Thanks again to everyone for waiting and for all these amazing comments!!!!!

I can't believe it's chapter 30- that's crazy. Anyways, the new cover was made by TheLaughMaster (isn't it cool? I think it's flipping cool). The previous (and still flipping cool) cover was made by ReilovesHaru.

Without more stalling, please enjoy the chapter (it's a longer one!)

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I really, really, really wanted to sleep in. The night before was so stress ridden that I wouldn't object to sleeping all day... but the sounds of birds chirping loudly outside my broken window made it impossible for me to get any extra sleep.

"uuugh." I groaned, starting to stir. I tried rolling onto my side to hold the pillow over my ears to block out the loud squawks, but I found that I couldn't move my right hand. I groggily wiggled my fingers and lethargically tried to get my hand loose from whatever it was stuck in.

When my hand wouldn't budge, I frowned, slowly getting more awake. I reluctantly opened my eyes to see what the hell my hand was stuck in. The first thing I saw was Shawn's grinning face next to my bed.

"Morning Jakey." He said. He was sitting with his laptop on his mattress, his back leaning against my bed. My hand was caught within his.

"...Why the hell are you holding my hand?" I asked, trying to pull away again.

He effortlessly held his grip and kept typing with his other hand. "Because I wanted to- and it was just hanging over the side of the bed anyways." He answered nonchalantly. Did he always do these types of things when I was asleep!?

"Well... would you mind letting go?" I asked.

"Yes." He answered simply, still typing away on his computer.

"Shawn!" I groaned exasperatedly, trying to yank my hand out of his.

"Yeah, babe?" He said, smirking.

I opened my mouth to protest some more, but thought better of it. I slumped back down on the bed indignantly; he'd let go of my hand when he wanted to. Besides, if I tried to rush him, he'd probably throw some unfair ultimatum at me in exchange.

He snickered. "You're adorable." He said.

"And you're impossible." I grumbled back. I made an effort to subtly crane my neck to see what he was doing on his laptop. He seemed to be looking through photos of murder scenes and articles about crime... some of which not looking open to the public. "Oh, good, it's still working." I commented in relief. I mean, I did throw the thing against a wall the night before...

Shawn stopped typing and slowly turned his head to give me a confused expression. "Why wouldn't my laptop be working?" He asked. Ah, shit.

"... I threw it at the wall?" I said awkwardly. That only seemed to confuse Shawn more. "Smiles pissed me off." I elaborated.

Shawn laughed. "Alright, I see what you mean. " He said, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

I glanced at Shawn's computer again and then my hand. "You know, typing with two hands is faster than typing with one." I suggested, trying to urge Shawn to finally let go of my hand. How long had he been holding it anyway?

Shawn pouted and turned his head back to the computer. "I can type pretty fast single-handedly, and besides, I've been at this for a while already." He said.

I sighed in aggravation and tried once again to pry my hand loose. I frowned. Shawn seriously had a vice-like grip; my fingers were totally cramped. "How long have you been up anyways?" I asked curiously. He was always asleep after me and awake before me. And last night I couldn't have gotten more then six hours of sleep.

"A few hours." He answered.

"How many is a few?" I asked, urging him to clarify.

"Four hours." He replied. Holy fuck was this guy a damn vampire or something!?

"...And how long have you been holding my hand?" I asked worriedly.

"... about four hours." He answered.

I glowered at him for a good few moments. He smirked in response. Fuck this shit! I stood up on my bed and used all my body weight to yank my hand backwards. Shawn held his smirk and grip without any major effort on his part. "Let go, godamnit." I demanded through gritted teeth, futilely pulling on Shawn's hand until I slipped and fell on my ass. Why the fuck was he so strong!?!

"Aw, Jake you're adorable." He said lovingly, maybe with a hint of mocking.

"Shawn, why are you being so difficult!?" I protested, yanking more on my hand to no avail. This was getting embarrassing. I mean, I was no body builder or lumberjack- but I should have been strong enough so that I could at least get back my own hand!

"Because I like holding your hand, and seeing you squirm is a big plus too." He answered.

