Shawn and Kendall Ch. 09-10

Their mouths separated with a loud smooch as they huffed against each other beneath the loud music.

"Oh, fuck," Kendall panted, gripping his shirt as her body quaked from their kiss.

She smiled as her eyes opened, unable to believe what Shawn had just done. He gently rubbed her cheek with his thumb as his powerful grip melted from the back of her head before disappearing into the crowd. Kendall felt her nipples getting hard and her crotch aching from his touch. The rush of being so reckless in public turned her on immensely, and he left her wanting so much more of him.

Shawn reached the bar and politely asked for two cups of iced water. His eyes scaled the endless wall of liquors and beers, wondering how anyone could drink them. He had only tried a few alcoholic beverages in his life and disliked all of them. After the bartender handed him their water, he turned to head back, but Kendall appeared behind him. She pressed herself against his back and held her phone out in front of them, and Shawn saw her smiling big on the screen. He awkwardly smirked with the water in his hands, disliking being in photos.

"Hey, come on!" Kendall yelled, immediately deleting the picture, "smile with me!"

Then she raised her phone out in front of them again. Shawn sat their waters on the bar and placed his arm around Kendall's side, holding her close this time. Kendall turned to look at him, admiring how he held her for their picture. She felt her heart fluttering as she looked back at her phone and snapped what immediately became her favorite picture of them.

"Are we done?" Shawn asked, grabbing their water again.

"You look so good," Kendall shook her head, loving their picture, "I wish you'd let me take more of us."

"Here," Shawn handed Kendall her cup of water, never satisfied with any picture of himself.

"Oh my God, thanks," Kendall grabbed the cup, putting her phone away and downing the water in a single tip.

She sighed with relief after feeling the ice-cold water rush through her body.

Shawn held his hand out to take her cup back so she wouldn't have to find a bin. Then, as he condensed their cups, she wrapped her arms around his neck with a smile and pressed her body against his, closing in for a kiss. The moment before their lips touched, Kendall suddenly looked over Shawn's shoulder. Her eyes widened, and she immediately separated from him, stepping back. Shawn didn't need to know what she saw to understand what was happening. The look in her eyes told him everything. His most dreaded paranoia of their night out was about to unfold.

Before Shawn turned his head to investigate, he heard a familiar voice approaching from behind, and Kendall held his arm tightly to prevent him from turning around.

"Hey, babe!" Grace's voice called out with excitement as she smiled at Kendall.

"Grace!" Kendall yelled, not expecting to see her friends tonight.

"I told her this place wasn't that bad. Maybe she'll listen to me more often," another voice approached.

"Marcey!" Kendall called out as Marcey appeared from behind Grace.

The two stood next to each other in short, black dresses and began eyeballing Shawn curiously from behind him, unable to see his face. Grace and Marcey were her two closest friends, so they were intrigued to find Kendall like this.

"Um- how come you guys came here of all places tonight?" Kendall asked with a fake smile, trying to distract them.

Grace stared at her momentarily, looking her up and down with a suspicious face. Marcey remained silent, glancing at Shawn. Kendall grew more uncomfortable with each passing second as her friends stared at them.

"I'm gonna go smoke. Wanna come outside?" Grace finally spoke, giving Shawn another look.

Kendall's expression became worrisome as she looked at Shawn. He didn't know what to do other than give her a slight nod, letting her know he would be okay by himself.

"Uh, yeah, sure..." Kendall answered hesitantly, following them both to the exit.

They disappeared out the door in a flash.

"Shit..." Shawn mumbled to himself, knowing he should have listened to his gut as he faced the bar.

There was a slight chill in the air as the three stood in the smoking area. Kendall and her friends were the only ones outside, and it was quiet now that the music had lowered in volume. Her mind raced with discomfort as she began wondering how much of her interactions with Shawn they witnessed before approaching them. Kendall wasn't ready to defend herself or Shawn if Grace and Marcey saw them kissing each other. Her hands trembled with nervousness, causing her to hide them behind her back as she stared at them.

Grace lit a cigarette and took a long drag before blowing the smoke away from them.

"Why didn't you tell us you were seeing someone?" She asked, hungering for the details about Kendall's mysterious date.

Kendall felt a wave of relief wash over her as she exhaled. Her friends hadn't realized it was Shawn yet, but she was still unsure how much they saw.

