Riley's room had been painfully empty ever since the night of New Year's Eve. She couldn't believe that Farkle had done it, actually done it. There, in front of everyone, in front of them, Farkle had said what she had been keeping secret ever since their trip to Texas. He had told them that she still liked Lucas, and in doing so, had revealed that she had been lying to Lucas and keeping a secret from Maya. She should be angry at him, furious even, but all she felt at the moment was a cross between sadness and loneliness. Maya was supposed to have slept over that night, but, after the three of them had just sat there on the bench in awkward silence, she had muttered that she thought it best that she leave. Lucas, darling, gentlemanly Lucas, offered to walk her home, and while there had been more of that awkward staring between them for a moment, she had agreed. Riley would have spent the remainder of the night up there if her mother hadn't eventually come up to get her. If this was what the New Year was to bring to her, Riley just wanted to sleep until it was over.
No one had come over since. She couldn't exactly remember where the habit started, maybe that very first day when Maya had first come through her window, but her bedroom was sort of ground zero for all of them. Whenever someone was bored, whenever something was wrong, just whenever, at least one friend would come crawling through. No one had shown up since then, and no one had messaged her either, not that she had sent any messages herself.
Her feelings were conflicted; she had been trying so hard to do her best by Maya, Maya who, for all her teasing, truly had a terrible life at times. This was why Riley had been so willing to step back and let her have her time with Lucas, no matter how much it hurt her to see them together. Maya had had such few moments of happiness in her life, trusted so few people that Riley had been fully prepared to let her have this. After all, feelings were just feelings right? She was sure that hers could change. After all, if Farkle, despite nine years of declaring his love for them, could move on to Smackle, then she was certain that she could move on as well. Just...not with Charlie...or had she made a mistake there as well?
Riley groaned and pulled a pillow over her head. She waited, half expecting Maya, with her perchance for good timing, to crawl through the bay window and speak to her. But no, there was no tell tale sound and, finally, pulling the pillow off her head, Riley found her room empty, as was becoming the norm, a norm she did not want. She sat up excitedly when her phone beeped, and she lunged across the bed to grab it. Her excitement faded seconds later. It was from Farkle. She had honestly not thought too much about him since that night, her mind had been too preoccupied. But now she felt a kernel of anger roiling about in her stomach. This was his fault. If only he hadn't opened his big mouth none of this would have happened. Maya and Lucas would have had their big moment at midnight and she...well she didn't know how she would be.
She sighed, and despite her emotions, opened the message.
"I'll be at the subway cafe in an hour."
That was it, no apology, no explanation, just an expectation for her to be there. She dropped the phone with a huff. After what he had done, did he really expect that she would leave her beautiful world of mopedom to come talk to him? She didn't want his apology, and neither did she really think that she was ready to forgive him. Not yet. He had caused her too much pain...okay, well, he had added a new dimension to it. Farkle would be waiting there a very long time if he expected her to meet him. That would teach him to butt out of things that really were not his affair.
Despite what his text had said, Farkle didn't bother to get to the cafe until nearly two hours later. He knew Riley, sometimes better than he thought she knew herself. For a Sunday afternoon the place was rather free, and so, after ordering two hot chocolates, he walked pass several dirty tables to an isolated pair of seats near a wall. He paused for a moment to smile fondly at the pair of tables they had sat on the year before while he was deciding who to take to the Buggy Awards with him. Life had been so much simpler for all of them back then, he thought with a hint of nostalgia as he settled down in his seat and stretched out, relaxing.
Glancing at his watch, he made a mental calculation, Riley would have spent nearly an hour convincing herself that he could sit here and be cold all on his own until he learnt a lesson. Then, she would storm out of her bedroom, prepared to make a bowl of Coco Puffs and milk with Hershey's chocolate on top to wallow with. Her parents, probably her mom, would ask her what was going on. Riley would stuff her face for a few seconds before telling her about the text and how she hoped he would choke on a marshmallow. Then her mother would say something oh so wise and Riley would get sentimental. Then she would panic and realise that nearly an hour and a half had passed, she would throw on her coat (her mom would have to remind her to put on her outside shoes) and then she would run here, and arrive out of breath right about...
