Riarkle fic. So this fic is based off of the song Don't Take the Girl by Tim McGraw. Not too far off of canon but some details have been changed. This is a one shot and I hope you all enjoy reading it. I've never written anything from Girl Meets World before so I hope it's in character. I'm up to all constructive criticisms. Leave a review if you read because they're absolutely my favorite things to read
Twenty Years Ago
Yeah, it was finally warm and sunny near the outskirts of Philadelphia. The summer breeze filled the air, even seeing as it was as early as just past 7:00 in the morning. It was that time when you could feel alone in the world, because no one else was awake yet. It was summer vacation and Cory and Topanga made time to visit their parents back home in Pennsylvania before it was time to go back to work.
They had already been married for almost ten years and a lot had changed. Topanga had graduated from law school and became an associate at her firm, Cory was in his tenth year of teaching at John Quincy Adams Middle School in New York City and they were no longer the struggling little parents of just their little girl, Riley. This time they came home with their now one year old baby boy, Auggie.
Riley had stolen their hearts from the very beginning. She was their ray of sunshine from the very beginning. Labor was easy on Topanga with her, despite it being their first child. Riley wasn't colicky, she napped constantly, and whenever she was awake she was grinning from ear-to-ear and projecting a contagious giggle around their apartment. Even as an eight year old, she was easy. She liked doing the simpler things and she was smarter than a whip. Sometimes they even had a hard time keeping up with her.
That's why when their little Riley saw the guy across the street gearing up to take his son fishing, they realized how much trouble this perfect little girl might soon be.
"Is that Minkus?" Topanga asked, doing an obvious double take while peering out of the window of the Matthew's old living room window. "Topanga!" Cory stopped her, holding his hand up in front of her face. "Stuart Minkus left Philly ages ago. And there's no way that he could have procreated!"
Topanga rolled her eyes. "Be nice, Cory." She warned him, sneaking out the front door to get a closer look. "Stuart?!" she questioned curiously, projecting her voice across the quiet street.
The man turned around and glanced her way. "Topanga? Topanga Lawrence?" He wasn't nearly as nerdy as he was all of those years ago in grade school, but it was obviously he hadn't changed all that much.
She nodded excitedly and then caught glimpse of the boy who appeared to be just a year or so younger than daughter. "Wait a minute, is this, is this your little boy?" She asked, beaming with excitement. She hated that Cory said it, but she never actually thought Minkus would procreate either.
He assured her, "It is. This is my son Farkle—," and Cory must have caught up with them because they caught his mumblings from a distance as "Farkle Minkus, seriously?" to which she turned around and threw a stone cold glare at her husband for.
He continued, almost entirely unbothered by the interruption "No body guard with you today?" Stuart mocked, feigning to search for Shawn somewhere in the distance. Cory sneered slightly. Riley had caught up with her parents and was staring at the boy sitting in the car who was waiting to go fishing. She was asking him a million questions a minute, mostly related to fishing and he was staring at her anxiously, twisting his hands together.
Stuart went on, "We're actually visiting right now, home from New York for the rest of the week. Thought we might go fishing." he laughing quietly, knowing they were already doubting his ability to fish. But strangely enough, it was a hobby he picked up over the years and it was something calming he was able to do with his son who sometimes needed a mind-cleanser as well.
The adults were interrupted by the little girl who had found them again. "Mom, can I go fishing with them? We haven't gone in forever and I'm so sick of watching soap operas with grandma and-," she was going a mile a minute again and Topanga cut her off. "I'm sorry sweetie, I don't think we should be intruding on their vacation time together." She scooped Riley's little hand into hers and smiled gracefully.
Stuart saw no reason why she couldn't go though. They had all essentially grown up a lot since they were the awkward and rambunctious little kids at school. And if he were being honest, he knew his son could use a friend. Or at least someone to practice being somewhat social with. "No, it's no problem. We don't mind. Do we Buddy?" He asked his son who was still sitting quietly in the truck. He shrugged and looked away.
Cory and Topanga took a minute to assess the situation and decided there really wasn't any harm in letting her go. She had been cooped up in the house for a couple of days with their little guy there and all. "Well alright! I'm just going to run across the street with her and get her ready. What do you think Riley?" She asked, and the girl was all but jumping up and down.
When the Matthews' were safely across the street, Farkle had his panic attack. "Dad, really? Why does she have to go?"
Older Minkus shrugged, "We can't leave her behind. Son, I know you don't want her to go, but some day you'll change your mind." The older Minkus was actually quite adept and charming at this point in his life. Marrying Jennifer Bassett had helped his self-confidence immensely.
Farkle begged, "Take Jimmy Johnson, take Tommy Thompson, take my best friend Beau. Take anybody that you want as long as she can't go. Take any boy in the world!" He named all of his friends from Philly that he had before they moved away. He didn't want to talk to a girl all day. Girls never liked him very much.
Stuart gave his son a stern look. They were taking her and yet Farkle was still begging him not to, "Daddy please, don't take the girl!"
