This is part one of the honesty game/party. As usual I ramble on so much that it became too much to fit everything into one chapter. One of these days I'll learn to be concise...maybe...I doubt it, lol. But I'm trying to get better.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. :-)

"Do you think we expect Eric to fail?"

Amy looked up from feeding the baby. She'd barely gotten a good morning from her husband. He has been relatively quiet these past few days. She knew he was brooding over something, but wouldn't say what it was. "What are you talking about?"

"I told you about how he screwed up the deliveries a few days ago, right?"

"Twenty-four cases instead of twenty-four units. Yes, you did. What's this about expecting him to fail?"

"Angela showed up when we were discussing things."

"Were you discussing or yelling," she challenged.

"I don't see how that matters. But I can't get what she said to me out of my head. It's been bothering me. She said that maybe Eric wouldn't make so many mistakes if we didn't expect it from him."

"The last few years have been so back and forth with him I have whiplash."

"But he seems better lately, doesn't he? I mean he came to us to ask for more responsibility at the store. And his grades have improved so much."

"He definitely seems to have settled down over the past several months."

"What if it doesn't last? How many times have we hoped that he's grown up only to be let down? This is Eric that…" He realized what he was saying. "…that we're talking about." He sighed and fell into a chair. "Damn it, she's right."

"I don't know if I agree with her," she said after thinking it over for a minute. "It's not that we expect it, however, we are familiar with his past behavior. He set an unfortunate pattern over the years. It's more like we expect Eric to be, well, Eric." She lifted the baby to her shoulder to burp even though he was nearly asleep. "Although I will say these past few months have been a wonderful surprise. I could get used to this Eric. I feel like he's finally starting to scratch the surface of his potential and I think he realizes it, too."

He moved from the chair and sat beside her on the couch. "I suppose I could just not have him handle ordering and deliveries. That's where he keeps getting mixed up no matter how many times I walk him through it. New Eric or not, it seems impossible for him to keep all those numbers straight."

"I'm not implying you do it on purpose, but it seems like asking him to do that stuff is putting him in a position to fail. What does he do well at the store?"

"The displays are great since he started setting them up. He's pretty creative with that. And he can talk people into buying just about anything, and not in a slimy, shoddy, used car salesman type of way. He's just good at relating to them and getting them to let down their guard. Last week there was this guy that came in wanting the cheapest products and tried to get me to drop prices even more. I got fed up and dumped him on Eric. Twenty minutes later he's at the register paying for, not the highest end, but definitely more expensive stuff. I was ready to throw him out and Eric turned it into one of the biggest sales of the week."

"That doesn't surprise me. Eric has always known how to talk to people. When he was little he would talk to every random person we saw no matter how many times we told him not to. He has never met a stranger. Do you remember what he told me when he was about five?"

"What?"

"We were out getting him a new pair of shoes for his first day of kindergarten and he started talking to some woman. I warned him yet again about strangers and how not everyone feels like having a conversation with him. And he looked me right in the eye and said, 'Mommy, there are no strangers. I just haven't met all the people in the world yet. And when I do, they will all talk to me because I will be their friend."'

"That sounds like him."

"I marveled at his self-confidence. Maybe that's what you have to do: play to his strengths and have him do what he's good at, relating to people."

"But that's not going to help him learn the business side of things."

"Honey, Eric is not interested in the business. I know when we first took it over you had visions of you two working together side by side, buddies first and father and son second."

"That was only because he was flailing around without any direction. He wasn't even enrolled in college. The store was a safety net for him, for us. It was a guaranteed future."

"I don't think he needs a safety net anymore. He graduates in a year and he hasn't taken a single class that would prepare him to take over one day. It's not where his passions lie."

"Is he even passionate about anything aside from Angela lately?"

"Oh, no," she stated in mock disbelief, "a twenty-one year old guy wanting to spend every available moment with his girlfriend? I'll call Ripley's Believe it or Not. Or better yet, how about I get the Guinness Record Book people on the phone? They'll want to hear this."

"I get it."

