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Blue, pink, and purple flowers are scattered all over a large, open field. With no end to it in sight, Riley runs a straight path with a fast and carefree stride. Farkle, following just behind her, slows down when he sees Riley consciously stop right by a small patch of purple flowers. She smiles as she bends down to pluck one of the flowers, and then she extends her other hand to Farkle, inviting him to stand by her side. He takes her hand without question and stands in front of her.
Words are coming out of Riley’s mouth, but they’re unclear, almost like she’s mumbling or he’s covering his ears. Farkle swears he hears “I promise” and “cherish”, but he can’t tell for sure and all he wants is to know what she’s saying to him. What he does definitely see is her lips form the word “forever” right before she grabs his face with both hands and kisses him. The kiss runs through his whole body and nothing has ever felt so-
Farkle is jolted awake by the incredibly loud sound of Lucas snoring. Farkle doesn’t even try to hold back a groan lamenting the loss of his seemingly perfect dream. When Farkle realizes he won’t be able to go back to sleep, he sits up in bed and is suddenly very aware that Pluto is still on his back. If Farkle had it his way, he would keep it there forever, but he knows he needs a shower. So he drags his feet all the way to the bathroom and turns on the shower. As he waits for the water to get warm, he runs his fingers over his lips, remembering his dream, and the feeling of Riley’s lips against his take over his senses. Farkle drastically pulls the handle in the other direction to make the water go as cold as it can before stepping inside.
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After a fairly quiet breakfast at a diner in town, Riley spots a sign for a local carnival on a bulletin board. She begs everyone to spontaneously go to it, and really, the other three don’t even need much convincing because they know it would be a fun way to end their weekend.
When they finally arrive at the entrance to the carnival, there’s a light breeze and a strong summer sun in the sky. The first thing Maya does is drag Riley to the food vendors, and Riley ends up buying cotton candy in every possible color they and handing it out to everyone. She makes sure to give Farkle the orange cotton candy while she pulls off pieces from her purple one. Farkle follows her actions and pulls a piece off of his as well. The sweetness of the sugar melts on his tongue, and his mind unconsciously wanders for a minute to the idea of how sweet the cotton candy would be if he was to taste it on Riley’s lips.
Farkle doesn’t immediately realize that Riley’s waving her hands in front of him, but when she snaps her fingers right in front of his eyes, he finally comes back to reality.
“Earth to Farkle!” she yells.
“Sorry, I was a little-” he starts to say before his eyes drift to her lips. Riley runs her tongue over them as if there’s still cotton candy stuck there. Farkle takes a sharp breath in before continuing, “-distracted. I was just a little distracted.”
Maya and Lucas stifle a laugh in the background, and Riley tries to hide her shy smile. In a split second, though, her expression changes to shock as she points to something in the distance behind Farkle.
“Guys, look at the prizes hanging above that darts game! It’s Beary! Well, it looks like Beary, but, you know, with a face!”
“You should go try to win it!” Maya tells her.
“But I’m not good at those games.” Riley’s expression changes again, but this time she looks upset. “It’s okay. I don’t need another stuffed animal anyway.”
“Do you want the bear?” Farkle asks. The words come out of his mouth without even realizing it.
“What?” Riley says, surprised.
“Do you want the bear?” he repeats. This time, his words are purposeful, and he blames it on his unwavering need to always make her happy. Farkle doesn’t wait for her response, though, because of course she wants it. So he grabs her hand, walks them over to the darts booth, and takes a seat next to her.
This is still friend territory, he convinces himself. It’s not a big deal. We can do this. Friends do these kinds of things all the time.
“Okay, so I’m pretty crappy at games like this, but it looks simple enough,” Farkle says with a determined look on his face.
Riley nods with a smile and watches as he pays the man behind the booth. When the man hands over the darts to Farkle, he tries so hard not to notice how Riley’s eyes never leave him the entire time he’s aiming for the balloons, and it makes his heart race faster than the adrenaline running through his veins from the game. He hits one, two, three balloons, and on the fourth one, Riley jumps up and shrieks.
“You did it!” she screams.
“Good job, kid. You can pick a prize,” the man says.
Farkle points up and says, “She’ll take the bear, please.”
The man hands over the bear to Riley, and she hugs it to her chest. With the bear in one hand, she puts her other hand on Farkle’s shoulder to steady herself before standing on her tiptoes and leaning in close to his face. She stops herself abruptly, though, realizing what was just about to happen. Both of their eyes widen at the same time, and Farkle’s so stunned that he falls backward a little, making Riley let go of his shoulder.
Riley fumbles with the bear in her hands as she quickly says, “Thank you.”
“N-no problem,” he stutters, and then they both go quiet.
