❝And for once, you let go
Of your fears and your ghosts❞

You Are in Love | Taylor Swift

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Shawn and Elena were moving in together and no one could be happier than Cory.

"...I'm having a dinner party tomorrow night to celebrate. And also because my abuelita has 15 pounds of beef that's about to go bad," Elena explained.

"Shawnie, if you need any help with the move, might I offer my services?" Cory offered excitedly before smirking proudly, "My trainer Skylar says I'm getting ripped."

Elena laughed and scoffed. "Yeah, ripped off by Skylar."

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"You know we have a front door, right," Topanga chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"I like to call this the Elena door," Elena smiled as she climbed into the Matthews' apartment through the fire escape.

"What are you doing down here? Aren't you supposed to be helping Shawn move in?"

The two paused and shared a look before they burst out laughing.

"Me? Help?" Elena scoffed, "Yeah, right!"

"I know!" Topanga wheezed, "I couldn't even keep a straight face."

"You told me you had it!"

"I said I didn't have it!" They heard arguing coming from the hallway.

"It's Shawn and Cory moving in," Elena explained with a chuckle as she sprawled out on the couch, "Man, moving is hard."

"You aren't doing any of the moving," Topanga reminded her as she shoved her feet off the coffee table.

"Yes, I am," She argued, "I'm supervising. And I'm supervising two idiots which is double the work."

Soon, there was a pounding on the apartment door. "Open the door, Elena. I'm about to kill Cory, and I know you're gonna want to see that."

"He's right," Elena grinned and threw the door open.

She paused as she took in Cory's outfit, short shorts, a tank top, and a yellow headband. And he was leaning against the wall, panting like he'd run a marathon as he held a small box.

"Cute outfit, Cory," She said sarcastically, "Like one of those male strippers from No Thunder From Down Under."

Cory would have attempted a comeback if he wasn't too busy coughing up his lung. "This is so heavy. Shawn, what do you have in here?" He wheezed as if the box weighed a tonne. 

"Pictures!" Shawn scoffed, "Really, Cory, it's like your arms are only there for decoration."

Topanga's brows furrowed as she stepped out into the hallway and saw it overflowing with Shawn's boxes. "Shawn, what is all your junk doing out here?" She frowned. 

"I bring things up, Elena says 'no', I bring them right back down," Cory huffed.

"Oh, that reminds me," Elena walked back into the apartment and came back holding a wrapped canvas, "Shawn, you forgot your painting, and this one's a definite no."

"Elena, I haven't gotten a 'yes' yet," He sighed, "Then what was the point of me renting a moving truck?"

She frowned and nodded. "Okay, Shawn, maybe I am being a little unfair. I mean, you have all this stuff that you like, and..." She smiled as she glanced at the Matthews' apartment, "They have an apartment. Put it in there," She decided with a shrug.

"Elena!" Topanga immediately gasped with wide eyes. 

"And maybe help Cory with that box," She delegated, "In those shorts, I can actually see a hernia happening."

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"I'm getting truck sick back here," Cory cried as the moving truck jostled once, sending him flying around once again.

"Come on! Come on!" Shawn honked the horn angrily, "We're gonna be late for dinner!"

"Would any of you be interested in playing rock-paper-scissors for a seat up front?" Cory begged.

"No!"

"Girls, can I ask you a relationship question?" Shawn asked with a sigh, clearly having something weighing on his mind. 

"No!" They repeated. 

"And besides, what would we know about relationships?" Maya scoffed, "That's like asking Donald Trump for the name of a good hairstylist."

Shawn ignored their no and started unloading on them. "I mean, what's the deal with her? She asks me to move in, and then won't even let me have my painting?"

"I mean, Elena already bought the cow. She might as well let the cow's crap in," Topanga shrugged.

Shawn perked up and smiled. "So you're saying I'm right."

She paused. "...No, no, but I do think-"

"No, you don't think, or your mouth wouldn't be moving right now," Cory cut in desperately as he could already imagine Elena's wrath when she inevitably found out about this conversation.

