Hello, all. Sorry for the delay. Majority of my house got hit with (luckily mild cases) Covid. I got spared, how I have no idea- especially since it's not a big house. (I was not spared the flu and sinus infection that came after, but another story.) So been dealing with that on top of all the usual real life stuff. Fun times. Anyway, hope everyone else is staying healthy.

And a little preview for upcoming stuff in the next chapter or two since I know I'm not the fastest with tying loose ends: we will start to get back into the situation and drama with Angela's mother and family.

As always thank you for your patience and feedback. It is appreciated. :-)

Did the corner of the ceiling above the window always have chipped paint or was it new? Who's responsibility was it to fix it- his or the landlord's? Would it count as damage that could forfeit the security deposit? That would be just his luck.

Eric startled when his desk chair spun without warning and for a moment he thought he was falling. Instead it was worse. He was face to face with an annoyed girlfriend. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Did I space out?"

"A little bit, yeah."

"Sorry. Can you say that again?" He hated looking stupid in front of Angela and made sure to pay extra attention when she repeated herself.

"What is the formula used for an argument based on deductive reasoning? Meaning if the premises are true that means that the conclusion is valid."

All of sorts of various literary terms swam around in his head. How was he supposed to keep them straight? Why did he even need to keep them straight for one stupid test? It's not like they were going to be useful to him in everyday life once this class was over. They weren't going to help him predict the weather. "Um…logos?"

"No, close though. It's syllogism. Logos is the ability to convince or persuade readers by logical reasoning and strong evidence."

He threw his pen across the room. "I'll never be able to memorize them all. They're too similar. Maybe we need to accept I'm a moron who should just cut his losses and stop wasting everyone's time and go back to working with my dad."

"Eric, come on. We just need to practice a little more."

"Doesn't it bother you to have a stupid boyfriend?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't have one."

"You're a writer. You love it. It's your thing. Are you telling me you wouldn't rather have a boyfriend who knows the difference between syllogism, logos, pathos, and ethos?"

"If that was all that mattered I'd be with that creep, Keith, who sat behind me in class last semester and kept trying to hit on me."

"He still sat behind you even after that day I walked you to class? I told you to tell me if he tried anything else."

Normally Angela had no problem handling clueless, sometime aggressively flirtatious guys by herself, but this one just wouldn't take no for an answer. So she asked Eric to accompany her to class one day. They may or may not have been making out by the door as Keith was coming in. He shoulder checked Eric and there were some words exchanged between the three of them. In the end he apologized to Eric for hitting on her with the pathetic excuse, 'she never said she had a boyfriend.' It enraged her to no end, but she decided to let it go simply to be done with the jerk. Why some guys just couldn't take a simple no for an answer was beyond her. Why did there need to be another guy? "No, he barely looked at me after that."

"Good."

"Don't you see my point? If I wanted a guy who knew the right English terms I'd be with a jerk like Keith. But that's not important. I want to be with someone who treats me right and loves me. I want someone who makes me laugh when I want to cry, takes care of me, and makes me feel like the most important person in the world."

"Yeah, but-"

She reached for his hand. "It doesn't matter. You're not into English. It's fine. Do you love me any less because I'm not as enthused by baseball as you are?"

"Love you any less? No. But it does confuse me. Baseball's great."

"If you want a nap, sure."

"Hey."

"It is more interesting when you're at a game," she admitted. "I've had a lot more fun actually being in the ballpark than whenever I've tried to watch it on TV with you."

"See, you're coming around."

"Do you get my point, though?"

"Yeah, you've seen the light and baseball's awesome."

"Eric?"

He sighed and pushed the chair away from her. "No, I get it, but the difference is you won't fail a test if you don't remember the rules for baseball. You might be docked some big cool life points…"

"Very funny."

"…but you won't fail."

"You're not going to fail. And don't even try to argue with me. You thought you were going to fail your algebra test after one bad quiz but you've been pulling in B's ever since."

"I know."

"So why do you keep putting yourself through this torture?" She dropped the notebook on his bed, went over to the chair, and sat in his lap. "You know you can pass when you focus and do the work. Why not just trust you're going to do fine from the beginning?"

"Because there have been plenty of times I was confident and still fell flat on my face."

"Yeah, but we're not talking about you're dating history right now," she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Wow, way to be sympathetic."

