Yours Truly ♡ shawn hunter

27: secret santa (part 1)

The gang were cozying by the fire in the student union as the winter in Philadelphia became colder each day. The holidays were around the corner, and finals were coming to an end.

"Okay guys, since we're finally done with exams, we can finally start secret santa," Rachel suggested as she pulled out a bowl with everyone's names inside.

"I call dibs on Heather to be my secret santa," Eric blurted out loud.

"That's not how it works," Jack said as he scoffed at Eric's lack of common sense. It amazed how far Eric had gotten into his life with his lack of knowledge.

Heather let out a laugh, and went ahead and picked who she will be gifting this Christmas. The bowl was passed around amongst everyone, and Shawn was the last one to get the last name in the bowl.

Nearly the entire group took off before exchanging suspicious looks to one another, trying to find out who their secret santa was, while trying to conceal their secret. It was only Cory and Shawn left in the student union as they stared at the name they had drawn.

"Well I don't got you, do you got me?" Cory asked, shoving the piece of the paper into his pocket. By Shawn's silence, Cory presumed Shawn was obeying the rules of secret santa, secrecy.

"C'mon, we can tell each other everything but we can't tell who we got to gift?!" Cory exclaimed as he grabbed Shawn's shoulders and shook them.

Shawn sighed heavily at the name written on the piece of paper, and decided to give into Cory's desire to know who Shawn drew.

"I got Heather," Shawn revealed, as he held the paper in front of Cory's face, that instantly lit up. Cory begun to shake Shawn shoulders playfully, yet very aggressively.

"Yay!" Cory shout out. "Now this is fate. Christmas is the celebration of love."

"I thought that was Valentine's day," Shawn interrupted.

"Shawny, don't you see. This is the perfect opportunity for you to show Heather how much you love her, and with my help, she'll take you back in no time," Cory concluded.

"Woah, woah, who said anything about getting back together?" Shawn replied.

"The pile of dirty laundry in the corner of our dorm; that had been piling up since you broke up with Heather," Cory answered, as he shivered off the disgusting ick the dirty laundry.

"Hey, that timeline just happens to be a coincidence," Shawn poorly defended himself while he realized Cory was making sense.

"And the fact that every night you sleep talk and mentioned how much you miss Heather," Cory added.

"I do not do that," Shawn replied offendedly, with his voice slightly high pitched.

"Then how do I know about the night in California, where you guys stole a jet ski and-"

"Okay!" Shawn yelled over Cory's voice, as he placed his hands onto his, to shut him up, as Shawn was as red as a tomato.

"I do miss her and I'm still in love her. But I can't forget that I broke up with her so that I couldn't weigh her down anymore. Ever since we broke up, life has been great for her," Shawn confessed, voicing raw, vulnerable feelings that he had locked in his heart.

  "We only know what we see, maybe behind closed doors she's sleep-talking at the crack of dawn like you," Cory suggested.

  "Besides, what do I gift a girl, who has everything in the world," Shawn complained.

"She doesn't have you," Cory replied.

Shawn stared at Cory, with scared eyes. He knew he wanted to be back with Heather, but he didn't want to be selfish. Shawn believed he had a tendency of ruining the people in his life, and for once in a lifetime he had something really good, that he'd loved to cherish forever. But thoughts of doubt also ran through his mind. Does she really want me back, Shawn thought.

"In the meantime, would you mind doing the laundry," Cory added, as he patted Shawn on the back.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

  "Thank God, I don't have Shawn. I don't think I'll be able to face him again," Heather said as she laid on her back and grabbed a pillow and held it tight against her stomach.

"Hey!" Topanga yelled and sat at the edge of Heather's bed.

"What, I can't feel anxious around my ex," Heather replied.

"No spoiling for secret santa. Now I know who you don't have," Topanga explained herself.

"Sometimes I feel like there's hope, and that this just a little bump in the road and we'll get back together. And then the second I make a move, he pushes me away," Heather let out all of the thoughts that had been clouding her head.

"I just don't want to believe it's really over," Heather said.

  Topanga quickly empathized with Heather, after going through a breakup once before. She knew how hard it was to see the person you love, and feel like a stranger when you're around them. Topanga grabbed Heather, and forced her to sit up straight as she stared at her with her intense blue eyes.

  "Listen to me. You're Heather Myrtle Sinclair, okay? You're fun, hot, and the most determined girl I know."

"How do you know my middle name," Heather abruptly asked in a stern tone.

"The last thing you should be doing is laying in bed on a Friday night," Topanga stated, reminding Heather of the person she is.

Suddenly, it was like a light bulb lit up in Heather's brain. "You're right, I am Heather Myrtle Sinclair, who's debating on changing their middle name, but nonetheless I should not let a break up consume my life," Heather proudly stated, as she stood up from her bed.

"I've got good things going for me, and I probably won't remember this very moment in 10 years! C'mon, let's go shopping," Heather said, as she grabbed her purse and waited for Topanga.

A wide smile appeared on Topanga's face, and she grabbed her purse as well, and two headed downtown.

♡              ♡              ♡