boundaries [s.m]

chapter two

"being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." – lao tzu
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their hands remain joint, resting in her lap, as the soft splitter of rain hits the windows of shawns jeep ever so gently, whilst the two of them take the drive to his parents' house, where both the families are meeting for a dinner.

"i'm scared," aria mumbles, looking out of the window, as she passes her high school. "what if they freak?"

"they won't freak," shawn says, trying to calm her down a little. "but if they freak and kick you out, you're gonna live with me."

"that's really helping the situation," aria mutters sarcastically, making shawn sigh softly. "sorry."

"don't be, i understand," he squeezes her hand reassuringly. "but hey, once we're done with this, and they are happy for us, we can tell the world, one step at a time, baby." he says, lifting their hands, and pressing a kiss against the back of hers.

"can we go get ice cream after?"

"aria, it's october, it's freezing."

"that didn't stop us from getting tea in summer," she points out, as shawn chuckles, coming to a stop, parking the car in his old parking spot. "don't laugh at me."

"fine, we'll go get ice cream after."

"love you," aria grins, leaning over the console, and pressing her lips to his cheek.

"love you," he chuckles, breathing out his laugh. "are you ready, gorgeous?"

"as ready as i'll ever be," she mumbles, sending him a reassuring smile. "like you said, we don't have to worry."

"exactly, so, let's go tell them."

shawn and aria both climb out of the car, immediately linking hands, and walking up to the porch of the house, unlocking the door, and stepping inside.

"mum? dad? aaliyah?"

"mum? dad? liam?"

the two young adults laugh at each other, noticing how immediately, both of them yelled for their parents, and siblings.

"in the kitchen!" they hear shawns dad call back. the two of them slip off their shoes, followed by their jackets, before walking into the cozy kitchen, seeing both of their families.

"shawn! thank you so much for picking aria up, we would've gone, but we were getting so late-"

"mrs tate, don't worry," shawn chuckles, making aria smile in glee. "aria was only a few minutes away from my condo, of course i would've picked her up," he chuckles, greeting mrs tate, ashley, with a hug.

"how many times do i have to tell you? it's ashley, dear," arias mum laughs, making shawn chuckle nervously.

"aria, how was barcelona?" karen, shawns mum, asks the teen, greeting her with a hug. "you were there whilst shawn was too, did you meet up?"

"no, well, we tried to, but with the schools schedule, we couldn't," she explains, letting go of karen, and going to greet manuel, and aaliyah, before saying hi to her parents.

"you didn't forget anything at ballet, sweetie?" ashley asks her daughter, holding her glass of wine in her hands.

"no ma, i'm pretty sure i didn't," she shrugs. "speaking of ballet, you need to sign a form so i can go to the meet."

"yes, i will do that as soon as we get home, and did you talk to ms emily about getting that new leotard?"

"yes i did, she said she would order one in for me," aria nods, looking up at shawn, who's sneakily glancing at her, whilst he engages in a conversation with arias brother, who's only a year older than shawn.