[third person]
-

"are we really doing this?" shawn asks, a smile on his lips, as he packs up some of his clothes, the two of them preparing for their trip to venice the following day.

"honestly, i'm as shocked as you are," aria giggles lightly, folding up a pair of shorts, and putting it in her suitcase. "i'm excited though."

"should we tell anyone? well at least tell them where we're going?" shawn asks, zipping up the bag his suit came in. "i can tell aaliyah, she'll be able to keep it lowkey."

"tell her about us eloping," aria confirms. "she won't tell anyone, and at least someone knows what we're doing there. just tell your parents we're going to venice, which is technically the truth."

"alright," shawn nods. "are you- are you gonna call your dad?" aria feels her smile turn into a frown, as she sighs, sitting down on the bed with a soft bounce.

"honestly? i have no clue, would he even answer my call if my mum and brother are literally monitoring who he talks to?" aria asks, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"its worth a shot, hun," shawn says softly, closing his suitcase. "look, i'll call aaliyah now, i'll go onto the balcony so you can have some privacy in here," aria smiles thankfully at him, before he plants a gentle kiss on her forehead, and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

aria sucks in a short breath, scrolling through her phone quickly, and dialing up her dads number before she changes her own mind. she lets the phone ring next to her ear, almost giving up hope after the fourth ring.

"hello?" her dad answers. "aria, honey?"

"h-hi dad," she says quietly. "how are you?"

"i'm okay aria, how are you?" her dad replies. "how was la?"

"it was good, and i'm fine, thank you," she says softly. "dad, i need to tell you something, could you tell mum and liam too?"

"of course, what is it?"

"shawn and i are going to venice tomorrow," she breathes out, her hand shaking slightly. "w-we're eloping."

"aria," her dad replies, smiling on the other side of the phone, tears pooling in his eyes. "are you happy? because if you are, go for it. i'm not going to stop you from being happy at all."

"i'm really happy, dad," aria says, a smile appearing on her lips, and her beady eyes filling with tears. "our flight leaves tomorrow morning, i'll call you when we've landed, and i'll send you as many pictures as i can."

"sweetheart, i'm so proud of you. you really are blooming into this wonderful, independent, beautiful woman," he says gently to her. "you have fun, okay? is shawn free to speak to?"

"he's on the phone to his family, but i'll make sure he calls you back," aria says gently. "we're gonna have a big reception as soon as we come back, well, a few months after we come back. i'll send you the invites, dad i really want you to be with me every step of the way."

"and i will," her dad says quickly. "you look after yourself, aria. i have to go now."

"okay, i love you dad," she mumbles, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"i love you more, sweetie," her dad replies. "i'll see you soon, okay?"

"yeah, bye dad," aria responds, hanging up the phone, and taking a long, shaky sigh. she wipes her cheeks, before standing up, and finishing packing away her things, zipping up the bag containing the dress she's planning to wear for the actual ceremony. she stretches her legs out slightly, before heading out of the room, and seeing shawn sitting outside, the door to the balcony slightly open, seeing him laugh and smile on the phone.

she walks outside, shutting the balcony door behind her, and folding her arms against her chest, staring at shawn.

"-please don't tell mum and dad yet, i want to surprise them," shawn says. "no, yeah, we're both happy. okay, i'll see you when i get back, yeah she'll make sure of it," he chuckles, looking over to aria. "i love you too, see you." he hangs up his phone, placing it on the table in front of him, before motioning for aria to come to sit with him. she grins softly, sitting next to shawn, and cuddling into his warm embrace.

"my dad wants to talk to you," she says softly to shawn, her voice sweet and soft.

"i'll call him in a bit," shawn replies. "did everything go okay?"

"yeah," she nods, sniffling gently. "i miss them, shawn." shawn sighs softly, holding his arms tightly around anya, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"i know you do," he replies. "aria i-" he begins, cutting himself off. "i'm really sorry. it technically is my fault that you can't talk to your parents, and i want you to know that i am so damn sorry."

"it's not your fault," she mumbles, looking up at shawn, who cups her cheek softly. "i have you now. if my family don't want to talk to me, i have my new family. yeah, i miss my family more than anything, but it's okay."

"but it's not fair," shawn whispers. "i love you, aria, i really do, but i don't want you to commit to me if it really is gonna make you completely cut ties with your family."

"i understand, shawn," she says back to him. "but you need to understand that i'm ready to give my all to you. you're my future, shawn, i can't just turn away from that."

"you mean that?" he asks quietly, running his thumb over her cheekbone softly. aria nods, leaning forward, and pressing a gentle kiss over shawns lips. he feels her smile against them, before moving his hands to her waist, and pulling her closer to him.

"wait- shawn-" aria says, pulling away, feeling her phone buzzing in her back pocket. she sighs gently, reaching into her pocket and answering it, not looking at the caller i.d.