The baby stirred in her arms and Amy got up and placed him in his bassinet. No need to wake him. "Let's just be glad Angela is a good influence and motivates him to do better. As far as his ambitions go, he still seems committed to this weatherman thing. It makes me feel bad for all the times we laughed at him when he brought it up as a kid. Although every time I ask him about school all he talks about is his geology class so maybe he could do something with that. It falls under his major."

"Yeah."

"There's something else on your mind."

"What do you mean?"

"It just seems like you're taking Angela's words to heart when she was likely just trying to stand up for her boyfriend. Considering how intense you can get when you're angry that took some guts on her part."

"I don't get intense."

"Yes, you do. While you're prone to overreact it takes a lot to get you really angry. But when you hit that point you're not exactly the most rational man to deal with."

Alan wanted to argue with his wife's remarks, but decided to let it go and stay focused. "Let's face it, if she thinks we expect Eric to fail she didn't get there all by herself, not based on the one disagreement she witnessed."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning Eric thinks we expect him to fail and told her that."

"I hope he doesn't believe that." She frowned. "I don't want him to think that."

"Neither do I. What do we do so he doesn't think that?"

"I think all we can do is be supportive, or more supportive."

"We've always supported him." He flashed back to what he told his eldest once about waiting too long to take off the kid gloves and let him grow. If anything they were guilty of supporting him too much at times.

"I guess we need to show him that we still do, no matter what."

"I don't know how to be more supportive of him."

"We still have to try. We're failing somewhere if he thinks we expect him to fall on his face. I'll call him later and tell him to come over for dinner and to bring Angela, too. I don't know why he hasn't brought her over yet." Amy covered her mouth to suppress a yawn. "Would you like to win the title of World's Best Husband and support me for a little bit?"

"I thought I already had that title in the bag."

She patted his hand. "Fine, then earn bonus points to keep your crown."

"What do you need?"

"I've been up with Joshua since four and-"

"Go take a nap." He also woke up with the baby, but the screaming child wanted only his mother- to be in her arms as she walked around the room. If she sat down he started crying again. Eventually Amy told him to go back to bed, that at least one of them should get to sleep in on a Saturday. "Sleep as long as you want."

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You've just secured the title for the next year."

"Good to know. Now get upstairs before Josh's radar goes off and he senses you're leaving." Once she was out of the room he checked on the baby before turning on the television. He kept the volume low and caught up on baseball highlights. When Morgan entered a few minutes later he gestured to the bassinet behind the couch so she would know to keep quiet.

"You and mom messed up at the hospital," she quipped, taking a seat next to her father on the couch.

"What do you mean?"

"You guys didn't bring home a baby. You brought home a car alarm that never shuts up."

Alan wanted to laugh, there were days he and Amy made similar remarks. "That's how babies are. You were the same way." She expressed disbelief before going back to her cereal. "Morgan, you know I'm proud of you, right?"

"Huh?"

"With school, all of your extracurricular activities, and hobbies- you always try your best and you never give up when stuff gets challenging. If something doesn't work out the way you want you give it another shot. You're never afraid to try something new."

"Dad, what's going on? Why are you getting all mushy? Oh, man," she exclaimed, "you and mom changed your mind about letting me go on vacation with Steph's family this summer, didn't you? That's not fair! You're saying this stuff so I won't be mad."

"Keep your voice down. And no, you can still go on vacation with your friend and her family."

"Then why are you being weird?"

"I just wanted to make sure you know that I'm proud of you. I'm always going to be proud of you no matter what you decide to do with your life. You know that, right?"

"Duh, dad, I'm not a moron."

Sometimes Alan forgot that his little girl was approaching her teen years. Then she said stuff like that to remind him. "Good. I just wanted to be sure."

"Can I have the remote and put on something people actually want to watch?"

He rolled his eyes but handed over the remote. All things considered she was still much easier to deal with than her brothers had ever been. As if on cue, Josh began to scream from his bassinet. Alan jumped up to get him before Amy came down. He walked in circles around the room, the baby fussing in his ear. "I should've had all daughters."

/

/

"Angela, can I…oh, sorry, I didn't know you went back to bed." Topanga closed the door quietly. After the encounter in the bathroom she got breakfast with Cory so they could discuss wedding venues. She didn't expect to come back and find Angela sleeping again. She was wearing an eye mask and there was an ice pack and ear plugs on the nightstand. "Migraine," she asked in a hushed voice.

