AN: Chapter title from the Bruce Springsteen song of the same name.

Big thanks to my sis, Mirandabelle, for brainstorming with me and coming up with the bet in the minigolf scene. And MantaI305ApollosChariot for help with Audrey's swimsuit.

Credit for "Too much shirts" to Indy Strong who coined the phrase on Pod Meets World

Jon still felt like he was walking on hot coals by the time he got back to the cabin and was happy to see that Shawn was up and sleepily hanging onto Audrey while she cooked hot dogs on the stove. He walked up behind them and gave Shawn a light pop on the back of the head. The teen rolled his head to the side and gave him a lazy grin.

Audrey kept the meal simple: hot dogs and chips. The last two days had been filled with a lot of food and snacks and neither Jon nor Shawn felt like eating much. Shawn ate very little, which was not surprising since Jon had not seen him without a bag of something in his hands for the past 48 hours unless he was asleep. Audrey on the other hand was beginning to worry him.

It wasn't that she hadn't been eating, but Jon noticed that her meals were reduced to sampling whatever he or Shawn were eating. At lunch half of her burger went in the trash and she only picked at her fries.

Now, as they cleaned up the kitchen, Jon saw the pale look on her face and caught Shawn's attention. With a serious look he nodded at Audrey. Shawn understood the unspoken direction: pull up a chair; it's time for a family chat.

They had established this protocol with Audrey's therapist and practiced it a few times, but this was the first time using it without professional supervision.

"Hey," Jon said casually. He put his arm around her after she put the rag on the dishrack.

"Hey," she replied leaning into him. She gave Shawn, who was holding out a chair to her, a curious look.

"You feelin' okay?"

Audrey knew from the tone of his voice that there was more to this, but she wasn't sure what. "People have been asking me that all day. You know I'm not pregnant," she snapped in exasperation.

Jon and Shawn exchanged worried looks. This was not a normal reaction to a simple question.

Audrey started to pull away. Although he was still uncertain about how to phrase his concern he no longer tried for the perfect words. "Your eatin' has decreased over the last day," he said in a neutral tone. "You barely touched dinner."

Audrey paled further and she glanced at Shawn who watched her with concern. The urge to revert to old ways and divert attention away from herself or lie was overwhelming.

It took her several minutes to fight the compulsion and answer. "I'm struggling with obsessive thoughts about the waterpark."

Shawn was at her side in an instant. "Mama, if you don't wanna go, we don't go. I don't care that much about it."

"It's not the rides," she said weakly as panic rose up within her. A cold sweat broke over her and she felt a wave of nausea hit her. She wanted to run but Jon had a firm grip on her, and Shawn clutched her hand. They knew her too well to be put off by excuses.

"It's…it's what to wear. I don't know if I can wear a swimsuit.'

"How come?" Shawn asked.

"It's just…" she glanced at Jon but quickly looked away. "It's the idea of wearing something so revealing."

Shawn gave Jon a severe look. He was under the impression Audrey had not seen the suit and that he would get to approve it before she did. He was about to voice his displeasure when Audrey said, "Besides, I don't have one."

Without thinking, Shawn replied, "Yeah, you do. Jon got you one on the way here."

Audrey frowned and looked up at Jon. "You did?"

"Yeah," Jon said, suddenly wishing he hadn't without her approval. "I saw you didn't have one when we packed your stuff, so I picked one up for you when we were at Goode's."

"Oh." The words that followed sounded hollow. "Thanks, Jonny. I'm sure I'll love whatever you picked out."

"Don't worry, Mama, I'll take a look at it first to make sure he didn't get you a dopey beige one piece or something." Shawn huffed his hair out of his eyes and gave Jon a pointed look.

Jon shot him one of annoyance. "I had no intention of gettin' that one."

"I still need to look at it," he replied. "Your fashion sense is questionable at best."

"And yours isn't, Mr. Too Much Shirts?"

Normally she enjoyed listening to their back and forth, but the compulsive feeling to run compounded by the nausea was crushing her. She battled with what she knew she knew she should do and old habits.

