"Something flickers between us, as delicate as a flame cupped in hands, protected from the breeze."
~Clare Atkins
Shawn had taken a relatively cold shower that night, just to clear his mind.
It didn't seem to have worked, noting how he spent hours in his bed without sleep.
His eyes were wide open, and he was just too awake to sleep.
He hadn't been thinking at all, quite the opposite in reality.
He had just been there, staring into an infinte abyss with nothing going through his mind.
Sleep became a fantasy to him, a wish upon a shooting star.
He ran his fingers through his hair, huffing out a furstrated sigh.
Even at four thirty in the morning he laid wide awake, counting down the minutes until breakfast.
His door creaked open, causing him to sit up in his bed.
He was expecting his little brother, hell, he was even suspecting it to be his older brother.
Not in a million years would he have- Oh, wait, nevermind.
It was very much like Grace to come into his room at such ungodly hours.
He could make out her figure from the door way, and exactly what she was wearing.
She had on a pink silk bra top and matching pink silk shorts.
Nothing that he thought too hard on, aside from the fact that he maybe, possibly liked seeing her that way. Maybe.
"What are you doing here?" Shawn asked as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.
"What else would I want from you at this time of nigh- morning?" Grace whispered as she maneuvered her way to his bed.
He remembered the first time she did this, he had simply woken up with her atop him. That was fine, he didn't mind it at all.
The second time though, he almost killed her.
She came in telling him things like 'I can't sleep', as though that was any of his business.
They had a whole argument about her sleeping in his bed, an argument that lasted longer than the time she actually spent in his bed.
He was totally against the idea of her being in the same bed with him and wanted to rid her off the face of the earth at that very moment, but she faught him till he gave up.
That was the same night that she had been given her own room in his base- she had her own damn room.
She left early that morning, but after she left, he couldn't sleep and instead started anticipating his father's call.
He didn't even eat breakfast.
Ever since then, she'd made it an annoying habit of hers.
She had only done it twice prior to this night, but he still found it as an annoying habit.
"You shouldn't be getting used to this." Shawn said in a flat tone as she got onto the bed, it dipping at the presence of her weight.
"Why not?" She asked half heartedly, not really paying him much attention.
"It's annoying, and I don't like it." He mumbled in response, laying back onto his bed and continuing his sleeplessness.
It didn't bother him as much as he claimed it did, in fact, it didn't bother him at all.
"And yet, I wake up wrapped in your arms." She sighed silently with delight, mocking him as she slid under the covers.
He was shirtless- as usual- but she was already used to seeing him shirtless.
It didn't faze her one bit that he looked as transcendent as a musculine roman god.
"You said you'd never bring that up." He glared at her, turning onto his side to face her.
With the sun slowly rising in the sky, light found its way into the room and illuminated the two faces.
"It's okay to be a softy Shawn." Grace yawned and snuggled closer to the male. "It's actually really cute."
"Right." Shawn scowled and turned away, his back now facing the girl. "Grace don't you dare put-"
"Shut up and sleep." Grace interrupted him, still putting her arm around his waist even though he protested.
"Hey look. You're lucky enough that I allow you to sleep in my bed. Don't push it Grayson." Shawn warned while he turned to push her away from him, not roughly but enough to create some distance.
She just stared at him for a while, adoring the way the light from outside brightened up his face.
She sighed then closed her eyes, she was just too tired to argue with the boy. "Okay."
He didn't turn away this time, he didn't think he could.
He just continued to stare at her, memorizing her every feature.
"Grace. You shouldn't wear this to bed, you'll break it." He tugged on the necklase around her neck, holding the onyx pendant in his hand.
"I never take it off Shawn. Now shut up and let me sleep." She groaned, pulling the necklace out of his hand.
"So you're going to wear it to school?" He arched an eyebrow at her, even though she couldn't see it.
"Yes. Shawn, shut up!" She snapped in a whisper, pushing his face away.
He glowered then grabbed her wrist, removing her hand from his face. "Okay, okay. Sleep."
She opened her eyes to glare at him, her wrist still in his hand.
He let go of her hand and turned away, still feeling the power of her glare on the back of his head.
He sighed and eased himself, the wramth from her body being the peace he needed.
Shawn eventually fell asleep, waking up early that Sunday afternoon.
Just as Grace had predicted, she was wrapped in his arms with her face buried comfortably in his bare chest.
He felt like an idiot, "Wake up." He grumbled as he released the girl from his hold.
"I've been awake dumbass, you just wouldn't let me go." She slid off the bed, watching as he groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Not a word of this to any one." He then glared at her, not a very convincing glare according to her.
"Not a word of what?" She played dumb, a smirk growing on her face.
He swore if she told anyone, he would end her life without thinking twice about it.
"I'm serious Grace! Not a word about this- us!" He warned her, his glare seeming more and more convincing.
"Us? Really? What exactly is this 'Us' you speak of?" She sat on the bed, crossing her legs and giving Shawn all her attention.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, clutching it and almost ripping it off his head. "Just let it go."
She just sat there, not moving an inch. He would talk, she knew he would.
"Are we friends?" He asked in a whisper, his head still bowed and his fingers still locked in his hair.
"Shawn, 'our friendship is wack', meaning we are friends. Just, wack friends. Right?" Shawn let out yet another sigh, this time bringing his fingers out of his hair.
"You're one part of my life that I can't figure out, but yeah, I guess we're friends." Grace beamed at his words, reaching out for him and wrapping him in her arms.
