I'm back from the vacuum of work and real life long enough to update this story! Yay! As has happened before, this is more like chapter 19 part A. The next chapter will be posted by this Friday at the latest and then we'll finally be done with this honesty party aftermath. My computer had some sort of glitch and scrambled the last several pages into random gibberish. I'm just glad I caught it before I posted, lol. Not sure what happened there. But it will be up by Friday.

I do have a correction to make. In an earlier chapter when I mention Shawn shoving Angela I say that no one helped her or even followed after her. I have since seen that this was wrong. Topanga did go after Angela. I would've sworn otherwise, but my niece had my DVDs out and was watching them and I saw the scene. So either I totally forgot or (just as likely, imo) they edited the scene for syndication and more commercials. Either way I was wrong. I also corrected it in chapter 5 when Jack is recounting the events to Rachel. I always try to be as accurate as possible so I'm sorry for the goof.

Thank you for your feedback and endless patience. It is very much appreciated. :-)

"I'm really sorry, Angela. I hope you can forgive me."

She was staring at him, eyes wide. It was clear this wasn't what she expected to come out of his mouth. "I've always wanted to say something and apologize," Jack continued, "but there never seemed to be a good time."

"But right now in front of everyone was the perfect moment," Shawn exclaimed. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

Eric wrapped his arm around Angela, who was extremely tense. She didn't respond to him, however, her focus on Jack. "When the hell was this," he asked. "I don't remember it."

"You weren't here. It's ironic because even though you and Angela weren't together then I'm sure you would've done something. Even when you act like a doofus you're always the most human among us."

"Jack," Cory broke in, "are you sure this is the right place to talk about-"

"You didn't do anything either."

"What?"

"You stood next to me and watched it happen. Neither one of us did anything to help. Topanga went after her, but came back a couple minutes later."

Topanga stared at her hands which were folded in front of her. She had gone after Angela and, after checking that she was okay, made sure she knew that this wasn't Shawn. It was the alcohol. That wasn't the guy she had known since the playground. Topanga spent more time trying to convince her of Shawn's true character than assessing her well-being. It's no wonder she insisted on getting herself home after that. What was it Angela said not too long ago? 'What Shawn wants, what he thinks, what he feels…that's what matters around here.' Did it start all the way back then? Had it always been that way?

"I apologized," Shawn said in a defensive tone. "I went to that counselor like we all thought I should, and I haven't had a drink since." He didn't like to think about that day, about how he hurt someone he cared so deeply for. It happened all too easily: a few too many beers, a disagreement, a flash of anger that made him see red, and before the rational part of his brain caught up with the rest of him the sickening thud of Angela hitting the door rang in his ears. The fear in her eyes in the immediate aftermath still haunted him. So did the way she recoiled when he took half a step forward to apologize and then fled the apartment before he could get the words out. It was painful to think about. So he didn't. He buried it deep down with everything else that haunted him. "Angela forgave me. This is in the past. Why do you have to drag it up now?"

"Yeah, I'm with Shawn," Cory agreed, though not as enthusiastic as he otherwise would be. Was Jack right? He tried to replay the scene in his mind, but found he had blocked most of it out. Did he really just stand there? "It's in the past. Angela forgave him. Right, Angela?"

All eyes were on her and Angela had never been more tempted to run in her life. The only things keeping her from fleeing were the security of Eric's arms around her and the fact that the door was on the complete opposite side of the apartment. She'd have to make it past everyone to leave. She spotted the window out of the corner of her eye. Going out the fire escape had only been a joke with Eric earlier, though it certainly held appeal now. Just as her brain was fumbling to come up with some sort of answer that would stop all of the stares, the oven timer dinged. She jumped up and went to the kitchen. "I'll get it."

"Oh, that's okay," Rachel said. "I can-"

"No, I got it." She grabbed a pot holder and opened the oven.

"Really, it's not a big deal."

"Rachel, it's fine, I-ow!" She dropped the pan onto the stovetop, scattering tater tots everywhere. "Damn it."

