"I know, dad. I miss you, too." Angela did her best not to cry as she listened to her father speak. Tears fixed nothing. "Yeah, that would be nice." She balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder and hauled her suitcase onto her bed and worked on getting the zipper undone. "What? No, I'm fine. I was just really looking forward to seeing you, that's all. What can we do? It's not like we can control the weather, right? I know. I love you, too, daddy. Bye."

Once hanging up with her father, she dropped the phone onto her bed, not caring when it bounced to the floor. She'd really been looking forward to getting away and spending Spring Break with her dad. It wasn't the ideal trip for most college freshman, but Angela had been counting down the days. And now, an hour before she was supposed to head to the airport, her flight was canceled. Thousands of flights were being preemptively canceled in anticipation of bad weather.

"Hey, buddy!"

She looked up when her door flew open and Eric appeared, but said nothing.

"Your chauffeur to the airport is here. But first," he said, pulling a paper out from behind his back, "check this out. You know that English paper you helped me with? B+, baby!"

"That's great, Eric, congratulations." She tried to be enthusiastic. He'd worked hard on that paper. But her heart just wasn't in it.

"What's the matter? Why do you-" He stopped talking when he realized that she wasn't packing her suitcase like he originally thought when he came to her room. Her back was to him, but he could see she was taking everything out of her bag. "Call me crazy, but that's the opposite of packing."

"I'm not going."

"Why not? Aw, man, your dad didn't have something military-related that came up at the last minute, did he?" Angela had said in the past that her father always put the military first, even when he didn't want to. It was almost a reflex for him at this point.

"It's the stupid weather." She was close to crying so she was keeping her answers short.

"First of all weather is not stupid. We've been over this. And second, it's fine out, just a little cloudy."

"Apparently there is this massive storm out west that is about to hit my dad's area and then effect a good chunk of the east coast once it moves on. They're cancelling flights left and right in anticipation."

"That's not fair to you."

"I tried to get an earlier flight, but everything was booked up." She picked up the closest object- a text book- and threw it across the room, hitting the wall. "I really needed this. I needed to see my dad. It's been almost a year."

"Nice arm. The football team could use your help. Their quarterback sucks." He picked up the fallen book and set it on the desk. "Who knew a physics book could fly like that? I wonder if it followed all the proper laws of physics."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."

"I'm sorry. You want to get a burger?"

"No."

He took a seat on Topanga's bed and watched Angela empty her suitcase. "You want to go to the history museum? The exhibit on ancient Egypt is supposed to be amazing. Plus, you know- mummies are cool." Ever since they discovered their mutual love of museums they would go together. "Or the planetarium is having something about the history of telescopes. There's supposed to be one that's like four hundred years old. Rumor has it we can even play around with some lenses. That sounds like fun, huh?"

Neither of them had expected their accidental run-in at the museum to become a regular thing, but over the past couple of months it had. Eric made the first move, so to speak. He invited her to this old prison that had been converted into a museum and was rumored to be haunted. He had always wanted to see it, but was too scared to go alone. Angela almost said no. After all, he had reverted back to his wacky behavior after their first museum encounter and while it was obnoxious before, knowing it was an act made it worse. Still she was curious to see which Eric would show up if she accepted his invitation. Much to her relief the Eric she saw was the same guy at the art museum; the sweet, intelligent, funny guy who enjoyed coming up with philosophical interpretations and downright outlandish guesses on the meanings of abstract pieces.

It became a near weekly thing without them realizing it. They took turns picking the exhibits and buying the tickets. Then they'd go to lunch or dinner to discuss what they saw. Neither of them had Friday classes so it was only natural to go then. Angela didn't have to answer a million questions from Cory and Shawn because they had class and if Topanga asked where she was she never believed her when she said she was with Eric anyway.

She even offered to give him a hand with his homework. While Eric had great ideas, organizing his thoughts to get them onto the page was a challenge. She helped him break things down and make sense of the jumble of words in his head. His grades had been on a definite upswing lately. It was refreshing to be around someone who wasn't expecting him to be a buffoon. And Angela definitely seemed to be more relaxed and was opening up to him, too.

Museums and homework weren't the only things that had been throwing them together lately.