"hello?" she answers simply, still resting over shawns lap.

"aria, you need to come to the hospital," her breath gets caught up in her throat, and she completely freezes, her face holding something of horror. "bring shawn too, it's grandma."

"liam-"

"i know, i'm sorry, but you need to come here as soon as possible. they think it's the end," liam says gently to her. "just please get here as soon as possible."

"i- yeah- okay," she says quickly, tears pooling at her eyes. "okay, i'll see you in a bit." she hangs up, looking at shawn, who looks as grief stricken as she is.

"was that-"

"liam," aria answers, her hands shaking wildly. "w-we need to go to the hospital, it's my grandma."

"shit, aria, okay, come on," he panics quickly, letting aria get off his lap, before following her inside, where they manage to throw on jackets and shoes, before leaving the condo and racing to the carpark.

"shawn what if-"

"shh, hun, don't think of that," he says softly to her, reaching over the console and holding arias hand, placing their joint hands on her lap. "stay calm, love, everything's gonna be okay."

"i- shawn- i haven't seen her in weeks," she responds guiltily, the tears making their way back up to clouding her vision. "a-and liam and my mom-"

"aria, please don't worry your mind. we'll get there, you can find out what's going on, and then work out how to react from there. stay calm now, hunny, okay?" shawn says to her, clutching her hand firmly, feeling her engagement ring against his fingers.

"i-i'm sorry we have to miss our flight," she mumbles, looking down at her lap. "i really wanted this trip to happen."

"it's okay baby, don't apologise," he responds, briefly looking down at his fiancée, before turning back to the road. "hey, you wanna listen to something?"

"please," she sighs softly, as shawn reaches into his pocket, handing her his phone. she immediately unlocks it and plays one of shawns playlists on spotify, putting the phone in the cup holder attached to the console.

shawn didn't know what to say to aria, but he knew that his hand in hers was something that could help her calm down, so his hand never left hers.
-
"liam," aria calls, letting go of shawns hand, and wandering up to her brother, her brother who she hasn't spoken to in what seems like forever, seeing him sitting down in an uncomfortable hospital chair, jasmine and willow by his side, willow fiddling with the buttons on her little yellow coat.

"fuck, aria," liam mumbles, looking up, and standing up, holding his arms out for his little sister. "i'm so sorry."

"i'm sorry too," aria whispers, shutting her eyes, and hugging him back. "what's going on?"

shawn looked at the brother and sister, finally breathing a small sigh of relief. they were okay. at last.

"i-i don't know, mum and dad are inside the room, they haven't come out since we got here, like maybe two hours ago? i don't even know, the doctors won't tell me either," he explains, letting go of aria, running his hands through his hair. "fuck aria, what the fuck happened?"

"hey, stop swearing, your daughter is right behind you," aria scolds. "i-i think we should just sit and wait until one of them come out."

"yeah, that's what jas said," liam sighs, looking down at his sister. "i'm so sorry, aria."

"it's okay," she whispers, looking down at the floor. "i-"

"no, it's not okay. i should've been there for you. you were going through such a hard time, and i shouldn't have left you in the dark. i'm so sorry," he blurts out. "i knew shawn was the one for you, i was just letting my anger get to me, i'm so sorry."

"it's not me you should be apologising to," aria mumbles, as shawn comes next to her, swooping his arm around her waist.

"hey liam," shawn nods, looking at him.

"hey, shawn," he responds. "i um, i'm sorry about the way i reacted. i should have heard both of you out before jumping to conclusions. i'm so sorry."

"don't worry about it," shawn says. "right now, we shouldn't be focusing on that. it all happened in the past, let's put it behind us." 

aria smiles sadly up at shawn, pressing a small kiss to the side of his neck, before looking back at liam. "c-can i go inside?"

"mum and dad said to wait," liam sighs softly. "god, aria, i'm so sorry," he whispers, reaching out to hug his sister again, who eagerly compiles, wrapping her arms around his torso, feeling him settle a small kiss over her head. "you better make sure i'm walking you down that damn aisle, it's gonna be the only thing i want to do before i die."

"of course you are," aria smiles gently. "we were gonna elope today," she sighs, shutting her eyes. "you're just gonna have to come with us when we do."

"wait, you were gonna elope today?" liam asks suddenly, pulling away from the hug, his arms still on her shoulders. "you're joking, right?"

"it felt like shawn was my only family for a while, i wanted it to be forever," she says, a single tear rolling down her cheek, making liam's heart completely fall.

"shh, you have me, and mum now, we're never gonna leave you again," he whispers, holding her tightly, shutting his eyes, as shawn watches on, finally feeling completely and utterly relieved that she had her family back.

it was a bitter sweet moment.