She might have over exerted herself, because the two went tumbling over the edge of his bed.
Shawn crashed onto the floor with Grace on top of him and the comforter tangled around their bodies.
"Get off, fatty." Shawn groaned, even though she was fairly light, the collision was a painful one.
"Oops." She tried to get off but slipped on the comforter and fell back on him, kneeing his anaconda in the process.
Shawn cried out in pain and pushed Grace off him, curling into a ball as he wailed out an impressive list of profanities.
"S-sorry!" She crawled over to his side, completely flushed by the contact she made with his manhood.
"Get away from me." He said with a strained voice, his eyes shut tightly as he tried to deal with the pain as best he could.
Grace couldn't help but laugh and shift away, watching as he slowly began to loosen up from his balled position.
"I hate you." He breathed out, just laying on the floor like a lifeless being.
"I said I was sorry." Grace giggled, once again crawling back to his side.
"Sorry doesn't bring back all my dead babies." Grace couldn't hold back her laugh, the seriousness of his tone making her laugh harder.
"Aww, I'm sorry Shawn." She pouted after sobering up, making the boy chuckle softly.
"It's fine. I don't want children anyway." He pushed himself into a seated position, crossing his legs in front of Grace as she had her legs crossed in front of him.
"Don't say that. Kids are wonderful! Who wouldn't want little hot Stryker babies running around?" Grace smiled, ruffling his already rough hair.
"So you want my babies then?" He smirked devilishly, looking at her through his long locks of dark hair.
"Eh?! That's not what I meant!" Grace shook her head vigorously, blushing hard that even Shawn could feel the heat radiate off her face.
"Then what did you mean?" He leaned closer to her, making her flush even more.
"T-that you should have children!" She leaned away, feeling as though she would pass out at any moment.
"With you?" He arched an eyebrow, the smoky smirk still glued to his face.
"Uh- I, w-well- I, Uh-" He laughed at how badly she failed to respond to his last question. "It's not funny!"
He chuckled, having a ginger smile on his face. "Well sorry babe, but I'm afraid you already killed all our children."
"They're not dead." She rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms and looking away.
"But they exist?" He really enjoyed watching her flush, it made his tummy turn in a pleasant way.
"Maybe sometime in the future, who knows?" She gushed, standing on her feet and rushing to get out of his room.
"Ace." He leapt off the floor and grasped her wrist gently, turning her around and closing the distance between her and the door. "What is wrong with us?"
"There's nothing wrong with us." She smiled as he pinned her arm beside her face, leaning over her.
"Really? Because, I've only known you for two weeks yet I feel as though I've known you for a very long time. I'm attached to you, yeah, you're always on my mind and God, I'm scared that something bad is going to happen to you because of me. In our two weeks of knowing each other, I've been away from you for six days. The worst days of my life! You were clouding my mind, I even missed you enough to give you my first car. The fudge Grace, what is wrong with us?"
"There's nothing wrong with us Shawn." She rolled her eyes at him, smiling foolishly. "You just, like me."
"I don't- wait, I like you?" He arched a single brow, leaning away from her skeptically.
"You tell me!" She exclaimed incredulously, cheeks heating up yet again.
"Well, I don't know. I'v never really liked anyone before." He said bluntly, finally releasing the girl's wrist from his hold.
"So you just go around kissing people you don't even like?" She narrowed her eyes thinly at him, almost even disappointed in him.
"No. You're the only one I've kissed." He was blank and straight foward, his face as stoic as usual.
"Ha! So I was your first kiss?" She didn't believe him, obviously.
"Yup." He popped the 'p', not seeing any reason for her to act the way she did.
"That didn't feel like your first kiss- I don't believe you!" She declared loudly, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You are so annoying." He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, pulling her away from the door and opening it.
Two grown men came stumbling into the room and almost crashing onto Grace, but Shawn had pulled her into him and away from the men that made impact with the ground.
The two quickly dusted themselves off and stood to their feet, clearing their throats awkwardly.
"How long have you two been out there?" Shawn sneered viciously at them, still holding Grace to him.
"Long enough to know that your children are dead and you're desperately in love with Grace." Darius answered smoothly, a taunting smile on his face.
He obviously was teasing his little brother, and the smirk on Andre's face told Shawn that they had been there for a much longer time.
Freaks.
"The two of you are grown men eavesdropping on your little siblings' conversation! Are you kidding me? Have some dignity for once!" Grace barked, launching her self at them.
Shawn quickly apprehended her before she could do any damage to the two, which she was very capable of doing.
"What do you want?" Shawn snarled, holding Grace off her feet and aginst his chest.
"We're taking the kids back to their parents. Your breakfast is in the fridge, you can eat that if you want." Darius cleared his throat to rid himself of the laughter that was building in the back of his throat.
"Go then!" Grace shouted, furiously pointing at the passage way. Oh how she wanted to smack the two, maybe even punch one of them.
"Don't burn any calories while we're gone." Andre winked then walked out, having Darius follow after him with a chuckle.
"Jerks." Grace mumbled as Shawn put her back on her feet.
"Let's go." Shawn grasped her hand, leading her out of his room and into the kitchen.
Grace followed without protest, intertwining their fingers together.
"How's your hand?" He asked as he tucked his head into the frigde, having her hand still in his.
"It's okay. I'm tough y'know." She tightened her grip around his hand, looking down her already wrapped knuckles.
"Right. Get dressed, we're heading out for lunch." Shawn scrunched up his nose, throwing away the breakfast his brother had made.