⌜ chapter two ⌟

"Come on, it'll be fun." Eric says as he and his girlfriend walk toward his locker, and Letty shakes her head.

"Nothing about a double date sounds fun." The brunette argues as she leans against his locker.

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, I'm less likely to do this with Hope and Dean sitting across from us." She reaches out and grabs the front of his sweater, pulling him closer to her. Eric closes the distance between them and kisses her.

He smiles as he rests his forehead against hers a few seconds later. "And the girlfriend wins again." He says, making Letty laugh as she pulls back and looks at him.

"Ah, Mr. Matthews." Their teacher gets their attention as he walks over to them.

"Yes, Mr. Feeny?"

"The clock is ticking." He tells him, and the teenagers glance at each other. "That ten page paper you owe me."

"What?" Eric asks, confused. "The semester just started, you never said anything about a paper."

"I'm talking about the paper that was due last year." He says, and Letty sighs as she shakes her head.

"Oh, I forgot about that one." He sighs and then glances at his girlfriend when he feels her pull lightly at his sweater, getting a small piece of lint off of it.

"Now, I suggest you get that paper to me by Monday, or your incomplete will become an F completely." Feeny tells him.

"That's not gonna happen, Mr. Feeny. There's a girl right here..." He leans against Letty, sandwiching her between him and his locker. "...who makes me do my homework."

The brunette smiles as Feeny looks at her. "I didn't know that this paper wasn't turned in, but now that I do, he'll get it to you by Monday." She tells him.

"Should I bring these problems straight to you from now on?" The teacher asks, and she nods.

"Actually, that'd be great." Eric smiles as her arms wind around his torso.

"We should've come up with this arrangement sooner." He says, and then walks away from them.

"You're crushing me." Letty says as she pats her boyfriend's chest.

"Like this?" He presses his back into her, and she groans. The brunette starts laughing as she rests her head on the back of his shoulder. And then he stands up straight, pulling him with her.

But their laughter quickly dies out when they hear, "Look, she won't let him get away." A girl nearby whispers.

"Trailer girl's just desperate for someone to love her." The girl beside her says, and Letty's arms drop from around her boyfriend.

Eric shakes his head as he turns to face her. "Don't listen to them. They don't know anything about you, and they sure as hell don't know anything about us." He says, and she looks up at him.

"I have to get to class. I'll talk to you later." The brunette says before walking away from him.

"Lett—" He sighs as he watches her go, and then he looks back at the girls that made her upset in the first place. He shakes his head and then starts for his next class.

Letty and Eric are at his house after school, and he's telling her about his paper. "It's on something called the Manhattan Project." He tells her, and she smirks.

"Something?" She echoes, and he shrugs.

"Yeah, I only half listen." He says, and she hums as she shakes her head at him.

"Hey, were there any phone calls for me?" Cory asks as he makes his way down the stairs.

"Oh, right, Topanga called — sounded important." Eric says as he looks up at his younger brother from his seat at the kitchen table. "Said she'd be at the number for half an hour. That was about an hour ago, so I didn't write it down."

"Eric, I've been upstairs all afternoon waiting for that call." He tells him. "How could you do this to me?" He questions.

"Settle down, Cor, you're acting like this is the first time." The older boy says as he stands up and walks past his brother, heading over to stand on the other side of the island.

"Well, it's the last time, bub." He says as he moves to stand across from him, and Letty scoffs, knowing that that's not true.

"Hey, little bro, life's tough. Get a helmet." He smacks Cory's forehead with the palm of his hand, and the brunette shakes her head at the brothers.

"You know, we're supposed to be working on your report." Letty says as she stands up and walks over to her boyfriend.

"Yes, I know, but..." Eric wraps his arm around her and pulls her into his side. "I'd rather make fun of Cory and then make out with you."

"Mm... Maybe after your report's done."

"You two are gross." Cory says as the back door opens, and Shawn walks into the kitchen. The younger boy glances between his best friend and his older brother's girlfriend nervously.

"Hunter, hey, you're staying with us this weekend. That's great, you guys don't spend enough time together." Eric says sarcastically as he turns his body, making Letty turn with him since he's still holding her. "Why don't you guys just wear, like, one big shirt?"

"Ooh, can we do that?" Letty asks as she looks up at her boyfriend, and he smiles.

"Can we?"

"Will you finish your report?" She smiles, and he glares at her, making her chuckle. "Come on, we have a lot of work to do. And by we, I mean you." The brunette moves away from him to start for the stairs.

"You're not gonna say anything to me?" Shawn asks, and she stops on the bottom step as she turns to look at him. "You were gone all Summer, you've been home for a week, and this is the first time that we've actually been in the same room. You gotta have something you wanna say to me after what I said. Yell, scream, tell me what a horrible brother I am."

Letty looks at him for a second while Eric gets his stuff from the table. "Nice shirt." She says, and then turns around and heads up the stairs.

Eric looks at Shawn once he reaches where she had been standing. "I don't know what you said to her. I don't need to know for me to know that it was really, really bad. I think you're gonna need to apologize, and you're gonna have to make it good. Then, after you're done with that, you can grovel a little." He tells him and then goes upstairs to work on his paper.

Letty and Eric spend the entire weekend working on his report, and he spent about ninety percent of the time complaining and flirting with his girlfriend as well. But now it's Sunday, and it's finally done.

"I bet you it's great." Letty says, and Eric looks at her. The two of them are sitting on his bed.

"I don't wanna talk about the paper anymore. That's all that we've talked about for the last three days." He says. "I want to do something else now." He smirks as he leans toward her.

"I wonder what that something might be." She smiles as he presses his lips against hers. He then rests his hand on the side of her face as her fingers curl around his sweatshirt. She reluctantly breaks the kiss as she pulls back to look at him. "I really can't stay any later, I actually have a curfew tonight."

"John's back?" He asks, and she nods.

"He got in a few hours ago, so I have to get back." She tells him, and he nods.

"Okay." He pecks her lips one more time, and then she gets up to grab her stuff before heading downstairs and back to the motel.

Monday morning, the two teenagers are standing at Eric's locker when Mr. Feeney walks over to them. "Ah, Mr. Matthews, there you are. I've just graded your paper." The older man says, gaining both of their attention.

"Oh, yeah. How'd I do?" Eric asks as he grabs Letty's hand. His girlfriend smiles as she rubs his arm and leans into his side.

"Not bad." He opens the file so that they can see. "C plus."

"Really?" He pulls the paper closer to him so that he can see it for himself. "That's better than I thought I would do." He quickly turns and hugs Letty to him.

"Yes, well, it appears Miss Black is a good influence on you." Mr. Feeny says. "Keep up the good work."

"Yeah, she's the best." Eric says as Feeny walks away from them.

"Eric, you did all the work yourself. I just helped a bit." The brunette says as she wraps her arms around his middle, and he nods.

"Yeah, but I only did the work because you were there with me." He tells her. "If it weren't for you, I probably would've just paid someone else to do it, and then the grade wouldn't have been mine. But you've always believed in me more than I believe in myself."

"I'll always believe in you." Letty smiles as she looks up at him. "I'm really proud of you." She says, and he smiles as he leans down and presses his lips firmly against hers.