Shawn leaned casually against the mantelpiece above the fireplace at Alan and Amy Matthew's home as he sipped slowly at the glass of white wine in his hands, and surveyed the scene.

Eric was chatting with his parents by the door; apparently it was a most interesting discussion – Shawn hadn't seen Eric look so animated about anything in a while. Almost automatically, his eyes cut across to the stairs where his brother, Jack and Rachel seemed to be conversing quietly but deeply.

Shawn took another sip of his wine even as he willed himself not to look surprised. Something was brewing with Jack and Rachel, but exactly what was completely unclear to all their friends. The two had served in the Peace Corps for a year together, and had returned in time for the graduation of the younger quartet in their group. Although Eric hadn't gone into the Peace Corps with them, he had managed to fulfill his dream of being a weatherman after all – the position done so long ago as part of an internship was now his regular job, and he was settled in Philadelphia.

Shawn smiled to himself, happy that Eric was finally doing well in life. Underneath his happy-go-lucky façade was a heart of gold that wanted nothing more than the best for the most important people in its little world. However, Shawn didn't miss the way Eric's eyes would sometimes take on a faraway quality as they looked through the windows into the house that gazed back at him from the other side of the fence.

Mr Feeny's illness had hit all of them hard, but Eric had taken it the hardest – he'd been utterly devastated. The elder gentleman had been such a profound influence in his life, and Shawn was thankful that Eric had had Jack to lift himself out of the stupor he'd fallen into. Deep down, Shawn knew that his brother and Rachel had rushed back immediately on hearing of Mr Feeny's illness and not because they'd wanted to move on from the Peace Corps, as they'd originally claimed. They'd known that Eric would be helpless and it was only upon seeing them that Eric had smiled for the first time in days. His family, Shawn and Angela and worried about him, seeing the depression he was slipping into and it had been Jack and Rachel who'd single-handedly brought him out of it.

Shawn's smile slowly morphed into a grimace as his eyes continued to sweep the room and landed on the couple in its far corner, next to the writing desk. He groaned inwardly and restrained the urge to throw his wine glass at his best friend's head. Surely he and his wife could stop arguing just for a few hours, while they visited their folks' home? The harsh sneers and ugly eye rolls on Cory and Topanga's faces quite clearly conveyed their feelings about each other and Shawn sighed as he watched Topanga shoot her husband another angry glare and then stomp off towards the kitchen. Cory threw his hands up dismissively and made his own way upstairs, only giving a cursory nod to Jack and Rachel who looked wonderingly after him as he passed them.

Shawn frowned as sounds of light laughter drifted to his ears from his left. He couldn't help smiling however as his eyes landed on his own wife. The smile immediately dropped off as he noticed the man conversing with her – him.

For Shawn, Ron Williams would forever be known as him. He'd been utterly gob smacked when Ron had been introduced as Mr. Feeny's caretaker – apparently, he'd gone into nursing and was now attached to two of the most prestigious hospitals in the state of Pennsylvania. What Shawn was actually fuming over was the way Ron's eyes had lit up on seeing Angela – his wife, damn it! – and then how he'd walked over to her without preamble and tightly hugged her. It had only been Jack's hands on his shoulders that had kept him from hauling himself tooth and nail at Ron.

Given that Ron came over to see Mr Feeny on an almost daily basis, he'd become quite friendly with the Matthews and they'd invited him to their get-togethers. And so, Shawn had been quite distressed when he'd arrived with Angela to suddenly find an ex-boyfriend of his wife's amidst the reception committee. And it seemed like Ron hadn't ever forgotten that one date where Shawn had devoutly wanted nothing more than to hold Angela tightly to him but was instead forced to see her talking, smiling and even singing with another guy.

Even now, she was laughing softly at something he was saying and then she questioned him in response. Shawn's eyes narrowed and his fingers clutched the hapless glass in his hands tightly as he saw Ron grasp his wife's elbow earnestly. However Angela seemed unperturbed, and she shook her head amusedly as she sipped delicately at the lemonade she was holding. Then, Ron threw his head back, let out a boisterous laugh over some joke and his hand came down to squeeze Angela's shoulder briefly.

Shawn snapped. He saw red and his eyebrows narrowed even as he raged at how this man was even daring to touch his wife. Without stopping to think, in two strides he was standing next to Angela, smiling as pleasantly as he could manage.

'Hi, baby' he addressed Angela and glanced over at Ron, noting with some satisfaction at the nonplussed and somewhat sour look he was receiving. 'Ron' he continued, grinning brightly, 'How are you, man? It's been a long time, hasn't it?'

