"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

"Cristina. You've asked me that question 6 times in the past 10 minutes."

"I know, but there's a reason you and Cory haven't been around my mom's side of the family much."

"I know they can be intense. But i'm not doing this for them i'm doing this for you. So let's go already."

Cristina was nervous, but she smiled at Shawn anyway to put on a brave face. They walked up the the front of her grandma's house where the party was, and she hesitantly knocked on the door. A few seconds later an elderly woman opened the door.

"Hi Abuela." She leaned over and gave her grandmother a tight hug.

"Hello my angel." Cristina smiled as she hugged her, but then her grandmother noticed Shawn standing in the doorway and pulled back from her hug. "And who is this? Is this the infamous Derek your mother mentioned?"

"Oh God. What did she say?" Cristina became even more worried then before the door opened, if that was even possible.

"Nothing too bad. She said she didn't get to spend much time with him but that you finally got a boyfriend after all this time and she didn't like your attitude when you were with him."

She relaxed. "Okay. That's not too bad. I can handle that. But to answer your question, no this is Shawn. And if Mom asks, he's my boyfriend okay?" Cristina felt weird introducing him as her boyfriend, but not a bad weird. And Shawn didn't mind the new introduction either.

"You sure bringing a new guy as your boyfriend will set the right enough impression to appease her?"

"I'm not trying to appease her. I just don't want to hear an 'I told you so'."

"That's fair enough. You better introduce him to her first before she has the chance to complain." Cristina's grandmother opened the door a little wider for Shawn to come in. Once he walked through the door way she goes in for a hug. He reciprocated it and she whispered in his ear. "You seem sweet. Good luck in there."

"Thanks." He whispered back.

She heads off to the kitchen and Cristina begins looking around for her mom. They walk around for a bit until they spotted her at the refreshment table. Cristina took a big breath, grabbed Shawn's hand, and walked over to her. Shawn may have been slightly scared of her mom, but having her hand in his just made his nerves melt away.

He smiled as they approached her.

"Happy Birthday Mom." Her mother turns around and Cristina lets go of Shawn's hand to give her a hug. Shawn could tell the hug was forced.

"Hi dear." She pulls back and examines her daughter's face. "Your face looks a little chubby dear i'd skip the cake if I were you. Don't worry I won't be offended."

"I—" Before she has the chance to respond, her mother cut her off.

"Oh relax, i'm teasing. Don't be so sensitive. Although, you probably should skip seconds. I know you like to grab an extra piece, and waist lines only get bigger over the years dear."

After the not-so-subtle comment, Shawn thought it was about time he spoke up to lighten the mood.

"I think she looks great." Her mother snapped her head in his direction and gave him a suspicious look.

"And who might you be? Sweetie I thought you said you were bringing your boyfriend."

"I did." She puts her hand in Shawn's once again and both of them couldn't help but smile. They both felt a little happy with their hands intertwined. It gave them both a sense of warmth.

"Well what happened to Erick? Or whatever his name was?" She knows his name. And Cristina knows that's she knows his name. But she recognized that her mother wanted to push her buttons so she reacted calmly.

"His name was Derek. And I broke it off. Turns out he just wasn't my type."

"Well it looks like you bounced back a little quick. Who's this?"

Shawn noticed her mother pushing another button so he stepped in this time.

"I'm Shawn. You might remember me, i've been her best friend for a while." He reached his hand out for a handshake. She looked at his hand, looked back up at him, and returned her gaze to her daughter.

"Ah yes, the best friend. So darling, when did you decide that this was more than a friendship?" It annoyed her how she kept acting as if Shawn wasn't standing right next to her. But she thought it was important that she not let her mom get to her, so she once again buried the frustration.

"Well, it sort of just happened out of nowhere."

Her mother put her hand on Cristina's chin. "Oh my naive little girl, nothing happens out of nowhere. But i'm sure you being fresh out of a relationship had nothing to do with it."

She meant to say that a little quieter so Shawn couldn't hear, but he heard. He didn't seem to care about what she said, but he noticed that Cristina was starting to have trouble keeping her cool.

