Shawn wasn't sure what he would have done if Cory had actually gone to New York without him. Too many people in Shawn's life had left already for him to watch yet another part of his soul walk away from him. His parents had started this mess, but Angela had finished it. Losing Cory and Topanga might have been enough to destroy him for good.
For a while life was okay. With Cory and Topanga by his side, Shawn knew where he stood. Being their third wheel was nothing new to him; it had defined most of Shawn's life, and New York was big and bright enough to distract him from thinking of Angela. She'd said they'd write to each other, but her letters quickly stopped, and Shawn knew what he'd known the moment he'd let her leave; it was over - really over - and a part of him couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he'd just been selfish and asked Angela to marry him. What if he and Angela were married now, just like Cory and Topanga? Maybe he'd be as happy as them if he'd just followed through. Shawn knew why he'd given in then, and he was sure Angela was happy without him. It was just that he wasn't happy without her. Shawn tried to fill the hole Angela left in his heart with Cory and Topanga's happiness. He'd always been jealous of their love for as long as he could remember. Cory Matthews, his best friend in all the world, knew every love under the sun. A father's love. Mother's. Sister's. Brother's. And of course Topanga, his soulmate. Shawn wouldn't be human if he wasn't jealous, and he was used to it. This was part of his world, and always had been. So Shawn wasn't destined to find love. Life went on.
But everything changed on December 8th 2001 at 6am. Shawn gazed down at the helpless infant in his hands, with such awe he couldn't describe. She was only 7lbs 4 oz, and yet she was the biggest thing in the world. Shawn's life was forever changed the day Riley Matthews was born. He hadn't realized it until the instant he'd held her in his arms, just how much her arrival would affect him. She was so small, so helpless and beautiful. Twenty-one inches of tiny pink human, and his world was thrown upside down. The looks on her parents faces cut at Shawn's heart. He was ashamed that their happiness could do something like that to him. He saw an understanding in their eyes, the three of them united in a perfect way. Cory and Topanga weren't just Cory and Topanga anymore. They were a family. Shawn wasn't just the third wheel anymore. Did that leave him as the cool uncle? Or the wacky depressing neighbour? Something about that thought made him want to put some distance between such happiness out of his reach. Shawn wasn't brave enough to love again the way he'd loved Angela. There could only be one Cory and Topanga, and he was kidding himself if he thought anything else. Shawn would never catch up, so what was the point trying?
It was time to take the exit, to move off the main road and try his luck on the path less followed. Shawn was dropping out of the race. If he couldn't be successful in love, Shawn was going to find a way to be successful some other way, or at least he was gonna try. It was time to hit the road.
Maybe that was why he'd taken the job, it's name. Being a writer and photograph for 'Hit the Road' had felt very appropriate. It was a great way to keep his mind busy and his truck moving. Everywhere he went, Shawn took pictures. Photography, along with poetry, had been one of the few outlets he had. To Shawn's great surprise, his website started to do well and he was suddenly making a living at it. It was a modest living, but that didn't matter since he had no one to take care of. He didn't need more. Even saving a little money, there was plenty there to keep his gas tank full.
Shawn didn't totally lose touch. The closest place to a home he had was still with Cory. He went to visit whenever he got a little homesick. It was always a great visit, but something kept Shawn from sticking around too long. He would see how Riley had grown and changed while he'd been gone, and something about it would send him off again. In weak moments he worried that he was becoming his father. But at least Shawn didn't have anyone at home waiting for him. Shawn wasn't running away from his home like his father had.
Cory always loved it when Shawn came to visit, even if they were short. Shawn was sure Cory hadn't noticed how much time was passing, but he had lots of other stuff going on in his life, like getting his teaching degree.
When August Matthews was born in 2009, it didn't change anything. Shawn had more people to visit when he came around, but the world didn't come crashing down in quite the same way as the day Riley had arrived.
As Riley entered grade school, Shawn heard about this friend of hers, but despite all his visits, he never actually met her. From what Cory said, this Maya person was best friends with Riley, kinda like how he and Cory were back in the day. Shawn couldn't believe any two people could have a relationship quite as unique and life altering as his and Cory's, but he listened to the stories nonetheless.
