The rooftop kiss Jon mentions in this chapter occurs in a yet to be written chapter of "Birthday Wishes and Valentine Kisses".
The apartment was cold.
Too cold.
Especially since the air conditioning only worked sporadically as it waited for the landlord to fix it. Currently, it only put out enough cool air to keep its occupants from sweating to death. Yet it felt like the small living area was inside a refrigerator turned down too low. The coldest most point of the apartment centered on the couch where Katherine sat smiling smugly at them.
Daring them to move.
Her eyes were fixed, not on Jon, but on Audrey.
A triumphant smirk curled the corners of her mouth.
Slowly Katherine stood and sauntered over to them, swinging the disposable camera that hung around her finger.
The trio standing in the doorway stopped breathing.
Kat's gaze slid over Audrey, past Jon, rested on Shawn, then fixated on Jon. She leaned into his personal space and placed her hands on his chest.
"Welcome home, honey," she purred, nuzzling his cheek.
Jon tensed and pulled back as far from her as he could, but he couldn't go far as he was trapped by his refusal to let his companions go.
His grip on them tightened.
Shawn squirmed but didn't take a breath.
Audrey didn't react or move.
Katherine didn't miss their reactions.
She took a step towards Jon.
"I've missed you so much." She raised her hand to his head.
Jon flinched.
Smirking, Katherine ran her fingers through his hair.
The phone rang.
They all recoiled.
This broke Jon out of his stupor.
"What are you doin' here?" he snapped, not letting go of his companions. "You don't have a key."
"Of course, I do, honey." Kat let him have the space he desperately wanted but only a small amount. "I have the one you gave me."
Jon glared at her.
The phone rang again and interrupted a response.
Audrey's grip on Jon tightened and her breath caught at the sound.
The calendar by the computer had her full attention.
She knew who the incoming call was from.
Manicured nails digging into his side caused Jon to look up and see the calendar.
A sick, cold feeling swept over him.
He knew who the incoming call was from.
"Get out!" he snapped harshly at Katherine. "Get outta my home!"
A cool grin spread over Kat's face as she kissed him.
Intimate but taunting.
He pulled away and spat off the kiss in disgust.
She chuckled.
The phone rang again.
"On my way out, sweetheart." She stepped away fully this time, pleased with herself.
The camera began to swing again.
"I'll see only you soon."
As Shawn turned his head to give Katherine a look that could kill, he caught the expression of horror on Audrey's face.
He frowned in confusion, then saw what she was looking at.
He knew who the incoming call was from.
Suddenly nauseated he thought he might throw up. This time, without the aid of rotten coleslaw, he would aim for Katherine and hit more than her shoes. Goosebumps pricked his skin as a light electricity ran over his body. He pulled his eyes away from the calendar and found her smiling at him.
Kat moved away from Jon and pushed her way through the trio who were melded together like a chain.
She pushed at the weakest link.
Shawn.
Breaking his connection to Jon, she severed the hold they had on each other, leaving Jon and Audrey huddled together. She then flashed him a toothy grin and pinched his cheek.
Hard.
Shawn remained disengaged from Jon and Audrey as they stared at each other in shock. Kat's hand was on the doorknob when the answering machine kicked on.
"Audrey, this is Dr. Amsden..."
Jon and Shawn reanimated at the same time and rushed to the machine to shut it off. Rather than stop the recording, they collided with each other, and, by the time, they untangled themselves, the message detailing Audrey's next appointment was over.
Kat stood in the doorway for a full minute after the recording ended then blew Jon a kiss and walked out.
No one moved after she left.
They stood there staring at each other in disbelief over what had just happened.
Shawn was the first to come to life.
He flew into an indecipherable rage, gesturing wildly. By the time his frustration dissipated enough to be understood neither Jon nor Audrey could think. Jon slumped against the desk by the phone and Audrey collapsed heavily onto the couch.
Both were damp with a cold sweat while the apartment was unbearably hot.
Shawn stood on the footrest bar of a kitchen stool holding onto the back as he looked back and forth between the two. Their lack of reaction caused anxiety to shoot through him making it impossible to remain still.
Inaction was not an option. He needed them to do something.
Now.
"Well?!" he shouted at them, louder and angrier than he intended.
Neither responded.
Jon looked sick and furious.
Audrey looked pale and dazed.
Shawn blinked and waited expectantly.
When neither responded, he realized just how bad their situation was. So bad that the adults didn't know what to do. At the same time, he understood that his family needed help, and he was going to have to be the one to step up and take charge.
Just like they'd had done for him so many times.
So, he inhaled a deep breath and started to plan what needed to be done.
Step 1: hire Harley to slash Miss Tompkins' tires.
There was no purpose in that other than to make himself feel better and anger her. He was certain he'd feel even better if he could do it, however antics like that were the very things he'd promised them he would no longer do, and he didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble for Jon and Audrey.
Shawn ran his hands through his hair as he collected his thoughts. As he did this, he turned around slowly with his eyes scrutinizing every detail of the room.
In the kitchen his gaze caught on the cabinet doors near the refrigerator. They were slightly ajar as though someone had opened them but failed to close them all the way.
Neither Jon nor Audrey did this.
Jon got onto him when he left them open.
And he did.
Frequently.
He knew those cabinets were closed tightly before they left for Lancaster. Audrey was the last one out of the kitchen and she always made sure everything was in perfect order before she left. It crossed his mind that Katherine stole their food as well as his key and the idea caused his heart rate to spike.
If she was rude enough to go through their cabinets, she was rude enough to search the rest of the house.
Shawn's mouth opened slightly as he sucked in a sharp breath.
The thought disgusted him.
He clenched his fists twice. Each time he dug his short nails deep into the skin of his palm trying to calm himself.
Nothing else in the kitchen seemed amiss so he turned his attention to the living room. Jon was on the couch next to Audrey now. Neither were doing anything helpful.
Then the cushion they weren't sitting on caught his attention and increased the sense of foreboding that weighed on him.
That cushion belonged at the other end where Jon and Audrey were sitting. Instead, it was shoved into the wrong spot and the coffee stain was showing.
That coffee stain happened when he and Cory were working on a history project a few months ago.
The project called for antiqued papers which they created by using coffee. They had removed the couch cushions and put them on the floor, so they had a comfortable place to sit at the coffee table while they worked and watched TV.
However, they weren't supposed to be in the living room. In a rush to move the project back into the kitchen before Audrey and Jon came home, they spilled the coffee directly on the cushion which resulted in a stain the boys swore looked like Feeny.
Jon never found out because it was on the bottom of the cushion.
Shawn shouldn't be able to see it now.
But he could.
A creeping static electricity pricked his arms and shot towards his spine as what Katherine did the last time she broke into his home came to mind.
Shawn jumped up and rushed to his room.
Immediately, he saw his pillow askew, and his blanket rumpled as though it had been pulled back and replaced hurriedly. The mattress was slightly crooked on the bedframe. In a panic, he reached under the mattress to check on his prized journals- the ones Jon got him for Christmas.
They appeared unbothered and Shawn hugged them to his chest.
After he replaced the notebooks and fixed his bed, he turned his attention to the rest of the room. He found his closet door slightly ajar, but upon inspection nothing was missing.