By this time Riley had shown back up in her fishing gear and holding a pink sparkly fishing pole. She had a grin that was stretching all the way across her face and she was slightly bouncing up and down. Clearly she hadn't heard the Minkus's because her feelings weren't hurt and she was as chipper as ever. So that was that and they all safely buckled into his parents' old truck and drove out to the lake about 25 minutes away. The kids had a good time, just like he knew they would. Riley seemed to have some type of calming effect on Farkle somehow and they complimented each other. The summer after that Farkle ended up transferring to the same school Riley was at and they became quick friends.
Ten Years Later
The credits rolled and the love struck pair were waiting for everyone to empty the cinema before leaving. They liked waiting for extra bonus scenes that sometimes rolled after the ending credits. But really, they were just comfortable cuddling together in their large recliner movie seats inside the cozy cinema. It was winter in New York City after all. Farkle felt happy, like he wasn't an outsider with her. She always made him feel special and feel noticed. He always made her feel loved and serene. There weren't many people out there who could calm Riley Matthews but he was one of them. They had been close friends since they were eight years old, and they had been dating since the summer before they started high school. Farkle couldn't see his future unless she was in it. She was the peanut butter to his jam, the fire to his ice and the Pluto to his Mars.
Eventually they were the last ones still seated and the janitors had come in to clean the room out for the next show, so they took their snack garbage with them and left. Upon exiting, they tossed it all and decided to take the side exit instead of the major one since it was closer to their subway.
When they finally left the theater, the twinkle and lights of a New York City Christmas hit them like a brick. It was blizzarding outside and they could barely see each other between the clouds of snow twirling about. Farkle could barely see her and just kind of make out her figure next to him when she started twirling circles around him. She slipped her petite hand into his though and pulled him behind her as she slid across the ice and down the quiet and almost mystical street.
As they slid past the closed but still sparkling and illuminated boutiques, they listened to the Christmas music playing along the way. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas covered by Sam Smith was one of their favorite Christmas songs. They were both huge fans of Christmas and holidays in general. It slowed down their walk home and it couldn't have been going any my perfectly. It was romantic, just like the two of them.
Farkle scooped up a big snowball as she slid ahead of him and got ready to plop it in her face. That was surely going to put some more sparkle in her step. He loved poking just enough fun at her the get her Riled-up if you will.
He counted down to himself. In 3, 2….1 and then plopped it lightly into her face. She let out a shrill scream and chased him, trying to get him back. He was so much taller and so lanky that it made him easy to catch. But instead of plopping him with ice cold snow, she gently backed him up into the brick building a few steps back and made it clear that she had control.
"Farkle Minkus. I cannot believe you just attacked me, your lovely, beautiful girlfriend with a freezing cold snow ball!" She laughed, inching so close to him that she was on her very tip toes to even be near his face at all. He was breathing heavily like he did any time she got like this and if he weren't so cold she'd be able to see that rosy blush of his she loved so much.
"I uhh – I mean…" Farkle stammered, trying to buy time so he could collect more fallen snow to twirl into her face. She was peering up at him and he could smell her peppermint lotion radiating off of her. She was his heaven. The only kind he could believe in. Instead of finishing what he was saying he leaned down and placed the most intimate of kisses on her pink lips. He pulled her close and wrapped his long arms around her small torso, holding her as tightly as possible. She sighed and the kiss lingered to where if they were at home they probably would have gotten themselves in trouble. But before he could do that, their play time was interrupted.
A man wearing a black snow cap with a face mask came out of virtually nowhere and had some kind of black pistol in his hand.
"Here! Take it all!" Riley screamed more shrill-like than Farkle had ever heard. She pulled her purple purse off her shoulder and handed it to him. She didn't care about any of it. He waved the gun back and forth, and Farkle just began to break from his frozen stance at that point.
The man grabbed Riley by her arm and pulled her toward him as a hostage. He shouted, "If you do what I tell you to do, there won't be any harm." Farkle freaked.
He was in a panic, like everything he every loved was being ripped from him. "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards. Here's the watch that my Grandpa gave me." He took his watch off and dangled it in front of the man's face. "Here's the key to my car," Farkle whispered, telling him the last intersection he could remember parking his Lexus on. He didn't care about it at all. "Mister give it a whirl, but please don't take the girl."
The tears streaming down his face told him how real his relationship with Riley was. The man must have seen it too because he took everything they threw at him, shoved it all in Riley's purse and took off running down the street into the night.
Five Years Later
Riley was so pregnant she couldn't get out of their bed to pee in the night without waking him up for help. The baby really did cover all of her 5'3, 100 pound frame. The last weigh in at their final doctor appointment had the baby at over 8 pounds and that had her terrified enough. Between her and Farkle she would have assumed they'd have a small baby. They had always both been petite people, until Farkle shot up to giant height that was.
"Babe, Babe…" Riley shook him gently, he was a heavy sleeper. Probably all of the energy he used throughout the day which knocked him out so hard at night.
"My education should not be based on your daughter's mood!" He mumbled and her eyebrows pinched as she remembered that day in middle school history class. The days she was still chasing Lucas Friar, the man Maya had twins with these days. The guy she loved dearly but could not imagine ending up with over Farkle.