Farkle doesn’t know how he manages to stay calm as the two of them continue walking around the carnival, finally finding Lucas and Maya standing in line for the Teacups ride. Maya spends five minutes making an argument that it’s not just for kids, and despite Riley reminding everyone that she gets a little nervous on spinning rides, both she and Farkle join them. After they all squeeze into the seat together, Lucas starts spinning their cup while Maya’s still trying to get comfortable. So in retaliation, when the ride begins, Maya screams right in Lucas’s face as they start to move.
Farkle grips the wheel in the middle to stop from sliding all over the place, and Riley hugs Farkle’s waist to steady herself. When Lucas unexpectedly shifts the direction of the spinning, Riley hand falls to Farkle’s leg. She clutches at his thigh, and Farkle’s pretty sure her hands being all over him are making him feel more nauseous than the spinning. He covers her hand with his, and Riley doesn’t let go even after they get off, because she insists it helps her walk straight after the ride. Farkle figures she can use whatever reason she wants if it means he gets to hold on to her hand longer.
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They all settle in to the cabin’s living room after their long day at the carnival, and Lucas takes out a photo album he’s been keeping since he moved to New York. It’s a surprise to everyone, and they all look at the cover with wonder and appreciation. They spend what seems like all night reminiscing over their unforgettable memories.
When it hits midnight, Farkle sees Maya pull Riley aside and whisper into her ear. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but he sees Riley’s reaction change from surprised to serious. Then, Riley grabs Maya’s hand as they both giggle softly.
After the exchange, Maya wordlessly eyes the boys, and Farkle feels Lucas pat him on the back before getting up off the couch they were sharing and walk over to Maya. He grabs her hand and silently guides her out of the room. Riley smiles as she watches them walk away, and then her smile fades as she looks to Farkle from across the room.
“So, they’re going to use the room by the kitchen tonight,” she explains awkwardly.
“You mean the two of them…together?”
Riley bites her lip nervously and nods her head. Without waiting for his response, she leaves for the bathroom to change, missing the way Farkle’s lips form an “oh” in understanding.
He enters what’s now his and Riley’s room and changes into a t-shirt and shorts. After, as he anxiously sits on the bed waiting for her to come back, he tries to plan out what words to say to her. He’s half tempted to find an article online titled something like “How to Confess Your Undying Love to Your Best Friend” but scoffs at his foolishness.
Farkle’s so lost in his thoughts that her presence in the room startles him, making him blurt out, “Riley, I want to tell you-”, he stops, not really knowing where that sentence was going. She’s looking at him, more with concern than confusion. She moves to sit down on the bed, and even though her gaze conveys confidence, he can see the way she’s picking at her nails. She’s nervous.
She’s nervous. He’s in love with her. They’re alone. These are the three most important pieces of information to Farkle at this very moment.
With that in mind, he tries again, “Riley, I need you to know that-”
“It’s kind of late, let’s try to sleep,” Riley interrupts as she gets under the covers and pulls down Farkle’s side as well.
“Riley,” Farkle says more seriously, pleading for her to acknowledge the situation. He doesn’t move from his spot at the edge of the bed.
“This is your side,” she smiles as she pats the bed. So, Farkle takes that very obvious hint and gets into the bed, lying on his side to face her. Then Riley asks, “So, how do you get to sleep? Are you one of those people that can just fall asleep immediately?”
“Not really. Sometimes it takes me a while.”
“Me too. What should we do?”
“Riley, we should talk, especially about Pluto and also probably about what happened at the carnival today.”
“Okay,” she responds hesitantly.
The words are forming in Farkle’s brain and collecting in his throat, but they don’t make it passed his lips. He finds himself tongue tied at the worst possible time, so they end up staring at each other until the room is filled with their laughter.
“Maybe we can just listen to music until we fall asleep?” Riley suggests.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Can I pick the music?”
He nods while taking in a deep but shaky breath and turns onto his other side to collect his thoughts. Then he picks up his phone that’s resting on the nightstand and hands it over to Riley. Farkle guesses that she already had a song in mind because it only takes her a minute to find it and press play.
Farkle’s breath hitches as he identifies the song, and he shifts in the bed a little, suddenly realizing how small it feels. Riley hasn’t taken her eyes off of him since the music started, like she’s trying to tell him something but the words aren't coming out, and the only words in Farkle's mind right now are the song lyrics that seem to have seeped into his whole being.
I want to hold her hand. God, I want to hold her hand.
It keeps repeating in his head like a mantra, over and over and over. But it’s Riley’s hand that moves first, lightly brushing against his under the covers, her fingers forcing their way in between his. Farkle closes his eyes at her touch and thinks that maybe Riley picked this song on purpose. Maybe she’s letting the song express the words they both can’t say.
