A/N: So, first of all, thank you to Lena (ppemberleys)! She helped me with this chapter. And thank you to everyone who's read this book! I appreciate every single one of you. :)

The kids and adults sat in their seats. While the kids were elated at the thought of seeing their young parents, most of the adults were a little nervous to show how they were as children. They did do some pretty stupid stuff after all.

"Good morning, Mr. Feeny," said Cory. He was standing at a vending machine.

Riley's eyes widened at the sight of her dad that looked even younger than her. It was an unusual sight for her.

George glanced at the boy. "Morning, Mr. Matthews. A candy bar? Doesn't your mother feed you a proper breakfast?"

"Oh yeah, she does. But I gotta get the taste of shredded wheat out of my mouth."

"Hey!" Amy exclaimed at her son, offended years later.

"Shhh," Shawn replied.

"Y'know, you're not doing your body any favors loading up on junk like that." The man pointed at the candy bar.

"Oh, thanks, Mr. Feeny. And please enjoy that high-vitamin astronaut drink you're sucking down."

The six teenagers were surprised to see their teacher talking back to his own teacher. Riley thought that her dad and Mr. Feeny always got along.

"There's no gravity in space, Mr. Matthews, therefore astronauts suck up. Learn from them," Mr. Feeny responded. They both walked away from each other.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shawn exclaimed, watching in rapture as a young boy appeared on the screen.

Shawn and another boy that the kids watching didn't know were sitting at the lunch table. "He's a teacher, man. Keep ragging on him, he's gonna make your whole sixth grade year miserable."

"I'm gonna be miserable anyhow, this way I'm taking him with me."

Maya smirked. "I never thought I'd see the day where I agreed with you, Matthews."

Cory ignored her and turned to his former teacher. "I'm sorry for how I treated you back then. I just saw you as a boring, stuffy teacher."

"That conversation," Mr. Feeny began with an eye roll, "— between us is the last thing you have to apologize for, Cory. You have done worse stuff."

"There's more?" an amused Maya asked, peering across the aisle to Mr. Feeny. Cory shook his head no and Feeny vehemently shook like a bobble head.

Shawn looked over to George's table to see an older woman. "Hey, who's that?"

"I think she's new," the other boy at the table replied.

"She must be new, she's talking to Feeny."

George looked over at Shawn with a smile on his face and shook his head. Their relationship had definitely evolved over the years in a good way.

The other boy asked Cory, "Okay, so how late did you stay up last night?"

"Monologue."

"Monologue, first guest," the unknown friend continued.

Shawn jumped in, "Monologue, first guest, bad sketch."

"Monologue, first guest, bad sketch, funny zoo animal."

"Monologue, first guest, bad sketch, funny zoo animal...Steve Lawrence!"

Riley furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What are you guys talking about? And who's that kid?"

Cory answered, "We were talking about a late-night show. That's...hey, Shawnie, what was that kid's name again?"

"Nicolas. We were friends with him, but he mysteriously disappeared. Now that I think about it, we had a lot of friends that disappeared. And they all sat in that chair." Shawn and Cory looked at each other with wide eyes at their sudden realization. "Good thing I never sat in that chair."

"Whoa!" Cory exclaimed.

"Steve Lawrence!"

The bell rang and the kids got up from their seats. "And there's the bell."

"Four hours 'til lunch."

The screen went dark and a new scene appeared. A girl was lying on the desk with her eyes closed. Mr. Feeny circled around the desk.

"She's dead, Mr. Bornihay. Pick up the knife and kill yourself," George commanded.

"Come on, Mr. Feeny, you and I both know she's not really dead. May I please stab her a few times just to make sure?" Nicolas asked.

The girl sat up, getting in the boy's face. "Hey! You touch me with that knife, you better kill me the first time."

"Mr. Feeny..." Nicolas called in a terrified voice.

George gently grabbed the girl's shoulders. "All right, all right..."

The screen's focus was now on Shawn and Cory sitting at their desks. "Cory," Shawn whispered.

"Huh?" Cory asked with his hand cupped around his ear.

Shawn leaned in farther and quietly asked, "What's the score?"

"Bottom of the third, two out, Dykstra's on second, Kruk's on first, three and two to Dalton." Mr. Feeny's hand came into the shot, pulling Cory's hand away from his ear. It revealed an earbud.

"What's this, Mr. Matthews?"

