Everyone Can See It (Discontinued)

Cory Matthews

(Original A/N: If I had to pick whose chapter would be harder to write between Cory and Topanga, I would've said Topanga. But wow was I wrong.)

Cory Matthews was no dope.

Yes, there was much evidence to the contrary – probably provided by his lovely wife Topanga and not by Shawn, Cory would like to point out - but he was no dope when it came to important things. Like schemes. Or mashed potatoes. Definitely his family.

And love he thought as he watched his teenage daughter and her best friend laugh and continually nudge each other with their feet under the café table at Topanga's. He shared a smile with Katy at the girls' antics and went back to planning the week ahead. Especially love.

He knew. Of course he knew.

He was Cory of "Cory and Topanga". He recognized love when he saw it.

==

He loved Riley from the moment he knew she existed. Technically five minutes after he found out due to a brief fainting spell but since then, nothing but solid fatherly love. He was a bit more prepared when he found out Topanga was pregnant with Auggie: only a two minute blackout. The point is: he was excited to be a dad. He was also terrified.

It was every parent's dilemma, he realized after talking about it with Topanga, his own parents, and Mr. Feeny who may not have had his own kids but still raised hundreds.

You want the best for your children. You want them to explore the world and find their place in it. Find love. Be happy. You also never want them to get hurt and those two lines of thinking were in direct contradiction of each other. That still didn't stop him from looking into Riley's eyes for the first time, so much like his own, and promising her both the world and that no one would ever hurt her in the same breath.

The moment he met Maya all those years ago, he's pretty sure he scared her by yelling in shock at seeing a random child come out of his daughter's room. He's also pretty sure she's made it her life's mission to give him at least one heart attack, especially when it involved his daughter:

==

"This is crazy!" Riley yelled, gesturing at her phone. The two of them were watching videos in his eighth grade classroom after school, waiting for him to finish grading papers under the promise of receiving pizza as payment.

"We're doing this, Riles."

"Actually, you're crazy."

"We're doing this."

"We'll probably die, Maya."

"There's only a small chance of that happening, Honey. As soon as we're both eighteen, that's how we're celebrating."

"Are you gonna make me ring power this crazy idea?" Cory saw Maya's smile falter for a second.

"Do you...really not want to do this? Because we won't if you don't-"

"Ring power."

"What?"

"Ring power. As soon as we're both eighteen, we'll do this. And if we die, I get to say I told you so as many times as I like and decide what's written on our tombstone." Riley held up her hand. "So?"

Maya grabbed her hand, their rings clinking together. "Ring power." She smiled.

"What are you two watching?" He chose that moment to interrupt them, partly because he was done grading and partly because they looked so close to having their first kiss and he didn't want to ruin that moment for them by freaking out and chasing Maya out of the room. Riley showed him the phone and all he could see from this distance was clouds, buildings, a flimsy parachute, and a human being going faster than a human being was ever meant to go. "Yeah, you two are not doing that."