Nap Date | Nap Date 8
He’s feeling grumpy after a meeting about the potential promo tour they want him to do to hype up a new single that's going to be released soon.
Shawn loves to perform, it’s more than a job to him. It’s his dream and passion. He used to say that it was his only form of happiness, except that that’s changed now. He’s really in love with Ember. More in love than he’s ever been in his life. He’s more in love with her than he is with music.
He never thought the day would come that he would actually rather stay home than tour. The thought of touring again, so soon, makes him a little queasy. He’s only been home for like three months and his teams already got him revving to go again.
In the past the three month mark of waiting to talk about touring would be concerning. He’s a busy body, can’t sit down for longer than two minutes without feeling like he could be doing something. He’s realizing though, with the more he grows, the older he gets, that it’s okay to sit for awhile.
In all honesty, he just wants to stay home for a while. He wants to stay at home and make a life with Ember. He wants to ingrain himself into her routine, he wants to learn to live with her. Most importantly he wants to set himself up for the rest of his life with her.
“Hey.” She answers on the second ring of his phone call.
“Hey, do you know how we always talk about building a fort in the living room and watching movies all night?”
“Yeah.”
“Build a fort, I’m 20 minutes from home and I need a nap date.”
“Did the meeting not go well?” She ponders, squishing the phone between her ear and shoulder while she works on some dishes that have been in the sink since last night.
“No it didn’t. I’m tired of people telling me what to do and how I need to live my life. I know what I want and need.”
“What do you want and need Babe?”
“I need you, and I want a nap date with you. Can you set it up?”
“Of course honey.”
“Good, you’re in for a shitload of cuddles. Be ready by the time I pull in.”
**
She’s running a bit behind. He’s gonna have to finish help with the set up. It took her longer than she expected to build the stupid thing. It’s hard to hold up both ends of the sheet by yourself. She jumps a little when she hears him bust through the front door. She wasn’t ready, and she doesn’t know what to expect.
“Baby!” He whines from the kitchen, slowly making his way to her in the hallway past the living room. “I told you to be ready.”
“I know I’m sorry! I had trouble with the sheets, my arms are very short and sheets are very long.”
He smiles sadly at her, head tilting to the side when she finally looks over at him.
“Hi.” He whispers.
“Hi Baby Boy.” She grins, turning and walking towards him. He opens his arms, letting her fall into his embrace as he buries his face into the crook of her neck.
“Missed you.” He mumbles, placing small kisses to her skin.
“What happened at the meeting?” She asks, wanting some answers so she can understand his mood better.
“Mmm, no. Just cuddles right now.” He groans, letting go and allowing her to grab the rest of the blankets from the hall closet.
Once they’re in her hands he races forward, laughing as she squeals, picking her up and hauling her over his shoulder.
“Shawn!” She yelps, holding onto his waist for leverage, that way she doesn’t go head first into the ground.
He drops her on the mound of blankets in the fort, laughing at the fact that the blankets she was holding are now covering her completely, burying her in the blankets. He drops on top of her, clicking through Netflix as she struggles underneath.
She finally frees her head, huffing as she looks up at him.
“Hey Blanket Monster.” He grins, leaning down to place a peck to her lips. She pushes his face away, glaring at him.
“Shawn. Get off.”
“I’m rather comfy.” He giggles.
She raises an eyebrow, going unnoticed by him. So she ups her game.
“Shawn!” She whines. “You’re hurting me.”
That catches his attention, his head whipping over to look at her with wide eyes. He scrambles off of her and lands on the floor.
“Baby are you okay?” He reaches his hands out to touch her.
“Yeah.” She giggles, loving how concerned he gets when he thinks she’s hurt.
“I wasn’t actually hurting you was I?”
“No, I just wanted you off.”
“Don’t do that to me!” He whines, flopping back against the floor. “You stress me out that way. I get so nervous.”
“Why?” She crawls over, planting herself on him, lying chest to chest.
“Because I always forget how big I am to you. I don’t want to hurt you ever.” He pouts. “But I always wanna cuddle and lay on you. You make me feel safe when you let me lay in your lap.”