"Please, you know I'm kidding." He said nothing. "You do know that, don't you?"

"I know. It's just… I'm not a good test taker even when I understand everything. Do you know how many times I've talked myself out of the right answer in multiple choice tests because I assumed my gut was wrong? If I can't keep these terms straight now, studying with you, there's no way I can do it when under the pressure of a test."

"So we need to figure out a way to up the ante with our study habits a little bit?"

"I-uh…I guess? What were you thinking?"

"I'm not sure." She got up from his lap and walked around the room, trying to think of something that would help him learn the material with added pressure, yet not so much pressure he choked. Something came to mind, but she dismissed it almost immediately. "No."

"What?"

Angela shook her head. "Stupid idea."

"No such thing."

"There are no stupid questions. There are plenty of stupid ideas. But…I don't know." She thought it over a little more. "I guess it could work."

"What is it?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"This idea is kind of out there."

"Even better."

"I'm talking more than a little crazy."

"You're talking to the king of crazy. Come on, hit me. What's your idea?"

"Strip studying."

"Say what?"

"You know, like strip poker- not that I've ever played," she said, rambling. "I've only ever seen it on TV and in movies, but like that, but with study questions."

Eric stared at her, unsure if she was serious or not. "And how would this work?"

"I'm not sure. I'll ask you a question and for every one you get correct…uh…I'll lose a piece of clothing. Your choice."

"And if I get it wrong?" When she didn't answer, he continued. "Well?"

"Give me a second. Kinda making it up as I go here." She snapped her fingers. "I got it. For every question you get wrong, not only do you lose an item of clothing, but I put another one on, and I lower the thermostat on your air conditioner one degree."

"That's not fair. The cold does things to a guy it just doesn't do to a girl."

"Then I guess you'd better get the questions right." She extended her hand. "Do we have a deal?" She was caught of guard when, instead of accepting the handshake, Eric pulled her into his lap. "What do you think you're doing?"

"This seems like a deal that should be sealed with a kiss, don't you think?"

Angela smiled at him. "What can I say? When you're right, you're right." A few seconds later she removed his hands from under her shirt. "I don't think so. The bra's like extra credit, lightning round, bonus level stuff."

"Damn. Can't blame a guy for trying."

/

/

"If I were my keys where would I be?" Cory stood in the living room, eyes scanning every inch of the apartment he could see. "Ooh, the couch cushions! I watched baseball with Eric and Jack last night."

"What do you think you're doing?"

He spun around and saw Jack standing at the stop of the stairs. "I'm looking for my keys. Have you seen them?"

"Could you stop tearing my couch apart? We already had to get it reupholstered last year after Eric decided to dress up as Edward Scissorhands."

"I don't remember him being Edward Scissorhands for Halloween."

"He wasn't. He dressed like that to try to impress some Goth girl in one of his classes."

"Did it work?"

"It never got beyond the dress up part because your brother literally attached scissors and knives to himself."

Cory's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, god, I can't imagine that ended well."

"Let's just say I wasn't gentle with the hydrogen peroxide when I helped him bandage up all the cuts."

"Why didn't he use fakes? Didn't he know they use props in movies?"

"When it comes to Eric I've learned not to question certain things."

"Good strategy." He put the couch back together. "So where are you going?"

"I have a date. We're meeting for coffee. If it goes well we'll get food or see a movie."

"That's great." While Jack was the first to admit Rachel wasn't some great love that got away, Cory knows he's missed her since she went back to Texas. "What's her name?"

"Boudicca."

"Excuse me?"

"Boudicca."

"Are you messing with me?"

"Why would I lie about her name?"

"It's strange."

"Tough talk coming from the person engaged to a Topanga."

"Hey! Watch it, mister."

"No one has ever been able to tell me exactly what a Topanga is, by the way."

"Well, it's…you see…Topanga means…" He deflated, realizing he had no answer. "What do you want, her parents were freaking hippies. Were Boudicca's parents hippies, too?"

"I have no idea. We've only talked a few times. She drinks cappuccino and is tutoring students in calculus over the summer for extra money."

"That's it? I knew more about Topanga when I was two."

"I figured I'll learn more about her on the date."

"I guess." He checked the time. If he was late getting to the store his dad wouldn't be happy. "So is that a yes or no on the keys?"