"Did you burn yourself?"

"No, Cory, one of the tater tots tried to fight back and bit me," she fired back sarcastically. "What do you think, Sherlock?" Angela went over to the sink and stuck her hand under the cool water.

"It was just a question," he mumbled.

Eric went to the kitchen and came up behind Angela. "You okay," he asked, putting his hand on the small of her back.

"I'm afraid your tater tots have seen better days."

"I don't care about them. You on the other hand…"

She relaxed against him. "It's nothing."

He shut off the water and carefully dried her hand with a paper towel. "Come on, we have a first aid kit in the bathroom."

"You don't have to-"

There were a million questions he wanted to ask her about what just happened, but he wasn't going to do it with an audience present. "Just shut up and let me take care of you, okay?" He took her uninjured hand and led her up the stairs.

"Wow, with that stellar bedside manner how can I refuse?"

"You can't."

The remaining members of the dinner party stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually Rachel spoke up. "God, this party sucks. I'm never doing this again."

"Don't say that, Rach. Next time we just won't invite these people."

"Oh, please, Jack," Cory scoffed, "you put the final knife in the heart of this disaster."

"You harpooned it with your question!"

"You all can go now." Rachel collapsed into a chair in defeat. "Thank you for coming. I'll never forget this night."

"Rachel, don't-"

"Please take a parfait on your way out. Angela and I worked hard on dessert and I'd hate to have them go to waste."

The guests took their desserts and quickly left the apartment. "So be honest," Jack began as he locked the door, "how much did I screw up by trying to apologize to Angela in front of everyone?"

"Do you mean in terms of our dinner party or in general?"

"In general."

"Oh, hon, it was so bad. What were you thinking? Did you see the look on her face? You completely caught her off guard. And trying to apologize in front of Shawn…why? How was that supposed to help?"

"I don't know. Cory asked me the question and Angela was the only person I could think about. And I figured at least this way I could finally apologize without chickening out." He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. "I'm so stupid!"

"Jack, no, you're not stupid. Your heart was in the right place…mostly. You just didn't think it through. Come on," she said, kissing his cheek. "We didn't get a chance to eat yet."

"I don't deserve food."

"Maybe not, but you'll need it to give you energy in order to clean up this mess."

He looked around the apartment. "Are you speaking metaphorically or literally right now?"

"Let's focus on the literal mess first. You can worry about the rest of it tomorrow."

/

"What are you doing now," Angela asked Eric as she watched him move around the small bathroom. He had sat her down on the closed toilet and wouldn't let her move.

"After cool water and burn cream comes the bandage," he explained. "Haven't you ever burned yourself before?"

"Yeah. I ran it under cold water and got on with my life. I'm fine with a regular Band-Aid. You don't need all that gauze."

"You can't use a Band-Aid. What if the sticky part gets on the burn? Besides, it's on the side of your hand by your thumb. A Band-Aid won't stay."

"Okay, but I don't think we need three miles of gauze."

"What happened to shutting up and letting me take care of you?"

"Why are you making a federal case out of this? I mean really, I've had worse paper cuts."

"Hold out your hand." She did what he asked and he slowly wrapped her extremity in the gauze. "I want to take care of you. Isn't that enough? I'm sorry I wasn't here before but I'm here now."

"What do you mean you weren't…this is about Shawn and what Jack said? Is that it?"

"No, I-"

"I don't want your pity or misplaced guilt."

"It's not pity."

"Weren't you angry at me anyway?"

"What?"

"Shawn said he'd bed me with no strings attached, I stupidly called his bluff, and you stormed off. Shouldn't you still be mad?"

"That doesn't seem important right now."

She shook her head. "No, don't do that. I'm not some victim who needs to be treated like a delicate flower. I got through it. I survived. If you're mad at me, be mad. I can take it."

"I can be upset and still care about you at the same time. It's not an either/or situation."

Angela was used to guys running hot and cold. It was all or nothing. They loved her or didn't want her around. There was no in between. She just assumed all her relationships would be that way. She knew Eric was different, but it never occurred to her that this part would be different, too.

