This is story #3 in the series of stories that I will be writing that will follow the gang during the years following the end of BMW up until the start of GMW. The title of this story is very similar to the an episode title in Season 6 of Boy Meets World (Ain't College Great). Hope you enjoy, and feel free to let me know of what you think of the story below!

Lifting his head from his folded arms, Cory Matthews strained his eyes for a look at the digital clock on the microwave: it was 3:00 AM, and he was still up. Again.

Letting out an exasperated grunt, his head collapsed into his arms again, unable to even look at the pile of cards that he still had to study before morning. He didn't know what in the world he had been thinking months earlier when he had decided to enroll at NYU. How was he supposed to manage earning a degree in teaching while simultaneously taking on two part-time jobs in order to pay for both his and Topanga's college tuition?

A muffled snore suddenly came through the walls opposite Cory. And how could he forget about Shawn, who was currently looking for work after quitting his job a month earlier, leaving Cory and Topanga to pay the rent in the meantime. He was currently feeling lost and confused, as he was surrounded by friends who seemed to have their futures established: Topanga was hard at work in law school, Cory was striving towards his degree in teaching, and Eric was thoroughly enjoying working at the local orphanage as a care-taker for the kids.

Cory squinted as the overhead light in their kitchen was flicked on. Topanga, standing in her bathrobe with her arms folded across her chest, sighed as she saw that her husband was still up. Pulling a chair out from the kitchen table, she sat down next to him and reached for his hand.

"Cory, it's three in the morning, you need to come to bed now." Topanga asked.

Cory shook his head. "Topanga, I can't. I mean, I have another exam tomorrow before Christmas break, and look at all of these cards I still have to study!" Picking up the cards, he shuffled them through his hands to show her how little studying he had accomplished.

"You need your sleep, Cory. Otherwise, you're going to fail this test whether you've studied or not." Topanga said.

Seeing that her husband wasn't responding to her coaxing, she picked up the cards he had studied and offered him a deal. "Okay, how about I quiz you on what you have studied, and if you pass, you come to bed. Alright?"

Cory shrugged, resting his head in his arms again.

Topanga flipped through the cards, seeing that they all involved facts from history, as Cory's hopes were to teach history.

"Alright, here's one: what was the first book published in America?"

Turning towards her husband, Topanga saw that her husband's eyes were shut and his breathing had become calm. Somehow, in the few moments that Topanga had used to select a card, Cory had fallen asleep.

Topanga painfully smiled, feeling sympathy towards her stressed out husband. He had stayed up past midnight for the past few nights, and had walked out of every exam feeling discouraged and unprepared. Neither of them had known how hard it would be to squeeze in both college and jobs while adjusting to life in NYC on their own.

Kissing him softly on the forehead, Topanga rose from her chair and started for their bedroom, saying a little prayer that things would improve. Soon.