"Thanks, Mom," Trinity smiles at her Mom as she places a cupcake in front of her.

"You're welcome, baby girl. Have you had a good birthday so far?"

Smiling, she plays with her new bracelet. "Yes. I have."

"Don't worry, Katy, we took her shopping," Sofie promises.

"That's good."

Trinity sticks her tongue out. So far, she's had a pretty good birthday. It started off with a day in the botanic garden, then they went shopping and now a birthday dinner from her Mom.

"Katy?"

Both Trinity and Katy look up to see a shaggy but good-looking man with blue eyes and dark brown hair.

"That's what it says right here. Yeah?" Katy asks.

"Hi," the stranger says.

"Hi. What'll it be?"

"Oh, me? I'll have some birthday cake."

"What?" Trinity and Katy blurt. What the hell is this guy talking about?

"What kind of mom are you, Katy?" the guy asks.

"Who is this guy?" Violet hisses, glaring at the man.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out," Trinity climbs over Violett, so she is standing in front of her Mom. "Who the hell are you?"

He pauses, flattering back. "Maya?"

Of course, she has something to do with this. Trinity rolls her eyes. "No. I'm prettier. Now, who the heck are you? Matthew's uncle or something."

"My name's Shawn Hunter."

Katy looks taken aback. "Whoa?"

Trinity scrutinizes Shawn. "No, what I was expecting. You're less homeless looking than I thought you were going to be."

"Hey! What does that mean?" Shawn protests.

"You're the guy Maya doesn't stop talking about, the Matthews' friend," Katy explains. "You guys all went on a family weekend together. She had a really good time, and I appreciate it. Thank you very much."

Shawn smiles, chest-puffing up. "You're welcome."

"Still doesn't explain why he's here," Trinity points out. I'm not impressed. "And why he came in here, guns blazing. And why haven't you smashed him over the head with a plate yet?"

"You know what? The both of you already don't like me, so I'm just going to keep talking, okay? Today is Maya's birthday. What are you doing here since first thing this morning?"

Slowly but surely, Trinity's face twists into an ugly sneer. "Please smash him over the head with a plate. Now, before I do it."

"Calm down," Katy places a calming head on her head, gently pushing her into Violet's arms, before turning to Shawn. "You're right. I don't like you at all."

"Yo," Dmitar tilts his head to the back. "Look who's here?"

Trinity follows his eyes just in time to see Matthews and his mini-me scurrying out of the diner. Fucking busybodies! She snaps her head to glare at Shawn.

"The question you should be asking is where is Maya!? Why did she go to Matthews instead of stopping by the diner!? Why the fuck was she gone before anyone woke up!? Why-- why--"

Why does she always ruin everything! She can't let just one day go without drama! How dare she let someone come in here and call Mom a bad mom. She's the best woman in the world.

Trinity's face goes pale, and she sways where she's sat, utterly dazed and breathing heavily. Immediately Katy and Violetta reached out to steady her.

"Trini, you're okay. It's alright," Violet whispers to her, but she can't hear her.

She can feel lunges closing up, like it's trying to get more air in but just can't. "I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Mom, I can't breathe!"

"Breath, baby girl," Katy kneels in front of her. "It's okay. I'm here."

Surprisingly Shawn leans forward and catches her hand. "You're having a panic attack. I know you think you can't breathe, but you can." he turns to Kathy. "Has this happened before?"

She wrings her hands and nods. "Never this bad."

"Okay," he turns back to Trinity. "Tell me five things you can see."

"What?" Trinity wheezes out.

"Five things you can see."

"You."

"Good. Four more."

"Mom. The clock. The stool. The plate."

"Good girl! What are four things you can touch?"

Blinking down, Trinity looks down and quickly grasps Violet's hand. "Violet. Um... my-my bracelet. My hair," her hand clenches the fabric of her skirt. "My skirt."

"Three things you can hear."

"Your voice. My voice. The squeaky table."

"Two things you can smell."

"Tuna Sandwich and chicken."

"One thing you can taste."

"Chocolate from my sundae." Trinity blinks, finding it a lot easier to breathe. "I'm sorry-- it's never been that bad before."

Violet kisses Trinity on the cheeks. "It's understandable. You were surprised."

"It's nothing to be sorry about!" Shawn fiercely shakes his head. "I get them too." he stands, turning to face Katy. "She's right. I don't know the full story, but do you think I would walk in here and talk to you like this if I wasn't so fond of your daughter?"

Katy crosses her arms. "I owe you another thank you, and that was great, but why don't you tell me about your vast experience raising a child?"

"I don't have any! But I know you don't work an extra shift at a diner and miss your daughter's birthday. Which yes Maya could be here too, but she's not, and there's a reason for that."

Maybe he's not so bad, Trinity thinks, accepting the cup of water from Dmitar.

"Mm-hmm. And you know this because you know so much about relationships?"

"I'm terrible at relationships."

"I'm worse."

"I don't want to be."

"Neither do I."

"Well, then we've got something in common."

Has her Mom and Shawn stare into each other's eyes, realization hits Trinity. This was a setup. Matthews playing cupid.

"Look," Katy sighs. "My daughter likes having you around. But how can you stick around when every weekend she told me you go somewhere else?"

"I write about places. That's my job."

"I can't let Maya get close to somebody else who just leaves."

"Okay, hold on, first of all, I'm not a leaver. All right? I'm a stayer. I'm the one who gets left."

"Well, we got that in common too."

"What do you mean? Maya thinks that you chased away-"

Dmitar, Sofia, Trinity, and Violet scoff at once.

"Look, that's not what happened," Trinity tells him. "Yeah, she kicked him out, but he was--"

"Stop," Katy layers her with a firm look before giving her full attention to a suspicious Shawn. "I know what she thinks. It's her father. A girl should think well of her father."

Camile walks in at that moment. "Hi, birthday girl. Hi, Katy. So I finished it, and it's just like you wanted it."

Camile holds out two gold lockets.

Trinity stares at it. Those look expensive. "Mom, what are those?"

Katy sighs before smiling. "I guess the surprise is ruined. It's beautiful, Camille. But I'm still $50 short, and it'll take an extra shift to pay for it."

"They're nice lockets. Family photo going in them?" Shawn wonders.

"Yeah," Katy nods. "Me and them."

Before anybody can blink, Shawn is handing Camille 50 bucks. "Here you go."

Katy snaps her head to him. "Really?"

"Today is her birthday," Shawn shrugs. "But you knew that."

"He's cute," Camile comments.

"I'll pay you back," Katy promises Shawn.

Shawn smiles. "You will. You'll let me take the photo."

Trinity groans, getting chuckles from her friends. "Oh, God. You're a decent person, aren't you? I'm gonna like you. Fuck!"

Shawn rubs the back of his neck. "Um... thanks?"

Trinity just knows, knows she's going to be seeing a lot more of Shawn Hunter, whether she wants to her not. And she might want to.
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A/N: Short chapter, I know. But I wanted to get something out there for this story. So I wanted something for Trinity and Shawn to bond over, and this is what I got. Watching Boy Meets World, I think Shawn would've had plenty of anxiety attacks that he hid. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I am sorry for the long wait for it.