The high-pitched ringtone pulled you from your notes, Shawn's face lighting up your phone screen. You picked up the device and swiped right, connecting the FaceTime call.

"Hey baby!" he almost yelled, his rosy cheeks tight as he grinned at you widely.

"Shawn, isn't it like, three o'clock in the morning?" you giggled as you calculated the time difference, pulling your sweatpants-clad legs beneath you to sit cross-legged on the kitchen chair.

"Sleep is for the weak, babes," he spoke, pointing his finger at the camera seriously.

"What have you been up to?" you asked, "Can't imagine you've had anything to drink tonight, Shawn," you giggled, eyeing him through the screen. You watched as his cheeks turned red and he looked away, his toothy grin turning bashful at your accusation.

"Fine, you got me!" he laughed, accidentally dropping the phone as he held his hands up in surrender. "Everyone's still at the party."

"Why aren't you there? Tired?" you asked, propping your phone against the vase of roses he'd sent you a few days prior.

"No, babe, I already said sleep is for the weak. Listen to me," he stressed, teeth on full display. "I left because I wanted to call you."

Your heart swelled, a flush as deep as your maroon sweater creeping up your cheeks. "That's sweet, baby. I miss you."

"I'll be home to you in, wait, let me check my countdown app," he spoke innocently, exiting the call and leaving you to look at a blurred screen. His voice came back, "seventeen days, twenty one hours and thirty eight minutes."

You could have started crying right there. He had a fucking app to count down the exact time he'd be home to you.

"Shawn, you're, you're keeping track?"

"Course I am, babe," he came back on the screen, curls messier than before. "I love you," he grinned, dragging on the 'o' sound in 'love.'

"I love you more," you breathed, fighting the urge to cry. You knew it made him feel bad about being away.

"Love you most!" he insisted lazily, "Now, I must sleep," he spoke in a serious tone.

"I thought it was for the weak?" you teased, giggling as he stifled a yawn.

"You make me weak," he grinned, his eyes snapping open when an unexpected hiccup escaped his lips.