A Wish Come True For Christmas (and All Year)

[katleept]

Title: A Wish Come True For Christmas (and All Year)
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Boy Meets World
Character/Pairing: Cory/Shawn, Cory/Topanga, Angela
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge/Prompt: smallfandomflsh #164: Shirk
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,459
Date Written: 19 December, 2015
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.



"Are you sure about this, Topanga?" Angela asks for the dozenth time since Topanga first told her of her idea just thirty minutes ago.

"Yes. Absolutely." Topanga nods fervently.

"Cory hasn't been . . . shirking his husbandly duties, has he?"

Topanga blushes lightly, but her smile is still in place. "No. He's always been a complete sweetheart."

"Then why . . . ?"

"Because I know him. I know them, and so do you, Angela. You know there's something between them."

"There was something between them, but you guys are married now! If Shawn had any complaints, he's lost his right to voice them!"

"No, he hasn't. He's Cory's best friend, and more than that, and Cory's always going to love him. In some ways, he loves him more than he does me."

Angela searches her friend's face and eyes for some sign of the sorrow she feels she must be feeling, but she can find none. "This is crazy!"

"No, it's not. It's love. Those two love each other, and they have since maybe even longer than Cory and I have loved one another. They don't have to share it with the world, but they deserve to know that somebody supports them and still loves them."

"But you are married to Cory!"

"And this is only going to strengthen our marriage."

"How the heck is him kissing another guy going to strengthen your marriage?!"

"Because he'll know I know, and I love him any way. I accept him the way he is, and I'm never going to try to change him -- well, not really, any way, not the big things."

Angela's still looking at her in disbelief when Topanga calls, "Okay, guys, you can come out now!"

Cory's the first to step out. The cold, Pennsylvania Winter hits him the moment he steps out. He shakes despite his thick clothes and rubs his hands together. "Honey, is this really necessary?"

Topanga nods. "Come on, Shawn!"

"What are we doing?" He, too, seems reluctant to step into the snow.

"You're looking above Cory's head," Topanga instructs.

Shawn stares, his jaw going slightly slack and mouth hanging open at the plant above Cory's dark, curly head. "Hum, that's for you," he says finally, looking at Topanga.

"No." Still smiling, she shakes her head. "Not this time. This time, he's for you."

"Topanga -- "

"It's okay, Shawn."

"Topanga -- "

"It's okay, Cory. I know. I understand. I have for a while now."

Shawn looks around them. There's his exgirlfriend, Angela, looking uncertain. Topanga stands next to her, smiling encouragingly and brilliantly. No one else is moving around the neighborhood, not even Feeny. He looks back to Cory.

"Shawn?" His best friend wets his lips nervously. "Are you sure about this?"

"Topanga's usually right."

"Not always."

"She supports you, Cor. I would've given anything to have a woman like her support me in everything once, but what you two share is unique and unbreakable."

"What you share is, too. I promise, Cory, this won't change anything between us."

Cory laughs nervously, his dark eyes darting around them. "Are we on Candid Camera or something?"

"No, Cor." Shawn reaches out to him, and Cory stills when his best friend lays his hand on his cheek. His thumb gently brushes his cold flesh. "We're not. She really supports us. We don't have to hide any more, at least not from your wife." And that means the world to him.

Slowly, he leans in, giving Cory a chance to dart away from him if he chooses. If he doesn't want Topanga to know, if he doesn't want Angela to know, if he just doesn't want to kiss him out here in the open, he'll understand, but he has to take this opportunity for which he's been waiting for years. Slowly, he leans in, giving Cory time, time to . . .

Cory steps forward and presses his lips to Shawn's. The fire is there between them, as always it has been, sending Cory's arms around Shawn's waist and Shawn's free hand to the small of Cory's back. Shawn deepens the kiss, taking the lead as often he does. He wasn't the first to kiss Cory. He waited for years until, during one of his breakups with Topanga, Cory kissed him, and even then waited, insisting that Cory be certain of what, and who, he wanted before they kissed again.

But Cory could never decide. Over time, Shawn came to understand why: Cory loves both Topanga and he whereas, for Shawn, and for Topanga, too, he suspects, there's only ever going to be one person they love with all their hearts. Now, he shows her. He shows the world, he feels, how much he loves Cory as his tongue dives into his mouth, sparking a sweet fued with his tongue.

Cory's moan into their kiss is swiftly followed by Shawn's. Shawn, always aware of all the ways he can possibly hurt Cory, when that's the last thing he ever wants to do, looks out of the corner of his eyes to Topanga and Angela. Angela's standing open mouthed, her long, slender fingers pressed to her lips, but she doesn't matter, not any more. Topanga, standing right next to her, is beaming at them, her hands clasped to her chest in an entirely different manner. Shawn's heart swells more; she's happy for them, genuinely happy.

Shawn lets his eyes drift closed, safe in the knowledge that Topanga truly supports them. Angela might go blabbing at college, but if she does, and Cory decides he doesn't want the world to know about them, Shawn knows it will be three people's word against hers. Topanga won't lie for any other reason, but she will to support Cory, just as he'll do anything for him. He feels Cory melting into their kiss; his arms keep him supported, keep him standing, keep him strong as always. But then with a sigh of satisfaction, Shawn lets himself melt.

He doesn't know how long they stand there in the drifting snow, kissing each other sweetly and passionately, until Cory finally breaks their kiss. His lungs are burning, his lips aching, seared from the heat of Cory's mouth, but he doesn't care. As Cory gasps for breath, he hears light applause and looks over to Topanga. Slowly, brilliantly, he smiles.

His hands takes Cory's, entwining their fingers together, and he turns them both to face his best friend's wife. "Thank you," he says, and he's never meant anything more except for every time he's told Cory he loves him.

She beams at him, still so happy, so happy for them, he realizes, heart and mouth glowing. "You're welcome. Thank you for letting me marry him and sharing him."

Shawn knows he's grinning like a fool; he doesn't care but is still curious. "How long have you known?"

She almost smirks. "For years," she answers, uncertain of when exactly she came to accept what's always been obvious between her love and his best friend.

"So what does this mean, honey?" Cory asks, having finally found his voice and breath again.

She's still beaming at them. "It means, silly," she answers, slipping an arm around Cory's other side, "that we both love you, and we're going to share you for as long as you want us both."

He grins widely. "That's gonna be forever!"

She laughs, a beautiful sound in the icy, Winter breeze. "It better be."

"It will be," he assures, kissing her cheek and then kissing Shawn's.

Shawn, however, has noticed that Angela is still standing stock still, watching them through wide, brown eyes. "Angela?" he asks, preparing to defend Cory from whatever verbal attack she might launch. Topanga, too, looks to her best friend. Finally, Cory looks at her, his grin beginning to disappear.

The three people in all the world for whom she cares about as much as her own family are staring at her, each, in their own way, silently asking not necessarily for her approval but for her acceptance. Slowly, she forces her head to nod and is still nodding when she finds her voice. "Whatever makes you happy."

Grins burst over their faces, and she knows she's said the right thing and made the right choice. Shawn actually whoops as he turns Cory and Topanga around and leads the way back inside, where neither he nor Topanga relinquish Cory's hand. Amy and Alan notice immediately, but neither parent says anything. They just share a secret, knowing smile as Angela shuts the door on the world.

A man steps around a snowman, dusting his gloved hands free of the remaining snow. George Feeny notes the warm glow in the Matthews' window and smiles to himself. Finally, the children have learned the most important lesson, the lesson of love. "Merry Christmas, Cory," he whispers, "Shawn, and Topanga," and heads back into his own abode.

The End