Jon and Shawn continued snarking at each other while she silently struggled. Anxiety hit her hard. Audrey gripped Jon's shirt and just before compulsion pushed her to the bathroom, she blurted out, "I don't think it's a good idea for me to be alone tonight."

Immediately Jon and Shawn stopped their bickering.

"Mama?" Shawn leaned in close to her.

"Aud?"

"I have that feeling like I want to make myself throw up."

Jon was caught off guard by the confession as this was the first time she'd ever said anything to them outside of her therapist's office.

This was a big step for her.

Shawn met Jon's eyes and nodded his understanding of what was happening. "Dad and I'll be happy not to give you any personal space whatsoever."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks."

"I'm proud of you, Aud," Jon said, kissing her head.

"Me, too," Shawn said, wrapping them both in a hug.

"You're really makin' progress, babe."

"Yeah, Mama, you're kickin' this eatin' disorder's butt!"

Jon and Shawn continued to shower her in praise. Audrey just nodded numbly, not nearly as confident in herself as they were.

It wasn't the alarm that woke Jon up the next morning.

Hot air hit his face at a rhythmic pace. And that air smelled strangely like toothpaste and Fruit Loops.

He tried to turn over to get away from both the heat and smell, but he was prevented from doing so by a heavy weight in the middle of his chest. He opened one eye and found Shawn's nose mere centimeters away from his face. Jon woke fully with a strangled cry of shock and annoyance.

"What are you doin'!?" he hissed.

Shawn gave him a dirty look and clamped his hand over Jon's mouth. "Shhh! You'll wake Mama!'

Jon very seriously considered licking the kid's palm, but it occurred to him that he didn't know what Shawn's hand washing habits were and reconsidered. Instead he took hold of his wrist and pushed the teen away from his face.

"What are you doin'?" he repeated in a low growl.

Shawn pulled away and scowled at him. He stood up and motioned sharply for Jon to follow him.

With a silent groan, Jon threw off the covers and begrudging left the bedroom. Audrey didn't stir, but she never did. He wondered if she really slept through their noise or if she was just ignoring them.

"What is this all about?" he asked again once the bedroom door was closed behind them."

As he said this his attention was caught by the clock.

6 A.M.

Jon glared at the timepiece and shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants.

Unphased by the early hour Shawn said seriously, "We're goin' to the waterpark today."

He stared at the teen incredulously. " That's what you woke me up to tell me?"

Shawn sighed in exasperation. "No, I woke you up so I can see this swimsuit you got Audrey."

Jon closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. After a moment, he relaxed.

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get a second just wasn't sure Shawn's was the best one to get.

"Fine. Wait here."

Quietly he slipped back into the room and went to his bed. He reached under the mattress and pulled out a bag. He wasn't really sure why he was hiding it although he was a bit nervous about giving his student teacher something that could be perceived as intimate by certain people.

As soon as the bag was in hand, he was thrown into the previous year trying to explain the brown bag containing Kat's underwear to Mr. Feeny. He still couldn't look back on that without feeling completely humiliated.

But this was not the same situation. There was no nosy principal around. And it was just a swimsuit.

He was barely back in the living room when Shawn snatched the bag from him. The teen pulled the suit out and discarded the packaging on the floor. Jon grumbled under his breath to calm the nerves that were irritating him as he picked up the bag.

Shawn held the garment up and examined it from every conceivable angle. He held it to the light, up to Jon, and up to himself.

All in silence.

Jon could only take so much. "Well?"

Shawn laid the bikini out on the table and took three exaggerated steps back, eying it critically. Finally, he said, "I'm surprised you got the one with so much fabric."

Jon gave him an exasperated look. It was too early in the morning for this.

Shawn arched a brow at him. "I saw the ones you were lookin' at."

"I thought you were talkin' to that old guy about huntin'," he snapped back.

Shawn ignored him. "I'm glad you didn't get that beige one-piece you spent so long on."

"I thought it was a pearly bikini," Jon grumbled.

"Pearly?" Shawn made a face. "What does that even mean?"

"Who cares? Focus on the suit I got huh?" As much as he didn't want to admit, he was worried that Shawn thought the suit was terrible which would guarantee Audrey would too. "What about this one?"

