The Secret Life // A Shawn Hunter fanfic

Nineteen ➵ C. M

Once I heard about what's been going with Jasmine, I knew I had to do something about it. I wanted to tell Shawn, but I felt as if this should be something Jasmine should tell him. That was important.
At the most, I had to try and convince her to tell him herself.
When I was getting ready for school today Eric kept bombarding me with questions about me and Topanga yesterday.
"You were doing something with Topanga weren't you Cor? That's why she wanted me out, huh?" Eric assumed, referring to us to the "thing."
"No! We would never Eric. Sure I like her and may have a picture of her in my wallet to look at it at night but we weren't going that far!" I objected, but he continued to smirk, furrowing his eyebrow continuously until Mom called us downstairs for breakfast.
"Cory and Pangers sitting in a tree. K. I. S. S. I. N. G." I took my pillow and threw it at him, him laughing. We both headed downstairs to find breakfast all set out on the table.
"Hey Cory. What did you and Topanga talk about yesterday?" My mom wondered, as she was sitting down in her seat.
"Oh nothing." I said to her. I couldn't tell my mom or dad about Jasmine. At least.... Not yet.
"Alright. Whatever you say." My mom said with a smirk.
"You too?" I responded, looking over at Eric who was still smirking at me.
After we ate our breakfast, I headed to school shortly after. I had to talk to Jasmine alone about her situation. I wish she'd just tell Shawn.
:::
Right when I headed to school I caught Jasmine opening her locker. The first thing I noticed on her hand was a bad burnt mark. It looked to be red and puffy, as if it had just recently happened. I knew from that moment Topanga wasn't lying.
"Hey Jasmine." I greeted her, trying to look her in the face. She looked up, smiled a little, then looked back at her locker combination.
"Hey Cory." She replied back, fidgeting with the lock until she finally was able to open it successfully.
"We need to talk. In private..." I said, my voice trailing off. Jasmine turned her attention back to me, studying me.
"Alright, is now a good time?" She asked me.
"No I was thinking you could come to my house after school. It involves something else..." I said. Jasmine looked suspicious already; I could tell it in her expression.
"It isn't bad, is it?" Jasmine wondered.
"No! No it isn't.. Unless you take it is." I hinted to her. I was lying yes, but I had to make sure she could come. Plus I didn't want her to start a big argument with Topanga that could possibly end their friendship. Shawn came over, but surprised Jasmine with a kiss on the side of her temple. Jasmine turned around to face him, greeting him with a passionate kiss. The two pulled away, leaving me here stand awkwardly until Topanga came. The single life, sadly.
"Hey Cory." She greeted me, us gazing into each other's eyes for a while.
"Hey Topanga." I said, forming a warm, welcoming smile that no one else could make appear on my face. With Topanga, I was always happy. I felt so happy to be alive. I just wish I was with her. But, I wasn't ready yet. Not now.
Mr. Feeny walked by stopped Jasmine and Shawn from kissing each other.
"No affection Mr. Hunter and Miss Clayton." Mr. Feeny reminded, interrupting them causing them to pull away quickly.
"Alright. Well I guess we'll save them at Chubbie's tonight?" Shawn flirted, and Jasmine giggled as he continued to keep his hold around her waist.
"Well, Cory wants me to go to his house to talk to me in private," she says, then whispered something in his ear, then he smirked.
"Oh. I see. But why can't I come?" He asked, looking a little heartbroken.
"Oh it's a um... Surprise! Yeah a surprise. A surprise that has to be secret, and you're going to love it." I said, jabbering up a random excuse. Me and Topanga looked at each other, being a little hesitant.
"Oh. Alright then." Shawn says. Suddenly his eyes traveled to her hand when he reached for it. He noticed the burn.
"What happened to your hand Jasmine?" Shawn asked.
Jasmine right away looked nervous, biting her lip. Probably coming up with an excuse.
"I was trying to cook something last night and my hand slipped on the burnt stove. Nothing bad, really." Jasmine said. I knew she was lying.
"Be careful with it, okay?" Shawn insisted. He got a hold of it, kissing it to help it heal.
The bell rang, and we all went to class together.
That definitely was the most nerve racking conversation I've ever had in my entire life.