Cory cupped his ear again with his hand. "Huh? What'd you say, Mr. Feeny? You took my hearing aid."

Riley gaped at the past version of her father. "You were listening to a baseball game in class and LIED, saying it was your hearing aid?"

"I have so much more respect for you," Maya said joyfully.

Feeny put the earphone in his ear and monotonously recited what was happening, "Smoltz delivers, Dalton swings. Oh, he got a piece of that one. It's a long drive, deep to center. Otis Nixon back, back to the warning track, climbs up the wall, and..." He turned off the radio.

Cory put his hand over his face. "Oh!"

"Did you really think he was going to announce what was happening in the game while class was still in session?" Lucas asked his teacher.

"I was hoping," Cory shrugged.

"Mr. Matthews, Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's ultimate testament of love between a man and a woman."

Nicolas could be heard screaming, "Help! Help! Mr. Feeny! Help!" The camera moved to Nicolas. The female student from earlier was on top off him in hopes of stabbing him. "Help! Help!"

Feeny ran over to fix the situation. "Ms. Kincaid, thank you! Thank you for that, uh, vigorous interpretation." He set the knife down. "Mr. Matthews, you do not listen to the ballgame in the middle of my class."

Maya had a weirded out look on her face. "Is it just me or is he madder at you for listening to a baseball game than at that girl trying to stab her classmate?"

"That's just how my life works."

"Oh, it was plastic knife, Cory," Feeny disputed.

Cory stood up. "Mr. Feeny, who cares about some guy who killed himself over some dumb girl?"

George walked closer to his student. "The tragedy here, Mr. Matthews, is not about a dumb girl or the boy who kills himself because of her. It's about the all-consuming power of love and the inevitability of its influence on each of our lives."

"Are you aware that I'm only eleven years old?"

"Are you aware that you have detention Friday afternoon?"

"No, actually I did not know that."

The scene faded to a bedroom. Eric was on the phone, walking slowly. "You will? Okay, great. Yeah, me too. All righty. Okay. Bye." He hung up the phone and jumped up. "Yes!"

"You were talking to a girl?" Josh guessed.

Cory nodded. "Of course he was talking to a girl."

Cory entered the bedroom in excitement. "Yes! Phillies won, 8-3!" he told his brother.

"I'm going out with Heather Ralston!" They high-fived each other.

"You know what that means?"

"It means every guy in the tenth grade wants to be me." He rubbed his hands together and fell onto the bed.

"It means if they win Friday night, that they're in the playoffs!"

Eric smiled at his brother. "Look, Cory, we gotta talk about something."

Cory ignored Eric and paced away. "That makes the game we're going to the most important game of the year!"

"Look, Cory, my date with Heather's Friday."

"Now, I got a slight case of detention from Feeny, but I'll just meet you at the bus." He realized what his older brother just said and turned his head. "What?"

"It's the only night she was available."

"You're not going to the game? That's terrible."

Eric placed his hand on Cory's shoulder. "Actually, Cory, it, uh...it gets worse."

"She's going to the game with us?"

"You're really close!"

Riley looked at her present-time father and uncle. She questioned her dad, "Didn't those games mean a lot to you? You talk about them all the time."

"They did." Cory glared at his older brother.

Eric smiled. "Sorry, Cor. You know how I was back then."

"She and I are going to the game?" Cory guessed, knowing the real answer.

Eric stood up and walked away. "Come on, Cory. It's my first date with her. It's really important to me."

"But Eric, going to the Phillies game is like our special thing."

"Cory, I'm trying to get a special thing going with Heather. Now, look. You could be happy for me and accept this like a mature guy or you can..."

Eric was interrupted by Cory screaming, "DAD!" He ran off the tell his father what happened.

The line received chuckles from most in the room, especially from Riley and Eric.

"Overreact," Eric finished.

The scene switched to the living room. Cory was running down the stairs. "Dad!"

"Just the kid I want to see," Amy said.

"Mom, we have a major problem." He walked over to his dad who was sitting on the couch.

"You have detention with Mr. Feeny," Amy revealed causing Cory to stop.

The curly-haired kid asked, without turning around, "How could you possibly know that?"

Riley grinned. She already knew that she was like her dad in a lot of ways, and it felt nice to see him as a kid that felt the same things she did.

Amy stepped over to Cory and crossed her arms. "He stuck his head over the fence and told me while I was bringing in the groceries."