Shawn went back to scrutinizing it in silence.

Jon put his hands on his waist and was about to snap at him when the teen moved his finger away from his mouth and gave a nod of approval.

"Good choice." Shawn put his hand on Jon's shoulder and pointed to the suit. "The colors will go great with her hair and skin. The skirt provides plenty of coverage and the top is pretty padded. Mama should feel well covered. There's just one thing."

The tone of his voice set Jon on edge. "What?"

"How do you know you got the right size?"

A red flush colored his cheeks. Sheepishly, he admitted, "I checked her underwear while we were packin' and got the same size."

Shawn approved of this. "What about the top?"

Jon frowned. "What about the top?"

"Didn't you check her bra size?"

Jon closed his eyes and grimaced. It did not occur to him that there would be a difference.

Shawn let out a low whistle when he saw the look on his teacher's face. "Yeah, if you didn't get the right cup size she's gonna feel exposed. Too small she'll spill over the cups. Too big and she'll fall out of it. And it won't look good."

Suddenly Jon became very uncomfortable discussing the suit and Audrey with him. However Shawn was right. He couldn't believe it never occurred to him to check her bra size, especially when that sort of thing used to be the only thing that ever occurred to him and was one of the first things he checked.

"So what do I do?" He dropped heavily into a chair by the table.

Shawn shrugged. "Nothin' you can do but show her and let her see if it fits."

He put his hand over his mouth then said, "I can't believe I don't know her bra size."

They sat in silence both staring at the swimsuit. Then Shawn said unhelpfully, "Topanga would know."

"How?"

"Girls have a way of knowin' these things about each other," he replied like a wise sage.

Jon gave him a skeptical look, then chuckled. Shawn could be so confidently wrong sometimes. He watched the teen for a moment then said, "I'm surprised you don't know that kind of thing."

Shawn twitched his nose and looked at the bikini thoughtfully. "I don't see Audrey like that."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know." Shawn smoothed out the wrinkles in the skirt. "But yeah, I used to just glance at a girl and know her sizes."

"And now?"

He shrugged and folded his hands in front of him. "I don't see Audrey like," he said again. "She's really beautiful." There was a thoughtful look in his eyes. "But there's a lot more to her, you know? I figure if there's a lot more to Aud who isn't a lot older than the girls I date then that means there's more to them than how hot they are, right?"

A smile tugged at the corner of Jon's mouth over this revelation. "Yeah."

His mind went to the time Shawn snuck Veronica Watson back to the apartment and all the girls he chose based solely on looks. He recalled the time he found and destroyed the notebook rating girls' physical features in detail that was passed around the locker room not long after the Veronica incident.

So hearing this mature outlook from Shawn made Jon inexplicably proud of him.

The kid was really growing up.

As if to confirm this Shawn said, "I'm startin' not to see any girl like that anymore."

"When did this happen?" he asked quietly.

Shawn shrugged and then frowned as he tried to remember. "I dunno the exact moment but seein' how differently you treat Aud make me think about it. I mean most guys would go for her because she's young and hot then do the whole 'love 'em and leave 'em" thing." He turned to face and regarded him seriously. "But you didn't do that. No matter what you wanted, you put her first. You treat her…"

Shawn frowned as he struggled with his last thoughts.

"Like a person?" Jon offered.

He shook his head slightly, then paused and nodded. "With respect."

Jon sat back in surprise. While Shawn always said he was different with Audrey than with other women he dated, he did not realize how strongly his actions affected the teen in his care. Or how closely he was being watched. It was intimidating to think he had so much influence over someone just by what he did.

As loud as actions spoke though, he knew words were needed to back them up, so he said, "I'm proud of you, Shawn."

Shawn looked surprised for a moment, then gave a small smile and nodded. He returned his attention to the bikini. "Show Mama," he said. "If it doesn't fit we can always get her somethin' else."

He looked at Jon through his bangs and said sincerely, "You didn't get the string bikini you spent so much time starin' at."