She blushes, reaching up to card her fingers through his hair. “You’re really cute. Did you know that?”
“You tell me at least three times a day, so yes.” He nods, turning his head towards her.
She smiles, pulling him closer with her hand on the back of his head. He gets the hint and softly presses his lips to hers, sucking on her bottom lip.
**
It’s not till their through the second Star Wars movie that he starts to talk.
She loves that about him. How he always says he doesn’t want to talk, but after a few hours of processing he just starts rambling. It’s where they differ in personalities. He holds things in for a moment. Let’s his brain and thoughts wrap around an issue or idea before he acts on anything. Most times he only processes for a few hours, other times it’s days.
Ember though? She’s a spitfire. So when she has an issue or an idea she just needs to get it out. Especially when she’s upset over something. If she doesn’t have a chance to vent to a safe zone, like her mom or Shawn, then she’ll say what she’s thinking and feeling to the actual person which can lead to some nasty fights.
“They want me to do a small promo tour in the states.” He hums.
“What?” She tears her attention away from Luke and Darth Vader, looking down to where he’s laying across her lap.
He turns his head to look up at her, sighing, “They want me to do a promo tour for the new single.”
“Oh.” She pulls back a little, swallowing what she wants to say and nods. “Okay.”
He reaches up and caresses her face, pushing her chin down so she’ll actually look in his eyes.
“When would you leave?”
“A month?” He says it like a question. “They’re still figuring out dates, and I haven’t given the green light yet. They’re banking on the fact that I will be ready to get on the road again.”
“Are you?” She asks. “Ready?”
“Honestly.” His eyes tear up a little, “I’m not.”
She gasps at his words, eyes going wide when she realizes he’s being 100% truthful with her.
“I’m not even remotely ready to even start thinking of leaving you again.” He whispers.
She reaches over, clicking a button on the remote to pause the wailing of Luke as he finds out who his real Father is.
“What do you mean?”
“I feel like I’ve just got you. I know we’ve been together for two years now, but that was long distance for most of it. I feel like I’m finally getting to live the life I was longing for during the past two years. I just wanted you, all the time. I wanted you to be the first thing I saw when I wake up, and the last thing I see before I go to bed. You finally are.”
“But Shawn, I’m not going anywhere.”
He sighs, sitting up slightly. “I know that. That’s not what I mean though.”
“What do you mean then?” She asks softly, knowing he’s starting to get frustrated again.
“I mean I want to enjoy it. I just got it and it feels like I already have to give it up. You know that feeling, the feeling like,” He thinks for a moment to come up with a good comparison. He snaps and points at her. “You know when we go to your brothers and they hand you Aiden.”
She nods, trying to follow Shawn’s comparison about her nephew.
“You know that feeling you get when they go to take him back? The feeling of longing. Like you just got to hold him, you just got him settled, he’s no longer fussy and just chilling and then suddenly their like ‘it’s time for a diaper change’ or ‘it’s time for a bath’ or ‘it’s time for someone else to hold him’.”
“Yeah, the slight pang of jealousy and the frustration of never feeling you get to hold him long enough.”
“Exactly. That’s what I’m feeling. I just got you, I just got us settled, we’re no longer fussy, we’re chilling and now suddenly it’s time for something else.”
She pouts at him, leaning closer with both her hands reaching around to the back of his head. She rubs her thumbs behind his ears and just stares at him.
“I love you.” She starts. “I know it feels like whenever we finally get settled we’re suddenly disturbed but we’re not. I know you feel like you never get more than five minutes of a break, but I want you to sit back and look at the whole situation. This is what you love. This is what you’re dreams have been since you were 13. Since baby Shawn got his first guitar and taught himself how to play Ed Sheeran. This is what that Shawn was dreaming about. I know your dreams have changed, they will always change the more you succeed them, but I don’t want you to give something up because you feel like it’s always time for something else. At the end of the day, I always end up being the one to hold Aiden the longest. I feel sad to have to pass him over and share him with others, but then I set him in your hands and I get to feel the joy of watching him make others happy too.”
He stares at her, really taking all her words to heart.
