I wish I could update more often but life is busy and work is kicking my butt (mostly in a good way). This is a short (for me) little chapter. It's mostly lighthearted, a little break before the drama kicks up again. Angela's definitely not done dealing with her grandmother's death and seeing her mother. And Eric finds some drama of his own- a little preview for you, lol.

This chapter and what will be chapter 29 were originally all in one, but I didn't like the way they were meshing together so I split them. Chapter 29 will be up in a few days, just have to finish some editing.

As always, thanks for the feedback and your patience. :-)

A blaring car horn jolted Eric awake. He had no idea what day it was, what time it was, or how long he'd been asleep. The sun was out, but that was about all he had. Still, as he gazed at Angela, asleep and curled into his side, he realized he had nothing to complain about. There were definitely worse ways to wake up. Now there was the question of what he did now. Did he make breakfast? Lay here and wait for her to wake up and see what she wants to do? He wasn't sure. He'd never been in this exact situation before.

"Could you turn that down?"

"What?"

Angela's eyes remained closed as she draped an arm across Eric's abdomen. "Turn down the T.V." She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "Please."

"Sorry, it's not me. It's some idiot outside."

"I hate them. How about you throw something out the window to make them stop?"

He chuckled. "From three floors up? What if it hit them? I think that's called murder."

"You wouldn't kill for me?"

"Of course I would. But then I'd have to go on the run and we'd never see each other. Not worth it."

"I'd run with you." She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "You, me, and the open road." It was a dream she's had a few times: the two of them in his car and just driving, no particular destination in mind and no one around for miles. "It's perfect."

"I do like the sound of that. And if you can find a way to do it without murder…." He trailed a finger down her arm. "Plus finals are next week. Between murder and going on the run there'd be no time to study."

"You have a point. You've been working so hard lately. Not to mention my dad would be pissed if I blew my scholarships."

"Please don't mention your dad. I don't want to think about him. Not now."

"Why not?"

"We're in bed and did a hell of a lot more than sleep. Your dad is not the mental image I need right now. He'd kill me."

"Sorry."

"That's okay. So last night was…something."

"Yeah, it was."

"Any regrets," he asked, hesitant. Sure, she said last night she wanted it to happen, but he had lingering doubt in the light of day. Was she sorry?

"How can you even ask that? Especially after all we've talked about."

"Yesterday was awful. I don't know how I would cope if I was hit with the stuff you were. I get it if you wanted a distraction and-"

She sat up and looked at him. "You are not a distraction. Fine, yesterday sucked. It sucked more than any other day has ever sucked in the history of sucky days. But what happened was about us. If anything I'm surer than ever about where this is going. Yesterday was bad, but you-you made it better…or at least not as soul crushing as it would've been if I had to face it alone. You've been there every step of the way and I never had to ask." She clutched his hands. "That says a lot. It shows I can depend on you in a way I didn't think I'd ever be able to trust another person again." She made sure she was looking into his eyes as she spoke. "Yesterday reaffirmed us. So, no, I have no regrets about last night. None. Zero. Okay?"

Eric laughed quietly before answering. "Okay, I got it. Loud and clear."

"Good. Now what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Any regrets?"

"Are you kidding? It didn't happen the way I thought it would, but-"

"How did you think it was going to happen?"

"I don't know. I guess I figured we be on a date, maybe at the club dancing and making out-"

"That sounds like my idea of a good time."

"And at some point you'd let me know that it was the night."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? That's it?"

"I don't need an elaborate set up. Just you."

"That's sweet." Angela leaned up to kiss him, but stopped halfway there. "I don't suppose you have any gum or mints you can get without us leaving this bed, do you? We did just wake up."

"I don't think I…oh, wait!" Eric leaned over her and reached for the nightstand. "Just a second. I thought I put them in here. Ah-ha! Here you go."

She stared at the plastic square he dropped in her hand. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It's mouthwash, silly. Dad got them in at the store recently. They're new, but getting popular. Take a strip out," he demonstrated as he explained the process, "let it dissolve on your tongue, and boom! Instant minty freshness."

"Huh," she said a minute later. "That's cool."

"Now I'm pretty sure you were about to kiss me, right?"

"That was the general idea, yes." She wrapped her arms around his neck and succeeded in getting her kiss. She thought about taking things further, but stopped herself. Still, there was no harm in indulging for a couple of minutes. "You know, it didn't happen the way I thought it would either."

Eric was flabbergasted that she was able to go from making out to rational conversation in the blink of an eye. How did girls do that? "How-um…how did you think it would happen?"