Standing in the middle of his room, Shawn struggled to calm his breathing. Foreboding pressed against him. Something was very wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
Aside from his bed nothing was out of place.
Shawn's gaze dragged along the walls, searching for a reason for that terrible feeling. As he looked, he found little disturbances that were worse than the bed. The creepiest of those disturbances were his backpack and the messy piles of clothes he kept in various places around the room; they were all folded and stacked. The backpack was zipped closed.
In fact, his entire room, aside from the bed, was eerily neat and tidy. But not an Audrey neat and tidy, rather a hated-teacher-had-been-in-his-room-touching-his-things neat and tidy.
Hot disgust and anger flooded him.
He threw the clothing across the room and kicked half of it under his bed. Then he unzipped the backpack and dumped its contents on the floor before storming out of his room and into Jon's.
His teacher's room was not as obviously tampered with, but it still had that same eerie feeling.
He stood in the middle of the room looking for disturbances.
The bed looked laid in. The dresser drawers were slightly open. Knickknacks, trophies, and hockey memorabilia that decorated the room were off just enough for Shawn to notice. He checked the closet but was only familiar with the clothes Jon wore regularly. What Jon didn't take with them to Lancaster was all there as far as Shawn could tell, including the black sweater with the red stripe.
As he left the closet, he stopped and checked the small bathroom attached to it. Everything appeared normal, except for an empty spot in his teacher's shaving kit.
Shawn frowned and inspected it closer.
The aftershave was missing.
He wrinkled his nose and slowly backed out. He couldn't be sure Katherine took it. Jon had the tendency to overuse his aftershave and may have taken the full sized one instead of a travel-size bottle with them on vacation.
Shawn frowned as he tried to remember.
It was that Hugo Boss stuff Audrey loved so he probably did take it. He tried to convince himself that this was what happened as he headed back to the living room where Jon and Audrey were now talking in serious quiet tones.
Just as he was about to insert himself into their conversation and ask about the aftershave, he saw it. And it made him suddenly very cold in the hot room.
"Jon!" He grabbed a fistful of his teacher's shirt and tugged hard as he lunged over the back of the couch. "Jon, look!"
Confused, Jon turned around to look where Shawn was pointing as he wrestled his shirt from the teen's grip.
He didn't see anything.
"What?"
"The floorboard." Shawn felt panic rise as he thought about what was under there. "Look! It's been pulled up."
Jon stared at the space, then slowly shook his head. "Nah," he said uncertainly. "We must've not put it back all the way when we got in it the last time."
"You were the last one to put anything under there," he replied instantly. He stood over the floorboard and stared down at it. "You always put it down flat."
Jon grimaced.
Shawn could tell he didn't want to consider the possibility Katherine had found their hiding place.
He didn't want to consider it either.
Under those floorboards, where he used to stash his bad grades and Jon hid his extra cash, was all the paperwork for Audrey's visits to Dr. Amsden. Everything about Audrey was hidden under there with all the condemning evidence that Jon was heavily involved in her care. There were invoices with his name on them as well as letters and documents.
Everything that could ruin their family was under there except for the engagement ring.
If Kat looked under that floorboard, it was game over.
This realization hit Shawn hard, and panic rose up into his throat, burning his mouth and nose with a pungent bile.
He dropped to his knees and yanked the floorboard up. His grip was awkward and his movement too fast. The old worn wood was splintered on the sides and the fragments caught under his nails. He didn't feel the sharp pricks of pain as he threw the board to the side.
"Hey!" Jon's voice cut through the fog of fear and Shawn paused. "Calm down."
A strong hand on his shoulder subsided the churning maelstrom of emotion enough that he could see clearly again. When he looked down, he saw the Eagle Craftstor storage box of Audrey's that held her paperwork.
It appeared to be untouched.
"See," Jon was kneeling next to him now. "Look, everything's fine. Just like we left it."
Shawn stared down at the box.
"How can you be sure?" he asked looking back up at his teacher. "She was in our rooms."
Jon didn't say anything but the perturbed look on his face was the same one he had the night they came back from dropping Cory and Topanga off and they realized someone had been in the apartment while they were gone.
Abruptly, Jon got up and disappeared into his room.
When he came back several minutes later, he returned to the hole in the floor where Shawn was still sitting. Without a word he took the box out of its hiding place and opened it up. He carefully inspected everything inch of the container before meticulously going over each paper.
Shawn knew he had a very particular order for those documents, and he held his breath as Jon looked them over.
"No," Jon said when he reached the last paper, sounding exhausted and out of breath. "Everythin' is in order. She didn't take anything."
Shawn let out a heavy breath and looked past Jon to Audrey who was perched on the arm of the couch closest to them. She looked ill.
Jon put the papers back in their container and returned the box to its spot. He replaced the floorboard then stood up and offered a hand to Shawn. Shawn slapped his palm and stood up on his own.
"We're okay," Jon said. His voice was unsteady as though he didn't fully believe it.
"Jon, she saw us together," Audrey blurted out. Anxiously, she pressed the nails of her ringer fingers into the quick of her thumbnails. "You know she's snooped through the apartment. Even without the papers, there's enough evidence of me being here to get us into serious trouble."
Jon pressed his lips into a thin line and stared at the floor.
Shawn dropped onto the couch next to Audrey and watched his teacher worriedly.
"I'm callin' Feeny," he said quietly, startling them.
"Are you crazy!?" Shawn squawked in disbelief.
Jon looked up at him. "No, I'm not. I was gonna have to call him anyway about next Saturday. Doin' it now is better. Cut her off. Make sure I get our story out first."
While Jon made the call in his bedroom, Shawn huddled on the couch with Audrey tightly holding onto her. He couldn't shake the fear that they were overlooking something very important.
Several minutes later, Jon joined them again. "I gotta meetin' with Feeny after school tomorrow. I'll tell him everythin' then."
Audrey shook her head unhappily. Shawn couldn't take his eyes off the floorboard.
"It's been a long day," Audrey said after several minutes. She sounded like herself again, but still looked pale and unhappy. "We should call it a night early. Let's eat and get ready for bed. We can watch TV or something for a while."
Everyone agreed.
No one moved.
Shawn held on tightly to Jon and Audrey as an irrational fear of losing them forever set in. Eventually, Audrey untangled herself to make dinner. Jon remained where he was with his arm over Shawn's shoulder and his eyes on Audrey feeling the same ineffable dread.
Even though dinner was simple, soup and sandwiches, Audrey treated it as though she was making a gourmet meal. Going through her standard cooking routine eased her nerves just long enough for her to stop trembling.
Jon and Shawn saw the comfort in routine and fell into their own of preparing the salad and setting the table.
When they finally sat down to eat, Audrey wasn't the only one who picked at the food.
No one had an appetite.
After dinner, the routine continued as they took their places on the couch.
Jon sat in the middle of the couch with Audrey and Shawn by his side. Every minute or so he would absently kiss Audrey on her forehead or cheek. It was a nervous impulse much like his stroking Shawn's hair in a way that put his hand over the teen's face preventing him from seeing much of anything.
Shawn didn't protest this and neither did Audrey, who had her arms wrapped around Jon while holding onto to Shawn.
No one could relax.
The television droned on with evening dramas that faded into late night talk shows. Time slipped away as they were all lost in thought. Then suddenly, Shawn pulled out the embrace and jumped up.
