Butterflies || Shawn Hunter

Chapter 20: After the Honeymoon

"So, I guess I better get to work on that sink," Shawn commented after carrying me over the threshold to our dirty apartment next to Cory and Topanga's.

I giggled as I picked up the bag of cleaning supplies we brought with us. "I'll start cleaning things."

He grinned at me before looking around the small space. "Isn't this place great?"

"Yeah, it really is," I whispered, never dreaming I would be looking forward to living here. After a few days of endless work we finally were able to collapse on our bed in our completely fixed up home. Cory had helped out along with Topanga, and even Eric. I was glad that Eric didn't end up ruining anything, or burning the place down for that matter. "I'm glad you saw the potential in this place. It was because of your love of Cory and Topanga's place that made me see it here," I breathed.

"Hey, you just have to have little imagination. Look how Cory and Topanga's place looks now."

"Yeah, and ours is pretty great too." I turned from my back to kiss his lips softly. "Having our own place is the best thing in the world."

"Yeah, I've never had a place of my own before. I'm glad I get to share it with you."

I grinned as I listened to his slightly raspy voice, giving him more kisses as we fell into each other's arms.

I was surprised when a month passed and Shawn and I hadn't had our first, big fight yet. I guess I spoke too soon though, because I suddenly could sense tension between us. I sipped on my tea at the college as I sat across from Topanga. She had a coffee mug between her hands, lifting her gaze from her homework.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah. What's wrong," she wondered, able to tell by my hushed tone I was upset.

"When you and Cory had your first fight, how did you handle it?"

"You mean after we were married?"

I nodded as I took another drink of my beverage, glancing around to double check no one was listening.

"Well, Cory came home and we just talked it out. It took a long time, but in the end we were better for it. It's better to fight about things than to never talk about what's bothering you. Why? Are you and Shawn having problems?"

"No, not yet... but he's just been irritating my lately, and I'm sure I've been annoying him too. We don't even snuggle when we go to sleep anymore. We lie on opposite sides of the bed."

"That's normal for the lovey dovey stuff to calm down after the honeymoon," she faintly smiled.

"I know, but this is different. It's like we need a break from each other. And I keep getting tummy aches and headaches."

"Sounds like Cory's symptoms when he found out he was a hypochondriac," she subtly joked before growing serious. "It's probably just stress. I think you should talk about this with Shawn."

"Okay," I weakly smiled, but I didn't even make it past the outdoor seating area, and I accidentally threw up on the ground.

"Then again maybe you have a tummy bug or something. I'll walk with you home," Topanga offered, wrapping her arm around me as I trembled.

"Hey, is everything okay," Shawn gently asked when he saw me enter our place with Topanga holding me up.

"Yeah, I just got sick at the college," I frowned.

"Come here," he softly said, leading me over to the couch. He wrapped his arms around me after throwing a blanket over us, letting me rest against his shoulder.