Cory had had better mornings. He woke up stiff and cold with his stomach hurting. A lot. He had not meant to get that drunk last night.
He sat up carefully. No headache. No sensitivity to light. Allright, no hangover. His stomach lining has just been dissolved. Great.
He looked around the tent. The other three were still asleep. Minkus had thought to bring a blanket and was laying flat on his back underneath it, his hands folded over the top like a corpse at a viewing. He always slept like that. It was terrifying.
On the other side of Minkus Topanga and Shawn were keeping each other warm. Topanga's head rested on one of Shawn's arms while his other was wrapped around her back. Her face was pressed against his chest and she had an arm laying across his neck. It looked uncomfortable. But, Cory thought guiltily, not that uncomfortable.
A slightly fuzzy memory surfaced in Cory's mind. Topanga and Shawn had kissed last night? He strained to remember if anything else had happened that might have led to their cozy situation. He didn't come up with anything, but as he looked down at himself and realized that this was not what he had been wearing last night, it occurred to him that just because he could not remember it, did not mean that it had not happened.
It was stuffy in the tent and Cory wasn't going to get back to sleep with his stomach raging at him anyway, so he carefully climbed over Minkus and squatted down to unzip the tent flap.
"Hey, man," he hear Minkus say, "You feeling okay? You were really gone last night."
"I'm okay," Cory whispered, "I just need some air. And to find my clothes and my shoes and something to drink. My mouth feels disgusting."
"You don't have to whisper man," Minkus said, looking at Shawn and Topanga. Cory wondered if he had imagined the look of disappointment on Minkus's face, "You know as well as I do that it's almost impossible to wake either of them up."
Cory and Minkus crawled out of the tent. They found Cory's wet clothes laying by the fire, filthy with ash that had blown onto them. Topanga's water bottle and Cory's bottle of Diet Orange Shasta turned up pretty easily too. Cory gulped down nearly a quarter of the liter of Shasta without pause.
"Hey man, spread the wealth, I'm thirsty too," Minkus said. Cory passed him the bottle.
"We should save some for Shawn and Topanga," Cory said screwing the cap back on when Minkus had finished his gulp.
"Hmm..." Minkus responded.
"If they aren't up soon I'm going to go wake them up," Cory yawned, "I've got to get something to eat, my stomach is killing me."
"Do you think there is anything going on between Shawn and Topanga?" Minkus asked abruptly.
"What?" Cory demanded, dumfounded.
Minkus sighed exasperatedly, "Come on, making out last night, being practically on top of each other right now-"
"I heard you, I heard you," Cory said, "Look, Minkus- Shawn and Topanga have always been like that with each other. You know a little flirty a little... rambunctious, but they are just friends. Plus they are our best friends. Even if by some crazy, impossible chance they did hook up there is no way they wouldn't tell us like, the instant it happened."
"Cory, don't say it like that," Minkus sighed.
"Why not?" laughed Cory.
"Because when you say something with that much conviction you always end up wrong," Minkus said dully.
"That is not.. well, fine, maybe it is true," Cory admitted, "Anyway Minkus what do you care if Topanga and Shawn are... whatever?"
Minkus rolled his head back and let out an alarming sort of growling noise
"God, isn't it obvious Cor? I... have a thing for Topanga. Like, really have a thing for Topanga," he said sounding embarrassed, "And... I mean, if Topanga and I are both at Yale... but if she and Shawn... you know. I'd be the only familiar face there, and we're friends so we'd spend time together, but," He growled a little again, "Dammit. I can't compete with Shawn, Cory."
"Gosh, Minkus. I...I don't know what to say to that."
"Don't worry about it." Minkus sighed rubbing his hands over his face, "Let's just keep looking for your shoes."
They were still looking for Cory's shoes fifteen minutes later when Shawn and Topanga emerged from the tent.
"Morning boys," She said.
"Morning," they chorused back.
"How you feeling Cor?" Topanga asked gently. Cory looked up at her. Topanga's gauzy shirt was completely wrinkled and disarrayed, a little bit of her bra peaked out of it. There were lines in the skin on her arms and face from her sleeping bag and her hair had dried into a massive frizzing mane that hung to her waist. She was a mess but Cory still felt his breath catch.
"I'm fine," he replied carefully. He found himself unexpectedly very thankful that he was already bent over.
