Disclaimer:  OOPS, forgot this last time!  Well, guess what?  Boy Meets World doesn't belong to me!  Just going to have a little play with the characters for a while, but I promise to put them all back better than new…. (Think they'd mind if I kept Turner for a while? ;) ) . 

NOTE:  I really hope to update this story fairly often, but unfortunately life seems to get in the way a lot…(lol, what an understatement)… so some of these chapters may be a little shorter than others, but reviews will keep me inspired!  And I don't mind constructive criticism!  Bring it on!  Thanks guys, for letting me know Shawn's mum is Verna, not Edna (knew that didn't sound quite right, but after sitting here trying to remember for fifteen minutes, decided it would do for now…)  I've taken a few liberties with some of the characters for the sake of the story, but nothing too bad, I hope…

Lacey :)

Jonathan Turner closed the door to his apartment, still wearing his leather motorcycle jacket, his helmet tucked under one arm.  He had been dreading coming home to an empty apartment, even though he would be picking Shawn up in just a few hours.  Normally Shawn being out for the evening wouldn't have bothered him at all.  Heck, Shawn was out almost every other night with a girl, or at the Matthews.  But this was different.  Jonathan tried to convince himself otherwise, but truth was he was really worried that Chet Hunter had changed, and that Shawn would want to go back home.  Jonathan sighed, and, placing his helmet down on the table by the door, he ran his fingers through his hair in worry.

"Keep that up, bud, and you'll go bald."  Jonathan glanced up, and saw his best friend, Eli Williams, at home on the sofa, drinking his coffee and eating his chips.  Not that Jonathan minded.  Eli was welcome any time, so long as he hadn't recently broken up with a girl (nothing like a heartbreak to turn a man into a pile of mush, and Jon would rather not witness that) or if Jon had finally managed to get the time to have a woman over for a date.  Somehow Eli had a knack for interrupting at the most inconvenient times.  But tonight, despite the fact that he was busy munching away on the pack of chips Jon had been saving from Shawn for himself for the past week, Jonathan was really glad to see his oldest friend.

"Eli!  Great to see you!  Can't you feed yourself?" Jon forced a grin as he swiped the packet, and grabbed a handful out.

"Nah, they don't pay me enough!"

"Buddy, you have the same job I do, and I've got Shawn to support – how do you not have enough money for chips?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow at Eli as he leaned over the bench to the kitchen and flicked the jug on.

"Ah, see, I have a little thing called a life.  Think I can take out all those pretty girls every night for nothing?" Eli grinned, as he put his feet up on the coffee table, and sipped at his coffee.

"Now I know you're lying."

"Oh, and when was the last time you had a date?  Nineteen-ninety-what?"

This was the same conversation they had nearly every week.  Eli was desperate for his friend to get out more, like the old days.  Without exaggerating it had to have been well over 6 months since the two of them had gone out on the town together.  Eli could see how much Shawn meant to Jon, but having the kid along with them when they went out put a damper on things.  Eli knew, from what he'd heard, that all the women thought Shawn was Jon's son, and since there was no Mrs Turner around, they decided he was divorced, and since she'd left him there had to be something wrong with him.  Eli had told some of them the truth.  They then thought Jonathan was very sweet, but still weren't interested.  Who wanted to date a guy with a teenage kid to look after?

"Eli?" Jonathan said, with a smile as he made himself a coffee.

"Hm?"
"Shut up!"

"I'm just saying, bud, that it might be time to dust off the cobwebs…"  Jonathan shot him a look, and Eli knew not to press the issue any further.  "Anyway," he said, changing the subject, "what're you so stressed about?  You looked like someone had died when you walked in…"

"Oh, it's nothing, really.  Shawn over at his old trailer park visiting his father…"
"His father?!  The one who bet the crap out of him last year?!  Are you nuts?  You left him over there?!" Eli exclaimed, his forehead scrunching into a frown, his eyes grown to twice their normal size.

"Shawn wanted to go.  What was I supposed to do?  Like trying to stop him would've worked.  You know what Shawn's like, once he's got an idea in his head, that's the end of it.  Besides, Chet Hunter is his father, Shawn's got a right to see him."

"Jonathan, let me say this slowly so you understand – the guy nearly killed Shawn.  He's a freakin' nutter!" Eli had placed his coffee the table, and was now standing up in shock. 

"Look, when Shawn first told me I reacted exactly the same way, but we talked about it, and it was something Shawn really wanted to do.  He's got my cell phone, so he can call me as soon as anything happens…"
"Oh, and you think Chet is going to stop knocking Shawn's lights out so he can call you?  You know what Chet thinks of you, Jon…"

Chet had been livid when he found out that Jonathan had gained full custody of Shawn.  It seemed he assumed that once he was out of jail, he'd have his son back straight away.  The fact that he had been sent to prison because he'd beaten up his son didn't seem to make any difference in Chet's mind.  On one of the many occasions Chet had called the house, trying to get hold of Shawn and reached Jonathan instead he'd accused Jon of stealing his boy, and brainwashing him against his own father.  He didn't want to hear it when Jonathan said he'd done no such thing, and that perhaps Chet's actions were the reason his son didn't want anything to do with him.  Finally after being yelled at down the phone for several minutes without any reasoning, Jon had hung up the phone.

"Look, there was nothing I could do, Eli.  If I hadn't let him go, Shawn would never have forgiven me.  It's weird, really.  On one level, for Shawn's sake, I really hope that Chet has changed.  On another, selfish level, I hope he hasn't.  Does that make me as bad as him?" Jon asked, slumping down on to the sofa.

"Course not.  You've worked your arse off with Shawn, giving him all you can.  Look how far the kid as come?  The last thing he needs is to go back to his old ways.  He's finally doing well at school, and he's so much happier.  You have every right to feel a little jealous."
"Jealous of Chet Hunter?" Jon laughed, then stopped.  "I guess he does have the one thing I never will."

"What's that?"

"He is Shawn's father.  No matter what I do, I'll never be that."