Chet Hunter blew into town and before he could blow out again he dropped dead of a heart attack. They tried to be good friends and help Shawn and Jack respectively, but Shawn completely misunderstood her attempt to console him as her wanting to get back together. Eric tried to be there for Jack, but he seemed more comfortable talking to Rachel and after walking in on them making out Eric didn't push the issue. He felt bad for not being a better friend, but found it difficult to face his roommates ever since and did whatever could to not be home at the same time they were.

Not long after that Joshua was born six weeks premature and for a while no one knew if he would make it. Eric hung around with Tommy more and stayed optimistic not only for the kid's sake, but to cut tension and make every one smile during the long hours spent in the waiting room. He wanted to give people a distraction. If that involved him being threatened by an orderly or chased by the clown entertaining in pediatrics, so be it. It wasn't until one Friday afternoon, standing before Picasso's Mother and Child that he broke down and admitted to Angela how scared he was.

And then Tommy was adopted. While Eric knew it was for the best, he hated to see the boy go. He'd already made plans for things to do over spring break and the following summer that weren't going to happen now. And stupid though it may have been there was a small part of him that hoped one day he'd be able to adopt Tommy.

"I know it's your turn to pick and pay," Eric continued, "but this one will be on me. You pick and I'll pay. Consider it a thank you for helping me with the paper."

"No- I mean, thank you for the offer, I appreciate it, but I think I'm just going to stay in tonight and wallow."

"But you'll only end up feeling worse than you do right now."

"That's the point."

"I don't want you spending your whole break moping around."

"I won't. I just need a day or two."

Eric wasn't convinced. "That sounds really depressing. Why do that to yourself?"

"Because it works for me. I give myself a couple days to be miserable and then I move on with my life." She saw his skeptical look. "I'll be fine. I'll keep busy. Topanga has plans of crashing a few more weddings to get ideas. I'm sure I'll get roped into that."

"And spending time with Shawn and Cory is what you want to do?"

She rolled her eyes, but knew he had a point. Shawn was becoming relentless in his attempts to get back together with her. He'd misunderstood her attempt at consoling him over his dad's death a few months back and seemed more determined than ever. Angela held strong in her stance of strictly being his friend. He was simply too unstable for her to depend on for more than that. She couldn't be with someone who claimed to love her in one breath and broke her heart in the next. "I admit it's not ideal, but…" She stopped talking, startled when Eric jumped to his feet.

"Do you trust me?"

"What?" She'd swear she could practically see the light bulb that went off over his head.

"Do you trust me," he repeated.

"I…yes. I think."

"Then pack your bags again and be ready to leave in an hour. No questions." This was a great idea, maybe one of his best. If there was a good idea hall of fame, this would win the Nobel Prize for thoughts. "I'll be back."

"But, Eric, what are you-"

"Ah, ah, no questions." He picked up the pile of clothes on the bed and handed it to her. "One hour."

Blindly follow along with what Eric wanted or spend her Spring break as part of a foursome while fending off Shawn's attempts to reunite- how did those become her vacation options? Still, she was intrigued. When it was just the two of them he was fine. He only ramped up the craziness when others were around. "Okay. One hour." What was the worst that could happen?

"Yay," he cheered. "You won't regret it. I promise."

/

/

Amy was in the middle of preparing dinner when Eric came bursting through the back door. "Hi, honey."

"Can't talk now, mom." He made a beeline for the drawers and opened them at random, digging around.

"Eric?" No response. "Eric, what are you looking for?"

"You know all those road maps dad has?"

"Yes, I'm well aware." He was by now throwing things onto the floor. "Hey, hey, my kitchen! What are you doing?"

"I already told you: maps."

"If only you had a map for the maps, right," Morgan remarked with a smirk.

"Can it, weasel."

"Let me guess, you've finally decided you miss your mind and are hoping a map will lead you to it?" She ducked the roll of paper towels that went flying at her. "Mom!"

"Eric, don't throw things at your sister."

"But she-"

"Morgan, be nice to your brother." She dropped the aluminum foil onto the counter. "How do I still have to tell you these things? You're both beyond old enough to know better. Oh, and if either one of you wakes Joshua from his nap there will be hell to pay." Her surprise, miracle child was just a couple months old and still learning that sleep was good, not evil.

