So that was definitely longer than the week I said it would take. You'd think I'd know by now to not give exact timelines for posting because life just loves to make a liar out of me. No excuses, just that August has been a rough month and here's hoping the rest of the year is better.

As a peace offering you get two chapters today. It was going to be one massively long chapter, but I didn't like how it meshed so I split it up into two; one is pretty short and the other is decently long. I don't know that I hit the tone I was going for with Angela and Eric's talk, but I tried to keep it real. And I know I mentioned maybe switching the rating and truthfully I'm still not sure where the rating should be. I'm keeping it at T for now, but if someone thinks I drifted into M just let me know either in the reviews or with a pm and I'll change it. I'd rather be safe than lose the story.

Thank you for being patient. I appreciate it. Here's to a better rest of the year! :-)

"Where are Jack and Rachel?" While it wasn't exceptionally late, Angela was surprised the apartment was dark and empty when she and Eric got in. Jack and Rachel were the ones who had to be awake in the morning for classes. Every week they lamented their early Friday schedules.

"Double date with Cory and Topanga."

"Really?" They seemed like an odd combination to her. Maybe not Rachel and Topanga, but she couldn't picture Jack and Cory hanging out unless Eric or Shawn were with them.

"His stepdad got passes to some advanced movie screening because he owns stock in one of the big theater chains. It was Rachel and Topanga's idea to double." Eric stopped in the kitchen for a minute to stick their leftovers on his shelf in the fridge. "Why? Wish we would've gone to the movie instead?"

"No, I had fun tonight."

"Good. Me, too."

She trailed behind him, watching as he straightened a picture that hung outside Jack's room. He shut the door to the linen closet and tossed all of the mail into the basket on a side table instead of leaving it scattered around the basket. Typically this disorganization wouldn't faze him. Heck it didn't faze Rachel either if Angela thought about it. Jack was the resident neat freak. "You okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason." Pointing out his nerves wouldn't help matters. Besides, she would be lying if she said she didn't have her own case of butterflies at the moment. Upon entering his room she smiled when she spotted the new sheets and comforter on his bed. They even coordinated with her new pajamas. She supposed it was like Topanga said: they were trying to impress each other in different ways. "Where should I put my stuff?"

"Oh, here." He took her bag and jacket and set them on a chair. "Do you want water or soda…or something to eat, maybe?"

"No, no food, thanks. I'm still full from dinner. Your mom's a good cook."

"Yeah, it's one of the things I miss most about living at home." He kicked off his shoes and went to his dresser for pajamas. "You know she was serious, right?"

She followed his lead and removed her own shoes. "About what?"

"You can go over there for dinner anytime you want, even if I'm working or buried under homework and books. She will be happy to have you there and it looks like Morgan would be, too."

"I'll think about it."

"Just bring me leftovers."

"I promise."

"I'm going to take a shower. You can watch TV or put on some music- whatever you want. You know where everything is by now." He tossed the remote on his bed.

"Wow, normally you don't run for the shower until after we've been making out for a while," she teased. "This must be a good outfit. And I'm not even wearing the jeans you really like."

He smiled as an image of her in those jeans popped into his head. "Well, no…what I meant was…don't get me wrong, all of your outfits are good outfits, but I've been awake and running around since before seven. Worked the coffee house, went to classes, and worked with my dad."

She wondered if he meant literal running with Jack. One of these days she'd have to try and get a glimpse of him working out. "I hate that you overload your schedule on Thursdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays actually. You cram too much in."

"I do it so we can have Fridays just for us. I love our Fridays."

"I love them, too," she insisted, reaching for his hand. "Do you want me to go back to the dorms and come back tomorrow morning if you're tired and-"

"No, stay. I want you to stay just like we planned. But I'm taking a shower because I was feeling gross even before Morgan threw the dirty diapers at us."

Angela wasn't sure whether to cringe or laugh. She hadn't expected Morgan to follow through on her promise that if they weren't out of her soon-to-be room in two minutes she'd bring in Josh's diapers. Yet, like always, they lost track of time with each other and it turned out the girl was very serious in her threat. "Thanks for shielding me. I didn't take a single hit."

"What kind of guy would I be if I let my girlfriend be taken out by a poop diaper?"

"A shitty one?"

"Ha-ha. And maybe I'm imagining it, but I swear I still smell baby crap, so-"

"Yeah, go shower," she said, pointing towards the door.

Eric held out his arms. "No hug first?"

She took a step back. "Touch me and one of us sleeps on the floor. I'll let you guess which one."

