❝So, Elena gave me this very beautiful rock.❞
❝I threw it at your head.❞
❝She loves me.❞
| In which Shawn Hunter is in love with Elena Martinez |
[Boy Meets World] [Season 1 - 7] [Shawn Hunter x OC]
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❝Love is short, forgetting is long❞
Pablo Neruda
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Cory was sizing up the man Elena had been seeing for a while now and he was making a grand show of letting everyone know he was not impressed. But everyone knew his opinion was skewed–if it wasn't Shawn then he wasn't good enough.
Even Shawn was embarrassed at this point, having spent all night long practicing in a mirror to not grimace when he saw the man. And all of it was for nothing because Cory was doing the exact opposite of acting normal like Elena had asked (demanded actually with the threat of violence).
Shawn's smile was obviously strained but he was trying to be mature about this, even if seeing the much taller and buffer man was making it hard to breathe. He didn't want to ruin the very shaky foundation he and Elena had just started working on to rebuild some sort of relationship.
Cory scoffed as he glared at the man, looking almost offended at the audacity to try and date his best friend. "I bet you don't even know her favorite color," He tutted.
Elena's brows furrowed at the question, wondering why that was the test Cory had chosen to decide his worthiness. She really wondered how his brain worked before reminding herself that it clearly didn't or he wouldn't be the way he was.
"That's a trick question," He smiled proudly, "Because she doesn't have a favorite color."
"Malachite," Shawn answered immediately without hesitation.
Everyone passed and turned to look at him awkwardly.
"He said color, man," Zay huffed, "Not what nut she eats."
Zay obviously thought Shawn had said macadamia. And no one was surprised, they all just let out various noises of disappointment.
"It's a shade of green," Shawn grumbled throwing a glare at Zay.
"Green, really?" Farkle asked as he tilted his head to the side, having thought it would have been an objectively girlier color.
Elena shrugged. "It's the color of money," She said with a smirk only for her face to fall when Shawn said the exact same thing at the same time.
Elena's eyes widened and she saw the grin making its way onto Cory's face. She knew he was about to say something that would make things even more awkward than they already were.
"Time to leave!" She decided sternly as she grabbed her boyfriend's arm and dragged him to the door, "Hopalong, punch Cory."
Without hesitation, Lucas' arm jutted out and knocked the wind right out of his teacher, effectively cutting him before he could speak.
"Why?" Cory wheezed out as he clutched his stomach in pain.
"Team Elena, no questions," Lucas shrugged.
"Have her home by 11!" Cory wheezed after them, "Or I'm siccing Lucas on you."
"Only Elena gets to do that," Lucas informed him.
"But it's for Elena!" Cory argued with a huff.
"I feel like it's more for you," Maya corrected.
"It can be both things!"
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"...So, your ex is still in the picture, huh?"
Elena pursed her lips at the mention. "Shawn. Yeah. It's complicated," She shrugged.
"Oh," Derek picked up on her tone and quickly shook his head, "It's okay, we don't have to-"
"No, no, no," She waved him off and sighed, "It's just... He's my penguin."
His brows furrowed at the way she said it, like he should just get what that meant. "He's your penguin?"
"Oh, everyone has a penguin," She chuckled like it was common knowledge, "A penguin is a bird. It has wings, but it just can't fly. It should be able to. All the other damn birds fly," She grumbled before her tone softened, "But... everyone has that one person who, for whatever reason..."
"Is their penguin," He finished for her.
She smiled at him. "Exactly."
"Got it," He nodded before he paused and arched a brow, "You know, penguins mate for life."
She scoffed. "That part doesn't apply here," She said adamantly.
Elena couldn't believe that a stupid conversation she'd had with Shawn all those years ago, their first year at college in fact, was still biting her in the ass now.
She thought that Shawn was her penguin because penguins should be able to fly, but can't.
Much like how she and Shawn were something that should work, but just don't
They have all the pieces, but they just don't work.
But maybe she was looking at it all wrong. Maybe she was focusing on the wrong thing.
Sure, penguins can't fly but they did learn to swim. They figured out what wouldn't work and adapted.
So maybe Shawn and Elena are each other's penguins because they can't fly away from each other. And it definitely wasn't for lack of trying. But somehow they always found each other again, when they wanted to and even when they didn't.
They can't fly away from the pain between them. But they can adapt and swim.
So, maybe, even if Elena doesn't want to admit it – penguins mating for life does apply here.
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Elena shoved her key into the door before turning, her hand still on the door handle, to say goodnight to her date. Derek smiled at her and leaned forward for a hug, only to have the door fly open and Elena tumble behind it right into Shawn's arms.
"Well," Cory grinned as he stood by the door, blocking Derek's view of Elena, "At least you're punctual, Daryl."
His brows furrowed and he frowned. "My name's Der-"
"Well, it was nice seeing you, Dylan!" Cory cut him off with a borderline creepy amount of positivity.
It was definitely off-putting to Derek, who just cleared his throat and nodded. "Uh... okay, I guess. Goodnight, Ele-"
"Bye, Dick! Goodnight!" And with that, the door was slammed in his face.
Cory locked the door dramatically and turned to face the two with a proud smile.
That smile was very quickly wiped off his face when she saw the murderous look on Elena's face. He quickly scrambled to shove the key back into the lock to escape.
