I slipped under the covers, feeling the cool sheets on my bare skin. Goosebumps rose on my legs and I shivered. Shawn was breathing heavily next to me. My arms began to wrap around him, but I felt myself pause and look at the clock. It was two thirty. Did I really want to awake my beloved and have to explain myself? No.
So I wrapped my arms around myself and burrowed under the covers, tucking them in around me. I felt Shawn snuggled up to me and raspy voice whispered in my ear.
"Where were you?"
I turned over and looked at him. "I, um, had to do some extra stuff at the office."
"Until two AM?"
"Uh huh."
I snuggled up close into him, nestling my head in the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around me. "I missed you," he mumbled.
A sense of guilt filtered onto me and I tried to shrug it off. "I missed you, too."
"So what were you doing?"
"Don't get mad at me, Shawn." I felt Shawn tense up. "I snuck Taylor out and took him to the cemetery where his daughter and her mother are."
Shawn scooted away from me, releasing his arms. "What? Why?"
"That's part of how I'm helping him. He has to let go of those two. Otherwise we'll just keep making circles and we'll never make any progress."
"Why didn't somebody else take him?"
"Because nobody would let him. Wouldn't you do something like that for one of your patients?"
Shawn took in a deep breath and sighed. "I guess so."
"Yeah. So don't get all mad at me."
Shawn put his arms around me again but not as tightly. I sighed heavily and closed my eyes.
I woke up to the smell of pancakes and to the sound of pans clanking together. The warmth beside me had vanished and I smiled drowsily. My eyes fluttered close again and then opened in a slow blink. The clock read ten AM when I looked over. Whistling floated up the stairs and over to me in a happy song and my smile grew even larger.
I was guessing it was Shawn's way of apologizing for being overly sensitive. After all, I was quite possibly the most loyal person one could find. And Shawn knew I would never hurt him in such a way. Taylor had even given me the opportunity, but I had stepped back. Shawn was my fiancé, the one I loved, and I wouldn't let Taylor- or myself- ruin what I had with him.
The whistling kept getting closer and closer until Shawn appeared in our doorway, grinning at me. I smiled at him and chuckled at the batter that was splattered over his shirt. "Morning, sunshine," he smiled.
"Morning," I repeated, stretching and grinning at the same time.
Shawn walked over to me and sat down on the corner of our bed. He leaned in and kissed me. "I made pancakes," he smiled and he smoothed my curly hair back.
"I can smell," I laughed.
"Come on, it's getting cold."
Shawn began scooping me up and I knew exactly what he was doing. "Oh, no you don't!" I said firmly, squirming. Unfortunately, Shawn was too much for me and I stopped squirming. "You suck," I pouted.
Shawn laughed victoriously and bounced down the stairs and to the kitchen. He sat me down in front of a plate of two pancakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream and fresh fruit sitting in a bowl a few inches away. I smiled up at him. "Thank you!" I kissed him and hugged him and then took my first bite. As I chewed, I felt nausea starting to blind my senses. I paused, hoping it would pass, and swallowed. I felt it coming back up and I pushed out my chair and ran for the bathroom. I could hear Shawn following me. I leant over the toilet and felt Shawn holding my hair up and rubbing my back. When I was done I sat down against the wall and groaned, letting my head lull to the side.
Shawn sighed with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay?"
"Uh… Well I felt fine but when I tasted the food it was like it just hit me."
"It was that bad, huh?" he laughed.
"No! That wasn't it. It was wonderful. I think any food would have done that to me."
"I'm sorry. Why don't you go lay down in bed and I will bring you some water. Is there something else I can get you?"
I shook my head and began my trek up to our room. A few minutes after I lay down, Shawn came upstairs with a glass of water and handed it to me. He sat down next to me and rubbed my back as I sipped the water.
"Ugh…" I groaned.
Shawn sighed and lay down next to me. I rested my head on his shoulder and quickly fell asleep.
I sipped my tea carefully that afternoon, sitting in my big warm chair in sweats. My hair was up in a messy ponytail and I had no make up on. Luckily, I had not thrown up at all since that once and I could eat now. But to play it safe, I was taking an easy weekend while Shawn worked on the wedding arrangements.
Just as the show I was watching returned from its commercials, the doorbell rang. I groaned. "Shawn!" I called, hoping he could hear the doorbell. "SHAWN!" Still no answer. I got up, scowling, and walked over to the door, still holding my tea. My mouth dropped open when I flung the door open and saw who was waiting for me. "Taylor?"
"Hi…" he said slowly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Um, I-"
"How did you get here? How did you know where I live?"
"Well," he started. "I just paid your assistant about three hundred bucks."
I ducked my head around Taylor and saw Dawn sitting in her car. She waved sheepishly at me and I rolled my eyes, turning around and leading Taylor inside. "It's always nice to know who your true friends are," I muttered.
"And I also wanted to give you this…" Taylor held out a package that was wrapped in cream colored wrapping paper with a cream colored bow.
I took it from him and looked it over, debating the possibilities of its contents. "Taylor… you really didn't have to…"
"I know. But it's also a thank you. Nobody has ever been able to help me quite the same way…"
"Well if the other counselors haven't been able to do the same thing I do, it kind of makes me wonder what they are doing," I chuckled.
"Well they didn't really um, know about Scarlet…"
"How couldn't they have? Your family told the admissions director who writes all of the backgrounds on the charts."
Taylor got a sheepish look on his face. "I know. I snuck in at night, found my chart and erased it."
I frowned at Taylor. "You're weird. Anyway, I will save all of my questions for Monday."
"Okay. So are you going to open it?"
"Oh…" I looked down at the box. "I think I should wait until Shawn is here…"
"I'm here," I heard a voice say firmly.
I turned around with raised eyebrows and smiled at Shawn. As I offered my arm, Shawn walked over to us with a stone look on his face and wrapped his arm around me protectively. Taylor and I both looked up at Shawn.
"What are you doing here?" Shawn frowned.
Taylor returned an equally unpleasant glance. "I was giving Corrine your wedding present. And thanking her for being such a good psychologist."
Shawn and Taylor stood, glaring at each other. I looked back and forth between the two smiling faces (cough, cough), wondering what would happen next.
"Well," I said. Neither of them looked at me. I unraveled myself from Shawn. "I'm going to let you two work this out and I'm going to go sit down because I'm feeling a little queasy again." I actually wasn't feeling queasy. But I was uncomfortable.
,p>All of a sudden both of them looked at me with sympathetic looks. Taylor started first "Oh here, let me help-"
"No. I will help her. She's my fiancé," Shawn glared.
"But she's my psychologist and my friend," Taylor argued.
"She is not your friend! She's your doctor, damn it. I am her lover."
"So?"
"I don't see you fucking her every night."
I pushed Shawn's arm away and look at him furiously, tears in my eyes. "Fucking me, Shawn? FUCKING ME?"
"That isn't what I meant, I-"
I pushed passed the both of them and ran out to Dawn's car. Dawn was sitting in her car with a blank, confused look. I opened the front passenger door and sat down, slamming the door shut.
"What's going on?"
"I'm staying at your house tonight."
"What about Taylor?"
"He'll manage," I said roughly, crossing my arms.
Dawn just stared at me. "Um, oh. Okay."
"Just go!" I exclaimed.
Dawn turned her car on and zoomed away, while I looked back at Taylor and Shawn standing in the doorway, watching me with blank and confused stares.