He cut the gauze before securing it with a clip. "There you go. Just don't get that wet."

"Thanks. This is pretty good. Were you a nurse in a previous life?"

"Making all that coffee in the Student Union has caused some burns. Plus all of the stupid stunts I've pulled didn't come without dumb injuries. I can ice and wrap a sprained ankle in record time."

"Impressive."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? You saw it. I wasn't paying attention to the pan I was taking out of the oven."

"You know what I'm talking about- Shawn? Jack's apology? I saw the look on your face. I know how tense you got."

"He caught me off guard." She squeezed past him and vacated the bathroom. "I'm allowed to be surprised, right?"

"Angela, come on." He followed her down the hall and to his room. "I just want to understand."

"There's nothing to understand. Shawn was drunk, hadn't been to school in a few days, and Jack and Cory decided to stage some poorly thought out intervention."

"I'm guessing Shawn didn't react well?"

"A group of people ganging up on him-no, that would've pissed him off sober. I could tell he was getting agitated so I thought I'd have better luck if it was just the two of us. I tried to get him to take a walk with me but he didn't want to go. He insisted he was fine and couldn't understand why people were worried about him." She went to the closet and took out one of Eric's shirts at random and held it close. "I tried again to get him to come with me. He told me not to touch him," she said quietly. "He said to leave him alone. But I didn't. I just had to reach for his arm."

"Please don't tell me you blame yourself."

"Most of the time no, but every once in a while I wonder what I could've done differently. It didn't even seem real, you know," she continued. "Everything happened so fast and Shawn didn't even look like himself. His eyes were cold…there was nothing there but anger. That's what scared me more than anything. It was like something else had taken over and it wasn't even him. I didn't know what he was going to do next. I didn't bother sticking around to find out. The minute I was able to think I told him to stop drinking and then I ran."

"And no one did anything?"

"It happened so fast. They were as surprised as I was."

"That's a no?"

"Topanga followed me into the hall and made sure I was okay. She kept repeating over and over again that that wasn't the Shawn she'd known since childhood. I think she thought if she said it enough it would erase what he did. I didn't want to hear about the Shawn she knew so I said I wanted to be alone and walked home."

"By yourself?"

"That's what alone means, so yeah."

"Were you okay physically?"

"I had a couple small bruises, nothing that didn't heal within a week or two. People have survived much worse."

"Just because someone else had it worse that doesn't take away what happened to you. Wrong is wrong."

"I know."

"I wish I'd been here to help you when it happened. I'm sorry I wasn't."

"It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry."

Angela didn't fight it when he pulled her into a hug. She sank against him and rested her cheek against his chest. The way his hands gently moved across her back seemed as if they were trying to avoid the bruises that were no longer there. True, she wasn't helpless and didn't need anyone's pity, but it was nice to have someone who wanted to take care of her. Tonight was the first time there was any regret expressed over what happened during the failed intervention. Apparently it had been eating away at Jack for a while, but no one said anything to her. Even when Shawn apologized later, he was focused mostly on himself and his intention to maintain his sobriety instead of what he did to her. She let him get away with it, too. Why did she do that? Eric, on the other hand, kept apologizing because he wasn't there when it happened. She didn't know what to do with that.

"What do you want to do now?" She jumped in his arms. Neither of them had spoken in a couple minutes. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay. We should probably eat something. Though I did just drop your tater tots," she said, wincing. "Sorry about that. I'll replace the bag."

"Don't worry about it. But I meant what do you want to do about tonight and what Jack said."

"I'll talk to Jack tomorrow, but nothing else is changing."

"How can you say that?"

"It's the same as when I told you about my mother. Maybe you just found out but it's old news for me. I have no desire to drag it all out again. It's in the past and I'd appreciate it if you kept it there."

"But Angela-"

"No. Can you please just drop it? Talking won't change anything."

