Hey Everyone! This is my first story ever - so please be nice! :)
I just want to get a bit of feedback before I decide how long to make this story. If people are interested, I'll keep writing and adding on a bunch more. Just to let everyone know, this story losely follows the timeline in BMW but not 100%. So at times it's a bit A/U. I know Shawn wasn't physically abused in the show but in my story he was. So I'm definitely taking some creative liberties. Let me know if you have ideas on where you want the story to go. Thanks for any feedback!
Chapter 1 - The Beginnings
Mr. Turner had known there were problems with Shawn Hunter's family life since a year and a half ago when he handed in a homework assignment in the form of a poem entitled "Welfare". The class laughed when he had read it out loud and Jon even had to admit to himself that he was a bit amused by the whole thing at the time. Regardless, he couldn't shake the feeling that, in his own emotionally guarded, class-clown way, it was Shawn's version of trying to reach out for help. Looking back, Jon didn't fully realize it at the time. It wasn't really until a couple months later that he started noticing the signs, but he credited the poem as the reason he kept a closer eye on Shawn in the first place. He might not have noticed otherwise.
The first thing he noticed were the bruises. It wasn't an every day thing but Jon kept a mental record of the times he saw a new mark appear. He first started noticing them on Shawn's arms and wrists but never enough to make a case. "Jeeze kid, what's going on at home?" He would ask himself, every time he would see a new one. He also wore long sleeves a lot, sometimes on really warm days. Jon couldn't help but wonder if it was because he was trying to hide more serious bruises on days like those. It wasn't hard to notice the kid's rotation of the same 3 or 4 shirts and he always wore the same jeans. Living in a trailer park, Jon didn't expect the Hunter's to have much, but it seemed like all of Shawn's clothes were ragged, worn out and from the year before.
Of course there were other signs like the acting out in class. Mr. Turner always held the belief that the class clowns were more often than not, the students who were in need of the most attention, because they were lacking it in other areas of their lives. There were always exceptions - like Cory - but Jon knew he was feeding off of Shawn. Shawn was a prime example of that and Jon knew it was stemming from the same dark place as the bruises. Jon got pretty good at the positive reinforcement thing. He saw Shawn's eyes light up whenever Jon would shut down his outburst with a funny retort back to him, followed by a playful "Now keep your mouth shut when I'm trying to teach my class." When that happened Jon thought "This kid just wants to make sure someone realizes he's there." Which only added to Jon's concern over his dead beat parents.
He also fell asleep quite often in English and while it aggravated Jon that Shawn wasn't learning the material during those times, he couldn't help but let him snooze once in a rare while. It wasn't that Shawn was making good enough grades to be able to afford to tune Turner out...on the contrary...he was barely passing. Still, Jon had to admit to himself that somewhere deep down, he was proud of the fact that Shawn felt comfortable enough within the safe walls of his classroom to sleep so peacefully. He obviously couldn't find that peace at home. For some reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on, Jon found a peace in knowing that Shawn trusted him, at least to that extent.
It wasn't until a few days before Career Day, when Shawn came in with a black eye that Turner sat him down for a talk. Of course Shawn had denied everything and Jon expected him to. "What's going on at home?", "Is there anything you want to tell me?", "Do you need help, Shawn?" Those were scary questions for a kid to be confronted with - especially a kid that was being abused and didn't know who he could trust. Shawn just sat there slumped in his chair, staring at his desk and picking at a splinter of wood that was hanging off the side of it. Jon let him go after about 20 minutes of questioning without Shawn so much as admitting to a single scratch being the responsibility of his parents. Jon did, however, make sure Shawn heard him loud and clear when he told him " If you need anything, come to me day or night, Shawn." He also vowed to himself that he wasn't going to let this go much further.
As it turned out, the situation remedied itself almost due to fate. It was only a few days later that Shawn found himself at Mr. Turner's door after his parent's took off. After that night, Jon had taken him in and he had been with him for the last year. He never pursued looking into Shawn's parents or filing abuse charges. He reasoned with himself that Shawn was safe now and he never did get Shawn to admit they were guilty. Jon also knew that it would upset Shawn - and they had a pretty good thing going. He hadn't wanted to stir the pot and mess that relationship up. Shawn was healthy, clean and doing a little better in school under the circumstances.
That was, until, Chet came back last week. He rolled his trailer into town, ripped through Jon's apartment door and proclaimed "Hey teach! Yer lightbulb is out in the hallway. Actually I broke it with my fishin' pole, but either way. Yer neighbor across the hall, Miss Dubchek heard the commotion and tried to lure me into her apartment with some cookies. I almost obliged but then I remembered I'm here to pick up my boy." Shawn hugged his dad and stared wide eyed with his jaw dropped. Shawn went back to the trailer with Chet the very same day he showed up. Jon tried to quietly reason with Shawn that maybe it wasn't the best place, but it was useless. Jon convinced himself that it was because all Shawn ever wanted was to be normal - at least that's what he told him. And after Chet's sob story about how he had changed and was committed to being the best dad he could be, Jon knew he didn't stand a chance. John reluctantly let him go. "I'll see you in class on Monday," he said as he squeezed Shawn's shoulder and watched as the boy he cared so much about walked out the door.
As Shawn unpacked his things into the trailer, he thought to himself, "If I had it my way, I would stay with Jon and just visit with my dad regularly." He quickly shut the thought out of his mind. The truth was, he loved living with Jon...and he was scared of his dad. He loved him - I mean, he was his dad - but he couldn't convince himself that he had changed. Shawn was terrified that the beatings would start again. No matter how much he wanted to scream for Jon to help, he couldn't continue to burden him. He wouldn't. He also couldn't let Jon see his fear. If he sensed it, he would never let him go, and then Shawn would know he screwed up Jon's life. He couldn't bear that thought. Jon had done so much for him - the least he could do was give him his life back.
He does seem different - nicer." Shawn thought. "Maybe my dad really has changed, I mean, he did make me dinner tonight which is more than I could say for him before he left." It was true. Chet had made him mac cheese after he asked Shawn what his favorite meal was. Shawn couldn't remember the last time that happened with Chet. "Yeah...maybe he's changed now," he thought...and then he climbed into bed, which was really just a poor excuse for a couch, and fell asleep.