"I think I caught it in time. Medication is kicking in. I'm just resting my eyes."

"Do you want me to go so it's quiet?" While she didn't experience the crippling headaches herself, her mother did and every so often would retreat to her room, needing absolute quiet and darkness. "I'll tell Cory and Shawn not to make a peep or risk my wrath."

"Thanks, I appreciate that, but I'm fine. I was going to get up in a few minutes anyway."

"Well, if you're sure."

"I am."

She placed her bag on the chair and sat down at the foot of Angela's bed. "Can I run something by you?"

"Sure. What's going on?"

"You know this honesty pact I'm doing with Cory?"

"You mean the thing that is going to blow up in your faces?"

"What does that mean? Why do you think it's going to go badly?"

She sat up and removed her eye mask, wincing as she adjusted to the light. "What about the honesty pact?"

"I'd like to think that Cory will tell me the truth no matter what, but how can I be sure?"

"You can't be sure and he probably won't be honest all of the time. You won't be either. There's going to be little white lies, lies of omission, and-"

"I think if anyone could do it, it would be us. But just to be sure…I have an idea."

Angela listened to Topanga explained her plan. It was all she could to keep a neutral expression on her face.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Honestly?"

"That is the name of the game, so yes."

"You're going to make yourself look ridiculous on purpose and then he's going to have to either tell you that you do look ridiculous or he'll say you look great no matter what. And the ironic part is you'll be mad when he tries to be nice to you because he loves you so much."

"Because it will be a lie."

"But he's not going to want to say you look bad. He's going to spare your feelings."

"Not if he's honest with me."

"It's not very fair. Cory's not always my favorite person and lately he's been a gigantic pain in my butt, but you are putting him in a no-win situation."

"If he's honest then it's not no-win, it's we both win."

She shook her head. "Wow."

"What?"

"I don't know if I've ever seen such an intelligent person act so stupid."

Topanga thought that statement was especially ironic coming from Eric's girlfriend. Sometimes he still acted like a trained circus seal when Angela wasn't around, though he was getting better. She knew better than to say any of that to Angela, however. "I think you're wrong. This exercise can only bring me and Cory closer."

"And I think you're asking for trouble."

"Does this mean you're not going to help me?"

"Help you?"

"Renee- you've met her, she's in my advanced geometry class- anyway she has a hair crimper I can borrow."

"I want no part in this insanity."

'Again, another ironic statement coming from Eric's girlfriend,' Topanga thought to herself. "Fine, I guess I'll see if Renee wants to help me."

"That's probably a good idea." She got out of bed and went to the closet.

"What are you doing?"

"I think I'll head over to the apartment now."

"This early? It's barely noon and we're not supposed to be there until seven. Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?"

"I just don't understand why you're looking for trouble. You know how Cory is. You know he's going to take your honesty pact one step too far. Why give him ammunition?"

"You're looking at this the wrong way. If Cory is honest about something as sensitive as looks, then I know he won't hesitate with the bigger things."

She shook her head. "For the record, I'm reserving the right to say 'I told you so' when this blows up in your face. And it will. Spectacularly."

"I guess I have more faith than you do."

"Faith…naiveté…whichever."

"You don't have to leave just because you disagree with what I'm doing," Topanga said as Angela continued to move around their room. She was putting her clothes into an overnight bag.

"I'm not. I'm going to see if I can give Rachel a hand. If she doesn't need help then I'll just hang out with Eric. We didn't get to see each other much this week aside from our date yesterday."

"And the clothes?"

"I'm not getting dressed for a party now. I'll change there."

"How was your date last night?" When she finally got back into her room Eric was still here. He was with Angela in her bed and they claimed they had dozed off while watching TV. Even if she hadn't walked in on them, their disheveled clothes gave them away. Still, she gave no indication she saw anything. "You never told me about it. Did you do anything fun?"

"We went to the science museum, arcade, I finally got to check out that bookstore I've wanted to go to- a former warehouse filled floor to ceiling with books. I was in heaven. We got lunch, had dinner, and there was a movie in between. Then we came back here and fell asleep watching TV."

