Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World or any of the characters

Chapter 26

"A coffee for you," Farkle said, handing Riley a to go cup of coffee. She smiled wide and graciously accepted it from him.

"Thanks Farkle," Riley said. She took a sip and savored the rush of caffeine that instantly filled her. "Where's Lucas?"

"He said he had to run to the library to check out a book for one of his classes," Farkle explained. "I told him I would just meet you here like planned and he said he would catch up with us after."

"What did you two do last night?" Riley asked, walking side by side with Farkle around campus.

"Played video games," Farkle laughed. "Zay joined us."

"Of course," Riley laughed. "The three of you could be spread out across the country and still manage to play your video games together."

"You girls aren't the only ones who have your sacred time," Farkle teased. He took a sip of his coffee and then turned to face Riley. "Your roommate is really cool."

"Sophia? She's the best," Riley nodded. "The two of us have gotten along really well since we met on that first day."

"What's she majoring in?" Farkle asked.

"Nursing," Riley said. "She wants to go into pediatric nursing."

"Wow," Farkle widened his eyes. "That's impressive."

"She's really smart," Riley nodded. She looked at him out of the side of her eye and noticed he was looking forward.

"Well the four of us should hang out together before I leave," Farkle suggested.

"Sure," Riley agreed. "We could do dinner or something."

"Awesome," Farkle smiled. Riley was cut off of saying something else when she saw Lucas heading in their direction.

"Hey guys," Lucas greeted. He leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend before smiling at the two. "What's going on?"

"Just walking and talking," Farkle shrugged.

"Farkle suggested that three of us have dinner with Sophia before he leaves town," Riley said. She shot her boyfriend a look, one that he immediately caught on to.

"Oh yeah?" Lucas asked. Farkle noticed the look between the two of them and raised an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?" Farkle asked.

"No," Riley shook her head.

"Are you lying to me?" Farkle asked.

"Would I ever lie to you?" Riley asked.

"I'd hope not," Farkle said.

"So, how about lunch?" Lucas asked, changing the subject.

"Sure," Riley quickly agreed. Farkle shot her one more look but agreed with Lucas. He reached for his phone when it started to ring and quickly answered.

"Hey Smackle," Farkle greeted. He turned and walked away, at the same time Riley let out a sigh.

"Don't you think you should tell him?" Lucas asked, looking over at Farkle and then his girlfriend again.

"Do you think it's my place to?" Riley asked. "I don't want to betray Sophia's trust."

"Technically she didn't ask you to keep it a secret," Lucas pointed out.

"Lucas," Riley shot him a look.

"Look, I think you should tell him. You and Farkle have been best friends forever and the two of you don't keep secrets," Lucas explained. He reached out and brushed a piece of hair off her face. "Don't start keeping things from him now. Especially something like this."

"Why do you always have to be right?" Riley grumbled. Lucas laughed and pulled her in for a hug.

"It's a gift," Lucas teased. Riley shoved him slightly and laughed.

"You're so full of yourself," Riley rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement.

"Just tell him the truth," Lucas insisted.

"Tell who the truth?" Farkle asked, walking back to the pair. Riley and Lucas both looked up and saw Farkle staring at them curiously.

GirlMeetWorldRucas. GirlMeetsWorldRucas. .

"Hey Claire," Maya greeted with a smile. Claire walked over and took a seat on one of the couches at Topanga's with her.

"Hey Maya," Claire said. "Thanks for meeting me."

"Of course!" Maya said. "You sounded really urgent on the phone and like something was bothering you. What's going on?"

"I need your opinion on something," Claire said.

"Anything," Maya nodded. She could see that her friend was really struggling with something and wanted to help her.

"When you and Josh first started dating you were still in high school and he was in college, right?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," Maya said.

"Did you two have a hard time spending time together?" Claire asked.

"Sometimes yeah," Maya nodded. "He was adjusting to school and I was getting ready to graduate. We were kind of in two different worlds so it was hard to bring those two worlds together at first."

"Did it put a lot of strain on your relationship?" Claire asked.

"Sort of," Maya admitted. "We would fight over the most ridiculous things. When we were together it sort of felt like we were making up for lost time and never fully living in the moment."

