Uncomfortable
This used to be a one-shot, but I decided it fit better as a chapter of this story. Set during season six, in "Everybody Loves Stuart."
"What's wrong?" Cory said after Stuart left. "Are you okay?"
Topanga wanted to say she was, as she liked to believe that nothing could get her down. But she was still reeling from what their professor had said to her and the way he'd touched her. "I don't really know what happened, Cory. One moment we were discussing my paper, and the next he's telling me he'd 'like to see me other than Tuesdays and Thursdays '" The image of his face so close to hers appeared in her mind again, and she almost shivered. "And that 'he'd like to get to know me better.'"
"What?" Cory said, sounding just as confused as she was. How could one of their teachers say something like that?
"I don't want to get to know him better, Cory," Topanga said firmly, trying to push those words and touches out of her head. She tried to steady herself, but this time, her body shook anyway. "Not like that. I only want you. I love you."
"I know you do," Cory said gently, pulling her into the safety of his arms. "I love you, too."
Topanga truly thought she was stronger than this. Hadn't she just told their classmates that a person could do anything they put their mind to? But she'd never expected to feel so uncomfortable, and there was something so soothing about laying her head on Cory's chest and feeling the steady beat of his heart.
It wasn't as if this was even the first time someone had hit on her, although she never would have expected to hear such treatment from a teacher.
One boy had even asked her out right in front of Cory. And several boys had asked her when she'd briefly moved to Pittsburgh. She'd always found it annoying, as they implied, she could do better than the boy she loved, but she had always simply said she wasn't interested.
Nor was it even the first time someone had hit on her more than once. Those two boys from Pittsburg asked her to dance and tried to kiss her a couple of times. But she knew nothing could compare with what she had with Cory.
She snuggled deeper into his arms, and he pulled her tighter against him. The steady thump, thump, thump of his heart prevented her from shaking.
She supposed Stuart's actions made her feel vulnerable, considering they'd been alone in her dorm room. There'd been nowhere to escape, or anyone to escape to.
What would have happened if Cory hadn't shown up when he did? Her stomach turned at the very thought. "Thank you for comforting, me Cory," she said into his chest.
His lips touched her hair, and his arms rubbed her back. "Anything for you."