:::
After school was over I met with Jasmine at the lockers. She never went to my house before.
"Hey, Cory, before we leave, why did you randomly invite me to your house?" She asked. It took me a moment for to answer her question as I was staring at her hand. I looked up at her again, then answering her question.
"Well it's just I kind of wanted to get to know you better. We never really to hangout much, so yeah."
"Okay then." Jasmine said.
"Anyway, come on. Let's go."
Once we arrived at my house, Mr. Feeny was in his backyard, getting ready to leave.
"Mr. Matthews! Just who I was looking for. I want to make you a deal. And Miss Clayton, maybe you too since you're here." Mr. Feeny said, before we could go inside.
"What is it?" I wondered.
"I'll pay you $5 each if you water my roses for me." Mr. Feeny offered.
"Make it $15 and I'll repaint your fence too." I offered him, trying to change it into a better deal. I looked over at Jasmine, who just smiled.
"What about $10?" Mr. Feeny said.
"Okay, that's fair." I admitted. Mr. Feeny just smiled and left. I made sure we were alone first before we could talk. It was perfect. Mom was out buying groceries, and knowing her, she probably had a bunch of coupons so it was going to take a ton of hours for her to be there to cram it all.
My dad was working a late shift, Morgan was at soccer practice, and Eric was heading there to pick her up then babysit her. So luckily we had the house to ourselves.
"Jasmine I need to ask you something. You might get mad.." I warned her.
"What is it?"
"Do you get abused at home?"
Her eyes widened, and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"Why would you think that?" She demanded me.
"You might get mad at Topanga-"
"Topanga told you something didn't she? If she did she's lying." Jasmine was rambling on about and kept lying about this; she seemed overwhelmed already.
"Jasmine... It's okay. You know you can tell me anything. Look, with your burnt hand, and that black eye you had, I know something isn't right. I want to help you. So does Topanga." I reminded her. Jasmine sighed, sitting down on the patio swing.
"It's just I'm too afraid to tell someone. I've always had to live with it this way. After my mom passed away, I just haven't gotten or received any affection whatsoever from my father. He just stopped loving me and started transitioning to an abuser. He's just not the same, like last night he told me no one could ever love me and set my hand to a stove then burned it- intentionally." Jasmine explained.
"Aww, I'm sorry Jasmine." I apologized, feeling bad for her. I sat beside her, rubbing her back. That was horrible, and no one should ever go through that. She needed help.
"Maybe we can try and help you-"
"No! If you do that my dad threatened that he's going to kill me. I'm just scared on what's going to come. Even if I'm gone after a day, he'll go hunt for me." She told me. That was insane, so drastically mind blowing. But there is one suggestion.
"We need to call the authorities on him Jasmine- take him away."I insisted to her.
"But where would I go to? Who would I go? I would live with my aunt in New York, but I would be leaving you guys. I'd go back to no one but her." She added.
"You can live with Shawn." I suggested to her. She looked up.
"What?"
"Live with Shawn. He goes on how much he and his parents love you. It makes him feel appreciated knowing you love his place." I told her. It was the truth. It made me happy for him he found someone he could go to whenever he was sad, angry, frustrated. He always felt a connection with Jasmine- someone he could go into depth with.
"Do you think they'd really accept me living with them?" Jasmine asked.
"Of course! His parents love you- even more than me." I answered, feeling a little envious of that. Jasmine just laughed.
"Thanks Cory. It feels great knowing I could count on you." She thanked. She still remained harrow, so I leaned in for a hug, and she accepted so I could comfort her.
We pulled away, both remembering the task Mr. Feeny assigned us to do for him. Suddenly the sound of rushing leaves coming from the bushes behind the tree house. We jumped at first, but wasn't so concerned about it. It had to be a raccoon or something.
"I guess we should we should get started on those plants, huh?" I pointed out to her.
"Yeah, I guess we should." She agreed. She went to go get the hose, and I realized I didn't have anything to water the plants with. Before I could figure something out, I felt water squirting at me intentionally, pushing me back.
"Agh!" I screamed, trying not to get wet. When I was able to see who was aiming the hose at me, it revealed to be Jasmine with a determined look on her face.
