Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1:What am I To You?

It was March 14th when Jon adopted Shawn and then it was March 16th when Shawn showed up drunk at the Matthews’s house and then it was that night that he asked Alan to yell at him like he yells at Cory and Eric. Now it’s April 5th and he’s thriving through school and home life with his new father.

But this day is different. Normally when the school bell rings he would go in class but he didn’t this time, this time he stayed out of class. This time he waited for Jon to come out of the class and just find him sitting on the floor outside the classroom with Cory there of course.

“Cor, go be with your girlfriend in class.”

“Well what about you, Shawn?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine here.”

Cory smiled at his best friend and then he got up and walked into Turner’s classroom. Soon after Jon walked out of that very classroom and made sure the classroom door was properly closed before he started lecturing Shawn.

“Shawn, in case you didn’t notice the bell rang and you have exactly five seconds to get your butt into the classroom!”

Shawn looked up at his guardian and only blinked once. He didn’t say anything in reply to Jon’s demand, instead he just kept sitting on the floor with his knees up and his arms around them. He heard Jon sigh and then it was precisely one second before he sat down next to him.

“Alright, what’s going on?”

“Same old. No mom, no dad, no family.”

“Oh really? What am I to you?”

Shawn let his legs fall by unlocking his hands and looked up at his guardian with pure interest. “You’re my teacher who also happens to take care of me.” He says it in a very stern voice hoping that Jon understands but he doesn’t.

“What is Alan to you? Cory?”

“Good friends, Jon.” The stern voice didn’t leave him at all.

“You asked Alan to yell at you the same way he yells at his sons, Shawn!”

“It was a one time thing. Let it go Jon!”

“Does he know it was a one time thing? It seems to me that he has intentions of doing it again.”

He looked down at the floor and let the stern in his voice fall a little. “Yeah, well he doesn’t need to.”

“I beg to differ. Now come on Shawn, what’s really going on?”

He debated on not answering Jon for a moment but when his eyes floated up to Shawn and he saw the look of absolute seriousness in Jon’s eyes he decided it wasn’t worth it to keep his true feelings hidden inside. “What am I to you?”

“You? You’re my son, Shawn. I’ve already showed you that.”

Shawn stood up and Jon followed in his steps getting ready to grab Shawn’s collar if he tried to make a run for it, but to his surprise Shawn walked off and into the classroom. Jon looked up at the ceiling and then followed Shawn in.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: The Second Yelling

Shawn had gotten a curfew from Jon the first time he stayed out past midnight one night. He was out by himself that night until Jon found him on his motorcycle. Jon took him home and established a curfew at 10:30pm.

Now it was 11:00pm and he was out with Cory and Topanga and he wasn’t planning on going to Jon’s anytime soon.

Cory put a hand on Shawn’s shoulder and turned him around so he couldn’t look at the liquor through a bar window anymore. “You know, we should probably start heading home Shawny.”

Shawn brushed off Cory’s hand. “If you wanna go, go. Just like if I want to go in that bar, I’ll go in there.”

“Shawn come on. We had a good day at school and you have a person waiting for you at home. Don’t ruin that.”

“Cory! I’m not ruining anything. I’m just clearing my head, okay?”

“Shawn, Cory’s right. Let’s go home.” Shawn could hear the worry in Topanga’s voice but he didn’t care he really wanted a drink before he had to go home and get a lecture. He only wanted one there was nothing to it.

“Yeah you don’t even have to go back to Turner’s you can come home with me to my house.”

“No, your dad's just gonna yell at me again.”

Cory was starting to get irritated that Shawn wouldn’t listen to him and understand that he only wanted what’s best for him.“So? Turner’s gonna yell at you too!”

Shawn was starting to get irritated that Cory wouldn’t just let him go and do whatever he pleases. “Hey, that’s different I’m his son!”

“Then go home to him! You hear me Shawn? Go home!”

“I will after I go in there.”

Cory grabbed Shawn’s arm and stopped him from heading into the bar and going off into the deep end. “No you’re not going in there, Shawn.”

“Cory, let me go.”

“No, we’re going home Shawn.”

“Shawn, please listen to him so that we can all go back to the Matthews together!”

“Cory you have two options here. Let me go and I’ll only have one drink and then I’ll go home to Jon.”

“Second. I’m going for the second choice.”

“I make you let go of me.”

“Shawn!”

“Come on, Cory why can’t you ever just let me go?!”

“Because I’m your best friend, okay? It’s not just Cory or just Shawn. It’s Cory and Shawn!”

“Cor, it’s just one drink. Let. Me. Go.”

“Fine Shawn you want me to let you go? Then go.”

Cory let Shawn go after looking at him first with the tinniest bit of hope fluttering in his eyes. Shawn turned around just as Topanga walked out of the bar, holding a beer bottle in her hand. She was grinning as if her plan had worked perfectly.

(A/N: Topanga had planned to go into the bar while Cory and Shawn were distracted and ask for a water disguised as a beer and then by the time Shawn figured it out they would be on their way home and it’d be too late.)

“Topanga!”

Topanga walked up to Shawn and handed the bottle to him. “Here, you wanted it so bad so I went in and got it for you.”

Shawn took the bottle from her. “Thanks.” He said it suspiciously but still he took the bottle and opened it.

“Shawn don’t!” Cory walked around and stepped in front of Shawn so he could look at Topanga straight. He was bewildered that she would do something like that. “How could you do that?”

“You’re the one who was just gonna let him go!”

“Only in hopes that they wouldn’t let him get anything! How’d you even get one anyways?”

“Because it’s water. Relax, Cor.”

Shawn thew the bottle down and watched it break on the concrete ground. He looked at Topanga and Cory before entering the bar himself. Cory cornered him but Shawn was too quick for him this time and he rushed in before Cory could do anything to stop him. Topanga walked up to Cory looking at him with the most sincerest look in her eyes and laid a reassuring hand on his arm. “Don’t you think I have a plan?”

Before Cory could respond to Topanga the bar door had opened and Shawn stepped out with Jon behind him, who was holding Shawn by the collar of his leather jacket. Shawn gave Cory and Topanga an angry look. “Thanks a lot.”

A girl with strawberry blonde hair walked out of the bar and smiled at Jon as he gave her an apologetic look. They kissed and at the same time a car drove up against the sidewalk where they were all standing and parked. Alan stepped out of the car a second later. Cory looked over at Topanga. “Great plan, but did you have to call my father too?”

“I didn’t call him. Honestly none of this was apart of my original plan.”

(A/N: Once Topanga went into the bar and she saw Jon she had kept most of her original plan but changed it around a little so that Shawn would walk into the bar and get himself caught.)

Jon looks up at Alan and grins. “Sorry, I assume Shawn was the reason they were at this place.”

“How do you know it was me?”

“Come on, Shawn. You really think Cory Matthews or Topanga Lawerence is gonna come to a bar and consider drinking underage?”

“Topanga got a beer from inside there.”

“It was water to trick you, Shawn!”

“Still you went in there.”

Cory turned over to his dad and started fishing for an apology or excuse that he could make. His dad stopped him before he could even say anything though. “Relax, Cory. You’re not in any trouble. I was just taking a drive and I saw you guys down the sidewalk. Figured I’d stop and say hello but looks like it will be an unpleasant hello. Jon why don’t you let me take Shawn home so that way you can tell your date goodbye properly.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah and don’t worry I’ll make sure he hears the worst of it. I’ll take him back up to your place in the morning if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, that works. Thanks Alan.”

“Anytime.”

Jon let Shawn go just as Alan opened his car door and loaded all three of the kids into it but Shawn stopped at edge of the sidewalk and looked back at Jon. “Do I get a say in this?”

“Go. In. The. Car. Now.”

Shawn turned back around after seeing the strictest look in Jon’s eyes that he had only seen a few times and then he got into the car. Alan stepped in the driver’s seat after closing the door on them and they drove off.

[Alan’s Car]

“Alright, so Topanga is home free unless of course her parents have an earlier curfew for her-

“My curfew is at 12:30.”

“No fair!”

“Yeah, why do you get such a late curfew?!”

“Cory, Shawn her parents trust her with that.”

“So what you don’t trust me dad?”

“No of course I trust you, but I just don’t feel ready to give you a later curfew yet, but if you want to keep complaining then I can make yours as early as Shawn’s.”

“Forget I ever said anything.”

“Shawn, why is yours so early?”

“Ask Jon.”

“Jon doesn’t trust you Shawn. Maybe you should try and do something to change that rather than making it to where he can never trust you.”

Shawn buries his head into his hands and holds the tips of his luscious hair. He whispers to himself so that no one can hear him. “I thought adults trusted their sons.”