"I want to move."

"Sadly, moving wouldn't help my situation," Riley commented.

Maya smirked. "It would help mine."

Alan curiously stared at his son. "Why did you get detention?"

"You know, you're missing the bigger issue, Dad. You bought a house next to my teacher. I want to move. I want to move now. Get the guy with the gold jacket. I'll be in the car."

"Why did you get detention?" Mr. Matthews repeated.

Amy told her husband, "Apparently, he'd rather listen to the baseball game on the radio than try to understand the emotional content of Romeo and Juliet."

"Mom, I'm a kid! I don't understand the emotional content of Full House!"

Morgan, who was playing with her doll, raised her hand. "I do!"

"Besides, I don't know why you're dumping on me. I'm not the one who sold out my only brother for some girl," he said, mentioning Eric who had just come down the stairs.

Amy ran over to her other son. "Eric, she said yes!"

"Yep."

"Congratulations."

"You were in on this?" Cory asked in disbelief.

Eric leaned in closer to him. "Oh, come on, Cory, don't you think you're making a big deal about this game."

Cory walked past them. "I don't care about the game. I don't care about the tickets. I wouldn't take them if you offered them to me."

"Alright, look, I'll just take Heather somewhere else. Here, you want the tickets?" He displayed the tickets in front of Cory.

"Yes!"

Eric snatched them away. "Get real!" He went to the kitchen.

"Dad!"

"Cory, he paid for those tickets with his own money, he can take whoever he likes," Alan said.

Joshua turned his attention to his dad. "Really? You weren't even a little upset that Eric tricked Cory into thinking he was going to get the tickets for a second?"

"But I earned those tickets. I slept with him for eleven years!"

"Look, pal, when you're older you'll understand how your brother feels because girls will be important to you, too."

"Fine. My brother betrays me, my parents take his side...Fine, I don't have a friend in this house."

Cory felt the looks of everyone on him. He crossed his arms. "I may have overreacted slightly."

"Slightly?" Lucas repeated.

Morgan asked Cory, "Do you want me and Debbie to go to the baseball game with you?"

"Hey, go to the game with my sister and her doll. Great! Maybe during the seventh-inning stretch, I could run through the stadium in my old Spider-Man underwear," he mockingly agreed.

"Well, you don't have to dress up for me."

Riley grinned at her young aunt's naivety. She was adorable when she was younger.

The scene faded once again to a new one. Cory, Shawn, and Nicolas were back at the cafeteria. Shawn was picking at his meat. "Well, mine's got fuzz."

"Mine's got lips," Cory replied.

Nicolas took out his lunch from his brown paper bag.

Shawn said to him, "Hey, bag man. Rough life being an only child, huh?"

Maya tilted her head. "Aren't you an only child?"

"No, Jack's my half-brother, although he didn't live with us." Shawn motioned to where Jack was sitting.

"What?!" Riley and Maya shouted at the same time.

"How come you didn't tell me this? I'm your daughter," Maya pressed.

Shawn shrugged. "It just never came up."

Jack stared at his brother in shock. "Wait, you have a daughter? Man, I've missed a lot."

"Can we get back to the show?" Topanga asked in an upset tone. "We can discuss this later."

"Yeah. Rougher life being an orphan, which is what I am as of last night," Cory nodded.

Nicolas unwrapped his food. "What happened?"

"I dumped my family and my family dumped me. It was mutual. They're keeping the house," he responded nonchalantly.

"Well, we're here for you, Cory," Shawn told his friend.

"How ironic," Maya mused. The exact opposite would happen in the future. Shawn would end up practically an orphan and Cory would be there for Shawn.

"Thanks. You're my new brothers. Hey, how about we go to the game Friday night?"

"I thought the game was sold out," Nicolas commented.

"It is, so we go down early. There's always guys with extra tickets."

Shawn pointed out with a smile, "Don't you have detention Friday?"

"Uh, don't worry about detention. I can handle Feeny. Feeny loves me."

"Feeny hates you."

George shot Shawn a look. He grinned sheepishly in return.

"Well, it's one of the two. We'll see who's right." Cory walked over to his teacher's table. "Mr. Feeny, may I sit down?"

"I'd rather you didn't," the man said.

Cory looked back at his friends and called out, "Hates me."