"A camera!" he exclaimed staring at the apartment door.
"What?" Jon asked, sounding dazed as he shifted his and Audrey's position to better see the teen.
Shawn whirled back around to face them with his fingers jammed into his hair. "She had a camera with her! It was a disposable Kodak camera, and the frame counter was on zero!"
Jon stared at him, not wanting to accept what the teen was implying.
"Shawn, what?"
Walking over to his teacher, Shawn put his hands on Jon's shoulders. "She took pictures while she was here and used the entire roll of film."
Jon and Audrey exchange worried looks. They'd both missed the camera.
Shawn pointed to the kitchen. "She didn't have to take anything. She got pictures of everything."
The trio stared at the floorboards as a mutual numbness settled over the storm of emotions they were engulfed in. That night, instead of taking Audrey home as planned, they ended up sleeping on the couch, huddled together while their world slowly collapsed around them.
The next morning Jon woke up in a foggy blur of pain with a shrill ringing in his ears. His neck was crooked at an odd angle over the back of the couch with a heavy weight crushing his ribs. Audrey was draped over him and Shawn, with his arms wrapped around her, was pressing her into him. His shoulder loudly complained about the position it had been kept in all night as he tried to move without disturbing his family.
He managed to extract himself from under Audrey and settled her and Shawn onto the arm of the couch. As he did this, the ringing in his ears cleared into the unmistakable sound of the phone announcing a call.
With a groan, Jon stumbled over to the desk and picked up the receiver. He glanced at the caller ID and swore under his breath.
Feeny.
"Yeah, hello," he answered gruffly.
"Mr. Turner." The principal's tone was sharp and unfriendly.
The coldness in his boss's voice shocked Jon awake.
"Mr. Feeny," he shot back with the same attitude.
"I want you and Miss Andrews in my office in thirty minutes."
"Good mornin' to you too, George," Jon said in exasperation. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to get his thoughts together.
"I am not in the mood for your sarcasm, Mr. Turner. I want you in my office in half an hour."
"I can't," he snapped, his mood growing darker. He didn't appreciate being ordered around, particularly without a reason. "I'm not dressed, and neither is Shawn. He's gotta eat and if you want Audrey, we've gotta get her."
"Lucky for you she's already at your place," Mr. Feeny told him grimly.
A sharp retort died on his lips as the principal's words sunk in. His mind was reeling, and he couldn't hold his thoughts together.
"E-excuse me?"
"I know she's been staying at your place, Mr. Turner, and you at hers. Get her and Mr. Hunter and get to school. Now."
Jon was left in stunned silence as the sound of the phone being slammed down reverberated in his ear.
"Jon?" Audrey was at his side now, tugging at his sleeve. Worried gray eyes searched his face looking for the cause of his distress.
Shawn was sitting up now, also staring at him.
"Jon?" She stepped in front of him and forced him to look at her. "What's wrong?"
Seconds ticked by. Jon couldn't respond. The answer didn't seem real.
"Jon?" Shawn was in his face now. He frowned wondering when the kid had grown tall enough to be almost eye to eye with him.
Finally, the words fell out of his mouth.
"He knows."
Audrey started to say something then stopped. The look on Jon's face scared her. "He knows what?"
"Feeny knows you've been stayin' here."
"What?!" Shawn shouted in surprised outrage.
Audrey said nothing. Numbness settled over her.
Jon shook his head weakly and put a hand over his mouth.
"It was her!" the teen cried pointing an accusatory finger at Jon since he had no one else to point at. "She told Feeny!"
Jon shrugged, which upset Shawn even more.
"She couldn't have," Audrey said shaking her head. "I mean it was just last night. She didn't have time to meet with him."
"It was her!" Shawn said again, louder this time. "I told you she was snoopin'! She went to Feeny and ratted us out!"
Jon and Audrey had no choice but to agree with him. There was no other explanation.
Jon stared at the couch. His mind was a cacophony of thoughts. He couldn't push past the melee to put together a plan. Helplessly, he looked to Audrey whose expression portrayed exactly how he felt.
Hopeless.
"We should get to school as soon as possible," she said, pulling away from him and wrapping her arms around herself.
"Right," Jon agreed. "Right."
Shawn scowled at them. He didn't agree at all.
Jon started to reach out to Audrey, but she was just out of range, so he let his hand fall to his side. He glanced at Shawn.
"You get ready to go. I'll call Alan and let him know you're goin' with Cory today."
"No, I'm not," Shawn protested vehemently. "I'm goin' with you guys."
Jon looked to Audrey again, but she had nothing for him. He motioned Shawn over to him and took him by the shoulders.
"Not this time, bud. I need you where I know you're safe. I need to not worry about you."
Shawn didn't like the scared look in Jon's eyes because it wasn't the same kind of scared that was in them when he was brought home by the cops or did something stupid that could have gotten him hurt.
This was different and it scared him.
"Why?" he asked hesitantly.
"Because I don't know what's gonna happen or how long it could take."
The fear combined with the obvious anxiety told Shawn that Jon needed his cooperation not rebellion.
"Yeah, okay," he agreed reluctantly. "I'll get dressed and eat over there."
"Yeah, good deal." Jon gripped his shoulders tighter and held onto him for a moment longer. When he let go, Shawn thought he saw tears in his teacher's eyes.
Ten minutes later the trio met at the door. Audrey straightened Shawn's collar and smoothed his hair. Then she hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.
"Love you," she said, pressing her forehead against his.
"Love you, too, Mama." Shawn was surprised to find himself on the verge of tears.
"I'll see you after school."
"Yeah, sure." He looked over her shoulder at Jon who looked away from him.
Shawn left them with the heavy weight of foreboding riding on his shoulders. As he exited the building, he felt an intense compulsion to run back to Audrey and hold onto her. But because he wanted to help Jon, he resisted the urge and continued towards the Matthews house feeling worse with each step he took.
Jon and Audrey left shortly after Shawn and headed to the apartment parking lot.
It was the first time they'd gone to school together since early in Audrey's student teaching when she needed a ride. Once her landlady let her borrow her old Bonneville, carpooling was no longer necessary.
It felt strange to be riding together now.
Before Audrey got into the truck, Jon grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug. They held onto to each other tightly for a long time. When he let her go, she grabbed him and pulled him into a deep kiss. Once they broke the kiss, Jon grabbed her again and held onto her until they had no choice but to leave.
John Adams High was eerily empty early in the morning.
Jon and Audrey stood outside of the side door that was used by faculty clutching each other's hands in silence.
Audrey stared at their forlorn reflections in the window. "We need to go in."
Jon glanced at her. "Yeah."
Neither moved.
Jon's thoughts were reeling. He knew they would walk in together, but he was certain they would not walk out together.
An irrational, intense desire to run seized him.
The last time he felt like this he was fifteen and he did run.
Straight to Audrey's dad.
"Jon, we need to go in." The look on his face concerned her and she was already terribly anxious about the unknown ahead of them. "Mr. Feeny's already angry. Let's not make it worse by being late."
"He is already angry so what difference does it make?" The urge to run grew stronger as he stared at the window. He looked at her again and inhaled a sharp breath. "Let's get outta here."
Audrey's eyes widened, then she frowned. "What?"