Jon gave a short laugh and shook his head. "Nah, I know Audrey wouldn't be comfortable in something like that. She has to wear it, not me. I want her to be comfortable."

Shawn gave him a pleased grin. "I'm proud of you. You're growin' up."

This brought a loud chuckle out of Jon. He reached over and put the teen in an affectionate headlock.

"Yeah, we've both done a lot of growin' this year."

"Jon, I really appreciate the thought, but there is no way I can wear this."

"It's the wrong size isn't it?" Jon was standing in the doorway of the bedroom where Audrey sat on the bed holding up his gift.

"No, actually, it's not." She peeked around the bikini to give him a curious look. "How did you know my size anyway?"

He came very close to blaming it on Shawn then realized if he couldn't talk to the woman he was going to marry about something simple like this, they were going to have problems later on.

He took a deep breath and said, "I took a look at your underwear while we packed. Got lucky with the top."

The top was what Audrey was holding up and looking at in dismay.

"What's wrong with it?"

Nothing was wrong with the suit.

Audrey slowly lowered the swimsuit and stared at him. He was already ready for their day at the waterpark; dressed in swimming trunks and a white button-up shirt that was unbuttoned showing off his buff physique. As ridiculous as it sounded, she could not help but compare herself to him. He was fit and, in her opinion, perfect. She was not and felt lacking next to him.

There was no way people thought they actually belonged together.

She didn't say this out loud though. Instead she held the suit out to him and said, "The colors wash me out."

Jon crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe, regarding her seriously. "Those are colors you wear all the time."

Her face flickered from its neutral expression to guilt and back again. Jon stepped inside the room and closed the door.

"Talk to me, Aud. What's wrong with the suit?"

"Nothing."

He arched his brow. "Somethin's wrong."

She said nothing but he could see the internal struggle she was having- it was written all over her face.

Jon pursed his lips together for a moment. He knew what the issue was, and he knew she needed to be the one to express it. "What is it?"

There was several minutes of silence as Audrey stared at her hands and the fabric she held in them.

Finally she said, "It's me."

He frowned slightly. "Babe, I don't understand."

"Jon, this suit is meant for someone curvy," she explained with a heavy sigh. "Someone who can fill it out. I can't."

Jon very nearly let a "have you looked in a mirror lately" slip out as he sat next to her.

While he didn't expect her to see herself the way he saw, he was hoping that she was becoming more accepting of herself. It troubled him even more that there was nothing he could say or do to convince her she was not lacking in any way.

But he knew he had to let her work through her feelings on her own so, as much as he wanted to "fix" things, he merely held her gaze for a long while then said, "How do you know if you don't try it on?"

She looked at the swimsuit as though it might bite her hand.

"I can't wear it in public."

Jon shrugged. "Not askin' you to. I just think you should try it on for yourself and I dunno give yourself some grace. You don't have to show me or anythin'."

She frowned at the suit then looked up at him before slowly nodding. He squeezed her hand then left the room.

Audrey sat on the bed for several minutes unsure of what to do. She could put the suit on and just not look in the mirror. Or she could just look in the bathroom mirror because her top half wasn't so bad; she didn't mind her arms.

She'd be okay as long as she avoided her problem areas in the full-length mirror.

She could put the suit on.

She could walk out of the bedroom.

She could walk past a crowd of people under the right circumstances.

But she could not let Jon see her.

A deep-rooted fear trapped her. A fear that if he should see her in it, he would be so disappointed that he would end up always thinking of the women he'd been with in the past and regret his decision to marry her.

She didn't know what to do.

Minutes ticked by and there was no sound from the bedroom. Jon wondered if she'd made it as far as trying on the suit or if she got stuck somewhere in between. As much as he wanted to walk in and see what was going on, he waited.

And waited.

Shawn watched him with an intense expression. "She's been in there for a long time."

"Yeah." He started to pace the small living area.

"I'm serious about skippin' the waterpark. I really don't care."

"I know." Jon stopped pacing and looked at his student. "I just wish I knew how far to push her; you know? She needs to do things like this, but I don't wanna end up hurtin' her."

"I know," Shawn sighed.

Jon resumed walking.

