Title: minor disturbance (in our little universe)
Fandom: Boy Meets World
Characters: Cory, Shawn (Topanga, Angela)
Summary: First posted on my live journal. This is what happens in New York.
Warnings: Um, vague mentions of drinking and drug use? PG-13.
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
It starts with a video chat.
"It's like he's not even trying, Angela." Topanga says to the computer screen.
Angela laughs, "I find that hard to believe. That boy would move mountains for you."
"I'm serious."
"Okay, what do you mean 'he's not trying'?" Angela counters with air quotes.
"He's just not." Here she pauses and Angela's raised eyebrow prompts her to continue. "I try to take him to places and he doesn't like them at all."
Angela is silent for a few moments and Topanga knows she's not going to like what Angela is going to say - "Well, are these "things" stuff you like or stuff he likes...?"
Then for a month, there are baseball games (at Yankee and Mets Stadium), hockey games at the Garden, ice skating and hot dog stands. They ride the ferry until his cheeks turn pink and the Manhattan skyline is lit up - "Thank you Topanga." He says sweetly and earnestly. She kisses him under the stars they rarely see and Topanga feels like her heart is going to burst.
There's Shawn.
He didn't show up to New York right away (because that's his way). He visited Jack and Eric and road tripped alone (always searching) until he lands in New York with a moleskin full of poems and ideas. He finds a room in Brooklyn, gets a cat and stocks a bar with scotch, whiskey and wine (for Topanga) before he tells them he's in town.
"Well," Shawn says, once the wine is done and he's out of stories he wants to tell in front of Topanga, to Cory. "Show me everything."
There's more baseball games and hockey games but Shawn brings him to bars hidden behind locked doors and secret passwords. There's dim sum in Chinatown with Topanga in tow and Atlantic City in New Jersey without her. He tells Cory about the girls he met, the trouble he got into, "I wrote it all down." He says.
Cory gives him a look, "I was worried about you."
"I know," Shawn finishes his drink. "I came back for you."
"Will you stay?"
"New York is the best place I've been to so far."
"So far?" Cory repeats, the whiskey finally hitting him. He is leaning closer to Shawn and the wedding band on his finger is digging into his arm.
"I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. Not to you."
There's nothing else to say after that so they eat food from a truck at 3:15 in the morning and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge with a six pack singing songs.
Shawn leaves on a Tuesday. "Just for a month," he says while stuffing things into a duffle bag. They'd just come from The Museum of Sex and smoking in the meadows of Central Park. (Everyone always says that Shawn is a bad influence and it's somewhat true. The museum is Cory's idea but Shawn is the one who carries out the plans.) The room smells sour with traces of the stuff and cat food and Cory feels...
"A month?"
"Yeah, there's a writing class Jack thinks I should take. No one is going to read my stuff if I don't write good. Guess all those years of slacking off got to me."
Cory stares at the cat perched on the bookshelf they found on the side of the street one day. "I'm hungry and sad."
"What?" Shawn looks up from the moleskin and grins. "I should've warned you about that. We can grab something before I go. I promise I'll be back."
"What about Jim Beam?"
Shawn stuffs the journal into his duffel bag and glances over at the cat. "I'm coming back. I promise. I start my new job next month too. I have a lot to come back for." He tosses the bag over his shoulder. "You'll watch him, won't you?"
Cory holds on to that promise once Shawn boards the train at Penn Station. Once the train pulls out, he hates New York all over again.
"I tried what you said and he was fine for a bit and now he's not…"
"I'm sorry, girl. I thought that would help."
"I know and it did. I think it's all the hours I'm working. He's probably lonely."
Angela clears her throat. "I thought, um, Shawn was there."
"He was."
"And?"
"I don't know…"
"I'm fine. We can talk about him."
"Well, he said he would be back."
Shawn comes back in 23 days. He goes right to Cory's apartment in Queens. "Did you get it?"
Cory is holding the moleskin in his hands. "I did. I have so many questions."
They are both grinning when Topanga appears. She hugs Shawn. "Glad to have you back. He hasn't stopped reading it since it came in the mail."
"Good good. And don't worry, you'll get to read it once I put what I learned to use. You probably won't understand half of what I put in there."
"Can't wait. Come in. Have dinner with us."
"Actually, do you mind if I steal him? I really want to know what he thinks."
They turn to Cory who already has his jacket in hand. "Come. We'll leave her alone. She says I'm getting in her way anyway."
They don't wait for her reply. Cory says a quick goodbye and he is out the door. Topanga stands at the door, an 'I love you' left on her lips.
Did you really miss me? The question is lingering in the air. The floor is littered with beer cans and the half empty bottle of Jameson. The journal is opened to a random page. I think of you often, the page says.
"How do you know it's not about Angela?"
"I don't."
Shawn laughs. "You're very bold when you're drunk."
"Very. I peed on a cop car once, y'know. You were there. You were there for everything."
"I was. You're not going to get sentimental on me now, are you?"
"Maybe. I'm just not used to reading about your life. Bring me with you next time."
"You don't know what you're saying."
"I know exactly what I am saying. I know you're thinking of leaving again and I want to go."
Shawn pours another drink to fill the silence. He's used to these speeches, passionate and earnest, but they are always about Topanga. He finally looks at Cory. There's a small half smile on his face. "Shawnie?"
"What about Topanga?"
"Topanga. My wife."
"Your wife." They take a shot.
"She's great and amazing and we've been together forever and she does this thing, heh and she has those things. Plus I love her."
"Exactly and you're drunk. You're going to go home and forget all about this."
"You're always telling me what I'm going to do." Cory says sleepily with the half smile.
"Who knows you better that me?"
"No one."
It ends with a book of poems.
The book brings Angela back stateside apologetic and talking about love again. They celebrate in Jack's apartment in the middle of the book tour. Eric reads his favorites in a falsetto voice and Angela is all smiles and apologies. "I'm proud of you." She says during one of Eric's reads.
"Did you liked them?"
"I loved them."
"Which one was your favorite?"
"All of them."
It isn't until later when the room is asleep that they have a moment alone. He finds Cory on the balcony staring up at the stars with the book in his hands. Congrats, he says quietly. Shawn thinks about how he likes this Cory best. Quiet and honest and earnest. That's the word he thinks of when he thinks of Cory. Earnest.
"Thank you."
"I had to read them a few times to understand them."
"Well, the best thing about poetry is that they can be about whatever you want them to be about." Shawn says stepping out onto the balcony and closing the door.
"Maybe." Cory says.
"Which one did you like best?"
"The last one." He says without hesitation. "It took me the longest time to understand that one." Cory finally looks at Shawn. "The book, it's not about Angela is it?"
"Cory…"
"Take me with you."
"You're just drunk again."
"I'm not."
"Guys?" Topanga is behind them with a smile and her purse. "We should go now. Cory and I have a long drive in the morning."
Cory takes her hand but looks back at Shawn. "Shawnie?"
"You should go."
He nods and leaves.
Shawn learns to stop searching for a familiar face in the crowds somewhere between Cleveland and Chicago. you should be here. He writes one night high in St. Louis.
I asked. The reply comes quickly. Twice.
Does the offer still stand?
He waits twenty minutes for a reply. Topanga is pregnant.
It ends with a book of poems. He names the book St. Louis. Cory calls late one night. He can hear the baby in the background. "This book is about me too." He says quietly into the phone.
"Yeah."
Shawn waits for the question. It doesn't come.