A/N: So, I didn't make it clear, I realize, that this was supposed to be a one-shot. But, I got a few requests to continue, so I'll keep it going until I run out of ideas. This is a little short, but I wanted to make sure I got it up for you guys today.

Riley cried until she felt like her tear ducts were dry and nothing more could fall from her eyes. She sniffled against Zay's shoulder and then took her hand to wipe away the residue of her crying.

She looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry, I got some snot on your shirt."

Zay rubbed her back and smirked. "The disadvantage of being so charming."

Riley punched his arm lightly. "What time is it?"

He took a look at his watch. "Oh, let's see here, four-ten."

"Oh my God, I was supposed to meet Maya ten minutes ago!" Riley scrambled to her feet and grabbed her bag, searching frantically for her cellphone before Zay coughed pointedly and held it out for her.

She blushed and mumbled "thanks" before responding to Maya's where are you? text. "Are you coming?"

Zay nodded and stood up. "Uh, Sugar? Maybe you wanna head to the bathroom and freshen up a little first?"

Riley slapped a hand to her forehead and nodded. "You're right." She told him as she handed him her backpack and cellphone. She turned on her heel and rushed down the hall, but stopped abruptly and turned back to Zay.

"Zay?"

"Hm?" He answered, raising his eyes from his phone to look at the tall brunette twisting her fingers together across the hall.

She smiled lightly. "Thank you." And she turned back around to continue her journey to the bathroom.

Zay smiled to himself as his attention was redirected to the ding of his cellphone. No, wait, that was definitely the girlish sound of Riley's ringtone, not his. He swiped open her screen to respond to a text message that was no doubt from Maya. His face dropped when he read the malicious content and realized that what he was reading was not a perturbed and aggravated response from Maya to Riley for running late to Topanga's, but rather a nasty and hateful text from an uncredited source. His fist clenched and unclenched at his side.

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Riley splashed some water on her face and leaned against the sink, taking her fingers and gently going over the swells underneath her eyes. She turned around and leaned against the counter as she closed her eyes and exhaled. She never thought she'd be thankful to have Zay Babineaux in her life. She had felt so shaken and uneasy when he first arrived to their classroom in New York so many months ago; she always knew that as long as she had Maya Hart and Farkle Minkus in her life, she was complete. Then she fell into the lap of Lucas Friar and she was immediately smitten, accepting the handsome southerner in their circle immediately. And that was it; that was all they needed. It was the four of them against the world, until Zay came storming in one day, wreaking havoc in their middle school lives and upsetting the blissful simplicity they had built around themselves. In due time Zay had proved his loyalty to the three friends, having already established that trait with Lucas long ago. He fell into their group with ease, providing comedic relief when needed, and especially when not. The group consisted now of Riley Matthews, cheerful optimist; Maya Hart, artistic rebel; Farkle Minkus, altruistic genius; Lucas Friar, protective moral compass; and Zay Babineaux, loyal comedian. And now, it warmed Riley's heart to experience firsthand that she could count on Zay to be there for her in the same capacity as any one of the others; maybe even lean on him a little more when it was something she felt would only disrupt the blithesome nature of her friendships. She pushed herself away from the counter and headed out the door back down the hall to find Zay. Yeah, Zay was easygoing and placid. Maybe she would be able to unload onto him... one day.

She found him with one leg bent behind him, leaning against the wall next to her locker. His attention was focused on his cellphone and she wasn't sure if he had heard her walk up or not.

She cleared her throat. "You ready?" He nodded and propelled himself from the wall, leaning down to pick up their bookbags. "Did Maya text me back?"

Zay shook his head. "No. But someone else did."

Riley knitted her brows in confusion. "Who, Farkle?"

Zay shook his head once more as he handed Riley her phone, with the text that she received only minutes before, open. Her expression swiftly shifted from confused to angry.

"You went through my phone? How could you do that, Zay? That's a complete invasion of privacy! You had no right to do that- I trusted you!"

Zay held his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, Riley. I didn't go through your phone. I thought it was Maya texting you back."

Riley took a breath. "Okay. I forgive you. Now, let's go, we're already late." Riley started to walk past him towards the exit when suddenly she felt him grab her arm and pull her back.

"Hold on there, City Girl. What's going on?"

Riley closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, trying to gain composure. "Nothing, Zay, I'm handling it."

"Handling it? Riley, there are ten texts like this, all from the same number. 'You exist and you're weird and you get in the way of where I'm looking'-"

"Stop, Zay." Riley said through clenched teeth.

Zay ignored her. "So stop being weird and stop being happy. Or I'm going to-"

"I said stop!" Riley practically screeched. She hadn't realized her fists were clenched until Zay gently took her hands into his and unclenched them for her. He let go and stepped back. "I know what they say." Riley said softly, eyes brimming with unshed tears. Her hands immediately shot up to her eyes, wiping the tears away before they had a chance to fall. She took a breath and looked back up to Zay. "Are you coming or not? We're already late."

And with that Riley stalked off towards the exit as Zay shook his head in incredulity, taking a few moments before running to catch up with her. "Riley! We should talk about this, it's not right-"

Riley spun around on her heel and stopped right before the door leading outside, causing Zay to skid to an abrupt stop to avoid colliding with her. "I told you I'm handling it. I've been handling it for weeks," she hissed, an unnatural venom in her voice that terrified the usually playful Texan. "I got this." Without another word, Riley pushed open the door and she and Zay made their way to Topanga's together, not speaking again about the incident, but both of them replaying the messages in their mind over and over again.

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Lucas and Farkle sat on the couch at Topanga's, Farkle going over some geometry problems with Lucas as they wait for Riley and Zay, and Maya sitting by the window, trying to cure her boredom by balancing a pencil on her nose.

The door crashed open and Riley breezed through, Zay quick on her heels.

"Little Plant!" Maya beamed.

"Peaches!" Riley countered, and Zay knew he was the only one of them who could tell the pep in her voice was forced.

Riley took a seat next to her best friend immediately, and Maya scooted closer to her and leaned her head on her shoulder before murmuring "Never leave me alone with these two again. I nearly yawned myself to death."

Farkle shot Maya a glare while Lucas launched a crumpled piece of paper at her forehead.

"Huckleberry! Why I oughtta-"

"What took you two so long anyway?" Farkle interrupted Maya, before Lucas had a chance to escalate their banter.

Riley looked nervously to Zay who shook his head and shrugged. "They let ballet class out early. I ran into Riley in the hallway and asked her to help me with some moves for next class." He said casually as he kicked his feet up on the table and folded his hands behind his head.

Riley sighed in relief and mouthed a small thank you to Zay, whose jaw was clenched and his eyes were hard. She cleared her throat nervously, directing her attention towards Farkle and Lucas. "So, what have you guys been up to?"

Lucas sighed. "Farkle's trying to go over these geometry problems with me. It's hopeless, though; it's like Chinese!"

Farkle smirked, "Well, we can't all be good-looking and ingenious." He patted Lucas' shoulder comfortingly. "Sorry, buddy."

Lucas chucked. "Yeah, I bet you are."

Maya and Riley pulled out their history homework to work on together, Farkle continued tutoring Lucas on his geometry, and Zay did minimal work on an English essay he had due, before becoming bored and inserting himself back and forth between his two groups of friends; tension between him and Riley dissolved almost completely.