There was a knock on the door. "Jake? Astly? Are you awake?" My mom's voice called from behind the door. I quickly turned my head towards the broken window. Thankfully, the curtains were shut; hiding the big hole in the window. The brick wasn't anywhere in sight either. Shawn must have taken care of it while I was asleep.

"Yeah mom. Come in!" I replied, yanking my hand away from Shawn, who let go reluctantly.

She opened the door and stepped inside. She was already dressed for work and held her briefcase in her left hand. "Good morning Astly, did you have a good night of sleep?" She asked Shawn considerately.

He grinned. "Yup! This is a very comfortable mattress."

Mom laughed. "Glad to hear!" She said. She then looked to me. "Jake, I'm about to leave for a conference in Aptos and won't be back until eight." She said. "Sorry that I didn't have time to eat breakfast with you two- I slept in late." She apologized.

"Don't worry, we slept in too." I laughed.

"Also, would you mind going grocery shopping for me Jake? I'm planning to make something for Leroy's birthday tomorrow- since he baked me a cake for mine- and I need some ingredients that we don't have here." She said. "I would go myself, but I don't think that I have enough time on top of the conference today."

"Sure, what do you need?" I said.

She stepped over and handed me a small shopping list and two twenties over. "Just a few cheeses and spices and whatnot. Feel free to buy whatever other food you want with the rest." She said.

"Alright, have a good day Mom." I said.

She sighed melancholically. "Yeah... I'll be so close to the beach, but I'll be trapped inside with old men talking about finances... So I'll do my best." She murmured as she stepped out the door.

Shawn and I sat in silence until we heard the front door shut.

"So, are you any closer to finding out anything about Smiles?" I asked, pointing at his computer.

"Ugh, I guess. I'm starting to get an idea of how much power he has now and how he deals with people- but this isn't the type of crap that I can just find on the internet- so I've tried contacting former clients of ours who might know something. But that'll be even harder since they don't want to cross him." He sighed, shutting his laptop and tossing it aside onto the mattress.

"Still, that's a hell of a lot more than I could ever figure out in four hours." I said, impressed. I then stood up from the bed and walked towards the door. "I'm going to the bathroom, alright?" I said.

"To do what?" Shawn asked distrustfully. I repressed an eye roll as I turned back towards him. He was staring at me suspiciously.

I raised an eyebrow. "What? Still think that I'm going to jump out the window?" I scoffed.

He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe." This shit again!? We literally had some sort of crime lord after our asses- and he was still focused on me running away?!

I scowled at him. "If you were so much stronger than me, I'd slap you." I said.

"And if I didn't love you so much, I'd slap you back." He replied. We glared at each other silently for a few moments before Shawn abruptly broke out in laughter. "Ah, sorry- you're just really cute when you glare at me, I can't help it." He said, all seriousness before having vanished. "Ugh, just go to the bathroom and do whatever... as long as it's not going through the window." Thank God, he actually seemed to realize how ridiculous he was being. Which wasn't like him. He wasn't usually so reasonable.

"Alright, I swear on my life that I won't dangerously jump out of a second story window for no reason at all." I sighed, leaving the room.

"Hey! Want me to go downstairs and cook some eggs?" He called after me.

I popped my head back in the room. "Oh, sure, thanks." I said, leaving for the bathroom.

Once I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth, I wrapped a towel around my waist and made to step out of the bathroom. I suddenly froze; I was near naked with Shawn close by. Shit. "Hey, Shawn!" I yelled.

"Yeah?" His voice replied from right by the door. I got an unwelcomed feeling of déjà vu.

I thought a moment. "Hey Shawn, think you can grab a shirt for me?" I asked though the door.

"What!?" He called back.

"Can you grab a shirt for me!?" I yelled.

"I can't hear what you're saying!" He replied. Of course he could hear what I was fucking saying! There was only a slab of wood between us!

"Get me a damn shirt!" I demanded, hitting the door with my fist. Shawn did reply, which meant he was either getting me shirt, or ignoring me. Probably the latter.

I groaned. Maybe there were other towels that I could wrap myself in in the meantime. I checked under the sink, where we kept the towels. I was wearing the last one around my waist. Fuck! I took a deep breath; what was I so worried about- I was just showing my chest right? Since we were both guys, it didn't really matter right? I groaned again; of course it fucking mattered- he wanted to bang me.