"But if you want to talk-"

"-then I know where to find you," she finished, reminding him of what he said earlier during the honesty game. "Okay?"

He nodded. "All right, I don't like it, but fine."

Angela leaned up and kissed him before pulling away. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I guess I'll go see if I can find some food for us."

"Okay." She took a seat on his bed, hesitant to ask her next question. "Can I ask a favor," she called out, just as he was about to open the door.

"Sure."

"Would you mind if I spent the night?"

"Here?"

"You know, to sleep. It's just…I don't feel like dealing with Topanga, Cory and Shawn tonight." It was taking him a little too long to answer. "I can sleep on the couch if it's a problem."

"No, it's fine. I was going to ask if you wanted me to take the couch."

"I'd like to think we're mature enough to handle sleeping in the same bed even if nothing else is going to happen tonight. As tempting as that other stuff is I'm too exhausted and we still haven't had the sex conversation."

"Angela, it's okay. I'm an adult. I can handle it. How about I get that food now," he asked, pointing towards the door.

She flashed him a grateful smile. "Sounds good, thanks."

/

/

Cory and Topanga spent the drive back to school in awkward silence. He tried to pick up their argument from earlier in the evening, but Topanga wasn't engaging. Before he knew it they were standing in the hallway between their respective dorms.

"Goodnight, Cory."

"Wait, that's it?"

"That's all I have to say to you right now."

"No offense, Topanga, but tough."

She crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed as she stared him down. "Tough?"

"I don't think letting our discussion simmer will help, do you?"

"Based on what you said I thought you wanted to spend some time apart from me…like four years."

"Come on, Topanga, are you serious? That's not what I meant and you know it."

"You said some things tonight that made me really angry."

"Ditto. So doesn't it make sense to talk it out now before you resent me even more than you already do?"

"I don't…ugh! Did you listen to anything I said tonight?"

"Yeah, that's why I think we need to talk."

She opened the door to her dorm and walked inside before throwing her purse down and taking a seat on her bed. "Well, are you going to speak or not," she questioned when he didn't start talking.

"Can I have a chance to close the door and sit?"

"Fine."

Cory pulled out one of the desk chairs and turned it around so he was facing her. "I guess my main question is do you resent giving up Yale for me?"

"For the last time I didn't give up Yale for you. I did it for us."

"You see, it's your wording that confuses me. You forever go on about doing it for us, but you never flat out say that you don't resent me for it."

"What do you want from me, Cory?"

"I want the truth. Good or bad I think you owe me that much."

"I don't resent you, but I can't lie, there's a part of me that wonders where I'd be right now if I'd gone to Yale. It's one of the best schools in the world and I was accepted. How many people can say that? It's nothing to do with you or us and everything to do with me as my own person. I know we forget a lot of the time but we still are separate people."

"If Yale meant that much to you why turn them down? I saw your face when you found out you got in."

"Academically speaking, I'm going to be fine wherever I go. I always have been."

"You're definitely the smartest person I know."

"But there was one thing Yale didn't have."

"Mr. Feeny?"

She chuckled quietly. "Okay, fine, two things. But the main one was you."

"You know I would've been willing to do the long distance thing."

"I know, but four years? Especially in college those are important years. People grow and change and I was afraid of what would happen if I left. What if we grew apart instead of together?"

He moved to sit beside her on the bed and wrapped his arm around her. "That wouldn't happen to us, Topanga."

"You don't know that. The very thought of it terrified me. What if part of the reason I'm as successful as I am is because of you, because I have your love and support and constantly cheering me on."

"You're a success because you're you. I'm just the guy lucky enough to have a front row seat."

She smiled at him before pulling him close for a slow kiss. "At the end of the day we were more important than anything I could learn at Yale. I chose us. I'm sorry if I didn't make it that clear to you before."

"I'm sure you did. Maybe I wasn't listening. But thanks for saying it now."

They sat in companionable silence for a couple of minutes before Topanga spoke up. "Cory?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Can we talk about what was bothering me earlier?"

"We didn't just cover that?"

"No."

