Cory Matthews sat next to a woman he barely knew, listening to her amble on about the last five years of her life. Her dark hair cascaded over her bare shoulders, a black cocktail dress hugging every curve of her body. Every once in awhile, he would glance over at her, pretending to listen intently while watching her pursed ruby lips. A sizable diamond ring rested just above the knuckle on her left ring finger, glinting in the harsh light of the bar. Knocking back the rest of his beer, he couldn't help but wish he was the kind of guy who could just fall into bed with a woman like her.

But he wasn't that kind of guy. He was respectable, a faithful husband who still believed that marriage should mean something. Unfortunately for him, his wife didn't seem to think the same way anymore. After seven years of marriage, Cory and Topanga were further apart than he could have ever imagined. While she worked long hours at a prestigious law firm downtown, he taught history at a middle school in Brooklyn. After many years of falling asleep in his class, Cory still found it humorous that he had followed in Mr. Feeny's footsteps.

"So, Cory, tell me about yourself," the woman said, raking her fingers self-consciously through her ringlets. "What have you been up to all these years?"

He smiled carefully, considering the question for a moment. "Oh, you know, Angela, the same old thing. Nothing has really changed."

She laughed lightly. "No, I don't know. I haven't seen or talked to you and Topanga for over five years. We haven't really kept in touch. Do you have any children? Where are you working? Are you happy?"

Are you happy? Once upon a time, he would have been able to answer that question without thinking about it. He had always been happy with Topanga. With Shawn by his side, they had been to hell and back. No one had ever been able to shake their bond, no one. People had come and gone into their inner circle, but the three of them had always known that they could count on each other. He had even followed the Matthews to New York when Topanga had been offered the position at the law firm. Now, Cory couldn't help but wish they had never come.

"Angela, that's not why I brought you here," he admitted softly, his gaze dropping back to the empty glass in front of him. "You showed up two weeks ago, and somehow, it was like nothing ever changed for Shawn and you."

"I know, isn't it amazing?" she smiled, running her fingers over the ring. "I still can't believe he proposed to me last night. It's crazy!"

"Yeah," he retorted hollowly. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell her, but he knew that he had to. If the situation was reversed, he'd want to know. "Last night, I came home from class early. A parent canceled a conference at the last minute, but when I called to tell Topanga, she didn't pick up. I just figured she was out picking up dinner or something. Anyhow, I took the subway home, happy to have a little extra time with my wife. I've barely seen her lately. She has been working on this huge case."

"Where are you going with this, Cor?" Angela asked, not sure exactly what his story was intended for.

"Just listen," he implored. "A few blocks from the apartment, I stopped and bought flowers from a street vendor. Topanga loves lilacs. When I climbed into the elevator, it was playing the song we danced to at our wedding. Everything felt right for the first time in a long time. But all of that came crashing around my feet when I came into the apartment. When I walked into the home I share with my wife, I found her in bed with someone else."

"Oh, Cory," she sighed, concern immediately evident in her eyes. "Did you know the guy?" Cory bit his bottom lip and pushed the tears back from the surface. Nodding slowly, he finally allowed his gaze to meet hers again. Angela knew instantly. "No."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're lying. He wouldn't do that to you. He wouldn't do that to me."

"Twenty-four hours ago, I would have said the exact same thing," Cory mumbled. "I never would have thought that either of them would do this to me, but they did. My best friend and my wife, the two people who matter most to me in the entire world, betrayed me. And they have been betraying me for the past year."

Tears slipped down her flushed cheeks, spilling over her chin and onto the faded wood bar. Angela asked the bartender for a shot of whiskey and knocked it back expertly. Raising her finger for another, she let the thick liquid slide down her throat gingerly before trying to speak to Cory again. "But he asked me to marry him two days ago. Shawn couldn't be cheating on me. He must love me or he wouldn't have asked."

Cory shrugged. "I didn't stick around long enough to hear an explanation. I just grabbed my keys and drove all night. Somewhere around 2 a.m., I turned around and came back. I spent most of the day just walking around the city, trying to lose myself in the chaos. I thought maybe if I surrounded myself with enough noise, I could drown out the inner dialogue running through my mind. Turns out, there isn't a sound loud enough in the world to hide what's going on in there."

"I stayed away from Shawn Hunter for almost six years because I thought that was the only way I would ever be able to move on. Then, my father died, and I realized that I still wasn't over him," she stated plainly. "I came to New York to be with him, not even knowing if there would still be anything between us. He cried like a baby the first time he saw me."

"We just celebrated our seven-year anniversary two weeks ago. I planned this perfect evening for us, complete with dinner and dancing. We even took a carriage ride through Central Park. It was classic New York."

"When he proposed, I thought to myself, 'This is the reason for everything. This is the reason I had to go through all of this.' I was so beside myself when he gave me the ring, I can't remember a time when I was happier. I just kept thinking about my parents, sure that they would be proud if they could only see me now."