"Wow, that's sounds like three or four dates crammed into one. No wonder you guys fell asleep."

She shrugged. "We have a lot of fun and enjoy being together. Why not take advantage of that when we can? Especially with how crazy our schedules are lately."

"It wasn't a criticism. What are you looking for," she asked when Angela was moving things around the room.

"I can't find my makeup. Is it on your side?"

Topanga looked around before ultimately finding the cosmetic bag on her dresser, under a few folded sweaters. "Here you go."

Angela was about to take it when it was pulled back. "What?"

"Are you sure you don't want to help me with my hair?"

She retrieved her makeup bag from her friend's grasp. "I'm steering clear of this train wreck. You're on your own. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I do. You'll see."

/

/

"What the heck are you doing?" Jack came down the stairs and saw Rachel hunched over the counter. "I thought we were having a dinner party, not a lunch party. Why are you doing all this now? Ooh, appetizers," he said, grabbing a few vegetables from the tray.

"I want everything to be nice for our friends tonight. I'm making radish roses. See?" She held one up to him. "Pretty."

He took the radish and popped it into his mouth. "Mmm, good."

A look of horror came across her face. "What did you just do?"

"I'm trying your beautiful radish roses." She did not look happy. "Is that not the right answer?"

"There were no radish roses. Not yet. There was only the one so far."

Oops. "I'm sorry. If it's any consolation it tastes great, best radish I've ever eaten." Jack could tell from her glare that his compliments were of no consolation to her right now. "But I'm sure you'll be able to make more. How long could it take to carve one of these babies- five minutes?"

"It took me a half hour to do just the one," she said, exasperated.

"Oh…I'll help you make more."

"Yeah, you will."

Jack was relieved when the doorbell rang a few minutes later. He'd been struggling with carving the rose petals and was desperate for a break. "I'll get it." He jumped up and ran for the door. "Angela, hey."

"I know I'm extremely early, but I thought I'd come by and see if Rachel needed any help." She was surprised when Jack grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the apartment. "Okay, hi, how are you?"

"Help me," he whispered, before going back to speaking at a normal volume. "See, Rach, it's going to be okay. You have someone to help with radish roses."

"I know I do," she responded in a voice entirely too sweet to be natural, "I have you."

"Crap, should've figured it wouldn't be that easy."

"You got that right," Rachel continued. "Actually, Angela, I think I have a good handle on things right now. The Cornish hens are marinating and those don't have to start going into the oven until four. The baked potatoes will be easy enough, but if you want, I could use some help later to make the parfaits. I'm saving those for last."

"Sounds great. I guess I'll go hang out with Eric. Is he in his room?"

"No, he's working the coffeehouse today. You didn't see him?"

"I didn't get coffee this morning. That explains my migraine," she said, mostly to herself, "no caffeine yet. I forgot he was working today."

"He'll be home in a little while. You can hang around if you want."

She smiled. "Thanks."

/

"That was the longest six hour shift ever. Please, no one mention the word coffee," Eric declared when he entered his apartment, but realized he was talking to no one. Jack and Rachel weren't around and it was silent. That was weird. When he left for his shift this morning she was panicking about finding a way to get all the food cooked in time when they only had the one small oven. He expected her to be having an even bigger freak out when he got back. Just as he was about to swipe a few chips she bought for appetizers he saw a piece of paper with his name on it taped to the fridge. 'Eric,' he read aloud, 'went to the store. DO NOT touch the food for tonight. I will know. And I will hurt you.' He was still tempted to take the chips, or even a few carrots, but thought better of it. Rachel really wanted tonight to go well. He got a pack of Pop Tarts from the cabinet and headed for his room. There was enough time to get in a nap before people got here.

There was another surprise waiting for him when he entered his room: Angela. Not just Angela, but Angela in his bed, under his blankets, and with her head on his pillow. He wanted to think this was meant to be a romantic surprise, but since she was sleeping he figured it wasn't. After ditching his shoes and trading the button-down he had to wear at work for a T-shirt, he lay down beside her. She immediately gravitated towards him. "Hey. Didn't mean to wake you up."