"No. What about the shirt?"

"What's wrong with my shirt? My dad doesn't make me were a uniform."

"Not your shirt, my shirt."

"Oh, you look fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you can pull off olive much better than Shawn. When it comes to greens, emerald is his color."

"…Thanks?"

"You're welcome." Cory snapped his fingers, an idea coming to him. "Eric's home, right?"

"I think so. Last time I saw him was a couple hours ago when he and Angela were going to hang out in his room. He was whining about having to study for some test, saying something about how it wasn't fair he had to study in the summer with the heat and humidity- that it messes with his brain."

"Wow, if that's the case we need to move him to The North Pole, ASAP."

"The South Pole."

"What?"

"I think he'd like Antarctica better," Jack said, vaguely remembering a conversation he and Eric had once where he said something about taking Angela to Antarctica one day. Damned if he could remember the reasoning at the moment, however. "Plus, the South Pole has penguins. He likes penguins."

"I don't know if he'd be willing to trade Santa for penguins though."

"Right. Forgot about Santa."

Cory shook his head, not believing they were actually having this conversation. He could almost feel himself get more stupid by the minute. "North Pole, South Pole, does it make a difference?"

"You book the flight, I'll buy the ticket to wherever you want to send him."

"Just let me borrow his keys, first." He took off up the stairs, but made sure to yell, "Good luck on your date!"

/

Cory looked at his watch and moved a little faster down the hall. His dad asked him to close the store tonight and it was sort of a big deal. Being late wouldn't look good. He'd never closed the store before, at least not by himself. Usually dad or Eric were there with him to take care of the registers and make sure everything got into the safe. Tonight it would just be him with some newer employees hired for the summer. He's never been the main Matthews in charge and was more than a little nervous. Then again, if his brother could handle it how hard could it be? "Eric," he called out, knocking on the door. "I need to borrow your store keys."

There was no response. He could hear them in there, voices muffled by either the TV or radio, it was difficult to tell. He knocked harder. "Eric, come on! Dad will kill me if I'm late." After another minute or two of talking to the door, Cory decided he'd rather deal with his brother being annoyed than his dad. "It's really rude to ignore…ah!" He ran back out into the hall, letting the door slam behind him. Sure. They were "studying" Jack said…the liar.

Eric rushed out of the room a minute later. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"I-"

"Who barges into a closed bedroom after the age of like…I don't know…six?"

"I need your keys for the store," he said as stared at the wall. He didn't know where else to look. Eric was holding a sheet around his waist and Cory was certain it wasn't because he was going to a toga party. "I can't find mine."

"Then. You. Knock."

"I did, lots of times. Apparently you didn't hear me over the music and whatever you guys were doing in there." He covered his eyes. "Oh, no, now I'm picturing it. At least when Topanga and I walked in on you guys in the dorms you had the decency to be half dressed. And it was at night. Right now…this…it's the middle of the afternoon!"

"Grow up."

"And I don't even want to know what the heck her leg was doing on your shoulder." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Gah! Mental images!"

"Cor, get the hell out of here before I throw you off the fire escape. And that's not an empty threat today." He took a few steps closer to his brother. "I'll really do it."

"Learn to use a rubber band or a sock or a do not disturb sign."

"I don't need a rubber band for my bedroom, in my apartment, where I pay rent," Eric pointed out. "If you have a problem with how I live you can move right back in with mom and dad."

"Doesn't Angela have a whole house for this stuff?"

"With her Andre the Giant sized father staying in the next room? Do I look like I have a death wish?"

"Can I borrow your keys?" Eric sighed and shuffled back into the bedroom. Cory heard hushed voices and things being moved around before the door opened again and the keys flew at his head. "Ouch. Thanks."

/

"I'm going to kill Jack for letting Cory move in. Then I'll kill Cory for existing. I knew he was bad news the day dad brought me to meet him in the hospital. He's been a crybaby since he was a baby."

"Eric, calm down. I'm not thrilled with it- and I'm going to yell at him later for not respecting our privacy- but it happened. We can't change it." She played with the buttons on the shirt of his she was wearing. She'd grabbed the first thing she saw to cover herself. "I'm guessing he got a good show?

He sat at the edge of the bed. "I didn't ask for details, but it seems like it."

"The door wasn't even locked?"