I pounded on the door again. "Shawn! If you don't get me a shirt or move away from the door, I'll jump out the window!" I threatened.

"No you won't, or else you would have been lying a few minutes ago when you said you wouldn't." Shawn replied nonchalantly. "Though I don't mind having an excuse to kill Vegas."

"Why the fuck are you so damn thirsty all the damn time!?" I screamed in infuriation.

"Only for you Jake." He replied affectionately.

Augh! Fucking fine! I'd just go out and march straight to my room! I threw open the bathroom door and quickly walked out.

Shawn was leaning against the wall, smirking. "Took you long e-" He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes travelled down my body.

"What?" I asked cautiously, lifting my arms subconsciously around myself.

He snapped his head away with an angry expression. "Shit, I made a mistake."

I sent him a look of confusion. "What does that mean?" I asked.

"Go and change before I do something that I regret... or maybe won't regret." Shawn grumbled. "Godamn that towel hugs your ass nice." He said faintly.

I took his advice and quickly booked it to my room.

Once I brushed my hair and got changed into blue jeans and a black T-shirt, I went back out. Shawn stared at me affectionately and opened his mouth to speak. I interrupted him. "Yeah, I know, I look 'cute', 'adorable', 'hot', and whatever other synonyms those have." I grumbled.

Shawn smirked. "You know me so well Jake."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just eat breakfast." I sighed, moving past him to walk down the stairs to the dining table.

I sat at the dining table by Shawn and looked down at my breakfast. It was an omelet shaped in a perfectly symmetrical heart. "... I thought you were making eggs." I said, staring at the omelet disdainfully.

"You deserve better than an omelet- and you had cheese in the fridge." Shawn replied, taking a bite out of his own, non-heart shaped, omelet.

I sliced a piece of the omelet with my fork and took a bite. It was fucking delicious. Good enough to make me want to throw at a wall. Why was it so good!? So on top of being a genius, athletic, rich, and hot... he was a fucking good cook too!? Was there anything he was bad at (aside from wooing people)!?

"Uh... is it bad?" Shawn asked, probably noting the angry look on my face.

"No, it's really good." I grumbled, taking another bite. Shit, it was so good.

Shawn smiled. "Great." He said, taking a bite out of his omelet.

After we finished breakfast, I took the dishes to the sink. "So... what now?" I asked, sitting back down at the table.

"Should we go to the grocery store?" He asked.

I thought a bit. "I guess so, but I'm worried that people I know will see us together if we go to the nearest one."

"What? Are you ashamed of me or something?" He asked bitterly, eyes darkening.

I rolled my eyes. "No, but what if we see my friends- or your friends- or just about anyone from school?" I asked.

"Hm, I guess you're right." Shawn admitted. "I could always drive us to one further away." He suggested.

I thought for a moment. "There is no fucking way that I'm getting into a car with you again." I said. He fucking kidnapped me the last time. "I guess we'll just walk to the nearest one and hope that nobody we know is there." I sighed.

"What? You still don't trust me?" He asked acridly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Should I?" I countered.

"If I wanted to kidnap you I would have already." He argued. Yeah, but was there a time where he didn't want to kidnap me?

"...Yeah, I'm still not taking any chances with you." I said with finality, standing from the table. "Come on, let's get walking- the store is pretty close by."

He stood up as well and followed me towards the door. "Yeah I know; I've followed you there before." Of course he did.

I put on sneakers and shrugged an old hoodie. If we recognized anybody in the grocery store, I could always pull my hood up and separate from Shawn if need be. I looked to see what Shawn was wearing so that maybe he could do the same.

Shawn was slipping on an expensive looking leather jacket over the white T he was wearing. Okay, never mind, I could be the only discreet one; that asshole looked like a hot 50's greaser. I sighed and crammed my phone, money, and shopping list into my hoodie; hopefully we could get in and out of the store as soon as possible.

"Hey Jake, is there anything else you have to wear?" Shawn asked, looking over me with a concerned frown. Since when did he have issues with my clothes?

"Why? Even if I look like an average slob, It'll be more discreet." I said. Ugh, was he a fashion snob or some crap all of the sudden?

