Riarkle One Shots

My Rock

It's the day after Christmas and I still haven't seen my friends.

My parents wanted me to be with just family on the day of and the rest of the gang was busy the days before so now we're meeting up.

Everyone agreed to meet at my place and now I'm cleaning my room because I just fixed up the living room. I just want things to be nice because it's been I few weeks since we've seen each other.

Mind you that this is probably the longest we have ever been apart since we all became good friends.

I tuck my blanket under the mattress when my window opens. I turn and smile at my best friend.

She runs over and hugs me as if we haven't seen each other in a really long time even though it's only been a week and a half.

"Here are everyone's presents," Maya tells me as she tugs off a backpack with everyone's gifts inside.

"Let's go out and put then under the Christmas tree. That's where I put mine," I explain while leading her to the living room.

We go over and she says hello to my parents while I take out all the presents and place them under the tree.

My mom comes over to me and says, "Your dad and I thought it would be nice for you and your friends to be alone, so we're taking your brother to go see a movie."

I smile. "Thanks mom."

She nods and they all file out after a quick goodbye.

Maya and I set up movies and make hot chocolate to pass the time. We talk nonstop about what we've been up to since we last saw each other. By the time we're fully caught up the rest of the group enters through my room.

I set down the final mug on the kitchen table and jokingly glare at them. "I have a front door."

"But the bay window is practically a tradition by now," Farkle jokes back setting down the presents and coming over to give me a big hug.

I sink into his arms and feel the same feeling I always feel. A racing heart and a chorus of butterflies. I shouldn't feel this since he just got out of a relationship with Smakle for who knows what reason. He probably wants space.

"My turn," Zay jokes cutting in to give me a big hug.

Everyone then exchanges hugs and we all sit on the couch with Maya and I on the floor. We just talk until we've said everything we can. Then we watch Home Alone since Smakle told us she's never seen it.

In my opinion that's a crime.

We laugh along and just enjoy each other's presence. Lucas keeps saying the lines before they are said and Maya throws popcorn at him making us all laugh. Zay says that he thought that it's Farkle's job to spoil movies and Farkle jumps on him.

We all end up dying in fits of laughter and having to stop the movie so that we can clean before my parents get home.

Once we're done we sit on the floor together and hand each other the presents.

I carefully open each gift and make sure to thank my friends. Maya got me a new journal, Lucas a book on Greek mythology, Zay a pair of jazz shoes because he thinks I could be a great dancer, and Smakle a set of beakers to fuel my passion of science.

I set everything down carefully and put my last preset in front of me when I hear Farkle call my name.

Everyone gets quiet and I look up to see what's happening. They're staring at my present to Farkle.

"Riles..." he tries to form a sentence. He takes a breath blinking away tears. "How did you get this? My dad refused to give me anything."

"I had a long talk with him a few weeks ago and he agreed to give my enough pictures to make that photo album. On the last page is a flash drive with home videos. Don't worry your dad didn't give me any of you in the bathtub."

Everyone laughs as Farkle goes bright red.

I smile and try not to cry. "Your mom would be so proud of the young man you've become. I bet she's smiling down at you right now seeing how happy you are."

Farkle can't hide the tears now as his blue eyes burn with a mixture of both happiness and sadness. He wipes them away and laughs a little. "It's only been a few months but it's feels longer. I miss her," he chokes out.

I go over to him and give him a hug. I can't even imagine how hard it's been.

"Okay, bring it in," Zay says moving over to us. Everyone joins in and we're a crying mess in no time at all.

We pull apart and Maya breaks the moment with, "I think there's only one present left to open."

I look up and Lucas hands me my present from Farkle. I scoot closer to Farkle and look at he present. It's in a box small enough to hold four rubix cubes.

Slowly I pull off the lid and inside is a card resting on top of tissue paper. I open the card and it reads:

Dear Riley,
Merry Christmas. I hope that you get everything you wanted this year and more. You truly deserve it. Thank you for being my rock in this hard time. I lost my mom and shortly after I lost my love for my girlfriend. Things have been tough, but you were there through it all. Thank you. I hope you like your gift from me, it took a lot of time to put together, but it was worth it. I love you.
Always,
Farkle Minkus

I give Farkle a quick hug and set down the card. I pull the tissue paper out and there is a folded piece of paper left at the bottom. My fingers gently pull it out and I see that it's a map. Everyone helps me move everything off the coffee table so that I can fully spread it out. After I open it I gasp.

Every place I want to go see in New York is highlighted and there is a little checkbox next to it so that I can mark it off once I've gone.

Now I'm the one trying to fight tears as I look at Farkle. "How?" is all I can get out.

He smiles. "I listened very carefully all year. The rest of the gang helped me too so I can't take all the credit."

"We only helped him figure out the places. We didn't do that much," Smakle cuts in.

I wipe my eyes and look around at my best friends and thank them. Then I hug Farkle as tightly as I can.

"I love you," he whispers in my ear.

"I love you too," I whisper back. I pull away a bit and smile as I get lost in his eyes. "And Merry Christmas."