Farkle resisted the urge to pat himself on the back as just then Riley, out of breath with windswept hair nearly ran into a wall before stopping herself. He laughed as she spotted him and her chest puffed out as she made a dignified attempt to fix her appearance and affix a demeanour of nonchalance before she sort of stalked over in what she thought was a mature way. Out of habit, Farkle stood and pulled out her chair.
"Thank you Mr. Minkus," she said in that proper voice of hers and, as he pushed it in, Farkle used the opportunity to grin. He knew how this conversation would end, he knew everything, but it was a bit amusing to watch it unfurl.
"Miss Matthews," he replied politely before resuming his seat and pushing a cup toward her. "Hot chocolate with extra marshmallows."
She reached out, and her gloveless hands wrapped curiously around it. "It's still hot," she said, a bit of wonder in her tone.
He just shrugged, there was no need to reply to that. He waited until she had drunk some of it, his eyes lingering on the smile she hid behind the rim of the mug before she sipped more. She was adorable, entirely too adorable and innocent for her own good, and if he could do so, Farkle would ensure that the Riley Committee existed forever just to ensure that the precious girl across from him was never hurt in such a way that she lost that innocence. That, more than anything else, would be the true tragedy.
"I thought Riley," he began after she put down the cup and started playing with the rim of it, "that we need to clear the air between us. We have a week of vacation left, and while I do find my time with Smackle quite pleasant, I would hate if all the time passed without me spending time with my friends, all of them."
Riley kept her eyes firmly down, "This is your fault Farkle," she finally said, and while he knew she wanted to insert anger into her tone, it came out instead as a questioning, sort of confused lilt, as though she wasn't really sure if he was to blame. Which in a way he was, and yet, wasn't. Riley, in her usual way of wanting to ensure that everything was glitter and butterflies, had backed herself into this corner, and while she seemed content to remain there wallowing in it, it was not something Farkle wanted for her. He wanted more for her, but more than that, he wanted a resolution to the situation before it became too overwhelming for her and she had a meltdown. That would be worse than whatever pain she was going through right now.
"What's my fault, Riley?" he asked, "me telling Lucas and Maya, or what you're feeling right now?"
"All of it," she responded, glancing up at him, and he found himself saddened at the confusion clear in her eyes. "No one has spoken to me since that night, Farkle."
"Because no one knows what to say," he told her gently. "Look Riley, I knew you think what you did was for Maya, but I don't think you realised that you put Lucas into an awkward position."
"What? What did I do?"
"Think about it Riley," Farkle said patiently. "How did you think it was for Lucas to suddenly have you declare that your feelings for him were platonic? And then a day later for you to turn around and say that Maya liked him? What do you think that did to him?"
Riley's body tensed. "What I expected was for him to realise that he likes Maya too and for them to..." she drifted off for a moment before looking at him, "Lucas didn't think we were platonic Farkle?"
"Look," he told her, "Lucas and I, and well Zay now I suppose, we talk, the same way you and Maya do. Remember what Lucas said about the Semi-Formal? He thought that it was just assumed that the two of you would go together. Why would he think that Riley?"
"He never answered that question."
"But why would he Riley?" he insisted, leaning closer to her, "Tell me."
"Because...he thought...that even though we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend...that we were still...something?"
"That's my not so dumb-dumb," he praised, a teasing lilt briefly colouring his words. "You and Lucas' first shot at a...relationship, wasn't right, I know that now. You two ending it was for the best. But did you ever for a minute think that that meant the end for the two of you?"
Riley shook her head, "I guess...I guess I just always assumed that later on, when the time was right...we would try again."
"Exactly," he said, "and that night, in Texas, after Lucas won, he was going to ask you to try it again, Riley."