Jon pursed his lips together tightly then said, "We go get Shawn and get out. Go to Richie. Go to Venus. The Village. Wherever. We just don't go in there."
Audrey opened her mouth to protest then shut it.
More than anything she wanted to go along with Jon's impulsive plan. To run off and create a life for themselves.
If was just the two of them? They had nothing to lose.
But with Shawn? They had everything to lose if they ran without those papers being signed.
If only this had happened the next week, after Shawn was theirs, then they could have left and taken him with them.
Maybe.
A deep despair overcame her.
"Jon," she said, shaking her head solemnly. "We can't."
"Aud." He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him "We just gotta lay low for a while- it's almost summer. Once school's out, we're home free. And I'm sure Alex would help me get a job in the City without havin' to go through Feeny for references."
The plan was tempting, but impossible.
"Jon-"
"I mean you're done with school in a couple of days anyway," he went on, growing more confident and certain of his plan. "You won't be affected by takin' off and can graduate on time."
"Jon-"
Anxiety crept up around her throat. Frustration at his persistence in following this "plan" was right behind it.
"You and me, we get married right now, Aud." The words alone made Jon feel better. Anything to avoid facing Feeny and not give up what their plans. "And Philly isn't far. We can make sure Shawn sees Cory as much as possible..."
She couldn't take it anymore. She'd been through all these impossible plans before when her mother was so sick. Her father believed the fairytale he created for them, and it destroyed him when their story did not have a happy ending, and her mother died anyway.
She couldn't handle another fictional story, another impossibility, and lose someone else she loved dearly.
"JON!"
The high-pitched desperation that tore through his name as she yelled at him, made Jon stop and stare at her.
"Just stop!" She pleaded. She deeply resented having to be the adult in another serious situation when she was once again the youngest by a significant amount.
She needed him to stop spinning stories and help her in reality.
All of her frustration poured out in an angry flood when she saw he was going to defend his plans. "You know this isn't possible. So just shut up!"
Jon stared at her in shock. This was the first time she'd gotten angry with him over something unrelated to her eating disorder. It was the first time she'd ever told him to shut up. It shouldn't be a big deal, but under the circumstances it was.
Defensiveness crept over him as he felt the sting of rejection. Then, when he really looked at her, he saw a scared kid terrified of what the future held for them.
With an embarrassed sigh he ran his hand through his hair and said, "I'm sorry, Aud. I just, I just don't wanna lose you or Shawn."
She shook her head in despair. "I can't do this, Jon. I can't be the strength you need. I can't do things for you anymore. I just can't." Her shoulders slumped as she fought back tears.
"Hey, hey!" He pulled her into a tight hug, brushed away those tears with his thumbs, and lightly kissed her forehead. "You don't need to, Aud. I'm not used to stayin' when things get hard. I've always run, never had a reason to stay until now. Fallin' back on old habits, I guess. I'm sorry."
Jon held onto to her tightly, realizing that someone could easily pull into the teachers' parking lot now and see them. Even so he tangled his fingers in her hair.
"I love you, Jonny, but I'm scared."
"I love you, too, Aud." He felt guilty for not realizing how hard this was on her sooner or how much pressure he was putting on her to be his anchor. "I don't know what's gonna happen, but I'll take care of us. You just take care of yourself."
She nodded into his chest while he kissed the top of her head. Then he took a step back and held the door open for her.
Audrey was taken into Feeny's office immediately.
The open door to the office and Bud's harsh "the girl goes first" was all that greeted them. Jon sat in the chair in the room outside where the former janitor sat at his desk cursing everything he had to do and periodically glaring at him as though the work was his fault.
Without having any idea what Feeny knew or what he would do with what he knew, Jon went over every possible question and scenario he could think of and how to respond to it. He hoped he and Audrey would be on the same wavelength when it came to answering questions. But he had no way of knowing how much pressure their principal might use and if she'd be strong enough to hold up under it.
He'd been asking an awful lot of her lately and had put too much on her just so that his life didn't change.
Jon groaned and leaned forward, nervously swatting at his tie.
He assumed Kat had told Feeny that he and Audrey were dating at best, living together at worst.
Then what Topanga found out about dating according to his contract and NYU's code of conduct came to mind. He sighed in relief at the recollection. Legally, Feeny couldn't touch them.
Assuming Topanga was right.
Jon put a hand over his mouth and sank back into his chair.
Why on earth did I trust a fifteen-year-old on something as important as this? He wondered in dismay.
This past year had robbed him of his sanity, there was no doubt about that. Planning to adopt a troubled kid and making marriage plans with his student teacher was not sane. He didn't know who to blame for this change in his view of relationships and what he wanted out of life.
Shawn?
Audrey?
Both?
There was no chance for an answer to come to him as the door to Feeny's office opened and Audrey walked out. Bud jumped to meet her, took her by the arm, and snarled at Jon as they walked by him.
Audrey kept her head down and didn't look at him. As she pulled her hair down around her shoulders, he saw tears slipping down her cheeks.
He couldn't move. He felt sick seeing her red-faced and shaking while holding onto herself.
What did Feeny say to her?
Whatever it was he knew there was no way to prepare for it, though he imagined Audrey didn't say much beyond "yes" or "no" to anything asked of her. He could tell by her body language that she was completely shut down and had been for some time.
Even though Bud and the heavy scent of tobacco was between them, Jon still caught the aroma of her shampoo as they walked by, and without thinking, he reached out to her.
"MR. TURNER!"
Feeny's voice froze him in place. Jon watched helplessly as Audrey passed him.
He was so tempted to defy Feeny and go after her anyway but fear he might make things worse for her stopped him. With deep resentment and apprehension, he turned to face his own fate.
The principal's office made him feel defensive and caged, even when the meetings with Feeny were about something benign. He'd spent a significant amount of time in them throughout his school career and even found himself in the Dean's office on more than one occasion in college.
Now sitting in front of Feeny all those years of visits congealed into one.
The men stared at each other for a long moment before Jon looked away. The hard, judgmental look in Feeny's eyes angered him and he struggled to hold onto his tongue.
The principal put his hands on top of the papers on his desk and spread his fingers out as though to brace himself. He glared at Jon over the rim of his glasses, clearly struggling to keep his own emotions in check.
"At nearly midnight last night," Feeny began. His voice was very low and menacing. "I was presented with undeniable evidence that you have broken my trust where Miss Andrews is concerned. Repeatedly."
Anger flared in Jon as Katherine's nasty smirk came to mind. He gripped the arms of the chair tightly as he hissed defensively, "I did no-!"
"BE QUIET!"
Jon's mouth snapped shut.
He had heard Feeny yell before.
He had seen Feeny angry before.
But never magnified to this extent and directed at him.
Suddenly he felt twelve-years-old again sitting before his father as the man angrily scolded him for failing to do his "job" at the most recent business meeting.
"You do not speak unless a question is asked." Feeny glared at him. "You will only answer the question that is asked. Is that understood?"
Jon glared back in defiance, but he couldn't hold the other man's gaze. He looked away.
"Yes."
"Yes, what?"
He stared at the principal with disgusted disbelief. "Yes, sir." He bit off each word and spat it out but resisted the urge to sarcastically salute.
Mr. Feeny was silent as he turned on the tape recording on his desk. "Did Miss Andrews spend the night at your apartment last night?"
