#readerinser

Day 6

💡 Christmas Light Show

“Aaliyah, your father, and I wanted to go to the Night of Lights down in Toronto. We’re wondering if you wanted to come.”

The Night of Lights was a Christmas tradition that the Mendes family went to every year. Shawn vividly remembers that being one of his favorite things to do around Christmas time. Shawn hadn’t gone to it last year because he was so busy with tour, but he was excited to be able to go this year. He couldn’t wait to sit on top of Manny’s car as they drove through the colorful light displays, Y/N sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder.

“Can Y/N come?” He shyly questioned. He knew his family loved her, but he didn’t know how they felt about her joining in on all their Christmas traditions. Y/N’s family lived in the States, so she couldn’t see them or do anything with them for Christmas. He could tell how much she wanted to see her family because she would talk about it every day. He always felt bad going over to his family’s house to watch a Christmas movie and not inviting her. He was just worried about making either party feel uncomfortable.

Karen chuckled on the other side of the line. “I think Aaliyah would kill me if I said she wasn’t joining us this year. She adores her, we all do. She’s always welcome to all our family things, I hope you know that, and she knows that.” Shawn smiled softly. That was all he wanted for Christmas; his girlfriend and his family to be together.

“Thanks, mom, love you.”

“Bye sweetie.”

He heard the phone line hang up and Brian shoved him lightly. “You’re so smitten bro, it’s insane. You’ve only known her for like a month and you’ve got it really bad. I mean, just listening to you write this song about her, the devotion. Gosh, I hope I find someone like her.”

Shawn glanced around the studio at all the other people nodding their heads at Brian’s statement. Shawn felt his cheeks turning red. “I don’t know how I got this lucky.” He paused thinking about Y/N and everything he loved about her. “Let’s finish this song, yeah?”

***

Shawn took Y/N out to dinner later that night because they hadn’t been on a date in a week, and they were craving some alone time together. They held hands on top of the table and Shawn stroked his thumb along the back of her hand.

“And then, my boss was like, ‘Y/N, this is one of the best written articles I have ever seen. You’re promoted. I want you to write all the front-page articles for our company!’ And I wanted to scream and shout and jump for joy, but I was still in the office, so I asked for a bathroom break, then I went outside, and I probably looked like a maniac to the people walking down the street, but it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

Shawn was grinning from ear to ear, listening to his girl talk about her achievements in the work force. “Baby, I am so incredibly proud of you, that’s amazing! You’ve worked so hard for this, and I know you are the best fit person for the job!”

Y/N curled into herself, embarrassed that her boyfriend was giving her so much praise. She didn’t like to be in the spotlight all that much. “You really think so,” she cringed at how insecure she sounded.

He nodded his head, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it, “I know so.”

***

The big, fluffy snow in the Toronto sky made Aaliyah jump up and down in her seat. She loved the snow, and she also loved the Night of Lights, especially because Y/N was sitting in the back of the car, next to her brother, as they waited in line. They had brought Manny’s truck because Shawn and Aaliyah’s weight had bent the roof of the car the last time they had come.

As soon as they had the go ahead from the workers, Shawn, Aaliyah, and Y/N jumped out of the car and into the bed of Manny’s truck. Shawn sat down in the far-left corner of the truck and beckoned Y/N to come sit in his lap. She slowly sat down, trying to be careful not to crush Shawn. She had never sat in his lap before, and she was a little nervous. She laid her head against his chest and shudder as she felt his breath on her neck.

“You cold babe?” He whispered.

“You two are gross,” Aaliyah said, as she sat down next to Shawn and was sticking her tongue out at him. He lightly pushed her, before giving Y/N a kiss on the cheek.

He wrapped a fluffy blanket around the three of them as they drove through the colorful lights. Sleigh Ride was the first song to come up and the lights danced around them to the song. Shawn patted Y/N’s thigh to the beat. She shot him a look before intertwining her hands with his.

“What?” He sounded so innocent, but he knew that it bugged the crap out of her when he patted her thigh to the beat of a song.

“Wow, Mendes. Very sneaky way to get me to hold your hand.”

He turned a light red before pointing at the light up reindeer above them. “Look, it’s Rudolph!”

“Shawn, we all have eyes that can see!” Aaliyah chuckled at her brother’s antics.

“You know, whenever you go outside, you’re nose looks as red as Rudolph’s. It’s adorable honestly,” Shawn whispered in her ear.

“Hmm, I’m glad that I’m being compared to a Reindeer,” she laughed along with him as he bopped her nose with his finger and then rubbed his nose against hers.

“You’re way cuter, I love you,” he gushed to her.

“I love you too.” She lay her head back down on his chest and in that moment, he had never felt more at home. Not with his parents, not with his sister, not in his condo, not even in his childhood home. Because Y/N felt like home to him, and the realization of that, stunned him for the rest of the light show. He watched the brilliant colors fly by, but he didn’t pay much attention to them, choosing to stare at the girl, his girl, sitting in his lap.

“You okay babe?” Y/N questioned when they had finally made it through the entire maze of lights.

His eyes were watery, and he could feel a tear about to fall, but he nodded his head. “I’ve never been better.” And that statement was the truest sentence he had ever told.

A/N: Thanks for reading this, sorry if it was kinda short. Day 7 comes out tomorrow!

Taglist: @mendesblurb