"We made love all night, so in tune with each other for the first time in far too long. I still knew every crook and cranny of her body, the way we fit together perfectly. As she fell asleep, I prayed that this would be the night that our biggest wish would finally come true, that this would be the night that we'd conceive our child. I guess that's never going to happen."

"Why don't you have children, Cory? I figured you two would have at least a couple by now," Angela proclaimed.

"At first, Topanga said that she wanted to focus on her career. We were both in the beginning phases at our jobs, determined to climb the ranks. Then, when I started asking, she said that she wanted to wait until we had more money. Some time last year, she agreed to go off birth control. When we still weren't pregnant, I talked to her about both of us getting tested, but she insisted that we wait. As it turns out, she never went off the pill. She never went off it because she didn't want to have to question the paternity of her child."

"I think we need another round," Angela told the bartender.

"Make it a double," Cory added. The older man sat two shots in front them both. Tossing them back, Cory and Angela were silent for a few minutes. Looking across the room, he could feel himself becoming drunker by the moment. He had been at it for a couple hours before he'd called Angela to have her meet him at the bar. A few more drinks, and he knew he'd be totaled. "I can't believe I'm here with you like this."

She laughed humorlessly. "I wasn't even sure if we'd still be friends," she admitted. "I mean, we were always friends as a result of the situation, even after that day in the bathroom. You were my boyfriend's best friend. I was your girlfriend's best friend. Do you think we would have been friends if things were different?"

"I don't know. I hope so, but how can I be sure?"

"You can't be sure about anything," she mused, setting the empty shot glass back on the bar. "I have to get out of here. I can't stay here and keep drinking. Do you want to come back and stay with me tonight? You can sleep on my couch."

"That'd be nice," he thanked her. He didn't really have anywhere else to go. He could go to Eric's, but he wasn't ready to explain everything to anyone else. It was too late to take the train to Philadelphia to stay at his parents. Dropping a single large bill on the bar, he climbed off his stool shakily and reached out to help Angela. She looped her arm through his and allowed herself to be guided toward the door. Snuggling closer to him, she could barely feel the frigid wind as they headed out into the dark night.

It was a short walk to her apartment. Angela nodded curtly at the doorman as they slipped through the front door and into the elevator. Looking at herself in the mirrored doors, she could barely recognize the woman she had become in such a short time. Turning away, she tried to shake off the image. As if on cue, Cory tilted her chin up toward him and smiled. It was a small moment, but it was thick with something unfamiliar. Just as he was about to say something, the elevator dinged, indicating that they had reached her floor.

"This one is mine," she murmured as she searched through her large leather handbag for the key. Finding it buried somewhere beneath a silver compact and her PDA, she breathed a sigh of relief as she jammed it into the lock.

Inside, Cory was struck by how different her home was from the one he shared with Topanga. It was warm and inviting, decorated with plush pillows and warm hues of red and orange. Falling onto the couch, he felt immediately at ease. "This place is great," he complimented. "I've never seen anything quite like it."

"It's pretty much a carbon copy of my place in San Francisco," she revealed. "I just wanted it to feel like home."

"It really does," he assured her.

Angela smiled appreciatively as she poured two goblets full of rich merlot and brought them over to the couch. Cory tried to force a smile, but she shook her head. "You don't need to pretend with me."

"I thought that when we broke up in high school that was the most pain I would ever know," he admitted. "How could I have ever been so naïve? How did I not see it?"

"Maybe you didn't want to see it."

"Maybe, I don't know. The only thing I really do know is that I want to forget. I want to forget that I found them. I want to forget the past year, and right now, I want to forget every year before that. I just want to start over, completely fresh. I find a place where no one knows me as part of Cory and Topanga. For the first time in my life, I want to stand on my own."

"Now that, that I understand," she grinned. "A clean start is such a beautiful, rare gift."

Cory twisted the platinum wedding band on his finger. "Angela, do you remember that night in college when you kissed me?"

She laughed. "Of course."

"Do you know, that is one of the only times we ever touched? I mean, there was a hug here and there, but that was pretty much it. We never even grazed an elbow."

"You were so in love with Topanga that you didn't really see anything else," Angela remembered. "You didn't notice anyone around you. You two were the stars in your world, and the rest of us were lucky to play a supporting role."

"Well, I see you now."

"Cory," she warned, "you're dealing with a lot right now."

"So, we could do this? We could help each other through the pain and get back at them. No one could hold it against us. We'd be two people too hurt to know better."

She shook her head sadly, now playing with her own ring. "I don't want to lose the only friend I have in New York."

"That was the perfect thing to say."

"I know."

"Well, how about the second best thing?"

"And what's that?"

"How about we stay up all night talking about everything but Topanga and Shawn? If we're going to be friends, I think we should get to know each other again."

"That's the best idea I've heard all night."

"There's just one more thing," Cory retorted. She looked at him questioningly. "I want to do this without any kind of safety net." And then, he slid off his ring and placed it in the middle of the table. "We're going to do this without Topanga."

Angela inspected her engagement ring one last time before following suit, dropping it next to his. "And without Shawn."