Jon's shoulders slumped forward as he realized this was an official inquiry and not just Feeny following up on Kat's accusation. "Yes."
"Has she spent the night at your apartment before?"
"Yes."
"Have you spent the night at her house?"
"Yes."
"More than once?"
Jon paused, wondering how Audrey answered these questions. As he started to say no, he realized it didn't matter what she had said. For once, he had to step up and do the right thing rather than let it fall on her.
"Yes."
Feeny shook his head in frustration at Jon's stupidity. "Has Shawn Hunter been involved in these overnight stays?"
"Yes."
"Have you been hiding that Miss Andrews has been seeking treatment for an eating disorder?"
This question threw Jon, and he couldn't answer. He was expecting the next question to be an uncomfortably personal one about how he and Audrey spent their time together. He did not expect her eating disorder to be brought up.
"Yes," he said after a glare from Feeny told him he was taking too long to respond.
"Did you lie to me about the reason Miss Andrews was seeing a counselor?"
"Not really," Jon said, leaning forward. He was still unbalanced by the direction of the questions that he forgot the terms Feeny had set out. "She was-"
"YES OR NO, MR. TURNER!"
He sat back and stared blankly at the principal. "Yeah."
Feeny tapped his fingers on his desk before folding his hands in front of him and leaning forward.
"Miss Andrews is on her way back to New York. Her student teaching has been terminated effective immediately. Her advisor is on his way to pack her belongings. You will not be in the classroom tomorrow."
Jon was stunned.
Audrey was gone?
Already?
It hadn't been an hour since he last held her hand. And not two since she had told Shawn she'd see him after school.
A strange feeling gripped his heart.
Feeny cleared his throat loudly to get his attention. "Well, Mr. Turner, what do you have to say for yourself?"
A strange sense of disassociation overcame Jon. He heard himself speak but it felt like he was listening to someone else's conversation.
"What difference does it make if I talk?" he heard himself say in far too sarcastic a tone for the situation. "You've already decided you know everything and made your decision."
Mr. Feeny glared at him. "Talk, Mr. Turner."
"Audrey doesn't have anyone to take care of her, okay?" He flopped back into his chair and stared at the floor. "She's alone, George. All she's got is her old man who she's been takin' care on her own. Been doin' that since her mom died when she was a kid. She needed someone to step in and be there for her."
"It should not have been you."
He looked up sharply. "Who then, George? I'm tellin' you there's no family over here for her. Friends? When do you make friends in a situation like hers? You gonna do it? What do you know about her? You didn't even notice anything was wrong."
Feeny regarded him with a steady, emotionless expression. "I have not spent enough time with her to know something of that nature was wrong. And she should not have been spending enough time with you for you to notice."
"That time she was spendin' with us was about Shawn, and you know it!" Jon snapped back. Now that he knew Feeny had already made his decision, it didn't matter how he responded, and he felt no need to hold back. "Chet wasn't the only one who dumped the kid. Virna did too. Virna did first. He needed a mom as much as a dad and Audrey stepped up for him."
The principal's expression didn't waver, but the steely, angry edge was not quite as sharp as before. "So Mr. Hunter was the one who noticed Miss Andrews' health decline and informed you about it?"
Jon looked away for a moment. He considered lying.
"No."
"So, then you were spending enough time with her to notice for yourself."
"Yeah, I was."
"I warned you about this, Jonathan." Feeny shook his head and sat back in his seat. "I warned you about this from the very beginning."
"You warned me about datin' my student teacher which I have not done," he said knowing he was flirting with a dangerous subject as well as skirting the truth.
Feeny put hand up to wave off whatever Jon was going to say next. "But you did hide a very serious condition your student teacher had. If this had been your student..."
"She's not my student and never has been! She's an adult!" he snapped in frustration that the principal wasn't making an attempt to understand his situation. "And she isn't some random college student either, George. She's Richie's kid."
A frown of confusion flickered across Feeny's face. "Richie?"
"Richie Andrews," Jon sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Big name in the New York music scene that no one outside of the City knows. He did a lot for me. I owe it to him to take care of his kid."
"Why isn't her brother helping?"
"She doesn't have a-" Jon's voice trailed off as he realized with dismay that he had just outed himself as the "brother" who answered Audrey's phone the morning Brad called not long before Shawn's birthday.
"I see. Nice to meet you, Jay," Feeny said flatly. He clenched his jaw, frustrated with his teacher. "As I recall Mr. Lewis called quite early in the morning when you answered."
Jon lunged forward in his seat. "That was for Shawn's birthday! He was there. Nothing happened and I haven't done anything wrong!" he insisted vehemently, trying to turn the conversation back to Audrey's medical issue. "I told her advisor when I found out she relapsed, and he knew about her treatment schedule."
Everything he said was true.
Technically.
Feeny covered his lips briefly with his finger then said, "If you have not done anything wrong why did you lie to me?"
"Because we knew you wouldn't understand." Jon picked at the fabric on the knee of his jeans. "We knew you'd do this; you'd send Aud away." He looked up at the principal. "Kat had another copy of my key that she used to get into my place and go through it. I still don't understand why you trust her over me."
"She had pictures," he said, emotion breaking through for the first time. He sounded tired and regretful. "I could not ignore her this time, Jonathan."
Jon stared at him. He didn't understand how the man could ignore how those pictures were obtained. "Do you not care about how she got them? She used a stolen key again!"
He and Feeny stared at each other.
Jon had had enough.
He jumped up and headed for the door. He'd already lost Audrey. There wasn't much else Feeny could do to him now.
"Sit down, Mr. Turner."
Jon slowly turned back to face the principal with hands on his waist and his lips pressed together into a thin line. Eventually he said, "Nah, I don't think I will."
"Jonathan," Feeny held his hand out to the empty chair. "Sit down. Please."
The sudden shift in the principal's tone and the softening of the harsh look on his face stunned Jon into a sitting position. He stared at the floor in front of him rather than look at Feeny, however.
The principal reached over and turned off the tape recorder.
"I also spoke to Miss Andrews' mentor, and he told me about her father and your connection to him. I did not realize you knew him by a nickname. Apparently, he had quite an influence on your life when you were about Shawn's age."
Jon fell into the seat and shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to discuss his teen years.
"An influence quite like the one you are having on young Mr. Hunter's life."
Jon glanced up at him and shrugged again.
George dropped his chin and lightly tapped his fingers against the desktop. Whether his English Lit teacher knew it or not, his feelings for Audrey were all over his face. As was his belief that he was being treated unfairly.
He looked up again and said, "She needs help, Jonathan."
"She was gettin' help, George."
Feeny sighed. "She needs to be where she can get help in one place and not be pulled in so many directions. She needs to focus on her recovery so that she can return to full health."
Jon clenched his jaw and scowled. "You don't know the situation."
"I believe I do."
"No, you don't. You haven't even considered what Audrey wants."
"And that is?"
"To stay with Shawn."
Feeny studied him for a long moment then tapped his fingers against his desk, knowing that he purposely left his own name off from what Audrey wanted.
"I know that if there is nothing else going on but support for Shawn then you will have no issue making sure she gets all the help she needs so that she can come back to him."
"You just don't..." Jon started to growl in frustration until his principal's words suddenly absorbed into his consciousness. He blinked several times trying to clear his thoughts. "Come back to him?"
