⌜ chapter two ⌟

Letty groans as she follows Morgan into the bathroom where the boys are getting ready for the day. The little blonde's carrying her toy as she leads the way out of their room, and the girls hear what Eric's telling his younger brother.

"Now, for the next few years, you're gonna be growing into your look. Everybody understands that. Nobody's gonna give you a hard time about it, okay?"

And then Morgan raises Mr. Potato-Head into the mirror next to her brother's face. "Hi, I'm Cory, and for the next three years, I'm gonna look like a potato." Letty then takes the doll and throws it back into their room. "Hey!"

"Morgan, I've woken up to that potato in my face seven days in a row. You're lucky all he did was fall with style for a few feet." The brunette says as she leans against the wall next to the shower.

"Morning, beautiful." Eric kisses her cheek.

"Can I bury the potato in the yard?"

"She'll find it." He says as he puts his finger under her chin and makes her look up.

"Mm. M-mm." She covers her face. "You're not allowed to kiss me until after I've brushed my teeth." She tells him.

"I don't care about that."

"Now, that's love." Cory says.

"No, that's gross." Morgan retorts, and Letty turns her head to glare at them both.

"Why are you up already?" Eric asks as he steps into her view, ignoring the commentary of his two younger siblings. "You don't have a first period."

"No, I have a Shawn, and he still won't talk to me." The brunette tells him. "I'm going to school early to find him." She explains, and he nods.

They all finish getting ready for the day, and then head to the high school. Letty's walking down the hallway when she sees Topanga and Cory talking a few feet away from their lockers. The blonde suddenly pulls out a pair of scissors, and Cory takes a step back. She cuts off a lock of dirty-blonde hair and then hands it to Cory, and Letty's eyes widen as she watches the scene unfold. Topanga pulls all of her hair to one side and continues chopping.

The blonde starts to walk away from him, but then she catches a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror that Shawn has in his locker. Her eyes widen as she drops her bag and walks over to get a closer look at what she just did to herself.

"She's gonna scream now." Shawn says as he looks at his best friend, and then she does exactly that.

"It's okay. It's okay, it's just a little hair." Topanga's saying as Letty walks over to them. "It has nothing to do with who I am. I am still Topanga Lawrence, and nobody who cares about me will even notice, right?" She asks as Feeny walks over to the four of them.

"Mr. Matthews, Miss Black, Mr. Hunter—" Their teacher stops when Topanga turns around and he sees how uneven her hair now is. "Ooh. What the heck happened to you?"

"Mr. Feeny, I've cut my hair in an attempt to show Cory that physical appearance is secondary to inner beauty." The blonde tells him, and then Cory holds up the lock of his girlfriend's hair in his hand.

"Aha. Well, in that case, Miss Lawrence, I applaud your attempt at teaching a very valuable lesson during these extremely vulnerable teenage years." He tells her.

"You think I'm ugly!" She cries before running for the bathroom.

"Yeah, uh..." Letty shakes her head. "Cor, those scissors?"

"You're not gonna cut your hair too?" The Matthews boy asks.

"No, that lesson's already backfired once. I'm gonna go help Topanga."

"By cutting more?"

"Would you prefer I glued it back on?" She asks, and he points at Topanga's bag to tell her that that's where the scissors are. "Gracias."

"How bad is it?" Topanga asks as Letty walks into the bathroom.

"Who said it was bad?"

"The mirror."

"Oh, kid, those lie. Never listen to those." The brunette shakes her head, and Topanga offers her a small smile. "Little advice, girl to girl — the good ones don't care what you look like. And I'm talking boyfriends and friends. The only thing that matters is exactly the point you were trying to make to Cory." She tells her.

"I know, but..." The younger girl sighs as she takes the ends of her hair in both of her hands and looks at the different lengths.

"There's no such thing as perfect, Topanga." She says. "There are too many differences in the world to call any one thing perfect. Take you and me, for example."

"What do you mean?"

"Come here." Letty leads her over to the mirror and pulls her hair back so the different lengths aren't showing anymore. "Nothing about us is similar. About the only thing we have in common is that we're both girls."

"So?"

"So... Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, my skin is darker than yours, and while my hair obviously doesn't look like this without a curling iron, our natural hair is still different." She describes herself. "You — dirty-blonde hair, blue-green eyes, lighter skin, straight hair. The height difference is obvious... And there isn't a single ugly girl in this bathroom."