Ron gazed back at him with a steely look, over the rim of his glass. 'Yes, it's been a while, Shawn. So you finally managed to get Angela to take you back, hmm? You're one lucky guy – Angela, you must really love him a lot!' He laughed warmly enough but Shawn didn't miss the hidden barb in his words, and it stung. It stung like mad that Ron was deliberately putting him down in front of his wife.

He struggled to keep his expression neutral though and instead wrapped an arm firmly around Angela's waist, drawing her closer, protectively to him. He was about to retort when she interrupted smoothly, 'Yeah well, I do love him a lot and the happiest day of my life so far was when we got married.' She smiled lovingly at Shawn and made to gently pull away but he kept his arm around her and leaned down to kiss her deeply and lingeringly.

'I love you, too' he whispered and caught the look of disgust on Ron's face out of the corner of his eye. 'Mind if I steal you away for some time?' he continued, pretending to be totally oblivious. 'Need to talk to you for a bit.'

Angela raised an eyebrow and Shawn willed himself not to blush. She was looking at him, scrutinizing him, and he knew instantly that she saw right through him and his little ploy. He put on his best innocent face, however and straightened up further. She sized him up some more and then turned to Ron. 'So, it was nice meeting you again, Ron.'

Ron held up his glass in a mock salute. 'Always a pleasure meeting you, Angela. You're as lovely as the day we first met.' Shawn gritted his teeth at the nauseatingly warm tone of the man's words but his wife's response was simply friendly and neutral. 'Oh, thanks.' Turning to Shawn, she gestured. 'Let's go, honey.'

Shawn simply nodded a goodbye and wasted no time in hustling Angela through the kitchen and out to the Matthews' backyard. He put his glass down on the patio table and gripped the fence, breathing hard in an effort to quell the feelings that were overwhelming him. He was all too aware of the complete silence that enclosed the backyard and didn't look up until he felt Angela's hands warmly covering one of his own.

'Shawn?' she asked gently. 'You want to tell me what all that was about?'

Shawn opened his eyes and exhaled, but decided to act nonchalant. 'What do you mean?'

Angela folded her arms across her chest and fixed him with one of her patented don't-toy-with-me looks. 'You didn't really have anything all that urgent to talk about, did you?'

Shawn stammered out a response, feeling a hot sensation cover the back of his neck. 'I…I did, I hadn't seen you for a while, and I wondered how you were feeling…because its been a while, and you didn't want to see a doctor, and I just…I just…oh hell! Why do I even bother?'

He missed the grin on his wife's face as she leant towards him and cupped a cheek affectionately. 'Yes, I would ask you the same question…you know I'm going to ferret it out eventually, so come clean, what's all this really about, Shawn?'

He straightened stoically. 'Absolutely no ulterior motive.'

Angela sidled closer and wrapped both her arms around his shoulders, and lazily drawled, 'This wouldn't have anything to do with me talking to a certain dreamy man by the name of Ron Williams, would it?'

She bit her lip to keep from laughing as Shawn looked suitably appalled. 'Dreamy?!' he nearly shrieked. 'Angela, you can't tell me that you actually find that…that vermin attractive!'

Angela grinned naughtily. 'Oh come on, I am married but I'm not dead. Ron isn't hard on the eyes at all, you know.'

Shawn crossly moved away and turned his back to her. 'No, I don't know, thank you very much. And I wouldn't want to, either. You just go right back in there and continue whatever it is you were so happily talking about.'

Angela sighed, rolling her eyes at his grumpy demeanor but she was smiling as she grasped his shoulder and firmly turned him around to face her. 'On the other hand,' she seductively whispered, 'there is this man who I find unbearably, incredibly, indefinably handsome and whom I also happen to be married to.' She hugged him closer and placed a small kiss on his chin. 'I'd choose him over Ron any day.'

Shawn still had a scowl on his face but his eyes had softened and his own arms had automatically wrapped around his wife's waist. 'He was trying to flirt with you. I mean, where does he get off, touching you like that…we're married for God's sakes!'

'Honey' soothed Angela patiently. 'If he'd touched me in any way that I didn't want him to, you know that I would have made sure he'd seen that. We were just talking...'

'Yeah, well' grumbled her husband. 'Its obvious to all but the totally blind that he wants to do a lot more than just talking.'

'It doesn't matter' remonstrated Angela, still maintaining her patience and calm. 'He may fancy himself in lust or like or love with me, but I love you, Shawn. You. Ok? There's no other man for me.'

Shawn pulled her closer and breathed in her scent. 'There's no one else for me, either, love. And it's not that I don't trust you or anything…'

'I know' she interjected laughingly. 'And by the way, have I told you how cute you are when you get jealous?'

Shawn snorted. 'I wasn't jealous. I was merely…concerned.'

'Yeah, right' scoffed his wife most decidedly. 'You were practically marking your territory!'

