Shawn Hunter was about to go insane. He'd lost the love of his life, Angela Moore, who had moved to Paris with her father for the year. Shawn had to pretend he was happy for her, because Angela didn't want to leave Shawn behind, like everyone else had. His father died a few years ago, his mother abandoned he and his father when he was only three, he had lost Cory to Topanga, he felt extremely alone. He'd heard nothing from Angela since she'd left, so he assumed she had forgotten about him. He'd barely left his apartment, but to check the mail, because he was afraid that the moment he left, Angela would call.

"I should have stayed in Philadelphia. I could have just went on living, even after Cory left..." he sighed. He wanted to hear from Angela so desperately. He had a feeling that she'd found someone in Paris that was a million times better than he was. "Not that it takes much..." he snuffed out a laugh. He walked across his apartment, and it seemed as though the darkness followed him. He realized he was walking along a long shadow, from his dresser. "I think you need to get out of this apartment, Shawn." He told himself. "You'll do a lot better somewhere else."

He dragged himself off the couch, walked into his bedroom, and pulled on a brown shirt, with some sort of Japanese symbol on it. He grabbed a pair of black jeans from his closet, and traded them for the blue ones he was wearing. He sat on the bed, sullenly, and pulled on his black hiking boots, then walked to the door, threw on his leather jacket, and ran a comb through his brown hair. He looked around to see if he'd forgotten anything, realized he hadn't, shut out all the lights and left.

It was a typical New York day outside, cars honking, sirens blaring, and the occasional side-alley mugging. Shawn couldn't take a deep breath there, without breathing in smoke, smog or exhaust. He hated it. That was the main thing he missed about Philadelphia. Aside from Angela, that is. Angela. His mind was back on Angela again. He was about to go insane. He glanced around, as though he was hoping to find something to take his mind off Angela.

He looked to his right. There was a huge commotion around an apartment building. There were police officers and firefighters all around, trying to put out the fire in the seventh story apartment. Insensitive as it sounded, Shawn didn't care. He looked behind him. He saw three children, playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. Normally, he would have stopped and laughed a little, but today, there was no reaction. He looked in front of him. All that was there, was the hustle and bustle of the New York streets.

He sighed, and looked to his left. He planned on looking right away, and continuing his walk. But, what he saw caught his attention for more than a moment. There stood group of seven guys, harassing one girl. Shawn hated seeing things like this. He glared glacially at the men, and stomped over. "Excuse me..." he tapped one of them on the shoulder.

The girl was crying. She thought Shawn was another member of their harassing committee.

"Are you okay?" Shawn walked into the middle of the crowd, and asked her.

"Yeah, thanks..." she glared at the other guys, then smiled falsely at Shawn.

"What is your problem?" Shawn asked them.

"Is it any of your business?" one of the guys asked, in a thick New York accent.

"Yeah, I think it is," Shawn stood his ground. If there was one thing Shawn Hunter was not, that was chicken.

"It's his business now?" another thick accented thug asked his partner.

"Get out of here, before I talk to that cop over there..." Shawn still glared at them all.

"Oh, please. You've bitten off more than you can chew..." the group closed in on Shawn and the girl.

"Is there a problem here?" a police officer walked over and asked.

"No, not at all, officer..." the main thug smiled, nonchalantly. "We were just leaving..."

The girl breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you, officer."

"No problem, miss. All in a day's work." The officer smiled and walked away.

"And thank you, whoever you are..." she directed her attention toward Shawn.

"Shawn Hunter, and no problem." He explained, holding out his palm for a handshake.

"Abigail McDaniel." She shook his hand. "I don't think I could ever thank you enough. I seriously thought I was toast."

Shawn smiled. He'd definitely done his good deed for the day. "No problem, again. I'd want someone to do the same for me, so it's nothing. Listen, though. I have to get going. I hope to see you around town."

Abigail sighed. "See ya Shawn. Thanks again."