"I'm just saying, he has the right to move some of his stuff into Elena's apartment and out of ours," She said sharply.

"Oh, we're really late now," Zay worried with a nervous frown, "We're in big trouble. Big trouble."

Maya's brows furrowed. "Why?"

"You know, Elena," He said as if that would be enough of an explanation.

"What about her?" The blonde shrugged.

"...I'm a little scared of her," He admitted shyly.

Maya laughed. "You're scared of Elena?"

"Yes!" Farkle, Lucas, Zay, Eric, Cory, Topanga, and Shawn all exclaimed.

"Why?" Riley frowned, "Aunt Elena's the best."

"Did you ever see her lose her temper?" Cory shuddered as a memory struck, "I was once late because I bought a Panama hat. She grabbed it by the brim, pulled it down so hard my head came right through the top of it."

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"Wait until I get my hands on that Cory," Elena grumbled angrily, "I'm going to pull that big hood over his little head, tie the string and suffocate him. You remember that Panama hat? That was nothing," She scoffed with a dark chuckle.

"Everything looks very nice, Elena," Jack smiled, trying to lighten up her mood as he was the first and only guest to arrive so far.

Lydia and George were in the kitchen getting everything ready while Elena finished setting up the table.

"Yeah, see, I'm not gonna talk until the other guests arrive. I got to save my hostess sparkle for the real guests," She said bluntly with a bright smile.

"Hey, baby," Shawn called as he and everyone else walked into the apartment.

"Where the hell have you been?!" She yelled immediately. 

"That was a pretty loud sparkle," Jack chuckled and gulped when she glared at him, quickly taking a sip of his water to hide from her gaze.

"Thank God you're here," Jack sighed in relief as everyone joined him at the table, "There was so much awkward silence, I pretended I got a phone call from a banana."

"I'm gonna take a quick shower," Shawn said as he turned to walk down the hall.

"Oh, Shawn, dinner is ready," Elena stopped him with a frown, "You don't have time to run down to your apartment now."

His brows furrowed as he turned to her in confusion. "No, I meant I would shower here."

She stiffened. "Here... In my bathroom?" She asked almost protectively. 

"Uh... Yeah," He nodded with a confused smile, "I live here now."

"Oh, yeah. That's right. Imagine that," She chuckled tightly, as her smile twitched in annoyance, "Oh, hey, Shawn, why don't you just come over here and sit next to Feeny? Because he's old and I'm sure his smeller is shot."

"Elena, you really must write a 'how to entertain' book," Mr. Feeny sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"You're welcome, everybody!" Lydia called happily as she brought out the food.

"Beef, beef, beef," Maya and Zay sang excitedly, "b-beef, b-beef, beef..." They trailed off when they noticed everyone was giving them weird looks.

What? That's my beef song," She explained with a shrug.

Shawn stood up as he held his glass up to toast. "I'd like to make a toast to Elena."

"Oh, that's sweet," Elena smiled, "But not with that glass. That's Abuelita Estrellita's crystal."

Shawn smiled tightly. "Honey, I was in the middle of a toast."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but... those are my favorites!" She defended herself.

"As they should be," Lydia nodded, "Abuelita Estrellita traded two of my slow cousins for those."

"Well, you know, it's funny," He scoffed heatedly, "I have a favorite thing too. In fact, why don't I just go and get it?" He huffed and stormed out of the penthouse to the Matthews' apartment. 

"Can someone help me lift up my fork?" Cory begged, "My arms are still sore from the move."

The second Elena saw what Shawn was carrying, she stood up and shook her head vehemently. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

"I think that's Cuban for no," Zay supplied, trying to be helpful. 

"Uh-huh. Yes, Elena. It's my painting. Excuse me... our painting," He corrected with a smirk, "And it's going up on our wall," He said decidedly.

"Is it me, or is this party tense as hell?" Zay mused, "I don't think Elena and Shawn are gonna make it. Uh-oh. Am I talking out loud right now?" He frowned as he looked around when everyone turned to him with narrowed eyes. 

"Just eat your beef," Lucas demanded.

"Okay!" He grinned, "Don't gotta tell me twice."

