"Thank you for letting me be selfish, Shawn." Angela smiled at him, and drew her hand out of his. The moment their hands lost contact, Shawn knew what his face looked like. It felt like it had when he had seen Jonathan in the hospital, and when his dad had died, and every time someone he loved had left him. He knew that he looked like a puppy who had been kicked, but he didn't care.

"Please, don't leave me." Shawn closed his eyes for a moment. Maybe when he opened them, Angela would be at his side. He opened them, but she was still standing with her father, across the room. For Shawn, it might as well have been across the world. "Please, Angela." Tears came to his eyes. "Please don't leave me." He sank to the floor, all willpower to stand simply gone.

"Shawn, I'll never really leave you. We'll always have each other, in our hearts." Angela crossed the room and sat down next to him. She put her arms around him, and just held him.

"Don't go. I'm begging you. Everyone I ever loved left me, and not one of them came back."

"I'm coming back, Shawn. It's just a year."

"My dad took off for a week or two. That turned into two years, and after a quick visit, it was another two years. Then another quick visit, during which he died. He left, Angela! He was never coming to me, he was always running from me. My mother, who never actually was my real mother, just took off. I never saw her again. My parents-the people who were supposed to raise me, just left, and never came back."

"Shawn-"

"Jonathan left. It wasn't really his choice, I guess, but he's not here now, is he? All of the people who have ever loved me are gone. Some by choice, and some by death. But they're all gone."

"So who are Cory, Topanga, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, Morgan, Eric, Joshua, Rachel, and most importantly, Jack?"

"They aren't you." Shawn wrapped his arms around Angela.

"Don't you wish that you'd had an opportunity to really get to know your dad?"

"Don't leave." Shawn pleaded.

"That's not an answer." Angela said quietly.

"Please, listen to me!"

"You listen to me, Shawn Hunter-I will always come back to you. Always. Never doubt that. Right now, I need to spend time with my dad. I will be back in one year. Please let me do this."

"I'm not "letting" you do anything. You're just doing it!" Shawn cried out, exasperatedly.

"You are letting me do this, Shawn. If you weren't, I wouldn't be."

"If I asked you to stay, you would?"

"Yes." Angela said, her heart pounding. Could Shawn see what she was trying to get him to see?

"I can't ask you to, can I?" Shawn realized, and Angela smiled. He saw.

"Come to Europe with us. Just for the first month. It wouldn't be fun without you."

"Really?"

"Sure." Angela slipped her arms around Shawn, and knew he understood why she needed to do this.