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They made it all the way through high school, which is something Shawn never planned for, something he had never dared to hope for in his wildest dreams. They made it through college, together, and they lived in the New York, together, and they were still Cor and Shawnie. He had thought for sure that by then Cory would have either gotten sick of him, decided he wanted Topanga, or found someone better than him. Shawn supposed that that last one wouldn't have been too hard, it wasn't like he was exactly fantastic boyfriend material. He actually came complete with daddy issues (he cringed at the thought) and everything, the whole package!
Sure, he wasn't ugly, so he had that going for him, but he felt like that may be all he had going for him. Without his looks, he was a moody, emotionally-starved and unstable trailer kid who wrote poetry in his spare time. He felt like a total loser compared to Cory; Cory was goofy, easy going (but also really high strung? Shawn didn't understand it)--someone you could depend on. He may not have been the brightest but he did everything with such enthusiasm that Shawn had to smile. Oh, and Cory's smile was nice. Shawn felt like his mouth looked too big for his face when he smiled.
It was really only a matter of time before someone else came along and snatched his sweet, innocent little geek right out of his grasp, he told himself. In Shawn's mind, there was really only one way to keep that from happening, and if he was going to do it, he was going to do it right. Yes, he'd have to plan it out perfectly.
First, he'd asked Alan and Amy for permission. They'd been ecstatic when he suggested it--Amy squealed with delight, Alan nodded in a very approving-father way. It went infinitely better than he had imagined, since he had imagined them being intirely disgusted and disappointed. Amy assured him that it just meant that he'd officially be a member of their family (even though he'd really been part of the Matthews household since he was young).
The second step was ring shopping. He took Topanga with him to help, since shopping was sort of a girl thing anyway. They spent what felt like an eternity staring at way too many rings for Shawn to count before one jumped out at him; it was pretty simple ("Cory's a pretty simple guy," Topanga had said), just a silver band with one square cut diamond set in it, but Shawn knew it was perfect. And within his price range!
Then there was the actual proposal. Shawn had absolutely no idea how to go about it. What would Cory like? What would he say? God, he was a writer, for crying out loud, and the one time he needed words, he couldn't think of anything? Just his luck. It was the middle of the night when inspiration finally struck, and then he knew exactly what to do.
Cory stretched and yawned. Something about today was supposed to be important, but having just woke up, he couldn't really remember what. Was it a birthday? Yeah, that was it. But whose? Oh yeeeeah, it was his own birthday. Boy, did he feel stupid for almost forgetting that. Shawn would definitely laugh when he told him--which he started to do before he realized Shawn wasn't in the bed. He sat up, trying to figure out where he had gone, when the bedroom door creaked open.
"Morning, Cor. Happy birthday," Shawn said with a smile. He was carrying a tray with breakfast in bed for Cory; pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns--he went all out. "Here, eat up."
"Shawnie, you didn't have to do this," Cory sighed, sitting up a little further. "I mean, yeah, breakfast in bed is a great birthday present, but you didn't--"
"Oh no, this isn't the present. Your real present is even better and you don't get it until you've cleaned your plate," Shawn interjected. Cory began eating enthusiasticly, shoving as much food in his mouth as he could fit.
"So what is it? Is it something dirty? Ooooooo, Shawn, are we gonna do that thing I said I wanted to try?" Shawn laughed and shook his head.
"Maye later, but no. I actually bought you something nice this year," he said, adding a tiny hint as to what it was. "And since you ate all of your breakfast, you can have it." Shawn opened the door on his bedside table and pulled out a tiny box. Cory's breath hitched, because he was pretty sure he knew what people put in boxes that size.
"Cory Matthews," he began, dropping down on one knee, "I've been in love with you since I was thirteen years old. Will you--"
"Yes!"