"Mr. Larsson is retiring at the end of the year," Feeny said softly. "If Miss Andrews receives medical clearance by the start of the school year, then 8th and 9th grade English Literature will be hers."
Jon stared in shock at his boss. He had nothing to say about this because of all the things Feeny could have said this was not on his radar at all.
The older man smiled slightly at the look on his teacher's face. "Yes, Mr. Turner. I believe Miss Andrews is a positive influence on the students, especially Mr. Hunter. She will be a fine addition to John Adams High. When she's ready."
Thoughts flew through his mind as Jon tried to figure out if he was being set up. Finally, he sat up a little straighter and said simply, "Seriously?"
Feeny gave him a small nod. "Seriously."
"Why?"
Raising his brow in amusement, he replied, "Because I did not think this would be the secret you would be hiding where Miss Andrews is concerned."
"Oh." Jon felt the heat of guilt flush his cheeks. He slouched down in the chair and hid a grimace behind his hand.
"Yes," Feeny picked up the paper in front of him and straightened them up. "I was quite convinced there was a romantic relationship between the two of you. But I see you were just looking out for her while also taking care of Shawn. I'm proud of you, Jonathan."
"Eh," Jon said thinking about the engagement ring in his leather jacket and the summer wedding plans. The kiss they shared on the roof above his apartment after Shawn's birthday also sprang to mind. That kiss was hardly a chaste one of friendship. "Thanks."
While the principal went on talking about his upstanding character, Jon sank further into his seat. He was supposed to have a meeting with this same man about attending Shawn's party on Saturday that would see him and Audrey sign legal guardianship papers after school.
As well as announce their plans to marry.
He couldn't tell him now.
Jon put his hand over his mouth and swore viciously into his palm.
Thinking about Saturday made him realize he would not only have to cancel the afternoon meeting but the party too.
With Audrey gone, the signing was most certainly on hold.
Jon felt sick as he realized he was going to have to tell Shawn about the abrupt change in plans.
Without Audrey to cushion the blow.
Feeny stood and walked around his desk to extend his hand to Jon. The man who thought he was doing such a good thing for Shawn by bringing her back next year had no idea he'd just ruined the kid's summer.
His, too.
Katherine Tompkins was leaning against the door of the principal's office.
With Bud out of the office and meandering the halls as he tended to do to avoid work, she had free reign of the office.
And heard everything Mr. Feeny said to Jon.
She wasn't happy about the revelation that Feeny intended to bring Audrey back and put her in a position that would have her in the same department as Jon.
If Audrey was just going to return in the fall, then she went to the principal for nothing. The whole point of turning Jon in for hiding her eating disorder was so she did not come back.
Kat pressed a polished mauve thumbnail against her lips as she listened to the end of Feeny's speech, then turned on her heel and walked out of the office.
The hall was empty of students and the pay phone by the bathroom was free. She glanced at the clock on the wall above the lockers where Jon's favorite students kept their school supplies.
Picking up the receiver, she dialed a number she'd had memorized since Audrey pushed her out of her place in Jon's life: Gerald O'Malley, president of the school board.
She had one last hand to play.
There would be no coming back for Audrey from this one.
Regrettably, Jon would have to suffer a bit, but he'd recover just fine.
"Yes, hello, this is Katherine Tompkins. I need to talk to Mr. O'Malley about a very important matter."
"Mr. O'Malley won't be in until after school," the weary voice of the secretary responded. "If you're a teacher you should know that. What message would you like to leave for him?"
A slow smirk spread over her lips.
She leaned against the wall playing with the cord of the phone. "There is a teacher at this school who is involved in a romantic relationship with his student teacher. I have photos they need to see."
"Oh?" The secretary was much more interested in what she had to say now. "Perhaps you should come down to the district office now. I may be able to get the president in sooner than after school."
"Yes, that's fine," Katherine told her cheerfully. "I can come down to the District Office right now."
With that, she hung up the phone and headed out, stopping at Jon's classroom door to give it a triumphant grin before leaving.
After leaving Feeny's office, the rest of the day crept slowly for Jon as he went through his classroom duties on autopilot.
He was completely numb and remembered nothing.
At some point between classes, Shawn came in looking for Audrey.
Jon felt sick when he heard her name. He hadn't been able to face the fact that Audrey was gone let alone figure out how to tell Shawn.
However he answered the teen was enough that Shawn rambled on about something or other. Jon didn't hear anything he said until he heard Cory speak up.
"You okay, Mr. Turner? You look like you lost something real important to you."
He flinched and crossed his arms over his chest as he tried to push back the painful sensation the question created.
Frowning at his students he said, "Shawn, you can't go over to the Matthews. I need you home after school asap."
"Yeah," Shawn tipped his head to the side and gave him a funny look. "I just said I wasn't goin' over there."
He waited for Jon to respond but his teacher just stared blankly at him. Furrowing his brow, he repeated he'd just said, "Morgan got sick last night, and Eric got whatever it is. Mrs. Matthews has them quarantined. Doesn't want guests over right now."
"Oh, good." Jon sat abruptly on his desk and didn't say anything else.
The boys exchanged confused looks. Cory, unable to take the uncomfortableness that was growing, swung his hands back and forth, popping his open palm against his fist.
"Yeah, I guess you teachers really need a break from Eric. Wish I could get one," he said awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Shawn. Home. Right away."
Shawn looked at his best friend who shrugged. He made a face at him, and they engaged in a conversation of expressions.
Before long Cory shot Jon a worried looked then announced, "Topanga and I got married last night."
Jon blinked. "Good for you, Matthews."
"We're having quadruplets."
"That's great. I'll tell Mr. Feeny. He'll be proud."
Cory's jaw dropped as he looked at Shawn in a panic. Shawn, extremely concerned about Jon, shrugged.
"Hey, no, Mr. Turner, you can't tell Feeny. It was a joke." Cory gripped his shoulders and shook him slightly. "Please don't tell Topanga either. She'll kill me!"
The smell of corn curl breath in his face roused Jon from his fugue. He stared at his student in confusion. "What?!"
Shawn decided enough was enough and changed the subject. "You're still teachin' so I guess everything worked out okay with Feeny. Is Aud comin' over tonight?"
Jon nearly slid off his desk at the mention of her name but caught himself.
Before Shawn could say anything, Cory put his hand on Jon's forehead.
"This is how Eric looked this morning," he told Shawn. "Real pale and the same weird color. I think that's what they call 'looking green'."
"Yeah, I guess," Shawn replied, waiting for Jon's sarcastic snap for Cory to stop touching him to come.
It didn't.
"Hey, man, are you okay? You look like you're gonna puke." Shawn got as close to him as he could while remaining outside of projectile reach.
Jon put his hand up and weakly waved them away with some excuse about lunch time mystery meat. The bell rang and the boys reluctantly abandoned him to his plan time.
Jon sunk down in his chair and buried his face in hands.
Time refused to move.
The longer the day went on the further from the end of it he seemed to get.
When the final bell rang, the last class of the day had barely cleared the room when Jon grabbed his jacket and helmet and followed them out. Immediately he ran into Shawn who had been waiting for him after ditching his last class early.
In uncharacteristic clumsiness, he dropped the motorcycle helmet. It hit the floor and bounced once, then bounced again when it slipped from his grip as he went to pick it up.