"That's okay."

"Am I dreaming or are you really in my bed right now?"

She scooted closer and laid her head on his chest. "How can you be dreaming if I'm the one sleeping?"

"Good point."

Angela kept her eyes closed. She heard him come in but had been having the nicest dream and was reluctant to leave it. She and Eric were driving in his car, no destination in particular in mind, they were just driving. And there was no one around for miles: no Cory, no Shawn, no Topanga, no jobs, studying, or classes. It was only them. "Sorry I just showed up."

"You don't hear me complaining, do you?"

"Thanks." She tightened her hold on him and nuzzled his neck. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How would you feel if I used your razor?"

"What?"

"Would it gross you out?"

"Did you run out and need to borrow one?"

"No."

Eric made a face. "This is a really random question. Why would you ever need to use my razor?"

"Let's say I wake up here one morning and need to take a shower before class."

"I'm loving this mental image."

"I figured you would. So I need to take a shower and forgot to pack a razor. Would it bother you to share?"

"The truth?"

"Of course."

"Part of me thinks it would be hot- at least legs. Anything else you shave I don't need to know about."

"Very mature."

"But any hotness would be over the second I cut myself. You'd dull the blade and I'd end up walking around with little bits of toilet paper stuck to my face. That's not so hot."

She raised her head to look at him, a smile on her face. "A rational explanation, thank you."

"Where did all this razor talk come from?"

She sighed. "Topanga and Cory made an honesty pact."

"What does that mean?" She filled him in on what happened in the bathroom this morning. He laughed. "Man, is that going to blow up in their faces. Cory doesn't know when to quit."

"I know, but they are determined to tell each other truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

"So help them God?"

"They're definitely going to need somebody's help." She told him Topanga's plan for tonight.

"But it sounds like she's trying to trap him into saying the wrong thing. He can't win."

"That's what I told her, but she insists everything will be fine."

"It does make you think though. Is there such a thing as too much honesty? If so, where is the line?"

"I don't know if there's such a thing as too much, but presentation goes a long way."

"What do you mean?"

"Like if I thought the shirt you were wearing was ugly I wouldn't say it that way. I'd say you'd look better in another color that brings out your eyes."

"What shirt of mine is ugly?"

"It was just an example."

"It was a very specific example. Be straight with me: it's this shirt, right? It's a boring, white t-shirt. How can you hate it?"

She propped her elbow on his chest and rested her head in her hand. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"Sorry," he said. "I guess I see what you mean: be honest, but don't go out of your way to try and hurt the other person while you do it."

"Pretty much, yeah, and accept the fact that people lie even without meaning to sometimes. There are lies of omission, little white lies, and-"

"The lies people tell to keep the peace and avoid hurting each other," he filled in. "I'll try not to do any of that."

"Me, too." Angela groaned when her phone rang, expecting it to be Topanga. She was just going to let it ring, but figured if she didn't get it the calls would keep coming. "Hello? Oh, hi, Nan. Yes, I know. It has been a while."

"Your grandmother," Eric whispered. She nodded in response.

"Actually this isn't really a good time. I have a lot of homework and studying to do. You know how crazy it is with finals coming up." She listened to her grandmother. "I know. Can I call you next week when things aren't so busy? We can make a plan to get together then. Okay. I'll call you next week. Yes, I promise…Nan, I said I will. I will! Okay. Yes. I love you, too. Bye." She ended the call and placed the phone back on the nightstand.

"What did she want?"

"She wants me to come over, says she has something important to discuss with me."

"Why are you putting her off?"

"I'm not. I'll call when I'm less busy."

"Come on, Angela, I think that's one of those white lies or lies of submission."

"Omission," she corrected.

"Whatever. There's more than enough time before dinner that if you wanted to go see her now I could drive you."

"I can't deal with her right now. I already told you we're not close. We haven't talked much since I moved out and started college. She talks to my mother, after everything she did to me Nan still sees her. As a general rule I don't associate with people who are in contact with that woman."

"I know it's your mother, but it's still her daughter. I can understand why it would be hard for your grandmother to walk away from that."