His thoughts are confirmed only a second later. In the dark room with the moonlight streaming through the window, he can see Riley mouth the lyrics “I wanna get close to you” as they’re sung. Farkle swallows hard as Riley moves closer to him, stopping only when her nose bumps against his.
“My heart is beating so fast right now,” Farkle admits.
“Farkle, it’s just me. It’s just us.”
“But that’s exactly why I feel like this, Riley.”
She doesn’t look surprised by his implied confession. Her eyes express understanding, and her grip tightens on his hand.
Words flood Farkle’s thoughts again, but this time, they’re more intense. They’re more demanding.
I want to kiss her. No, I need to kiss her.
Almost as if Riley can read his mind, Farkle watches as she closes her eyes. He knows what it means. He knows that she wants the same thing, but he is completely frozen in place, both terrified and excited about how this will change everything. After a few moments, Riley opens her eyes and gives Farkle a questioning look.
“Do you not want to?” she whispers.
Of course I do, he thinks, but he needs to know this is real. So he asks, “Are we only doing this because we know they’re doing this in the other room, or is this happening because you really want me to kiss you?”
“Farkle, you have no clue how much I want you to kiss me right now.”
He doesn’t actually expect her to say that, so he’s a little dumbstruck by her response. He doesn’t let himself believe it, though, and fights back against her words.
“Riley, talk me out of this. Talk me out of it right now. Otherwise, I won’t be able to stop myself.”
“Stop yourself from what?”
“Actually kissing you. Changing everything between us. Falling even more in love.”
Each sentence finally releases the emotions Farkle fought to keep in check for years, and as shocked as he was before, nothing could prepare him for the moment Riley's lips crash into his. It’s like she couldn’t take it anymore. It’s like she couldn’t wait one more second to find out if his lips still taste like the cotton candy they had earlier.
And, god, her lips do. Farkle wouldn’t stop even if they didn’t. They're full and sweet, and as they move against his, he memorizes every soft noise Riley makes. All thoughts of her mouth are pushed to the side, though, because that’s nothing compared to her fingers lightly trailing their way down to his hip. Farkle grabs Riley’s hand and pulls her into him so their bodies collide, making her gasp against his lips.
“Is this okay?” he asks in a whisper.
Riley nods and leans in for another kiss, her hands firmly grasping at the back of Farkle’s shirt. Her foot grazes his under the sheets, and he’s trying so very hard not to freak out over the fact that she wants him just as much as he wants her. When Riley lightly nips at his bottom lip, Farkle almost loses it and can’t help the way his hips thrust up in search of hers. Riley’s attempt to hold back a moan is unsuccessful, so she has to quickly tuck her face into his neck to muffle it.
“How is it you can do that?” she asks against his skin, completely out of breath.
“Hmm?” he replies, running his fingers up and down her back.
“It’s like you already know your way around my body.” With her hold still on Farkle’s shirt, Riley unmistakably tugs at it. Farkle looks into her eyes with uncertainty only to find a fire burning in them. So he sits up just enough to pull his shirt off and throw it to the end of the bed. He focuses his attention back on Riley, planning on asking her if this is what she wants, but she’s already lifting her shirt over her head. Farkle breathing practically stops as an overwhelming feeling of lust pools in his gut and Riley’s hand pulls him to lie back down on the bed.
Feeling confident, Farkle instinctually climbs on top of her and finally replies, “Maybe I’m programmed to know exactly what to do to drive you absolutely insane.”
Riley pulls Farkle’s body down so he’s fully resting on top of her, and looking up at him, she says, “Oh, I hope so.”
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Farkle wakes up to the feeling of Riley’s body wrapped around him. Her legs are tangled with his, and her breath is warm against his neck. He closes his eyes and opens then a second later to make sure this is all real. When he realizes Riley is still there sleeping next to him, he breathes out a sigh of relief and hugs her close.
Riley and Farkle walk into the kitchen together a little after noon and find Maya and Lucas already sitting at the table. Riley raises her eyebrows when she notices that Maya’s in Lucas’s Texas t-shirt, and Maya reacts the same way when she sees that Riley’s wearing Farkle’s NASA one. No one says anything about it, but they all let out a simultaneous quiet laugh before Riley and Farkle join the others at the table.
They pack their suitcases after breakfast and make sure the cabin is clean before locking it up. Farkle walks toward the car, but before he gets in, he turns around to take one final look. There’s a word right on the tip of his tongue that describes how he feels when looking at the cabin in that moment, but he can’t think of it, so he just gives the cabin one more smile before getting in the car.
On the drive home, Riley reclaims her seat in the front across from Farkle, but when Farkle looks over at Riley this time, she turns her head toward him as well and smiles before reaching out for his hand. The word becomes so clear to him then: family.
He thinks that he finally created the kind of memories he never had as a kid in that cabin. He finally created the kind that you’ll never be able to forget with people you’ll never want to let go.