“Back to what I was saying though, Topanga’s home free, Cory’s home free and the only one not home free is-“

Shawn lifts his head up slightly. “Is it Shawn? Could it be Shawn Hunter?!”

“What do you want from him Shawn?”

“Not this, Cor.”

“Everyone just hush till you get home!”

[The Matthews House]

Alan entered the house first and then a little ways after came Cory and Shawn. Cory ran up to his bedroom and Shawn tried to follow along, but Alan caught him without even looking at him. "Shawn, downstairs!"

Shawn made a fast turn on the second step and headed back downstairs. Cory stopped and waited, looking concerned at Shawn. Shawn noticed him and nudged him off. "Go."

Cory ran up the stairs and off to his room. Shawn sat down in the same chair that he sat down on previously when he had first gotten yelled at by Alan. Alan walked over towards him and held his hands on his knees so that he could look Shawn in the eyes. It was the same pose that he had made last time. "Shawn what you pulled tonight was dangerous and scary to others!"

Shawn figured it was best to question what he did wrong as a way of defending himself and also because he genuinely did not know what the big deal was. "I didn't drink, okay?! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Except you did Shawn, that's the point!"

"WHAT?! TELL ME WHAT I DID WRONG!"

"Hey, you don't get to yell at me! I GET TO YELL AT YOU! You can yell at me when you're an adult or when you choose to stop scaring the people who love you! You choose which one comes first, Shawn."

Alan makes his way towards the kitchen until Shawn asks him a question. "Wait, that's it?"

"Go to bed Shawn. I'll take you home tomorrow." He walked into the kitchen as he said that and he found Amy in there.

She eyed her husband nervously. "What's going on?"

He put his arms around her and then laid his chin on her shoulder and spoke softly into her ear. “Shawn attempted to drink and I yelled at him.”

“Did he say why he did it?”

“Does he ever?”

[Cory’s Room]

Shawn entered Cory’s room and saw Cory laying down on his bed looking as if he was in a deep slumber. Shawn knew that Cory could never fall asleep that fast, but still he left him alone. He walked himself over to Cory’s window and sat down on the edge of it. He peered out the dark window and got interrupted when Cory called his name. “Shawn?”

He turned his head towards Cory and gave a small grin. “Don’t worry, Cor. I’m not going anywhere.”

Cory smiled at Shawn and then rested his head onto his left palm so he could still pay attention to Shawn. Shawn, however, stopped paying attention to Cory and looked back over at the window.

It was extremely hard to see anything outside since there was dark mist showering every inch of the glass windows, but Shawn still managed to see the outline of Cory’s massive tree that Shawn would climb down to sneak out whenever he was over at the Matthews and needed a taste of freedom.

He was still pondering on what Alan had told him or more accurately, what Alan had yelled at him. He decided to ask Cory what he thought. So, he looked over at his best friend and saw that he was still staring at him with his head flat on his palm. “Cor, do I scare you?”

Cory looked up and took his head off of his hand and let his hand fall. He looked completely suspicious at Shawn’s question. “Is this a trick question?”

“When I was trying to get a drink earlier, did it scare you?”

Cory got up from his bed and walked towards Shawn. “I mean yeah, it scared me. It does every time, but in the end I knew that you were gonna be okay.”

“How did you know that?”

“Because of what Feeny told me. Things are always okay in the end and if they’re not, then it’s not the end.”

“I don’t remember him ever saying that.”

“Yeah, you hear a lot more when you live next to him. But, Shawn, why did you want to drink after having a good day?”

Shawn wanted to tell Cory, but he could barely even get himself to whisper it. He decided to take it slowly, knowing that this was his best friend who would do anything for him and has many times. “I don’t know how to be what I’m supposed to be for people. I don’t know how to have a father and son relationship like you do with your father. My own dad won’t even come to see me. I don’t know how to have a good relationship with a girl like you have with Topanga. I don’t even know how to get Feeny to tell me things that he tells you. I’m just letting everyone’s expectations down.”

“Shawn no one expects you to be good at relationships. I’m not good at them either. I mean you know, how many times I’ve screwed it up with Topanga, or my dad, or Eric, or Mr. Feeny. There’s no certain rules, Shawny.”

“That’s the whole point, Cory! I mean, what do I break? What do I follow? I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO CORY!”

“Hey, quiet down, my parents will hear you!”

“See? I just mess it all up.” Shawn stands up and walks in front of Cory, so that they’re standing perfectly in front of one another.

“Shawn, have you ever considered asking people what you're supposed to be for them?”

“Jon said I was his son.”

“Then there you go. He’s your dad, isn’t he?”

Shawn looked Cory in the eyes and thought for a second. Jon Turner, his English teacher, yes. Father, no. He has a father. Sure, his father never comes to visit nor does he ever leave a call or send a letter, but still he has a father. Right?

Finally, he gives Cory what he believes is the truth. “I don’t know.”

Chapter Text

Cory is putting his books in his locker when Shawn runs over to him and taps him on the shoulder rapidly. “Shawn! Where have you been? You missed History with Feeny.”

Shawn starts smiling at Cory as if he meant to miss class, which knowing him he probably did; normally though he would let Cory know first so he can make up a crazy on-the-spot excuse for him. 

(A/N: “Hong-Kong Slof” again, Shawn?)

“So did Feeny give me detention?”

“Well, you know he very much wanted to but I covered for you, Shawn.”

Immediate panic swept over his face completely. He had made a plan. A plan to prove to himself that Jon was his father and now Cory had unintentionally ruined it. He ignored that it was unintentional though and he instead lashed out at Cory. “Cory! I wanted to get detention!”

“In case you forgot Shawny, we have a double date tonight at Chubby’s and a detention would kinda destroy that plan. Also, why would you want to get detention? It’s another hour with Feeny, remember?” 

But Shawn wasn’t listening to Cory at all; he wasn’t even looking at him. Instead he was staring at Feeny’s door and was saying ways he could get detention out loud. “A simple prank like the old milk thing maybe?”

“You know, Shawn-“

“Or if I just tell him that Cory lied and I purposely missed class.”

“Hey, wait, that would get me into trouble too!”

“Or I could just have Cory distract him while I disrupt his class.”

Cory got impatient. “SHAWN!”

Shawn turned around and faced his best friend. “Cory, I’m trying to think here.” He immediately held his forehead and made a loud grunt.

“Thinking cramp?”

“Yeah it’s really bad. I thought of too many ideas at once.”

“Well you know, Shawn, there's a really simple idea. Where you just simply ask Feeny if you can have the detention that you were given before I covered for you.”

Shawn lowered his hand from his forehead, where it had been squeezing his temple. He felt like this suggestion of Cory’s was similar to the time when Cory had told him to go out the front door to go meet VERONICA WATSON. “That’s so crazy, it might just work.”

Shawn took off from Cory and walked over to the classroom door that held Feeny’s room behind it. He rasped the door and instead of a kid coming to open it, Feeny came to open it himself. He wanted to know who had the nerve to disrupt his class and give such a loud knock. He subsided his anger a little when he saw it was Cory’s best friend: Shawn Hunter. “Mr, Hunter. Perhaps next time you could mind breaking down the door. I promise you that you will find a much less expensive way for Mr. Turner if you simply just knock softly. I can even demonstrate for you what that would look like.” 

Shawn missed what Mr. Feeny had told him and he instead tried to take a respectful and calm approach towards him, so he could seem like he was actually feeling guilty. “Look, all I’m asking Mr. Feeny is that you give me back my detention. Can you do that for me?”

“You want your detention back?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, MR. HUNTER?!”

“Woah, woah. Cool it with the yelling, Mr. Feeny. I just want to accept the detention that you gave me.”

“Mr. Hunter, do you mean the detention that Mr. Matthews tried so hard to get you away from?”

“Yeah, exactly. See now we’re on the same page.”

“Yes, well you can’t have it back.”

“Thanks, man! I really couldn’t live with being able to get away from detention.” 

“Mr. Hunter! I said you can’t have the detention back.”

Shawn froze. He genuinely thought that he had outsmarted his best friend’s mentor. “What do you mean I can’t have it back?!”

“I mean you can’t have it back, Mr. Hunter. Not until you tell me what is making you want your detention back so desperately!”

He was going to say a really clever excuse, well actually really dumb, but clever to him and sometimes Cory. However, he had remembered something Feeny had said earlier in their conversation and it now flew back into his head as if it was a special moment in an unforgettable dream. “I promise you that you will find a much less expensive way for Mr. Turner if you simply just knock softly.” He smirked, because he had now realized what Feeny had meant by that. “Mr. Feeny, are you saying that if I broke something then Jon would have to pay for it?”

