Set Apart

Chapter 53~

Cristina's POV:

It was now a week after we told Cory and Topanga about us. Although we kept trying to tell Cory we did this on our own, he wasn't really listening and just kept saying 'you're welcome' or 'it's okay to need to thank me.' But to be honest, i'm not surprised.

They kept asking us questions though. Like when we realized that we liked each other and what we talked about in the trailer. We told them the truth, and they still had a hard time wrapping their heads around how it happened.

To be fair, so do we.

After the stunt we pulled with Cory and Topanga, word spread around the school fairly quickly. Long story short, Derek threw a fit and a bunch of girls at the school that day looked either sorry for me or pissed at me. I didn't care though.

Eric handled it not at all like I thought he would. I was expecting him to jump around and dance while screaming he told me so. But he was very civil about it. Aside from the part where he told Shawn that if he hurt me that he'd kill him. But the part that got to me is when he told me how happy he was for me. His exact words were, "I'm so proud that you had the guts to finally tune out your fear. I knew you had it in you."

I probably would've cried if Cory hadn't interrupted the moment by asking Eric why he never said that stuff to him. Eric responded by slapping him on the head and told him he'd give him good advice if Cory ever came to him about boy problems.

It was a hectic week. So I invited Shawn over since my parents were out and we could use the quiet time.

We were laying down on my bed, just staring at each other and talking about everything. Shawn would run his hands through my hair as we talked. I loved it when he did that. It made me feel safe.

"Wait? You had a fight about me?"

"Yup."

I already told Shawn about the fight I had with Derek. But I figured i'd fill him in on the part I left out since we were together now.

"Remember when we were walking home from the ice rink, and I was telling you about that fight with Derek?"

I felt him tense up.

"Yeah. The nerve of that asshole."

"Well, there was one part I left out. He is the reason I realized I was in love with you."

"I thought you said Eric did that?"

"Eric helped me admit it. But Derek actually said that the only reason I wouldn't go back to him was because I was in love with you and I was the whole time. He basically said that I was emotionally cheating to excuse the fact that he actually cheated."

"Was he right? I mean about the loving me the whole time part."

"Well I was in love with you, but I wasn't emotionally cheating since I didn't really know it yet. But I think we both know that it didn't give him an excuse."

"Yeah. I'm glad that guy got what he deserved."

"Me too."

He took a deep breath. "You know, in that moment when we saw him there with that girl, all I wanted to do was beat the crap out of him for what he did. I still don't understand how he could do that to you. It just doesn't make any sense to me." He paused. "And I probably would've gone to give him a good knock on the head or two. But then I heard your voice. You only said one word, but I heard how hurt you sounded. And I knew in that moment that if I left you to go deal with him, it would've just made it worse. So I listened and I took you home. And I made a promise to myself. I promised to never let you feel that hurt again. Because a part of me always felt responsible for what happened."

I put my hand on his face and I started to tear up.

"I felt that I didn't do a good enough job at protecting you. And that I should've seen it coming. And that maybe I would've, but since I liked you I couldn't see clearly. I just wanted you to be happy and that maybe if you were happy with someone else, my feelings would go away. But they didn't. And maybe if I had come clean sooner, you wouldn't have had to go through that."

I felt a tear stream down my face.

"Shawn." He finally looked up at me after avoiding eye contact for so long. "It's not your fault. I know you feel responsible, but it's not your fault. Derek was a dick. And I was the one who let him in. But no one saw this coming. Not me, not Cory, not my parents, not his parents. Nobody. I don't want you blaming yourself for this. I don't regret anything about the past three years. You hear me? Nothing. If it wasn't for Derek believe it or not, I probably wouldn't have come to terms with how I felt about you. I hate the guy, don't get me wrong. But he taught me what a real relationship is not supposed to feel like. That's how I knew I loved you."

I gently pressed my lips so his and we kissed softly. After we pulled away, I wanted to clear something else up.

"And by the way, Derek didn't hurt me. Trust me when I say he didn't even scratch the surface. I just needed to process the initial shock that's all."

"I love how badass my girlfriend is."

"And I love how compassionate my boyfriend is."

We kissed once again and this time is was much more heated. His hand that was once innocently combing my hair was now intertwined with it.

Both my hands were now resting on his face as we kissed. He deepened the kiss as he threw a leg over and straddled me.

I pulled away.

"Not to fast hot pants." He groaned and rolled off of me. "My parents could be home any minute! Not to mention that my sister is supposed to be coming over with her friends soon!"

"Suddenly I just remembered that the trailer should be empty until 7."

I scoffed. "Men have no shame. If you aren't acting with your dicks, then you are acting directly on its behalf!"

"I'm just teasing." He said as he poked my nose.

"No you aren't."

"No i'm not."