Oh yeah...

Candles burnin' low, lots of mistletoe.

Lots of snow and ice everywhere we go.

Choirs singin' carols right outside my door.

All these things and more- that's what Christmas means to me, my love.

And ya know what I mean,

I see your smilin' face like I never seen before.

Even though I love ya madly; it seems I love you more.

And little cards you give me Will touch my heart for sure.

All these things and more, darling. That's what Christmas means to me my love

-Steve Wonder

It was late when they finally finished decorating the tree and, after a dinner of take-out Chinese food, the three fell asleep in front of the television. Shawn woke up with his face smashed into the cushion of the sofa with his pillow laying on the floor. Jon was curled into the corner of the sofa still asleep. The spot where Audrey should have been was empty. He was about to go back to sleep when the delicious, unmistakable aroma of Audrey's special pancakes hit his nostrils. In a moment, he was up and stumbling into the kitchen.

"Oooo!" he exclaimed when he saw what she was preparing. He tried to grab a link of sausage only to get his hand smacked away. "Are we havin' breakfast for dinner?"

Audrey shook her head and transferred the scrambled eggs to a large plate. "We're having breakfast for breakfast. It's Sunday morning, Shawn."

Suddenly, he was wide awake. "We spent the night?"

"On the couch," she nodded. "Turns out I'm not a big fan of sleeping sitting up."

As soon as her back was turned, he snatched a sausage and shoved it in his mouth.

"I wish we could do that every night," he sighed wistfully through the sausage bits he was chewing on.

"Maybe one day," she said, giving him a small smile.

Not if Jon doesn't quit bein' dumb, he thought sourly. Then, wanting to make absolutely sure they were on the same page, he asked, "Do you mean that?"

"Of course, I do."

"Audrey?"

She looked up from stirring the pancake mix and gave him her full attention.

"You love me, right?"

"You know I do." She frowned slightly, wondering if he was thinking about his father.

"I love you, too."

She stopped mixing for a moment to look at him with concern. "What's this all about?"

"I was just thinkin'," he said. All of a sudden, he was nervous to talk with her about this subject in a way he wasn't with Jon. "We're really good together, the three of us."

"I think so," she agreed.

Shawn noticed that she had trouble looking him in the eyes. "When you're done student teachin' are you goin' back to New York for good?"

"I don't know, Shawn." She went back to fixing breakfast. "I really haven't thought that far ahead. I guess a lot would depend on how my dad is doing."

Shawn was quiet for a long while. He shifted from one foot to the other anxiously. Finally, he could stand it no longer and blurted out, "Do you wanna go back without us?"

Audrey let her ginger hair fall around her face so that he couldn't read her expression. "Not if I don't have to," she responded quietly.

Shawn didn't know how to ask what he really wanted to know, so he danced around it. "Does it bother you that Jon's, like, a lot older than you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. In fact, I'm not sure what we're actually talking about." The truth was she did know what he meant. It wasn't something she'd talked to anyone about before.

"Jon's what nine, ten years older than you?"

Audrey tucked her chin to her chest as she continued to put pancakes on the griddle. Her birthday was in July and his in January. "Thirteen years and six months."

Shawn didn't miss that she knew exactly how much older Jon was. He suspected that she knew the number of days, too. Puffing his bangs out of his face, he pressed forward with, "Like, would you date someone Jon's age?"

"It would depend on the person," she shrugged self-consciously. She could not be direct any more than he could be.

Shawn scratched his fingernail across the tile of the kitchen island, unable to look her in the eyes. "What if the person is Jon?"

She didn't answer right away.

Audrey had always prided herself on being honest with her students, but this was not a line of questioning she'd encountered before. However, this was Shawn asking so she said softly, "If he asked; yes, I'd go out with him."

Shawn felt so relieved to hear her say that out loud that he rocked backwards on his heels and had to grab the edge of the counter to prevent himself from tripping. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

He licked his lips and frowned. He had to ask the next question, but he was fearful that he wouldn't like the answer. "Do you love him?"

Audrey let the pancake batter drop onto the hot griddle making several pancakes in a row. She was quiet for so long that Shawn worried he'd asked too much.

"I don't know how to answer that, Shawn," she said finally, putting the pancakes on a plate when they were done cooking. "I'm not sure I should."

Shawn let out an exasperated grunt and scowled at the griddle as though it was somehow at fault in this matter. "Aw, you're as frustratin' as he is! Mr. Feeny get to you, too?"

She looked up sharply. "What's Mr. Feeny got to do with this?"

Shawn didn't answer. He kicked the leg of the island.

"Shawn, I know you think things should be simple in this area…"

"I know, I know." He rolled his eyes and mimicked what Jon had told him before the NYC trip. "'Things aren't so black and white. I have to consider what's best for both of us'."

She looked surprised and a bit concerned. "I take it you've had this conversation before?"

"Lot of good it did," he grumbled.

"Shawn," she sighed, trying to quell her own emotions on the topic. "I know how much you want us all to be together. I can't lie to you- I'd love for that to happen. But it is complicated, more than you know. And as hard as it is you're gonna have to let things play out on their own."

"But what if things get messed up and you go back to New York and we never see you again?"

"Then we'll all have to accept that things weren't meant to be."

"No," he said defiantly, slapping his palms against the counter. "I won't and you can't make me. I may not know a lot, but I know this: just like Cory and Topanga are supposed to get married and always be together, so are you and Jon. I am right. I know I am."

