Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World.

Chapter 10

"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up with you," Cory said.

Shawn and Topanga just shrugged and left.

Cory turned his attention back to the lockers, or more specifically Dani. She'd been more than a little distant today. Considering everything that happened last night, that wasn't surprising.

"How are you doing?" Cory asked once he was right beside her.

Dani closed her locker. "I'm great. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You don't have to put on an act for me. I know this wasn't the first time you've dealt with . . . ." Cory looked around to make sure no one was too close. He lowered his voice. " . . . with a warlock, but I mean, you were dating the guy and he had you under a love spell—a pretty powerful one from what I understand. How are you, really?"

Dani ran her hand through her hair. "I don't know. I know the reason I loved—the reason it felt like I loved him so much was because of the enchantment, but it felt real. I know it wasn't real, but . . . ." She shrugged. "As for the dating him part . . . I've only ever dated one other guy, and he turned out to be a warlock too, so not exactly a new one for me."

Cory winced in sympathy.

"I'll get through it," Dani said. "How about you? I know it's a lot to take in."

"Yeah," Cory said. "It is. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but I think it helps that I already knew supernatural stuff existed." If he hadn't known about that beforehand, he couldn't even imagine how last night would have affected him. He felt kind of shaky the rest of the night last night. He'd gotten over it by this morning.

"I want to help," Cory said.

"Cory—"

"I know there's not much I can do to help with actually dealing with warlocks—that you have to deal with that yourself, but there are other ways I can help. I can listen anytime you need to talk about any of this. I can help cover for you with mom and dad and anyone else you need me to cover for you with. I can even help you with any research you need to do."

Dani snorted.

"Okay," Cory said. "So, researching isn't my strong suit, but the point is, I can help you 'behind the scenes,' so to speak. I want to help. No one should have to deal with what you deal with alone."

Dani looked down for a moment before she looked back at him. "I'll think about it."

It wasn't a yes, but it also wasn't a no. He'd take it. Honestly, it was better than he had expected. He just hoped she'd take him up on it, even if for no other reason than just having someone else know what was going on in case she needed help but was too stubborn to ask for it.

The two of them caught up with Shawn and Topanga over near the bench by the janitor's closet. Shawn was holding a brown purse. Cory raised an eyebrow.

##

"Did you know this school doesn't have a lost and found?" Shawn asked as they approached.

"Well, now that's just stupid," Cory said.

"I know!" Shawn inspected it more. "I wonder who it belongs to." He didn't know why he kept staring at it. It's not like the answer would just magically appear on the brown leather.

Or could it? The answer wouldn't exactly appear on the purse, but he did know someone who could possibly get an answer just by touching it.

No. He couldn't, could he? Or rather, he shouldn't . . . .

Shawn's gaze strayed over to Dani before he could stop it. They weren't friends anymore. That had been his choice. If he asked this of her, he would be chipping away at the wall between them. A little bit, anyways. Did he really want to do that?

He knew—at least in part—why she did what she did and that it had also been—at least in part—an accident. His anger over it had faded over time. He really wasn't mad about it anymore—hadn't been for a while. Would it be such a bad thing if things mended between them? He still didn't trust her. That would be hard to mend, but in time it could.

Besides, it was a small favor to ask. He just wanted to know who the purse belonged to so he could return it and, of course, ask the owner out on a date.

He looked around. The only people really close by were Cory, Topanga, and Dani. He lowered his voice. "Dani, you get visions, right?" He saw her nod. "Do you think you could . . . you know?" Shawn asked.

"Unfortunately, that's the one thing I can't control, but I can try." She held out her hand for the purse. She grabbed hold of it when Shawn handed it over to her. Her eyes closed for a few seconds before she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I got nothing."

Shawn shrugged, swallowing down the slight disappointment. "It's okay. It was worth a shot." He sat down on the bench and opened the purse.

"Don't do that," Topanga said. "That's invading her privacy—whoever she is."

"There might be some ID in there."

"Doesn't matter."

"Topanga," Cory said, "don't you think whoever she is would rather her purse returned to her? And if that means having to—"

"Whoops! Would you look at that?" Shawn said. The purse was on the floor, all of its contents spilled out.

"Unbelievable," Topanga said.

Shawn sorted through the contents. There was no ID. He should have stopped looking and put everything back in the purse as soon as he realized that, but he couldn't help it. Kiwi-Mango lip gloss, a classical CD, a book of Shakespearean sonnets, a ticket stub for a Van Dam movie. Shawn smiled. He'd give this girl two weeks.

He put everything back in the purse and took it with him. He assured Topanga that he was going to find the owner of this purse. Topanga offered to make fliers. He knew there was a reason he liked her—besides the fact that she was his best friend's girl.

Shawn unashamedly put the purse over his shoulder and made way for his locker. He just stared at the purse for a moment after putting it in his locker. Somehow, he just had a feeling about this. Whoever she was—the girl who owned this purse—she was something special. He closed the locker door and turned around. Time to go to lunch. He told the others he'd meet them there.

Angela stood over by her locker, talking and laughing with friends. She was pretty special too. He couldn't help but wonder if purse-girl could top Angela. Shawn shook that thought away. Where did that come from, anyways? Topanga must have been getting to him. He looked over at Angela again. She caught him staring this time and smiled at him. He smiled back. Or maybe what he and Angela shared during their two weeks paved the way for whatever was going to happen with purse-girl.

Who knew what the future had in store for him? If there's one thing this past year had taught him it's that anything could happen. Life could be so predictable for so long and then in one instant, something out of the ordinary could happen and start a chain of events that would change everything—at least for a while, if not forever. He'd just have to go with the flow and see where his journey would take him.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read this story! I hope you enjoyed it! And yes, that little bit at the end with the purse is a tie in with Season 5, Episode 7: "I Love You, Donna Karan, Part 1." This marks the end of what I considered to be the Discovery Trilogy of this 6-part story series. Ideally, I would like to complete and post the rest of the series, but unfortunately I can't make any promises. I am currently only in the very beginning stages of drafting the still untitled 4th story of this series. I won't post any of that story until I make it far enough that I'm reasonably certain I will finish it.

Once again, thank you to everyone who read this story!

A special thank you to those who favorited, followed, and reviewed:

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Until next time!