"I thought it was, but no."

Angela was far from a prude when it came to sex but that didn't mean she wanted to be walked in on while in the midst of it. "Great."

"Are you sure you don't want me to kill him? Because I'll go right now."

"Are you kidding me? Cory interrupted at a very crucial moment and as cute as you are when you're all frustrated like this I-"

"Cute?"

She nodded her head. "Very, but I have a much better way to use up all that energy."

Eric didn't fight it when she grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him onto her. "Can you now?"

"Assuming you're still in the mood, that is." She hooked a leg around his waist and drew him even closer. "And something tells me you are," she added, a smirk dancing on her lips.

"For you? Always." He ducked down and captured her mouth in a kiss. "Duh."

"Duh? Just what a girl wants to hear in bed."

"Sorry, what I meant to say is you're a genius and strip studying is my new favorite game ever. How did you even come up with that?"

"I don't know. It just popped into my head."

"See," he began, kissing her again, "a genius: a smart, sarcastic-"

Angela's eyebrows went up. "Sarcastic? Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"It's the best thing. I love it when you're sarcastic. You take no prisoners."

"And that's good?"

"Trust me."

"If you say so. Now I believe you were saying wonderful things about me," she stated with a smile.

"Right. Let's see…I left off at sarcastic before someone rudely interrupted."

"Whatever."

"But you're also a gorgeous, caring, and compassionate genius."

"Is that all?"

He peered down at her and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "And I love you."

She took his hand and held it over her heart, any fleeting feelings of stupidity for needing to hear it left her. "I love you, too."

/

/

"So Topanga and Nebula are both gone for the day? Do you know where they went?" Cory listened to the person on the other end. "A meditation seminar…yeah, that's not vague at all," he muttered. "Can you let Topanga know I called?"

Alan looked across the store when his son's voice went up a few decibels. "No personal calls at the register."

"What do you mean who's Cory? I'm her fiance! Ow," he exclaimed, feeling something hit the back of his head. He turned around and his father was behind him. "Dad, what are you doing? I was on the phone."

"There are customers in here. What have I told you about personal calls on the sales floor?"

"I figured that was for everyone not named Matthews."

"Guess again. And you were trying to call Topanga. That means you were making a long distance phone call when you're supposed to be working."

"I'm sorry, but how else am I supposed to get ahold of my fiancee?"

"Let her call you?"

"If I waited for that I'd still be sitting by the phone. Almost all the calls have been initiated by me."

"What does that tell you?"

"That I need to try harder to make sure Topanga knows how much I love her and that what happened to her parents has nothing to do with us?"

Alan sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. It wasn't that he had no sympathy for his son's situation, but it was becoming an almost daily struggle to get him to focus on work. "No, it means she wants space right now. She's with her sister, right? Give them time together. She'll call you when she's ready."

"But, dad-"

"No buts. Look, I know things aren't exactly working out the way you thought they would this summer, but you have to adapt. Topanga's with her sister and Shawn's…where is he again?"

"No idea."

"Right. Well, things might suck for you, but it's how they are. So be an adult and deal with it."

"Deal with it? That's your great fatherly advice? Deal with it?"

"Cory, sometimes dealing with it is all you can do. Although if you need a distraction-"

"Yeah?"

"Do some work."

"Okay, dad, I put all the new life jackets on the display and finished setting up the boating area. I'm going to grab something to eat with Angela. I'll be back in an hour…ish."

"Ish?"

"I'll bring you back a hoagie," he bargained, "the kind with the hot peppers mom doesn't want you to eat anymore and the double fried French fries."

"Deal. Go light on the peppers though and don't tell your mother I said that. She finds out and she'll purge the entire kitchen of anything spicier than cinnamon over minor heartburn."

"I swear. Okay, so I'm going to go." Angela was supposed to meet him here but he wanted to get outside before she showed up. It had been a few days since Cory barged into his room and Eric tried to spend as little time around his brother as possible and he definitely didn't want to subject Angela to time spent around him. "Bye."

"Aren't you going to ask your brother if he wants anything?"

"Come on, dad, Josh isn't here. Besides, it would be mean to shove hoagies in his face before he grows some chompers."

"I mean Cory."

"He knows where to get food if he wants it."

"Is that necessary?"

