Rosie held on tight to her father as they sped down the street on Shawn's motorcycle. She loved the rush she got when she rode on it, and she never felt scared when she was on it, because Shawn was there.

They got to their destination, to soon in Rosie's opinion. Shawn helped Rosie off the motorcycle and lifted off her helmet, setting it on the bike. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Are you ready, Squirt?" Shawn looked down at Rosie and smiled reassuringly.

"Yep…" Rosie sighed, never taking her eyes off of the large adobe style building in front of her. Roosevelt Elementary School. The truth was, she wasn't ready. She'd been up all night worrying about today. School had rarely gone well for her in the past. And this was the first grade, who knows what could happen in there! No, Rosie was most definitely not ready.

"Alright, then let's go."

As they walked, Rosie was bombarded with the memories from her kindergarten in Seattle.

"Alright Class, today, since its your first day, we're going to get to know each other. First, say your name and a little about your parents." Mrs. Roberts called on the blonde girl in the front row and went around the room, all the children delightfully spouted off little details about themselves and their parents.

Finally, it was Rosie's turn.

"My name i-is Rosie and my mommy is a waitress…and she is really pretty…and I love her a lot." Rosie said shyly. She didn't like being put in the spotlight.

"And what about your father, dear?" Mrs. Roberts said sweetly.

"I-I don't know, I've never met him."

"That's stupid. She has to have met her daddy." A boy near the back of the room said. Murmurs of agreement filled the room. Rosie felt like she was two inches tall. This was the first time she'd ever been conscious of her single-parent lifestyle. It had just been the way that she'd lived all of her life, she hadn't known it wasn't common to never have met your father.

"Billy, that was a very mean thing to say…apologize to Rosie."

"Sorry." Billy said sorely.

"You did fine, dear." Mrs. Roberts smiled at Rosie. She fought her tears as the rest of the students excitedly rambled on about their normal lives.

They finally came to the double doors that led into the building. Shawn pushed them open, keeping his hand clasped around Rosie's, and walked towards the first grade classroom. He fully intended on accompanying Rosie until the last possible second.

He hadn't slept the night before, worrying about this day. During the several weeks she'd been with him, Rosie had been with him or if Shawn had somewhere to go that he couldn't take Rosie, his dad, Gus or Jules, possibly even one of their other friends at the police station, would gladly keep her. But this was different.

Even if she really despised the school aspect of it, as Shawn had, he hoped she would make friends today that would make the experience better. After all, the first day of first grade was when Shawn met Gus, after Shawn had bet Gus a nickel that he wouldn't eat the paste from their macaroni art. Gus did eat the paste, Shawn didn't give him a nickel, and they'd been inseparable ever since.

"You know, Daddy, I don't really have to go to school." Rosie said as they reached the first grade door. She looked up at him. "You guys can teach me all I need to know…"

"We can, huh?" Shawn chuckled.

"Yeah! We don't need this dump!" Rosie said enthusiastically. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!" Rosie let go of Shawn's hand and turned towards the exit, but Shawn grabbed her purple book bag and reined her back in. He kneeled down and positioned her in front of him.

"Ya have to go to school , Squirt." Shawn told her. He could see in her eyes that she was scared of what was behind that door. "You and me, we're not afraid of anything are we?"

Rosie shook her head sadly as she looked down at her sneakers.

"Why not?" Shawn continued.

"Cuz we got each other." Rosie said looking at him again.

"That's right." Shawn said. "And we're not gonna let this stupid school get us down, right?"

"Right!" Rosie smiled a little, feeling a bit better.

"That's my Squirt." He said, ruffling her hair and standing up.

Rosie grabbed his hand and squeezed as Shawn opened the door.

In the brightly colored room, there were about 15 or 20 children playing with blocks and such, as their parents stood around. Rosie didn't want to play. She stayed with Shawn never letting go of his hand.

Some of the other parents made small talk with Shawn, as they all waited for the teacher to arrive.

After about five minutes, the teacher arrived.

"Good morning, everyone! Sorry, I'm late." The young woman apologized. Shawn was frozen. He knew this woman. Out of every first grade teacher in the world, she had to be his kid's teacher.

"My name is Abigail Lytar, and I hope that this will be a great year for everyone…" Abigail continued, but Shawn wasn't listening. He was in a tizzy, wondering what he was going to do about this.

After she was done, Abigail began to walk around and get personally acquainted with the parents. Shawn was just about to kiss Rosie and get the heck outta there, but before he could…

"Shawn?"

"Abigail!" Shawn put on a fake grin. Not that he wasn't happy to see her, he was just flooded with the guilt from his high school days.

"I didn't know you came back…" She said, bringing on an awkward silence. "And who is this?" Abigail directed her attention towards Rosie, who was still holding tightly to her father.

"This is Rosie." Shawn said.

"Is she your niece?" Abigail asked.

"He's my daddy." Rosie said, speaking for the first time. Abigail stared at Shawn in silence, not really knowing what to say. Shawn's mind whirled.

"Squirt, why don't you go play with that little girl over there?" Shawn motioned towards a kinky haired red head with glasses that was sitting by herself in the corner of the room. Rosie didn't really want to, but did as her father had suggested.

"I didn't know you had gotten married, Shawn." Abigail snapped out of her stupor.

"Uh, I'm not." Shawn said uncomfortably. "I just found out about her a few weeks ago when her mother died."

Abigail nodded.

"Elaine," Shawn said, anticipating Abigail's next question.

Abigail nodded again, remembering how Shawn, Gus, and Elaine had been inseparable all through school.

"Abigail-"

"I really should be getting to the other parents…" she said, and walked away.

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Rosie slowly made her way across the room towards the red headed girl. When she got there, she stood in front of her for a minute before she spoke.

"Hi," Rosie said shyly. "My name's Rosie."

"Hi," The other girl said. "My name's Lizzie."

Rosie stood there, not knowing what else to say, almost ready to just run back to Shawn, when…

"Do you wanna play?" Lizzie asked hopefully.

"Yeah!" Rosie grinned. She and Lizzie found some dolls from one of the toy bins and happily played together.

"Hey Squirt! Looks like you made a friend…" Shawn walked over to her, glad to think about something else besides Abigail.

"Yep! Her name's Lizzie." Rosie beamed.

"Alright Squirt, I gotta go…" Shawn said.

"Okay…" Rosie said sadly. She stood up and hugged him. Shawn smiled and kissed her, glad she wouldn't be alone now that she had a friend.

"I'll be here at three o'clock sharp to pick you up." He said as he walked towards the door. As he left, he and Abigail locked eyes for a moment, but both quickly turned away. Shawn left, wondering what would happen now.

"Where's your mommy?" Lizzie asked as they played.

"She, um, she died." Rosie said, bracing herself for the ridicule she'd received back in Seattle.

"Oh…I live with my Mommy and my Stepdaddy." Lizzie said. "My daddy doesn't live with us, but I see him every weekend."

"Cool." Rosie said. They smiled at each other and continued to play.

At that point, Rosie decided that this stupid school really wouldn't beat her, and now she had someone to go through it with. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.

A/N- A couple of things: I don't know what Abigail teaches so…for my purpose she teahes first grade. And, before you guys ask me about it, This story takes place before "Murder?…Murder?…Anyone?…Bueller?" and "An Evening With Mr. Yang"

Thanks!!