From across the floor, Shawn watched as Jean talked to his mother as if she had known her for years. They were both laughing together, and he laughed when Jean held up her name card and shook her head slowly at him. He about choked on his food as he chuckled; he almost forgot about that one.

He was able to pull up a chair beside Jean at her table as they went through the first dances. After Zeiler and Tyler finished their dance, the DJ called all the married couples to the floor.

"Oh here we go," his mom said, standing up and swinging her arms as if she was warming up for a race. "Let's do this."

"I dare you two to go out there," his dad said, leaning in and winking at Shawn.

"You dare us?" Shawn said, amused. "Fraud, but since you dared us..."

Jean was talking to Faith, unaware of what was just said. Shawn grabbed her hand and started to pull her towards the dance floor.

"Wait, this is for—" Jean said, stumbling over her feet as they walked onto the floor.

"Shh," Shawn said, putting his hands on her waist and pulling her close to him. "Just go with it."

He couldn't help but laugh at how frantic she looked. He moved her arms around his neck and she looked to his parents with desperate eyes. Both of them laughed; there was too many people on the floor for anyone to notice they weren't supposed to be there.

"Please exit the dance floor if you've been married for less than two hours," the DJ said, and everyone laughed. Zeiler and Tyler has the biggest smiles on their face as they walked to the edge of the floor.

"Oh no," Jean said. "Shawn, what is this? Why are we doing this?"

"Be cool," he said, smiling and looking around. "We could win this."

He had his hands on her waist, and she started giggling in her panic. When she realized he wasn't going to let her leave, she buried her face in his chest as if she could hide from the crowd. He laughed out loud at her before kissing the top of her head. Looking into the crowd, he made eye contact with Zeiler who threw her head back laughing. She nudged Tyler who looked to him and grinned, shaking his head at him slowly. He gave him a thumbs up.

People started exiting the floor after 1 and 2 years. Jean tried to walk away each time but Shawn easily pulled her back. His mom found it the most funny, she was cracking up as she rested her face on his dad's shoulder.

"Don't encourage him!" Jean cried, not able to hide her smile at his mom's reaction.

"Five years!" The DJ called. Jean looked at Shawn, pleading with her eyes, but he continued to sway back and forth to the song that was playing. Nobody was paying them any attention yet.

"Please Shawn," she pleaded. "Five years is long enough. We got married a couple years after high school. Let's quit while we're ahead."

"Be still," he said, looking around the room and nodding at other couples as he tried to play it cool. "It's biblical."

When they called ten years, he laughed before he even looked down to see Jean's reaction. She went stiff as a board and her lips were pressed shut. As anyone who looked remotely their age started to leave the dance floor, he knew he needed to put her out of her misery.

"Ten years?" She said, trying to keep her cool. "We got married when we were fifteen?"

"Ten?" He asked. "Jean, it was nine, how could you forget?" He rolled his eyes in mock frustration and grabbed her hand to pull her off the dance floor.

Zeiler ended his charade when she came over and smacked him hard on the arm. He put his arms up to dodge her blows, not able to hide his huge grin.

"Jean looked terrified!" Zeiler yelled, laughing as she turned to hug Jean. "I'm so sorry, he's the worst."

Tyler smiled as he fistbumped Shawn. "You gave up too soon."

The DJ soon drew everyone's attention to an old couple who had been married for 55 years. Everyone cheered for them and raised their glasses.

"Coulda been us if you had played along," Shawn said, wrapping his arm around her.

***

Jeanette Arthur was unlike any girl he had ever known. She was a gift, and he loved every second spent with her.

He knew that she didn't have a lot of people in her life, and he also knew it wasn't by choice. Some people chose to isolate themselves and shut everyone out, but he was discovering that Jean was isolated by some unfortunate events outside of her control. As he got to know her, he saw she was desperate for relationships but was not given the opportunity to create many. He didn't know the details, but he figured it was safe to assume at this point that her family had abandoned her. She never once mentioned them- not because it seemed like she was hiding it, but as if she truly didn't have any stories to tell.

