Summary: "Girl Meets Hurricane" as it should have been. This was Angela and Shawn's story. It was also Topanga's and Cory's. (Maya and Katy just happened to be there too.)
(Girl Meets) You and Me
Topanga's face tightened a second after answering her phone, and Cory muted the TV immediately. "Topanga?" he murmured.
She waved a hand at him, shushing him. "Oh, Angela. I'm so sorry."
Cory made a strange face then, half-excited to hear from her and half still mad at her on Shawn's behalf. It wasn't like it was her fault that her dad wanted her to leave the country, and Cory knew that. It was just – this was Shawn's girlfriend. His only real girlfriend. Sure, there had been others, here and there. But none of them even came close to being his Angela. Maybe none of them ever would.
What happened? Cory mouthed at her.
"You'll be in town when?" she repeated loudly, clearly for Cory's sake. "This weekend. Okay. Yes, you can definitely stay with us. Don't be silly. You're not getting a hotel. Angela. Angela. Of course you're staying with us… Okay. Good. See you then."
Topanga clicked the "end" button on her call and then turned to Cory.
"You invited her over here?" Cory asked. "She hasn't been here in – well - ever."
"Her dad died, Cory."
A look of pity crossed Cory's face, but still he said, "What's that got to do with New York?"
Topanga rolled her eyes. "I told you years ago – he retired here. Remember? Angela wrote it in one of her letters."
Cory shot her an innocent look, but if he was being entirely honest, he tended to tune out during Topanga's readings of her letters. Not only had Angela abandoned Shawn, she had abandoned Topanga too. A letter once every few months didn't really make that up to him, and he didn't really like to think about his one-time friend.
"So… how's this gonna work?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Topanga asked.
"You know that Shawn's visiting this weekend too. I mean, he always stays in a hotel, because he gets all those points, but he's here." And suddenly Cory was very nervous about this, because he may not have kept in touch with Shawn very well since his kids were born, but he knows Shawn like he knows the back of his hand, and he knows this isn't a good thing.
Still, they made the plan. They would simply not have the two interact. Avoidance. Angela wasn't going to be there for tourism, after all. She was going to busy, Topanga reasoned.
GMW
Angela meeting Riley was probably the strangest part of the weekend, Cory and Topanga would both agree later. Bags put in the guest room, coffee served, and suddenly Riley walked in the front door.
"Riley," Topanga said, and Riley turned to them curiously.
"Hellooo," she drew comically.
"This is my college roommate," Topanga said, stumbling over the words for a minute and then adding, "and best friend."
"Angela," Cory added, when it seemed that Topanga had forgotten.
Riley shook Angela's hand suspiciously and Auggie – who happened into the room – said what she was clearly thinking. "Why haven't we met you before if you're Mommy's best friend?"
Angela sat silent, and Cory distracted the kids, and Angela and Topanga talked – in person – for the first time in over a dozen years.
GMW
"You really shouldn't," Cory said, a bit desperately – and if he was being honest – humorously.
"Cory, I'm seeing Shawn," Angela said, not unkindly, but firmly.
"You really, really shouldn't," Cory said, and she left the apartment.
He sprinted after her. "Angela, you don't understand. He was real broken up when you left. Just leave well enough alone," he said.
"Cory, I know you know Shawn, but so do I," she said and got into the elevator.
He followed her. "You did, Angela. You barely know him now."
"And I want to correct that," she said emphatically.
Sighing, Cory said, "At least let me warn him."
GMW
After Cory fled the bakery, it was just Shawn and Angela, and he was right, it was awkward.
"Why are you here, Angela?" Shawn asked, and he felt sixteen and like her purse was a magic kingdom.
"Shawn, I just – I wanted to see you," she said, and she was making out with him at freshman orientation.
She explained to him then, that her dad had died. "And it just – it felt wrong to not see you if you were here." After a pause, she added in explanation, "Topanga told me."
"You did plenty fine not seeing me for the last twelve years," he said, scoffing. She realized it was one of the first times she had seen him well and truly angry at her.
"I know," she said. "But being in the same city block as you and not talking to you was something I couldn't do." She had loved this boy – this man.
He nodded at her, wordlessly, and they walked over to the couch. He noticed Katy outside the window, sitting with Maya and smiled.
For the next twenty minutes or so, he'd guess, they chatted. About his career, about her husband – and wasn't that a shock – and about how he had gotten more involved in Cory and Topanga's life recently.
She asked why he'd left, and he tried to explain it, and she nodded and said, "My husband wants to have kids, and I'm not even sure I can do that. You know me, you must understand."
He thought about his mother leaving and her mother leaving and said, "Have kids, Angela. Bring a little more you into the world."
She laughed at his certainly and said, "What do you know about kids – never mind. Care to explain who the blonde girl outside spying on us is?"
Shawn looked at her and explained Maya and then – hesitantly – explained Katy. He wondered why – a dozen years later – it still felt like cheating. She really was the last person he had truly loved.
An hour passed, maybe two, and when she left, he had realized how much he liked Katy – and loved Maya – and she was going to talk to her husband about her doubts about having children again.
Shawn wasn't going to bank on it, but she had promised to keep in touch, and he was hoping that she would.
Author's Note: I wanted to love "Girl Meets Hurricane" but the story felt rushed and Angela's reason for being in the city felt sloppy and out of character. Trying to fix it here.