"My mother had no problem separating herself from her daughter."

"Angela-"

"No. I don't want to talk about it."

"But you should-"

"I said no." She rolled away from him and sat up. "I don't want to talk about it so we're not talking about it now."

"I didn't want to talk about my parents, working at the store, and crap with my dad last week but you made me. How is that different from now?"

She got out of his bed and walked around the room. "It's different because I was helping."

"That's what I'm trying to do now but you're not letting me."

"In the interest of honesty- you're being really annoying right now."

"Right back at you." The silence seemed to stretch forever, but couldn't have been more than thirty seconds or so. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too. I don't like arguing with you," she admitted, leaning back against his dresser.

"I don't like it either."

"I'm sorry I called you annoying."

"Eh, I've been called worse."

"Don't talk like that."

"I'm just stating the truth."

"That doesn't mean I like it." Angela walked back over to the bed. "But I do like that we can have a stupid little disagreement and not have it get out of hand."

Eric reached for her hand and pulled her into his lap. "You're happy we got on each other's nerves?"

"I'm happy that we can call each other out on it and not fall to pieces." Her arms went around his neck. "I think that's the important part. Neither one of us stormed out or had a fit because we didn't see eye to eye."

"I guess you're right. I still don't like arguing though."

"Me either." She leaned her forehead against his before kissing him softly. "Making up, though…"

He smiled. "Oh, yeah, making up is the fun part. You want a celebratory Pop Tart?"

"Wait, what?" She pulled away from him. "Is that a euphemism or something?"

"Huh?"

"What do you mean by Pop Tart?"

He reached behind her and grabbed the foil package, holding it up to her. "Pop Tarts. They're the s'mores kind- the best kind."

"Oh," she replied with a chuckle, "you mean an actual Pop Tart."

"Yeah. I didn't get to eat lunch and I'm hungry. What did you think I meant?"

"Not a Pop Tart."

"Then what…oh! You know, one thing I love about you is that your mind goes right to the gutter almost every time."

"It must be your influence. You're corrupting me."

"Then my plan is working perfectly." They both jumped when the sound of a door slamming echoed through the apartment. "Jack and Rachel must be back from the store." Next they heard pots and pans banging around. "And it sounds like she is still in panic mode."

"Maybe I should go out there," Angela said, not moving from his lap. "I said I'd help her with the parfaits. It's dessert," she added, noting his confused look.

"Yummy." He tightened his hold on her waist when she tried to get up. "Wait a minute."

"What?" The sounds of pots and pans continued. "We should go out there and make sure Rachel doesn't go nuts and kill Jack in the process."

"You're right. If Jack's dead I'd have to pay more for rent."

/

/

"Okay, Cory, I get it," Topanga exclaimed, exasperated.

"Is the 'I stuck my finger in the electrical socket' look in now?"

He'd been making comments since they left. "You tell me, Brillo head!" She rang the doorbell.

"Hey!"

"Can we move on now?"

"You can't get mad at me. Honesty pact, remember?"

Topanga forced a smile on her face when Jack opened the door. "Hi, and yes, Cory has made his dislike of my hair well known."

Jack wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Um…hi? And okay."

"No, honey, I don't dislike your hair."

"You don't?"

"No I hate…well, hate may not be strong enough." He thought for a moment. "Nope, hate sums it up perfectly! I think whoever did this to you should be taken outside, tied down, and made to look at it." Cory saw that Jack looked bewildered by his comments. "Don't worry, we have an honesty pact. Nothing bad can happen to me."

"Good luck with that."

/

Angela could hear Cory ranting away as she and Eric came down the hall. She couldn't help but laugh.

"What," Eric asked.

"It sounds like Cory and Topanga got here and I think I get to tell her I told you so."

"That's always fun. Hey, wait a minute." He reached out and held her hand. "Are you going to be okay tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"This dinner: Shawn being here, Cory being obnoxious…"

She smiled at his concern. "I'm fine. Is it going to be weird for you?"

"I think I'll be okay."

"Let's just hope they behave. For their sake they'd better."

"We should kiss for luck just to be sure."