"I'm not sure. I suppose similar to what you thought. We'd be on a date, come back here, and well…you know. I was even prepared just in case."

"Of course we were prepared. I've had the condoms in my nightstand for a while."

"No, that's not what I mean. I…I bought…" She covered her eyes. "Even now I can't believe I did it. I felt so silly."

"What did you do?"

She peeked at him from in-between her fingers. "I bought lingerie."

He smirked, just a little bit. "You did?"

"I've never done that just so you know. I've never bought lingerie specifically to wear for a guy."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know. I wanted to."

"I'm flattered."

"It's more cute-sexy and closer to pajamas than the stuff they show in a Victoria's Secret catalog."

"I wouldn't know," he said, lying through his teeth. "I've never looked at those myself."

She rolled her eyes. "Do I need to remind you I helped you clean this room however many months ago so you'd have a proper environment to study in? Along with the folded laundry and dishes was a healthy stack of Playboys and Victoria's Secret catalogs. Are you going to tell me they came with the apartment?"

"I-uh-"

"Please. I know better than to be threatened by a magazine. In fact it's pretty much a given in my mind that every guy has a secret stash of his preferred magazines or porn hidden someplace. You're no different."

"Man, you're cool."

"I don't know about that," she said with a laugh.

"Trust me. So tell me more about these cute-sexy, lingerie pajamas you bought to wear just for me."

"You'll see them eventually."

"Mean." He pouted. "That's what you are."

"What if I told you the lingerie is here?"

"What?"

"I hid it right after we had our talk."

"Here, like in my room here?"

"Yes. Am I mean now?" His eyes scanned every corner of the room. "Don't bother looking. You won't find it."

"You've gone from mean to evil."

"Onwards and upwards." She hooked her arm through his and laid her head on his shoulder. "I think I'm glad it happened the way it did. It was spontaneous. Plus this way you didn't have a chance to freak yourself out ahead of time."

"What do you mean?"

"You were worried about feeling all this pressure so our first time wouldn't be a failure. That wasn't an issue given how it happened."

Little snippets of last night came back to him in flashes. How many times did she have to tell him to get off of her hair? Was it two? Three? What if-

"Hey, what are you doing?" Angela sat up and held his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "You're not freaking out now, are you?"

"Uh….yeah!"

"Why? I'm not complaining."

"Yeah, but your hair and I-"

"Okay, you leaned on my hair a couple of times. I accidentally elbowed you in the ribs. We'll call it even."

"But I-"

"Besides, the first time is the freebie, remember?"

"That doesn't help. I don't want to have the excuse of freebie. That implies bad."

"It does not! Last night was not bad. But it was a learning experience for the both of us."

"See, words like freebie and learning experience are not good."

"If it makes you feel better I'll cover all of this in the detailed report I plan to write up."

"Report?"

"Yeah, you know, cover the highlights and stuff that needs improvement. I'll grade each category on a scale of 1-5." She tried in vain not to laugh at the look on his face. Horrified was the only word to describe it. "Or you could realize that I'm kidding." He remained silent. "Don't tell me you're mad." The longer he was quiet the harder she laughed. "Eric, come on."

"Is there a level beyond evil, because you just soared right to it."

"I was joking."

"Joking means something's funny. And right now you're very much not funny."

"I'm sorry." Angela pouted and stuck her bottom lip out for maximum effect. "Anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Eric grabbed her hand pulled her flush against him. "I can think of a few things…."

/

/

"Cory, don't you think you're being a tad overdramatic?"

"Just a tad?" Jack watched his brother's best friends from behind the counter in the Student Union. Cory had Topanga wrapped in a bear hug and wouldn't let go. His display made Eric look like a master of subtlety. Secretly, he wondered where the dramatic tendencies came from in the Matthews' family- Amy or Alan. For some reason he wanted to say Alan, though he didn't know why. "Your standards are higher than mine, Topanga."

"Please, would you want to be stuck on this road trip?"

"Honey, it's an hour and a half drive, tops. That's hardly a road trip. It's going to take me longer to get to Hershey."

"Yeah, but you won't be stuck in a van with moody Morgan and a colicky baby."

"You'd rather ride with Aunt Pru?"

Cory shivered. Her aunt had always been critical of their relationship and of Topanga's parents for supporting it. She claimed they were much too young to be as serious as they were and legitimately believed her niece made a grave error by turning down Yale for a high school romance. He hasn't seen the woman since they got engaged and according to Topanga her reaction was not one of support. "No. Your Aunt Prudence scares the hell out of me."

"That's what I thought."