Unfortunately for Shawn, Feeny knew what he was getting at. “Mr. Hunter I’d advise that you don’t get your head wrapped up in destruction right now. Mr. Turner’s done a good thing for you and if I were you I would try to keep it that way. Now if you’ll excuse me I must get back to my class and just know that you do get back your homework and it’s due tomorrow in class where I expect to see you from now on!”

Feeny turned back into his classroom and closed the door in Shawn’s face, but he didn’t care because he had already heard everything he needed to know and more. He was gonna prove that Jon was his father. 

He met Cory outside of Feeny’s classroom. He was still by the lockers, but now Topanga was there with him and there was another girl by Topanga too, but Shawn had no clue who she was. 

Topanga crossed her arms and narrowed her stern look at Cory, mainly, but at Shawn too. “Shawn, what’s this I hear about you and Cory canceling for tonight?” 

“Topanga, look, there will be no canceling tonight. At least not from Cory. Me on the other hand-” He cut himself off and then turned to face his best friend. “Cor, how would your dad punish you if you broke something that belonged to the school?”

Cory looked around as if it was awkward for him to answer. And, truth be told, it mainly was. He said the answer anyway. “Well, normally he would ground me for two weeks and make me pay him back for the damage I caused.”

“Sorry, Topanga. I’m gonna be grounded for a week and I’ll have to pay Jon back. So I’m a no-go on the date.”

She uncrossed her arms, but still kept her look. “Shawn you can’t possibly think that Mr. Turner will give you the same consequence that Cory’s father gives him, can you?”

“He’s my father, isn’t he?”

She dropped her stern look and now tried to make it look compassionate. “Are you asking me or yourself?”

Shawn froze and stopped smirking. “What do you mean?”

“Shawn you’ve never actually said what Mr. Turner is to you and if you really believe that he’ll give you the same consequence as any other father then I don’t think you believe that he is actually your father.”

“Then what do you think?”

“That you only want to believe he is your father and you hate that you don’t.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

“Shawn-”

“You’re wrong, Topanga! Come on, Cory.”

Cory didn’t exactly leave with Shawn. And that caused Shawn to urge him on. “Cor?”

“Shawnie, maybe Topanga’s right. Mr. Turner is his own man and he does get advice from my father, but he’s not my father. He’s yours, right?”

Shawn didn’t answer Cory’s question and instead he just sensed the feeling of betrayal from his best friend and he chose to leave. He knew that Cory was just taking his girlfriend’s side, just like he would’ve, but still it made him feel betrayed. 

Later, at nine past ten, Shawn showed up at the front of the school to do some damage, like he had planned. He had assumed that he would be the only one there, but to his surprise and his demise there was another kid. He recognized her as the girl that he was supposed to go on a date with tonight along with Cory and Topanga. He looked at her, solemnly, and figured that she deserved an apology, but Shawn Hunter didn’t really give apologies so instead he just introduced himself to her. “Hey, I’m Shawn.”

She smiled at him and for a second, Shawn actually thought that she was beautiful. “Gloria. Gloria Dawnson.”

He didn’t know what else to say, so instead he took in her outfit. It had a lot of similarities to Shawn’s outfit, but it also had a lot of differences. They both had on jackets, but Shawn’s was a black leather one, while Gloria’s was a pink jean one. And they both had on gray jeans and plain shirts, but his shirt was white and hers was purple. 

She continued on the conversation, since he wouldn’t. “So are you here to cause some damage?”

Once he realized that she was asking him a question, he then looked back up at her and answered it. “Yeah I am, but I actually haven’t done it in a while.”

“Well then maybe it would be good for you to have some help.” She said, while pulling a hammer out from under her jacket.

He looked almost offended. “Ah, come on. You don’t have to help me, okay?”

“Shawn, you owe me for breaking off our date. Give me this, alright?”

He tried to reject the help once more, but when he finally realized that it was pointless, he sighed in defeat and decided to let Gloria help him. “Alright, you can help me if you really want.”

“Good.”

And so they destroyed stuff. Mainly just windows since that was all they could destroy outside, but they also broke off door handles too and they even graffitied some of the brick walls. Once they were done, they both stepped back to look at the damage they had done from the full picture. Shawn started smiling. He hadn’t done anything like this in a while and it felt familiar to him. He felt relaxed and calm as if destruction was the only thing he could ever hope on, but there was something else he could hope on to. And that was Jon punishing him exactly like Alan would punish Cory if he was the one to cause destruction. This was gonna be proof. He was finally gonna get to know if Jon was truly his dad or not. Before he could think more on it, though,  he had seen that Gloria was staring at him. He looked back over at her and suddenly they forgot all the destruction they had just caused and they kissed. 

It wasn’t like any kiss Shawn had ever had before, though. This one felt special and right. As he kept kissing her, he started to forget where he was, what he had been doing and even the two hopes he had had. It was as if she swept the worries away and that made him feel bad for breaking their date. It could’ve been a good one. 

They stopped kissing and Gloria spoke. “This was definitely better than a date at Chubby’s could’ve ever been. Thank you, Shawn. And we should probably also get out of here before we get caught. Or did you want to get caught?”

“Oh, I do, but not in this way. Let’s go.”

And on that note, they interlocked hands and ran off together. 

He was able to drop Gloria off at her house and she was able to sneak in without being caught. She was very lucky. Shawn, however, did not have that same luck. When he arrived at their apartment, he had unlocked the door to find Jon waiting for him on the couch. Shawn froze when Turner’s stern eyes met his surprised eyes. “Jon, what are you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same question, Hunter. It’s past your curfew, you know.”

“Shoot, I had forgotten about my curfew playing a part!” he honestly meant for that to be said inside his head, because he really had forgotten about curfew and now he didn’t know how Jon as his father should punish him. “Jon, can I call Cory for a second?”

Jon looked at Shawn as if he was pushing his limits to the max, but then he figured that something might actually be wrong and so he let Shawn use the phone. “Make it quick, buddy.”

“Got it, Jon!” Shawn yelled that, as he ran over to the phone, hanging on the kitchen wall. He picked it up and dialed the Matthews’ number. It wasn’t Cory who answered though, it was Alan.

“Matthew’s residence. Alan Matthews speaking.”

“Is Cory there?”

“Wait, Shawn is that you?”

“Yeah it’s me. Is Cory there?”

“He’s still on his date with Topanga. Weren’t you supposed to be with them too?”

“Things went a bit differently.” Shawn didn’t know what else to do besides asking Alan about it. “Look, what would you do if Cory missed his curfew?”

“Is Cory planning on doing that?” 

He could hear the tone changing in Alan’s voice and that made Shawn annoyed. It was as if he was about to be yelled at by Alan for the third time. “No, he’s not. Just what would you do?”

“Shawn, did you miss your curfew?”

Now he was just getting frustrated. “Don’t yell at me. Just answer my question.”

Alan sighed over the phone and then calmly answered Shawn’s question. “Well it depends on how much he missed it by and then it would be cut back by that amount of time, until I see that he is ready to have it back to normal.”

Honestly, Shawn was hoping that Jon didn’t do that punishment, because that sounded miserable to him. There’s no way Shawn would ever get his curfew back to normal with how long he stayed out every night. But, even so, Shawn needed Jon to give him this punishment, so that he could finally feel that Jon was his dad. He quickly made ways to end the phone call. “Thanks!”

“Shawn, listen-” Alan’s voice was cut off by Shawn ending the phone call completely. 

He walked back over to Jon and eyed him nervously. This was gonna get real annoying, real quick. “Jon hear me out-”

“I’m not doing that Shawn. Nothing ever goes good for anyone when I hear you out. But, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what that hurried phone call was all about? Everything okay?”

“Nothing’s wrong Jon. I just missed curfew, like always.”

Jon stood up and closed the distance between them. Shawn noticed that there wasn’t anger in Jon’s eyes and instead there was concern. He must be really worried about Shawn’s behavior. 

Turner placed a hand on Shawn’s shoulder to gain his full attention. “Why did you miss curfew, Shawn? Weren’t you out with Cory and Topanga at Chubby’s?”

“No, I didn’t go.”

He took his hand off of Shawn’s shoulder and Shawn saw the concern intensify. “You weren’t at Chubby’s? Then where the heck were you, Shawn?!”

“Jon, do you have to start yelling?”

“Look I don’t like it either Hunter! But if you won’t tell me where you were, then I’m gonna be yelling until you do!”

“Alright! I was out on a date.”

“That’s a start. Now where and who?”

Shawn stopped and thought about it for a while. For his plan to work he couldn’t tell Jon that he was at the school, not yet. He needed to lie, but what lie to tell? Honestly, now thinking about it, maybe he should’ve said that he was at Chubby’s with Cory and Topanga. 

“Shawn. Where. Were. You?”

