Lucas sat in silence with Zay as Zay looked awkwardly around the room. Stuff was missing, a lot of it. Maybe they needed a change of venue? This place was even bumming him out and he'd only really looked at it thrice before now.

"We should-" Zay started only to be cut off by Lucas lifting his hand in the air toward his face, as if to gesture enough.

"Can we just not." He stated, not asking. "I just need it to be quiet."

There was a long pause before Zay said something. "Whiskey?"

"Yeah," Lucas said. Still staring down at his feet. Zay always carried a flask with him for emergencies. This qualified as one of those but before he could pull it out of his jacket, Lucas left the room and brought out a handle of Jack Daniels. A substantial amount of it was gone but he could tell that it was seldom drank.

"That's yours?" Zay questioned. Lucas didn't look at him as he poured a glass. Without ice or coke, not the way he drank at all, Zay thought.

"It is now." He said stoically as he took he gulped down the glass and poured another. Why the hell not? Zay thought as he followed suit.

Farkle unlocked his locker and retrieved an orange duffel bag, he grabbed it and walked out of the locker room with wrapped knuckles. He had walked past this place a hundred times walking Smackle home before going in. It was a good outlet during high school and the beginning of college, along with his extra curriculars, to channel all his excess energy. From the first second he began processing emotion, he hated it. He wanted to avoid it all cost. This was one of the few pleasures that allowed himself to work out any and all feelings he didn't want to deal with. Well, this and one other thing but Farkle had a feeling he wouldn't feel much like entertaining company right now.

As he pulled his shirt off before approaching a punching bag on the outskirts of the gym, he looked up to the ring central to the room. A man and woman were bare knuckle boxing. The guy was about 6'3", 200 lbs, muscular and having his ass handed to him. The woman was much smaller in stature; 5'5", thin, covered in sweat, with legs that went on for days. She donned black and pink cross trainers, shorts and a black sports bra with pink stitching. She moved faster than the man, she dodged and weaved and Farkle was impressed but as he realized he might be staring, Smackle's words began ringing in his head. He shook his head as if to shake the bad thoughts out and looked away quickly, embarrassed.

He plugged his ears and began punching to the beat, then double time. His knuckles began to hurt but it was a pain he had grown to enjoy, like ice baths or tattoos. He focused on the rhythm of the words not being sang to him. He tried not to remember the night that Smackle kissed him and how incredible it felt that she had become comfortable enough to be that physical with him. He tried not to remember the realization that when they kissed everything just stopped and how he believed that was a sure sign of love. He tried not to think of the fact that the next girl he kissed, his mind had stopped just the same. It had stopped the next time and the time after that as well. He was relieved and disappointed. He hadn't lost the love of his life. He was just adjusting to the lack of… something. He remembered Riley drunkenly telling him that he was just as much her best friend as Maya was but different. She hadn't meant anything by it but her deep brown eyes were so clear and honest in that moment. He didn't know if she was his best friend anymore, Farkle wondered when that had happened. His brain was jumping from thought to thought and he hit harder when he realized the music wasn't doing him any good. Angrily, he pulled out his earbuds and wrapped them around his ipod when he heard a familiar voice call to him.

"Minkus!" The voice shouted. A smile instinctively started on Farkle's face as he turned to see the girl from the ring and finally caught a glimpse of her previously unrecognized face.

"Christ Riley it's the middle of the night." Farkle complained trying to keep his eyes up at her face. Her dark locks were a mess carelessly thrown in a ponytail with babyhairs matted to her face with sweat, her face was flushed.

She smirked, "Really? Boxing?"

"My personality, IQ and skill set make me vulnerable to physical attacks so I took it up to defend myself." Farkle almost recited.

"And not because you bang girls with big angry boyfriends?" Riley choked back a laugh.

"That only happened like twice…" Farkle lied.

"Thrice." She corrected. She derived way too much pleasure from correcting him.

"You?"

"Took a class, felt good being powerful and I kept at it, plus good to know how to defend yourself in this day and age." To this, Farkle raised an eyebrow. "I wanna travel the world, I'm naive not suicidal. I know good people can do some fucked up shit sometimes. Not to me though. You get hurt, you get smart."

His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to read meaning in the words. You get hurt, you get smart. Sounded like a mantra, did someone hurt her?

"Do you wanna get out here?" Farkle tried not to dwell though the thought made his jaw tighten instinctively.

"Do you want ice cream or like an exorbitant amount of alcohol?" Riley asked, her face lit up all hopeful.

"You're projecting Matthews. Let's go." He smiled.

"Wait wait wait, I gotta get dressed. So do you," she didn't attempt to hide her up and down look of Farkle's shirtless body. "Okay..." She nodded, grinning.

"What?" Farkle asked.

"Congrats." Riley said, extremely amused. Farkle raised his eyebrow again. "On your everything." She clarified.

"Puberty was kind to me." He lowered his head humbly.

"Be right back," As she ran off in the direction of the locker room, Farkle couldn't help but watch her and notice a small shaded circle on her right shoulder blade. Pluto. He fought hard not to smile.