Shawn looked back around. Everything was basically the same, with the exception of Abigail, who was leaning against the wall, looking at the ground. Normally Shawn would have been sympathetic, and walked up to her to see what was wrong, but Angela had drained him of his sympathy. He just wanted to hear her voice. Was that asking too much of her? He sighed, and continued his walk.

***

Before long, he was in very unfamiliar territory. "Where the hell am I?" he asked himself. "I think I went too far..." he sighed, and turned around to retrace his steps back home.

He looked around at everything he passed, and it seemed as though everything he saw made him think of Angela. 'What if she's with another man?' he asked himself. "I don't think I could deal with it..." he whispered.

He stopped in his tracks, when he came to the corner where he met Abigail, and saw the same thugs, walking Abigail into the wall. He could feel his fists bunching up. He looked around for a cop, but rolled his eyes when he realized that everyone had gone home. The fire across the street was out, and everything, except Abigail and the thugs, was calm.

Shawn felt his fists bunch up tighter than they ever had before. "Hey!" he threw one of the goons away from Abigail. "Didn't I tell you to leave her alone?"

"Only, this time, there are no cops to save your ass..." the biggest guy threatened Shawn.

Abigail closed her eyes. "Shawn, go. I can handle myself. I don't want you to get hurt on my account."

"Shush Abigail. I'm going to help you." He whispered to her.

"Whatever, it's a waste of time, anyway..." the muggers looked at one another.

"Really, we should go." The leader of the pack gestured for his buddies to come along. "Later days, Abigail. We'll be sure your little watchdog isn't around."

Abigail wiped a tear from her eye. "Thanks again, Shawn." She sighed, and started to walk away.

"Where are you going? Do you want a walk home?" he asked, knowing that at the rate things were going, she was pretty unsafe on her own.

"Really?" she asked. "Yeah...please?"

Shawn smiled. "Of course."

Abigail had never been so relieved to be in someone's company. She was terrified of that whole gang.

"What do they want from you anyway?" he asked.

"Take a wild guess..." Abigail looked him in the eye.

"Really? Oh man..." he rolled his eyes. "Guys like that give the male species a bad name..."

"I think you did a pretty good job of that without the help of Johnny and his thugs." Abigail giggled.

"What? You think all guys are like that?" Shawn pretended to be shocked.

"Every last one!" Abigail stuck her tongue out. "Shawn, I don't think I can thank you enough. Seriously, I think I would have been in a heap on the ground, if you'd come a second later..."

"Then I'd have to carry you home, not walk you..." he looked at her. Shawn was captivated. He couldn't be though. He had to stay available, in case Angela called or wrote. "So, where do you live, anyway?"

"I'm a daddy's girl. I live on 7th Avenue, in my dad's penthouse..." Abigail explained.

"Ah," Shawn grinned. 'She definitely looks the part...' he thought. "I bet that's nice..."

Abigail had long brown hair, which looked as though it had been done by an expensive stylist, bright blue eyes, and she was wearing a tight, black shirt, with a plaid skirt, that came two inches above her knee. "It's nothing special..." she shrugged. "I'd actually like to lead a normal life, though. I'd like my own apartment."

"Believe me, you don't..." Shawn shook his head. "It's not easy."

"I don't want the easy life..." Abigail shrugged one shoulder. "I don't want to be sheltered anymore..."

"Would you like to trade places?" Shawn joked.

Abigail laughed. "I wish. I bet you wouldn't last a week though."

"And neither would you." Shawn smiled, at the thought of Abigail living in his one bedroom apartment. It was the first genuine smile he'd given in a month.

"Here it is..." Abigail pointed at the fanciest building Shawn had seen in his entire life.

"Whoa..." he looked at the building.

"Wanna come in for a few minutes? You look hungry..." Abigail offered.

"Will your dad mind?" Shawn asked.

"He's never home, so, no..." Abigail ran her hand through her hair.