriend. anya, this is my mum, karen, my dad, manuel, and my sister, aaliyah."

"it's so nice to finally meet you, mr and mrs mendes, and you too aaliyah," she smiles warmly at them, as shawns mother quickly gives her a hug.

"if you need anything, and i mean anything, call me. i'll make sure shawn never says anything like that again," karen says to the girl, as she nods, pushing a smile out. anya goes to greet manny and aaliyah, before standing next to shawn again.

"i thought you guys were fake dating-"

"shh," shawn quickly says to aaliyah, placing his hand over her mouth. "you need to be careful with what you say. we're outside, and there could be fans filming."

"right," aaliyah nods, moving away from her brother. "i like her," she whispers in shawns ear, making him smile, and then his cheeks flush when thinking back to the previous night.

shawn takes a look around the rest of his crew, who are purposely avoiding him, and he frowns, moving away from the group of his family and girlfriend, heading back into the bus.

"shawn!" anya calls, following him inside. shawn sighs loudly, sitting down on the couch, and running his hands through his hair in frustration, as anya shuts the door, walking up to him, and crouching down in front of him.

"hey," she says softly, placing her hands on his knees. "don't worry. they'll all forget about it in the next few days."

"really? because they're trying so hard to not make it obvious," he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. anya sighs, standing up, and holding her hand out.

"come on, we're gonna get them to shut up," she says firmly, as he looks at her confused, but still takes her hand. he shrugs, following her out of the bus.

before he knows what is happening, anya turns him around and plants her lips firmly on his, swinging her arms around his neck, and smiling softly against his lips, as she kisses him delicately. she pulls away a few seconds after, revealing shawn to be slightly shocked, but nevertheless, a small smirk lines his reddened lips.

"that's how we get them to shut up," anya and shawn join hands, and begin to walk away from the bus, the crew, and shawns family, letting shawn take a well earned breather.

that's how you get me to shut up too, shawn thinks to himself, as anya leads him around barcelona like it's the back of her hand.

he was most definitely falling.
-
"seriously? you're kidding right?" shawn asks anya in shock, sitting opposite her in a tapas restaurant. she shakes her head, laughing softly, taking a sip of her sangria.

"sadly, no. i literally got put in the wedding as the bride, they thought i was the bride," she chuckles, putting her wine glass down. "it's your turn now. tell me an embarrassing story."

"fine," shawn sighs, laughing softly. "okay, so i was at a festival last year, and i underestimated how big a jump was, so i literally fell down on stage," he chuckles, explaining it as simply as he could. anya bursts out laughing, her laugh sounding like pure music to shawns ears, making his heart leap in his chest.

"that's hilarious!" she giggles, taking another sip of her drink.

"yeah, there were memes made and everything," shawn chuckles, sipping his own sangria. "so, tell me more about yourself. i wanna know what made you live in new york city."

"honestly, i have no idea," she grins. "i mean, i always dreamed of it, but then i started living there and i was like, oh, shits expensive, it's so expensive to live in new york," she starts. "like my first months rent, okay to be fair i do live in midtown, but my first months rent was 4000 dollars, for a two bed, and the second bed is literally a futon in a box," she continues, sighing loudly. "it's okay, i have a massive kitchen, and a balcony, which is what i wanted."

"do you cook a lot then?" he asks, interested in what she's saying.

"yeah, i mean, i try to. my dad taught me how to cook," she says, smiling softly. "i love cooking."

"you should teach me, i can't cook to save my life," shawn jokes, earning a small laugh out of anya.

"alright, i will, what do you want to learn?" she offers, leaning back in her seat slightly, and folding her arms against her chest.

"well, what's your speciality?"

"honestly?" shawn nods at her. "mexican. anything mexican."

"well that's great, because i love mexican food," shawn says, making anya chuckle once more, shaking her head slightly. "okay, it's a deal. when we're in toronto, you can come over and teach me how to cook."

"okay," she grins, taking another sip of her wine, and leaning forward again.

"i um, i'm really sorry about everything, anya," shawn admits, reaching over the table and holding onto her hand. "i didn't think my words would go that far, and i really, truly am, so incredibly sorry." anya shakes her head, squeezing his hand gently.

"don't worry about it," she mumbles. "look, i know. i understand. you're in such a horrible position, like your love life is literally being chosen for you. i get it. i would be exactly the same if i was in your position."

"i don't know why i said those things though," shawn sighs. "you're amazing. you're such an amazing person, i can't believe i would actually insult you to the point- to the point those things happened," he mumbles, looking straight at her. "i'm sorry."

"shawn, seriously, it's okay," anya says gently to him. "don't worry." shawn nods, before calling the bill over. "hey, let me pay for today."

"split it instead?" shawn offers. anya nods, taking her purse out of her bag, and taking out her card. "today's been really nice. thanks for getting me away from everyone."

"don't worry about it, they're being shitty about it," she says, as a waiter comes over with the bill. "hablas ingles?" she asks.

"sí," the waiter nods.

"can we split the bill?"

"of course," the waiter says, clicking a few buttons on the keypad of the card machine, before handing it to anya, who pays for half of the bill, and then shawn, who pays the other half.

"alright, we should be heading back," anya sighs, looking at her watch. she stands up after paying, sliding her denim jacket back over her arms, shawn following her, and linking his hand with hers.

the walk back to the bus was filled with them laughing and exchanging different stories, learning more and more about each other, and shawn tripping up on his words occasionally. they get back to the bus, and walk in, seeing everyone sitting down on the couches, or just simply hanging about.

"hey, anya, come here! i found that video i was telling you about," brian says to her, waving her over to one of the couches in the back.

"um," she looks up at shawn, who already looks slightly awkward. "can you show it to me later?"

"no, go, it's fine," shawn says gently to her. "i'll go hang out with my sister or something," he says softly.

"are you sure?" she asks him, looking around the bus. shawn nods, smiling at her. "midnight feast with me later?" shawn nods once more, as she leans up, pressing a small kiss to shawns cheek, before walking to the back of the bus, greeting the team members she passes.

shawns heart leaped once more.