GMW One-Shots | GxB ONLY

Triskaidekaphobia - Riarkle

Farkle POV

It was the one day of the year where Riley wasn't herself. She never was. It was Friday the thirteenth, a couple of weeks before Halloween. Riley hated the number thirteen, although I was more sure that she was afraid of it.

As I had expected, my phone rang just as I was about to leave my house for the bus stop. It always rang on these days. Maya always needed me.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, even though I already knew what she was going to ask me.

"It's Riley. It's a lot worse this time." Immediately, I hung up and ran from my house to Riley's apartment building. Her mom and dad had both already left for work, so I buzzed up as quickly as possible and then rang Riley's doorbell.

Maya answered in less than thirty seconds, and I was through the door as soon as it was open. I heard the sobs before I reached Riley's room, and I dropped my bag down on the floor near the foot of her bed. Riley was on her bed, and I went to her side as fast as I could.

Her sobs got quieter as I put a hand on her shoulder. She steadied, and then wrapped her arms around me, trapping me in her grasp. I inhaled in surprise, but didn't pull back. It felt nice.

"Hey, Riles. It's okay. It's gonna be okay." I sighed, and flopped back on the bed, her arms still around me. I glanced at Maya, who was laughing quietly at the death grip I was in. "What are we gonna do?" I mouthed to Maya, who was absolutely no help at the moment. She just shrugged and walked out, probably to get some breakfast for Riles.

I just sat there, in Riley's arms, until I heard Maya returning. I pried Riley's arms away from me, and turned to Maya. She handed Riley a bowl of yogurt, and Riley took it gratefully. She ate quickly and fell back onto the bed, sighing.

"I know, I'm being completely ridiculous, aren't I?" Riley asked, looking between the two of us. I shook my head too fast, and Maya just scoffed.

"Ridiculous isn't even close to what I was thinking. It's just a number, Riles. You need to get up and out of bed. If you don't, I will tickle your feet all the way to the school." Riley squirmed, but stayed put. I looked at her anxiously.

"Maya, you go ahead, go to school. I can handle it." It was true. Most of the time, I was the only one who could begin to help Riley calm down, let alone convince her to go to school.

Maya just rolled her eyes, winked at us, and waltzed out the front door, with Lucas in tow. I smiled towards Riley, and she took a deep breath, looking me over. My breath caught in my throat, and I cleared it nervously.

"So you're going to 'handle it', are you?" Riley asked, a smirk present on her face. I nodded casually, and helped her up out of bed.

"Well, I'm going to start with this and see if it helps." With that, I placed a strong kiss on her lips. She looked a little surprised, but not unhappy. In fact, I saw a bit of a blush starting to show.

"Nope. Didn't work. Still scared of thirteen, still not going out." She stated.

"Alright, well then, here's my next solution. We're gonna get you over your fear. Okay?" I searched through her closet until I found the exact shirt I was looking for.

It was a jersey-styled crop top, with the number 13 on back and her name, Riles, printed in bold white letters. I held it up, and Riley looked at it with a bit of disdain.

"Fine. But you gotta let me wear some color with that. It's so depressing." It was black, and Riley really was a colorful person.

"Okay." She pulled out bright pink shorts, with white Converse. Then she braided her hair and looked in the mirror one last time. I held out an arm, and walked her to school.