Shawn sighed resignedly, knowing that he was well and truly busted. 'But you forgive me, right?' he questioned in a small voice that he knew his wife found exceedingly hard to resist. 'I just…I hate the thought of some other guy even looking at you in the wrong way, and I just want to poke their eyes out when they start to stare at you…cant help it, sorry.'

Angela ran a hand through his hair in a loving caress. 'Thank you for looking out for me. And yes, you are forgiven.'

Shawn smirked as he kissed her cheeks and then nudged her lips with hers. 'Good, because I for one, am in lust and like and love with you.'

The couple's romantic embrace was abruptly ended as angry footsteps echoed in the backyard as a fuming Rachel McGuire flung the screen door open and charged towards the fence. Shawn and Angela simply stared as she paced, muttering angrily to herself all the while.

'Rachel?' Angela tentatively ventured after a few minutes. 'What's going on?'

Rachel stopped short and fixed the couple with a steely stare. She advanced over to Shawn who nearly cowered back in fear. 'Can you tell me' she began in a deceptively calm voice, 'why all you Hunters are pathetic at coming to the simplest of decisions?'

Shawn's eyes widened and he turned to Angela with a plea for rescue written on his face. Angela reached out and slowly grasped her former roommate's arm gently. 'Rachel, what are you talking about?'

The redhead threw her hands up in the air, 'I've had it! I've just about had it with Jack Hunter! I can't believe all the nonsense he's feeding me about being commitment shy and not ready for a long term relationship and all other sorts of crap!' She finished with a hoarse yell and willed herself to calm down, gripping the fence as Shawn had done only a while back.

Angela sighed knowingly. 'Look, Shawn said the same thing to me…'

Rachel's eyes snapped to Shawn who was looking at the ground with a very guilty expression etched on his face. 'So it is a trademark of all Hunters, then' she remarked wryly.

'Rachel, there you are' came the voice of Jack Hunter as he spotted her and made a straight beeline for the redhead who was watching him warily. 'Look, don't take this wrong, I really do care about you, but…'

'But what?' interrupted Rachel abruptly. 'Don't give me bullshit about commitment, Jack Hunter. Don't you even dare, I'm not that stupid!' she nearly choked. 'What in the world do you take me for?' she yelled.

Jack held out his hands pleadingly. 'I do love you, I do, but I don't know about anything long-term ok? It's just that I don't know if I am totally ready and I don't want to mess up what we have…'

'What we have?' Rachel laughed in cold disbelief. 'Are you kidding me, Jack? What we have is nothing, absolutely nothing!'

'Hang on' interrupted Jack angrily. 'How can you say it's nothing? I know that I may have kissed you first but you responded, Rachel! And you didn't seem like you regretted it one bit!'

'Tell me that you aren't out of your mind, Jack' replied Rachel with an air of deadly calm. 'You kiss me out of the blue, passionately may I add, say that you've missed me, tell me you love me, I tell you that I love you too, we've been talking for what seems like forever and then you have the nerve to stand there and tell me that you aren't ready for long term commitment?'

The silence enclosing the yard was deafening.

Rachel continued, but the tears stinging her eyes and the wobble in her voice was clear. 'What do you want me to do, Jack? If you can't even try to offer a commitment to this relationship, then what are we? I don't know about you, but I can't just sit around like a fool, waiting for you to be ready!' She finished amidst a sob and pressed a hand to her forehead.

Shawn closed his eyes as her last words rang through his mind. A picture flashed behind his eyes of Angela's tear-stained face looking back at him with a heartbroken expression etched on it, uttering the same tearful words to him. Reaching out, he blindly groped for her and pulled her tightly to him, burying his face in her hair. He looked at her after a minute to see her fighting to hold back her own tears.

Jack reached out for her, fear and anxiety writ large on his face. 'Rachel' he pleaded.

She stared back at him, her expression a mixture of anger, fear and love. 'I'm…I'm sorry, Jack. Its over.'

'What?' exclaimed Jack incredulously. 'Rachel, you can't mean that!'

She nodded, hugging her arms to herself as if in protection. 'I do, as much I hate it. We can't keep dancing around this issue anymore, Jack. You aren't ready and I need to know that you care enough to want to make some kind of promise.' She choked down another sob and nearly broke down as she brought a hand to her mouth and fled the backyard, pushing past a stunned Jack, who blankly gaped at where she had stood.

Shawn and Angela were still, trying to process what had just taken place, when Jack slumped against the fence. He rubbed a hand wearily over his face. 'Oh God, she's gone' he whispered in disbelief. He brought his hands to his face and the couple could see his shoulders shaking.