Despite everything, and perhaps his favorite thing about her, was her openness. No matter how uncomfortable, Jean always said yes to trying new things. She just needed a slight push to get there. She was so full of life- a free-spirit who had never been taught how to fly. He got to watch someone come more and more alive everyday, and God had given him a front row seat.

As he walked back up to the dance floor after speaking with his mom, he stopped and watched as the quiet, reserved girl he once knew danced shamelessly hard in a circle with his best friends.

She caught him looking at her, but it didn't stop her from dancing. When he motioned for her to come to him, she danced all the way across the floor as she closed the gap between them. Gosh, she was adorable.

She finally stopped dancing when she was directly in front of him and looked up into his eyes with that soft smile. Her blonde hair was a bit more disheveled from all the dancing, and she was slightly redder in the face, but somehow she looked all the more beautiful.

"You tuckered out there, kid?" Shawn said, smirking at her with amusement as he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Not even close," she said, starting to slowly move her shoulders back to the beat of the music.

"Do you want to get some air?" he asked. They had both been dancing practically the entire time and you could definitely feel the heat growing in the building.

She sighed, smiling. "Yes."

They walked outside, and the cool night air was a relief. Both of their ears were ringing as they walked away into the quiet of night. The rolling fields of green and carefully cared for landscape made for a beautiful setting. Shawn was happy just to get away from everyone for a second with Jean.

"What a day," Jean said, closing her eyes as the wind blew a cool breeze through her hair.

"You're telling me," Shawn said, pulling down his suspenders off his shoulders. "Zeiler made us wear these stupid things. Didn't know I was 85 years old."

Jean giggled. This coming from the guy who read newspapers and left voicemails. "You're basically 85 years old."

"Yeah, you're right."

"And actually, I really like the suspenders on you."

Shawn looked at her amused, and then quickly pulled them back up over his shoulders. "Well in that case."

He could tell she was giddy by the way she was skipping next to him. He had never seen her so full of joy. Her blue sundress flounced all around her. She couldn't help but smile as she turned around to face him as she continued to walk backwards.

"You know, you look at me a lot," she said teasingly, still skipping.

"Can you blame me?" he replied.

Her confidence must have been growing, because she stopped walking in front of him so she could grab his face and kiss him again. This time, they had no rush. No place to be. It was just him and her.

He cupped his hand behind her head, the other on her hip as he pulled her close. He kissed her slowly, and he could feel her defenses falling.

He knew he just needed to give her time and the walls Jean had been forced to build would soon come crumbling down. He knew she would come to accept Jesus; she just needed some time. The walls of Jericho didn't come down right away either.

God had been guiding him all this way, and he had faith God would see this through to the end. The thought of the beautiful girl he'd come to know living in isolation, fear, and pain hurt him to think about. He knew he couldn't save her. He knew that more than once in his life he would inevitably fail her. He was human, and he was never meant to be everything she needed. She needed and deserved to know the inexplicable, amazing love of a Father who would never leave her. For her to understand that no matter what, Jesus would never leave her alone.

As he kissed her, he prayed that God would do whatever it took to capture her love.

He finally pulled away to pull her into his arms, holding her tightly. For a while they stayed like that, neither of them saying anything.

"Jeanette Guinevere Arthur," he said softly, her head tucked under his chin.

"Not even close," she murmured from his chest.

***

The wedding ended with sparklers and cheers as Tyler and Zeiler sped off to the car. Jean helped Shawn pack some of the stuff from the wedding into the cars before they headed back.

It was a long day, and she was tired. As they drove home, Shawn walked her up to her apartment. When she hugged him goodbye, she didn't want to let go. She didn't want him to leave. She knew they were in the throws of excitement of a blossoming love, and she wanted to hold onto this feeling forever.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now, for real," Shawn whispered, kissing her one last time. However, he just looked at her, making no move to walk away.

"Okay," she whispered, looking up into his eyes. "Goodbye then."

