Chapter 3: You'll Always Have Me
Kendall was approaching her first whole week living at home again. There were a lot of comforting familiarities with living with her family. Shawn's presence kept her spirits high and her mind off all the drama with Bradley. Kendall had not spoken to Bradley since the night she left to stay at home again. She planned on returning to living with him once their tension dissipated, but he had not tried to contact her the entire week. Kendall thought she would only be gone a few days, but not hearing from him angered her and made her want to stay home longer. It made her feel like he didn't care if she came back.
Shawn was doing significantly better with Kendall living at home again. All areas of his life seemed to improve when she was with him. His boss complimented his work for outperforming the rest of his team, his mom told him that he seemed more like himself lately, and his dad, for the first time in a while, said to him that he was glad to see his son doing well again. Their dad's expectations of Shawn were always high because he was the oldest, so it helped their relationship that he was doing better. The small affirmations here and there were great for Shawn's mental health, which had unfortunately declined after Kendall moved out.
Within a week, Shawn and Kendall resumed their routine as if she had never moved out. They grocery-shopped for the house, cooked together, and usually watched movies or played video games all night until they fell asleep together. They loved having movie marathons and laughing all night, and Shawn never got tired of Kendall dozing off under his arm. They swapped stories about things that had happened during their last year apart. Kendall missed bonding with her brother, and Shawn was happy to have someone to interact with again.
There had been no more strange occurrences between them since their incident in the kitchen. Everything seemed to be going perfectly normal again, and Kendall staying at home seemed overwhelmingly positive for both of them. She was away from the chaotic pressure of Bradley to become a mother, and Shawn was functioning better than he had all year. Kendall's presence kept their home's energy warmer and more family-like again. It all seemed so perfect until it wasn't.
Shawn woke up on Saturday morning and resumed his weekend routine. He could taste that cold brew before the shower water hit his body. Shawn had been feeling great since Kendall came home. He dreaded her inevitable move back to Bradley's place, but he knew it would happen sooner or later. It worried Shawn that they might start drifting apart again if she returned to live with him, but it was out of his control.
Shawn disliked the idea of her suddenly being gone again one morning, only to return to some jerk who doesn't treat her how she deserves. But she loved Bradley and wanted to start a family with him. That was her decision. Shawn could never have Kendall the way he wanted, and nothing he could say or do would ever change that. All he could do was be supportive and let her live the life she chose. That's what a good brother would do.
Upon leaving his bedroom with fresh garb, Shawn noticed Kendall's door still shut. It's such a small thing but an odd one. Kendall always woke up before Shawn did. Always. She never closes her door behind her, either. Once she's up for the day, her door stays open until she goes to bed that night. Seeing her door shut after he had finished his morning routine made Shawn question it.
He approached her door intending to knock lightly, but his ears heard the only sound in the world that made him lose control: Kendall was crying.
As soon as he heard her soft weeping, he went straight for the door handle, only for it to be locked. Kendall never locked her door. Something was wrong.
"Kendall?" He called through the door, trying to open it but to no avail.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Shawn called out, concerned.
"I'm fine. Leave me alone," she wept in a nasally, stopped-up voice.
"Shit..." Shawn whispered to himself as he reached up and felt for the universal key atop her door.
He would never invade her space under normal circumstances, but the sound of Kendall crying was an enormous trigger for Shawn. Growing up together, he refused to let anyone get away with making her cry. Despite being passive and non-aggressive, Shawn defended her fiercely their entire lives. He got beaten up fighting off her bullies and even lashed out at their parents for bringing her to tears, even when she misbehaved. Whenever she was in trouble, he wasn't capable of standing by. The sound of her cries made his body act on its own.
Shawn's brow raised as his fingers found the tiny metal pin that worked on every door in the house. Then he remembered it was futile as he held it up to her doorknob, being greeted by a unique keyhole. Sometime during high school, Kendall went through her teenage anarchist phase and changed her door lock to avoid being intruded on by their parents. Shawn felt stumped for a moment. All he could do was scratch his head in frustration and look around for ideas to get in.
He sprinted downstairs and bolted through the kitchen, looking for her bag where her car keys would be. He remembered what the key looked like from their childhood. It was small and copper. He reached into her bag and gasped as he found her keys, but this particular key was not on the ring.
"Fuck!" He grunted, dropping them on the table.
"Language..." His mom said, walking her coffee mug to the sink, "now, what's wrong?"
"Uh, sorry, Mom. It's Kendall. She's upset," Shawn said, turning her bag upside down on the table and looking for the key.
"Okay? Why are you decimating her bag like a wolverine, then?" She replied snarkily.
"Remember how she changed her lock when we were kids? Remember that little key and how it was the only way to get in? Have you seen it?" Shawn yammered as he continued digging.
His mom looked concerned now as she placed a hand gently on his arm, causing him to stop and look at her.
"Honey..." She said softly, "I know you're happy she's home, but if she doesn't want to be bothered, maybe you should give her some space today. Don't you think?"
"What? No, Mom!" He responded aggressively, shaking her hand off him, "she's in there crying right now!" He raised his voice as he continued rooting through the contents of her bag on the table.
Their dad walked around the corner, wiping his hands off with a towel. He had been trying to fix Kendall's oil leak in her car for days and was too stubborn to take it to a technician.
"What's gotten into him?" He asked quietly, standing behind their mom and giving a light kiss on the back of her head.
"Kendall's crying in her room, and she locked the door," she sighed, "he's looking for the key. He just wants to help," she finished softly, watching Shawn migrate to the living room and start looking in more places.
"Mhm," their dad muttered as he snuck over to the door leading outside from the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" She asked, watching him open the door and look upward along the side of the house.
"Hey, Shawn," his dad called out with his full voice.
Shawn looked over and saw his dad staring up at Kendall's window.
"Remember that time I almost made you join the army?" He asked with the tiniest smirk.
Shawn's face lit up as he connected the reference in his head and ran towards the door. His dad moved out of the way, saying, "now that still stands, you hear me? Don't think this changes anything."
Shawn looked at his dad for confirmation before grabbing onto the vines that grew along the house.
"Just this once," he said, holding his finger up, "now go take care of your sister."
With that, Shawn began climbing up the side of the house as if he were a teenager again. He was having flashbacks of all those nights he and Kendall snuck into the house this way to fool their parents into thinking they made it home on time. Kendall was the one who discovered it one Halloween. They had been out way past curfew, and their parents had the front door alarmed. They would have been scolded if they had opened the front door and set it off. So they climbed up the side of the house to get into Kendall's bedroom like ninjas. It would have kept working, but Shawn was the reason they got caught and could never use it again. Their dad busted him one night trying to sneak in after they told him he wasn't even allowed to go out that night. He told Shawn he'd make him join the army if it ever happened again, and he listened.