"Well?" Marcey cut in, making an impatient face.

Kendall looked back and forth between them, desperately wondering if they saw her kissing him or not. Then, she took a deep breath and decided to tell them the truth, as risky as it was.

"Because I'm not," she mumbled hesitantly, looking at the ground, "that was Shawn."

As her gaze wandered back up, she saw their eyes widen.

"Wait," Grace began with a dumbfounded expression, "Shawn, as in... Your brother?"

Kendall nodded and braced for the oncoming backlash as her hands fidgeted.

"That was Shawn?" Marcey asked, looking back into the club.

"Yeah..." Kendall mumbled nervously.

Grace and Marcey gave each other curious looks.

"What?" Kendall asked with a hint of panic.

"He's kinda hot when he tries," Grace remarked, putting her cigarette back in her mouth.

"I didn't even recognize him without a video game in his face," Marcey joined in.

"Hey, stop!" Kendall cried out, "and don't call my brother hot. That's weird."

"Weirder than you dancing on him?" Marcey asked with a snide tone.

Kendall looked at her and felt a pit form in her stomach. So Grace and Marcey did see them together before approaching them.

Kendall's thoughts stirred as she desperately hoped that her friends didn't see anything beyond them dancing together. Grace and Marcey would never make Kendall feel bad about herself, but what they saw was not something normal siblings do. Of course, she could not expect them to think it was normal, but she had no choice but to try.

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Grace asked, dropping her cigarette butt and stepping on it, "and do you guys always touch each other like that?"

"Uh, well..." Kendall stumbled, rubbing her arm and struggling to find a way to stop any accusations from forming.

But they stared at her awkwardly as she fumbled to justify her inappropriate behavior with Shawn.

"I mean, it's just dancing," she finally said.

Grace and Marcery exchanged glances, symbolizing they were not in agreement. As much as they joked with Kendall about her brother's crush on her over the years, they were never serious about it. But seeing their behavior tonight was raising a genuine suspicion. The knot in Kendall's stomach twisted as she waited for them to say something.

"Huh," Grace said, shrugging her shoulders, "you guys have always been super close. Maybe I don't get it because I'm an only child."

"I can't stand my brother," Marcey rolled her eyes, "I don't know how you do it."

Kendall's nerves slowly unwound as she felt the knot in her belly dissipate. She and Shawn were safe for now.

"He's my best friend," Kendall responded quietly, "I just wanted him to come out with me tonight."

"Well then," Grace retorted, "on that note, I think it's time to dance, ladies. Let's go see if Shawn can keep up."

Kendall was relieved to have evaded their suspicions, but she now felt a renewed concern about people discovering them. All she could think about was the fastest way to leave.

"Um- hey!" Kendall called out as they walked past her, "I know you two just got here, but we're actually about to head out. He's probably at his limit in there."

"Can we at least say hi?" Marcey asked curiously.

"Um, I guess so..." Kendall mumbled, disliking the idea.

"He can handle five more minutes," Grace assured her, rubbing Kendall's arm on her way back into the building.

Kendall nervously followed them back into the hot, noisy club. She knew Shawn would be waiting at base camp and led her friends to their table. As expected, Shawn was sitting with his water and checking his phone, and he immediately stood up when he saw them approaching. He desperately wanted to know what they were discussing outside, unsure how much her friends saw. Grace and Marcey stood before Shawn, looking him up and down, wondering what made him so special to Kendall. They were still not convinced that Shawn and Kendall's behavior was appropriate, but they agreed to drop it because of how sensitive Kendall had always been to their jokes. They knew he was important to her.

"Best friends, huh?" Grace approached him boldly.

Shawn looked at Kendall, who stood behind them with an uneasy face. Her expression told him their talk did not go well, causing him to wonder what they said to her.

"Yeah, what about it?" Shawn responded cautiously.

"Then how come you never come out with us?" Marcey asked with her arms crossed and her hip bucked, "you seem fine to me."

Shawn kept looking at Kendall, wondering what he was supposed to say to her friends. It sounded like they were skeptical of Kendall's excuses when Shawn always refused to socialize with them. She looked uncomfortable.

"More than fine," Grace cut in before Shawn could answer, "we saw the way you were grooving out there," she finished, looking him over with an intrigued smirk.

