Chapter 1: Comb

"Hey Shawn. Looking for Cory?" Mrs. Matthews set the bowl of washed fruit on the table and dried her hands. Without waiting for him to answer, she continued. "He's up in his room doing… well, whatever it is he does." Shawn pushed the door closed and went to go find his best friend. As he approached Cory's room, he slowed and gathered himself. He nudged the door open and stepped inside.

"Hey Cor." Shawn called out to the empty room, giving Cory a heads up, but as he looked around, he realized Cory wasn't there. "Uh….Cory?"  Just then, Shawn heard a bump from under the bed. He walked over and peered underneath.

"Hey Shawny." Cory smiled at Shawn's questioning eyes. His curls were dusty and matted down a little, and his clothes were wrinkled beyond belief. Shawn raised his eyebrows at Cory and reached his hand underneath the bed to pull him out.

"I'm not even going to ask." He told Cory as he ran his hands over him, trying to brush the dust and dirt off of his clothes.

"That would be wise of you." He answered, walking over to close the door as Shawn sat on his bed.

"So Shawn. What's up?" Cory joined Shawn on the bed and lay back, waiting for Shawn's answer. When he heard no reply, he opened one eye and looked up at his friend. Shawn started to answer, then paused for a moment.

How can I tell Cor about the fight with my dad? I can't unless I tell him that I wish I had his family? Cory's family is perfect- they're a poster family. Cory's perfect… how can I compare with that? Well, I don't want to compete with him; I want to make him happy. And my feelings for him are all jumbled- I, oh… this is too much for me. I need to get away for a while. My neighbor owes me big- I could borrow his car and drive somewhere and just sort things out. I need to relieve all this mental pressure. But how can I possibly tell Cory that I want to leave? This is so hard…

Shawn closed his eyes, tears welling up behind his lids.

 Just then, the door flew open.

"Hey Duckies, what's quacking?" Eric laughed at himself and sat down on the floor in front of Cory's bed. Almost immediately, he jumped back up and looked around the room frantically. He marched over to one of Cory's draws and yanked it open. He searching around for a moment, and then turned to Cory with a pout on his face.

"Cory, what did you do with my duck? And don't lie to me, cause I can find out where you live!" He crossed his arms and glared at Cory. Cory and Shawn exchanged a 'look'.

"Your….duck? Eric, did you eat a bag of sugar sticks again?"

"Cory! You took it. I know you did." Eric shifted his gaze to Shawn.

Ah-ha… the captain's sailor boy will know…

"Shawn! Get it back for me."  Eric demanded, glaring at Shawn. Cory waved his hands in front of Eric, distracting him.

"Eric! I wasn't aware that you even HAD a duck! It's not alive, is it? You didn't…. put a live duck in my room. Tell me you didn't! Uh… you moron!" Cory jumped up from the bed and began searching the room. He turned back to Shawn, who was laughing on his bed. "Did you see a duck?" Shawn wiped away his tears, this time from laughter.

"There's only one place Cory would have put it." Eric unzipped his pants, letting them drop halfway to the floor, holding them up with one hand.

"ERIC!!" Shawn and Cory yelled simultaneously. Cory whipped around, covering his eyes and Shawn started laughing even harder.  Eric ignore them and reached into his boxers. He pulled out a red rubber duck with little horns on the top of its head.

"My devil ducky! I knew I'd fine you." He turned to Cory. "Evil Cory put you in my pants." He glared at his brother before turning back to his duck. "You're gonna stay with me from now on." Eric pulled up his pants and placed a kiss on the top of the ducky's little head, and cradled the ducky in his hands, walking out of the room.

As soon as he was out of site, Cory snickered and collapsed on the bed.

"What a moron! Can you believe him, Shawn? Eric's never coming back from outer space, is he?"  Cory turned to his best bud and noticed that Shawny was staring off into space. "Shawn?"

Abruptly, Shawn jumped off the bed and grabbed Cory's hand, pulling Cory with him. He raced towards the door, his friend stumbling to keep up.

"Shawn? Shawny! Where are we--- Shawn…."

Shawn jerked Cory outside to the yard, and they sat down on the bench. When Shawn was sure Mr. Feeny wasn't in sight, he shushed a stuttering Cory and began speaking. 

"Cor?" Shawn paused, "I… I don't know what to do anymore. My dad's mad at me and I don't want to go back there an--" He put up a hand to stop Cory from speaking. "I know what you're going to say and I don't want to intrude on your family. Please don't tell anyone this Cor, but I'm gonna leave for a little bit. Just a month or so- I'll be back before school starts. I'm really trusting you with this, and--"

"Shawn, what am I going to do without you? You're my best friend! You can't leave; you can't do this to us- to me. You can't do this to me."  Cory set his hand on his friend's arm.

"You'll have Topanga. And I'll miss you too, but I need to get away from all this pressure."

"Shawn… I still say this is ridiculous, I mean- come one, where are you going to go?" Cory voice broke as he started tearing up and… Shawn didn't want Cory to cry. He wrapped Cory into a hug, and leaned his friend's head on his shoulder.

"Cory….baby….shhhh." He tried to quiet him down. "I'm not leaving forever. I'm borrowing a friend's car, and I'll be back in a few weeks."

"Shawn. You don't want to go. I'm not allowing you to go." Cory stared into Shawn's eyes, and watched his friend's expression change. He didn't mean to be so harsh, but at this point, he would do anything to get Shawn to stay. Shawn's face hardened and his eyes glazed over to a hard gaze.

"Cory, you're not my keeper. You can't tell me what I can and can't do. I'm going. And if you're my friend, you'll let me go." Shawn stood up and turned away from the bench, walking off in the direction of his house.

"Shawn! Shawn, wait… I…please." Cory grabbed his shoulders desperately and turned him around, pleading with him to stay. Shawn stepped up close to Cory and pulled him into a hug, but then turned and left.

Cory sunk to the ground, still feeling the overwhelming urge to run after his best friend. He held himself back as he watched Shawn's figure disappearing into the darkening sky. He shuddered at Shawn's form.

Shawn. Why couldn't you have stayed? How could you just leave me now… especially when my feelings towards you are so confused? I didn't even get to tell you that I broke up with Topanga today. What do I do now? There is nothing to do without you…

Cory lay down in the grass and cried softly, not wanting anyone to hear his depression.

But of coarse Mr. Feeny watched with knowing eyes.

"Cory" he called out over the fence. Cory immediately jumped up and shut off the tears at the realization that he was being watched.

"Don't just stand there. You're going to miss your chance to….help Shawn if you don't follow him. He's going to leave, and that's not what you want, is it?"

"Feeny- you saw him" Cory sighed. "He doesn't want me to go with him."

"Wrong Cory. He doesn't want you to let him go by himself. He needs to figure some things out. But you need to let him know that you are trying to figure the same things out. Maybe you can try to figure them out… together." Mr. Feeny waved to Cory to follow Shawn, and watched the boy run after his friend.

"Cory… now you can find out how much Shawn needs you."