They stared at each other for a moment after Jon finally retrieved the helmet.
"You are really jumpy today," Shawn shifting his bookbag to the other shoulder. "What's wrong? Does this have something to do with your meetin' with Feeny? How'd that go anyway?"
An inexplicable urge to cry swept over Jon and threw him off-balance. There was no way he was going to show that kind of emotion in school.
He wasn't even sure why he felt that way.
Audrey's removal was temporary.
There was no reason to shed tears over a temporary situation.
But the feeling wouldn't leave him no matter how much he threw logic at it, so he grabbed Shawn by the backpack and all but dragged him to the parking lot, then pushed him into the truck.
The teen complied without a word.
While no tears fell, he did have trouble seeing on the drive back to the apartment and Shawn staring at him all the way made things worse.
He pulled into the driveway and turned off the vehicle, but didn't get out of the truck. He felt disconnected from his body and couldn't make any part of himself move.
"Jon?" Shawn put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a shake. "What happened in Feeny's office? Where's Audrey?"
He wasn't prepared to answer these questions. He wasn't prepared to shatter Shawn's hopes for the future.
Jon stared at the windshield and wondered when it started raining.
"Jon. You're freakin' me out. Where's Audrey?"
"Gone." His voice was thick with emotion, and it was hard to get the word out.
"Gone?"
"Feeny knows."
Shawn sat back and frowned as he studied his teacher. "How much does he know?"
"Everything," Jon sighed despondently. "Except that I was gonna propose next month and that we were gonna adopt you."
He tipped his head back over the top of the car seat and stared at the ceiling.
"Hmm," Shawn replied, rubbing a finger over his lips. "So, he doesn't know about Saturday?"
"No."
Shawn nodded, unsurprised. "When is she gettin' back?"
Jon flinched at the question. "She isn't."
He looked at him sharply. "Why?"
It took him a while to catch his emotions and swallow them back down. "Her student teachin' has been terminated. She's supposed to stay in New York and finish treatment. Alex in comin' down to clear out her place tomorrow."
Shawn tipped his head to the side. Losing Audrey for any amount of time was upsetting but he didn't understand why Jon was acting like it was the end of the world. "Why?"
"Shawn..." Jon put his hands over his face. He couldn't handle teenage flippancy right now.
"I'm bein' serious. Why?"
Jon shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. "Feeny thinks she needs to be in the City full time because we aren't good enough to take care of her."
"Man's gotta god complex," Shawn remarked rolling his eyes. He turned sideways to face Jon and rested his arm on the back of the seat. "Who died and made him Audrey's dad? Last time I checked, Pops was still kickin'."
Jon snorted in distaste at Shawn's word choice regarding Richie. "George thinks he knows best."
"Maybe in school stuff." Shawn paused to watch his teacher's pained expression. Jon was taking this incredibly hard. It surprised him when, by Shawn's estimate, it was only a few weeks they'd be without her.
It wasn't ideal but it also wasn't a tragedy.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Jon's got it so bad for Aud, he thought gleefully.
But his teacher wasn't smiling, so Shawn didn't tease him.
Instead, he said thoughtfully, "The school year's almost over. What's Feeny gonna do if we take off to New York as soon as the last bell rings? Call the cops and report us for intent to form a family?"
Jon shook his head at the absurdness of it all. Gripping the steering wheel tightly until his knuckles turned white, he considered what Shawn was suggesting.
"He did say if she gets medical clearance by the fall, he'll hire her to replace Larsson." He glanced at Shawn with an arched brow. "Says he's seen what a good influence she's been on you."
"Hmm," the teen said as he pressed a crooked finger to his chin. "Okay, I guess that's enough to save him from gettin' an egged house tonight." He could see Jon's mood lifting slightly. "What'd he say about datin' her?"
"Nothin'," Jon sighed. "I had to play dumb about the marriage stuff, wasn't gonna bring the rest of it up. Besides, we never dated."
"Yeah." Shawn still thought the whole "not dating" thing was stupid, but he let it go. "I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. By the time he hires Aud, you guys'll be married and it's not like Feeny can force you to divorce."
"True," Jon replied feeling somewhat better about the situation. However, he could tell Shawn wasn't thinking about the not-too-distant-future and he wasn't sure how to bring it up. "I guess this doesn't change plans completely."
"It changes Saturday."
Shawn was staring intently at him, but he didn't look heartbroken like Jon thought he would be. However, he knew the teen well enough to know he could hit denial mode faster and harder than he could.
"Yeah, it does." He put his hand on the teen's arm that was stretched over the back of the seat. "I'm sorry, Shawn. I really am."
"It's not your fault. It's her fault." He pointed out, then paused in repose. "There's no deadline for signin' the papers, is there?"
Jon pursed his lips together as he recalled everything he could about the guardianship process.
"No, I just have to let the lawyer know," he said slowly. The more he thought about it, the less hopeless their situation seemed. "Puttin' it off until the end of the year shouldn't matter. We can still go ahead with everythin' we planned do. It'll just be a little later than we wanted."
Shawn nodded and gave him a smile. "I think waitin's a lot better than tryin' to do everything Saturday anyway."
Today was one surprise after another and Jon hated surprises. "You do?" He tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice, but he sounded skeptical anyway.
"Yeah," Shawn gave him a slight smirk. "I don't trust these alleged proposal plans of yours. You won't tell me what they are which means you got nothin'. So, I'm gonna have to do it. Can't let you screw it up. Too important."
Jon leaned his head back and laughed as relief washed over him.
"It sucks we can't see Aud for a few weeks," Shawn said, nudging Jon's knee with the toe of his shoe. "But it's not the end of the world. We can still talk to her. Besides, you coulda told Feeny about Saturday and he'd still coulda freaked out. We'd be exactly where we are now but have detention all summer. Both of us. That really woulda screwed up our plans."
"Yeah, that would be a lot worse," Jon shook his head as he realized what he had planned to drop on Feeny after school. "I'm not sure why I thought tellin' George all this before the end of the year was a good idea."
"Eh, you got bit by the family bug and wanted to be a dad right away." Shawn hid a pleased smile behind a large dose of sarcasm. "Something, something wait for the right time, not just the right person."
He grinned at Jon's reproachful look that softened into an embarrassed smile.
"Yeah, it sucks but things will work out," he said again. "It'll be better this way."
"Wow, this is what I'm supposed to be sayin' to you," Jon remarked impressed. "Maybe you should be the dad and adopt Aud and me."
Shawn chuckled, clearly pleased with himself and Jon's approval.
Jon regarded him with admiration then remarked, "This maturity thing from you. It's scary."
Shawn grinned and shook his hair out of his face. "C'mon, Dad, let's get you inside and cleaned up. Can't let you fall to pieces just because Mom is gonna be gone for a while."
"You know," he said as they got out of the truck. "I did just fine before the two of you showed up and wrecked my life."
"You call what you were doin' before fine?" Shawn scoffed. "You were a mess before we came along. A pig wouldn't live with you!"
"A pig does live with me!" Jon laughed, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Part-time anyway."
"Yeah, only after I moved in a got the place cleaned up and Mom stocked the fridge with good food."
