Work Text:
Cory mindlessly pushed his food around on his plate as Topanga and Shawn spoke over one another, smiling softly when Shawn scoffed, pointing the plastic fork at Topanga as she rolled her eyes, uncapping the top of her water bottle to take a swig.
He looked up when he felt a pair of eyes on him, finding Shawn smiling softly at him, and he smiled back, bumping their shoulders together. Shawn turned back to Topanga to continue their rant, and Cory set his hands in his lap, done with his food for the day, not wanting the nasty pasta from the cafeteria. He let his left hand rest against the denim of his jeans, scratching at his knee mindlessly, enjoying the slight friction that it caused, his right hand laying uselessly in his lap.
He thought back to where they were, from where they came from. All the way from being children, to being on the cusp of adulthood. Seventeen now, on the verge of being eighteen. Shawn and him, they’d been through it all. He wondered just how far they’d go. Would they be friends in five years? In ten?
Who was he kidding, of course they would. They promised each other, and the two of them never went back on promises.
Cory was brought back to the present when a finger hooked around his pinky, before a second one pulled his ring finger of his right hand in with the pinky. He looked down at his hand, following the line of the arm to find Shawn at the end of it. He liked the feeling of Shawn’s fingers wrapped around his own, how the weight was comforting more than annoying. Shawn’s thumb found the top of Cory’s knuckle, rubbing across it gently, back and forth, back and forth.
Soon enough, Shawn’s whole hand encompassed Cory’s, their palms sliding together, their fingers lacing through one anothers. It made Cory smile softly to himself, looking down at the table, squeezing Shawn’s hand three times. Shawn squeezed back three times a moment later, before he used his free hand to push his hair back from his face, tilting his head back in a laugh. Cory followed the line of his jaw, looking down the cord of the column of his neck, falling down to the necklace that he’s worn for years on end.
He was beautiful, is what he was. Cory and all the girls knew it. All the boys knew it too. And yet, Shawn allowed Cory to be the only one in his space, the only one to get to know the real Shawn.
“Ready to go, Cor?” Shawn’s voice cut through the thoughts that muddled Cory’s brain, and he nodded, feeling a pang in his chest as Shawn’s hand slipped out of his before they stood, but three taps against his arm untied the knot that had formed in his stomach with the pang in his chest.
“Yeah, last class of the day.” Cory did a small fist bump into the air, causing Shawn to put his arm around Cory’s shoulders, walking them out of the cafeteria, and Topanga followed a few steps behind, smiling knowingly.
She had always known it was Shawn and Cory. Cory and Shawn. ShawnandCory.
“My place after school?” Cory asked, and Shawn nodded, turning them down the hallway to the locker bays, arriving at their set of lockers. “Parent’s are headed out of town, Eric and Morgan are out too. Just you and me?” Shawn perked up at that, squeezing Cory’s shoulder.
“Sounds like a date.” Shawn teased, and Cory pushed him out of his grip jokingly, laughing. “Why, Mr. Matthews, are you asking me on a date? Well, I’d be honored.” Shawn pretended to fawn, and Cory was set into a fit of laughs, clutching his stomach.
Sometimes, Shawn… that man. The cure to everything in Cory’s life.
“C’mon, let’s not be late.” Cory punched Shawn’s shoulder gently, waiting for him to gather his books from his locker before they took off for their last class.
“Oh, hey, can we stop by the shops after school today? I need to grab some snacks for my place, figured that we could use some of them tonight?”
Cory thought it over, nodding. “Sure, why not.” Cory dropped his hands, and Shawn looked around, before he chanced a grab at Cory’s hand, squeezing it three times, before dropping the hand he held, wrapping his arm around Cory’s shoulder as they worked.
They walked slowly to class even though the students were hustling around them, enjoying the little moments that they shared.
It was perfect, just like them.
end