"Actually, we do," Maya corrected.

"Several times," Farkle added.

"I told you, I don't want that thing in here," Elena snapped.

"I don't understand," Topanga's brows furrowed, "It's just a painting. What's so bad about it?"

The second Shawn ripped the brown craft paper to show them the painting, she, and everyone else, understood why Elena was so vehemently against it.

"Oh, my God," They gasped.

It was an incredibly tacky painting that words could not even describe.

"There," Shawn haphazardly hung the painting on the wall to make his point, "I like it. Adds a certain something to the room. Thank you for telling me to do this, Topanga," He grinned at her.

Elena's jaw clenched and she spoke through gritted teeth and she turned to glare at Topanga. "She did?"

"I'd get up and run, but my legs are like taffy," Cory whined.

"Seriously, you told him to hang that thing up?" Elena scowled at her best friend.

"In fairness, I had not seen the painting when I suggested something like that," Topanga quickly defended herself with a nervous gulp.

"Why? What's wrong with it? Is it throwing off this gorgeous outdoor-indoor swing?" Shawn scoffed.

Elena was seething at this point. "I'll cut you with the carving knife!" She yelled as she clutched the very big, very sharp knife. 

"Nobody is cutting anyone," Topanga yelled, "Especially not me," She begged.

"Do you never learn?" Maya huffed, "Just put some beef in your napkin like I did, and let's get out of here."

"Elena, you asked me to move in," Shawn reminded her sharply, "Guess what? I moved in."

"Yes, I asked you to move in, but not with that," She pointed to the painting in disgust, "And what's your problem anyway? I gave you a drawer."

Shawn let out a dry laugh before he turned to the console table by the door with thin drawers. "This! This is my drawer, everybody!" He exclaimed as he aggressively pulled open the tiny drawer, "What good is this? I can't even get one of my Barracuda hair sets in there!"

"You asked for a drawer, I gave you a drawer!" She argued, "And who needs 12 hair care sets anyway?"

"Oh, so now you don't like my hair care? The stuff that makes sure I can still do this" He scoffed as he ran a hand through his hair dramatically like he always did, "Who are you, lady?"

"I'll tell you who I am... I'm the lady who's throwing this in the trash!" She roughly ripped the painting off the wall. 

"You trash that, I'll trash this," Shawn threatened as he grabbed one of the glasses.

"Oh, no. Oh, you think you're gonna break one of Abuelita Estrellita's glasses?" She scoffed heatedly, "No. If anyone's gonna break one, it's gonna be me!" She yelled before throwing one of the glasses on the floor.

"This reminds me of the first half of my second marriage, and the second half of my third marriage," Jack sighed with a grimace at the memories.

Shawn sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation. "Elena, I'm done," He said and walked out.

"Beef, beef, beef, b-beef, b-beef, beef," Zay sang happily as he started digging in without a care in the world as everyone else turned to glare at him.

"What is wrong with this one?" Lydia asked as she pointed to him with a frown.

"We don't know," Farkle sighed with a shrug.

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"Sorry about that dinner party last night, it kind of got away from me a little bit," Elena frowned as she drove the moving truck, "But I really appreciate you getting up early and helping me move Shawn's stuff back."

Topanga sighed. "I just actually feel like this is a little bit my fault-"

"It is entirely your fault," Elena said bluntly.

"Hey, um, where are we taking his stuff anyway?" Cory asked since they didn't seem to be going anywhere near the direction of Shawn's apartment.

"Well, I was thinking, you know, since Shawn and I really did have something special, I was thinking I would just take his stuff and dump it down by the river," Elena smiled brightly.

Topanga let out an annoyed huff. "Okay, I'm just gonna say it... Elena, would it kill you to just let Shawn hang the damn painting?"

The tired screeched and cars honked as Elena brought the truck to a halting stop which sent everyone jolting forward.

"So what, you just park the truck in the middle of the Van Wyck Expressway?" Topanga gasped in shock. 

"Do you never learn?" Maya glared at Topanga, "I almost ate Rent-A-Truck floor mat."