"What? No, the opposite! Don't you have any baggier pants? Those jeans highlight your ass and long legs too much." He said in dismay.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh shit, wouldn't want anybody to get distracted and make a move on by me while we're out, right?" I asked sarcastically. If anybody was going to get hit on, it was Shawn.

"Exactly." He replied seriously. "We wouldn't want anybody to get hurt either, right?" He asked hintingly.

"Shawn, don't assume everyone has the same weird ass specific tastes as you." I sighed, not even phased by the murder threat anymore. "Let's just go, alright?" I said, opening the door.

"Fine." Shawn said with a last reluctant glance at my legs.

The nearest grocery store was about seven blocks away from my house. On the way, Shawn got a lot of gazes and double takes- as I expected. From young girls to teens to middle aged Soccer Moms.

I looked up towards Shawn to see if he was noticing the seventh person staring at him. He was staring at me. Maybe that was why people were looking at him.

I picked up on a bit of the conversation that two women pushing strollers were having. "... I know, my husband looked that good when we first got married... but since he's picked up beer and stopped exercising..." I heard one woman murmur quietly to the other. Okay, so everyone was looking at Shawn because he was super hot- ah, fuck, not hot, no, he was a piece of shit.

"See Jake, those jeans are too fucking sexy on you." Shawn suddenly hissed, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me to his right.

"Um, I'm pretty sure those women were just talking about you-"

"Not them!" He said, pointing across the street. "That guy. He was definitely looking at you." He said angrily.

"Oh fuck, God forbid someone look at me." I sighed sarcastically. I looked across the street to see whom Shawn was wrongly accusing. The poor guy looked around awkwardly, trying to avoid Shawn's angry gaze. Wait... He looked familiar. "Oh shit." I said.

"So you see what I mean?" Shawn asked. "I should gouge his eyes out." Shawn added in a low mutter.

"No- that's Jeff. And he's not into me at all- in fact I'm pretty sure he hates me. He's head over heals with Trudy anyways, and he fucking tripped me a week or two ago." He explained. "Crud, maybe he recognizes you too." I said, making a point to not look in Jeff's direction.

There was a moment of silence as we walked past Jeff before Shawn spoke again. "Wait a minute, he's the one that got your knees fucked up?" Shawn asked lowly. Oh shit, I forgot that he saw the scrapes.

"Yeah, but they're healed up now, right?" I said, trying to turn off Shawn's murder-mode.

"But nothing! Your legs are my favorite part of your body... after your personality, face, ass, and hands." Damn, he had a list!?

"Just drop it, it doesn't matter." I insisted.

Shawn studied me a bit before sighing. "Fine; but only because I have to deal with Bobby before anything else." He grumbled. Thank God.

"Great- but what if he tells people that we were seen together?" I asked in concern. If he recognized Shawn, there was no way that he'd keep his mouth shut about seeing us walking together.

"That won't be a problem if you let me kill him." He mumbled sourly, before suddenly lighting up. "Or you can just give the same explanation that you gave Cedrick yesterday." He suggested.

I frowned. "Who the fuck is- wait, you mean Celeste? What girl is named Cedrick?" I asked. "And no... I want to avoid that." I said. There was no way that I was telling everyone that Shawn and I were 'dating'.

Shawn gave me an amused grin. "Hm, well you'll have to tell people sooner or later- since you already told one person." He said. Ugh, he was probably right.

When we reached the grocery store, Shawn pulled out a shopping basket and began to push it into the store. I immediately looked around upon entry to see if there was anyone familiar inside. Thankfully, I didn't even see one teenager inside. Maybe we could actually shop fast enough before anyone familiar popped up!

"So, how much is on the list anyways?" Shawn asked, pulling up next to me with a shopping cart.

"Uh, garlic cloves, oregano, ground beef, Italian sausage, onions, ricotta cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese." I said, reading down the list. "Should we split up? I can get the meats and vegetables and you can get the cheeses." I suggested.

Shawn looked at me thoughtfully. "...Alright- but you're not leaving the store, got it?" He instructed. Was he really that reluctant to let me out of his site? Then again, there was some kind of sleazy rich crime lord that wanted to use me against him...