After fifteen minutes the door to the bedroom cracked open a sliver.

"Jon?"

He was at the door the moment he heard his name. Shawn stood up and watched curiously but otherwise stayed put.

Although she opened the door, she wouldn't let him in.

"I can't wear this."

"Hey, that's okay," he said, giving the door a slight push. She pushed back so he couldn't open it.

"Can I come in?"

Silence.

"Aud?"

The pressure on the other side of the door released. Gingerly he pushed the door open and found her hiding on the other side. She stood in the corner behind the door with her hair wrapped around her shoulders and her head down.

Jon felt a deep sympathy and heartache for what she was struggling with. It was hard to understand how she could not like what she saw in the mirror.

He certainly did.

He was also pleased to see her looking healthier than he'd ever seen her. There was no trick of the lighting this time. But it didn't matter when she was close to tears over it.

Reaching for her hand, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't resist but she didn't look at him either. He held her until she relaxed then he lightly traced the length of her spine with his fingertip as he took in the warm softness of her skin.

"You are a knock-out." he said, kissing the top of her head.

He felt a small smile against his chest, and she exhaled her breath. He also felt her clutch his shirt anxiously.

"Okay," she said in an all too cheery tone. "If you like it that much I'll wear it. Guess I should put something over this so we can get breakfast."

Jon didn't miss the tone of her voice. He didn't miss the avoidance of looking directly at him. Nor did he miss the trembling of her hands as she let go of him and went to the dresser.

As she drew her hair around her trying to hide, he sighed unhappily.

She did look incredible, so much so it made his head swim. He struggled to keep his thoughts in check.. No matter how much he liked what he saw, he could not let her go out so full of fear of over a swimsuit.

Her mental health wasn't worth the risk.

Jon took off his shirt, walked up behind her, and draped it over her shoulders. He kissed the crook of her neck and buttoned the first two buttons.

"There's a place that sells clothin' and stuff just down the road. Shawn saw it on the Campgrounds map yesterday. They sell swimsuits. Why don't we stop there before headin' to the water park? You can pick out somethin' you feel comfortable in."

"But you like this one."

He nodded thoughtfully then winked at her. "We'll save it for the honeymoon."

A light blush flushed her cheeks as she turned around to give him a kiss of gratitude. He let his hands linger on her waist then kissed her once more before leaving the room.

For such a small store there was a surprisingly large selection of swimsuits to choose from.

During the search for the right suit for Audrey, Jon and Shawn learned that trying on clothing was a source of great fear for her.

Jon understood it from the point of it taking too much time to do, but he knew that was not the source of her anxiety.

Shawn did not understand it at all. Mostly because he didn't try on clothes at stores. His clothes were often hand-me downs from some brother or cousin or from the Good Will at times, almost never new. When he moved in with Jon, his teacher's method of sizing clothes for him was to hold the article of clothing up to him and say, "too small", "too big", or "close enough".

The problem turned out to be getting Audrey to actually try on the suit once she was in the dressing room. She would disappear with an armful of swimsuits in different sizes and refuse to come out.

There was no reason beyond "I hate it" given which made it hard for Jon and Shawn to try to find something else; they had no idea what to avoid.

To get the information needed they needed to talk to her which brought another problem: Audrey wouldn't come out and Jon couldn't go in.

"We should have brought Topanga with us," Shawn said, puffing his bangs out of his eyes. He stood in the middle of a round rack of clothing, leaning over the top of it.

Jon frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"She could go in and help Aud."

"Yeah," he sighed, "but we didn't."

Shawn disappeared abruptly into the clothes and reappeared at Jon's side. "It's not very busy," he remarked as he looked around.

"So?"

"Nobody's back here."

"So?"

"So, go in with her," Shawn said, annoyed Jon wasn't paying more attention to the situation.

"Shawn." Jon wasn't sure how to respond to this. "I can't. We'd be thrown out if I got caught. Or worse, arrested."

"Broth-er," he rolled his eyes, unimpressed by Jon's lack of chivalry. "No one's here and I'll keep watch."

Knowing what Shawn' attention span was like this did not instill confidence in him. "And if someone does come in what're you gonna do?"