Shawn got annoyed at how Jon was starting to punctuate every word. He only did that when he was starting to get mad. He needed to come up with a lie, and quickly. Or else he would have to call Alan again asking for how he would punish Cory for stalling and lying. He looked around the apartment and then had an answer. “I was at the trailer park with Gloria.”

“ Ms. Dawnson? Shawn she has a bad reputation, I don’t want you dating her.”

Okay, that was a step too far. “In case you’ve forgotten Jon, I have the same reputation.”

“Not recently. You’ve been doing well in school and you haven’t drank in months.” Jon froze as if he had just figured something big out. And suddenly Shawn saw all the concern disappear and now only anger filled Jon’s eyes. “Hunter, tell me you weren’t out drinking!”

Two steps too far. Now Shawn was more annoyed than ever. “I can’t believe you! What, do you just smell it on me or something?!”

He put his hands on his hips. “I definitely smell something on you.”

“It’s SPRAY PAINT! I’m out of here. Screw you Jon!”

Shawn walks away from Jon and towards the door and even opens it all before Jon finally says something. He turns around and yells it. “I don’t think so, Shawn. You’re grounded for a week!”

That’s wrong. That wasn’t what Jon was supposed to say. He wasn’t supposed to say that he was grounded. He wasn’t supposed to say any of this. And he wasn’t even concerned anymore. He always kept a little of concern showing when he was angry. There was absolutely none. Too many things were wrong here. So, Shawn decided to make another thing wrong. Shawn usually doesn’t just walk out without getting the final word or saying where he is going, but this time he just walked out. And as he did he could hear Jon yell through the door. He didn’t come to get him, he just kept yelling. That was wrong too. Well, somewhat. He would probably come later. 

Or maybe not.

Chapter Text

He arrived at Cory’s window at 1:00am. He was so late, because he had gone to the trailer park first, but then when he saw Eddie he chose to run off, before his half-brother could start a fight. He, now, knocked on Cory’s window and waited for his best friend to wake up. And soon enough, he did. He walked over to his window and opened it for Shawn. Shawn climbed in and heard Cory talk, as he was rubbing his eyes. “Shawn, it’s one-thirty in the morning.”

Shawn was walking past Cory and not looking at him at all, in fact. Instead he ran his hand through his hair and just paced around the room. “I know I was out there for thirty minutes.”

“Shawn, why are you here? What happened?”

Shawn stopped pacing and finally looked at Cory. “I had nowhere else to go.”

“What about Turner’s?”

“We sort of had a fight. Guess he’s not my dad, huh?” Shawn stared at Cory with his hands on his hips. He really had gotten his hopes up with Jon being his dad. Well, that was certainly a first and definitely a last.

“Shawn, my dad and I fight all the time. You’ve seen it, you fight with him too.”

“Cory, he grounded me for a week for skipping curfew. That’s not what he was supposed to do.”

Cory ran his hand over his curly hair and then decided to say what was needed. “Well, you know Shawnie, Topanga and I were trying to tell you earlier that Mr. Turner is his own man. He’s not going to punish you like my dad would punish me.”

“Cor, you don’t get it.” Shawn took his hands off of his hips and paced around the room, until he finally sat down on the edge of Cory’s bed.

Cory turned around to face Shawn. “Then tell me.”

Shawn didn’t tell Cory anything, instead he began to take off his shoes. Cory approached him and tried to make him notice that he was there. Shawn didn’t look up and so Cory spoke anyway. “Shawn, what are you doing? You gotta tell me something.”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking off my shoes.” Shawn finished taking off his shoes and then looked up at Cory. “You want the bed or the floor?”

Cory was starting to get frustrated. “Shawn, what about Mr. Turner?!”

“He’s not here, so just leave it alone.”

“No, Shawn, that’s now what I mean. I mean what do you think he’s gonna say-”

Shawn stood up and stared at Cory. He was bracing with anger and he didn’t know why. “He’s not my dad!”

Cory calmed down and waited to talk, until Shawn sat back down on the bed. “You have to realize that my dad is his own man, just like Mr. Turner is.”

“I don’t want to talk about Jon anymore.” Shawn lays down in Cory’s bed and pulls the blanket over him.

“Shawn, you can’t just-” Cory was interrupted by Shawn’s ‘yipping’. “Yeah I should’ve expected that.” Cory headed downstairs to go sleep on the couch.

That very morning, Cory woke up on the couch to find his parents staring at him. It almost startled him entirely, but then he soon remembered why he was on the couch in the first place.

“Cory, why were you sleeping on the couch?” Alan asked that question. He always was a person who got straight to the point, even if he hid it with his actions sometimes.

Cory rubbed his eyes and didn’t focus on what he was saying. “‘Cause Shawn took my bed.”

“Shawn’s in your bed?” That was his mother’s worried voice and it’s also the same thing that made Cory realize what he had actually said.
“Uh-no. Mom relax, it was just a dream. You know, like the clowns?” He figured that that was the best excuse he was gonna be able to give.

His father wasn’t buying it though, but luckily Cory couldn’t tell. And Alan was gonna keep it that way. “Well, what exactly happened in this dream?”

Cory got up from the couch and began to pace around the living room. He was trying to think of ways to expand his excuse. “Well, Shawn was a clown and um he was attacking me, by whacking me over and over. I can still feel the pain.” He said the second sentence, while also rubbing his knee. “And he didn’t stop until I got out of my bed.”

“Why was Shawn attacking you?”

“‘Cause he wanted my bed. He just thought that it would help him sleep better.”

“Cory-” Alan was interrupted by Shawn walking down the stairs.

“Hey, Cor.”

Alan got up from the arm of the couch and walked over to Shawn and Cory. His wife also walked up to the two of them. “He surely doesn’t look like a clown.”

Cory had one hand in a fist and the other wide open and he kept bringing them together as he tried to explain again. “Yeah, I guess I imagined it all.”

Shawn looked down at Cory. “I’m a clown to you?”

Cory looked over at Shawn. “Of course not!”

“Okay, just checking.” He looked up at Cory’s parents. “So, have you guys had breakfast?”

“Shawn, why don’t you come with me into the kitchen?”

His tone changed. “So you can yell at me? I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, well I do think so.” Alan laid his arm out and tried to push Shawn down the stairs, but Shawn shoved his arm away. “Shawn, come on.”

“YOU’RE NOT MY DAD! AND JON PROVED THAT HE WASN’T MINE LAST NIGHT EITHER!” Shawn hated it when others yelled at him, but he hated it even more when he yelled, himself. So, he took a deep breath and said the next part in a quieter voice. “My dad is somewhere out there and I have no idea where! I don’t have a dad and I don’t need one!”

And on that note, he left the Matthews house. To go, well, somewhere.
“Cory, what’s going on with him?”

Cory looked over at his mother and figured that she and his father deserved an explanation. “Shawn seems to think that if Turner doesn’t punish him, like Dad does to me, then he isn’t actually his father.”

“Have you tried telling Shawn that Jon is his own man?”

“Yeah, but Shawn doesn’t exactly like to listen. He likes being a stray more than he likes being a house-broken dog.”

“Dogs?”

“Oh, mom. It’s just a joke between Shawn and I.”

“Look Cory do you have any idea why Shawn is so persistent on Jon punishing him the same way that I do for you?”

“I have a theory that Topanga gave me.”

“And what did she say?”

Cory reflected back on the theory that Topanga had told him at Chubbies last night and slowly he told his father what his girlfriend had told him. “She thinks that the only reason Shawn wants Turner to punish him in the same way that you do for me, is because Shawn’s real father is out there somewhere. Shawn doesn’t know where he is, or when he’ll come back and even when he was there for him, he was never really there. And so you and Turner are the closest things to dads for him. It makes more sense for you guys to discipline the same way, because that means no changes. And Shawn doesn’t like change.”

Amy looked from Alan to Cory and she honestly hated everything that Cory had just said. Poor Shawn. The only thing left to think about now is where is he heading?

Shawn was making his way to the trailer park. He was hoping to ask his family members about where his father might be. But, he had only come up empty and he had to leave again when he saw Eddie. He hated how he couldn’t go to the trailer park anymore. It was basically his home, because he really didn’t have anywhere else. The Matthews don’t want him, his dad doesn’t want him, and Jon doesn’t want him. If Jon did want him, then he’d be here right now and he would’ve punished him like a dad last night, as well.

So as the hours flew by, Shawn roamed the streets. He was trying to find things that he could do. He still had his spray paint can in his jacket, so he could do some redecorating. But, if he did would anyone stop him? Would anyone care? Honestly he just wished that Jon was here, but he wasn’t and that meant that Shawn needed to find something to do. The answer came to him. There was a liquor store down the street from him. He could get someone to buy some beer for him.