"I just need the maps and then I'm outta here."

"Where are you going?"

"Spring break, mom," he said, as if that answered everything.

"Oh, please don't tell me you're going to Florida and have those Spring breaks like they show on TV. Eric, I know you're out on your own and can make your own decisions, but please. That's just full of people making bad decisions and you've been doing so well-"

"Mom, relax. I'm not going to Florida. I'm just…I'm helping out a friend. They were supposed to fly out tonight visit with their dad, but flights were canceled early ahead of a storm. I'm giving them a ride."

"Who is this friend?"

"That doesn't matter. All I'll say is that you know and like them." The fewer details the better. He didn't want Cory, Shawn, and Topanga to find out and put a kink in his plan…or worse, try to tag along. Angela wasn't just going to see her dad. She was getting away from everything.

"So, flights are canceled because of a storm, but you're going to drive in it?"

"I watched the Weather Channel and if we leave soon we should be at our destination before it hits."

"Can't you give me some information? What if something goes wrong and you need to-"

"Man, what a day" Alan exclaimed as he entered through the back door. "People were buying up boating supplies like crazy."

"Did you remember to get the butter, milk, and diaper rash cream?"

He placed the bag on the counter. "Of course."

Morgan grimaced. "Mom, please don't mix up the butter and diaper rash cream in dinner, tonight."

"Why would I do that?"

"The other night you put baby oil in the food when you should've added olive oil."

"I'm sleep-deprived, young lady. You know, you can always be a helpful daughter and volunteer to make dinner every once in a while. I was about your age when I started to cook."

"But-"

Eric waived a bunch of papers around. "Hello? Is any of this helping me find a map?"

Alan just now realized his eldest was here. "What are you doing here? Did you make that mess?"

"I'm going on a little trip and thought it would be nice to know where I'm going. I'm looking for your maps."

"Third drawer on the right," he said, pointing. "When were you going to tell me about this trip? You said you'd give me a hand at the store during your break."

"Sorry, dad, but something came up. A friend needs my help."

"What kind of help and which friend?"

"A good friend needs to see her dad…I mean her dad…I mean their…oh, screw it." He sighed. "This friend was supposed to fly out tonight but her flight was canceled. I'm hoping if we leave tonight we can beat the storms there."

"Well, where are you-"

"You know, I'm technically a grown up and I don't even live here anymore. I don't have to tell you anything. So there." He stuck out his tongue at his parents.

"You do if you want my maps and my car."

"Dad, I have a car."

"You can't take that piece of junk on a long road trip."

"Hey, don't go knocking my Lucille. She's a fine mode of transportation."

"Do you still have to start the car with a screwdriver?"

"Yeah."

"Then I don't want you taking it, especially if there's bad weather."

"But…"

Alan placed the keys in his son's hand. "I'll feel better if you're in my car. Come out to the garage with me. I'll take out Josh's car seat and other random crap."

Eric took the maps he'd need from the drawer before following. "Okay."

A few minutes later Eric was getting ready to drive off. "Thanks for the car, dad. I promise I'll bring it back with the tank full."

"And no dents?"

"Eh, we'll see."

"Eric…"

"Joking, dad, just joking. I'm a good driver."

That was true. Despite all of his goofiness and recent insanity, Alan has never had to worry about his son's driving ability. "When do you think you'll be back? A day or two?"

"I was thinking more like a week or two."

"Oh, so you're not just dropping off this friend? You're hanging around with her and her dad?"

"No, I figured I'd drop Angela off and then drive around, see some sights. Then I'll pick her up and we'll come back. I can take my car if it's a problem."

He could tell Eric had no idea he'd used Angela's name, so Alan wasn't going to say anything. He'd fill Amy in later. "No, take my car. Like I said, I'd feel better knowing you're driving a car you can actually start with a key and has airbags."

"Thanks, dad. I should go if we want to beat the storm."

He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and opened it. He handed the money over. "Here."

"I don't need your money."

"Emergency gas money."

Eric did a quick count of the cash in his hand. "Am I buying gas for every car I pass, too?"

"This is another one of those, 'Giving this to you will make me feel better,' things."

"All right. See you in a couple weeks."

"Wait, just one more thing, I recently got this prototype into the store, but haven't had a chance to use it too much yet." Alan took a box out of the trunk.