And that was Shawn Hunter's life until the Christmas when Cory's daughter was thirteen years old. It was the first Christmas Cory had managed to talk Shawn into visiting at Christmas. On principle, Shawn liked to avoid the holidays with the Matthews. In fact, he avoided most major family events. There was something about them that made everything harder. Shawn didn't like to spend too much time around Riley, though he loved the little girl. It was just that something about her made him uncomfortable, so when he visited, Shawn usually only spent any significant amount of time with Cory.
What was different about this Christmas was Maya. This feisty little blonde girl, seemed personally offended that Shawn didn't want to hang out with Riley. Maya made some good arguments as well, pointing out all things she loved about her best friend. Shawn had to admire her determination. Shawn wasn't sure how Riley figured it out, but suddenly, Shawn was being made to confront what he'd known, but hadn't admitted to himself for over a decade.
"Look at me," Riley said, turning to face Shawn in the cafe booth.
"I'm looking at you," Shawn replied, unable to stop himself from being awkward. It was always like this with Riley.
"LOOK AT ME," Riley said in a fake robot voice, grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her. And it was then that Shawn first saw her, really saw her.
"You're Cory with Topanga's hair," he said, smiling. "You got lucky."
"Is it okay if I say something scary?" Riley asked, letting go of his face.
"I hardly think a thirteen year old girl can say anything that would scare me," Shawn replied.
"Everytime you see me," Riley began. "Does it remind you of what you don't have?"
A tight knot formed in his stomach as Shawn suddenly found himself calling for the check to avoid the topic, because he was scared and he wanted out of here as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the next thing he knew 'Cory with Topanga's hair' was ordering him to sit and talk about his feelings with her father. Shawn tried to escape, but climbing out of the window didn't get him very far as that friend of Riley's, Maya, reappeared as if by magic. The girls had them cornered, and Shawn had to admit they were at least on the same level as he and Cory were friend wise.
"Why did you really move out of the city?" Riley asked before walking towards the door.
"Are you doing this to keep me and Cory together?" Shawn asked. "Because we're fine." It was true. Despite their time apart, whenever Shawn visited Cory, it was the same as it had always been. There were some relationships that could not be so easily snuffed out by a little time and space, and he and Cory were one of them.
"I know," Riley replied softly, her back to them as she neared her bedroom door. "But I have my eyes on a much bigger prize." Then she left, closing the door behind her.
"Cory don't take this the wrong way, but your daughter is a strange little bird," Shawn said with a slight shake of his head.
"Shawn why did you really move out of the city?" Cory asked. Shawn sighed before he answered. Like father like daughter.
"You were preoccupied with your wife and your bird," Shawn replied.
"I was not preoccupied," Cory replied.
"How long have I been away?" Shawn asked, knowing his friend would be dead wrong.
"Three weeks," Cory answered.
"Thirteen years!" Shawn stated firmly. Sometimes being right sucked.
Shawn finally told Cory how things had changed when Riley was born. He didn't know how to be the cool uncle. And as if on cue 'Cool Uncle Josh' showed up to prove his point. When Shawn met Minus's son, he couldn't help but feel like everyone had kids, except for him. Then Shawn was asking the question he'd never been able to ask before.
"Hey Cor," Shawn began. "What's it like to have children?"
"Shawn, my life began when I had Riley," Cory replied, as if his answer was as natural as breathing.
It hurt Shawn to hear Cory say this. In some ways it had been like Shawn's life had ended when Riley was born. The last thirteen years had been an adventure for sure, and Shawn had done some amazing things and met some interesting people, but it had been a lonely thirteen years too.
"Riley's right," Shawn said, finally saying it out loud. "I moved out of the city because everytime I came here, it reminded me of what I didn't have."
It was a hard thing to admit. Shawn had been ready once for this, those whole thirty seconds that he'd intended with everything he had to propose to Angela. But it had been like that part of him had died with her loss. Once he'd said it, of course, Cory advised Shawn to find someone and begin his life just as Shawn knew he would. It was just a little harder than Cory understood. How could someone who'd met their soulmate in the sandbox understand the struggle of looking for someone to love you when you spent all your time scared they'd leave if you loved them?
Before Shawn could think any more about it, that mastermind Riley, or as he liked to call her 'Cory with Topanga's hair,' dragged her father off and sat Maya next to him instead with another single instruction.
"Ask him about his parents," Riley instructed Maya.
"Look at them," Shawn heard Riley say to Cory on the other side of the room. "They're us." Shawn had another moment of seeing just how much Riley was like Cory, as the two of them stood in the doorway staring at him and Maya by the window.