He started walking towards the store, without even thinking twice about it. He knew that Jon wouldn’t like it and he also knew that Cory’s dad wouldn’t either. But that didn’t matter right now, because neither one of them were his dad.

He reached the store and waited until an adult came out. When one did, he walked over to them and handed them the money from his pocket. It was money that Jon gave him in case of an emergency. “Can you buy me a pack of beer?”

The guy looked at the money and then at the kid. “If I do, are you gonna tell the cops?”

Shawn chuckled a little. “Why would I tell them, when that would get me in trouble too?”

The guy shrugged his shoulders. “Good enough answer for me.”

Shawn watched as he took the money and then went back into the store. A few seconds later, he came out with a pack of beer. He handed that beer to him and once Shawn had taken it, the guy had run off.

Shawn sighed and began to open the pack of beer, but as he did he heard a motorcycle pull up next to him. It was Jon.

“Hunter, you take one sip of that beer and you really won’t like the consequences!” Jon got off of his motorcycle and then took off his helmet and put it on the handle bars, next to the other helmet. Then he walked over to Shawn. He laid out his hand in front of Shawn. “Hand it over.”

“You’re not my dad! I can drink it if I want to.” And that’s exactly what he did. He drank a sip of the beer right in front of Jon.

Jon snatched the can out of his hand. Shawn tried to object, but Jon cut him off. “Is this how you want to play things? Because I can get real old fashioned real fast. I can also argue that I am your father. I’ve signed the papers, Shawn. So whether you like it or not I’m your father.”

“Then why didn’t you punish me like a father?!”

Jon was getting a little confused. “What are you talking about? I grounded you for a week, Shawn!”

He honestly didn’t know why he was telling Jon this. Maybe it was just his anger taking control. “Yeah that’s not what you were supposed to do! Cory’s father would’ve made Cory’s curfew shorter, until he could prove that he could have it back to normal!”

Jon smiled a little. “Hey, if you want a shorter curfew then we can arrange that. It’s just yours is already pretty short, buddy.”

“See, there’s that too! You don’t trust me!”

He stopped smiling. Was that what this was all about? Trust? “Shawn, you don’t exactly make it easy to. I mean you walked out last night without telling me where you were going.”

“You didn’t even come to look! I was only at Cory’s house!” Shawn wasn’t even looking at Jon anymore, he couldn’t.

“Shawn, look at me. I went to Alan’s house. That was the first place I went.”

Shawn looked up. That wasn’t what he expected. The words made his anger subside. “You did?”

Jon sighed and laid a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “Of course I did! But when I saw that you had snuck in and that meant that no one knew that you were there. I figured I’d wait until later. So I spent seven hours in Alan’s backyard.”

“You spent seven hours outside, waiting for me?!” It was that moment that he realized something. “Cory’s dad tried to get me to come into the kitchen with him. Where you were, right?”

“Yeah I was, but then I heard that you took off. So I went after you. I was out looking for you the whole time, Shawn.”

At that moment Shawn handed the beer to Jon. Something had changed inside of him. He wasn’t angry and he wasn’t just fine. He was kind of thrilled. Jon may not have punished him like Cory’s dad would’ve if he was his father, but he had spent several hours looking for him. And he knew that that’s what a dad did. Because it was the opposite of what his dad did. His dad was out looking for his mother, but in the process, he was leaving Shawn all alone.

Jon was his father. He did prove it.

End Of Chapter

Bonus:

The next morning, Shawn had woken up to Jon sitting on the couch.

“Hey.” He walked over and sat next to him.

“Hey, George called. Apparently you weren’t at the trailer park with Ms. Dawson.”

Shawn looked flushed and frozen. He had forgotten that he did that. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“That’s not all though. George had said that he had told you to not cause any trouble for me or to cost me any money. And you did both.”

“How much?! I’ll pay you back for it!” Honestly, he had no idea what he was saying, but he knew it was something Cory would say.

“Relax, Shawn. Just like there are different kinds of dads, there’s also different kinds of sons.”

Shawn smiled. “So what you’re saying is I’m not in trouble?”

Jon smiled back. “Oh no, you definitely are. But, you’re in more trouble with George.”

He stopped smiling. “Yeah I know. I probably have like hundreds of detentions.”

Jon kept his smile. “You have two weeks worth. And as for me-you are grounded for as long as you have detention.”

Shawn didn’t like it, but he knew that Jon was caring for him. And that part he did like.

Jon’s tone went very firm for a second. “And Shawn. Don’t. Even. Think. About. Missing. Any. Of. Those. Detentions. You got me?!”

Shawn smiled again. “Yeah, I got you.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: My Son. My Dad. Part One:

Shawn and Jon were getting along great and those two weeks of grounding and detentions had gone by super fast for the both of them. And Shawn and Gloria had also been getting along really great too. Although, it was kind of hard for them to find stuff to do that wasn’t too rebellious, because Shawn wanted to prove Jon wrong about Gloria ‘having a bad reputation’, and it was also hard to find stuff to do that wouldn’t interfere with Shawn’s short curfew and get him grounded. He, honestly, wanted to ask Jon for a later curfew, but he was worried that he would just say no. But, then again he had been really good the past few months and they were on good terms, so that had to be good for something right?

He had been debating it all week and now he was leaning against a locker, waiting for Cory to make plans with Topanga for the one hundredth time. Cory kept changing it, because he had plans with Shawn and Jon coming up and he didn’t know when they were, exactly. While Topanga kept changing it because she still thought that Shawn owed her for canceling on the double date a few weeks back.

A few seconds later, Shawn made up his mind and went over to Jon’s empty classroom to ask him the daunting question. Cory and Topanga were trying to talk to him as he walked away, but he ignored them. He had been debating this for too long. He needed to settle it.

“Hey, Jon!”

Jon looked up from his desk and smiled at Shawn. He had been doing that for the past few weeks. It was kind of creeping Shawn out, but he ignored it now, because he was determined. “Hey, Shawn. I’m almost done here and then we can head home.”

“Actually, Jon I was thinking-what if I went out with Gloria tonight?”

He stopped smiling a little. He knew that they were about to have a serious conversation. “Where would you be going?”

Shawn ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, but we could figure it out.”

“Well I would need to know that, buddy.”

Shawn sat down on one of the desks. “Chubbies, okay?”

“Yeah, but just remember if you’re gonna tell me Chubbies then I need for you to actually be at Chubbies.”

Shawn rolled his eyes at that. Clearly Jon still didn’t trust him, which was gonna make this conversation a lot harder. “Yeah, we’ll stay there. But Jon, what if I came home at 11:30pm?”

Jon stopped smiling completely and then squared his eyes at Shawn. One second later, he stood up and walked over to him. “That would mean that you miss your curfew. You don’t want to do that, right?”

Shawn smiled. “Well-”

Jon cut him off. “Shawn! Come on, we’ve been on good terms and you’ve been doing really good!”

“Jon, do you have to start yelling? I just want my curfew to change.”

Jon sighed. And then an idea came to him. “I’ll tell you what. You pass your English test tomorrow and your curfew will be extended.”

Shawn froze. That was not what he wanted to hear. I mean it kind of was, but not exactly. And, truth be told, he forgot that there was an English test tomorrow. Plus his date with Gloria would’ve been tonight.
He unfroze. He needed to get Jon on the same page as him. “But I’ve been coming home on time for the past several weeks! Doesn’t that count for anything?!”

Jon put his hands on his hips. “Yeah it counts for no groundings.”

“That’s not fair! That’s what everything good counts for! Shouldn’t there be different rewards?!”

“Let me get this straight. You want a reward that isn’t ‘no groundings’ for every time you do something good?”

“I mean isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?! You get consequences for doing something bad and then rewards for doing something good!”

He crossed his arms and glared at Shawn. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. First, you’re gonna stop yelling at me or I’m gonna have to start yelling again. Second, you’re either gonna make this deal or come home early from your date. You pick which one you want to do, Shawn.”

Shawn sighed and got off of the desk. “I’ll make the deal.”

Jon put out his hand. “Then it’s a deal.”

Shawn smiled a little and then shook Jon’s hand. “Deal.”

—

It was a deal, but it was one that was going to be broken. Not that Shawn wanted to break a deal that he made with his father, but he had no other choice. He knew that he couldn’t pass that English test. And he also knew that it was really stupid of Jon to assume that he could. He also didn’t understand why he couldn’t have his curfew extended. He had been good for weeks. None of this made any sense.

He was currently studying in his room too, but he couldn’t think. He couldn’t do this and he knew it. And before he could stop himself, he was sneaking out. He didn’t like pressure and he didn’t want to. So he needed to get free. And that meant getting out. Even if it did make Jon mad. He didn’t care right now. He really needed out.