“So while you might feel like you’re not getting enough of what you want right now, look around and realize that not only do you get to come home to me but that you also get to go out to them. To your fans who love you almost as much as I do.”
He sighs, a tear dropping from his bottom lash. “You always make everything better.” He whispers, leaning his forehead against hers.
She smiles and kisses his nose, “I don’t know why you’re so worried about going. I’m still gonna be here when you get back.”
“I just had some other plans in mind, and this would push that back.” He mumbles.
“What other plans?” She asks, pulling back to wipe his tears away.
“Plans for our future.”
“You’re thinking about our future?” She asks, appalled.
“You’re not?” He clenches his jaw, heart rate picking up, nervous that maybe she doesn’t want a future with him.
“No I am, I just didn’t know you were.”
“I am.” He nods. “Do you think you could handle this? Having this talk every time a new tour rolls around?”
“Yeah I think I can.” She grins, shaking her head at him.
“I’m serious, would you ever get tired of the fact that touring is my job? That I’ll be gone for long periods of time.”
“Shawn we’ve been together for two years now. We met while you were on tour, and managed just fine through the next one. I know what I signed up for when I told you we were official. That’s not gonna change, I’m not gonna change. I’m proud of you, of who you are, that I get you call you mine.”
“I’m proud to call you mine too.” He sighs, leaning up to kiss her lips. “Okay,” He hums. “I’ll go on tour, it’s a short one. 10 shows I think?”
“See, you were all worked up for nothing.”
“Wanna come with me?” He grins.
**
He watches her from the end of the bed while she changes. She’s slipping into one of his shirts, sporting a new pair of panties he’s never seen. They’ve caught his eye and he can’t stop staring.
“What are you looking at?” She asks over her shoulder while she takes her hair out of the messy bun she put it in.
“I’m looking at your new panties. Why have you never worn ones like these before?”
“Boyshorts?” She looks down, smoothing over the hem on her lower stomach. “I wanted to try something new. You like them?”
“I love them.”
“Good then I’ll get more.”
“Please do. Come here.” He holds out his hand for her. She places her in his, yelping as he tugs her into him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I’ve been thinking about what we talked about today.”
“Okay.” She plants her hands on his shoulders, standing between his legs. “What about it?”
“About our future.” He looks up with his puppy dog eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I’m ready for it. I’m really ready for it.”
“Me too.” She smiles.
“I want to spend forever with you. You’re all my dreams come true. Everything I’ve ever wanted and more.” He traces shapes on the back of her bare thigh.
“I want you too.”
“If I asked you to marry me tonight what would you say?” He bites his lip, staring straight ahead at the shirt she’s wearing instead of making eye contact.
Her jaw drops, eyes going wide at his words. This was the last thing she ever thought he would say to her tonight, but all she can do is smile. She wants forever with him. It’s all she’s ever wanted after that first night they met. She wants to go hug and kiss Doris for giving him such good advice about not breaking her heart, and she wants to thank Juniper for the rest of her days for getting together with Raul and bringing Shawn into her life.
She tips his chin up with her index finger, clicking her tongue. “You’ll just have to ask to find out.” She answers.
He takes her hands off his shoulders, holding them in his as he breathes deeply.
“I love you. With my whole entire heart. I mean it, you’re all I’ve ever wanted. You’re all I’ll ever want. I can not, will not, imagine a life without you in it. You complete me in a way I never knew I needed but now can’t live without. Ember Mills.” He tucks his right hand under his leg retrieving the diamond ring he hid while she was changing into his fingers. “Will you marry me?”
She’s crying. Tears dropping onto her flushed pink cheeks, holding her right hand up to her mouth in shock that he’s actually asking. That her dreams are actually coming true.
“Yes.” She chokes out, letting him slide the ring onto her finger.
He goes to stand while she wraps her arms around his neck, their lips meeting in the most passionate kiss they’ve ever shared, clinging to the other for dear life.
Tears of joy and happiness flow down both of their cheeks as they hold the other, repeatedly saying ‘I love you’.
“Can’t wait to be your wife.”
“Can’t wait to be your husband.”