"The crow flies at midnight," the teen said seriously, folding his arms over his stomach.

"What?"

"The crow flies at midnight. It means…"

"I know what it means," Jon said exasperated, "but what good does it do me if I'm in there and someone comes in?"

"You don't come out."

"Oh. Right." Jon blinked, unsure of how he missed the obvious.

When Shawn saw he was going to refuse, he leaned dramatically towards the changing rooms with his hand cupped around his ear. "I think she's cryin'.

He didn't actually hear anything, but it got the response out of Jon he hoped for. His teacher immediately disappeared into the women's changing room.

"Hey, Aud." He rapped his knuckles lightly on the door. "You decent?"

"Yeah," her voice was muffled but she didn't sound like she was crying.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess."

He opened the door and quickly stepped inside. As he shut the door behind him, Jon realized he'd been conned again. He quietly laughed at himself for falling for it, then turned his attention to Audrey. She was sitting on the bench in a shimmery purple one piece staring down at the floor.

She may not have been crying, but she was close to it.

Concerned, he knelt in front of her. He placed his hands on the bench on either side of her and kissed her forehead. "What's up?"

"I hate changing rooms." Her voice was emotionless and her expression blank. "I just get comfortable seeing myself and then I come here and I just…" She looked up with a look of defeat in her eyes. "This is pointless, Jon. I'm not going to find anything. You and Shawn should go without me. I'll stay in the cabin and meet you at Dutch Wonderland when you're done."

"You will not," he said firmly. When she flinched slightly, he softened her approach and gently brushed her hair away from her face. "What is it about changin' rooms that's so bad?"

She pointed to the mirror and the lights then let her hands drop back into her lap.

Jon wrinkled his nose as he looked around. Looking back at her he saw what she meant. The lighting was harsh, and it made it look like she had dark circles under her eyes and added a hawkishness to her features that did not exist outside of that room. He assumed the lighting was made worse in the mirror.

After several minutes of talking to her and even taking his shirt off to show her the lighting wasn't kind to him either, he got her to stand up and show him the suit.

He loved it as the fabric had a wet look to it and clung to her like a wetsuit. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and hated what she saw.

Under no circumstances would she wear this one.

Jon refrained from arguing with her and nodded. "That one's out. You wanna try another one?"

She nodded hesitantly then looked expectantly at him. He stared back at her with a look of admiration.

Audrey shook her head and smiled slightly. "If you want me to try on another one you'll have to leave."

Jon frowned. "Goin' in and out is gonna attract attention. How about I just turn around?"

She nodded, already distracted by her image in front of her.

He saw this as he turned around and wondered if taking the mirror out of the equation would help. He stood in front of it with his head bowed so he wouldn't be tempted to peek behind him.

At Audrey's alert he turned around and remained firmly in front of the mirror.

"I can't see, Jon."

"I know. How do you feel about that one?"

It was a cute deep red one-piece with a halter top.

"I hate the cut."

This didn't surprise him as it was high cut. But he did like this one, even more than the purple one, and not just because of the way she looked in it.

"You remind me of Wanda Maximoff," he said with a smile.

Audrey looked up at him sharply. "Who's that? An ex-girlfriend?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Wanda Maximoff also known as the Scarlet Witch. She made her first appearance in X-Men number 4 in 1964."

Audrey couldn't help but laugh. She would be one of his superheroes. "Is that the comic book you taught on your first day?"

"No, that was Uncanny X-Men Volume 1, number 316." He reached out to her and took both hands as he admired her and the suit. "Wanda was not in that one. The comic this suit reminds me of is from Vision & Scarlet Witch number 1. Came out in '82. She got her first solo comic last year, but it was…not great."

He made a face as he thought of Wanda's suit and hair cut in that series.

She smiled knowingly. "But it's still in your collection under your bed. Or is it in the attic?"

"Attic, all of it," he chuckled. "The collection had to be moved; it unleveled my bed."

She shook her head then tried to get around him to see the mirror.

"Aud."

She looked up at him.

"Are you comfortable in that suit?"

She shook her head.

