A/N: This is slightly AU—it assumes Jon signed the guardianship papers and Shawn was living with him permanently at the time of the accident.

Chapter 1 - Burdensome

Today wasn't the first time George Feeny had found himself lingering in a hospital waiting room for the sake of a student or fellow teacher. It never grew any easier.

The Matthews family surrounded him on all sides, awaiting Shawn Hunter's exit from Jonathan Turner's hospital room, where, according to the doctors, Jonathan lay unconscious. But as was the norm in these situations, George sat alone.

Two years ago, George had been the first and most eager to disparage the arrangement between Jonathan and Shawn. It was inappropriate at best, and at worst, a lawsuit waiting to happen.

But, as it did more often than George would have liked to admit, time had proven him wrong. The relationship had blossomed, in depth and in health, and although George was not privy to every challenge and obstacle they must inevitably have faced along the way, he would have had to admit that their transition into permanent legal guardian and ward had filled him with joy on their behalf. Both young men had grown in maturity and strength of mind during their time together, not to mention that Shawn's academic performance had improved immensely.

When Shawn emerged from the hospital room, George stood with the others.

"How is he?" Cory asked.

"He's going to be fine." Shawn's shoulders relaxed, something resembling a smile in his eyes.

"Really? Is that what the doctor said?"

"No, I just know he is."

In spite of everything George knew about the Hunter boy's unrelenting optimism in the face of dire circumstances, George felt some of the tightness in his chest release. It might be a long, hard road, but somehow he was certain that Jonathan would live.

Shawn's eyes met Amy's. "I want to pick up my things from the apartment, and then, if it's okay, come back and stay with you guys?"

Amy smiled. "Yeah, it's okay."

George held his tongue at that pronouncement. He remembered all too well how Shawn had fared two years ago, during his three-week stay with the Matthews. He hadn't changed his clothes the entire time, not until after he moved in with Jonathan. George would have to admit that he was somehow getting clean, since the expected foul scent never filled his classroom, but he didn't turn in a single assignment—homework or classwork—during that time, and he slept in class more frequently than he ever had. Aside from any of that, though, the boy was simply not himself. By and large, he returned to his former self after Jonathan took him in.

The others in the waiting room were beginning to pick up their things, preparing to go, and George slowly stepped over to Shawn. "Mr. Hunter," he said carefully, "if there's anything I can do for you, anything at all, I hope you'll ask."

"Thanks, Mr. Feeny."

"I'm sure Jonathan will be back on his feet in no time."

Shawn's eyebrows drew together. "He looked really bad."

"Physical therapy really can do wonders. I'm sure he'll be on his feet to see you graduate."

Shawn blinked a few times. "Graduate," he repeated quietly. His eyes wandered over to Alan, then to Amy.

George cleared his throat. "You have friends who care about you very deeply."

"Yeah . . ." Shawn looked back at George. "Uh, I should go. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"I mean it, Mr. Hunter. Anything at all. I've got two extra bedrooms, as you know."

The words had slipped out, and George regretted them deeply for as long as it took for him to realize that Shawn would never, ever take him up on such an offer.

But Shawn didn't ridicule his attempted kindness. "I appreciate it, but I'll be okay."

George nodded, and he watched Shawn go. Surely, he would never hear anything more from the boy about it.

Shawn loved Cory. Loved all of the Matthews, really.

But he hated staying with them.

He always forgot, when it had been a while. Because spending the day at their house was always great. Mrs. Matthews always had great food ready for lunch and dinner, and there were lots of snacks around. Shawn and Cory could watch TV all they wanted, play games, shoot hoops in the yard, hang out in Cory's room. There was no place more comfortable in the world.

Then nighttime hit. Morgan had to go to bed early, which meant things got a little quieter, then Shawn and Cory and Eric fought over the bathroom, and then Shawn lay awake in his little cot in the room he shared with two other guys. It was always too dark and too cramped and way too early to be asleep, and Cory and Eric both snored, and Shawn felt like his nerves were going to explode.