"What are you guys looking for?" Shawn asked.
"We can't find Cory's freaking shoes anywhere," Minkus complained.
"They're in the tent," Topanga told them, jerking a thumb behind her.
"Great," Minkus said, "You can just grab them we can throw everything into the car and then we can head home before my parents get back from out of town."
"Yeah, I'll do that in just a sec-" Cory said to the ground. Baseballbaseballbaseballbaseball...
"Wait," Shawn started, "If your parents are out of town why didn't' we drink at your house?"
"Are you out of your mind, Hunter? Do you really think my mother wouldn't notice a spec of dirt in the foyer, or less toilet paper than there should be? Or the pillows being just slightly flatter than she'd left them?"
"Cory are you sure you're all right?" Topanga asked.
"Yeah," Cory sad straightening up gratefully, "My stomach is just sour from last night. I don't think the rum agreed with me."
"We'll go get lunch at Chubbies," Shawn offered.
"I can't, I have to pack," Topanga said.
"Me too," Minkus said.
"You and me Cor," Shawn shrugged.
"Great, let's get out of here."
Packing up was quick work and Francesca required less of a pep talk than anticipated to get started. They were turning onto Minkus's block in no time.
"Oh shit," Minkus gasped as his house came into view. "The car's in the driveway. They're already back!"
No one knew what to reply.
"Shawn, just drop me off here. I don't want them to know who I was out with."
"What? Why?" Topanga inquired.
"Trust me I'll get in more trouble if they know I was out with you. I'll just leave my stuff in the car and get it later."
"What do your parents have against us?" Shawn asked pulling up to the curb.
"Honestly?" Minkus growled, "They think you and Cory are like together and that you," he cast an apologetic look at Topanga "Are some sort of dangerous radical. Mom's exact words were "drops acid like she drops her panties" sorry Topanga. I've got to go and see if I can get this dealt with. If I don't call by 7:00 tonight don't call me."
"Later, Good luck," Cory called.
Topanga broke out laughing as Shawn drove away, " 'Drops acid like she drops her panties?' His parents are such freaks."
"I didn't know his parents thought Cory and I were a couple," Shawn laughed, "Maybe that's why they wanted me out of their house so badly."
"What?" Cory demanded, "That's what he meant by together? Why would they think that?"
"Well you guys are... close," Topanga said gently.
"But in a totally heterosexual, manly, not putting down the seat sort of way right?" Cory asked.
"Yes." Shawn and Topanga answered in completely insincere unison.
"Cor, don't worry about what Minkus's parents think. After the whole thing with Niles they think everyone's gay."
Niles was Minkus's older brother. When Niles was 16 he came out of the closet to his parents, and even worse, he didn't want to go to Harvard and study law, he wanted to move to California and write comic books. In less than 5 minutes he had completely shattered their dreams of being a perfect suburban family with perfect, ivy-league bound, suburban children. They threw Niles in therapy, switching therapists until they found one that agreed he needed to be fixed. They checked his back pack whenever he left the house and came back in. They even took his bedroom door out of it's frame, and monitored all of his phone calls. Niles had put up with it for six months before he knocked on 13 year old Stewart's door in the middle of the night, told him that he was leaving with a friend but he couldn't tell him where and hugged him goodbye. Stewart, who had hero-worshipped his older brother, was completely crushed. His relationship with his parents, already strained by their high expectations, had grown worse and worse. When Niles had turned 18 and could finally keep in touch with his brother without fear of his parents finding him there had been a brief beam of sunlight into the chronically overcast Minkus home, but it had been short-lived.
"Stewart says Niles and his boyfriend are living in Connecticut. I forget the name of the town, but it's not that far from New Haven. He wants me to go visit them with him some time." Topanga said.
"You two are planning a cozy weekend getaway already," Shawn smirked.
"Shut-up, Hunter," Topanga laughed hitting him in the shoulder.
For the rest of the ride to Topanga's Shawn and Topanga bitched about how awful Minkus's parents were, while Cory wondered if Shawn knew anything about Minkus and Topanga.
"Call me later babe," Shawn called after her out the window after she slammed Francesca's trunk. He turned in his seat to face Cory, "So, still up for Chubbies?"
"Yah, sure, let's go," Cory said, snapping back from watching Topanga run inside.