"Anyways sweetie, I have to go mingle with the rest of the family. You know how these things are. But i'll see you when it's cake time okay honey?" She pecked her quickly on the forehead and walked away nonchalantly.

Cristina clenched her jaw and turned to Shawn as she was out of earshot.

"You okay?" He asked. "That was a little intense."

"A little? Damn, can she really not last one minute without making a swipe at me? Because if not it's gonna make this so much harder."

"Hey hey hey, look at me." Shawn put his hands on her shoulders and looked her right in the eye. She met his gaze as he consoled her. "Just take a beat and breathe okay? Look at me and breathe." And she did just that. She looked at him, and breathed. "See? Don't you feel better?"

"Much." She said. But it wasn't the breathing. It was just Shawn being Shawn. 'No wonder I like him so much' she thought, and she smiled.

"Just remember i'm gonna be right next to you the whole time okay? We got this."

"You're right. We got this." She repeated.

Something about the way he said it made her believe it. And something about consoling her made Shawn believe it too. He always knew just how to calm her down at times like these. He never had to try or think of ways to make her feel better, it was just second nature to him. He just always knew with her.

They went back to mingling and everything was okay for a while. They had sang her mother happy birthday, had cake, and played a few party games.

"Having fun?" Shawn asks.

He smiles at her and she just can't help but smile in return. "Lots." She snapped herself out of her gaze once she realized she was staring for way too long. "Ummm...i'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll just be a minute."

Shawn nods at her and heads over to the kitchen as she walks away. He was thirsty, and thought he might grab a water bottle from the refrigerator. Just as he was about to turn the corner, he hears Cristina's mom laughing with some other family members.

"I mean I don't even know what she was thinking? Tossing aside a perfectly handsome and well-rounded young man. For what? A trailer park boy? My daughter must've gotten her sense of judgment from her father. 'Not her type?' What's not her type? Someone who's too good for her? It never hurt anybody to climb the social ladder a bit. She's probably only seeing the trailer boy because she feels like she can tame him better. You wouldn't believe the player she can be."

"Really? Cristina doesn't seem like that kind of girl."

"Please, you don't know my daughter. She can be quite the manipulator."

Shawn felt his blood boil with rage hearing her mother say those things. So he came out from around the corner and gave her a piece of his mind.

"Are you sure you aren't talking about yourself?"

Her mother was taken aback by his outburst.

"Excuse me, that is no way to speak to me."

"Oh, because you were just speaking such kind words about your own daughter just now."

"It's very rude to eavesdrop."

"Yeah and it's a bitch move to trash talk your own daughter to her family members and spread lies."

"Watch your tone!"

"No. If you refuse to even have an OUNCE of respect for Cristina, then why should I have any for you?" Her mother was speechless. She just stood there getting angrier with every word that left Shawn's mouth. "You know, I don't really care about what you say about me. I don't care if you hate me or talk bad about me behind my back. But the one thing I will not let you do is disrespect the girl who is supposed to be YOUR DAUGHTER! But I find that hard to believe considering you aren't acting like her mother."

"You don't know a thing about me boy." She spat.

"You're right. I don't. And frankly i'm glad I don't. Birthday or not, you're a sorry excuse for a mother. It's a miracle that Cristina put up living with you for so long."

As Cristina's mother turned about 5 different shades of red, he turned around to find Cristina at the doorway.

He defended me.

He was scared of her. And yet he defended me.

He defended me when I didn't even want to defend myself.

He walked up to me and grabbed my hand. "Come on. Let's go. We don't need to be here anymore."

He led me out of the door and I simply smiled and followed.

"Where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise."

"Haven't I had enough surprises for one day?"

"Those were all bad. But this one is going to make you forget everything about today. It's just gonna you and me hanging out and having a blast."

I don't know where we're going, but I don't care. I'm with Shawn and that's all that matters. Although I don't think he noticed, we were still holding hands the whole way there.

I still haven't stopped smiling.