"Mr. Matthews, I spend 35 to 40 hours a week dealing with the perceived problems of whiny little people like yourself. Now, this is my lunch period, my respite from the fray. I spend four hours with you every morning and three hours with you every afternoon. Now for God's sake get out of my face." Cory had a look of terror on his face. "Evelyn!"

The woman saluted while going over to the table. "George."

"Why would she salute? Who salutes?" Zay questioned.

"Nobody," Cory responded, knowing what was to come in a future episode.

"I saved a place for you."

"Oh, aren't you sweet? And who is this young man?"

"Uh, my name's Cory Matthews. Mr. Feeny's my teacher. He hates me.

"Now Cory, I'm sure that Mr. Feeny doesn't hate you."

George and Cory shared fake smiles before the scene changed. It was now nighttime and Amy was walking to a treehouse. She went up the ladder. "Oh, good. Caught you home. Housewarming gift. Chocolate pie with a side of barbequed chicken and corn on the cob. Now, I would've bought you a plant, but, hey, you're in a tree."

"Thanks, mom."

"Are you all right?"

"Of course I'm all right. I've been in this treehouse a million times."

"Never after dark," she evilly laughed as she closed the curtain.

"Cory!" called Morgan.

Cory said to himself, "I gotta build a moat around this place."

"Do you want Debbie to keep you company?"

"Why would I want your doll to keep me company?"

"In case you get scared."

"Morgan, I'm eleven years old. I don't get scared. And even if I did get scared and had to defend myself, my weapon of choice would not be a chick with a plastic head."

"Well you don't have to get so snippy." She sauntered off to go back inside.

Cory focused his attention on Feeny's house. "Hey, America's funniest home teacher."

"No offense, Mr. Matthews, but you look stalkerish," Maya told him.

"I was there so he wouldn't technically be alone!" Cory defended.

"Still creepy."

The screen went black. The group watched a scene in which Amy told Cory that he wasn't the only one that felt abandoned. Alan used to through the football with Cory after school, until he started doing it with his own friends.

The next scene showed Cory and Mr. Feeny sitting in a classroom

"You're not gonna talk to me at all, are you, Mr. Feeny? Because I've been sitting in this seat for 38 minutes and I've been very good and I think you should let me go. Look, and eleven-year-old boy cannot sit still this long. I'm gonna get up. I'm up. I'm dancing. I'm leaving. My hand is on the knob. The door is open. Fine. I'm in the hall!" Cory reenters the room. "Mr. Feeny, this stinks!"

"It's supposed to stink, Mr. Matthews. It's detention. You're being detained from whatever it is you'd rather be doing."

"Well, I think it's a cruel and unusual life-sucking torture."

Maya and Zay peered at Cory. Zay commented, "You don't seem to think so when we get detention."

"I still do, but now I'm the teacher that's mad with power."

"You've captured the essence."

"Why do we have to stay here? Just because I don't want to hear about this love stuff? Because I know it only leads to no good, and I know in your heart you agree with me."

"What brings you that conclusion, Mr. Matthews?"

"'Cause you and I had dinner together last night."

"That's a great way to bring it up," Shawn sarcastically said.

"Really? I wasn't aware."

"I had chocolate pie and you had salad for two all by yourself."

"How did you know that?"

"'Cause I slept in my treehouse last night. You know why? 'Cause this love stuff has turned my whole family against me. And you're teaching us how it's worth killing yourself for when I know you don't really believe that, do you?"

George slammed down his pen. "Well...you shrewd little observer of the human condition. How blissful it must be for you to have lived so little and yet already reached your conclusions about the greatest wonder of the universe."

"Y - you know what, Mr. Feeny? Keep the radio."

"Shakespeare wrote plays and sonnets. The Greeks wrote tragedies and comedies. Robert Burns, Emily Dickinson, the Brownings examined the depths of human emotions. And do you know what each one of these poets, playwrights, and philosophers had in common, Mr. Matthews?"

"They all took your class?"

"Every one of them was older than eleven. You come into my classroom at the beginning of the year, and at the end, you go. And I really don't know if in the time we spent together I have taught you anything! Well, this afternoon, Mr. Matthews, you are going to learn something from me!" He pointed at Cory. "Do I have your attention?"

"Yes, sir," Cory quietly responded.