Then came morning, fighting over the bathroom again, and Shawn always forgot not to drink straight out of the milk and juice jugs. Everyone was tired and cranky, and so was Shawn, from sleeping even less than he usually did, and within a few days he'd overheard Mr. and Mrs. Matthews talking softly about how to get rid of him. Well, not in those words, but Mr. Matthews would be complaining about the budget, and Mrs. Matthews would talk about trying to get ahold of Shawn's parents or other relatives. To Shawn's face, they always plastered on fake smiles and said he was welcome. Meanwhile, Shawn knew he couldn't ask for anything.

Jon was the opposite. Nothing was ever fake. When he was mad or annoyed at Shawn, he yelled, which helped Shawn believe that when he smiled and laughed, that was real, too. And he smiled a lot more than he yelled. He teased Shawn about eating him out of house and home, and once or twice, he even made jokes about kicking him out—but somehow, the fact that they could joke about it made it a joke. Made it something that would never happen in real life. Shawn wasn't afraid to ask for what he wanted because Jon wasn't afraid to say no way. But more often than not, he bought Shawn what he wanted. Jon had replaced most of Shawn's wardrobe in the first month they'd lived together, and he didn't even blink at the cost. There were things they missed—Shawn had his own toothbrush and toothpaste and shampoo and everything, but he had slept with an extra rolled up blanket as a pillow for months—but he never felt like he was missing anything, and he always knew he could ask.

Shawn missed him so much, it hurt. He couldn't even talk to him; Jon still hadn't woken up yet.

There was no final straw. No fight or argument. About a week into Shawn's stay at the Matthews, he just couldn't take it anymore.

He grabbed a backpack with his things and climbed out of the window. He hadn't brought much from the apartment, and he didn't need much. And if he was taking to the streets, he would need even less. He was used to being on his own, and it wasn't even forever. Just until Jon got back on his feet. Feeny seemed to think that could take a while, but Jon was stronger than that. Shawn would be fine going it alone for a few weeks. It was better than bunking with Cory and Eric.

He should have known he wouldn't be alone for long.

His dad's trailer might have been long gone, but there were always guys around. And he should have known they'd push him into doing something illegal, and he should have known he would cave, and he should have known the other guys would bail when the police showed up, leaving Shawn standing alone out in front of the convenience store they'd been about to break into.

He was lucky they hadn't gotten far. He hadn't technically done anything illegal yet, and he was a minor, so the cop said he'd take him back to his parents.

Shawn had half a mind to direct the cop to the hospital. But he had a pretty good idea of how that would end up for him; he knew better than to expect compassion. He told the cop he was staying with a friend while his legal guardian recovered from an accident in the hospital, and he began directing him toward the Matthews.

They pulled up in front of the house, and all of a sudden, Shawn couldn't do it.

He couldn't listen to Cory's parents whispering about what they were going to do with the fourth child that wasn't theirs; he couldn't stand to see the worry in their eyes, the second guessing of whether they should have allowed Cory and Shawn to stay friends all these years. He couldn't stand the yelling that would come the next day, the distanced yelling, nothing like his dad used to yell, nothing like Jon did.

And all at once an idea occurred to him. There was a way out.

It was suicide. He knew that. When Feeny had said to call on him if he needed anything, he hadn't meant this. But if it was between that and maybe losing his best friend...

He made a snap decision. "Uh, not this house. The next one down."

The cop just nodded and got out of the car, walking him to his doom.

For a blissful week, George believed he had been wrong about the Matthews failing to take proper care of the Hunter boy. George readied his guest bedroom and bathroom, just in case, but it came to nothing. He heard nothing from the Matthews and nothing from Shawn.

Then there was a knock on his door at two in the morning.

George ignored it at first, assuming he was dreaming or that whoever was knocking at such an ungodly hour would come to their senses and leave him alone until the morning. But the knocking only grew louder, and he finally had to pull himself out of bed.

And there was a police officer. With Shawn.

It took George a moment to form words. "Officer?"

"Caught this one outside the 7/11 trying to break in. He says his dad's in the hospital and he's staying with you."

"I... with me?"

The officer raised his eyebrows and looked over at Shawn, who visibly cringed.

George quickly cleared his throat. "Ah, Officer, he's my student, and I'm a good friend of his guardian's. I can take responsibility for him."

"You can keep him out of trouble?"

"Oh, I intend to." George gave Shawn a look stern enough to make him swallow hard.

The officer nodded to George, and he left.

A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts! I don't see many Shawn and Feeny fics around here, though they had some great interactions in canon.