1: Aftermath
Even after willing himself down the flights of stairs leading up to the rooftop, Farkle still couldn't help but cast a lingering look back at the fairy lights that twinkled above, wondering if he had really done the right thing by exposing Riley's true feelings for Lucas.
He was certain that his exit looked smooth and easy to his friends, when actually, it had taken all the strength he could muster to stop himself from staying there to settle this mess once and for all. But as ironic as it sounded to him considering his interference, the issue was something that only the three of them could solve.
"Farkle."
His head snapped down, as he suddenly realized that Smackle was still standing next to him, observing him with her questioning brown eyes. He had almost forgotten she was here. By his side. On New Year's.
"Is everything alright?" She asked.
Farkle stuffed a hand into the pocket of his coat and took hold of Smackle's gloved hand with the other. He flashed her a quick smile as they started to stroll away from Riley's apartment building, as if he didn't just trigger a bomb there a few minutes ago.
"With us?" He nodded towards their intertwined hands, chuckling. "Of course."
"I mean, with them."
Farkle closed his eyes for a split second. Obviously he knew who her question had been referring to the whole time. He was just trying his luck, seeing if he could avoid thinking about the consequences of his actions. But of course, Smackle of all people, would never let that happen.
He bent down and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "I certainly hope so, Smackle. I certainly do. They'll figure it out. They always do."
They had to, for Riley's sake.
"So what now?" Maya asked.
She was the first to break the tensed and horribly awkward silence between them. At least, that was how Riley felt the atmosphere to be. She couldn't have been more humiliated and confused and hurt than she was at that moment. Her heart felt like it had plunged deep down to the bottom of her stomach, staying there as if rocks were weighing it down.
She was feeling so many emotions at once, and recently, happiness hadn't been in the equation. She wished she could just stop feeling for once. It was what got her into this sticky situation in the first place – her crush on Lucas, her guilt towards Maya. Something else was creeping up, too:
Anger. Anger towards Farkle. Everything had been going on just fine, until he came along with his unreasonable deadline and let out a stinking truth bomb in front of Charlie and all their other friends. And he just decided to up and leave with Smackle, leaving her all by herself to clean this mess up.
Riley got up slowly from the bench and took a few steps forward before turning to face her two friends. Lucas appeared as confused as ever while Maya had a light frown plastered on her face, barely even visible except to the eyes of her best friend.
"Look," Riley took a deep breath. "This is a mistake. This whole night has been a mistake. I shouldn't have called for this party and I'm sorry that you guys had to hear that from Farkle. Honestly, I'm tired. And I don't even know how I feel. All I know is that the both of you should go."
"Riley," Maya started.
"Go."
This time, Lucas was the first to react. He stood up and gestured for Maya to do the same. She looked reluctant, but eventually gave in, wiping the dust off her dress as she did.
"Happy New Year…Riles," Lucas managed a small smile before walking towards the stairwell.
Maya followed after him, casting a pained look towards Riley as she held the door open. "See you tomorrow," she said, finally disappearing as the steel door clicked shut behind her.
All Riley could hear was the sound of their footsteps, drifting further and further away as they descended the stairs. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the utter ridiculousness and helplessness of their situation.
What a great start to the New Year, she thought sarcastically. Let's hope nothing changes.
It was an hour past midnight by the time Farkle had dropped Smackle off and returned home.
His house was nothing like Riley's. It was a quaint little bungalow – four bedrooms, three toilets, a decently-sized swimming pool but just one Farkle. He wasn't too sure why his parents didn't try for another kid. Maybe they figured one baby Minkus was enough to take over the world.
"I'm home!" Farkle announced his arrival, removing his coat and setting it on the bronze coat hanger next to the front door.
Jennifer Bassett Minkus appeared at the foot of the stairs in her pink night robe and cast her son a smile. While her husband always stuck to his scheduled sleep time of 11pm (with certain exceptions), she enjoyed staying up a little later with a good book in her hands.
"Had a good time, dear?" She asked, Farkle noticing the copy of Hamilton he got her for Christmas clutched at her side.
"Great," he flashed her a grin. "Smackle was adorable as always."
"You should really invite her over for dinner some time. Your father and I would like to get to know her outside of her competitive streak," Jennifer joked.
"Some time, maybe," Farkle echoed, obviously too distracted to really consider the idea. Riley was stealing his thoughts without even knowing it.
He brushed past his mother as he trudged up the stairs towards his bedroom. "Goodnight, mum."
"Goodnight, dear."
Is she okay? Is she fast asleep yet? She's usually in bed by this hour…did I do the right thing?
Farkle shook his head in an attempt to rid his thoughts of Riley. It was both an annoyance and a pleasant surprise, how he could spend so much time preoccupying himself with her predicament. It happened ever since their trip to Texas. He never knew it was possible to think about someone – who wasn't his girlfriend – nearly all the time.
He had come to a steady conclusion a few days ago that it was because Riley was his best friend, and that till now, she never really seemed to need any help at all. She was always Smiley Riley, the girl with the generous, open heart. And now that it was beginning to close off to the whole world, someone had to step in and stop it. And that person would be him. After all, he seemed to be the only person who could truly understand her.
When Farkle got out of the shower a few minutes later, he heard his phone buzz from where he had left it on the bed. It was a message from Riley.
Why did you do that, Farkle?
His heart pounded guiltily. But before he could respond, another message popped up.
I trusted you to do the right thing.
Farkle hesitated before replying, his finger lingering on the button before hitting 'send'. A text from Riley without emoticons was bad news, what more two.
I did what I thought was right. You can't hide your feelings forever, Riles. It's wrong to sacrifice your happiness for others without even giving them the chance to make a choice.
There was a long pause that seemed to drag on forever, till finally:
Well, you didn't give me much of a choice yourself, did you?
Make that three, he thought.
And no, he didn't give her a choice. But why couldn't she understand that it was what's best for her? That bugged Farkle to no end. She, of all people, should know that he would never do anything to hurt her.
But he just did.
I'm sorry, Riley. But it had to be done. Happy New Year :)
All that followed was silence.
A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I suppose this is my way of coping without GMW for the next few months. It's honestly become one of my favourite TV shows, and I've always wanted to explore these characters in my writing though of course, disclaimer (!) they do not belong to me. And we're off to a slightly slow start here, but I like to develop my stories and characters so I hope you can bear with me. I literally just conjured this chapter in one sitting today and I'm really enjoying how I'm letting the characters decide what happens next. Also, I guess I should put it out here that this story will be strongly centred around Riley and Farkle, but there will definitely be Lucaya and perhaps even some Joshaya thrown into the mix. But right now, I guess our friends are mostly confused and scattered about, with the exception of Farkle and Smackle. Anyway, happy holidays, everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter! Till the next :)
