Chapter Six: January 1, 1997 - February 5, 1998
"I can't believe we are finally in Ireland!" Evelyn exclaimed, sweeping her arms wide as they climbed off the ship they had been traveling on for the last week. "I've always wanted to come here."
"Then you must have a whole list of things you want to do now," Shawn said, chuckling as he followed her from the docks up into the small town.
"Well, actually I never really thought it out past getting here," she said, grinning at him over her shoulder. Her hair had grown a lot in the last two years. It was almost six inches past her shoulders now, and she let it flow in the breeze from the ocean instead of tying it up as she usually did. Shawn hoisted his backpack further onto his shoulders and shook his head.
"Well what looks interesting?" He asked her as they walked past the various business windows.
"Anything," she said, laughing as they walked. "Let's become sheep herders and live on a farm."
"Alright," he said sarcastically. "You find one then."
"Okay, maybe not," she said, turning to walk backwards as she faced him, hands wrapped around her backpack straps. Her eyes were light with adventure and she looked much happier than she had been when Shawn had first picked her up two years ago. "How about bartenders?" She swept a hand towards the fourth bar they had passed.
"Sure," he said, nodding at her more realistic answer.
"You're actually going to get a job that's somewhat normal?" She asked, brows raising in surprise.
"Of course not," he said, laughing. "You can be a bartender, I'll be a…" he looked around, searching for something more interesting. "A cobbler." He said, pointing a shop across the street.
"You're going to fix shoes?" She asked skeptically. He frowned, adopting an expression that she had learned meant he was about to say something completely stupid.
"You mean a cobbler isn't someone who tastes cobblers?" He asked, and she shook her head, a small smile on her face.
"Idiot," she said, but her voice was soft with affection, and she grabbed hold of his hand as she turned back to walk forwards again.
True to his work, Shawn began working at the shoe shop, much to Evelyn's amusement. She did as she had said, and started working in one of the bars.
They stayed in the town for two months before moving on.
After they had explored as much of Ireland as she wanted, they went to the rest of Europe, staying the longest in Paris.
On their first night in the city, they met some college students at a party who traded lodging for stories of traveling and adventure, and of course beer.
The three students who shared the house spent a lot of time high or drunk, and they liked Shawn and Evelyn so much that they let them stay as long as they wanted, which to the pair was just over six months.
"Where are you going next?" Emaline, the beautiful french girl who owned the house asked. The five of them were sitting around the living room drinking. Evelyn, tucked into Shawn's side with his arm over her shoulders, looked up at him in question, indicating he could say whatever he wanted.
"China maybe?" He said, the words making a question. She smiled at him, snuggling into him further as the three girls chattered in on in French. Evelyn understood the conversation to be about a trip they had all taken together to Beijing before starting college. She translated for Shawn, as she had been doing since they had come here. He had picked up a lot of the language during their stay, but he still had difficulty following a native speaker when they talked quickly.
"Why China?" She asked as the three girls continued to chatter away. She felt him shrug.
"Why not China?" He asked, and she smiled, leaning her head back against his arm.
"Yes, the land of computers," she said. "Why not?"
He chuckled at that. Over the last almost three years he had definitely noticed that she knew her way around any computer, no matter what language the system used. He had see her do things that bordered on illegal, though he wasn't exactly sure what all the laws were in whatever country they were in at the time. They hadn't been back to the states since they had left for Mexico two years ago, and while he missed home a little bit, Shawn was excited to see how long this adventure would last.
"You shouldn't have any problems," he said, grinning. She rolled her eyes, and didn't let her worry show on her face.
She still hadn't told Shawn that what she could do ran deeper than a little talent with technology. There had been many times when she had thought about it, but she could never be sure who was listening, and while she trusted Shawn with her life, she knew he would be upset that she hadn't told him sooner, and she didn't know how to bring it up.
She also worried about using technology too much. What if they had people watching for someone like her? Where they still looking for her?
She hadn't been kept in a prison at the lab, but it was clear that she wasn't supposed to leave it. The two times before she had met Shawn that she had managed to get out of the security they had found her within a few weeks and brought her back.
These last three years had almost seemed like a dream to her. She couldn't believe she hadn't been found yet. Either they weren't looking, or they didn't expect her to leave the immediate area. That had been her mistake before, she hadn't gone farther than a few towns away, mostly because of her lack of transportation.
She sighed, closing her eyes against her growing headache.
Shawn's arm tightened around her shoulders, making her look up at him again. He smiled, and she returned the gesture automatically as his eyes bore into hers. She shivered as his hand traced up her arm.
"Tired?" He asked, and she nodded. They had been sleeping on a futon in the laundry room for the last six months. "Okay ladies," Shawn said in a louder, easy going voice. "We are going to hit the sack, see you in the morning."
The three girls giggled, they always said that they found his american phrases funny, and bid them goodnight in heavily accented English.
Shawn pulled her to her feet and led her back to their makeshift room, shutting the door behind them. He turned to her as the door clicked, blocking her way further into the room, and leaned down to kiss her. She was pinned between his body and the door, but she didn't complain or make any effort to get free, instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, hands disappearing into his hair as she kissed him back.
When they had first started sleeping together it had been a casual thing. Both of them treated it as a 'friends with benefits' situation, though they hadn't talked about it at all. They had both still hooked up with other people as they traveled.
As time wore on, again without talking about it, they stopped seeing other people and began acting more like an actual couple. It had been that way for at least the last year.
Before she knew it, she was pinned on the bed, his body supported above her on his elbows as his hands held both of hers over her head. He pulled back for a moment to look at her, his usual half smile gracing his lips, and his hair fell forwards a little, falling almost into his eyes.
She looked up at him, feeling her breath leave her as her pulse picked up, though neither of them had removed any clothes and this kind of intense making out had become a usual occurrence. She inhaled, her lips parting as her mind drew a blank, forgetting whatever she had meant to say just then. She closed her mouth, watching as his eyes flicked down at the movement.
"What?" He asked, one of the corners of his mouth turning up in a crooked grin.
"Nothing," she replied a moment later, leaning up to recapture his lips. He pulled back further, still holding her down, and her head fell into the pillow with a small huff. He chuckled.
"Tell me," he said, leaning down to breath the words into her ear. He kissed the spot behind her ear that always made her shiver, then began planting light kisses down her neck.
"I love you," she said, the words coming out in a breath, then she froze, feeling him stiffen above her for a moment before continuing his movements down her neck.
He didn't respond until they were laying in bed together later that night. She was curled up against him, using his shoulder for a pillow as he stroked a hand up and down her back in slow movements. She might have thought he was asleep but for the motions of his hand.
"I love you too, you know," he said so quietly that she almost thought she had imagined the words. She lifted her head to look down at him. He was smiling a little, but his face was completely serious. She searched his eyes for a moment, then grinned and tucked her head back into his neck as completely contentment and happiness flooded her body.