"I just vacuumed, so I won't feel that bad when it's you." He ducked when she tossed a pillow at him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

/

When Eric got out of the shower he realized he forgot to bring his clothes. Did he go get them? Yell for Angela to bring them to him? After debating for a few seconds he decided to just get them himself. They'd already seen each other in various stages of undress while making out and considering what they planned to discuss later, it seemed silly to get shy now. When he reached his room he saw that Angela was already changed and watching TV.

"Yeah, I bet you regret giving up those two lifelines so early now, buddy," she muttered to the screen while she put her hair in a loose braid.

"Hey, I thought I was the one who talked to the TV. Ooh, it's Who Wants to be a Millionaire night?"

"Isn't every night Who Wants to be a Millionaire night?"

"It seems like it."

"Besides, the guy used two lifelines already and he's only at the $32,000 question. He deserves to be yelled at." She shook her head. "The third lifeline already? Don't be stupid."

He read the question and two possible answers remaining. "It's B right?"

She looked at him for the first time since he came back to the room and realized he was only wearing a towel. "I…it's…what?"

"It's B? You know, when in doubt go with B."

"No, it's C: Dostoevsky."

"I still like B. It makes me think of Toll House cookies or those Toblerone candy bars."

"I'm sure that's the legacy Tolstoy was going for." She intended to turn back towards the TV, but only made it about halfway. "Forget the books."

"Chocolate beats War and Peace any day. I dropped a class freshman year because that was mandatory reading. That sucker's huge. Like…if you hit someone on the head with it you'd kill 'em."

"Why would you hit someone on the head with War and Peace?"

"They tried to make me read it? I don't know." After scanning the room for his missing pajamas and boxers, they appeared folded on top of his pillow. He sat down and reached across the bed to retrieve them. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Angela watching him. "Did the guy guess the right answer?"

"What guy?"

"The dummy who used all his lifelines, did he give the right final answer?"

"I have no idea. The show on this side of the screen was better."

One thing Eric appreciated about their relationship was their openness with their physical attraction for each other. He'd been with girls in the past who would chide him for simply looking at them. Or they got embarrassed if they were caught checking him out. It was dumb to him because if you were with someone, didn't that mean you liked how they looked? He didn't have to worry with Angela. They had no qualms letting the other know how they felt when it came to that. "Wow, I distracted from Millionaire? That's a big level of hot."

"Definitely."

She slid over to him with a smile on her face and placed her hands on either side of him, making it impossible for him to move. He closed the minute gap between them and kissed her, putting his hand on the back of her neck to deepen it. When she leaned into him and brought her hands up to his chest warning bells went off in Eric's head. "So I just remembered I'm only in a towel," he admitted with a laugh, reluctantly breaking the kiss. "We should stop before I have to take another shower."

Angela kissed him once more before she pulled away. "Right. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for." He rubbed her leg. "Nice ice cream cones," he teased, running a finger under the hem of her pajamas.

She held up his boxers. "Says the guy with ducks on his underwear."

"Hello: duckies rule! They're the horsies of the sea."

"Wouldn't sea horses be the horsies of the sea?"

"I'm not having this conversation again. Why does no one else understand," he muttered to himself. "The point is ducks are awesome. Deal with it."

She rolled her eyes, but found it impossible not to smile. It was such a bizarre topic to be passionate about. "Just don't make fun of my pajamas."

"I wasn't making fun. I love ice cream! So you and ice cream…two of my favorite things." He snatched his boxers out of her hands as he stood. "I'm going to get dressed. You can have the bathroom when I'm done. Feel free to ogle me as I leave the room."

"Ogle, huh? That thesaurus I got you has really come in handy."

"Indubitably."

/

"I just scared the crap out of Jack," Angela said when she came back into Eric's room a while later.

He laughed. "Cool. How?"

"I came out of the bathroom as he was walking past the door. I didn't know he could jump that high."

"Yeah, poor guy scares easy. It makes Halloween and April Fool's day a lot of fun."

"Be nice to him." She tried to be serious, but it was hard. Jack's reaction had been funny, even Rachel doubled over, hysterical at his jump and shriek.

"Can I ask you something? I get if superhero pillowcases aren't your thing, but did you really have to bring your own? I mean, who doesn't love Batman and Superman?"

She walked over and took the pillow from his hands. "I don't hate your superhero pillowcases. I love them. They're very you. But the silk is better for my hair. This way it doesn't tangle or dry out."

"But I thought that's why you wrapped your hair up in the scarves."

"Yeah, but I don't feel like doing that every night. Plus sometimes they come loose."