"You know you don't have to invent weird excuses to kiss me." She found herself being pulled closer before their lips met. "See," she whispered, kissing him again, "no excuses."

"So we can just head back to my room and continue this?"

"Sorry."

"If things get ugly in there can we sneak out the fire escape?"

"Please." She kissed him once more before leading him down the hall. "I'll be half way out the window before you even realize things have gone to hell."

/

"I like your hair, Topanga," Rachel said hesitantly.

"I don't!"

The doorbell rang. "Oh, please let that be someone with a gag," Jack muttered under his breath. He opened the door and saw his brother on the other side. "Shawn! You're here."

"I said I was coming, didn't I?"

"I wasn't sure if you meant it." It was then he noticed that Shawn wasn't alone. "You brought someone?"

"That's okay, right?"

"Sure. Hi," he said, smiling at the mystery guest. "I'm Jack, Shawn's brother."

"Hi, I'm Shawna."

"Shawn and-and Shawna?"

"Yeah, we just met the other day. We were both getting coffee off campus and the barista mixed up our cups," she explained.

"Well, come on in. Hey, guys," he announced, "Shawn's here and he brought a date."

He elbowed his brother in the back. "Thanks for calling attention to us."

"What?"

"I mean…" He caught sight of Angela and Eric coming down the stairs hand in hand. "I-I don't want her to feel uncomfortable meeting a bunch of new people all at once."

She chuckled. "That's very sweet, Shawn, but I'm a communications major. Talking is my life. I can handle meeting your brother and your friends."

Cory rushed over. "Hi, Shawna. Oh, hey…Shawn and Shawna? How cute is that? I'm sure I don't even need to introduce myself. I'm sure Shawn has told you all about me. Cory?"

"Um…nope, sorry, he hasn't mentioned you once."

"What?!"

She hit his arm. "Relax, I'm joking. He's talked more about you than he has himself. I am, however, confused about what a Topanga is. Is it a type of bird?"

"That's her right over there," he said, gesturing to the couch. "Smile and wave, honey. Yep, that's my fiancée. Come on over and I'll introduce you to her hair. I hate it."

"Oh, my god, Cory's like a dog with a bone," Angela remarked, having watched the scene from the kitchen. She was relieved to see Shawn brought a date. Maybe he was finally moving on and things will be less awkward.

"Yep, I say Topanga beats him over the head with a newspaper before dessert," Eric said.

"Rach, you okay? Jack noticed his girlfriend had paled considerably and was staring at the food. "What's wrong?"

"There are eight people."

"What?"

"Eight people! I only made food for seven. I have seven Cornish hens, seven baked potatoes, and seven parfaits. Seven of everything!"

"It will be okay," Angela reassured.

"How?"

"Eric and I will share. This way nothing gets ruined."

"Whoa, wait a second, when did we hit the food sharing stage of the relationship? Is this because I gave you that Pop Tart? That wasn't meant to be the gateway to all my food. I was just being a nice guy."

She rolled her eyes. "Look at it this way, if you share food with me there will be more room on your plate for tater tots."

"Ooh, good point…genius, actually. I do love the tater tots."

"See, Rach," Jack said, putting his hands on her shoulders, "everything is going to be okay. This party will go off without a hitch."

She took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm sorry I freaked out."

"That's okay. I've gotten used to it."

"What?"

"But that's okay. You're cute when you freak out."

"You're such a bad liar," she said with a smile before kissing his cheek. "But I appreciate it." She got up from the stool and walked into the living room. "Okay, everyone since we have a little bit of time before the food is ready I thought we could play a game."

"What's the game?"

"Well, listening to Cory and Topanga go on and on and on about honesty made me think of this game we used to play in high school. It was an honesty game. We put our names into a hat and whoever's name you draw you can ask them anything you want." She could see everyone looked skeptical. "Come on, who's afraid of a little honesty?"

"Cory and I aren't," Topanga spoke up.

"That's right," he agreed. "Honesty's a cinch for us. Bring on the game!"

"Great. I'll get the hat."

"Get an extra one for Topanga!"

"You're such an idiot," Shawn whispered into his friend's ear.

"Come on, Shawnie, it's an evening of honesty among friends. What could possibly go wrong?"