The uneasy feeling in your stomach only worsened as the day progressed. Wednesdays were always busy, loaded with classes from early morning into the late afternoon. It didn't really help that the stress of your ex-boyfriend's leering ways and harsh attitude had a hold on you, and you were unsure of how to go about it.

Once he'd hung up on you, you had no choice but to continue getting ready. The day really flew by, and everywhere you looked, you kept an eye out for Shawn. You thought you'd seen him at least four times between your house and campus, but you were certain it was just a figment of your hyper-worrisome imagination. You soon concluded that you had things figured out.

How would Greg even see you again? He couldn't possibly know if you'd been with Shawn or not. You were single, anyway. What was he going to do, ask Shawn if he was dating you? Shawn would say no, because that's the truth. Greg held no power over you, and you owed him nothing.

You convinced yourself that there wasn't anything to worry about.

Once Thursday morning rolled around, you planned on meeting Shawn outside and telling him everything, just in case. You waited patiently by the window in your little running outfit, perking up once the husky puppy entered your field of vision. Half a second later, you realized it wasn't Shawn walking her, but some other guy. He was bigger than Shawn and had longer hair, but he was definitely walking Shawn's dog.

"Excuse me!" you called, opening your front door and stepping outside with Chloe.

The guy looked in your direction, questioning if you were talking to him.

"Yeah, you," you said, taking a few steps in his direction. "Where's Shawn?"

"Umm, do I know you?" he asked, avoiding your question.

"Oh, I'm a friend of Shawn's from puppy classes. He, he uh, he walks by my house every morning and I was hoping to talk to him," you trailed off, squinting at the bright morning sun.

"You're the girl from puppy classes?" he asked, face lighting up as he made sense of the situation. "Well, looks like you're shit out of luck. He's rehearsing," the man spoke, shoving a hand into his pocket.

"Oh, for the thing tonight," you nodded, making sense of the situation.

"Yeah, he's uh, he's nervous," he spoke, tugging a bit on Geoff's leash as she tried to continue on her walk.

"Doesn't he do this, like, a few nights a week?" you questioned, wondering if he always got up at the crack of dawn to rehearse.

"Yeah, but this time's different. You're coming," he said, quickly shrugging a little to play off that he had just let that slip. You smirked, looking up at the sky.

"You're a friend of his?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm Geoff," he said, holding out a hand for you to shake. You laughed, releasing his hand and pointing from the dog to him.

"Like, Geoff Geoff?"

"Oh, yeah," he giggled. "Shawn claimed he could outdrink me a few weeks back. He, uh, well, turns out he couldn't," he said, causing you to laugh.

"I hope this isn't too much to ask, but do you think you could have him call me? I need to talk to him about something," you requested, causing Geoff, the human, to pull his phone out of his pocket to add you as a contact. You typed your number in, along with your name followed by two puppy emojis.

"Thanks," you said, handing it back to him as he leaned down to scratch behind Chloe's ear. He soon stood, giving you an awkward nod.

You turned on your heel, heading back in the direction of your front door. "Will you be there tonight? With Shawn's, uh, band?" you asked, raising an eyebrow. He laughed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, something like that. See you around," he waved, continuing on his walk with Shawn's dog.

It was around three in the afternoon when a number you didn't recognize lit up your phone. You slid your thumb across the screen and held it to your ear.

"Hello?" you answered.

"Hello to yourself," he spoke. "I can't say I'm particularly pleased that you so easily gave my best friend the number that I've been trying to get for a week," his smile was audible through his voice.

You laughed, setting your laptop aside and crossing your legs. "Now you have it. How's rehearsing?"

"Oh, it's going well."

"Geoff said you were nervous," you pointed out.

"Oh, did he?" he said into the phone, and it sounded like he covered the microphone and angrily mumbled something to someone with him. You hoped he was giving Geoff shit.

"Yeah," you giggled. "He did. Listen, I need to talk to y-" you said, cut off by the sound of commotion on the other end of the line. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just a little hectic over here. I'll see you at seven, yeah?"

You decided to leave him be as there was no point in stressing him out any more than he already was. "Yeah, see you later," you spoke, hanging up and dropping your head into your hands.

A few hours flew by, and before you knew it your phone was ringing again.

"Shawn?" you answered.

"Can I leave now?" he asked flatly.

"What?" you laughed, getting up from the kitchen table and cleaning up your pile of papers.

"We have class soon, I was thinking I'd pick you up," he trailed off from the other end of the line.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," you spoke, but immediately changed your tone at the sound of his sigh on the other end. "But, uh, wanna come by in ten?"

"Y-yeah! I'll leave in a few, see you soon," he said, hanging up so you could go get ready.

Knowing you were headed to the bar after, you gave your eyelashes another coat of mascara and slipped into some jeans for once. Your hair was down in loose waves and your lips were pink and plump, leaving you satisfied with your appearance.

You headed downstairs, ready to throw on your coat and step outside because you could see the black Jeep parked out front. Before you even had your shoes on, a soft knock was coming from the door. You opened it, only to be met by Shawn, beautifully towering over you in black skinnies and a denim jacket.

He broke into a smile at the sight of you, looking a little different without a puppy at his ankles. Geoff, the dog, was waiting in the car.