"So you don't hate Batman?"

"No, I don't," she reassured him, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "I'm just trying to protect my hair. Although, why do you still have the superhero pillows if you bought new bedding?" She saw his surprised look. "Yes, I noticed."

"I went to the store and I told the lady to show me the most grownup bedding they had, but it had to be blue and not boring. Because blue is my favorite color and I am not boring."

Angela could almost imagine him going up to some poor, unsuspecting salesclerk in his quest for 'grownup' bedding. "Of course."

"But almost all the full-sized bed stuff that I could afford only came with two pillow cases. And they weren't even normal pillow cases. They have fancy material on the sides."

"Shams."

"For sure, cause I definitely got shammed at that price and no real pillow cases. At least they gave me all the sheets." He got into bed as she was shifting around, trying to get comfortable. "You're still good with sleeping on the left side or do you want to switch?"

"It doesn't matter to me. You just make sure you wake me up or shove me over if I fall asleep on your shoulder again. Don't lay there in pain."

"What pain? There are worse ways to wake up than cuddled with you."

"I'm already in your bed. Quit laying it on so thick."

"Sorry. I guess I'm still not used to actually getting the girl and having it last this long. Part of me is afraid I'll wake up in the morning and find out this was all a dream and you'll be gone. Sometimes I can't shut off that voice in my head that says I have to impress you 24/7 to keep you."

Angela moved over to his side, wrapped her arms around him, and rested her head on his chest. "Well, you got the girl and the only place she's planning to go tonight is to sleep."

"I know."

"And you're not the only one who gets scared. The more serious we get…"

"…the scarier it gets," he finished.

"Yeah."

"But it's a good scary, you know, at least most of the time." Eric ran his hands along her back. "For me it's like being on a roller coaster. I don't know where all the dips and curves are, but I'm screaming my head off and having the time of my life."

She considered how apropos that was. You could be at the highest point and it took very little to upset the car and send you crashing down to earth again. "I think that's the most fitting relationship analogy I've ever heard." Angela held onto him a little tighter. She didn't want to think about what would happen when their car started to freefall. Unfortunately she knew it wasn't a matter of if. The highs didn't last forever. She'd been in that car flying down the track too many times to believe otherwise.

"So what the hell do we do when the roller coaster makes us feel like throwing up?"

She rested her elbow on his chest and propped her head up in her hand to look at him. It was comforting to know that he thought about this, too, and wanted to prevent it. "We do what we said we would do when we got together: put our friendship first and never stop talking. If communication goes down we fail."

"Never stop talking."

"Right."

"Let's talk now."

She sighed. "Eric, that's a big talk to have on no sleep."

"No, not the sex talk. Tell me something else, something I don't know about you."

"Like what?"

"Where were you born? I don't think I know that."

Angela lay back down and tucked her head under his chin. It was a question no one else had ever asked before. "I was born in Belgium while my dad was stationed there. We lived there until I was about a year old. After that he was transferred to Spain for two years. I could list all the places I've lived but then we'd be up half the night. You should see my passport."

"That's so cool. I was born in Philly and have never lived anywhere else. I'm boring compared to you."

"It's not boring to have roots."

"Yeah, but I want to travel. I want to see things."

"You should. There's a lot of world out there just waiting. As tough as it was sometimes for me to adjust to new schools I loved getting to explore new places."

"Maybe we can take another road trip this summer," he suggested. "You know, after your visit with your dad is done."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere. Everywhere. I was thinking we could throw a dart at a map and travel to wherever it lands."

"That sounds like fun. I would love to do that. It's the exact opposite of the way my dad traveled. Now I believe it's my turn to ask a question, find out something about you I don't know."

"Take your best shot."

"What's your favorite place that you've been so far? And no, right here, right now doesn't count."

"There's a spot in the mountains where we go camping, right alongside this lake. It's so beautiful there. If you go in the fall when the leaves are changing it's something else. My favorite time is just after the sun has gone down and the stars are coming out. Combine that with a fire and s'mores- it's perfect."

"Sounds like it."

"I've seen a few shooting stars up there. No one ever believes me, but I see them."

She fought back a yawn and forced her eyes to stay open a little longer. "I believe you."

Somehow, he knew she would. "Thanks."

"I'm jealous. I've always wanted to see one. What do you wish for?"

"Oh, you know…stuff," he said quietly, holding her a little closer.

"You might convince me to go camping one of these days after all." She started to drift off. "I love s'mores and stars."

He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. "I know you're almost asleep, but I'm holding you to that."