"What if we-"

"Cory, no, I want to see my mother and it's been ages since I saw Precious Pearl. After what happened with Angela's grandmother I'm not going to take a chance and just assume we have all the time in the world for future visits."

He couldn't fault her for that. Grandma Bernice wasn't his favorite person, but Angela losing her grandmother so abruptly had altered his attitude towards seeing her again. He was determined to accept Bernice for who she was- a fun person who loved him, but also free spirit who changed direction at whim. Though maybe Eric was right, maybe the fact that she got a condo and doesn't live out of her Winnebago anymore was a sign she's mellowing. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." She smiled before leaning in for a kiss. "I'll bring you chocolate."

"You'd better." He kissed her once more. "I love you. How much chocolate will you bring me?"

"Cory, you're stalling. Go meet your dad." She pushed him towards the door. "I love you and you will survive."

"Lots of chocolate," he stated as he headed outside. "I mean it."

Topanga walked back to the couch, laughing and shaking her head as she went. "It's nice to know I'll be missed," she remarked to Jack as he brought over the coffee she ordered. "Looking forward to the weekend in New York?"

"Kind of. It'll be great to see my parents and sister again and they are really looking forward to meeting Rachel, but she's barely talking to me." He hesitated before sitting down. It wasn't as if he and Topanga were close. They were friendly, but he wouldn't call them friends. "You're a girl."

"Um…yes? Is that a question or a statement?"

"I don't have many friends who are girls. Rachel was but then…well, we are where we are now. I'm trying to get to know Angela better but she's been understandably wrapped up in her own stuff lately. And then there's you-"

"Jack, what do you want?"

He ran his hands over his face. If Shawn were here he'd say he was 'Corying this up spectacularly.' "I'm sorry. I need a girl's point of view. Why is Rachel so mad? What did I do wrong?"

"You dropped this big thing on her without even asking. You made a huge assumption."

"I've tried to apologize and she says she's getting over it, but she still acts pissed."

"It's probably nerves. How would you be reacting if, instead of getting on the train to New York this afternoon, you were going to get on a plane and fly to Texas to meet her family?"

"I'd probably be trying to come up with a very contagious illness that made getting onto a plane impossible," he admitted.

"Right."

"So you think Rachel's got her head buried in a medical dictionary trying to think up a way to get out of this?"

"Probably not, but I'm sure she's tempted."

"How do I make it better?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd start with listening to her, not just what she says but non-verbal cues and body language."

"Great," he sighed, "now I have to be a mind reader?"

"No, you don't have to be a mind reader. You just have to listen." She checked the time. "Sorry, but my aunt will be here any minute. I told her I'd meet her out front."

"Sorry, didn't mean to keep you."

"That's okay. Do you want me to bring you chocolate, too," she asked.

"No, I mean…well, if you have extra." He took his wallet out of his pocket. "Here, money for chocolate for me, Rachel, and Shawn, too."

Topanga accepted the cash with a smile. "I already included Shawn in my Cory budget."

He laughed to himself. "Of course you did. Well, have a nice weekend." She was almost out the door before he called out to her again. "Oh, one more thing: did you give Angela's dad the apartment number?"

She nodded. "He tried Angela's cell so many times and she wasn't answering, which it's weird for her to ignore his calls. He got worried and called me and demanded the number."

"And he sounded so scary you coughed it up?"

"Yes. It's killing me not knowing what's going on. Did you see her at all? How is she doing? She hasn't returned my calls. I tried to ask Eric when he came by to get her stuff, but he wouldn't say what happened. All he said was it was a disaster."

"Yeah, disaster is pretty much all I got out of Eric, too. I saw Angela for about five minutes last night, but it was like me and Rachel weren't in the room."

"Hopefully she just needs the weekend to process and will be ready to open up soon. She's my best friend and I can't help her when she shuts herself off from everyone." Topanga looked at the clock again. "Okay, now I really have to go. I still have to get my suitcase from my room. I'll see you Monday."

/

/

"Hey, don't take off all the pepperoni and add it to your plate. Leave some for me."

"I'm leaving you the green peppers." Eric was relieved she felt like eating. Angela had only taken one piece of pizza last night and didn't finish it.

"That's because you don't like them."

"I like them just fine, but I think healthy food on pizza is pointless. If you're going to do something unhealthy you should do it right."

Angela leaned across the bed and retrieved some pepperoni slices from his plate. "And I say adding in a vegetable every now and then will keep you from needing cholesterol medication before you hit thirty."

"Okay, you win," he relented. "I'll eat the peppers."