Jon shook his head, happy to have the familiar ribbing back. He gave Shawn's shoulder a tight squeeze, "My cookin' is good, kid. Kept you alive."
"Barely." Shawn tossed him an impish grin then broke away from him to run ahead into the building.
The mood at dinner was subdued but Jon found it easier to accept Audrey's absence through the perspective Shawn had given him. After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Shawn brought out the photo album he'd been putting together over the past year.
"I know you're missin' her and so am I," he said putting the album on the coffee table as Jon took a seat next to him on the couch. "I think we should call her tomorrow before school. Until then let's look through this."
"Yeah, but first," Jon said putting his hand on the album to stop Shawn from opening it right away. "When did you get so mature about this stuff. Wasn't too long ago you were fallin' apart because Cory and Topanga broke up for a day."
"It was four days, twelve hours, and eight minutes," Shawn corrected him, then shrugged. "You know those character analysis things you made us read for Pride and Prejudice and then made us match up the characters based on them before we read the book?"
Jon nodded.
"I still don't know what the point of that assignment was," he said pointedly. "But if you did the same thing for the three of us based on our character analysis no one would ever put us together."
Jon raised his brows at the comment but refrained from defending his teaching methods.
"But you know how sometimes things that don't look good on paper work in real life? That's us. We don't make sense on paper but in real life we work. Better than me and Chet and Virna do."
This was the first time he'd heard Shawn refer to his parents so naturally by their first names and he wondered how long the teen had been working on cutting those parental ties. It concerned him how bad the timing was for all of this to happen. If something should happen to stop him and Audrey from following through with their plans...
Jon shuddered. He didn't want to consider what that would do to Shawn. He had to get the kid to counseling even if everything else had to be put on hold.
That could not wait.
"I mean," Shawn was still going on about his revelation. "They are my bio parents and we're a broken mess as a family. Sometimes I wonder if I even share DNA with both of them, you know? But you and Aud? I totally pass as your bio kid even though it's totally impossible on paper."
"Totally impossible in real life, too." Jon quietly reminded him.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "But I guess if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Can't mess with that."
It was then that Jon realized where Shawn's peace and maturity came from- Audrey.
Meant to be had always been her explanation for their inexplicable situation.
Meant to be.
He was much more pragmatic than Audrey and it took some convincing on her part to make him believe this.
And he did.
Now he worried that buying into the romantism would end up being a problem for all of them.
But for now, Shawn (and he) needed the hope Audrey's beliefs brought with them. He lifted his hand and smiled morosely as Shawn opened the album.
All of memories pasted to the album paper seem forever ago and like they happened yesterday at the same time. Shawn had done an incredible job of organizing the photos in an artistic, chronological way.
Jon shifted uncomfortably at the emotion they brought up.
"Huh," Shawn said. He flipped back and forth between three pages with a confused frown. "That's weird."
"What?"
"There are pictures missin'." He turned back to the beginning of the album and went over all the photos carefully.
Jon felt the ominous feeling of the night before return. "You sure?"
"Yeah, positive. I put letters and numbers by each one to categorize them." He pointed to the neatly printed writing. "JA are for photos with just you and Audrey. There are eight missin'."
"Maybe they fell out," Jon suggested. He felt the constriction of apprehension across his back as Shawn continued to look through the pages.
"No," Shawn said adamantly. "Not the way I put them in. The paper here is torn. They've been taken out."
"Maybe Aud took them with her."
Shawn looked up at him and they stared at each other for a moment with the same look of concern.
"Did she have a chance to come back here?" he asked hoping that was the reason. He'd feel much better knowing Audrey had them rather than who he feared did.
Jon shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. "No. She was sent back directly from school."
Shawn eyes darkened with resentment. "Then you know who took them."
Jon did know exactly who took them.
What he didn't know was why she didn't show Feeny when she had a chance.
Jon was awoken the next with a sharp elbow to the chest.
"Shaaaawwwn," he groaned in pain. He did not understand why the kid couldn't wake him up like a normal person. "What!?"
"It's 5:30," he answered, digging his elbow in to make sure his teacher was fully awake before standing up.
"I did not request awake up call. For any morning." Jon rolled over and put a pillow over his head.
Shawn grunted in exasperation and poked him in the back repeatedly. "We're callin' Audrey this mornin'. Don't you remember?"
Jon removed the pillow long enough to say, "Yeah, but I don't think callin' her at 5:30 is a good idea."
"We're not callin' her now," the teen replied putting his hands on his waist. He considered giving Jon a shove with his foot then remembered his teacher's kickboxing skills and thought better of it. "She's probably asleep. We need to get ready for school, so we have the max time to talk to her before we have to leave."
Jon groaned again. "I'm not goin' to school, remember? You are, but I'm grounded."
"Why?"
Sitting up, Jon ran a hand through his hair and tried to remember. "You know, I don't think I was told why."
Shawn wrinkled his nose. "That's such a parent thing to do. I still think Feeny actin' like your dad and Audrey's is weird."
Jon threw a pillow at the teen who swiftly dodged it. Begrudgingly he got up and did what Shawn wanted.
As he was exiting his bedroom after a shower, the phone rang. He and Shawn stared at each other as the same thought passed through their minds at the same time.
Audrey!
Shawn shoved his way past him, grabbed the phone, and danced out of Jon's reach. He flashed a cheeky grin of triumph as he said hello.
Jon watched the excitement die on the teen's face. His smile fell slowly, and a stunned look overcame his features.
It was not a reaction Jon had seen before.
"What?"
Shawn slowly pulled the phone from his ear and put it against his shoulder looking as though he had news he did not want to deliver.
"It's Feeny."
Jon frowned unsure of why he would be calling this early. "Feeny?"
Shawn nodded. "He's really mad."
Panic hit Jon as he had no idea why Feeny would be angry with him. He was fine after their meeting yesterday and appeared to remain fine throughout the day.
What might have changed overnight concerned him greatly.
"What now?"
Shawn held the phone out to him staring at the floor and looking upset. Jon seriously considered letting it hit the floor, pack their bags, and leave to get Audrey with Shawn in tow.
Audrey's frustration with him when he brought doing something similar yesterday stopped him.
He took the phone.
There was no chance to get out a greeting before Feeny started in on him. The principal's voice was steady and low.
And full of outrage.
"My office now, Mr. Turner. I do not care what you are doing. I do not care what state of dress you are in. My office. Now."
Jon felt the way Shawn looked: sick and helpless.
"Can I ask what this is about?" he ventured, bracing to be yelled at for insubordination.
"You lied to me, Mr. Turner," he replied with disgust. "You told me there was no romantic relationship between you and Miss Andrews. You have fifteen minutes to get to my office or I will come to you. And you do not want that."
The sound of the receiver dropping roughly into its cradle echoed in Jon's ear as he tried to wrap his head around the unspoken threat in Feeny's words.
"What?" Shawn jumped to his side and grabbed him by the shirt sleeve.
Numbness settled over Jon.
"He knows."
Shawn was positive he could feel Jon's fear and it made him shudder.
"He knows what?"
"Everything."
Hey, hope everyone is doing well. We have reached a critical part in the story. To make sure these long-planned chapters turn out the way I've always envisioned them it will take a little longer to write. I've been trying for a chapter a month but the next few may be more like every six weeks. Thanks for spending time with me, I really appreciate it.