"And then I snowballed him by telling him I wanted to be his sister," she concluded, her tone dropping. "I ruined everything." She was silent for several minutes, but Farkle allowed it, sipping on his drink while wondering if he should have gotten her a brownie as well. This seemed like the type of conversation that warranted a lot of chocolate.
"It doesn't matter," she said suddenly, and he focussed on her again. "I had already figured out that Maya had liked him-"
"That you think Maya likes him," Farkle corrected.
"Why do you say that? Why do you keep saying that Farkle?" she asked. "You keep saying that you're not certain of how Maya feels."
"Because she isn't," he said decisively.
"Did she tell you that?"
"She doesn't have to. I know Maya as good as I know you Riley, and you know your feelings. Maya...not so much. Maya doesn't know how she feels right now, but that's okay. Feelings are new for us, your father taught us that."
"And that's why you told everyone," Riley deduced, "because my hiding it was making matters worse."
"Ding ding ding," he said. "You went on that date with Charlie Gardner because you wanted Lucas and Maya to believe that you really didn't like him as anything more than a brother. And if I hadn't given you that deadline, I think you would have agreed to be his girlfriend Friday night, even though that's not at all what you want."
"Charlie's a good guy..."
"But not the guy you like," he finished. "Look Riley, I know a lot of things, but I'll admit that I don't know how this thing between you, Lucas and Maya is going to end. Well, I do know, but that's for you dumb-dumbs to figure out."
"But they'll be good for each other," she argued, wringing her hands, "everyone says that."
"And everyone said you and Lucas should have been boyfriend and girlfriend because you kissed him. And how did that work out?"
"Not good."
"Exactly, so maybe you shouldn't listen to everyone else. Maybe you should spend more time listening to what Riley thinks, and what Riley wants."
"What I want Farkle," she said slowly, "is for Maya to be happy."
"And will Maya be happy knowing that you are not?"
She had no answer for that. "Why don't you just tell me, Farkle?" she demanded. "You said you know what's going to happen, how this is going to end. So why don't you just tell me? Who is going to date Lucas? Me? Maya?"
"Like I said, I'm not going to tell you that," he told her gently, and reached out to cover both her hands in his. Soothingly he rubbed his thumbs over her smooth skin as he looked up into her eyes. "What I am going to tell you Riley Matthews is that you need to do what is right for you and your friends. Everything is out in the open now, you guys just have to address it."
Riley moved, easing her hands out of Farkle's only to cover his instead. "You really do care about me, don't you Farkle?" she said softly, offering him a gentle smile."
"I will always care about you," he promised.
"I know," she said, nodding, "I've never believed it more than now."
"I'm sorry I hurt you," he answered, echoing his statement from that dreadful night, "and I hope you can forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive," she responded, squeezing his hands. "You will never lead me astray and so I'm going to put my trust in you and in this."
"Thank you," he responded sincerely.
"I-I think I should go to Maya now," she said, "we need to talk."
"That you do," he agreed, "and I'm sure Lucas will text you soon. Don't worry too much about it."
"And you'll come over tomorrow?" she asked, a bit shyly.
"I will," he promised. "Now go. It'll start getting dark soon. I don't want you out by yourself in the dark. And let your dad pick you up if you aren't going to spend the night at her place."
"I will."
"Because I love you Riley, but you're no Maya. I want you safe."
"I will text you when I reach Farkle," she promised, finally releasing his hands, "and I'll let you know where I'm sleeping tonight. Thank you for this, I really needed to hear this."
"Anytime Riley," he said. As she stood Farkle slipped the gloves off his hands, offering it to her. She smiled brightly and slipped her hands into them.
"Always caring for me," she murmured, before walking around the table. Farkle fought a grin as she bent and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
"See you later Farkle," she said, meeting his eyes briefly before walking away.
Farkle pressed his hand against the spot for a long moment, and allowed a goofy smile to take reign on his face. Yup, he had been right about that conversation. Everything between him and Riley was once more exactly how it should be.
"Thank you, I am Farkle!" he murmured to himself before chuckling.
All would be right in Rileytown and by extension the world, once again.