AN: Ok guys this is the last story in the trilogy titled "Losing You" which includes "I Said I'm Sorry", "I Thought I'd Lost You", and now this one "I've Lost and Found." Hope you like it. . .ha, despite the horrible writing.
Chapter One-Lost and Found
I felt an overwhelming feeling of relief wash over me from my discovery that Shawn was indeed alive instead of lying alone and cold in a ditch somewhere, as I had pictured in my head too many times to count. All of the stress that had gathered in my mind in the past few days was lifted, and it was like I had been relieved of a huge weight that had been sitting on my shoulders. Still standing at the beach underneath the sheltering branches of the tree that had been our sanction so many times, I smiled at him, feeling that everything was right.
Silently, Shawn reached a hand into the right pocket on his jeans and withdrew a compact pocketknife, flicking it open. He let go of his hold on me and headed over to the tree, scrutinizing it with squinted eyes. I knew what he was looking for–the two carvings, one with our initials in a circle, the other that said 'I said I'm sorry ~Shawn'. Once he found them, Shawn ran a finger gingerly over both, and lifted the pocketknife to a spot under the second engraving.
Skillfully, he carved an inscription, blew away the stray pieces of tree bark, and stood back to look at it. I walked up to it and read what it said.
" 'Lost and found' "," I muttered quietly, letting the wind carry my voice away.
Closing my eyes and savoring the moment, a grin that reached my eyes lit up my face.
I felt Shawn's arms envelop me once again, and he pressed his lips lightly to my forehead, resting his chin on my head as I buried my head in his chest, with my hands gripping his shoulders, as if I was afraid to let go.
"Jen, you don't have to hold onto me so tightly. I'm not leaving anytime soon."
Relaxing, I loosed my grip, feeling a bit better with his reassurance. All I wanted to do was stay in his arms–I felt safe and comfortable, like it was something meant to be. It was almost like none of this had happened, like we were those two lovesick teenagers escaping to their favorite place all over again.
The beach; I knew that it would be the one place I could run to whenever I wanted sanction, and, again, it hadn't failed me. This time, I hadn't just found sanction in the scenery, but also in the person it gave me, Shawn.
A light ocean breeze brushed past me, carrying with it the faint but evident scent of saltwater. The waves crashed over and over, the sound mellifluous and almost lulling to my ear. I could almost see the white foam I knew it would form as the surf broke.
We stood there in each other's arms, just feeling content and enjoying the moment.
"Did you come here by yourself?" I heard Shawn mutter after a moment, breaking the silence.
My mind flickered back to the picture of Amanda sitting in my car, and was startled by how long I'd been gone.
"No. Amanda's in the car."
Reluctantly, I broke away from his embrace and clasped both my hands with his, leading him away from the tree and towards the place where I had parked my car and left Amanda. He followed me, pulling me against him with an arm around my waist. His familiar scent was so subtle, yet I could detect it almost instantly with him so close to me.
The brightness of the sun shone overhead, and I could tell it was coming close to noon as I looked up at the sky, which was clear without a cloud in sight. Hand in hand, we walked along the sand back towards where I had parked my car, feeling as though it was just another day as two love-struck teenagers coming back from their favorite spot, and though we weren't those same people anymore, I believe the strong feeling of love still burnt not much dimmer than before, if not as brightly.
Though so much still had to be revealed, and there were still so many lingering questions between us from the events that had transpired in the last few months, but for the moment, being together once again was enough–it was enough to rely on for my heart's content.
Yet somewhere in the back of my mind, I could almost see Shawn and that girl–what was her name? Oh yes, Nicole–Nicole in the hospital. I could hear his voice when he had told her he loved her, and, once again, I felt that familiar tug in my heart. Immediately, I stiffened from the memory and loosened the hand intertwined with Shawn's, letting go of it.
He looked at me, sensing my tension, and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I just muttered, swallowing the lump that had begun to form in my throat and forcing a faint smile onto my face.
"Okay."
Closing my eyes for a second, I told myself that I'd forget about it, like I should've done when I had first overheard them. She was just a relative, or a friend. I kept repeating those reassuring thoughts to myself, though they didn't seem to reassure me at all. In fact, on the contrary, they seemed to put more emphasis on the fact that she definitely couldn't be just a relative or a friend, because I was forcing myself to believe it, and it didn't seem to work.
And then there was the surprisingly evident feeling of sincerity that I had heard in his voice when he was talking to her. It was almost unbearably painful for me, and his words lingered in my mind. 'I thought that I loved someone about ten years ago, but I realized that it was all just a blur.' Not only did the reference to what I thought was a love between us shatter my heart, but the thought that he dismissed it as only a 'blur' was enough to bring a pool of tears to my eyes.
Biting back the tears that threatened to flood, a frown appeared on my face.
"Are you okay?" Shawn looked at me concernedly.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure, because I can—"
I laid a hand on his arm and silenced him instantly with a small peck on the lips. "I'm sure. Come on. We need to hurry up and get back to Amanda before she sends the police out on me."
A light chuckle escaped his lips. "Okay, let's go," he said, picking me up with one arm under my legs and the other around my back.
"Since when were you the 'knight-in-shining-armor' type?" I asked, looking at him.
"Since now, apparently."
I barely even heard his answer, and didn't care about it in the least, with the attention I was paying to his dazzling smile that I had missed so much. Lifting my arms from their position at my side, I clasped them around his neck, aware of the stares we were attracting from vacationers on the beach but not even giving them a second thought.
Letting out a small sigh, I leaned my head against his chest as he continued walking, holding me in his arms. Once we arrived at my car, I realized that Amanda had fallen asleep in the backseat.
"So much for worrying about us," I muttered.
Shawn laughed, opening the door for me with my keys I dug out of my pocket and placed me in the passenger seat before walking around the car and getting into the driver's seat. Leaning back in my seat, I just relaxed while he drove us away from the beach and back home to New York City.
AN: Thanks for supporting me from the last story, and I'm going to answer reviews now.
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|Thank Yous|
MollyMollyMollyMolly: Thanx! I didn't really know wut to do for the ending, except for using the title as the last thing. Hehe. Well thankiez!
Teea: Thank you a bunch! Hopefully you follow this story.
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Skeeta: Hola skeeta. *coughs* "Another amazing chapter Julia"? Did you take your medicine this morning? And the whole "jeez your so good at this"? *looks for a mental institute* K well thanx! I dun even wanna know wuts gunna happen wen we get back in skool n u read this. Eek.
Faded Soulfire: Lol, I like my ending. . . kind of. Just the last line. Lol. It's what I did in the first story. Well, hopefully you'll become a faithful reviewer of this story, but I'm not forcing you to. Lol. You're hyper huh? Yeah, let's go have a party! She found him! Of course, I knew she was going to the entire time so it's not that exciting to me. Plus the fact that the writing was bad too. Well, plz check out dc-hypergrl's stuff whenever u get a chance. Well I'll ttyl Andrea. Thanx!
Cutie Eskimo: Thank you! I'm glad you luved the chappy. But yes, I HAD to stop there. It was inevitable. Well. . . kinda. Hope you lyk this story! Thanx!
Bookworm0408: Oh my god, you're going to have meeh crying now. I seriously made you cry? That is lyk such an accomplishment. Gawd, I can't believe you lyk all of mai stories. It really means a lot, though now I think you're crazy for liking mai horrible writing. Thanx!