"Babe, I have to pee. Your daughter is doing gymnastics on my bladder again." She sighed, trying to rock her way into a sitting position to pull herself off the bed. Once Farkle realized it was her, he shot out of bed immediately.
Even being nine months pregnant, she couldn't not flush over at seeing her husband shirtless. He wasn't built at all, in fact he was the opposite of built. He was taller than she ever thought he'd get, towering just over 6'3. He was pale white too, all except for a small red heart tattooed on the side of his rib cage with Riley's name in it. He called it his early midlife crisis, when he realized that he had never truly done anything crazy ever. One night he came home with it and Riley never knew she had such a thing for tattoos. Or maybe it was just his tattoo. Anyway, about nine months later she was about to pop with his baby.
He gently pulled her up, ignoring the red in her face from her burst of 'hormones'. He was used to it, but at the same time it was something he never wanted to be truly used to.
She waddled to their bathroom in their master bedroom and he waited outside the door. She hated that he did that and could hear her peeing. "Mars! Really? Do you have to listen to me pee? Can't we just keep a little bit between us?"
He groaned because he was used to her mood swings at this point. Because he didn't feel like it was worth arguing, he walked over to their bed. Their tv was still on the Discovery channel and was talking about new Pluto news and it engrossed him. He had to fill Riley in on it when she was done.
She was taking longer than usual so he went to check on her. She was standing, in just one of his t-shirts, staring down at the marble floor in their bathroom that was covered in a clear liquid. Her jaw was fully agape and it was the first time he could ever remember seeing her speechless.
"Wait, is that…" he asked, looking down at the substance and back up at his wife. "Is, is, is…" he stuttered.
Riley had no time for it tonight, as much as she loved it. "It's my water. Oh my God, my water broke. I'm not ready to be a mother, I'm not. I can't do this. Tell me I can do this. Why didn't we get the apartment with the bay window? We didn't think this through. I don't think we should do this. Farkle why did you get that tattoo? If you didn't get that tattoo then you wouldn't have got me pregnant." She was crying and screeching and it was Riley at her most Riley self.
Her panic attack gave him a moment to collect himself. "Hey, you can do this. We can have this baby. You're going to be amazing and have this baby with the birth plan we have all mapped out. We love our doctor and in just a couple of hours we'll get to meet our beautiful, sweet little princess" he promised her, wrapping his arms around her as best as he could. She slowly nodded and he knew he was getting to her.
Riley wrapped her arms securely beneath her belly, as if she had to hold the baby in. "I love you" she cried, looking up toward her husband.
He leaned down and kissed the small, salty tears off her cheeks, "And I love you".
They grabbed their overnight bags and made their way as quickly as possible to their car downstairs. Once they got to the car he started the Bluetooth and called Riley's parents, his parent's and Maya and Lucas to tell them she was coming.
The hospital was ready for them too, waiting with a wheelchair at the entrance. They took her clear to labor and delivery, Farkle stopping to fill out the paperwork as quickly as possible and meet his wife.
She had dilated quickly and they had her start pushing within the hour. When the baby went breech and Riley had a spike in blood pressure, they forgot about the birth plan and took her into surgery for a C-Section. It was happening so quickly, Farkle just followed and held her hand. He held her hand as they gave her a local anesthetic and he stood up near her head, on that side of the curtain. There were monitors all over, and with him being on the research side of medicine, he didn't know too much about them.
The surgeon spoke up. "Dad, can you wait outside?"
Farkle barely looked up. It was the first time anyone besides Riley had ever called him Dad, Riley had been trying to get him ready for fatherhood and now here he was. "Dad?" The doctor asked again.
He quickly realized they were talking to him. "What? Why? What's wrong?" He asked again, his eyes darting from doctor to nurse in search of answers. Instead of providing him with any type of answer, they quickly escorted him outside to the waiting room. There he saw all of their friends and family waiting anxiously for an update. He sat in a loud silence, looking down at his hands as his world was crumbling.
In what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes later, a resident came out to update him. "Doctor says the baby's fine, but you'll have to wait, because her Momma's fading fast".
Tears fell out of his eyes faster than a monsoon. Lucas came to his side and Maya came to the other, rubbing his back and holding his hands tightly.
In a manner which was nothing like the athiest and science-minded friend of theirs, they saw him drop to his knees and pray. His prayer was mumbled from his shaking lips, while Cory and Topanga comforted each other on the other side of the room near Stuart and Jennifer.
Farkle prayed:
Take the very breath you gave me
Take the heart from my chest
I'll gladly take her place if you let me
Make this my last request.
Take me out of this world.
God, please don't take the girl.
No one knew what to say. It was the saddest and most intimate moment that any of them had ever been a part of. The two people that were the most made for each other, and the most ready to be parents were about to lose everything.
45 Minutes Later
A nurse came out with a smile creeping over her face. "Dad, you have a beautiful and healthy nine pound little girl. And a stable but sleeping wife. Would you like to come see your family?"
He stood up and was down the hall toward their room without ever looking behind him. His whole world was waiting in front of him.