⌜ chapter twenty-two ⌟

"Eric!" Letty calls after him as she quickly walks out of the bedroom as well, then she follows him downstairs and into the living room.

"Eric, you are not leaving tomorrow." His dad says, and Eric turns around to face his parents then, so Letty moves behind him to let them talk.

"Yeah, I am."

"No. Maybe you didn't hear me. You are not leaving tomorrow." He repeats as Letty leans against the front door. "You haven't gotten your letter of acceptance to college yet."

"I'm on the waitlist. The official acceptance comes, like, a day before classes. And I'm not giving this trip up." He tells them as he walks across the living room and then turns to face them again, now standing by the fireplace.

"Look, you are upset about your brother. Eric, you are not thinking this through." His mom argues as she walks over to him and rests her hands on his arms.

"What's the difference — a week here, a week there?" He questions.

"Eric, maybe when you're a parent and your first child is about ready to leave home, you will understand that every day- every minute makes a difference."

"You guys..." He takes a few steps away from them. "You don't think I'm not freaked about leaving? About going to college? Being on my own? Doing my own laundry? I'm having nightmares! Whites, easy. Darks, easy. What about my white shirt with black stripes?! What then?!" He's starting to freak out.

"So?" His dad questions. "This is tough on all of us."

"Look, that's why I think it's just gonna be easier if I take off now." He says as he starts walking back toward Letty.

"You know, we have this goodbye dinner planned for you." His mom tells him.

"If you can move the dinner to tomorrow night, I'll stay an extra day." Eric says. "Please."

His parents look at each other, and Mrs. Matthews shrugs as she shakes her head. "We'll think about it." His dad tells him.

"Thank you."

"And another little bit of advice..." He continues as he turns his body to face him entirely. "You take that extra day, and you try and figure out what is bothering your brother."

"I've shared that room with him for fifteen years; I have no idea what's bothering him." Eric tells him.

"Ah, well, maybe that's your answer." Mr. Matthews says, and his son looks back at Letty as he remembers what she was saying in his room earlier.

"Maybe I could've tried to balance things a little better." He says as he walks over to the girl that he's loved for years.

"If there's one thing that I've learned in all this crazy lately, it's that you can't dwell so much on the past." She tells him as she stands up straight, and he pulls her to him. "You know something's bothering him now, work with that and move forward. Like you said upstairs, you can fix a fight with your brother." She says, and he nods.

—

They're all at Chubbie's for the goodbye dinner for Eric, and he's standing between his parents by a table that's filled with food. "We're so glad you stayed." His mom tells him, and he smiles.

"Yeah, so am I." He agrees. "This dinner party's really cool. It was a good idea to have Cory's friends here too."

"Well, considering how he feels about Shawn and Topanga leaving for the Summer, we thought it'd be a good idea for him." She says as she looks over at where Cory's rocking side-to-side with his arms around both of his friends' shoulders.

Mr. Matthews walks away from them then, going to sit at the table that Letty and Morgan are sat at. The brunette catches Eric's eye, and she smiles when she sees him looking over at her.

Mr. Feeny stands up, tapping a fork against his glass to get everyone's attention as he walks over to where Eric's standing. "If I may, I have something more to say." He tells the crowd gathered in the restaurant.

"Oh, no." Morgan presses her fingers to the side of her forehead, and Letty chuckles before taking a drink of her milk shake.

The little blonde's dad shushes her as his wife sits down beside Letty. "He's gonna be your principal one day." He tells her, whispering so no one apart from their table can hear him.

"Oh, no."

"Sorry." Letty puts a hand over her mouth when Mr. Matthews looks at her because she's laughing at Morgan's commentary. Mrs. Matthews has to suppress a laugh as well when her eyes meet the teenager's.

"Eric, earlier this year, it was doubtful that you would graduate, but you responded to the pressure, applied yourself, and not only grew as a student, but as a person. And I, for one, couldn't be happier." His former teacher tells him.

"Thank you, Mr. Feeny." Eric says with a smile.

"Oh, also, I brought a little gift." He walks away for a moment before returning to where Eric's standing. "I took the liberty to pull this and have it framed — your high school diploma." He turns it so everyone else can see, and they all clap.

"Oh, Mr. Feeny, thank you." He takes it and then sets it on the table in front of him. "And I know how much you hate to be touched, but give me this one." He then moves forward and hugs him.

"If we're giving speeches..." Letty walks over to him as he stands up straight, and Feeny walks back over to his seat. "I'm gonna keep it short because I hate crowds looking at me, but... How old were we when we met — seven, eight?"

"Somewhere in there." He nods.

"You were annoying — still are, most days." She teases, and he laughs. "We became much better friends during the seventh grade, when we were able to share a few classes. And in all the years that I've known you, you've grown a lot as both a student and a person. And I think you grew even more in the times when you doubted yourself, 'cause you always came out of it better than when you started. So, like I've said for years now, I'm proud of you, Eric. And whatever comes next, I believe in you to do the best that you can."

"Thank you." He says, and she smiles as he pulls her into his side, wrapping both arms around her. "I love you." Eric whispers as he kisses her forehead.

Mr. Matthews walks behind them to get to where Cory's sitting with his friends. "Hey, buddy, don't you want to say something?" He asks his son.

"No, that's okay." Cory shakes his head.

"Come on, Cory. He's your brother, you should say something." Topanga tells him.

"No, I don't have anything planned."

"You know, I really don't think I could've done this without everyone in this room believing in me." Eric says as he looks around and his hold on Letty tightens for a moment. "That's why this diploma, which signifies my intelligence, belongs as much to you as it does to me."

"Hang on, I do have a toast to make." Cory says as he grabs his glass and stands up. "Attention, everybody." He walks over and hesitates as he looks at the older boy.

Eric refuses to let Letty leave his side for multiple reasons. One: he doesn't like having everyone look at him either; and two: he's a little nervous about what his brother's going to say because of their fight yesterday. But Eric still smiles as he looks hopefully and expectantly at Cory.

"To my brother, Eric...who's moving out. And not just for four years. Probably forever...and I don't even know him, not like you do." Cory adds as he looks at the brunette who's tucked into his brother's side. "...and now I probably never will. Fifteen years in the same room, Eric. Fifteen years." He holds his hand out to his older brother, who then removes his arm from around Letty so that he can shake Cory's hand. "Goodbye." He says, and then starts to walk past them. "I-I hope you guys have a nice life. I really do. We all know that you two are gonna be together forever." He says, and Eric looks at Letty as Cory glances around the room. "I'm sorry, everyone."

Cory quickly leaves the restaurant, and Letty takes a deep breath as she watches him go. She then looks back at Eric, seeing the hurt and remorse written so clearly on his face. The younger girl wants to help him like he always helps her, but she doesn't know what to say.

"Are you okay?" Letty mouths as she reaches for Eric's hand, and he nods. However, his bone-crushing grip on her fingers tells a different story. She moves closer to him again and rests her free hand on the side of his face, and he closes his eyes as he leans his head into her palm.