Angela gently steered him over to the settee kept in the backyard and Shawn followed worriedly. They hadn't ever really seen Jack cry all that much, although he had gotten teary-eyed at their wedding and when he'd been asked to stand up with Cory as Shawn's best man. Now however, he was trembling violently and his knees were buckling. He stared straight ahead as Angela attempted to coax him out of his stupor.

'It'll be ok, Jack' she reassured, trying to convince herself of the same as well. Deep down, she sympathized with Rachel and knew what the taller girl was going through all too well. However, it was clear that Jack was obviously torn-up at having her out of his life, and although Angela fully intended to go after Rachel and get the whole story, she couldn't just leave Jack here.

'No it won't' responded Jack brokenly. 'She hates me, Angela. She's been angry at me before, yes, but I've never seen her give me such a look before – it was so full of anger and hate…'

Shawn thumped him on the back encouragingly. 'She doesn't hate you, Jack. Come on…look, just go and talk to her alright? And then…'

'And then, what?' interjected Jack harshly. 'What is there to talk about? I'm the one at fault here, Shawn!'

His younger brother protested. 'Come on Jack, don't give up, ok?'

Jack sighed and turned to Angela. 'How long were you mad at this idiot here when he broke up with you in college at Christmas?'

Angela gave a bittersweet smile and smoothed back a curl behind her brother-in-law's ear. 'Quite mad. I felt that if I didn't see him again for a long time, I'd be perfectly fine.'

Shawn looked at her, aghast and dismayed. 'What?!? Is…is that how you really felt?'

Angela shrugged. 'Well, you'd broken up with me for the third time, Shawn. I was nearing the end of my patience with you. While I would have been willing to work through all of our fears and any issues together, what pissed me off was you deciding to take the easy way out of every possible dilemma by simply avoiding it!' Her voice rose to a steely crescendo.

Shawn's response was chastened and contrite. 'But I did work hard at getting you back and at winning your trust again.'

Angela smiled. 'That you did, honey.' Turning to Jack, she suggested, 'And that's exactly what you're going to have to do as well. Rachel is quite torn up about something you said or did…if you love her all that much, then you have to prove that you're willing to work hard at keeping her in your life.'

Shawn stood up and began to pace. Abruptly, he turned to his brother. 'What exactly happened between the two of you? I mean, it seems like you both have been together on and off, what's going on?'

Jack leaned back into the settee and closed his eyes. 'Well, when Rachel and I went to the Peace Corps together, I guess we began to know each other in a whole new different way. Its one thing to be in a relationship when you're in college and about to graduate, but getting out there in the real world and having that relationship is a totally different ball game. So, as I said, we began to know each other as real adults – what we wanted from the future, how we thought our lives could be, hopes, desires, dreams, ambitions….'

'Sounds wonderful' said Angela quietly. 'So what happened?'

Jack sighed and seemed to curl in upon himself. Angela reached out and drew him in a hug and putting his head on her shoulder, he continued in a forlorn voice, 'There was this guy called Stuart in the Peace Corps who was assigned to the same team as us. He took a shine to Rachel, and although it bothered me, I just assumed that perhaps it was due to the way I'd always cared about her, and felt protective of her, you know?'

'So you swooped in to protect your meat from the competition, is that it?' laughed Shawn softly, squeezing his brother's shoulder.

Jack rolled his eyes but his expression lightened nonetheless. 'Yeah, something like that. I realized that it just wasn't about jealousy - I couldn't really see myself with anyone else other than Rachel. I mean, I found myself comparing every girl I'd ever met with her!'

'But didn't you guys decide to break up originally because you got together because of circumstances?' queried Angela delicately.

Jack got up and ran a hand through his hair. 'I know that we kissed in the aftermath of Dad's death but, well, its just not about that anymore!' He let out a frustrated sigh and looked towards the living room. 'Guess I'm going to go and try to talk to her again. Nothing else I can do anyway…'

'Jack, you're going to have to eventually decide where you want this to go. She's not going to wait forever' said Angela and Jack nodded. He looked at Shawn who was staring at the ground. 'We are a pair of lousy brothers, you know that?'

Shawn grimaced. 'All too well.' Smiling lovingly at Angela, he continued, 'But luckily she forgave me and my life's going ok. You'll be fine, Jack. Just be open with her, ok? I've closed up and it's brought nothing but pain into my life.'

His older brother hugged him in response and then leaned down to kiss Angela's cheek. 'Take care, love' he chuckled weakly and then squaring his shoulders, walked back into the house.

'Wow' Shawn blew out a breath and sat down next to his wife who was now curled up into the settee cushions.

'Wow sounds about right' she murmured, feeling the coiling in her stomach again for the umpteenth time that day and willing it to go away. Shawn knew that something was amiss with her and she didn't want to raise his hopes up just yet but if everything went according to plan, Angela was determined that she would go for a certain medical appointment the first moment they returned home to New York.