—

He went to the trailer park. And he expected to stumble across Eddie and maybe even Stacy, but he definitely didn’t expect to stumble across Gloria. And she didn’t expect to stumble across him either, because she froze when she saw him.

“Gloria. What are you doing here?”

She unfroze and sighed. It was clear that she didn’t want Shawn to see her here. “I live here. You?”

That caught him off guard. So many of his family members lived here that he thought that they were the only ones to live in the trailer park. “I used to. Why did you never tell me that you lived here?”

“It never really came up. I mean the only reason I even live here is so I can help my grandpa whenever he’s sick.”

Shawn moved closer to her. He could tell that she was very nervous. “Let’s say we leave here together.”

She smiled and then sighed. “I can’t. I’m sorry Shawn, but I need to take care of my grandpa. Perhaps another time.” She kissed him on the lips and then left.

Shawn stared after her, while kicking the ground. He hated the fact that he didn’t offer to stay with her. It’s just he was never one to help people and when he was, well he wasn’t very good at it. He had wasted his time here. He decided to head back to Jon’s place. He knew that it was his place too, but he still didn’t feel like calling it that. And he also didn’t want to rush things and so it was fine just being known as ‘Jon’s place’. For now, at least.

As he walked away though, something caught his interest. The door to his trailer was cracked open and there was a letter shoved in the crack. He approached the door and took the letter. His name was written on the front of it. He let curiosity take over his mind and he went into his trailer, closing the door behind him.

Once he stepped in he realized how long he hadn’t been there. Everything was the same, but it felt so different to him. An apartment was definitely very different than a trailer. And he knew, but it still hit him hard. He felt weird being here. He needed to leave, but he also needed to read that letter. And he knew that he wouldn’t get to read it if he went back to Jon’s. Because Jon would be furious that he snuck out and he would then make him study as punishment. This was the only chance he had to read it. So he ignored the off feelings, just like he always did and he sat down on his dad’s chair and began to read the letter.

“Hey, Shawn-
It’s your old man here. I knew you would come to find this letter eventually. I also know that I don’t usually write letters, but there’s something I need to tell you, son. This trip to find your mother has taken much longer than I had thought it would. I don’t think I’m gonna find her anytime soon, son. So here’s what I need you to do. I need you to stay with your teacher. Try and go easy on him too. I know I’m not here for you right now and I wish I could be, but I need to find your mother first. And once I do find her, the three of us will go back to being a family again. So anytime you don’t want to follow a rule or anytime that you don’t want to do your homework, just remember that we’ll be back together soon. Let that fact convince you. Okay, son? I’ll see you soon.
Do it for me.
-your old man”

He finished the letter and immediately headed back to Jon’s place. He needed to get to Jon, but not because his father had told him to. His father was too late for that. Plus if he really wanted Shawn to listen to him, then he would’ve told him in person. He would’ve come to Jon’s place and asked to see his son. But he didn’t. And that fact gave him all the assurance that he needed to get to Jon.

Jon was his father and he was his son. He knew that and his old man coming back wasn’t going to change that. He would listen to Jon on his time and on his own terms. All this letter told him was that his dad only cared about giving Shawn his mother back, not spending actual time with him. He wanted what was best for him, in his own way, but what he didn’t understand was that Jon was what was best for him.

And a few minutes later, he was at Jon’s place. He was where he needed to be.

He unlocked the door and opened it to find a very angry father, glaring at him. “Hunter, you wanna tell me why I woke up to find you missing?!”

Shawn closed the door behind him. “I went to the trailer park and then I realized that I needed to be here. So I came back.”

Jon folded his arms against his chest. “You came back after being out for two hours! I had to wake up Alan in the middle of the night, because I kept calling him! In fact, I was just about to go drive around and look for you!”

Shawn put his hands up. He needed to come back to Jon, but he definitely didn’t need Jon to yell at him. “Okay, I get it!”

Jon got even louder. “NO I DON’T THINK YOU DO!”

Shawn backed up, until he was against the door. His hand was slowly moving towards the doorknob. If Jon didn’t calm down he would soon leave out of impulse. “Jon do-”

Jon cut him off. “YOU WOULD BE INCREDIBLY STUPID TO ASK THAT QUESTION! JUST LIKE YOU WERE INCREDIBLY STUPID TO SNEAK OUT!”

Shawn’s hand turned on the doorknob and the door opened. Jon walked up to Shawn and slammed the door shut. Then he grabbed Shawn’s sleeve and pulled him over to the couch.

Shawn looked at Jon, worriedly. He hadn’t snuck out in months. And he had also worried Jon. Jon was right. He was stupid.

Jon sighed and calmed down a little. “Stay here.”

He left Shawn alone on the couch. And Shawn knew that he deserved everything that was coming to him. He had ruined their ‘good terms’ state. He was a complete and total screw up.

Jon came back with a pillow and a blanket in his arms. He laid them on the couch next to Shawn. Then he looked at Shawn. He had calmed down, but he was still glaring at him. “You’re gonna sleep on this couch tonight, because apparently I can’t trust you to sleep in your room. Do. Not. Leave. You got me?”

Shawn nodded his head. “I got you.” He hated himself so much right now.

Jon left, but he stopped himself before he went into his room. “Goodnight, buddy. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Shawn smiled a little. “Goodnight, Jon.”

And they both went to bed.

—

In the morning, Jon woke up to find Shawn studying on the couch. But not only that: there were pancakes and bacon on the counter and Shawn was also fully dressed. That was all new. The only time there was breakfast on the counter was when Jon had made it. And Shawn was always so stubborn to get ready. This felt weird to Jon and he wanted to ask Shawn what was going on, but he spoke first.

“Jon, I’m glad you’re up!” He put his books in his backpack and got up from the couch. “Uh, sorry I went to my room without asking you, but I didn’t sleep in there!”

“Shawn-”

Shawn cut him off. “I made you breakfast, but some of it might be burned!” He ran a hand through his hair. “And I’m ready for that English test that I need to pass today!”

“Shawn, listen-”

Shawn cut him off again. “You want some food?!” He walked over to the counter and began to get Jon some food. “I’ll try to find you the ones that are the least burnt.

Jon was starting to get a little angry. Shawn kept cutting him off. And he was also still very confused. “Shawn I-”

Shawn cut him off a third time. “Here!” He brought over a plate of slightly burned pancakes and bacon to Jon. “Now let’s get going! We don’t want to be late!”

As Shawn tried to walk past Jon, he grabbed his collar with his free hand. And then, he turned him around to face him. “Don’t. Cut. Me. Off. Again.” He let go of Shawn’s collar and set down his plate on the coffee table. “Now what is all this about?”

Shawn sighed and fixed his jacket. “I’m just ready to take the test!”

Jon smiled a little. “Shawn, what do you take me for?”

Shawn sighed again, but this time his tone changed too. “Look, I just messed everything up last night, so I wanted to fix it. And I thought that if I didn’t let you get a word in, then you wouldn’t have the chance to yell at me again.”

Jon stopped smiling and sighed. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, buddy.” He laid a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “I need to know where you are at all times. I’m responsible for you and I also worry about you. I wanna be there for you, Shawn.”

“I know you do. I just forget that sometimes. Guess I’m stupid a lot, huh?”

That kind of broke Jon’s heart. He really shouldn’t have yelled at him so intensely last night. “You’re not stupid, Shawn. You just make dumb decisions sometimes. We all do. Even me.”

Shawn smiled. “Jon, give yourself a break. I deserved that yelling.”

Jon took his hand off of Shawn’s shoulder and began to point his finger at Shawn’s chest. “No, you deserved the less intense part. And look about our deal-”

He cut him off without realizing it. “Oh, Jon don’t worry about that. I was studying for hours.”

Jon stopped pointing his finger at Jon’s chest and crossed his arms. “Shawn, what did I just say? Don’t cut me off, okay?”

Shawn nodded his head. “Right.”

“I’m canceling the deal. You sneaked out and proved to me that you clearly weren’t ready for a later curfew.”

Shawn’s mouth dropped open. Great, now he was offended. “That’s not fair! We already shook on it!”

“Shawn, if you hadn’t snuck out then the deal would still be on right now!”

“How was I supposed to know that?! You never said anything about any conditions!”

“I shouldn’t have to!”

Shawn threw his hands up in the air. “Then how am I supposed to know!”

The argument got to Jon. “Shawn, come on! You wouldn’t have passed the test, anyway!” He immediately closed his mouth. He shouldn’t have said that. He had gotten too angry last night and he had woken up wanting to apologize and now he had gotten too angry again.

Shawn froze and then when Jon didn’t say anything, he left. And Jon didn’t call after him; he let him go.

—

Shawn got to school and immediately found Cory. He was at his locker with Topanga and Gloria next to him. He calmed himself down and then walked up to them.