"Topanga, you get this straight..." Elena spoke slowly and sternly as she glared at her, "Shawn was wrong. And that painting was even more wrong."

Shawn popped out from the back and sighed. "This is awkward."

"You're in the truck?" Elena asked in shock, wondering how they didn't notice him. 

"No, you're in my apartment," He scoffed.

Before they could say anything else the truck jolted as it was hit from behind.

"I think something hit us," Cory winced.

After checking the damage and calling a tow truck, everyone shuffled into the back of the truck to wait.

"You guys just need some couples therapy," Topanga decided, "I'll mediate it"

"I'm just sitting here waiting for the tow truck to come," Elena said, "How's your neck, Cory?"

"Not so bad," He rubbed his neck with a small wince, "The second car that hit us kind of knocked what the first car knocked out of place back in place."

"I'll start," Shawn pointed at Elena and loudly yelled, "This woman is a fraud and a liar!"

"Okay, well, we need a little more Oprah, a little less Jerry Springer," Topanga sighed.

Elena rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and turned her face away from him. "Shawn and I are not gonna talk this thing out. If you want to waste your time, go try to convince my Abuelita that Jesus and Santa aren't actually cousins."

"I give up," Topanga huffed.

"You know what? Even better," Riley smiled, clearly unfazed by Elena's lack of enthusiasm, "I'll do the talking for Shawn."

"Oh, then, Maya you be me, okay?" Elena decided.

Maya frowned, not really wanting to get in the middle of this. It seemed like too much work. "Oh... I don't know if-"

"Do you want the rest of the beef, or not?"

Maya stood up. "This guy is a bum, and the painting has to go. It's stupid," She declared. 

Elena smiled proudly. "Really, really good, Maya, but next time just arch your shoulders a little and tilt your head, yeah."

"Yeah. Okay, you be me," Shawn demanded as he turned to Riley for his defense.

"Relationships are about compromise," Riley said softly, "Look at Maya, when I slept over at her place that one time, she let me bring my nightlight," She grinned.

"It was a lamp," Maya corrected, "She brought an industrial lamp."

"And I finally stopped putting up a fight and let Maya make fun of Lucas all she wants."

Maya's brows furrowed. "When did that happen?"

"Tomorrow," Riley said as Maya's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh, Shawn, I wouldn't want you to give up the things you love," Elena frowned, "I mean, as long as you don't set anything on fire or break anything or..."

"Wow," Cory breathed out as he listened to her list, "We ruined a lot of stuff in a lot of ways."

Shawn had to agree with that, knowing how many security deposits they'd lost. "Point, Elena."

"Ha!" Elena clapped her hands together happily, "I'm winning, everybody!"

"Well, it's therapy. There are no winners and losers," Topanga corrected slowly.

Elena scoffed. "Sounds like something a loser would say."

"You know, Shawn, this isn't about that silly little painting. It's just, uh, a lot of change in a short amount of time..." She trailed off and played with her rings nervously, "I'm just scared."

Shawn smiled warmly and grabbed her hands. "Elena, I don't care about my stuff, as long as I have you. I love you."

She smiled back at him, giving his hand a squeeze. "I love you, too."

"And I love this!" Cory exclaimed happily only to have Maya hit him in the face with a pillow.

"I'm failing you!" He threatened as he coughed up a feather.

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〚𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄〛

I was rewatching 2 Broke Girls and this episode was just perfect for Shawn and Elena. Who caught the Big Time Rush easter egg lol?

So quick little note, I noticed that recent chapters haven't been getting as many comments as before. And I really don't want to come off as complaining but for a lot (or most) writers here (and that includes me), comments are a big motivator. I love getting comments on chapters because it lets me know what you guys are thinking of the book and just really is one of the biggest pushes to update.

Thank you to everyone who has been commenting, I appreciate all of you! And even for those of you who just read and vote, I still incredibly appreciate the support.

Also, why does 'You Are in Love' by Taylor Swift fit Elena and Shawn so well? What other song do you think explains their relationship?

Have a great day and stay safe ♥♥