"Got it." I sighed. I ripped the list in half and handed him the bottom piece. "I'll meet back to put all the food in the cart." I said, walking towards where the meat was.

As much as I usually disliked grocery shopping, it was kind of soothing to be doing something relatively normal for once- since for the past month I'd done nothing but struggle to keep relative control over my newly fuck-tastic life. Even though I caught Shawn glancing towards me to make sure he knew where I was every five seconds, shopping in the store was still kind of calming. After we both finished grabbing the items off the list, I dumped all of mine into the cart.

"There we go... So, how much do you think we'll have left to buy extra food?" I asked him.

He glanced at the groceries. "About eleven dollars." He said certainly.

"Is there anything that you wanna buy?" I asked. I was unable to think of anything but junk food.

"Yeah, but I doubt it's for sale." Shawn sighed forlornly, leaning against the cart.

"Huh? What is it?" I asked curiously. Was there a food that he loved or something? He shot a smug smirk at me. "Your virginity." Oh. Of course.

Fuck... I should have seen that coming from a mile away. I turned on my heel and wordlessly left Shawn to stand alone in the isle with the shopping cart. I suddenly stopped when I spotted prune juice in the refrigerated section. Eh, might as well buy that with the remaining eleven or so dollars; it wasn't junk food, and it helped with constipation. It didn't even taste bad. I grabbed it off the shelf and walked back to Shawn to put it in the shopping cart.

"Whoa, what the hell is that?" Shawn asked, pulling the cart away from me and the prune juice.

"Prune juice." I said with a deadpan expression. I made another move to put it in the cart. I knew that he didn't like prune juice, but then again he didn't have to eat my families' groceries either.

He moved the cart away from me again. "Haha I don't think so. That shit pisses me off." He grumbled.

"Sorry, but it's my families' groceries and money. It's not like I'm gonna force you to drink it." I said, trying to push past Shawn to get the damned drink in the cart.

He suddenly reached into my pocket and pulled out the two twenty-dollar bills. Before I could protest, he smacked two new crisp twenty-dollar bills into my hand. "There now it's my money." He said with conclusiveness.

"Huh? You just took my money and-" He interrupted me by smacking another new twenty in my hand. "...What?" I asked.

"A bribe. Don't get the damn juice." Shawn said coolly. Okay, I got where his hatred for prune juice came from since it was a part of our most recent big conflict, but this was fucking insane!

"Why the hell can't I-" He put another twenty into the palm of my hand. This was pissing me off. "I don't want your damn mon-!" He slapped a fifty-dollar bill in my hands with a look of grit. I seethed at him silently before turning around. "Fine! I'll just buy like fifteen more bottles with this then!" I yelled in frustration.

I stopped mid-step when I saw Las Vegas frozen, hand mid reach for some milk, staring at us with an expression of deep confusion. When he noticed me looking at him, he snapped out of it. "Uh, sorry? I just don't think I've ever seen people argue so heatedly over... juice?" He said awkwardly, finally grabbing the milk he'd been reaching towards.

Shit. Why the hell was he here!? This was exactly what I'd been afraid of! I forced a smile. "Oh, hey Las Vegas." I greeted as if he hadn't just overheard Shawn and I yell about juice.

He looked past me at Shawn, who was trying his best not to openly glare daggers at the guy. "... Uh, I thought that you didn't like that guy?" He said uncertainly.

"I don't." I said. "But since the school exploded, he's staying with my family. His parents are out of town and don't want him to be alone when these damn murders and explosions are around. And since his parents know mine, I'm stuck with him." I explained in a fairly good lie. "How have you been?" I asked.

"I've... been better." He said, uncharacteristically melancholy. He then shook his head and broke into a grin. "Anyways, I've been meaning to exchange numbers with you, and since school is probably going to be out a while, we should probably exchange now." He said.

"Sure." I said, taking out my phone (and ignoring the death glare from Shawn).

Once we finished exchanging numbers, Las Vegas looked me over and grinned. "So are you alright after all those 'muggings' and 'pig killings'?" He asked.

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Yeah, everything is going a lot better now." I said, lying through my teeth.