"How did you get through that?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We had a real talk," Maya said. "We finally said that we either work on our relationship and stopped fighting or everything was going to fall apart on us." Claire nodded and then looked down at her lap. "Is everything okay, Claire? Is something going on with you and Zay?" Maya asked.

"We're not even that far apart," Claire sighed. "It shouldn't be this hard to be away from him."

"Claire," Maya whispered.

"I feel like I spend all of my time thinking about him or missing him," Claire admitted.

"That's normal," Maya promised. "When you really love someone, you want to spend all of your time with them."

"He has to stay at school longer," Claire said. "He is going to be there a month longer than the rest of us."

"To retake his class?" Maya guessed.

"Yeah," Claire nodded. "That's another month that we are going to be apart."

"I'm sorry Claire," Maya sighed.

"What if I'm the reason he failed? What if the two of us are so focused on making our relationship work that we are losing focus on what should be our main priority right now?" Claire asked. She looked over at Maya and the pain behind her hazel eyes broke Maya's heart. She looked so lost and confused.

"What are you going to do?" Maya asked.

"I don't know," Claire shook her head. "I really don't."

GirlMeetWorldRucas. GirlMeetsWorldRucas. .

"So, you're telling me that your roommate has a crush on me?" Farkle repeated.

"Yes," Riley nodded.

"I don't think anyone has ever really had a crush on me before," Farkle raised an eyebrow.

"Farkle!" Riley exclaimed, widening her eyes.

"Well except Smackle of course," Farkle said. Lucas smirked and shook his head.

"Yes Smackle, you're fiancée," Riley reminded him.

"I know who she is," Farkle said.

"Well if you want to skip out on having dinner with her, then I would totally understand," Riley said.

"Why would I do that?" Farkle asked.

"Because of her crush," Riley said.

"It's a crush, Riley. It's not the end of the world," Farkle shrugged. "Do you know how many girls have had crushes on Lucas?"

"Thanks dude," Lucas rolled his eyes.

"What if she makes a move on you?" Riley asked.

"Then I will politely remind her that I am engaged," Farkle said. "You don't have to worry, Riley. I would never do anything to hurt Smackle."

"Okay," Riley agreed. She then raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "Now tell me about all these girls that have had crushes on Lucas."

"Oh jeez," Lucas groaned. Riley smiled up at him and laughed. She felt better now that Farkle knew the truth but she still had doubt in her gut. She knew Sophia was not just going to drop her crush overnight.

GirlMeetWorldRucas. GirlMeetsWorldRucas. .

"I really think Claire is doubting her relationship with Zay," Maya insisted into the phone.

"But they are so perfect together!" Riley exclaimed.

"I know," Maya agreed. "So, what do we do?"

"What do you mean?" Riley asked, dropping onto her bed and playing with the fringes of her pillow.

"How do we fix them?" Maya asked. "You're the problem solver! Solve this!"

"I don't know if this can be fixed," Riley sighed. "I think, unfortunately, that this is something only time will be able to fix."

"That's what I thought you were going to say," Maya groaned.

"Besides, I'm a little preoccupied with this whole dinner tonight," Riley admitted.

"She really has a crush on Farkle?" Maya asked. "In all the time we've been friends with him, I don't think I've ever seen a girl try to come between him and Smackle."

"Farkle seems really calm about the whole thing," Riley said.

"Well should he be worried?" Maya asked. "Is Sophia really a threat to his relationship?"

"I don't think so," Riley said. "I hope not."

"Can you imagine Farkle with someone other than Smackle?" Maya asked.

"What?" Riley asked, clearly surprised by her question.

"It's just, he's always been with her. The two of them have never really tested the waters and dated other people," Maya explained. "Do you think there is someone out there that they missed?"

"I don't think so," Riley said. "I know they've been together a long time but they have one of those kinds of love."

"It's just crazy to think of them with other people," Maya said.

"I couldn't agree more," Riley said.

GirlMeetWorldRucas. GirlMeetsWorldRucas. .

"So, Riley told me you're engaged," Sophia said. The four were sitting around a booth in one of the diner's near campus.

"Yeah," Farkle nodded. "We got engaged right around our high school graduation."