"Ah Cory, what's going on?" Shawn asked, but he got nothing helpful in return. And so, Shawn found himself sitting in the window with Maya, who did indeed ask him about his parents. Shawn didn't have a clue what was going on, but he answered her all the same.
"My dad was in and out half the time," Shawn began trying to explain as factally as possible. He was a grown man now, and it had been a long time since his family had let him down.
"I got half a mom," Maya replied as if trying to one up him. There was something about this girl that gave Shawn an odd competitive feeling. It was like a who's life sucked the most contest.
"My mom took off when I was a kid," Shawn said.
"My dad has another family," Maya replied, and just like that, she won. This hit Shawn hard. He couldn't understand how someone would do that? Why abandon one family to make another? If you can't handle having a family that's one thing, but to leave just to do it all over again somewhere else was a new kind of cruel.
"I would never let anyone grow up like that," Shawn said with real emotion. It just wasn't fair.
"You wouldn't," Maya inquired.
"No," Shawn stated firmly. He didn't know why Maya kept asking for him to confirm it, until suddenly he understood.
Maya was growing up exactly the way he'd just said he'd never let anyone grow up. He'd walked right into that one. And more than that, his distance had been upsetting Riley. It was time for Shawn to stop hiding, because he did have a family. The family he'd always had; Cory's family. And it was time he started acting like part of it. Pushing Riley away wasn't at all fair to her, and Shawn was going to fix that as of right now. He probably wasn't going to move into the apartment above them and become the wacky neighbour, but there was more to being a good uncle than that.
Shawn decided he'd start with dragging the kids to work with him. Shawn had an assignment next weekend in Columbia County, Upstate New York. If they called him uncle, did that mean Riley and Auggie were his niece and nephew? His world was changing again, but Shawn felt sure somehow that it was changing for the better. The fact that he'd been alone for so long had been his own fault. They hadn't move ahead of him in the race of life, because they weren't racing. Not everyone's life went on the same path, but that didn't necessarily mean there were some ahead of others.
Shawn had basically expected Maya to get invited since she was Riley's best friend, but Maya inviting Josh had been a little unexpected. That made the total count four. Four children in Shawn's care for the weekend. Yikes! Did they write manuals for this?
It was only a two and a half hour drive, but still, Shawn let the kids pick the music. Auggie didn't get the teenagers music, but he seemed to be having fun anyway. Shawn's work article was about seeing the sites on a budget, but the article mentioned nothing about having four kids in tow, so Shawn had to amend his costs to write an actuate article. His food costs for the day, as far as his boss was concerned, added up to one hotdog and a bagel. In reality, the food for the day had racked up to more like five hotdogs, four milkshakes, and of so many bagels.
It was only Saturday morning and they'd just arrived, but already Shawn had gotten texts from their parents asking how things were. Shawn always replied with a single word 'fine' since he knew any details would freak out the unnecessary worry-ers.
"You're parents are needy," Shawn told the kids as he put his phone away. "So where do you want to go next?"
"Why are they needy?" Riley asked, in that way she did where it almost felt like Shawn was talking to Cory twenty years ago.
"They've been texting me all morning to make sure I haven't lost any kids down a well," Shawn explained.
"How specific of them," Maya commented, but Shawn wasn't listening. He was counting.
"One, two, three..." Shawn finished. "Where's Auggie?" At once all three teenagers pointed down the street.
Just because alot of people lived here didn't mean this place wasn't mostly green and and full of farms. There was also no end to historical sites, and Shawn was now picturing Auggie destroying a display somewhere, and he ran off in the direction the kids were pointing.
He'd just begun to question his child minding skills when Shawn found his nephew. Auggie had found a puddle and decided to play in it, meaning he was soaked from head to foot. Shawn couldn't hold back the groan, and he realized the clean up job required.
"Why?" Shawn asked the kid. "Why a puddle?" But Auggie just shrugged, looking very happy with a big grin on his face.
They checked into the hotel early, the kids looking into every elaborate shop window on their way there. Once inside their hotel, which Shawn also wasn't including in his travel expenses for his assignment, he sent Auggie to get cleaned up. The kids had only packed one change of clothes, so once Riley had her little brother changed, Shawn hung the wet clothes up on the bathroom shower curtain rod.