"It's okay, dad. Hey, Eric, just make sure you lock the car wherever you guys go park. Cause no one needs to see that."

"You know I'm so sick of-"

"All right! That's enough." Alan grabbed his sons by their arms and dragged them into an empty aisle. "What's going on? You two have been sniping at each other for days."

"Cory doesn't-"

"Well Eric-"

"Stop! Cory, speak."

"Seriously? Him?! Dad-"

"First I want to know why he's being a pain in my ass. Then you can tell me why you're being a pain in my ass."

"Well, see…I couldn't find my store keys the other day and I didn't want to be late since it was my first time closing. I decided to ask Eric if I could borrow his keys. And I knocked on his door about a million times but he obviously didn't hear me. So I opened the door and…" He proceeded to give his version of events.

Alan held up his hand to stop his son before he could get too far. "That's enough." He looked at his eldest, who was taking practice swings with a 5-iron. "And I get why you're pissed. So go take your break before you tee off using your brother's head. I'm not insured for that."

"Hey," Cory exclaimed. "You're not going to yell at him?"

"For what: being an adult in the privacy of his apartment with his girlfriend? All I can do there is hope the safe sex talks we had when you two were younger stuck in your heads."

"Yeah, they did," Eric said, panicked when he saw Angela outside. "So I'm leaving because Angela just got here and if she has to listen to one word of this someone will suffer."

"Go take your break." Once the bells jingled to alert him that Eric was out of the store, he came out of the aisle. "Nate," he called out to an employee he'd hired to help over the summer.

"Yes?"

"Keep an eye up here for a minute. I have to talk to Cory."

"Sure thing."

"What is it, dad?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"What?"

He stood in front of his son and crossed his arms. "Who or what are you really mad at? I know it can't be Eric."

"Sure it can."

"For what, being happy in a relationship with his girlfriend? That's allowed."

"Does he have to rub it in? I'm busy trying to salvage my relationship and every time I turn around I've got him and Angela flaunting it in my face and kissing in the apartment or laughing in the coffee house or…" He looked toward the front of the store and quickly looked away. "Or being joined at the hip in broad daylight where everyone can see them!"

"They're hugging. I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me who you're mad at before I get mad at you for not working."

Cory's shoulders slumped and he leaned against the wall. "This was supposed to be the best summer of my life, not his. Topanga and I were going to plan our wedding and the rest of our lives. Then her stupid parents had to wreck it all."

"What were they supposed to do? Stay in an unhappy marriage?"

"No, fix things! I can't imagine it was so bad they have to break up. You and mom always talk things out."

"You can't compare marriages."

"Why not? You guys got married young, they got married young. You had kids, they had kids. You-"

"Cory, stop. It doesn't work that way. Every relationship is different. You and Topanga shouldn't compare yourselves to her parents…"

"Thank you."

"…or me and mom."

"But you guys are my tale of hope and inspiration against her dream killer parents! It's about all I have left after the other day."

"What do you mean?"

"I got a letter in the mail. It was from Topanga. She said maybe I should hang onto it for her until we're sure of the future, but it can't be a good sign that she's giving it back."

"I don't understand."

Cory dug into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "It's her engagement ring. You know the one she promised she'd never take off?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what? You only say sorry when something isn't going to work. I don't need sorry. I need help. I need a game plan."

"A game plan, huh? Okay." He took a deep breath. "Go put in the orders for the deliveries next week. They have to be in by five."

"That's it? Dad, I'm not asking for work. I need a life plan."

"That is my plan. Topanga's asking for time. If you love and respect her as much as you say you'll give her that time. Find a way to distract yourself."

"Hey, Cory?"

"Give us another minute, Nate," Alan said.

"There's someone here to see Cory."

"Really?!" He let himself hope just a little. "Does she have long hair and a smile so warm it could put the sun to shame?"

"Well, it's been a while since I've had a haircut so it's a little long, but I'm not big on smiling so I think the sun is safe."

Cory would know that voice anywhere. "Shawnie?"

"Hey."

"Shawnie!" He ran over and wrapped his arms around him. "I got my sign."

"Huh?"

"Just when I thought things were at their lowest and nothing could make it better: boom! You're here. And that tells me everything's going to be okay. It's going to be okay, right Shawnie?"

Shawn looked to Alan who was shaking his head. "Um…sure, Cor. It's gonna be great."