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“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Shawn adjusted his goggles, squinting against the dying sunlight down at Topanga, who impatiently stood on Cory’s lawn, Cory right beside her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Shawn waved dismissively, gripping the handles on his bike tightly before checking the time on his watch, noting that it was a few minutes after six o’clock. “A bike has never hurt me before.”
“You’ve also never ridden off a two-story house on a bike before, genius,” Topanga pointed out.
Shawn looked around at the shingled roof before nodding once in a conceded manner, saying, “Yeah, well, this isn’t the thing that’s going to kill me. Besides, if anything goes wrong, I’ve got a parachute with me!”
Topanga groaned as Shawn waved a worn bedsheet in the air, nearly yelling, “You’re in high school, Shawn! Even you know that there’s no way a bedsheet can support the weight of you and your bike even if it did manage to fully open before you destroy those rosebushes!”
“Sheesh,” Shawn grumbled to himself, “Whatever happened to “Good luck”?”
“Good luck!” Cory called enthusiastically, almost as if he had heard Shawn’s muttering. “Just aim away from the walkway and you should be fine!”
“Thanks, Cory!” Shawn shouted as he prepared himself to ride off the roof, “You’ve somehow instilled me with less confidence than Topanga did!”
Drawing in a deep breath, Shawn pushed his bike as far back on the roof as he could, taking a moment to look over the green yard below him as he flipped up his kickstand when he heard a loud voice shouting, “Shawn! Get off that roof right now!”
“Fastest way off is over the edge, Teach!” Shawn grinned innocently, only slightly surprised to see Johnathan Turner there, though he knew the man had picked up the habit of making sure he was safe at all times.
“Don’t you dare!” Jonathan warned one last time as he stormed up the walkway, his eyes always fixated on Shawn until it was obscured by the small overhang above the front door.
At once, Shawn seized his moment to act, wheels blurring in one circle of motion as the roof’s edge drew ever closer, open air greeting Shawn for an instant of a blissfully still moment before he quickly plummeted toward the ground.
“Shawn!”
━━━━❰·❉·❱━━━━
“Shawn!”
Shawn winced at his name being called, straining to turn his head in time to see an ice bag sail through the air and land on his chest, a low whoosh leaving his lungs when it struck.
“I woulda caught that,” Shawn grumbled, attempting to sit himself up before a hand touched his chest, pushing him down gently.
Shawn mumbled incoherently to himself as Jonathan sat in the armchair beside the sofa, glowering at the teenager splayed across it on a bed of pillows and cold presses.
“What were you thinking?!” Jonathan demanded angrily, and Shawn immediately wished to be anywhere else, “You could have broken your neck from that fall!”
“I didn’t, so I don’t know what your problem is!” Shawn snapped, turning quickly to return Jonathan’s glare and grimacing at the pain in his leg. “Aren’t you the one always telling us not to get caught up in the “What-ifs”?”
“You know that’s a lot different,” growled Jonathan, furious energy building in him at Shawn’s refusal to listen to reason.
He leaned forward to continue his lecture when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, his eyes trailing upwards along the slender arm to find Audrey staring at him with gentle eyes, signaling him to take a breather. Wordlessly, Jonathan rose to his feet, pausing after a few steps, mouth gaping open as if to launch another sentence at Shawn, but he waved it off and opened the front door, hoping the Autumn air would cool him off.
“This whole thing is so stupid!” Shawn complained as Audrey took Jonathan’s seat, sitting up fully as she carefully watched over the teenager on the sofa.
“If you mean it wasn’t a bright move, then yes,” Audrey laughed silently. “I don’t know many people willing to ride their bike off a roof at 14.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not most people!”
Audrey nodded in agreement. “I know that.”
“Why is everyone so upset about this whole thing anyway?” Shawn demanded, squeezing another ice pack to his chest. “I made sure that I wouldn’t get hurt!”
All it took was a simple look from Audrey to make Shawn correct himself, muttering, “Yeah yeah, “If you made sure that you wouldn’t get hurt then why are you hurt?”, I got it. Okay, but even then, I only fell a few feet onto some grass, why is Mr. Turner so upset with me?”
Audrey tilted her head thoughtfully, saying simply, “Well, it could be because you did something knowing the potential harm that it would cause, and that you almost had to go to the hospital after nearly breaking your leg against the walkway. But he also feels responsible for you, he really does care if you’re okay and safe, Shawn.”
“Yeah?” Shawn scoffed, “He’s got a funny way of showing it, yelling at me like he did,”
“He’s upset, Shawn,” Audrey explained carefully, “He’s more upset at himself for not being there to stop you in time, but that doesn’t mean he still isn’t upset with you.”
“Again, I’m fine!”
“It’s not about that right now, it’s about you doing something that put you at risk and made Jon worry over you. Do you understand that?”
Begrudgingly, Shawn nodded, closing his eyes and reclining on the sofa as the front door squeaked open a moment later, a much calmer and ashamed Jonathan returning to the living room. Slowly and awkwardly, he made his way over to the back of the sofa, resting his forearms against it as he picked up a nearly thawed ice pack, mouthing silent words to Audrey, who only waved an open palm at Shawn as an answer.
“Shawn?” Jonathan started slowly.
“Yeah?” came the grunted reply, earning a dismayed sigh from Jonathan.
“I’m sorry for blowing up on you, kid,” Jonathan said, continuing with a nod of encouragement from Audrey, “I know Aud probably already told you this, but I want you to hear it from me. I’m only angry that you did something that could have seriously hurt you, and that you’re lucky you walked away with thorn cuts and a sore body. Look, I just…I care what happens to you, so would you at least think your next dumb stunt over before you go through with it?”
“I’ll try, but I’m not much of a thinker,” Shawn grinned.
“Yeah, your last essay tells me that much,” Jonathan laughed as he patted Shawn’s shoulder before standing to put the thawed ice pack back in the freezer.
“Whatever,” grumbled Shawn as he tossed a blanket over his legs and turned on the TV. “Hey, old man, I’d have hugged you for your sappy speech, except my body hurts.”
“That’s alright,” Jonathan replied from the kitchen, “Let’s get a rain check on that hug,”
“Oh, hey, I’ve been thinking…”
“That’s never good,”
“Ha ha,” Shawn laughed dryly. “No seriously.”
“What’s on your mind?” Jonathan asked upon returning to the living room, passing a water bottle to both Audrey and Shawn.
“What if I use a mattress next time?”
“Dear God, no!”
Shawn couldn’t help but feel safe and join in as the comforting sound of Audrey’s and Jonathan’s combined laughter filled the house.