"Stop that- hey! Quit it!" I shouted, but I couldn't help but laugh. Jasmine was giggling, until I was able to the hose from my house. I picked up, turning it on, and went to go aim it at her.
We were having some sort of water war I guess. We both stopped when my mom returned home with a bunch of groceries.
"What are you guys doing back here? The whole backyard is soaked, and so are you guys!" She pointed out, distressed enough as it was by the heavy weight carrying from the bags she held in her hands.
"Oh, sorry about that Mrs. Matthews, I can help with putting your groceries away." Jasmine offered her. My mom just smiled.
"Thank you Jasmine. I noticed you guys were having a little too much fun weren't you?" Mrs. Matthews said with a smirk.
"Yeah. Cory started it." Jasmine joked, then I spat out.
"No I didn't-"
"I knew it was you Cory. I heard Mr. Feeny wanted you to water his roses for him so you go do that young man." My mom ordered. I did as she asked, and picked up the hose again, watering the multitudinous pink shaded petals until they looked a little healthy.
I didn't make a big deal about the $10 thing, even if Jasmine didn't do it, at least she helped my mom do something.
I went to go change into some fresh clothes and handed Jasmine a towel to dry off after she was done putting groceries away for my mom. When Morgan came home, she couldn't stop blabbering at how pretty Jasmine was.
"How did you get so pretty? I'm jelly!" Morgan complimented her, causing Jasmine to smile wide.
"You staying for dinner Jasmine?" My mom asked, and Jasmine looked at me. I nodded my head yes for her to say she could if she wanted, then she glanced back at my mom.
"Yes. Thank you Mrs. Matthews."
"Anytime."
:::
My mom decided to order a pizza. She didn't feel like cooking so she decided to get something that was quick and easy. As we were eating at the table, my parents were getting to know Jasmine.
"So, Jasmine, I heard you're dating Shawn. How's he treating you?" My dad asked her.
"He treats me well. He loves me a lot and I love him." She answered, making my mom grin.
"That's so sweet." My mom replied, taking the Parmesan cheese and opening the lid so she could pour it on top of her pizza.
"You should play dollhouse with me." Morgan insisted, making Jasmine smile again.
"Well maybe next time Morgan. It's bed time now and Jasmine has to head home soon, right? We can drive you home so that way you won't have to walk in the dark." My mom offered her.
Jasmine shook her head no in response.
"No thank you. I can walk home, it's fine really." Jasmine insisted.
"You sure?" My mom persisted, fretting about her safety.
"I'll walk you home Jasmine." I offered her. Jasmine nodded, and we both stood up.
"Thank you for having me." Jasmine thanked, getting ready to walk out the door with me right behind her.
"It was a pleasure to have you here." My mom stated with a genuine smile.
"And if Shawn hurts you, tell us. I'll give that boy a talking." Mr. Matthews insisted, making Jasmine laugh.
"Thank you again."
We said our goodbyes, and I told my parents that I'd be back within the next half hour or so, at the most.
:::
When walking to Jasmine's place, I felt a sharpe tint of nervousness swelling up in my stomach. It didn't feel right walking her home.
"You sure about being here?" I whispered in her ear, and she nodded.
"It's my only solution for now until I can talk to Shawn. Should I tell him?" Jasmine whispered back, so no one could hear her. I nodded.
"Yes, you should. He'll do anything to protect you Jasmine, and you know that." I reminded her, keeping my voice at a steady and low level. I had to have my voice remain faint at all times. I heard if her dad found out, he would do something extreme, and I didn't want that for her.
"Thanks again Cory. For... Everything." Jasmine said.
"No problem." She went to hug me, being as a friend hug. She pulled away, studying my presence for a while.
"I gotta get going." She said with a frown.
"Alright, but be careful. Please don't get hurt." I insisted to her. She nodded. I watched her head back inside, leaving me stand here alone. I made sure she made it in okay, then headed home.
I couldn't sleep that night once I got into bed. Thinking about what's happening to her. There was only one solution to her problem:
She needed to live with Shawn.
❤︎
Authors note
Here's a Cory point of view! Ooh!
I thought that Topanga and Cory's point of views could fit into the storyline very well, especially for these next few chapters. Lots and lots of drama ;)
Hope you enjoyed this. <3