⌜ chapter eighteen ⌟

A continuous knock at the door makes Letty get up from her bed and walk over to unlock it so she can see who's there. Reggie was irritating her earlier, so she locked him out of her room. And she's gonna be pissed if it's just him coming back to bug her some more.

But when she opens her bedroom door, it's her younger brother who wordlessly walks past her and into the room. "What are you doing, Shawn?" The brunette questions as he walks into her room and flops down onto her bed.

"My world is ending."

"Oh, really?" She muses.

"Cory's on a date with Lauren." He tells her, and her eyebrows furrow as she shuts her door and turns to face him. All trace of humor is gone as she tries to make sense of what he said.

"Um... I think I'm a little behind here. Hasn't Cory been married to Topanga for the last seventy years?" She asks, and he rolls over so he's laying on his back.

"Haven't you and Eric?" He asks, and she sighs as she walks over to him.

"Why is your world ending, bud?" The older girl asks as she lays down beside him.

"My whole life, I always thought that you and Eric would be together, and Cory and Topanga would be together." He tells her. "But if the most obvious relationships...people who love each other as much as you guys do...don't end up together, what does that say for the rest of us?"

"You mean, what does that say for you and Angela?" She looks at him. "Is that what this is about? You're afraid that you two won't end up together now that you've agreed to take it slow and start off as friends?"

"Am I a really bad brother for coming over here to talk about this when you're dealing with the break up with Eric?" He asks, and she smiles.

"No, Shawn, you're not a bad brother." She tells him. "And my door is always open."

"Cory said you told his parents that you broke up with Eric, but I saw you two that night. I know that it was him who broke up with you." He says, and she takes a deep breath as she looks up at her ceiling. "Scarlett, what happened?"

"He found out something about me that...he just can't get passed." Letty says. "He doesn't like it, and now he...he doesn't want what he used to want for us. And he doesn't want to be with me anymore."

"What's not to like about you?" He questions, turning his head to look at her. "You're Scarlett, you're the best person on the planet."

"That's far from true." She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter what it is. It's something that I can't change, and he can't accept. So now we're over, and it's time for everyone to move on."

"He's the biggest idiot on the planet."

"No, he isn't." She sighs. "Hey, who the hell's Lauren?" She asks, both wanting to change the subject, and wanting to know more about what he was talking about when he first showed up.

"Do you remember that permission slip you signed so that I could go up to the Ski Lodge in the mountains?" He asks, and she nods as she rolls onto her side to face him. "Well, we were getting off the bus, and Cory slipped. He sprained his ankle."

"Of course he did." The older girl chuckles, thinking that that sounds exactly like Cory.

"So, he couldn't go on the slopes." He continues. "He stayed up at the lodge while we were all skiing, and he met this girl who works there. She's our age, and he stayed up all night talking to her. Then she kissed him, and he...didn't stop her."

"Uh-oh." She sighs.

"He told Topanga that they talked, but I told him not to tell her that she kissed him." Shawn says, and she smacks his stomach. "Ow!"

"Bad Shawn!"

"It was the bes... Yeah, alright." He concedes, and she shakes her head at him. "Lauren wrote him a letter, and Topanga found it. She read it...and it was a pretty passionate love letter."

"Ouch. Poor Topanga."

"Yeah." He sighs. "Anyway, Topanga agreed to talk to Cory, but then Lauren showed up, and so instead Topanga told him to go out with her and see how he feels."

She lifts her head as she looks at him. "Oh, tell me he said no."

"What did I say when I came in here?" He asks, and she pauses as she thinks about it for a second — Cory's on a date with Lauren.

"Oh, hell." She mutters as she lets her head fall back to the mattress. "He's doomed."

"You don't think they'll fix it?"

"Cory went out with another girl because he's not sure who he likes more — the new girl, or the one that he's been with since forever. How do you think that feels for Topanga?" She asks, and he looks at her. "One conversation with another girl, and he's questioning their entire relationship. That's a lot to forgive and to move past."

"But Eric's always forgiven you whenever you doubted your relationship."

"I only ever doubted myself and my capability of being in a relationship. I never doubted my relationship with Eric or how I feel for him." She tells him, but then she pauses as she looks away from him. "Until now, anyway... The first part."

"You don't think you guys will get past this?" Shawn asks, seeing the pain on his sister's face as she avoids eye contact. "You don't think you guys will get back together this time, even knowing how much you love him?"

"No, Shawn, I don't." She admits. "I think there are some things that are just too much for some people... I think this is it."

"I'm sorry, Scarlett." He says as he moves closer to her, and she takes a deep breath as she rests her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her, trying to bring her as much comfort as he possibly can.

Later that night, after Shawn's already gone home, Reggie knocks on Letty's door before opening it, knowing that she won't give him a verbal answer. "You have another visitor." He says, and the brunette looks over to see Topanga walk into the room.

"I kinda figured...misery loves company. I hope you don't mind." The blonde says. "I brought pizza and ice cream."

"Come on in." Letty says as she sits up, and Reggie closes the door behind him as he leaves the girls in the room. "Shawn told me about Lauren. I guess things went exactly like I thought they would?"

"I just can't forgive him for needing to test his feelings for me." The younger girl tells her as tears well up in her eyes.

"Come here." She opens her arms, and Topanga leaves the food at the foot of the bed before crawling across the comforter to hug her.

"Why does love have to hurt so much?" She sobs.

"I wish I knew." Letty takes a deep breath as she rubs her back.

A little while later, the older girl takes the rest of the pizza out to the kitchen, telling Reggie that he can have the rest. She stands by the counter as he walks over, and he stops when he sees her staring at the marble.

"You okay, kid?" Reggie asks, and she looks up at him.

"Topanga broke up with Cory today...because he went out with another girl to test his feelings for her." She tells him. "She thought we could wallow together."

"And is that okay with you?" He asks, and she nods.

"It's hard...to be alone lately. But it's also hard to be with other people." She takes a deep breath as she wipes a tear from her cheek. "So, I don't really know how to help myself in this situation with Eric, but this is all worth it if it helps her."

"You know it's not your job to take care of them, right?"

"You know it's not your job to take care of me and Alec, right?"

Reggie smirks as he looks down at her. "You're gonna be alright, kid." He says as he reaches up and gently wipes away another of her tears. "You all will. It just takes some time, is all."

"I hate time." She mutters, and he chuckles as he nods in understanding.

Letty then grabs two spoons and goes back to her room where Topanga's waiting for her. The ice cream's melted a bit by now, but it's not too bad — the top is soft, but it's not all liquid-y yet. And it's still nice and cold.

"Who are the roses from?" Topanga asks as she looks at the bouquet of a dozen red roses that's sitting on the nightstand beside Letty's bed. "They're really pretty."

"It was a Valentine's Day present from Alec, Reggie, and Tyler." She tells her. "There were chocolates too, but I already ate those."

"That was sweet of them."

"Yeah, they have their moments." She nods as she hands her a spoon. "You wanna stay here for the night?"

"Are you sure that'd be okay?" Topanga asks, and she nods.

"Yeah." She offers her a small smile. "We can watch movies in the living room, stay in bed late in the morning. It's okay to mope for a little while."

"Thanks." The blonde smiles. "I'd like that."