"You look lovely," he tilted his head, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and leaning against your doorframe.

"Thank you," you giggled, buttoning up your jacket and getting your second shoe on. You flicked the outside light on, grabbed Chloe and stepped outside. Shawn held out an arm for you, melting your heart as you wrapped your small hand around his strong bicep.

He led you to the Jeep, opening the door to the back seat and scooping Chloe up with his massive hands. Placing her beside Geoff, he shut the door and opened the passenger door for you. You took a second to process the situation because you were so taken aback by his so-forwardly gentlemanly tendencies. His hand rested on the door as he trapped you a bit, prompting you to climb into the car. Instead, you stood and looked at him for a little while longer.

"That was really sweet of you," you said, looking down at his boots, unable to meet his irresistible gaze.

"What?" he laughed, shaking his head. This was his normal.

"I, it's just, you're uh," you started to say, but your breath hitched as his left hand found the doorframe, allowing him to lean in a little closer to you. You tilted your head up a bit, mind running wild in anticipation. Your heart was beating loudly in your ears, chest in a knot as you struggled to breathe in his presence. His face was inches from yours, and your eyes fluttered shut in preparation for your mouth to finally meet his.

Much to your surprise, he turned bit at the last second, brushing your ear with his lips.

"Get used to it," he whispered, planting a kiss on your cheek and stepping back so you could get in the car.

Your cheeks burned crimson as you climbed into the Jeep, pulling the seatbelt across your chest as Shawn slammed the door shut. You watched him jog around the front, hopping into the seat beside you and firing up the engine.

The sun was setting as Shawn turned off of your street, not bothering to plug his phone in for the three-minute drive to the training centre. Your senses were hyperactive as you noticed him reach into the back seat to pet each dog, and then snake his arm onto the centre console, where he held his hand open, tilted a little bit in your direction.

A thought popped into your mind, and without hesitation, you interlaced your fingers with his. Heat rushed back into your cheeks as you heard him sharply inhale, followed by the sensation of his warm hand squeezing yours. Your thumb rubbed little circles on his as you looked out the window, avoiding glancing in his direction because you didn't know what exactly was going on.

He signalled right a few streets too early and turned on the wrong road, looping around the block once more.

"Sorry, accident," he smirked, pulling your hand up to his face to softly kiss your knuckle.

"Accident, huh?"

"Yeah, total accident," he smiled, squeezing your hand again. "I'm actually trying to speed up the drive, I'm just dying to get out of this confined space with you," he joked, causing you to laugh a little.

"Right? I'm just so repulsing," you responded, squeezing him back.

"Ahh, you're not that bad," he teased, pulling into the lot and parking the Jeep. You let go of his hand, undoing your seatbelt so you could hop out and grab Chloe. Shawn did the same, once again offering up his arm for you to hold onto.

Everything was purely blissful until you heard the squeal of a tire speeding out of the parking lot. Craning your neck in response to the noise, your stomach dropped as you realized that the noise came from Greg's car, now rounding the corner and driving off.

You pushed the thoughts to the back of your mind, focusing on the man beside you. He walked you into the building and you both signed in, joining the class on time.

"You're not late!" the instructor, Linda, called from the front of the room. You giggled at Shawn, whose cheeks were pink from the comment, but you thought that maybe they were already rosy because of the drive over.

This class was a lot of individual work, and unfortunately, you didn't get much time with Shawn. He somehow wound up on the opposite side of the room, completely immersed in what was going on with Geoff. He'd pause and look at you every now and again, and your stomach fell at the excitement radiating off of him. He was really looking forward to performing tonight.

You were never really able to tell him what was going on, and before you'd taken notice of Greg's shitbox car in the parking lot you were sure you wouldn't have to. As the class was coming to a finish, you took a break and walked over to Shawn.

"Hey, you," he smirked, bouncing a bit on his toes.

"Hello hello," you half-smiled, dreading what you were about to tell him. This could either result in losing his job or the person he was almost certainly into, and neither result would make him very happy.

"Excited for tonight?" he asked, running a hand through his wild curls.

"Yeah, Shawn, but I need to t-" you were cut off by the sound of a phone ringing, clearly coming from Shawn's pocket.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this," he spoke as he pulled it out of his pocket with a smile and glanced at the phone. Your eyes glossed over it, causing you to wince as you read "Horseshoe Tavern" across the screen.

"Hello?" Shawn answered quietly, already packing up his stuff. He mouthed at you to hold on a second as he stepped out of the room, bringing his stuff with him. Frozen in place, you watched him briskly walk out of the little gymnasium as he slipped his jacket on, and for a second, you were sure you saw his smile falter.

You felt sick as the last five minutes of the class crept by ever-so-slowly. You thought about leaving, and then you thought about calling Greg to intercept whatever was going on, but you were sure that would only make matters worse. Waiting it out, you were the first person out the door once eight o'clock rolled around. You walked out of the building, dreading the look on Shawn's face when you'd finally see him.

The Toronto air was cold against your warm face, leaving a worrisome feeling deep in your stomach. You picked up the pace out to the parking lot, praying to rescue the situation as quickly as possible when you realized that Shawn and the Jeep were already gone.