"Oh, you saw that?" Shawn chuckled modestly, terrified of what else they may have seen.

"Totally," Grace giggled, "you should come out more. Yeah?"

"Um..." Shawn mumbled, scratching the back of his head, "yeah, sure."

"Well, that was easy," Marcey said as she and Grace exchanged looks, wondering why Kendall could never get him to come out all this time.

"So, we'll see you around then?" Grace asked, stepping closer and examining him.

"S-sure," Shawn stumbled, wondering why she looked him over so closely.

Grace smiled at Shawn with delight as her eyes scaled him. It was her first time seeing him dressed nicely and away from home. Despite being a geeky homebody with no unique traits, she found him handsome. His height and build were appealing, and he cleaned up well.

"So it's settled," Grace spun around to face Kendall, "you should bring him around more."

"Okay..." Kendall mumbled, her discomfort growing from watching her friends ogle her brother and disrespect his boundaries.

She hadn't anticipated feelings of resentment overwhelming her when others showed interest in Shawn. But, as her mind swirled with ideas of leaving as quickly as possible, a sensation of jealousy and discontent toward her closest friends overtook her. Kendall never wanted to make Shawn uncomfortable, and she could sense that he only obliged their invitation to prevent her from looking bad.

"Anyways," she walked between her friends to get to her brother, "we're heading home. I'll talk to you guys later."

"See you again soon?" Marcey asked, giving Shawn a final lookover.

"Uh-" Shawn muttered, but Kendall dragged him away by his arm.

Grace watched them closely as they made their way to the exit. Kendall's strange energy confused her, and she began wondering what was going on between them as they nearly sprinted away. Then, Kendall's tight grasp around Shawn's forearm gradually lowered until she gripped his hand. They held each other's hands tightly as they blew past the massive line of people at the bar. As Grace saw their hands come together, her once-playful suspicions officially began cultivating into real ones.

"What was all that? Why is she acting weird?" Marcey asked with her arms crossed.

"See for yourself," Grace responded calmly, watching them leave.

Marcey looked in the direction Grace was peering at and saw their hands together as they disappeared around the corner.

"Dude..." Marcey grumbled.

"Right?" Grace responded.

The two gave each other concerned looks as they finally made their way toward the dance floor.

"Kendall, slow down!" Shawn called out as she yanked him toward the car by his hand.

Shawn unlocked the doors, and Kendall immediately sat down, buckling up quickly. He didn't understand her behavior, but he knew it had something to do with their talk outside.

"What's wrong?" He finally asked, pushing the clutch in and starting the ignition.

"We need to go!" Kendall cried out, distressed, sounding on the verge of tears.

Shawn didn't know what to do other than start driving.

They said nothing to each other for the first several minutes of the drive. Shawn kept glancing at her periodically, but she stared out the window silently. He desperately wanted to question her about what had happened at the club, though he knew it wasn't a good time. His anxiety fizzed and churned thinking about it. Kendall's behavior made him paranoid that her friends may have confronted her about what they saw.

"They've never looked at me like that..." Kendall's delicate voice suddenly broke the awkward silence.

Shawn looked over at her, but she continued staring out the window.

"Grace and Marcey?" He asked.

"Yeah," Kendall answered, finally turning to face him, "they looked at me like something was wrong with me."

"What happened out there?" Shawn demanded, trying to keep his focus on the road.

"They thought you were some new guy I was seeing," Kendall went on distraughtly, "and when I told them it was you, they just..."

Kendall fell silent. Shawn waited for her to finish, but she did not. He glanced at her, and she covered her face with her hands.

"Hey, don't cry," Shawn tried to comfort her, "they know we're best friends, so seeing us hanging out couldn't have been too weird to them, right?"

"It's not about that!" Kendall's voice broke as her face shot up from her hands, and she struggled not to sob in the car.

Shawn looked over at her, alarmed. Hearing her voice rise was concerning because Kendall never addressed her problems by yelling. She was beyond upset.

As their drive continued, Shawn realized that Kendall's conversation outside was not the root of the issue, and he noticed her expression full of resentment, immediately resonating with it. Shawn had worn the same face around Bradley before. It was all too clear now. Kendall's meltdown had everything to do with her friends' behavior toward him, not their talk outside.

"It's everything else..." Her voice lowered.

Shawn listened without saying a word.