"Then there's no point in lookin' in the mirror." He pressed his back against the mirror making it impossible for her to get a glimpse of herself. "Have you felt comfortable in anythin' you've tried on?"

She turned and looked with uncertainty at the garments hanging on the hooks behind her. After a while she shrugged. "I really liked the bottom of the suit you got me. But not the top. I can't wear a bikini top."

"Hmm," Jon said. After a moment he said another set of words he never thought he'd say, "I think we need to consult Shawn."

"What about?"

He wouldn't elaborate. Instead he turned around again while she changed back into her street clothes. Before they left the room, Jon covered the mirror with a long shawl that had been left by a previous customer.

"Don't you dare take that down," he told her.

Shawn was not by the dressing room door but was instead hidden among the racks of swimsuits.

"Shawn!"

He jumped at his name and the back of the teen's head came into sharp contact with the bar of the rack of clothes he was in. Rubbing the back of his head he shot Jon a peeved look before walking over to him.

"Did you find something?"

"Half of something."

"Top or bottom?"

"Bottom."

"Which suit?"

"The one I bought."

"So we need a top."

Shawn turned to Audrey who was confused by the rapid conversation. "What do you want in a top, Mama?"

"Um, I didn't mind the halter top of the red suit."

The teen took the suit from her and studied it carefully. "Halter top with a sweetheart neckline," he murmured thoughtfully.

Normally, Jon would have asked how he knew that, but he didn't care if the kid was making names up as long he knew what to get Audrey.

Audrey put her hands on her hips. "What exactly are you two up to?"

Jon and Shawn exchanged smiles and nods then turned their attention to the swimsuits. Audrey stood back and watched them. Ten minutes later Jon and Shawn brought her a few items to try on. While they waited for her to come back, Shawn reburied himself in the racks.

"What are you doin'?"

Whatever the answer, it was lost in the hangers.

It didn't take long for Shawn to reemerge, holding onto something that reminded Jon of a towel. Before he could ask about it the frozen look of surprise on Shawn's face made him turn in the direction of the dressing room.

Standing shyly in the entry way was Audrey wearing a bright blue halter top with a sweetheart neckline. The shade matched the blue of the bottoms Jon had bought her. While the suit complimented her figure well, it wasn't the cause of their reaction. It was that she was wearing the suit in the middle of a store in front of them and did not look like she wanted the earth to open up beneath her feet.

Audrey's anxiety kicked into overdrive at their lack of response. "Uh guys?"

Jon broke out of his stupor first and smacked Shawn's shoulder with the back of his hand.

"I love it, Aud. You look great," he said, followed by a low whistle.

"Hot, Mama," Shawn grinned. "Very hot."

"Thanks," she replied almost shyly.

"How do you feel in it?" Jon asked as he walked over to her.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and shrugged. "I don't feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin."

"Hey, progress," Shawn pointed out proudly.

Audrey chuckled at this.

Jon put his arm around her. "You still don't look completely comfortable."

"I just need to get used to it."

"What about this?" Shawn held up a lilac terry cloth romper with a strapless top. "Lots of people wear covers up and this looks like regular clothes."

Audrey took the garment and held it up. "Yeah, I could try it."

She returned a few minutes later and was met with loud approval.

"That's cute," Jon remarked sincerely. He didn't miss that she wasn't wearing the suit underneath. "How do you feel in that?"

Her hands immediately went to her bare shoulders.

Jon and Shawn exchanged looks.

"I'm on it," the teen said.

By the time Audrey returned from changing back into her own clothes, Shawn was waiting by Jon with a short white terry cloth robe with blue and purple stripes in hand.

"I had one of these when I was a kid," she said with a fond smile. "It was white with orange and yellow stripes and green trim."

"In case you need more coverage," he explained.

"Thanks, sweetheart." She looked at Jon and back at Shawn. Taking a deep breath she handed it back to him and said, "But I don't think I will."

As Audrey headed to the checkout, Shawn looked back at his teacher before putting the cover up back. Jon motioned for him to add it to the pile.

Just in case.

Thank you for reading and spending time with me. I really appreciate your comments, too.