Chapter Text
Shawn remembered the first day he woke up and felt okay like it was yesterday.
Because it was.
It was weird, because in recent years Shawn hadn't really thought he wasn't okay. But when he woke up on that early June morning, the summer after he graduated highschool, and laid in bed for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling, he felt genuinely okay.
He was a completely different person than the scared, anxious kid who first showed up at his teacher's doorstep, who insisted on calling his big sister every day, who had no idea who he was or what he was doing, who was desperate for someone to see him.
Now, he had a family, friends, a job, a girlfriend. He knew who he was and where he was going.
Now summer was the last time his friends would all be together for a while, with Topanga going to Yale in the fall, so he wanted to make the most of it.
The four of them had sat down right after graduation in May and made a list of the things they wanted to do.
"We have to go to the beach once a week," Topanga had said, and Cory had complained about the drive to the nearest beach.
"And we'll have to see all the romantic comedies that come out this summer," Angela had said, and Cory had complained about chick flicks.
"And we can go to the next poetry reading at the coffee house next month, maybe I'll finally read one of mine," Shawn had said, and Cory had complained about not liking poetry. There were a lot of complaints from Cory, but the look on his face depicted nothing but excitement.
Shawn had also decided that before the end of the summer, he was going to get his first tattoo, and he was grappling with whether he should take his sister, his dad, his best friend, or his girlfriend to go with him and hold his hand when it got to be too much. But to be fair, he still hadn't decided what he wanted, so he had time to decide that.
So, yeah.
Everything was okay.
Fate must hate that, huh?
Because it was fate that knocked on the apartment door during dinner. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
×××
Eddie still couldn't believe what his life had become, in the best possible way. Only two years ago, he was still a criminal.
And now he was helping hang up the new sign for the Matthews and Hunter store.
His other siblings had a weird connection to Jonathan (he definitely didn't have a weird bond with the guy, no way, never happened), but Eddie mostly leaned on Alan Matthews as a sort of father figure.
The Matthews and the Hunters apparently had a long history, ever since Shawn and Cory were in kindergarten and became best friends. Then there's the whole Jack and Eric being hopelessly in love with each other (blegh), and then Alan giving Eddie the chance he needed, with the job at the store, and then becoming a business partner.
Once the sign was in place, Eddie and Alan called a break for lunch, and the two sat down at one of the picnic tables in the vacant store. Eddie had a bologna sandwich with mustard in a paper bag. Alan had the same thing, but with chips.
"That was exhausting," Eddie said through a mouthful of sandwich. "It looks great, though."
"Sucks we had to come in on our usual off day to do that," Alan said. Fair point. They had planned to set up the sign on Sunday, one of the days the store is closed. They were very short staffed, literally just the two of them, and Amy Matthews helped in her free time.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that, sort of," Eddie said. "And by sort of I mean not really. Completely unrelated, but it connected in my head."
"Oh?"
"I think we should hire more staff."
Alan shook his head. "I don't know, Eddie. I'm not sure it's within our budget."
"The way I see it," Eddie said, "if we hire more people, then the store can be open longer. With more hours, we'll get more business and they'll basically pay for themselves, you know?"
Alan nodded. "I like that. I knew making you a partner was a good idea. Plus you just know how to pitch ideas."
"You forget who my father is," Eddie said with a laugh. "Our family used to say Chet Hunter could pitch prostitutes to a priest."
"Normal thing to say," Alan quipped. "Anyway, we can post a help wanted flier on the front door."
Eddie nodded. "I'll get on that after lunch.
×××
Stacy was the happiest she had been in probably her entire life. Maybe an exaggeration, but she was on cloud nine, baby!
The wedding and honeymoon had well passed, and summer vacation had just started. Stacy was recently given the chance to submit some works to an exhibition happening at the end of summer, thanks to one of Nebula's coworkers, who had seen one of Stacy's paintings in the bookstore and had connections. It helped to know people, when it came to a lot of professions.
So all in all, things were going pretty well.
Stacy was thinking about that as she leaned against the railing of the fire escape, looking down at the street.
"Long day?"
Stacy looked over. It made sense that the fire escape at the guys' apartment would be right next to hers, but she didn't really think about it until she saw Emily standing just a few feet away.
"Yeah, but a good day," Stacy said. "I might have my art in a gallery soon."
"That's good," Emily said. "I, um… I signed up for art history next year." She stood on her tiptoes and then went back down. "So you'll have more family in your class again."
Stacy hadn't really thought about it, but she pretty much had her brother in one of her classes throughout her entire teaching career. "Yeah I guess so," she said. She didn't mention that she felt a little happy Emily saw her as family. "What brings you out here?"
"I come here to think," Emily said. "The noise reminds me of New York."
"Jack says the same thing."
Emily smiled at that.
×××
Things were getting really good for Jack lately. "Things" being his family, his love life, and his mental stability.
It was his and Eric's first summer together (together together) and Jack was already planning the perfect two months in his head. Eric said he preferred to live vacations by the seat of his pants, but Jack insisted they had some sort of plan. Maybe the two of them could have a week in Florida. But then there was Emily and Jack didn't want to leave her when this was her first summer away from New York.
Well, summer had just started, and he had time to figure it out.
Or so he thought.
It was time for the weekly family dinner. The group was all sat on the couch like always, (Shawn, Eddie, and Jack on the floor in front of the coffee table, Stacy on the arm rest with her feet on the cushion, Emily had elected to sit on the back of the couch, and Jon was sitting… normally) watching the movie Jack and Emily had picked up from Blockbuster, when there was a harsh knock on the door.
Jack was closest, so he answered it.
There was a big burly trucker-looking guy standing in the hall.
"Can I help you?" Jack asked.
"Well shit, I think I got the wrong place," the man said in a thick southern accent. "You know which apartment belongs to that Turner guy?"
"Um, yeah, I-" Jack turned around. "Hey, Jonathan, this guy's here to talk to you?"
"I'm actually looking for my son. Shawn Hunter? He still lives here right?"
Jack swore his heart stopped. "Give me one moment," he said, shutting the door. Then he looked to his siblings. "Problem. Big problem."