"It's about how they looked at you back there," she whimpered, "it's not fair!"

"What's not?" Shawn asked quietly.

Kendall stared at him, looking him over with crying eyes as he drove.

"It's not fair that I want you all to myself, Shawn," Kendall said, "you're my brother! I can't ask that of you!"

Shawn looked over at her, noticing tears rolling down her cheeks as she entered a mild panic.

"What happens when one of my friends decides they like you? Or anyone, for that matter?" Kendall continued in tears, "how do I tell them you're off limits without giving them ideas? How can I expect you to want me over something normal?"

"Kendall..." Shawn attempted to stop her spiraling.

He raised his hand toward her, desperately wanting to comfort her, but retracted at the last moment, fearing it would only upset her.

"Sorry," Kendall sniffed, wiping her nose, "I probably sound crazy. I'm just so scared."

"Scared?" Shawn asked, concerned.

"Mhm," Kendall moaned, pressing her hands over her face and weeping into them, "because I think I'm in love with you."

Shawn's gaze bolted toward her, his heartbeat escalating at her words. It was hard to hear her enunciate through her crying, but he knew he didn't mishear.

"That thing you said to me on the bed earlier," she went on, struggling to stop her sobbing, "nobody's ever made me feel like that."

As Shawn listened to her emotions spill out, he recalled the moment she was describing, but he had no idea it weighed on her so heavily.

"When we kiss," Kendall cried, "it feels like I'm on another planet, and when you touch me, it feels like I belong with you. And it's just really scary."

Kendall sobbed into her hands, and Shawn knew what she was feeling. He recognized the battle raging within her on multiple levels and knew the suffering that came with it all too well. His heart pounded as his mind processed her raw feelings erupting forth. Then, knowing their only path forward, he exposed his own.

"I've been in love with you for a long time, Kendall," Shawn softly responded.

She suddenly looked up from her hands, staring at him with tears running down her cheeks.

"What...?" Kendall mumbled.

"And I don't care about what's normal," he continued with a firm tone, "it's just like you said last night. I knew there was no going back, but I'd still do it again. A thousand times."

Kendall sniffed, wiping her tears from her face with the bottoms of her palms.

"And I meant what I said on the bed earlier," he continued, "I don't want anyone else. I never have, and I never will."

"But, how do you know?" Kendall whimpered, fighting to keep in her tears.

"Because I just do," Shawn answered with his full voice, "because I've wanted you all to myself for as long as I can remember, Kendall. Not just since we've started doing stuff."

Kendall stared at him as she wiped her cheeks dry. Her heart pounded from hearing her brother admit such powerful feelings toward her. He resonated with her emotions without belittling them, and she knew he was telling the truth.

"Now come on," Shawn quietly beckoned her with his hand, "no more crying. It'll be okay."

Kendall grasped his open hand, tightening her grip, not wanting to let go.

"What about my friends?" She asked nervously, "now they're going to think something is up for sure. They were already suspicious, and they saw us being weird in there. What do we do?"

"I won't tell if you won't tell," Shawn reassured her gently, "they can think whatever they want. It doesn't matter to me. All I care about is you and me."

Kendall looked him up and down as a smile slowly crept across her face. She loved that he refused to let anyone or anything get in the way of their relationship. Shawn was fully invested in them, even if it meant evading everyone on Earth for the rest of their lives.

"You're right," Kendall spoke softly, "they're just going to tease me about it anyways like they always do."

"See? Exactly," Shawn retorted with a positive tone.

"I'm sorry they treated you like that back there..." Kendall whispered, gripping his hand.

"Who, me? Don't worry. I can handle them," Shawn brushed her off, unbothered by her friends.

"Promise?" Kendall prodded, wanting to be sure he wasn't just saying that to avoid expressing his feelings.

"You seem fine to me!" Shawn mocked Marcey in a nasally, annoying voice as he rolled his eyes.

Kendall laughed hysterically with tears still in her eyes, listening to him make fun of her.

"Stop!" She wriggled his arm, fighting to halt her cackling.

Shawn grinned at her, always blown away by her perfect smile.

"There it is. Welcome back, weirdo," he jested, tugging her arm.

Kendall stared at him with an embarrassed smirk, unable to figure out how he could always make her laugh no matter what.

"How do you always make everything better?" She asked, admiring him.