"What is it?"

"It's called a GPS: Global Positioning System. The military has been using it for years, but they're only just becoming available to the public now."

"What does it do?"

"You plug your destination into the computer and it will tell you how to get there."

"Wow, so like a map on a computer?"

"Yeah, kind of. Still take the real maps with you just in case it malfunctions or you're in an area without a strong signal, but this should make it a little easier to find your way, especially at night."

"Cool."

"Oh, and if it tells you to turn left but all that is to your left is a pond or a field: use common sense. Don't drive into the pond."

He pretended to think it over. "Driving into bodies of water is bad, thanks for the important safety tip, dad."

/

/

"Sure, I'll have a great time over Spring break with all this homework," Topanga muttered to herself. She dropped her books onto her bed. "It's not like I have a wedding to plan or anything."

"Topanga, you okay?"

"Ah!" She jumped, not expecting to see Angela. "You scared the heck out of me!"

"Sorry. Which professor stuck you with homework?"

"I have to write a paper for my philosophy class."

"One paper doesn't sound so bad."

"Except I don't want to write a twenty-five hundred word essay on…" She trailed off.

"On what?"

"I never looked at the scrap of paper Professor Langley gave me with my topic." She searched through her bag until she came across the crumpled up piece of yellow paper that had obviously come from a legal pad. "Are you kidding me?"

"What?"

"Are there unwavering moral principles that are right for all of the people all of the time? Yes or no. Provide a convincing argument for your chosen position."

"Yikes, glad I'm not you."

"Thanks a lot. You'll help me out with it, right? You are the writer." She looked around the room and noticed Angela's bags. It occurred to her that her friend was already supposed to be long gone to see her dad. They'd said their good-byes this morning. "Wait a minute, what are you doing here?"

"It's my dorm, too."

"No, that's not what I mean. I thought you'd be gone for the airport by now."

"That was the plan until my flight was canceled because of storms heading for my dad's location."

"Oh, no, but you were looking forward to it so much. It's been so long since you've see him."

"Mother Nature apparently doesn't care about that."

She took a seat beside Angela on her bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

"But don't worry, you won't have a chance to be bored, or sad, and missing your dad. I've already picked three weddings to stake out."

Angela suppressed a sigh. "We'll see. I've got homework, too, and Mr. Feeny said he might be able to get me some work at a bookstore that his friend owns. It's mostly inventory and clerical work, but it's money and I'll be working with books." It wasn't exactly a lie. Mr. Feeny had talked to her about a job at his friend's bookstore, but it was for over the summer. "I promise I'll keep a day or two free so we can have a girl time."

"I guess I can live with that. I was going to catch a movie with Cory before I start to tackle my paper. You want to come? Shawn's doing something with Jack so it would be the three of us."

"No, you go. I'll be fine."

"I'll bring you back some Sno-caps."

"Thanks."

Topanga gave her best friend a tight hug. Things had been a little weird between them lately and she knew it had more to do with Cory and Shawn than anything between the two of them, but she missed her friend. "Are we okay?"

"We're fine. I'm just tired of…of everything. And I was really looking forward to seeing my dad. It's been nearly a year. I miss him."

"I'm sorry. Hopefully you guys will be able to figure something out when the weather clears up."

"Maybe."

"I should go. You know how Cory is about getting to the theater ahead of time."

She chuckled. "He needs time to get there, order his snacks, watch the previews, and leave enough time before the movie starts to run to the bathroom. Oh, and don't forget about staying until all the credits are over in case they toss in a funny bit and wanting to watch the next movie's previews just to be sure he didn't miss one."

"Ugh, I'm trying to block last ones those out." She gave Angela one last squeeze before heading for the door. "We'll talk more when I get back. Maybe we can give each other mani-pedis?"

"Sounds great," was all she said.

"You're not going to spend all day in here alone, are you?"

"No. Eric will be here in ten minutes. Maybe we'll hang out and do something."

Topanga shook her head and laughed. Whenever she didn't want to give a direct answer to where she had been, she'd say she was with Eric. Angela and Eric hanging out: that would be a sight. They had nothing in common and had never hung out outside of the group. There was no reason for them to. "I swear that joke never gets old."

