Un-Identical

▪️Trinity Meets Shawn Hunter

Trinity's face goes pale, and she sways where she's sat, utterly dazed and breathing heavily. Immediately Katy and Violetta reached out to steady her.

"Trini, you're okay. It's alright," Violet whispers to her, but she can't hear her.

She can feel lunges closing up, like it's trying to get more air in but just can't. "I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Mom, I can't breathe!"

"Breath, baby girl," Katy kneels in front of her. "It's okay. I'm here."

Surprisingly Shawn leans forward and catches her hand. "You're having a panic attack. I know you think you can't breathe, but you can." he turns to Kathy. "Has this happened before?"

She wrings her hands and nods. "Never this bad."

"Okay," he turns back to Trinity. "Tell me five things you can see."

"What?" Trinity wheezes out.

"Five things you can see."

"You."

"Good. Four more."

"Mom. The clock. The stool. The plate."

"Good girl! What are four things you can touch?"

Blinking down, Trinity looks down and quickly grasps Violet's hand. "Violet. Um... my-my bracelet. My hair," her hand clenches the fabric of her skirt. "My skirt."

"Three things you can hear."

"Your voice. My voice. The squeaky table."

"Two things you can smell."

"Tuna Sandwich and chicken."

"One thing you can taste."

"Chocolate from my sundae." Trinity blinks, finding it a lot easier to breathe. "I'm sorry-- it's never been that bad before."

Violet kisses Trinity on the cheeks. "It's understandable. You were surprised."

"It's nothing to be sorry about!" Shawn fiercely shakes his head. "I get them too." he stands, turning to face Katy. "She's right. I don't know the full story, but do you think I would walk in here and talk to you like this if I wasn't so fond of your daughter?"

Katy crosses her arms. "I owe you another thank you, and that was great, but why don't you tell me about your vast experience raising a child?"

"I don't have any! But I know you don't work an extra shift at a diner and miss your daughter's birthday. Which yes Maya could be here too, but she's not, and there's a reason for that."

Maybe he's not so bad, Trinity thinks, accepting the cup of water from Dmitar.

"Mm-hmm. And you know this because you know so much about relationships?"

"I'm terrible at relationships."

"I'm worse."

"I don't want to be."

"Neither do I."

"Well, then we've got something in common."

Has her Mom and Shawn stare into each other's eyes, realization hits Trinity. This was a setup. Matthews playing cupid.

"Look," Katy sighs. "My daughter likes having you around. But how can you stick around when every weekend she told me you go somewhere else?"

"I write about places. That's my job."

"I can't let Maya get close to somebody else who just leaves."

"Okay, hold on, first of all, I'm not a leaver. All right? I'm a stayer. I'm the one who gets left."

"Well, we got that in common too."

"What do you mean? Maya thinks that you chased away-"

Dmitar, Sofia, Trinity, and Violet scoff at once.

"Look, that's not what happened," Trinity tells him. "Yeah, she kicked him out, but he was--"

"Stop," Katy layers her with a firm look before giving her full attention to a suspicious Shawn. "I know what she thinks. It's her father. A girl should think well of her father."

Camile walks in at that moment. "Hi, birthday girl. Hi, Katy. So I finished it, and it's just like you wanted it."

Camile holds out two gold lockets.

Trinity stares at it. Those look expensive. "Mom, what are those?"

Katy sighs before smiling. "I guess the surprise is ruined. It's beautiful, Camille. But I'm still $50 short, and it'll take an extra shift to pay for it."

"They're nice lockets. Family photo going in them?" Shawn wonders.

"Yeah," Katy nods. "Me and them."

Before anybody can blink, Shawn is handing Camille 50 bucks. "Here you go."

Katy snaps her head to him. "Really?"

"Today is her birthday," Shawn shrugs. "But you knew that."

"He's cute," Camile comments.

"I'll pay you back," Katy promises Shawn.

Shawn smiles. "You will. You'll let me take the photo."

Trinity groans, getting chuckles from her friends. "Oh, God. You're a decent person, aren't you? I'm gonna like you. Fuck!"

Shawn rubs the back of his neck. "Um... thanks?"

Trinity just knows, knows she's going to be seeing a lot more of Shawn Hunter, whether she wants to her not. And she might want to.
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A/N: Short chapter, I know. But I wanted to get something out there for this story. So I wanted something for Trinity and Shawn to bond over, and this is what I got. Watching Boy Meets World, I think Shawn would've had plenty of anxiety attacks that he hid. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I am sorry for the long wait for it.