"Thank you."

They ate and watched TV in amiable silence for a while. During a commercial break he put the television on mute. "Can I ask you something about last night?"

"You can ask me anything, but I already told you I have no complaints, not about last night or what happened a little while ago," she said with a grin. "And I know you hate when I call it a learning experience, but it is. And practice definitely makes perfect."

"Then we'll definitely practice a lot, but it's not about that."

"Okay, then what's your question?"

"Did I compare myself to gum on the bottom of your shoe?"

She burst out laughing. "I forgot about that. Yes, you did."

"Why?"

"I had a bad dream. You said I didn't have to be scared because you were with me, like gum on the bottom of my shoe: stuck forever."

"Wow, I'm pretty smooth when I'm half asleep."

"No guy has ever said that to me before, I'll give you that. But it was very sweet."

"What did you dream about?"

"Do we have to talk about that?" She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I don't remember the whole thing."

"We don't have to," he said as he removed the pizza box and plates and put them on his desk. "But if you want to talk…" He sat back down on the bed. "I'm a good audience."

"No one knew me."

"Who didn't know you?"

"I was in a room, a ballroom maybe or a banquet hall, and it was full of people- seemingly every person I'd ever met was there."

"Not me," he reminded her. He remembered that little detail.

"Everyone but you, yes. And I was walking around, trying to figure out what was happening, but no one knew who I was. They acted like I was a stranger. Maybe that's not right. Mr. Feeny, he knew who I was."

"Feeny made your dream and I didn't?"

"Although it wasn't quite Mr. Feeny," she said quietly, almost to herself. "His voice came out whenever the parrot spoke. Was it a just bird or Mr. Feeny disguised as one?"

"There was a parrot in your dream and the parrot was Mr. Feeny? Am I following this right?"

"Yes."

"What did parrot Feeny say?"

"I don't remember. I just know he sounded like Mr. Feeny. That wasn't the worst part. The worst was my dad."

"What kind of bird was he, a crow?"

"No, he was himself, but he couldn't see me." Angela rested her chin on her knee. "At least with everyone else, even if they didn't know me they saw me. I was acknowledged. But to my dad I was invisible. I was pleading with him, practically screaming in his face, and it was no use."

Eric scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. But when I came back to bed and realized you were dreaming about me-"

He groaned and covered his eyes. "Do we have to talk about that? It's bad enough I told you what was really going on."

"And what, if you were more awake you would've lied to me?"

"Not lied, but made it a bit sweeter than us going at it on the pool table. Now you know how dirty my mind really is."

"I don't want you to censor yourself. But what I was going to say is that when I realized you were dreaming about me it made me feel better. Here I was feeling forgotten and then my boyfriend is so crazy about me I'm the star of his dreams? It was nice to know someone was thinking about me, even if it was in an impure manner," she teased.

"Can we change the subject please?"

"Sure. When is our anniversary?"

He didn't see that one coming. "What?"

"I was in class the other day listening to Cory and Topanga talk about some anniversary or another, the first time they played hopscotch at recess…something weird and random like that. They were impossible to tune out. But it made me think about us. Is our anniversary the day we made out at my dad's, when we got together, or our first date?"

"I never really thought about it," he admitted. "If I had to pick I'd say the day we decided we wanted to be together. That's when it felt real for me."

She nodded. That's what she had been thinking as well.

"I wish I remembered the date we first ran into each other at the museum," he continued. "I don't want to be like Cory and Topanga and celebrate every tiny thing. It makes the big things feel less special if you make just as big a deal out of the first time you shared an order of fries as you do for a six month or one year anniversary. But that would be a cool one to celebrate."

"January eighth." Angela smiled. "I saved the ticket stub from the exhibit."

"You did?"

"I save all of my ticket stubs, but that one went into a special box. Now it's in my Eric box."

"An Eric box, huh?" He wondered what else this box contained.

"Yeah."

"And you knew from that first night?"

"God, no," she admitted with a laugh. "No, I didn't see us coming. But it was a memorable evening and I didn't want to forget it."

Eric moved away from her, just a little bit. He was almost ashamed to admit this. "You have no idea how close I came to running in the other direction when I saw you."

"Why?"

"I was there to escape. I needed to relax and not worry about other people. I didn't know if I could be myself around you. That seems so weird to me now because you're the one I feel most like myself with." He didn't want to think about what his life would be like if he had gone in the other direction. "It's crazy how doing one little thing changed everything in my life."

Angela was having similar thoughts. What would've happened had he not approached her that night? "I'm glad you didn't run away."

"Me, too."