He took a deep breath. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what was bothering you?"

"If we about to get married why are you so hesitant to share stuff like razors with me? I want to share every aspect of our lives. What's mine is yours' and what's yours' is mine."

"That's getting pretty up close and personal, Topanga."

"Exactly. You had a meltdown over a razor. What are you going to do when I use your toothbrush?" She rolled her eyes when he made a gagging noise. "Very mature."

"But it's my toothbrush! And you…just…yucky!"

"Yucky? You just kissed me and had your tongue in my mouth. That's not getting up close and personal?"

"I'm not going on a search for plaque!"

"It's no different."

"Maybe not, but like I said, it's personal…especially coming from someone who freaks if my hands accidentally wander from the approved zones when we're making out."

"So what, you're not going to share with me until after we have sex?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Cory got up and moved to Angela's side of the room. "It's just weird that you want to share all of my intimate, personal objects but you have such strict rules on when I get to be intimate with you. It's a double standard. Like it's okay to share our lives so long as you say it is. I have no say; you're using my razor whether I like it or not. You're calling the shots and I'm just along for the ride."

Topanga was quiet, considering everything he'd said. "You're right."

"I am?"

"Yes, I've had all the power and I haven't given an inch. So what do you want?"

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to feel more comfortable with me using your razor or toothbrush. What can I do to help you get there?"

This had to be a trick. There's no way she'd be giving him a free pass. "Can I ask you one more question first?"

"Sure."

"And you promise to answer it honestly and not get mad?"

"That is the theme of the evening."

"The evening's been a gigantic disaster, so pardon me for not wanting to follow the theme."

"Fair enough. What's your question?"

"You remember prom night last year?"

"Of course. What about it?"

"Well we had decided that prom would be when we…you know…"

"Had sex?"

"Yeah. And I know why we didn't that night, because my parents are freaks and chose to go to the one hotel where they knew our prom was being held! Like there are no other hotels in Philadelphia? Seriously?"

She reached for his hands. "Cory, focus."

"Right. Sorry. Like I was saying, I know why we were delayed that night, but it seemed like you went from saying it would happen when the time was right to it's not happening until we get married. If you changed your mind, fine, but you never explained what changed."

"It was your parents."

"If I can get over seeing my mom in that nightgown then I think you can-"

"No, not that. They had a baby."

He started to laugh. He couldn't help it. It was one of the dumbest things she's ever said. "Well of course they had a baby, silly. That's how they got to be mom and dad in the first place."

"No, what I mean is your parents, at their age and experience, had a birth control oops and got pregnant. If it could happen to them just imagine how easily it could happen to two inexperienced morons like us."

"First you'd have to let me touch something. Otherwise you getting pregnant at this stage would get us a write up in a holy book."

"Cory!"

He took her hand and led her back to sit on her bed. "I get it. Why didn't you just explain that to me?"

"It's kind of difficult to do in between the constant jokes about us dying virgins."

"Maybe I wouldn't have made the jokes if you'd told me your reasons for wanting to wait. Or I wouldn't have made as many of them. I think I've proven myself to be a pretty understanding guy."

"Okay," she said through a drawn out sigh, "I suppose the one thing we can learn from this honesty day from hell is that we aren't as good at communicating as we thought we were."

"Agreed. We need to keep working on that. I promising I'll keep trying and not in an annoying way like I was about your hair tonight. Sorry about that. Well, not sorry for what I said because your hair? Hideous. But-"

"Cory-"

"-but I shouldn't have been obnoxious about it."

"That's okay. I brought it on myself. All right." She clapped her hands together. "Have you decided what you want?"

"What?"

"What's going to make you feel better about the razor? What level of intimacy is it going to take?"

He thought back to the shower this morning. "Truthfully, I'm never going to be comfortable sharing any of my personal items with someone who won't even show me her butt."

"That's it?"

"Yep. You want my toothbrush? No tushie, no brushie."

Topanga mulled it over for a few seconds before saying, "I think that's fair."

"Wait…what?"