“Hey, guys.”

Cory closed his locker and faced his best friend. Gloria smiled at Shawn and Topanaga offered him a small wave.

“Hey, Cor can I talk to you for a second?”

Cory looked at Shawn. He was trying to see if anything was wrong with him. “Sure.” He said goodbye to his girlfriend and Gloria and then when they left he turned back to Shawn. “What’s going on?”

“Can I stay at your house this weekend?” Shawn didn’t exactly want to deal with Cory’s dad, because he would yell just like Jon had been, but maybe not as hard. But he also knew that Jon needed a break from him. And, truth was, so did he.

Cory figured out what could be wrong pretty fast. “Did you and Turner have a fight?”

“We did.”

“Well, what was it about?”

“It doesn’t matter what it was about.”

“Maybe I can help you-”

Shawn cut him off. Cory couldn’t fix this and he didn’t need to. “No. Just can I stay at your place this weekend or not?”

Cory sighed and realized that this was the only way he could possibly help right now. “Yeah I’ll ask my dad if you can.”

“Thanks, Cor.”

And then they both walked into Feeny’s class.

—

Feeny’s class ended as slow as it started. Shawn wanted to get out of there fast, but unfortunately Feeny wanted to speak with him afterwards. Great, another thing for Jon to yell at him for!

Cory left and Shawn pushed Feeny along. “Mr. Feeny, is this gonna take long? I have a test to take in Jon’s class!”

Feeny looked utterly stunned. “Mr. Hunter, wanting to take a test?! I thought I would never see the day!”

Shawn shook his head. “You still haven’t. Jon agreed to give me a letter curfew if I passed it.”

Now he understood, but his expressions were all the same. “Ah. Well then I won’t keep you too long.” He handed Shawn a small stack of paper.

Shawn took it and looked at the ‘B’ marked on it. “What is this? Did you give me Cory’s paper by mistake?”

He shook his head, promptly. “Perhaps Mr. Turner isn’t the only one that has gotten through to you.”

He stopped staring at the test paper. “Hold on, I haven’t actually passed Jon’s test yet.”

Feeny closed the distance between Shawn and him. “Did you study for it?”

“Yeah.”

He pointed at the test in Shawn’s hand. “Like you studied for mine?”

“Don’t get too excited. I was following Cory’s advice.” Cory had told Shawn weeks ago that studying for one of Feeny’s tests wasn’t actually as bad as it sounded. And they even had a little study session together, but then they both agreed to never do it again.

“I trust that you followed your own advice for Mr.Turner’s test?”

Shawn nodded his head, silently.

“Then you will be fine, Mr. Hunter.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know you. And that means that I know that when you have your mind set on something-nothing can stop you.”

Shawn heard words from Feeny that he had never heard before. Words he thought only Cory and Eric were capable of hearing. He smiled and left Feeny’s classroom to go pass a test for his father.

—

Jon’s test ended just like it started. Quick. And that’s because he knew everything on it. He really had studied. And he even saw a smile on Jon’s face when he turned his in before everyone else.

He was about to leave the classroom with Cory, but then Jon asked him to stay back too. What was it with his teachers’ today? Cory left him alone again.

“Close the door, buddy.”

Shawn groaned. That was new, but it was genuine. “Are you gonna yell at me again?”

Jon walked over and closed the door for Shawn and then he stood in front of him. “I want to apologize. For this morning and for last night.”

Shawn shrugged his shoulders. “I deserved it.”

Jon sighed and then laid a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “You need to stop saying that, okay?” Jon then smiled. He wanted to see if Shawn was actually hurt by his words and he was just hiding it. “If I hear it one more time I’m gonna make you do the dishes tonight.”

Shawn groaned again. He hated the dishes. But, when he met Jon’s eyes he saw that they were filled with concern.

“Shawn, if my words hurt you I need to know.”

Shawn shook his head. “Jon, it’s not your fault.”

Jon was genuinely concerned. “Shawn you’ve gotta meet me halfway here. We can’t get past this until you do.”

Shawn crossed his arms and looked down at the classroom floor. “I’m fine, Jon.”

Slowly, Jon lifted his head. “Shawn, please.”

Shawn shook his head again. “The Hunter men don’t talk about their feelings, Jon.”

Now, Jon crossed his arms. “Well I’m not a Hunter and technically you aren’t anymore, either.”

Jon saw Shawn’s face fall. Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say. “Shawn I-”

Shawn cut him off by hugging him. Jon didn’t know what else to do besides hugging his son back. And then he heard Shawn mutter something. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

That warmed Jon’s heart. He pulled Shawn away and looked at him. Shawn was smiling like Jon had never seen him smile before. “Don’t be sorry, buddy. You made a mistake and I made a bigger one. Twice in fact. You are grounded for yours, but only for a week. And we’ll get through the week together.”

Shawn didn’t groan at the punishment. Instead he hugged Jon again and Jon hugged him back again too.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six:

Shawn and Jon had been getting along really well for the time being. There were some fights here and there, but they were just small ones. Shawn hadn’t done anything bad in weeks and he actually was able to turn Gloria around, although it still seemed like she was keeping some kind of secret from him. Shawn knew what it was like to hide a secret better than anyone, so he knew that she was definitely hiding one. But he was kinda worried about something else right now. His dad had called for the first time in months. He had said that he wanted to meet with Shawn. Shawn had said ‘no’, but Jon convinced him to give the guy a chance. So now he has been waiting three days for a guy to show up that would probably never show. It was causing Shawn to get quite restless too and that was making him have quite the attitude with Jon.

“Why do I even have to meet with him, dad?!” Shawn sat down at the counter and watched as Jon prepared dinner.

“Shawn, stop yelling alright? Look, Chet just wants to meet. It’s a harmless thing. Why not give him the benefit of the doubt?” He was doing that thing where he waves the knife as he cuts vegetables.

Shawn got up from his seat. “Look dad, I know the guy! He doesn’t just want to meet! He’s going to ask me to come with him or he’s going to persuade me into asking him!”

“Shawn, I’m warning you about the whole yelling thing. And what’s so wrong with going with Chet to find your mother?”

Shawn didn’t understand what Jon was not getting. “You! You’re the wrong!”

Jon stops cutting the vegetables and walks over to Shawn. He then points his finger at Shawn’s chest. “Don’t you dare yell again. You got me?”

Shawn looked at Jon’s serious eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn’t mad at Jon. He was mad at Chet. “I got you. I just don’t want to leave this place.”

Jon puts his hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “And you don’t have to, buddy. It’s just a meeting.”

Shawn looks away and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, a meeting that is three days late.”

Jon sighs and then goes back to preparing dinner. “Let’s say you and I do something this weekend?”

Shawn jumped onto the couch. “What did you have in mind?”

Someone knocked on the door. “Will you get that, buddy?”

Shawn looked at the door and then looked back at Jon. “What your legs don’t work?”

Jon looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. Shawn got up and put his hands up. “Kidding, dad.”

Shawn gets off of the couch and opens up the door.

Jon looks over to see a young girl with a baby pink suitcase and an envelope in her hand. “Hello, is this Johnathan Turner’s place?”

Shawn eyes the girl. “Who wants to know?!”

Jon walks over to the door and nudges Shawn away. “Shawn, don't scare the girl.” He looks over at the girl. “Hi, I’m Johnathan Turner. Can I help you?”

The young girl hugs him. “I finally found you!”

Jon looks over at Shawn and Shawn looks back at him. They both had no idea who this girl was. Jon gently pushed the girl off of him and looked down at her. “Look, who exactly are you?”

The little girl handed him the envelope. “Here my mother explained it all here. My name is June, by the way.”

Shawn shakes the girl’s hand. “Hey, I’m Shawn! Nice to meet you!”

Jon froze as he read the envelope and Shawn noticed. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

June looks at Shawn. “Wait, he's your father?”

Shawn nods his head at the girl. “What did your letter say?”

Jon looked up from the letter. “That she’s my daughter.”

Shawn looks from Jon to the girl. “Your daughter?!”

“My mother didn’t mention you having a son.”

“Yeah she also didn’t mention her having a daughter.” Jon gave June back the letter.

She took the letter and smiled. “You left before she even knew that she was pregnant.”

Jon smiles at June, still a little confused. “Hey if I knew that she was going to have our daughter then I would’ve come back.”

Shawn looked at Jon, a little hurt. “Then you would’ve never met me.”

Either Jon didn’t hear Shawn or he just ignored him. “Hey, why don’t you say we go grab a bite to eat?”

June nodded her head. “I’d like that.”

Shawn grabbed the door. “Hey, what about me?!”

Jon eyed him. “What about you?”