He smiled genuinely. "Good to hear." He said. His phone suddenly buzzed and he took a glance down at it, his smile dropping to a serious expression. "Well, that was my mom. I've gotta get back home." He sighed, grabbing a pack of yogurt from the store shelf before saying; "Also, we should hang out sometime, so just text me whenever you're free." He said, moving to leave.

"Alright, I'll see you around." I said, waving goodbye.

As soon as Las Vegas rounded the corner, Shawn slunk next to me. "What the hell was that?" He whispered dangerously into my ear.

"It was nothing." I grumbled, dropping the juice into the cart. "Let's pay for the groceries." I said.

"Oh, really?" Because it sure as hell didn't seem like 'nothing'." He said with a glower. "You sure seem to enjoy his company."

"He's not a bad guy." I said.

"And what's that mugging and pig killing bullcrap?" He asked suspiciously. SHIT; I couldn't let Shawn know that Las Vegas suspected something weird was going on with me. That could make him a target... er, even more of a target.

"Just some weird inside thing." I explained, keeping my tone steady. It wasn't a lie, right? "Ooh, what an in-depth explanation; there cant be anything else to that story, can there?" Shawn asked sardonically. Shit.

"It's about when he picked me up from the side of the road." I said, divulging just enough truthful information to hopefully get Shawn off my back.

Shawn narrowed his eyes and studied me. "...Alright." He said. His voice then dropped to a low whisper. "But don't get close to that guy. I'm sure you already know this, but I seriously don't like to share what belongs to me- meaning you- so if I ever get a whiff of something... intimate, going on between you two, he'll be dead and you'll be off the grid before you can bullshit your way out of it." He said. Fuck, he hated Las Vegas a lot.

"Thank god I'm not into him then." I sighed quietly, trying not to think too much about Shawn's threat. Las Vegas was a good guy, but not dating material for me. Not that Shawn was dating material either.

"Could've fooled me." He mumbled. We arrived at the checkout line.

"I'm more likely to date you than him." He scoffed in a light whisper, without thinking.

"Seriously!?" Shawn yelled incredulously. Other shoppers gave us startles glances due to his outburst. Shit, what the hell did I get myself into now? Augh, whatever I had to do to keep Las Vegas' organs inside him.

"Uh, maybe...I mean if you two were the only dudes left on earth, I'd rather be single forever. But, if I had to..." I trailed off awkwardly as we finally reached the checkout.

Shawn was beaming, his shit mood doing a complete 180. "You know what, as a reward for that, I'll let you buy this disgusting juice." He said, jovially placing the prune juice on the belt.

"Wow, thank you." I said sarcastically. The cashier sent us a small frown before she scanned the items and put them in a bag. I paid her with the forty dollars that I initially brought (disregarding the fact that Shawn swapped the bills). Shawn and I each took a bag and exited the store. As soon as were a block away from the store, I thrust the ninety dollars that Shawn forced on me back into his chest. "Here's your money back." I said.

"Eh, you can keep it." He said nonchalantly, not moving to accept the cash.

"Shawn, I don't want your money!" I protested.

"So you want my love and affection instead then?" He asked with a smirk.

I glared at him and wordlessly stuffed the money into the pocket of is leather jacket.

After a moment of silence, Shawn spoke up again. "...So, you'd date me over Las Vegas, huh?" He asked proudly. I groaned; why the hell did I say that? "You know, there are some good points that the piece of shit has. Like, he's muscular- though I guess not as fit as I am. He seems pretty tough- though I doubt he's ever killed anyone..." Shawn started prattling on about ways he was superior to Las Vegas.

Speaking of Las Vegas; he wasn't really acting like... himself. I hadn't known the guy for a long time, but he was normally more cheerful than when I saw him in the grocery store. I guess something must have been going on with him too (though probably not an insane psycho stalker). Maybe the school blowing up did a number on him... Yeah, maybe.

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Well, a lot happened in this chapter. Nothing really plot progressing, but a lot happened (meh, fun af to write either way!).

This chapter gave me such bad writers block in dumb places. Though that might be because all I had written as notes for it was : "Prune juice joke, lotta money, suspicioso LV, lookup lasagna recipe"

Anyways, as usual, thanks everyone for the amazing comments thus motivation, I really hope you liked it!!!!!!!