She frowned, no longer able to find the humor in the supposed joke. "Have fun watching the previews."

/

/

"So what is this big plan of yours'?" She and Eric had just finished loading her luggage into the trunk and she couldn't help but notice he'd brought a few bags as well. "And why does it involve your dad's car?"

"Guess."

"I have no…oh! We're going up to New York to check out the Picasso exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, right? You mentioned you wanted to see that. Would you mind if we also checked out the New York Public Library while we're there? I've always wanted to go. I know you're not a library person, but-"

"Angela, we're not going to New York," he said, making a mental note to pay a visit to that library one day.

"Then where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to see your dad." Eric thought about keeping it a secret, but knew he wouldn't be able to make the entire thirteen hour drive without spilling the beans.

"You're what?"

"We're taking a road trip and your dad is destination numero uno."

She gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

"What do you think?"

"Eric that's so…I can't believe…" She moved to hug him, but pulled back at the last second. "No, wait, it's very sweet, but I can't ask you to do that. I appreciate it and…"

"You're not asking me. I'm offering. I want to take you. I know how much you miss your dad."

"But why- why are you doing this?"

"We're friends. Do I need another reason?"

It had been a long time since Angela was so happy she cried. Actually, she doesn't know if that had ever happened for her. But she was very tempted now. She was doing so much blinking it felt like she was giving off messages in Morse code in an effort to keep her tears at bay. "I don't want you to waste your vacation shuttling me across the country."

"I'm not wasting anything. I want to do this for you. Maybe you can do something for me in return."

Her eyes narrowed. There was always a catch. "What?"

"Let me. Did you ever think that I need to get away, too? These past few weeks have been weird. Jack and Rachel are together and in full coupley-ness-"

"That's not a word."

"There's no other way to describe them. And with Tommy being adopted I don't know what to do with myself. I'd made all these plans for the time we were going to spend together, but now…well…"

"I'm sorry."

"I got a picture from him the other day."

"You did?"

"Yeah, he drew him and his dog playing in the pool. I was in the picture, too, flying an airplane over their house to visit." He cleared his throat. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for him that he's got a home and a family. That's great and he deserves it. But I still miss him."

There was no hesitation when Angela hugged him this time. "Okay, I'll let you drive me."

"Thanks," he quietly replied, hugging her in return. "Can we stop and pick up road trip junk food?"

"Sure."

"Will you play car games with me?"

"That depends on the game, but yes."

"Can I-"

"Eric, Angela , what are you up to?"

They jumped apart at the sound of Mr. Feeny's voice. He and Dean Bolander were exiting his car. "Hi, Mr. Feeny. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not going to be able to come over for dinner tomorrow night."

"You were coming over for dinner tomorrow night?" This was news to the educator.

"Duh, it's spaghetti night."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Eric."

"Getting old sucks, huh? But don't worry, since I can't make it maybe the Dean wants to come over for spaghetti night."

"There's no such thing as spaghetti night!"

He leaned in and whispered loudly. "I'm trying to help you. Invite her. Take the reins."

"I'd love to come over for spaghetti night," Lila responded with a smile. "That is, if someone invites me."

Eric nudged his mentor in the ribs. "This is not a drill. You are staring at the business end of a date. Ask her, man."

She could see her colleague was growing weary and a little embarrassed by the conversation and decided to change the subject. "That's an awful lot of luggage. Are you going on a trip?"

"I'm going to see my dad over Spring break."

"Yeah, and if we're going to make good time we should probably head out now."

"Right. See you after break." Angela gave a brief wave before hopping into the passenger seat.

"You're driving Angela," Mr. Feeny questioned Eric.

"What are friends for?" He slid across the hood to the driver's side. "Hasta la vista, Feeny. And I want all the details on your spaghetti date night with the Dean."

George and Lila watched the car peel out of the parking lot. "I didn't realize Eric and Angela were an item," she said.

"I don't believe they are. I think Shawn is still trying to get Angela back and Eric likes…" He shook his head, almost disgusted with himself. "Great, how did I get wrapped up in their drama?"

"You're a caring teacher who's involved in the lives of his students. That's a good thing, George."

"Thank you."

"Do you know what else you are?"

"What?"

"You are a man who has yet to ask me over for spaghetti night."