Shawn didn’t let go of the door. He knew that Jon wanted him to, but he was too confused right now. Jon was just leaving him for this new girl that he just met. And what because she claims to be his daughter? She could be lying for all we know! “Why can’t I come?”

Jon took Shawn’s hand off of the door. “Shawn look, we can do something together when I get back. Just put the vegetables into the pot, okay. And don’t burn the house down.” Jon chuckled and then began to leave, but Shawn spoke again.

“Where are you going?!”

Jon walks back up and points his finger at Shawn’s chest again. “I’m going to have a bite at Chubbies with June, okay? So that I can find out more about her. And you are going to be waiting here for me and then doing the dishes tonight, since you chose to yell again. You got me?”

Shawn looked at Jon, annoyed. They had both made a promise to stop yelling at one another, but Shawn didn’t like how Jon was now making him do the dishes. But the worst thing was the fact that Shawn was starting to wonder if Jon even remembered who they were to one another anymore. “What am I to you?”

Jon looked at him and sighed. “You want me to answer this again? You’re my little buddy! Come on, Shawn!” Jon chuckled as he now tried to bring some humor into the situation. “Now will you let us go?”

Shawn looked Jon up and down. ‘Little buddy’ was not the answer he wanted. “How about I just go too?!” And with that Shawn pushed past Jon and left.

Jon went to Chubbies with June, after cleaning up dinner. And Shawn went to the Matthews, of course. Jon had called to make sure Shawn got there okay. He hated how the boy would run off everytime that he got mad. Really they should’ve made a promise about that instead of one about yelling. Because they both have trouble keeping the no yelling promise. And Jon wanted to help Shawn, but he also wanted to learn more about his long lost daughter first. Cory had Shawn. He will be okay.

June sat down at a table with Jon. “So what do you do for a living?”

He smiled at her. She had his black curly hair, but her mother’s face. “I’m an English teacher at John Addams High.”

She chuckled a little. “So that’s why you live in an apartment.”

Jon sighs. “That and I’ve also just never found the need for anything bigger.”

She folds her hands together. “Can I ask you another question?”

Jon stood up and nodded his head. “Is Shawn really your son? He doesn’t look like you.”

Jon answers her and then walks up to order food. “I adopted him.”

He orders two burgers and fries and then sits back down. “He’s one of my students. His dad is never around, so I gave him a home.”

She unfolded her hands. “Did you sign the papers to get him?”

He nodded his head again. “Yeah, I did.”

She looks confused. “So then why do you call him your little buddy? Isn’t he your son?”

Jon freezes. He had thought that Shawn had run off, because of June. But it was because he felt neglected. How could he have been so stupid?! Shawn wanted him to hear him say that he was his son. OF COURSE!

The food came over, but Jon immediately stood up.
June looked up at him. “Dad?”

“I’m sorry I have to find my son!” He began to run off, but then he saw Alan and Amy.

Their faces were red and they had tears falling. June stood up and walked over to her father.

Alan sighed and then spoke. “Jon, Shawn snuck out.”

Jon started to shake his head. They looked scared. “Is he alright?”

Amy shakes her head. “I’m afraid not.”

Alan squeezes Amy’s hand as he talks. “He stole your motorcycle and he crashed it. I think he was trying to get to you.”

Jon grips the table, so that he doesn’t fall. June covers her mouth, gasping. Jon looks up in pure fear. “Is he alive?”

Thankfully, Amy nods her head. But it’s Alan who speaks. “He’s in a coma.”

Tears fall from Jon’s eyes. “Take me to him!”

(For anyone that is confused. In this universe Jon has a car and a motorcycle. He uses his car to drive around him and Shawn or in this case him and June. So Shawn was free to steal his motorcycle.)

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven:

June and Jon arrive at the hospital and they’re led into Shawn’s room. Jon crumbles when he sees Shawn in that hospital bed. The boy’s eyes are closed and his breathing is slow. He looks almost dead.

Jon looks over at one of the doctors. “How long has he been asleep for?”

The doctor sighs while turning to Jon. “For about four hours. He only has a broken leg and a broken arm. And given the crash and the fact that he wasn’t wearing a helmet he’s a pretty lucky kid.”

Jon sighed at the fact that his kid didn’t wear a helmet when stealing his motorcycle. He’s gotta teach that kid safety. But right now he’s just grateful that he doesn’t have a broken neck or anything like that.
Jon looks back up at the doctor as he talks again. “He probably will have a concussion upon waking up though. Maybe some memory loss.”

Alan speaks from behind Jon. Jon had gotten the Matthews in Shawn’s room by stating that they were family just like Alan had done for Shawn many times. “But he will wake up?”

The doctor looks over at Alan and then back at Jon. “We hope so. There’s no guarantee.”

A nurse walks up to the doctor and whispers something in his ear. He looks over at everyone, apologetic. “I’m afraid it’s after hours so we can only allow one person in rooms at a time.”

Alan pats Jon on the shoulder and Jon turns to him. “You stay with Shawn.”

Jon nods his head at Alan. “Thanks, Alan. Can you take June?” Jon points to the sleeping girl on the chair.

Amy walks over to June and picks her up, careful not to wake her. Alan smiles a little at Jon. “Of course.”

All of three of them head for the door but Amy says something on her way out. “Let us know when he wakes up.”

Jon nods his head and they leave the room. He stares back at Shawn. He sighs as he sits down in the chair that June had fallen asleep in. He holds onto Shawn’s hand. “Please wake up, son.”

Eventually Cory was told what had happened by his parents and he was devastated but somehow he knew that he was going to be just fine. He was a lot like his mother in that way. He would see Shawn during the day with his family and then Jon was left alone with his son at night.

Shawn had told Cory about his fight with Jon but when he snuck out Cory just thought it was another normal sneak out. Jon had been helping Shawn improve a lot but every time he went over to the Matthews he always snuck out. And every single time he went back to the apartment. As great as the Matthews house is it’s not where his father is but it is where some of his family is. Mr. Feeny taught him that you don’t have to be blood to be family.

Cory had said many things to Shawn while he was in a coma. He told him about every moment that he’s had with Topanga since he’s been asleep. And how Topanga insisted that they spend every date at the hospital with Shawn. He told him that Feeny left him some flowers.

Gloria had come to visit Shawn and it was quite hard for her to see him like that. She couldn’t be in the room for too long so she just left him a kiss on the cheek every time.

Alan would come to the hospital and make a joke about how Shawn had to wake up so he could yell at him for stealing Jon’s motorcycle. But in all fairness he really just wanted the kid to wake up laughing. Alan had grown to love Shawn as much as he loves his own boys. He doesn’t want to lose the kid.

Jon was there the most with Shawn and that was okay with everyone. They thought that was what was best. Even the doctors agreed that it was important for the boy to have his father with him during this.

Everyone had tried to get Chet to come down but no one could get a hold of him. He never picked up the phone. So they left messages that he never answered. All of them wondered what he could be doing especially since he had promised to meet up with Shawn. Guarantee that was around two weeks ago. But still, where was he?

Shawn had been in a coma for about a week and then when Jon spoke something particular to him. That was what got him awake.

“Listen, Shawn I don’t know if you can hear me but there are a lot of people wanting you to wake up. And maybe you don’t want to because you’re mad at me but I want you to know that I didn’t mean what I said. I was wrapped up in meeting my daughter. It was a lot like the day I agreed to take in you. My life changed forever but I wouldn’t change a thing about that day.” He runs a hand through Shawn’s hair. “When you asked me ‘what about you’ I should’ve responded with what, you wanna come? And I’m sorry that I didn’t. I know that sorry probably doesn’t count for anything right now but I mean it. You’re more than just my little buddy. You’re my son. And you’re not my son because some papers were signed. I know I’ve used that in defense to me disciplining you but screw those papers. You felt like my son before that. Honestly, you’ve felt like my son since the very first time you came over to my apartment.” Tears fall from Jon’s eyes as he remembers that day. “I was on a date that I was definitely ruining and you came in alone and cold. You saved me from making a bigger fool of myself that night. You’ve saved me from that situation many times. And look, the girl that had June just happens to have been Audrey. Which is the same girl that you and Veronica caught me with. Seems like there was more than one lie that night. Although it was hidden. But the point is Shawn that I love you. I really do. And I want you to be a part of my life forever. No matter where we are and no matter what we're doing. I want you by my side for every moment. And lately you’ve been missing a lot of moments so you better not sleep for much longer.” Jon holds Shawn’s hand as he says this last part. “June may be my daughter and she may be a part of my life now but that shouldn’t change what you are to me. And it won’t. You are my son. And I’ll keep saying that for the rest of your life.”

Jon calls for a doctor when he feels Shawn’s hand move. He smiles through his tears.

His son was waking up.