"Yeah, I guess." She says as she pulls her hair forward again.

"Topanga, Cory liked you even after you drew all over your face in red lipstick." She reminds her, and the younger girl starts laughing. "I have your scissors, and I can even out your hair until you can get to a salon or somethin'."

"Really?" Topanga asks, and she nods.

"As long as you realize that you're not beautiful because of your hair. You're beautiful because you're unique. There's no one else in the world like Topanga Lawrence." Letty tells her, and she smiles.

"Thanks, Scarlett."

—

"Hey, gorgeous, how was your day?" Eric asks as Letty walks into the living room where he's sitting on the couch with a gallon of milk and a huge bowl of cereal.

"More productive than yours, I'll bet." The brunette tells him.

"You talked to Shawn then?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"No. I cut Topanga's hair, went to English, harassed Turner, was avoided by Shawn, had a few more classes, and now I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Sounds like fun." He smirks as she moves the milk and cereal so that she can sit with him on the couch.

"What'd you do all day anyway? Isn't this where you were sitting when I left this morning?" She asks as she puts her legs across his lap and leans against the pillow that's resting against the arm of the couch.

"All day long, I've been watching crimes on tv solved by old guys, by fat guys, by guys with wrinkled raincoats." He tells her. "So, naturally, it occurs to me, what the world needs is Eric Matthews: Good Looking Detective."

"Mhm. How about Eric Matthews, Get Off Your Ass."

"Check it out, I already thought of a theme song." And then he starts singing. "When a crime breaks out, his really cute girl shouts—" He leans over and taps his knuckle under her chin, making her laugh. "—get the good-lookin' guy. When there's a crime out there, he's gonna comb his hair, 'cause he's the good-lookin' guy." He flips his hair and smiles at her as he says the next line. "Book 'im, good-lookin'."

She chuckles as she shakes her head. "Can I be your side-kick?" She asks, and he nods with a huge, cheesy grin on his face.

"If it means I get to keep you with me all day, every day." He leans over as he wraps his arms around her. "Do I get to kiss you too?"

"Hm-m." She shakes her head as she leans back, but that doesn't deter him in the slightest.

"That's okay, I don't need your lips to kiss you." He presses his lips to her cheek, and her laugh turns to a giggle as he trails kisses down to her neck.

"Stop, that tickles!" She grabs his hands at her waist as the front door opens, and Morgan walks in with their mom right behind her.

"Ew!" The little blonde yells, and Mrs. Matthews laughs as Morgan runs up the stairs.

Eric groans as he presses his back into the couch cushions and shoves his arm under Letty's body so that his hand hangs over the edge of the couch on the other side of her. He then rests his head on her shoulder and nestles his forehead into her neck, his eyes closed.

"Dare I ask what's going on in here?" His mom asks as she takes off her jacket and walks over to the table that's by the back door, behind the couch.

"He's trying to keep me from making him get up." The brunette tells her. "He knows that I'm gonna drag him around town looking for a job."

"He was supposed to be doing that already. What's he been doing all day?"

"Watching tv, fantasizing about being a good-looking detective."

"A what?" She questions.

"Sing her the song." Letty taps on the side of Eric's head as she hooks her elbow around the back of his shoulders. He starts singing, his eyes still closed, and the brunette smiles at his mom when he finishes the theme song. "He's a little dopey, but he's cute." She says, and he pinches her side. "Ow!" She smacks his head, and he chuckles as he wraps his arms around her, hugging the teenage girl.

"Well, I wish he were doing like he's supposed to, but this picture here—" Mrs. Matthews motions to the two teenagers. "—is pretty cute... I would, however, prefer that he were wearing pants."

"I wouldn't." Eric smirks, and then both girls smack his head. "Ow!" He glares at Letty, but his expression softens when she smiles innocently at him.

The next day, Letty gets home from school, and she finds Eric in the same exact spot as the day before. "Hey, gorgeous." He smiles at her, and she shakes her head. "Come, cuddle with me like yesterday." He pats the cushion beside him.

"Get up." She walks over and grabs the green bathrobe that he's been wearing for the past two days to pull him to his feet. "Come on. Off your ass, Matthews."

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to go get dressed — as in, put on some damn pants — and then we're looking for jobs." She tells him. "No complaining, no excuses. Go. Now."

"I like when you boss me around." He smiles as he looks at her over his shoulder, and she pushes him toward the stairs as she shakes her head at his comment.