Farkle texted Zay to see if he was home, he texted back extremely misspelled saying he was crashing at Lucas's tonight so when Riley returned the two decided whiskey and zombie killing would be the best use of their time.

"So he thought that we?"

"Yep." she popped the p on the word as she smashed the buttons of the controller in her hand.

"I'm sorry." Farkle replied, also concentrated on the game.

"I'm okay. It's just a break,"

"I saw Smackle tonight."

"How'd that go?"

"She told me she was uncomfortable being around me when I had so physically moved on."

"It's just a break," Riley repeated.

"Not for everyone it isn't." Farkle said. Riley paused the game, irritated.

"You don't know that. You guys love each other, you two are practically made for each other."

"On paper, sure. I don't know if we do though." Farkle rubbed the back of his neck

"What does that mean?" Riley asked.

"I don't think we loved each other, not for a long time." Riley took this in for a while. After a moment, she unpaused the game and the two continued to shoot zombies.

"I blame you." He said half-jokingly. He did, in a way. Long ago his friends had promised that they'd never let Farkle not understand what love and yet here he was.

"Because of the promise?" She answered near instantly that had Farkle taken aback.

"Uh, yeah actually, I was kidding though. I don't hold any of you responsible." he said nervously. I'm messed up because of me, he wanted to add but didn't.

"No, you're right though. We failed you. I failed you." Riley said the last sentence with emphasis. "I don't think I'm equipped to help anyone understand love."

"I know you think you don't understand love but I think you do, better than anyone I know. You're overflowing with it. You want to help everyone."

"That's different. You want to have sex with everyone. Doesn't mean it's love right?"

"Why are you always on me about that?" He asked mildly annoyed. Riley tilted her head. "You claim to be some big feminist but you villainize anyone who doesn't fit in your neat little boxes. The women I'm with have agency, they choose to be with me. I don't seduce them, I don't objectify them. I respect them. They can choose to stay with me, they just… don't." This made her very quiet.

"I don't mind anyone embracing their sexuality as long as it's for empowerment and not self-medication…" She started, she was cut off mid-sentence.

"Oh please, get off your high horse Riley. I'm no addict and we're a society of self-medication. We're doing it right now, drinking and shooting our troubles away. Don't pretend you don't know who I am,"

"Okay truth then?"

"Why the other options? Always the truth."

She turned red, "I'm… jealous."

Farkle sat silently. "The hard time you give me is because you're sexually frustrated?"

"Well yeah, women have needs too Farkle." Farkle looked at her with a really? expression. Of course he knew women had needs, he just never really thought of Riley being… well, a woman. In his heart of hearts he knew she was, she was beautiful and capable and strong but he never really thought of her needing anything. She made a point to never ask for help for anything so to never arouse suspicion that she too was human just like him. In Farkle Minkus's eyes, Riley was something superhuman and he wasn't quite sure how to react to this breaking of that illusion.

"Do you not…?" Farkle's voice trailed off.

"Masturbate? Of course I do, everyone does." She said rolling her eyes. The word made Farkle's cheeks burn with embarrassment. Since college, Riley had never been afraid to what was on her mind and when and often she had no filter.

"Christ Farkle, your reputation says you see a naked woman literally every day and the word masturbation makes you blush. Really?"

"My reputation is exaggerated now can you stop saying that?!"

"What do you mean exaggerated?" Riley tilted her head.

"Why am I different than Maya?" Farkle quickly changed the subject.

"Huh?"

"It was something you said the other night. Oh and speaking of which, who hurt you? Why'd you take up boxing?"

"Wow, just getting it all out there huh? Okay... That's fair." Riley said, getting up moving towards the bottle on the table. She grabbed it and took a long swig. Wow, okay Farkle thought. She took another and walked back to him, bottle in hand. She sat close next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm such a bitch about your sex life. I feel the words coming out of my mouth and it's like I can't stop em. I'm not mad at you. At all. I'm just… " She sighed. He turned his xbox off and laid his head atop hers.

"You can keep avoiding my questions if you want. We can talk when you're ready. You miss Lucas, you're hurt." He kissed the top of head, "I understand."

"I just wanna drown it all out. I don't feel like a whole person and I don't know how to."

"Me neither." He sighed, grabbing the bottle from her and taking a swig. It made him gag but he took another. He coughed back another sip. Riley laughed.

"Lightweight. Give it here." She said. He did. He felt unshakeable necessity to do whatever she asked him to.

"Whoa." Farkle said, suddenly feeling the weight of his own intoxication hit him. He smiled big.

"Holy shit, are you drunk?" Riley slurred slightly. The truth was she was mildly amused but more annoyed that she too was starting to feel a buzz.

"Riley." He said very seriously, he looked her deep in the eyes.

"Yeah?" She said looking back, smile wiped from her face.

"I am." The two burst out into laughter.

Author's Note: Don't hate me for the super late update. It was pretty lame. More Farkle/ Riley and Lucas/Zay to follow, this night is not quite over I was just really getting up there in length and had to cut in order to figure stuff out. These interactions are pretty long so I went back and forth if I wanted it to be one conversation or several. My boyfriend's parents were staying with us over the weekend and we've been doing walkthroughs of houses and between that and working/working out: just DYING.