"You're like a proper adult," Maya's voice spoke from behind. Shawn turned away from what he was doing to look at her standing in the doorway.
"Whoa hold on there," Shawn laughed. "Don't go calling me proper or an adult so easily. Save it for your parents, okay?"
"You seem like one to me," Maya told him. "It's kinda nice actually."
"Nice? How?" Shawn asked skeptically. He still didn't like this whole her thinking he was responsible or something.
"It's nice to know messed up kids can turn out okay," she said, then turned and walked away, probably to rejoin Riley in the other room.
What the hell was he supposed to do with that? Shawn Hunter was not a grown up. He was a road trip taking guy. Adults stayed put.
Deciding to just ignore it, Shawn got the kids together to go out and hit the sites for a few hours before dinner. Before they even made it down the street, Shawn had Auggie up on his shoulders so he could see over the crowd and stay out of puddles. Once they arrived, Shawn couldn't help but watch the girls as they made their way through exhibits. The way Riley and Maya interacted with each other really did remind Shawn of himself and Cory. Wherever there was one, the other was never far away. They were like two halves of a whole. He wouldn't have been surprised to know that they actually could read each other's minds.
There was a strange kind of joy in watching Riley use the camera he'd given her. Shawn couldn't quite describe it, even to himself. Riley was happily taking pictures of things she maybe shouldn't have been taking pictures of, but Shawn wasn't about to stop her. Until a security guard told them not to, he was going to enjoy the moment.
Maya distinguished herself in other ways as the day wore on. At dinner she insisted on asking him how his childhood had gone. Shawn answered truthfully, because he knew that's what Cory would want him to do, but he couldn't help but wonder why she wanted to know.
"It sounds to me like Mr. Matthews is the reason why you turned out okay," Maya observed.
"Okay, that's enough with the stories for one day," Shawn grumbled. These kids really needed to be less insightful... and nosy. Less nosy would be good. It was getting annoying.
"Does this mean I'll be okay so long as I have Riley?" Maya asked.
"Ah yeah," Shawn mumbled, a little awkwardly. "I guess it does." Shawn could imagine only too well how attached to her best friend's family Maya was, because he remembered how much he'd been a part of the Matthews's family as a kid.
That night at the hotel, Shawn was kept awake for hours by the sounds of giggle girls, for even through the walls he could hear the two teenagers whispered and laughing. There was something going on with Maya and Josh that Shawn had no idea about. They kept exchanging glances, or rather Maya kept glancing at Josh while Josh ignored her. Auggie didn't like being left out when his sister and Maya were doing something, and always tried to join.
The next day they saw a few more sites, had a few great meals, then all piled into the car together and headed home. Despite the chaos, Shawn had a marvelous time, and so - he hoped - had the kids.
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(Contains reference to 'Boy Meets World' Season 7 Episode 21: Angela's Ashes & Season 7 Episode 22-23: Brave New World Part 1&2)
(Contains scenes from 'Girl Meets World' Season 1 Episode 16: Girl Meets Home for the Holidays.)
All chapters that contain direct dialogue from the show will be referenced like above.
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So this story is going to be pretty long and though it will include the scenes from the show with Shawn I am going to write more around it like here so if you wanted to see all those scenes cut out of the show, like seeing Shawn and Katy's relationship develop you will love this story! Please stay tuned for more chapters. I've been writing this pretty fast so... shouldn't be long. :) There's more show content in the early chapters for obvious reason but then very little of their relationship is shown in the middle or after the show ended which I a bunch written for!
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Sneak Peek Chapter 2:
The Matthews choose that moment to walk in oblivious to the fact that anyone else was home which was a problem because they were talking loudly about hiding the birthday cake in Cory's hands so Maya wouldn't see it. Cory then made matters worse, by insulting both his and Maya's mother in almost the same way since he didn't know Shawn or Maya were there. It was classic Cory and so was the massive running hug Shawny got from his best friend a second later. Shawn had to admit, it was good to be home.
And home just wouldn't be home with annoyingly insightful and nosy children asking him intrusive questions. Today Riley wanted to know who had the key to his heart. He was going to retell the story of him and Angela with the poetic flare it deserved, but Topanga decided to start with the time he went through Angela's purse way back in high school. Shawn wasn't too fussed about all the questions though except when Maya accused him of being unable to commit. He was spurred into action explaining to her that he was all in and she'd left him.