Audrey was incredibly touched by his passion and support. She went over and pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek even though he stubbornly refused to acknowledge her. "You know," she said dropping her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "I am not the problem here."

Shawn looked up at her and saw the grin she had on her face. He began to smile back.

"He is!" They said together and started laughing.

Jon, who just happened to walk into the kitchen right at that moment, looked at them with sleepy confusion.

"What are you two laughin' at?"

"Nothin'," Shawn grinned, sharing a secret look with Audrey. "I'm hungry. Can we eat now?"

"Sure," Audrey gave his shoulder a playful tap as she turned to plate the food and take it to the table.

Shawn leaned his elbows against the counter staring at Jon with an impish grin.

"It is too early in the mornin' for you to be lookin' at me like that," the teacher grumbled. "I don't wanna know what you did."

"I didn't do anything," his student grinned back.

"Yeah, right."

Audrey put a plate of pancakes in Shawn's hands and gave the eggs to Jon, motioning to them to set the table.

On their way back to the kitchen, Jon gave Shawn a side glance. "What were you laughin' at?"

The teen shrugged but didn't bother to hide his grin.

"No, seriously, Hunter, what were you and Audrey laughin' at?"

"You."

Jon shot him a dirty look. "Fine, don't tell me," he said grumpily. "You don't have to be rude about it."

"What?" Shawn laughed. "You asked. I answered. I thought that's how the teacher-student thing worked."

Clearly, his teacher didn't believe him and to show his annoyance he took the seat next to Audrey that Shawn tried to sit in first. Ordinarily, the teen would have been irritated, but not this time. He took the seat directly across from Jon so he could continue teasing him through breakfast.

About half-way through the meal, Shawn rolled up pancake and shoved it in his mouth garnering a look of disgust from the adults with him. It was times like this when he missed having Cory and Eric around as they would have appreciated the feat.

Audrey, who was the most unimpressed with his skill, excused herself to begin cleaning up shortly after.

Audrey's pancakes were not small and Shawn found it hard to chew and swallow with so much in his mouth. The pancake required a full glass of milk to go down without choking. Afterwards he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and regarded Jon seriously.

"We spent the night," he announced as though his teacher might not have been aware of this.

"Did you just now notice that?" Jon shot back.

Shawn smirked. "You said that we couldn't."

"It wasn't planned."

"Sure, it wasn't."

Jon, who had not slept well on the couch, glared at him. He didn't appreciate Shawn's teasing when it came to Audrey, and he especially hated it when she was close enough to overhear.

Shawn was well aware of his teacher's feelings but pushed on anyway. "Just like it wasn't planned that you held her all night."

"I did not hold her."

"Yes, you did. I saw!"

"Look," Jon snapped defensively, "we fell asleep just like you did. She ended up holdin' onto to me at some point. I guess she was cold. I wasn't holdin' her."

Shawn arched an eyebrow and folded his hands on the table. "Jon, I got up twice last night, once to pee and once to eat, and you were holdin' her, not the other way around."

Jon pushed back from the table and folded his arms over his chest. He was frowning and glaring but Shawn could also see the flush of embarrassment at being caught color his cheeks. He regarded him studiously trying to figure out the best way to phrase his thoughts. Shawn bit his lip trying not to grin, but he couldn't help it.

"I know somethin' you don't know," he said in a sing-song voice.

Jon slumped in his chair. "I doubt it."

Shawn tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ears. "Audrey's into older guys."

Jon stared at him. He looked paralyzed, which amused Shawn greatly.

"Hunter…"

"We talk, you know."

Jon didn't say another word. Audrey walked back into the dining room and regarded them both curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"Jon doesn't think we talk." Shawn informed her, not taking his eyes off his teacher.

"Of course, we do," she smiled as she picked up the maple syrup and jam caddy. "We talked this morning."

Shawn sat back and grinned an "I-told-you-so" grin at Jon.

"You don't talk about that," Jon hissed leaning as far over the table as he could after she left again.

"But what if we do?" Shawn leaned over the table too. A mischievous fire set his blue eyes ablaze. "What if we do and I asked her if she'd date a guy your age? What if I asked her if she'd date you? What if she answered both questions?"

Jon stood up suddenly and refused to acknowledge what he'd said. Instead, he grabbed his plate and Shawn's and stormed into the kitchen. But it was too late. Shawn had seen the look he was hoping for-the one said curiosity was going to get the better of his guardian very soon.

The teen leaned his chair back so that it was balanced on its back legs. He put his stocking feet up on the table and his hands behind his head grinning a self-satisfied smile. He looked up at the ceiling. As he leaned further back in the chair, the doorway caught his eye. Looking around him, he realized that something very important was missing from their holiday décor.

Mistletoe!

Let's deck the halls with holly, sing sweet silent night.

Fill the tree with angel hair and pretty, pretty lights.

Go to sleep and wake up just before daylight.

All these things and more, baby!

That's what Christmas means to me my love

Candles burnin' low, lots and lots of snow.

Christmas bells are ringin'. Christmas choirs singin'.

Christmas mistletoe...

Shawn giving Jon a tough time about anything is my favorite thing to write. I hope you enjoyed it, too. XD

Thanks for reading. Feedback in any form: comments, bookmarks, etc. always appreciated. :)