"I live on the other side of the fence from you, Cory. And it's impossible not to face in you're direction every once in a while and notice the people in the next yard. And through the years, I've got to know them. It is apparent that they are fine individuals, but their real strength comes from being a family. And do you know why they're a family, Cory? Because, at one time, a man and a woman realized that they loved each other and pursued the unlimited potential of what may come from that love. And here you are. There is no greater aspiration than to have love in our lives, Mr. Matthews. Romeo knew it and died for it. Others know it and prepare salads. And those who don't know it will sit in detention for the rest of their lives. This particular detention is over."

Riley was wowed at seeing the first wise lesson Mr. Feeny had given her dad. She grew up hearing stories about the legendary Mr. Feeny but never saw him in action. She finally understood why her parents respected him so much.

The next scene was of Cory telling Morgan and Alan that he was moving back in. Cory apologized to his dad for stopping the tradition of throwing around the football after school.

Once again, the screen showed a new image. It was of Cory sitting on the bed, playing video games. He had a fake gun pointed to the TV. "Die! Die! Die! Die!" He pointed to Eric who had just entered. "Die! Die!"

Josh smiled sadly. While watching his brothers was great and all, he wished that he could have experienced all the moments with them.

"You missed the puppy-looking thing in the corner."

"Die!"

"There's one we don't have to neuter," Eric said as he took off his jacket.

Cory put down the gun to talk to Eric. "Five to three. The Phillies are in the playoffs."

"Yeah, I heard."

"What do you mean you heard? You were there."

"I really wasn't paying that much attention to the game, Cory."

"Why not? It was a great game."

"It was not, however, a great date."

"You had a bad date?"

"No, I had a great date. Heather was beautiful. She knew what to say, she knew what to do. Unfortunately, her date spilled food, tripped over chairs, and had nothing interesting to say for nine innings."

"Eric, you're much too cool for some girl."

"News flash! I'm not cool. You don't know what you're talking about."

Cory grinned at the screen in front of him. "I finally see what you were talking about. You aren't cool. You're just my dimwit brother."

"Hey!" Eric shouted. "But you're right."

"Okay, you're not cool. And now you know better than to go to a game without your brother."

"You're right."

"I am?"

"Yeah, that's my first and last date with Heather. I never want to see her again."

"Good. You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do."

Cory handed Eric the phone. "Here."

"What's this?"

"A phone," Maya snorted.

"Call her."

"Who?"

"'Who?' Heather! My nemesis! Call her!"

"Why?"

"'Cause you're sitting there, drooling and pathetic, and I know somewhere inside's my cool brother. And I'm not gonna get him back unless you call her."

"Look. I'm not calling her. I sat there all night and didn't say anything, what could I say now?"

"Take her to a movie. There, you're supposed to sit and not say anything. A movie's perfect for your current skill level."

"Why do you want me to call her?"

"I'm told love is worth it." Cory exited the bedroom and entered the living room. Morgan was currently having a tea party.

Cory stared at her. "Aren't you going to invite me to have tea with you? Morgan, I want you to know something. No matter how old I get, I'm always gonna be your big brother."

"Sugar?"

"And even if I ever – which I won't – get interested in girls..."

"You'll never be interested in girls?" Topanga teased.

"I was eleven!"

"Milk?"

"...and it seems like I don't care about you anymore..."

"Ketchup?"

Maya turned to face Riley. "Does your whole family like putting ketchup in weird things?" she questioned, recalling Riley's habit of putting ketchup in her macaroni and cheese.

"Only some of us," Riley said with a grin.

"...I still always want you to invite me to have tea with you."

Amy walked over to the mini table. "Morgan, honey, put your tea set away and brush your teeth. It's time to go to bed."

Morgan tugged at Cory's pink shirt. "Do I have to?"

"You're asking me?" She nodded and he turned to their mother. "How about if we just stay up and finish our tea?"

"You volunteering to put your sister to bed?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't understand anything about my entire life."

"I still don't," present Cory added.

The final scene was of Mr. Feeny revealing to Cory that the salad was for his sister instead of Evelyn, receiving laughs from the group watching.

Riley spoke up when the episode ended. "That was...interesting. Seeing you as kid was odd. When are we going to see mom?"

"I'm not sure. I think you're going to be very surprised when you do," her dad answered.

Farkle looked at his dad. "I can't wait to see you in this. You never really talked about your childhood much. Were you friends with Mr. Matthews and Mr. Hunter?"

"Not in the slightest," Stuart replied.

Everyone turned their attention back to the screen as the next "episode" was about to start.