He didn't move, trying really hard to suppress his smile. He sighed. "You're going to have to force me out."

She smirked. "Impossible, not with those suspenders."

He moved in on her again, and this time she threw her arms around her neck and kissed him deeper. They moved across the floor until he slowly lowered her down on the couch. He kneeled above her so he wouldn't crush her, but she pulled him closer still.

It didn't feel like they were moving too fast, in fact, they were both so comfortable with each other. Almost too comfortable. Shawn knew he needed to be careful, it was only day one, and when she brought her lips to his neck, it took every ounce of strength he had in him to roll off the couch with a groan.

She shot up instantly as Shawn sat on the floor with his knees raised, his back against the couch.

"I'm sorry," she said frantically. "Shawn, I'm sorry."

He laughed, leaning his head back on the couch. "Jean, no, for the love of God, please do not be sorry for that."

She sighed in relief that she didn't offend him, but she was still worried. "I just got carried away."

He turned and looked at her, grabbing her hand. "I think carried away would be if you ripped your dress off."

She laughed softly and covered her face with her hands. "Yeah, about that..." She slid off the couch onto the floor so she was sitting side by side with him. She stretched her legs out straight so she could cover herself with her skirt, and she noticed how small she was in comparison to Shawn. She felt a shiver run through her, but she forced herself to focus. "I should probably tell you something important now that...you know."

Shawn looked over at her, but she was afraid to look back at him. "Of course," he whispered.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She needed to tell him now, though, in case it changed things. "I don't want to have sex until I'm married."

He looked surprised, but not upset, but it still made her nervous. She looked away from his face and she kept talking out of nervousness.

"I know it's dumb, and outdated, and I know many Christians don't even follow that anymore, but after what happened to me when I was sixteen, it ruined me. The way I felt after, how traumatizing it was...I don't think sex was ever meant to be so casual. It's such an important thing, why wouldn't I want to save it for my husband? It just seems so much easier." Shawn was listening to her, but his silence made her uneasy. "I don't know, maybe that's a stupid way to think. Maybe what happened made me more sensitive to it and I'm making it too big of a deal."

Shawn laughed. "No Jean, I think you're absolutely right."

Relief flooded through her, and she turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

He reached over and grabbed her, pulling her into his embrace so her back was against his chest. She was able to relax in his arms again.

"So, I've made mistakes. I didn't know they were mistakes at the time, but looking back, I see how sex completely connects you to another person." Shawn paused. "I used to think if you loved a person, that was enough. It was acceptable."

"What changed?" Jean asked.

Shawn chuckled softly against the side of her face. "Found Jesus and started praying for wisdom."

"Oh yeah?" She said. "And what wisdom did Jesus give you?"

"I realized God created us, so he knows us better than anyone. Better than we know ourselves. God gives us direction in the Bible not to make our lives difficult, but because he wants to give us the best, most fulfilling lives possible." He closed his eyes, praying she would experience this someday. "He's trying to protect us. He gives us the choice to listen or not. Why do parents correct their little kids? Because they're dumb and they don't know any better. God is so big, we can't even make a comparison like that, but that's how I like to think of it."

Jean turned in his arms so she could look at him. "So you're waiting for marriage too?"

Shawn smirked. "Call me a born-again virgin."

Jean turned back around and went limp in his arms. She let all the breath out of her lungs. "Thank God," she sighed.

Shawn laughed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the couch as relief filled him as well. He was the Christian, and here she was thanking God. The path couldn't be straighter for him, and he silently thanked God himself. The more he got to know this mysterious, wonderful girl, the more he was in awe of how God worked and pieced everything together for his good. For their good.

Where had she been all his life?
____________________________________

ADJWKSNSKDS talk about Jean and Shawn going from 0 to 100 AM I RIGHT?

I probably update too often, but whatever. I'm inspired. And new to Wattpad.

GUYS, IT'S ABOUT TO GET REAL.

Every vote counts, and I am so thankful for every one. Love y'all ❤️