"Wow," Sophia widened her eyes. "You all really do find your soulmates young."

"Yeah," Farkle laughed and then looked at Riley and Lucas. "There is something about our friend group."

"I think it's fate," Lucas said. Riley smiled at him and leaned into his side.

"So, Riley tells me that you want to be a nurse?" Farkle asked.

"Yeah," Sophia nodded and a bright smile filled her pretty face. "Pediatric more specifically."

"So you must really be into science then?" Lucas asked.

"That was my favorite subject in school," Sophia nodded.

"Really?" Farkle's eyes widened and he turned to face her.

"That was Farkle's favorite subject too," Riley laughed. "It was all he could ever talk about."

"That's not true," Farkle shot her a look and shook his head.

"Oh yes it was," Lucas defended his girlfriend.

"Does your fiancée love science too?" Sophia asked.

"Oh she does," Riley nodded. "That's why she was his perfect match. They were one of those couples."

"Thanks Riley," Farkle rolled his eyes and laughed.

"What? I didn't say it wasn't cute," Riley shrugged.

"You guys sound like you were a really close group growing up," Sophia said.

"I'm pretty sure that we all spent more time with each other than our own families," Lucas smirked.

"There wasn't a day where we weren't together," Farkle agreed.

"That sounds really nice," Sophia said. Riley could tell that she was forcing a smile and something about it made her feel uneasy.

"What about you?" Farkle asked. "Do you still talk to your friends from high school?"

"Oh uh no," Sophia shook her head and looked down.

"Is everything okay, Sophia?" Riley asked.

"I had two friends in high school," Sophia said. "My best friend and my boyfriend."

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

"They decided they liked each other more than me," Sophia said.

"You mean?" Riley winced and wanted to pull her roommate into a hug.

"They hooked up behind my back and are now happily together," Sophia nodded.

"I'm so sorry Sophia," Riley sighed.

"It's okay," Sophia insisted. "It made me a stronger person. I would rather find out when I did then later on down the road. I got my fresh start at Yale."

"Hey," Farkle said. "It's their loss. You deserve much better than them. They'll regret it one day."

"Thanks Farkle," Sophia said. She turned to smile at him and he smiled in return. Riley noticed this and kicked her boyfriend's leg under the table.

"Ow!" Lucas exclaimed, breaking the eye contact between Farkle and Sophia.

"What's wrong?" Farkle asked, looking over at his friend and raising a concerned eyebrow.

"Oh nothing," Lucas shook his head when he saw the look on Riley's face. "I hit my leg against the booth and got an odd cramp."

"Well how about we order?" Riley suggested. She kept an eye on Farkle and he shot her an odd look.

GirlMeetWorldRucas. GirlMeetsWorldRucas. .

"So, you leave tomorrow?" Sophia asked. Riley had dragged her boyfriend to the ice cream stand demanding that she needed ice cream, leaving Sophia and Farkle by themselves.

"Yeah," Farkle nodded. "I have an early class on Monday so I should get back and ready for it."

"Those early morning classes will really get you," Sophia laughed.

"You're telling me," Farkle agreed with a laugh. "I take them four days a week."

"Ouch," Sophia winced. "Hey, maybe we could stay in touch?"

"What?" Farkle asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's just, I like talking to you and thought maybe we could stay friends. If not, that's totally okay," Sophia insisted.

"No yeah," Farkle nodded. "I would really like that."

"Well give me your phone," Sophia said.

"Why?" Farkle asked.

"So I can put my number in it," Sophia said.

"Right," Farkle laughed. He took out his phone and handed it to her. She punched in her number and then called her cell phone. She fished it out of her pocket and smiled.

"Now I have your number too," Sophia said.

"Awesome," Farkle smiled. He saw Sophia looking down at her phone and heard his phone ring again. Smackle's name and picture popped up on the screen and Farkle stared at it for a minute. He saw Riley and Lucas heading back in their direction, so he silenced the phone and slid it back into his pocket.

"Everything okay?" Riley asked, noticing the look on Farkle's face.

"Everything's great," Farkle nodded. He noticed Riley still looking at him so he just shot her a smile, which seemed to put her at ease.