Flashbacks

Even Better Days

Friday morning came too soon as far as Jon was concerned. The alarm clanged loudly in his ear causing the throbbing in his head to match its rhythm.

Abruptly the noise stopped, and the aching subsided. He sighed in relief and was about to turn over and go back to sleep when he realized that he was not the one who turned the alarm off.

Jon sat up abruptly and tried to orient himself.

"You okay?" a soft voice asked quietly.

He turned his upper body toward the voice and found himself looking into warm gray eyes. He smiled lazily at her and flopped back onto the pillows. "Yeah, forgot where I was for a minute."

Audrey chuckled and slid out from under the covers. "You mind if I get into the bathroom first or do you want it?"

"Go on," he said nodding at the bathroom door.

She smiled her gratitude, and he smiled back with a dreamy look on his face as he watched her walk into the bathroom. After a moment he got up and went to the living room where Shawn had already raided the refrigerator and was sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal and a soda.

Jon shook his head in amusement. Shawn was sprawled out the way he did on Saturday mornings.

Without needing to wash her hair, Audrey was in and out of the bathroom faster than they thought she would be and weren't prepared for what they saw. Her clothing choice was quite a step away from the full coverage, baggy clothing she had been wearing no matter the temperature.

White high waisted shorts stood out against the beginnings of a tan indicating this wasn't the first time she's gotten some sun. Her shirt was a cropped teal t-shirt that hung down just over the top of the shorts.

The outfit reminded Shawn of a new one Topanga got the weekend before, although her top was red with white stripes, and she wore red cowboy boots with hers while Audrey wore clear jelly sandals.

When they saw what she was wearing, Shawn looked to Jon for help expressing his thoughts on the outfit. She was still in the early days of her recovery and although Dr. Amsden said she was progressing very well, he didn't want to say the wrong thing and accidentally set her back. He was incredibly proud of her and wanted to convey this properly, but Jon was of no help.

He was too busy staring at her.

Shawn was just about to use his "cleanup on aisle number nine" comment when Jon recovered on his own. He walked over to Audrey, took her by the elbow, and whispered something in her ear.

Her face lit up in a pleased smile.

"I'm trying," she said in response to what he said.

He looked her over and smiled appreciatively. "You're doin' a fantastic job."

"You look hot, Mama," Shawn chimed in with a nod of approval.

Audrey laughed and simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you both," she said almost shyly.

Clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention for this reason, she deflected the attention to Jon by remarking, "I have to admit I'm a little disappointed with what you're wearing."

"Oh?" Jon looked down at his t-shirt and jeans which wasn't much different from what he typically wore.

"Yeah," she with a flirtatious glimmer in her eye. "I was hoping for a tank top."